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resistance at first. Whatever she had been expecting, she told herself, it wasn't this. Or was it? The tension between herself and Jacob had been sizzling just under the surface since she had first walked into the study in her parents' home and seen him waiting in the shadows.
    She silently admitted that she had been far more shaken by seeing Jacob Stone again after two years than she had been by the news of Damon Morrell's duplicity.
    She made a small sound as he took her mouth, butwhatever it was she was trying to say, and she wasn't too sure herself just what that was, it was lost in the intimate embrace. Jacob's mouth was warm and heavy and seductively demanding against her own. This was only the second time he had ever kissed her, and Emily knew now she had been quietly starving for him.
    He kissed her as if he had been anticipating the prospect for a long, long time. There was a barely leashed hunger in him that told its own tale.
    It was that hunger that made the biggest impact on Emily. It was the masculine version of her own long-suppressed desire, and it overwhelmed her. She had never experienced anything quite like it. She knew then that whatever else might be true about Jacob, one thing was certain. He had said he wanted her, and now, at last, as his kiss seared through her, she believed him.
    "Say my name." Jacob's mouth slid tantalizingly over Emily's lips. Gently he outlined her full lower lip with the tip of his tongue until she gasped and parted her lips for him. "Say it, Emily. It's been so long since I've heard you whisper it the way you did that last night two years ago."
    "Jacob." His name was a soft sigh of uncertainty and excitement and longing that had been pent up far too long. "Oh, Jacob."
    "You've got a voice like raw silk. I've never forgotten it." Jacob lifted his head slightly so that his mouth hovered barely an inch above hers. He looked down into her bemused face and drew a slow, sensual finger along the delicate line of her jaw. "If I had taken you two years ago instead of trying to be so damned gallant, maybe everything would be different now."
    "What would have been different?"
    "You would already belong to me. We wouldn't have to waste any more time going through the rituals."
    "What rituals?" Emily searched his cool gray eyes.
    "The ones designed to bring you and me together. Emily, I walked away last time because I thought I was all wrong for you."
    "Nothing's changed," she pointed out breathlessly. "You're still just as tough and ruthless and cynical as you always were."
    Jacob's mouth tilted slightly at the corner. "I might not have changed, but you have. And that, I think, is going to make all the difference."
    "What makes you think I've changed?"
    His mouth curved faintly. "I saw you in action tonight when your father delivered the news about
Morrell. There's a new strength in you that wasn't there two years ago."
    "Assertiveness training," she announced proudly. "I took some classes."
    Jacob's eyes reflected his amusement. "I think it's more likely you've finally come into your own. Seeing you now after all this time makes me realize that I was wrong when I thought you needed someone softer and more easygoing than me. You need someone as strong or stronger than you are."
    "If I'm so tough and strong, then it follows that I no longer need you or anyone else trying to run my life for me," Emily parried.
    Jacob grinned. "You may be a lot stronger than you once were, but that doesn't mean you aren't still a little naive. Parts of you may have changed, Emily, but not everything. Not the basics. You're still very soft and sweet under that new veneer. The fact that someone like Morrell could come so close to using you proves that when it comes to judging people you're still innocent in a lot of ways. It's nothing to be ashamed of."
    "Good, because I'm not feeling particularly ashamed." That was a lie. She was furious with herself for having been fool enough to get involved with Damon