" Just barely. "

Nik's body whispered against hers as he slid along the bed until his face was level with hers.

He loved looking at her, loved seeing the different emotions play across her face. Wonder, desire, need. And ecstasy Ecstasy had to be his favorite. Because he had created it for her, offering it to her like a bouquet of the rarest of roses.

He brushed the hair from her cheek. "The next time," he promised, " "

we're going to make love someplace where there isn't anyone else around. "

There isn 't going to be a next time.

Sara tried to focus her mind on what he was saying. "

He rolled on top of 1>er, balancing himself on his elbows. Looking into her eyes. "Because I want to hear you call out my name when I make love with you : '

She slid her tongue slowly along her lips. She saw raw desire flame in his eyes. "Nik." It was barely a whisper. It was all she could manage.

He shook his head, curling his fingers along her cheek. " " With more feeling. "

She smiled then. It was so genuine, so guileless it took his breath away. " " That would require more air in my lungs, and you stole it from me. " " " Then we're even. "

He laced his hands with hers as he positioned himself over her. Sara parted her legs for him, her heart hammering wildly in antic.i.p.ation.

His mouth covered hers when he entered her. Nik felt her sharp intake of breath on his tongue, tasted it in his mouth.

It excited him beyond belief. ,

He couldn t help himself. He d sworn that he would make love to her slowly, patiently, but he broke his promise to both of them. Pa.s.sion rose up and seized him so tightly in the palm of its hand that all he could do was give in to it.

The rhythm it evoked took him and he rode her hard. That she met him movement for movement only increased his ardor. In a final burst over the summit, they found their salvation together.

Exhausted, Nik could only muster enough energy to slide to the side so that he wouldn't crush her. The way he felt right now, his elbows couldn't even begin to support his weight.

Please, I want this feeling to go on. Please.

But even as Sara prayed, she could feel the euphoria leaving her, taking with it its protective cloak. The cloak that kept reality away.

She shivered.

He could feel her withdrawing even though she hardly moved. Why, Sara ? Why ?

Nik turned his face toward her and managed to keep the concern from his eyes. He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"That was a nice overture. If you give me a minute, the curtain will go up on the main performance."

Their eyes inches apart, Sara stared at him incredulously.

She felt as if all of her had been reduced to the consistency of overcooked tapioca pudding. Not being a physical weakling, she'd a.s.sumed that he would be in a similar condition I " " You're kidding: '.

Nik grinned at the unabashed wonder in her voice. He managed to raise himself up on one elbow. The vantage point served to inspire him. He had a better view of her this way. And he would never tire of looking at her. " " There are two things, I promise you, that I will never kid about: '

She ran the tip of her finger over his lips. "Food," she guessed as a smile lifted the corners of her mouth.

He barely nodded. "And making love with you: He pressed I>er fingers to his lips and kissed them with such feeling that desire was instantly reborn in her. " Not necessarily m that order. "

He believed it, she thought. At least for now. And for now, so did she.

Tomorrow there would be other truths, the way there were for her parents. The way it was for her mother. But tomorrow was still a long way off. And she still had most of tonight ;' Sara slipped her hands around his neck. "Put your money where your mouth is: '

He laughed softly, gathering I>er to him. "I'd rather put my mouth where you are."

She shifted her hands through his hair, memorizing every moment, every texture, every taste, and filing it away. For tomorrow and all the empty tomorrows that would follow. "n.o.body's stopping you."

For now, she thought silently.

And then Sara ceased thinking at all.

"Pretty good news, eh, Sara?" Feeling like a million dollars, Raymond leaned back in the car and let a sigh of relief escape.

Sara had just spent the past forty-five minutes with her father at his cardiologist's. The doctor had given him a very favorable prognosis.

From all indications-after the extensive tests that had been performed both at the hospital and in his office-it appeared, Dr. Brice told them, that Raymond

Santangelo would probably outlive him.

Sara grinned. There was no need to feign her relief. "The best."

Raymond watched the scenery pa.s.s by with the renewed appreqiation of a man who had been given a second chance. When he thought of the years he had wasted..

But all that was in the past. He had the rest of his life to enjoy things.

He turned to Sara. "I don't mind telling you that I was pretty worried back there." He saw concern crease Sara's brow, and he hurried to explain. "I mean, I was feeling okay, but you never know...." His voice drifted off as he thought about it. " " I was feeling pretty much okay before the operation, too. Right up until the last week or so. " A self-deprecating smile curved his lips as he remembered. " I guess, looking back, it was a pretty lucky thing I talked to Madigan.

Sara eased her way out of the medical complex and turned onto a main thoroughfare just as the signal turned red. " " Kane? "

Raymond turned to see if any policeman was in sight. His daughter's driving methods weren't exactly orthodox. " " Yeah. Nik's brother-in-law. "

She wondered if it was her imagination or if her father had placed extra emphasis on Nik's name. " " What's he got to do with it? "

"Everything," Raymond said emphatically. "He's the one who made me go to the doctor." He laughed dryly. "Gave me the option of going on my own or going on report He doesn't mince words."

Sara brought the car to a semi halt at the red stop sign, glanced both ways and continued going. Her father frowned at the California stop, but he was feeling too good to reprimand her.

"No, he doesn't," she agreed. "I guess I owe him my thanks: '

Raymond laughed as he thought of Kane's receptiveness to that. "His kind doesn't take well to being thanked. Just like Nik." He stole a look at his daughter's profile. "You know, with this clean bill of health the doctor just gave me, maybe we could take Nik up on his offer."

Sara raised a brow in her father's direction as she entered the residential tract. "What offer?"