BLACK MONEY LOVE

Chapter 10

He walked with her to the bed and drew her down to sit. "I came to Cozumel for one reason. My feelings on that hasn't changed but other things have. When I first met you,I thought you knew something, were hiding something. I linked everything about you to Jerry. It didn't take long for me to see there was something else. I wanted to know about you, for myself."
"Why?"
"I don't know. It's impossible not to care about you."At her look of surprise,he smiled." I purposely maneuvered you into taking about Faith and what had brought you here. When you told me I couldn't handle it."
" That's understandable. Most people have trouble handling unwed mother's."
Anger bubbled as he grabbed her hand." Stop putting words in my mouth. You stood in the kitchen talking and I could see you, young, eager and trusting, being betrayed and hurt. I could see what it had done to you, how it had closed you off from things you wanted to do."
" I told you I don't have any regrets."
" I know." He lifted her hand and kissed it." I guess for a moment I needed to have them for you."
"Zack, do you think anyone's life turns out the way they plan it as children?"
He laughed a little as he slipped an arm around her and drew her against him. Roma sat still for a moment, unsure how to react to the casual show of affection. Then she leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes.
"Jerry and I were going to be parterns "
"In what?"
"In anything."
She touched the coin on the end of his chain. "He had one of these."
"Our grandparents gave them to us when we were kids. They're identical five-dollar gold pieces. Funny,I always wore mine heads up. Jerry wore his heads down." He closed his fingers over the coin. "He stole his first car when we were sixteen."
Her fingers crept up to his." I'm sorry."
"The thing was he didn't need to---we had access to any car in the garage. He told me he wanted to see if he could get away with it."
" He didn't make life easy for you."
"No,he didn't make life easy. Especially for himself. But he never did anything out of meanness. There were times I hated him, but I never stopped loving him."
Roma drew closer." Love hurts more than hate."
"One more question."
The smile came more easily.
"One more."
"There haven't been any other men, have there?"
The smile faded." No."
He felt twin surges of gratitude and guilt." Then let me show you how it should be."
"There's no need---"
Gently,he brushed the hair back from her face." Yes there is for both of us." He kissed her eyes closed." I've wanted you from the first." Slowly, he slipped the robe from her shoulders, following the trail with warm lips." Your skin's like gold,he murmured, then traced a finger over her breast where the tone changed.
"And so pale. I want to see all of you."
"Zack---"
"All of you," he repeated, looking into her eyes until the heat kindled again." I want to make love with all of you."
She didn't resist. Never in her life had anyone ever touched her with such reverence, looked at her with such need. When he urged her back,Roma lay on the bed, naked and waiting.
"Lovely,"he murmured. Her body was milk and honey in the moonlight. And her eyes were dark---dark and open and uncertain." I want you to trust me. I want to know when I look at you that you're not afraid of me."
"I'm not afraid of you."
"You have been. Maybe I've even wanted you to be. No more." His tongue slid over her skin and teased the back of her knees. The jolt of power had her rising up and gasping."Zack."
"Relax." He ran a hand lightly up her hip. "I want to feel your bones melt. Lie back,Roma. Let me show you how much you can have."
She obeyed, only because she hadn't the strength to resist. He murmured to her, stroking, nibbling, until she was too steeped in what he gave to give in return. But he wanted her that way, wanted to take her as though she hadn't been touched before. Not by him, not by anyone. Slowly, thoroughly and with great, patience he seduced and pleasured. He thought as his mouth skimmed up her thigh that he could hear her skin hum
She'd never know anything could be like this----so deep, so dark. There was freedom here, she discovered, that she'd once only associated with diving down through silent fathoms. Her body could float, her limbs could  be weightless, but she could feel every touch,every movement. Dreamlike, sensations drifted over her, so soft, so misty, each blended into the next. How long could it go on? Perhaps, after all, there were forevers.
She was lean, with muscles firm in her legs. Like a dancer's she thought, disciplined and trained. The scent from the bowl on her dresser spiced the air, but it was her fragrance, cool as a waterfall, that swam in his head. His mind emptied of everything but the need to delight her. Love, when unselfish, has incredible power.
She hadn't known passion could stretch so far or a body endure such a barrage of sensations. His hands, rough at the palm, showed secrets she'd never had the chance to imagine. His lips, warmed from her own skin, opened mysteries and whispered the answers. He gentled her,he enticed her. Gasping for air, she had no choice but to allow him whatever he wanted, and to strain for him to show her more.
When he was inside her she thought it all, and more,than she could ever want. If this was love,she'd never tasted it. If this was passion, she only skimmed the surface. Now it was time to risk the depths. Willing, eager, she held on to him.
It was trust he felt for her, and trust that moved him unbearably. He thought he'd needed before,desired before, but never so completely. Though he knew what it was to be part of another person,he'd never he'd never expected to feel merger again. Strong,complex, unavoidable, the emotion swamped him. He belonged to her as fully as he'd wanted her to belong to him.
He drew her up to him, and her body, liquid, and limber with emotion, rose like a wave to press against his. Wrapped close, mouth fused, they moved together. Her hair fell like a rain down her back. She could feel his heartbeat fast against her breast.
She joined, they lowered again. The rhythm quickened. Desperation rose. She heard him breath her name before the gates burst open and she was lost in the flood.