As soon as their lips touched Faye knew what had been missing from Kendall's kiss. The opposition of her mind meant nothing while Garth could still cause vibrations of pleasure to go through her at his lightest touch. Anger at the way he simply took what he wanted warred with a pleasure that her body had once known, and for which it still yearned.
She couldn't cope with her feelings because they reminded her how totally he could possess her. Worse still, they brought back the hot, sweet nights of their early love. With that love gone, it was cruel that her flesh still responded to him.
'Let me go, Garth,' she told him, eyes blazing.
'Why should I? This was what you wanted the other night.'
'Like you, I've changed my mind. Let me go now.'
'Am I trespassing on Kendall Haines's property? Do you think I care?'
'I'm not his property, and I'm not yours.'
'You were mine once, because that was how you wanted it. You gave yourself to me completely, with trust and love. Do you remember that, Faye?'
'Don't,' she whispered.
'Why not? Do you think I'm going to let you wipe our past away as though it never existed? It did exist. It lived, and it's part of us both, however much you wish it wasn't.'
She struggled to speak firmly. She wouldn't let him win. 'I don't remember anything, Garth. The past is dead.'
'Damn you,' he said softly.
He took possession of her mouth, and the pleasure was so poignant that she gasped. The hand she put up was meant to push him away but somehow it ended by caressing him instead, fingers in his hair, turning and twisting, enjoying the springy feel.
He tugged at the belt of her bathrobe until it came loose and he could pull the robe from her shoulders and embrace her totally. Half knowing what she did, Faye began to open the buttons of his shirt. She wanted everything about him: his agility and strength, his skill and tenderness, all the things that had once been hers. So much had gone for ever but there was still the pleasure of clinging to him, feeling his hands wandering over her, making her come alive.
Garth held her against him, looking down into her flushed, dreamy face.
'You remember,' he said arrogantly. 'You pretend not to, but you do. You remember everything, how much I want you, how much you want me-'
'It's not true,' she gasped.
'I can make it true. I'm still there, aren't I, Faye? Deny it as much as you like, I'm still there.'
'Yes,' she said in a helpless whisper. 'But, Garth, please-this isn't the answer.'
'What is the answer?' he demanded between kisses. 'Cosy little chats to relive every detail of our mistakes? Who needs words when we can talk like this?'
He smothered her mouth with his own, silencing all further argument. Faye could feel the last of her reason slipping away in the tide of passion that flowed over her.
She felt the silk of the counterpane beneath her back, the slight sinking of the mattress as Garth lay down beside her. His eyes seemed to feast on her, like a starving man presented with a banquet, and he ran a hand appreciatively over her slim frame.
'You managed the other seven pounds, I see,' he murmured admiringly. 'I had a feeling you'd do what you set your mind to. Looks great.'
He didn't wait for her to speak, but kissed her again. Longing flooded her. It was useless to protest to herself. She wanted Garth as much as he wanted her, and now she could only yield with a deep sigh of fulfilment.
He groaned as he pulled her against him, enfolding her in his arms and running his hands over her beautiful form. Their hearts and minds might have parted, but on this level nothing had changed. Ten years ago their physical harmony had been immediate and ecstatic. It was the same now. He knew how to please her, and he used his knowledge to the full.
Although it was their physical need that drove them, he was still the considerate lover that she remembered. He knew how to wait, to give her time to feel easy with him again. Looking up, she met his eyes and found them brooding over her like a miser with recovered treasure.
'You're still mine,' he murmured. 'You always were mine, and you always will be.'
She knew she should dispute this, but the delight flooding through her left no room for argument. Whatever the future held, she was his at this moment and her heart knew it.
The time they'd spent apart had brought its changes and as lovers they were strangers again. But they'd been strangers the first time they made love and it had been wonderful. Now Faye felt almost as she had then, breathless with eagerness, not sure what to expect of him but hoping for everything.
She thought she surprised a moment of hesitancy in his face, as though he, too, were moving cautiously as he reclaimed unfamiliar ground. She knew that look. It meant he wanted to be reassured. So she did so, touching his face gently, one of their old signals, and the result was all she'd hoped. His embrace grew stronger, more confident and possessive. Just as it had been that first time.
And something else was the same, the beauty and wonder of becoming one with him. Once she'd been sure that life could hold no more happiness than this. Now she knew for certain that it was true. The years without him had been a lonely ache of desolation, and secretly she'd always been waiting to come home.
There was a new edge to their passion. Now she, too, had confidence. She knew herself as a woman who could drive this attractive man wild. What was happening had always been bound to happen.
She murmured his name and he looked at her quickly. 'Faye?' he said. 'Faye?' It was a question, as though he thought she might vanish from his arms.
She held him close, demanding more and more, and he gave freely and bountifully. Their climax was a burst of dazzling light, a flowering of the world that left her exhausted, trembling and utterly satiated.
She could see that it was the same with him. He was gasping slightly from the lengths to which she'd driven him and his face registered pure amazement. Faye wondered if her own face revealed her feeling of triumph.
She looked at him out of eyes that were hazy with fulfilment. Her whole body was relaxed as it hadn't been for two years. The world was a good place after all.
'I didn't mean that to happen,' he said slowly, watching her.
'Didn't you?' she asked softly. 'I thought you'd meant it to happen from the start.'
'I made you a promise-'
Oh, yes, she thought vaguely. The promise.
'It's too late to worry about that,' she murmured, wondering why he was making a fuss about it. Unconsciously, her lips curved into a blissful smile.
'Don't smile at me like that,' he said hoarsely. 'Not unless you want to drive me mad. Faye!'
He took hold of her shoulders to give her a little shake, but he didn't let go. He couldn't. The moment he touched her they both knew their desire was far from exhausted. And this time it was even more irresistible, because of what they'd both discovered.
He said her name once more, before his lips descended on her mouth. Faye gave a sigh of anticipation, and it all began again.
Garth was already downstairs when Faye descended next morning. She waited for him to look up, for the consciousness that would be between them. Perhaps he would smile.
But there was only trouble in his eyes when he raised his head. 'I owe you an apology,' he said in a low voice.
'An-?'
'Look, I know what you're going to say. I broke my word. You told me to stay away from you or the deal would be off. Please-' He raised his hand when she tried to speak.
Faye's voice faded at once. She couldn't have forced the words out through the stone that was encasing her heart.
'Just hear me out,' Garth insisted. 'I swear that nothing like it will ever happen again. I was in a bad state last night, business worries, nothing serious, but I wasn't myself. I'm sure you're angry, Faye, but there's no need to be. It's over, finished. I'll draw a line under it, if you will.'
'By all means, let's draw a line under it,' she said. 'Nothing could suit me better.'