"You're sure?" Ten asked.
There was no emotion in his voice, no expression on his face, nothing to tell Diana what he was thinking. He was as dark and enigmatic as the windswept night, and like the stars, his eyes were a glittering silver.
"Yes," she whispered. "I'm sure."
Ten held out his hand. "Then come to me, Diana."
11
Diana trembled at the sound of Ten's voice, a gentle velvet rasp, like a cat's tongue stroking her. For an instant she didn't know if she would have the strength to walk. But even as the thought came she was standing up, walking, closing the small distance that separated her from Ten. She put her hand in his. The warmth of his hard palm was like a flame against fingers chilled by nervousness.
Ten held out his other hand. A moment later, small cool fingers nestled against the cupped heat of his palm. He lifted Diana's hands to his mouth and breathed warmth over her skin before kissing her palms gently. The unexpected caress made Diana's breath break. Before the sweet sensations had run their course through her body, Ten was lowering her hands, releasing her from his warmth. Diana had asked to be kissed. He had kissed her.
She made a questioning sound that had more disappointment in it than she realized.
"Ten?"
"What?" he asked softly.
"Would you kiss me again?" she whispered.
Ten's smile made Diana want to curl up in his arms like a cat.
He held out his hands and once more felt her smooth, cool fingers come to rest within the curve of his palms.
"You're so warm," Diana said. She closed her eyes and let out her breath in a long sigh, openly savoring the simple touch of her skin against Ten's.
Diana's unguarded, sensual response sent a shock wave of heat through Ten. He hoped she had no idea how fiercely she aroused him with her unknowing sensuality and haunted eyes, her womanly curves badly concealed beneath a sweater big enough for him to wear, and her slender hands lying so trustingly within his.
Ten brought Diana's hands to his mouth and brushed a kiss into first one of her palms, then the other. The tiny sound she made at the touch of his lips was as much a reward as the warmth he could feel stealing softly beneath her skin. He lifted his head and looked at her. She was watching him with eyes that were luminous, approving. Then her dark lashes lowered and she returned the kisses he had given her, breathing a caress into the center of his palm.
"Thank you," Diana whispered.
"My pleasure."
She searched Ten's face with wide indigo eyes, hardly able to believe what her senses were telling her. He had enjoyed the undemanding caresses as much as she had.
"You mean that, don't you," she said finally. Ten nodded.
"It's a relief to find a man who doesn't want… everything."
An odd smile haunted Ten's lips for a moment. "Don't fool yourself, Diana. I want everything, but I'll never take any more than you give me. And I mean give willingly, not because I push you so hard on so many fronts at once that you don't know where to fight first."
Diana smiled uncertainly. "Does that mean you'll kiss me again?"
"I'll kiss you as many times as you want me to."
"And you won't push for more?"
"No."
"Even if you get aroused?" The stark question shocked Diana when she heard her own words, but it was too late to call them back.
"Honey," Ten said, his voice rich with rueful laughter, "if you were standing about two inches closer to me, you'd have the answer to your question."
Confusion showed on Diana's face. Without thinking, she looked down Ten's body. The evidence of his arousal was unmistakable and frankly intimidating. She looked up again, her face suddenly pale.
"Don't worry, honey," Ten said matter-of-factly. "I've been that way every night we've sat around talking and sorting through pieces of the past, and more often than not during the days, too."
"You have?" she asked faintly. "I didn't know."
"I did my best to make sure of that," Ten said dryly. "I'm only pointing it out now so that you'll know you don't have to be afraid of me when I'm aroused."
"But I didn't mean to. Believe me, Ten. I didn't mean anything of the sort!"
"I know. I can't keep myself from responding to you, but I can make damn sure I don't act on it."
"But if I didn't mean to, why…" Her voice faded. "Has it been so long since you've had a woman?"
Ten looked at Diana's confusion and didn't know whether to laugh or swear. Very lightly he stroked his index finger over the inside of her wrist. The touch was gentle but hardly soothing. He felt her pulse rate accelerate, which made his own quicken in response.
"Diana, I could have had a woman five seconds before I walk into a room where you are and I'd still want you. I admire courage, intelligence and a sense of humor. It didn't take long for me to find out that you've got plenty of all three, as well as a fine body you do your best to hide."
Color crept up Diana's cheeks, but she made no move to separate her hands from Ten's while he continued talking in the velvet tones that made her weak. "I've wanted you since the first day you were here, when you put your own uneasiness aside and helped me with that kitten."
Diana's eyes widened in surprise.
"I respect a woman's right to choose or refuse a man," Ten continued. "You made it clear that you were refusing. You're still making it clear. You're as safe as you want to be with me, no matter what kind of kissing or petting we do."
She barely heard what Ten was saying. She was still trying to absorb the realization that he was more aroused than Steve had ever been, yet Ten had made no move toward easing himself at her expense. Nor had he berated her for teasing him into such an uncomfortable state and then refusing to follow through.
Then the rest of what Ten was saying sank in: You're as safe as you want to be with me, no matter what kind of kissing or petting we do.
She didn't doubt it. Despite the provocation Baker had given-and the pothunters-Ten had never lost control over his own actions.
"Where did you learn such self-control?" Diana asked, watching Ten with dark, curious eyes.
"The same place I learned how to fight."
"That kind of training didn't do my father any good. Or Steve."
Ten banked the rage that came to him whenever he thought of a man hurting Diana. "They weren't men, honey. They were boys who never learned the most important part of a warrior's training-self-control. If a man doesn't control himself, someone else will. There are times and places where being out of control can cost a man his life. Your father was lucky. He was never in one of those places. As for Steve, if that fly-boy's luck holds, I'll never meet him."
Ten's voice was so caressing that for an instant the meaning of what he was saying didn't make any impact. When it did, Diana looked quickly at Ten's eyes. There was nothing of amusement or indulgence there, only the icy promise of retribution she had seen twice before in Ten's eyes-and each time a man had ended up flat on the ground with Ten towering over him.
"Now I've frightened you," Ten said, stepping back, releasing Diana. "I'd never hurt you, but after your experiences with the male of the species, I don't expect you to believe that." He turned toward the gooseneck lamp, reaching for the switch. "Let's take a look at those new red shards you got out of the carton." Ten hesitated, glancing at Diana over his shoulder. "Or would you feel more at ease if I left you to work alone?"