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“It is if I say it is.” He draped it over her hair. “Beautiful. Sun on fire.” Then he arranged the rest of the cloth over her shoulders and breasts. “There, you look like a harem girl.”

She smiled. “That’s odd. I was just thinking that these past weeks have been like a harem dream.”

“Is that good?”

“It’s … erotic.” She slipped the length of gold off her hair to pool around her shoulders. “Thank you. But it’s not really my style. I’m too…” She remembered Teresa’s description. “Serious.”

“I like serious.” He was drawing her over to the easy chair in front of the window. “But I like erotic better.” He dropped down in the chair. “It’s a good thing it’s raining so hard that no one can make out anything through this glass. The office would be getting complaints about those shameless nude people in 2A.” He reached up a hand to pull her down on his lap.

Instead, she dropped down on the carpet in front of the chair and linked her arms around her knees. “Why did your uncle’s girl jilt him?”

“Another guy. He was overseas a lot on missions. He didn’t blame her.”

“But you did.”

“Yeah, I wanted to kill her. But I was only twelve, so that would have been difficult.” He leaned forward and began to rub her shoulders beneath the silk. “And I got over it. Why were you stiff tonight?”

She was silent. “Motels remind me—Sandra spends a lot of time at hotels and motels.”

He cursed softly. “Why didn’t you say no? I knew you didn’t want to have me come to your apartment. You’ve made that clear. But I’d have found somewhere else.”

“Because I’m not Sandra, and I’ve got to get over letting things like that bother me.” She was silent a moment, then said jerkily, “She’s not really a prostitute, you know. She just likes to have a good time and is willing to be paid for it. I think she has a good heart. When I was little, she acted as if she cared about me … when she wasn’t stoned.”

“How kind. And did you care about her?”

“Yes, she was pretty and she laughed a lot. Later things changed…” She shook her head. “I was confused, then I guess I changed. She stayed the same.” She was gazing out at the rain. “You said you couldn’t stand your parents. Was it always like that, or did it come later?”

“Always. They never wanted a kid. I was in their way. When I got too much in their way, I ended up with burning cigarettes being put out on my back. My father particularly liked that form of discipline.”

“That’s terrible.”

“I thought so, too. I tried to push him down the steps once. I didn’t do it right, and he only fell against the wall. He beat the hell out of me. After that, I just tried to stay away. Unless my uncle was home from overseas. Uncle Ted took the heat off.” He smiled. “Unintentional pun.”

How could he joke? “I can see why you’d love your uncle.”

“I was lucky. If I hadn’t had him around, I would have ended up in reform school. I’ve always been pretty wild, but he taught me to channel the violence. Thanks to him, I’m going to have a good life.”

“In the Army.”

“Only a means to an end.” His hands slipped down and began to slowly rub her breasts beneath the silk. She gasped. It was unbearably erotic to feel the rough warmth of his palms alternating with the cool texture of the silk against her nipples. “I’m always going after the big score.”

The sensation was causing her to lean her head back against him and arch beneath his hands. “Is that … what you’re after now?”

“With your cooperation.” He tore the silk away from her and tossed it aside. “And I believe I’m going to get it.” He lifted her onto his lap and made the adjustment. “Aren’t I?”

She groaned, and her nails bit into his shoulders as he started to move. She couldn’t breathe. Fullness. Heat. The sensation was building quickly to an indescribable pitch.

She closed her eyes and let it take her over the top.

* * *

“EVE.”

She was being shaken.

Then lips were on her nipple.

She knew those lips, that tongue …

She opened her eyes to see him above her in bed. He was dressed already.