Surrender in Silk by Susan Mallery

that.”
    “Like what?”
    “As if I’m some kind of hero. You were right when you said I was a bastard.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “Yeah, you do. You don’t want this.”
    She wasn’t sure what the “this” was, but she was pretty sure she did want it. She’d never felt this way before. Guys had always been friends and amusing companions. She had more in common with them than with women. But she’d never felt the need to—
    Slowly, cautiously, knowing he might turn on her at any moment, she raised her hand toward his face. Using just thetips of her fingers, she touched his jaw. It was midafternoon. She could feel the heat of him, and the prickling of stubble.
    He grabbed her hand. This time his grip punished. He squeezed her fingers until she thought her bones might crack. But instead of pushing her away, he brought her palm to his mouth and kissed her sensitive skin.
    She felt the fire all the way down to her toes. Her breath caught in her throat. Her breasts, which had never been more than a nuisance before, swelled and she began to sense the possibilities. Between her thighs, a different kind of heat formed and grew, leaving her feeling both bold and weak.
    Zach bit the soft skin of her palm, then used his tongue to soothe the wound. He released her, then leaned back against the sofa and closed his eyes.
    “The first damn day,” he muttered. “I spend six months avoiding this, and the first day you aren’t my responsibility, I blow it.” He swore again.
    Blow it? Avoiding it? She stared at him. “You’ve wanted to have sex with me for six months?”
    He grabbed her hand again, but this time he brought it to his crotch. She felt the long, hard desire there. Of course, she knew the mechanics of what went on. She’d seen naked men before. In high school, she’d had to walk through the boys’ locker room to get to the weights, and the teenagers often flashed her. But she’d never been impressed or interested. Until now.
    Everything clicked into place. They’d both wanted the same thing and they’d both done their best to avoid it.
    Zach started to stand up. Without thinking, Jamie shifted until she straddled him. She pressed against him to hold him in place. “Don’t go,” she said. “Please. I—”
    She never got to say what she wanted. Just as well, since she wasn’t really sure.
    Zach stopped her words with his mouth. He pressed his lips against hers, taking everything she offered and giving backmore. When his tongue stroked against her tingling skin, she parted for him. She clung to his shoulders, her legs clamped around his thighs. Her world spun.
    Nothing had prepared her for this. His hands were everywhere. Her back, her rear, her stomach, her breasts.
    Her breasts. She sucked in a breath as he cupped her curves, then teased the taut peaks. She broke their kiss and arched back to give him more room. Every part of her body cried out for him. When he tugged her to the big bed in the center of the room, she went eagerly.
    He made love as he lived—hard, on the edge, with an attention to details that left her weak. He removed her clothes, then traced every inch of her. As his mouth sought, then found, her sensitized nipples, his fingers performed magic between her thighs. She hadn’t known it could be like this.
    She hadn’t known his chest would be so broad, or his muscles so supple. They moved and tightened in response to her tentative touch. He moaned low in his throat when she nibbled on his shoulder and tasted his salty skin. He caught his breath as he entered her tight, virgin body.
    Later, when he’d shown her what all the fuss was about, when she’d stopped shaking and panting and the room was finally still, he braced his head on his hand and stared at her.
    “You didn’t tell me,” he said.
    She did her best to look innocent of the charge. “Tell you what?”
    “That you were a virgin.”
    “I—” She smiled uncomfortably and tried not to notice that they were both