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touch, she didn’t want him to stop.

    Gripping her shoulder, he rolled her to her back and started all over again. But the pain was gone, his touch more sensual. Eyes closed, she concentrated on the pure pleasure of his hands roaming over her. He shifted position, his denim-clad thighs sliding along her bare legs.
    His hands bracket her ribcage, his thumbs just touching the undersides of her breasts. His touch scorched her skin through the thin cotton of her bra.
    ALWAYS A WARRIOR Patricia Bruening
    40

    “That’s enough.” He stopped abruptly, his words harsh as he jerked his hands from her heated flesh.

    Her eyes snapped open and she peered up at him. Desire smoldered deep in his dark eyes and she flushed, filled with pure feminine triumph at putting that hunger in his eyes. He moved off her, glared at her, but said nothing. Cool air across her stomach jerked her back to reality. She swallowed the sudden nervous lump in her throat as his stark gaze raked over her.

    “If you don’t move now, I won’t let you go,” he threatened huskily.

    Anticipation exploded through her and she sucked in a sharp breath. She stared at him, caught between passion and self-preservation. He was dead serious. She scrambled off the bed, snatched up her clothes, and fled.

    * * * *

    Damien fell back on the bed, his chest heaving with every ragged breath. He had given hundreds of massages, both therapeutic and sensual, but never experienced anything so erotic.
    His heart still pounded in his ears. The blood rushed through his veins. Sliding his hands all over her nearly naked body had sorely tested his self-control and left him painfully aroused. He had tried to stay clinically detached but all that soft smooth skin under his hands had stirred a raging fire in him.

    He scowled on a flood of disgust and frustration. No woman had ever gotten so far under his skin. Not even his ex-wife stirred him so much. Why Laurie Crawford? Why now? What was it about her that drew him? Sure, she was gorgeous. But he’d had gorgeous women in his bed.
    What made her different? Why did she tie his gut into knots of pure lust?

    He glared at the ceiling. Maybe it was the fact that he had not fucked her yet. He had to force himself to think of her in crude terms before he found himself caught up in things he never allowed himself to want.

    “Damn her,” he muttered as he left the bed and stalked across the room. He slapped his hand on the light switch and plunged the room into darkness. The stove grate squealed as he yanked it open. He stoked the fire, the flames spitting sparks as he closed the grate. But even the fire did little to soften to black of night or his mood. Heavy clouds hid the moon so he didn’t even see shadows.

    But he remembered the seductive picture she had made in his bed. All of that dark brown hair spread over his pillow, like strands of silk. His pillow still carried the faint hint of strawberry mixed with something else, something uniquely Laurie.

    Again painfully aroused, he jerked onto his back and ground the back of his head into the pillow. He closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe slowly, deeply, evenly, until he finally slept, his dreams full of darkly sensual images.
    ALWAYS A WARRIOR Patricia Bruening
    41

Chapter Five

    Over the rest of the week, they settled into a simple but intense routine. Laurie dragged herself out of bed every morning, gulped several cups of coffee for breakfast, and struggled to ignore her growing feelings for Damien. Mornings were spent target shooting. She concentrated on her aim rather than Damien and soon became a crack shot.

    Afternoon martial arts sessions, however, were infinitely more difficult. They required physical contact, which tested her powers of concentration to the limits. Damien’s touch, no matter how impersonal, distracted her. When his arms closed around her, she struggled to remember what she was supposed to do. When he had her on the ground, she looked into his