“Your place or mine?” Larry asked gently.
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter,” she said hopelessly.
“We’ll go to my place.”
So he was not totally insensitive. Or else he was afraid to compete with the shadow
of William Fraser.
She watched him as he deftly tooled the car through the early evening traffic. No, he
was not afraid of anything. That was part of his goddamn attraction.
She tried to tell herself that she was free to say no to him, free to walk away. How
could she love William Fraser and feel this way about Larry?
“If it helps any,” Larry said quietly, “I’m as nervous as you are.”
Catherine looked over at him. “Thanks,” she said. He was lying, of course. He
probably said that to all his victims as he took them up to his bed to seduce them. But at
least he wasn’t gloating about it. What bothered her most was that she was betraying Bill
Fraser. He was too dear a man to hurt, and this was going to hurt him very much.
Catherine knew that and knew that what she was doing was wrong and senseless, but it
was as though she had no will of her own anymore.
They had reached a pleasant residential area with large, shady trees lining the street.
Larry pulled the car up in front of an apartment building. “We’re home,” he said quietly.
Catherine knew that this was her final chance to say no, to tell him to keep away
from her. She watched silently as Larry came around and opened the door. She got out of
the car and walked into his apartment building.
Larry’s apartment had been decorated for a man. It had strong solid colors, and
masculine-looking furniture.
As they walked in, Larry took off Catherine’s coat and she shivered.
“Are you cold?” he asked.
“No.”
“Would you like a drink?”
“No.”
Gently he took her in his arms, and they kissed. It was as though her body were being
set aflame. Without a word Larry led her into the bedroom. There was a growing urgency
as they both silently undressed. She lay on the bed naked, and he moved beside her.
“Larry—” but his lips were on hers, and his hands began to move down her body,
gently exploring, and she forgot everything except the pleasure that was happening to her,
and her hands began to grope for him. And she felt him hot and hard and pulsating and his
fingers were inside her, opening her up gently and lovingly and he was on top of her and
in her, and there was an exquisite joy that she had never dreamed possible and then they
were together, moving faster and faster in a fantastic rhythm that rocked the room and the