Jack took a step forward, grasped the undergarment, and used it to pull her toward him a step. She almost stumbled against his chest. Suddenly she found herself enveloped in all that seductive, heady maleness.

"When I did...that?" he drawled with silky menace. "Don't you mean when I kissed you, Mira? You do remember that part, don't you?”

Her stomach dropped to her toes. His gaze had centered completely on her mouth. Like her lips were food and he was starving. "Yes, of course.”

"Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to stop kissing you?”

"Really?" she asked in genuine surprise before she could stop herself.

His voice lowered. "I want you in a powerful way. I want to do things to you that your joke of an ex-husband never dreamed of doing. That's what happens when fire and air meet. Understand? Do you feel it? That intense attraction between us?”

"It's incredibly powerful.”

"Yes," he murmured. "Damn near irresistible.”

She watched, fascinated, as a muscle in his jaw worked. It seemed like he endeavored to hold himself back from her.

"You're a sensual woman. It's like you have all this dry tinder piled up inside you, waiting for a spark. I could be that spark, but—”

"My husband always said I was frigid," she blurted. She put a hand to her mouth, wishing she could call back that intimate secret.

"What?”

She forced her hand down to her side and drew a steadying breath. Too late to turn back now. "You tell me I'm sensual, talk about tinder waiting to be lit. Ben had a hard time giving me an orgasm. He said it was my fault, that I was incapable of it during intercourse.”

Jack gritted his teeth. The muscle in his jaw worked again. This time he didn't look like he was holding himself back from her; he just looked pissed. "Frigid, hmm? That's what he told you?”

She opened her mouth to give a better explanation, but then his lips were on it. His fingers threaded through her hair, and his tongue met hers in a possessive sweep that made her whimper.

Yesterday, in the diner when she'd fantasized about kissing Jack, she'd known it would be sexy as hell. However, the tenderness he displayed was a surprise. Jack didn't just kiss. He made slow, easy love to her mouth, making her body respond in kind as sure as if he stroked her. Her nipples grew hard and she became hot and achy between her thighs.

He wrenched the panties from her hands and threw them to the floor. Mira slid her arms around him, kissing him back, spearing her tongue into his mouth with abandon. She wanted to taste him, know him, feel the heat of his body against her. He walked her backward a little, until she felt the nearby wall against her back. He bracketed her there, pinning her with his big body.