Witchcraft

together?" Cavenaugh set down his wineglass with an audible snap. "Don't twist my words, Kim!"
    "I'm not twisting them. I'm only trying to figure out what they mean!" He surged to his feet, striding over to stand in front of the hearth. With one hand resting on the mantel he turned to glower at her. "I don't see how I can make the matter much clearer. I'm asking you to marry me. I'm sorry if I'm botching up the job but this is the first time I've tried it."
    "You're nearly forty years old and you've never asked a woman to marry you?"
    she asked disbelievingly. "Up until two years ago I wasn't particularly interested in marriage. There was no room in my life for a permanent woman. Since then I've been too busy trying to put the winery back on its feet financially," he explained harshly. "And now you've come to realize that it's time you married," she concluded with a nod of comprehension. "You have, after all, a responsibility to continue the family line, right? People will expect you to marry. You'll need a wife to lend the proper background to your role as an established, prosperous vintner. And, of course, I now have a thoroughly respectable background myself, thanks to your tracking down my grandparents." He watched her through narrowed eyes, his lean body dangerously poised. "I warned you not to twist my words, Kim."
    "I was just trying to get all the details straight," she flung back, feeling increasingly incensed. "So far I can see what's in it for you, but I'm not sure what's in it for me."
    "You need a husband!" he blazed. "You need me!"
    "I do?" He moved toward her with unnerving intent, reaching down to pull her up out of the chair.
    Cavenaugh's emerald eyes reminded Kim of a bird of prey, and quite suddenly she knew she had goaded him too far. " Cavenaugh , wait ... I"
    His hands closed around her waist, holding her securely. "Little witch," he muttered, "you don't know when to stop, do you? Did you think you could just sit there and provoke me indefinitely?" Before she could respond, his mouth was crushing hers. Kimberly stood trapped in his arms and let the storm of his emotion break over her. The frustration and implacable determination she sensed in him told her more than words could have just how close he was to the end of his tether.
    The strange thing was that her instincts were to yield and soothe rather than resist. Kimberly parted her lip s obediently when he demanded entrance to the warmth of her mouth and she let her body sway against his. Cavenaugh moved his hands up to cradle her head. His low groan of need and hunger reverberated through his chest, touching her at a deep level of awareness. He wanted her. She knew that with a certainty that went beyond words. His tongue probed deeply, simulating the primitive rhythm of lovemaking until Kimberly moaned softly in response. Then she felt his teeth nip at her lower lip with passionate care. Keeping one palm wrapped around the nape of her neck, Cavenaugh ran his other hand down her back to her buttocks, pulling her up and into the heat of his lower body. "You have a talent for driving me crazy," he rasped against the curve of her throat. " Cavenaugh , listen to me." Kimberly pleaded with the last remnants of her intelligence. "This is dangerous.
    Neither of us is in any condition to handle a major discussion about our future right now. I'm sorry if I've provoked you. But the truth is both of us need sleep and ... and some time to think. We're exhausted and we've been through some very traumatic scenes in the past twenty-four hours."
    "I've tried to reason with you," he growled, his fingers on the buttons of her blouse. "And I've tried to set up an unthreatening situation. But you're determined to resist every inch of the way."
    "That's not true!"
    "Yes, it is. But I know one way you won't fight me. I said earlier, when you're in my arms, you give yourself completely. I'm going to make love to you until you can't say anything but ', Cavenaugh ,' until you're shivering and hot and completely mine." His hands were moving inside the parted edges of her shirt. "Is this what I could expect if I agree to your proposal? If I marry you will you immediately forget your promise to give me some time before demanding your conjugal rights?" There was a moment of lethal stillness.
    Kimberly realized belatedly that she was holding her breath. And then Cavenaugh slowly raised his head to look down at her with eyes that were dark and dangerously enigmatic. "Lady,