Spent, she sagged to the floor. He lowered himself slowly onto her, kissing her mouth, her brow, her closed eyes.
Her lashes swept up. And Hayley knew in that instant she'd already fallen in love with him again. It was a battle she'd tried fighting, but lost the instant he'd first touched her.
"We're better with age," he said, and she touched his lips. He caught one fingertip between his teeth.
"Yeah." Her smile was slight. Oh, the things he showed only her, she thought.
"I'd like to stay right like this," he said, easing back.
She went with him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I love it when you misbehave."
"And you're just so hard to coax, huh?" He grinned and glanced around. Clothes lay in rumpled heaps around them. He picked up her satin panties, winging them on his fingertip. She gave him a playful shove, then shifted off his lap.
Nash flinched, the separation almost painful. He gazed up at her as she stood, her bare breasts jiggling in his face.
"Come on, cowboy. We aren't done yet." She turned and walked toward his bedroom.
For a second Nash couldn't move, entranced as he watched her go, deliciously naked except for a delicate pair of high heels.
She was the hottest creature on the planet, he decided, and struggled to his feet. He considered gathering up their clothes, then just hitched up his trousers, and followed her.
She was right. They weren't done. And this time he'd make slow luscious love to her, in his ancestor's bed, where they belonged.
Hayley sat on the far corner of the huge four-poster bed, watching Nash sleep.
She loved him. She known it all along and couldn't say whether or not she ever fell out of love with him, but this time it was different. This time she loved him with her soul and knew no matter what occurred, she'd still love him. And she hated that she had to leave. But she knew that if residency was anything like her internship, then her days would be filled with long hours, little sleep and studying. People might call her Doctor, but she wasn't there yet, though she'd had more training than most at this point in her career. It hadn't even taken off yet, she thought. She didn't know if she could handle more complications in her life.
But she wanted Nash, and if this was all she'd get for now, then she'd savor every moment. He stirred and rolled over, flinging his arm above his head, and her gaze drifted over his body, bare but for the sheet pooled at his waist. He was an incredible specimen of man, she thought, his wide shoulders nearly covering the pillow. His stomach was tight and flat, a sleek six-pack of rippling muscles itching to be touched.
She shifted, her body gloriously tender from the past few hours, then eased across the bed and down beside him.
"I knew you were still here." His arm wrapped around her, his hand riding the curve of her hip. "There's only right now." He opened his eyes, his gaze searching hers. "I love you," she said.
He simply stared back, his hand trembling a bit as he turned to face her and brushed the hair from her temple. "I'm in love with you, too."
Her lips curved gently. His claim spread over her like a warm blanket. "I was hoping for that."
"I never fell out of love with you."
Her eyes burned, and Hayley knew there was no other place for her to be than right here. She pushed him onto his back, half over him, and kissed him softly, a play of lips, a swipe of her tongue, and she rejoiced in his trembling.
Then her tongue snaked over his nipple and Nash let out a low growl.
Hayley laughed and slid her hand down his taut stomach and under the sheets. She found him, warm and hard.
"What are you doing, woman?"
She grinned and ducked under the covers. He arched and swore, then sank into the mattress as her mouth took possession.
"Want more?" she asked.
His hands fisted. "Yes, ahh … no … good grief!"
"Lost for words, darling?"
"Lost is more like it." He tossed back the covers.
She smiled, catlike, and took him into her mouth again, a devilish gleam in her eyes.
Nash couldn't take it, and he grabbed her, flipping her on the bed facedown. "You'll pay dearly."
"So you say."
His hands mapped her from thighs to throat, and he levered her to her knees, wrapping her fingers over the carved headboard. Then, his knees between hers, he slid into her, wild heat surrounding him. "I get harder just being inside you," he whispered, shaping her breasts, toying with her nipples.
"I know, I feel it." She pushed away, then eased back.
Nash took complete possession, their position offering him a playground of womanly softness. He plunged into her and plunged his hand between her spread thighs, loving her cries and gasps, the way she bucked and called his name in a long moan.