Angel. Barbara Taylor Bradford

said. Reaching out she touched his cheek, a smile striking her mouth as she did.

      He loved her smile. It was sweet, innocent, like a small child’s smile, and it illuminated her face, filled it with radiance. Taking hold of her shoulders, he drew her closer to him, brought his lips to hers and kissed her gently.

      Immediately, her arms went around his neck, and she returned his gentle kiss with such ardour it inflamed him. He put both his arms around her, held her closer to him, kissing her more passionately, letting his tongue linger against hers. They kissed this way for a long time, devouring each other’s mouths until they were breathless.

      It was Kevin who finally drew away. He loosened the top of her peach-satin robe and brought his face down to her breasts. She was wearing a matching peach-satin nightgown with thin shoelace straps, and he had no problem slipping his hand into the lace-trimmed bodice. When a breast sprang free from the nightgown, he took the small magenta-coloured nipple in his mouth and kissed it until she began to moan softly.

      Kevin paused in order to untie the robe completely, then he ran his hands down the length of her body, bent over her again and continued to caress and kiss each breast in turn. Eventually he raised his head and looked down at her. Her eyes were closed; her lips slightly parted, she was breathing rapidly. He saw how excited she was becoming.

      The expression on her face, one of abandonment mingled with ecstasy, turned him on, as did the feel of the satin nightgown under his hands. Lifting this, he smoothed one hand along her thigh until his fingers came to rest on the silky mound between her legs. As he moved his fingers against the hidden flesh, she parted her legs slightly, and he felt the sudden moistness, the heat flowing out of her.

      ‘Oh Kevin,’ she murmured, and opened her eyes.

      He raised a dark brow. ‘What is it?’

      ‘Don’t stop.’

      ‘I won’t,’ he promised, and bending his head again, he sought the core of her with his mouth, lavishing her with kisses as he slid his fingers inside her. He knew her body well after a year of making love with her, knew she was on the verge, ready to climax, and he wanted her to do so. But exactly when he thought this was going to happen, when he expected her to erupt with pleasure, she unexpectedly sat up.

      Grasping hold of his shoulders, she whispered hoarsely, ‘Please, Kevin, get undressed and come to bed. I want to feel you inside me.’

      ‘But I want to give you pleasure this way first.’

      ‘I know, and I want you to, and I want to do the same for you, but please, get undressed. Please.’

      Pushing himself to his feet and tossing his jacket onto a chair, he stepped out of his shoes, unzipped his trousers and stripped.

      Meanwhile, she gathered the bunch of manila folders, threw them off the bed and removed her satin robe.

      Kevin was across the room in two strides.

      Stretching out on the bed next to her, he took her in his arms, murmuring her name, nuzzling her neck. But after a moment or two he rolled over to his side, groped in the drawer of the bedside table for a condom. Damn things. He hated them. On the other hand, he was well aware of AIDS and what was going on out there. After Sunny had left his life, there had been other women from time to time, although no serious involvement. He was absolutely positive he was all right, but it was best to be careful, to take precautions for her sake. Kevin swallowed a sigh. This was a dangerous age they lived in. Sex and death walked side by side these days.

      She stroked his back as he fumbled with the packet, then began to kiss him between his shoulder blades, whispering his name over and over, telling him how excited she was, how much she wanted him. Her words were erotic, tantalizing, and his erection grew harder, and suddenly he had no problem dealing with the rubber sheath.

      Turning to her, he kissed her on the mouth. Once again, after a few passionate kisses, he let his lips trail down over her exposed breasts. Her nipples were erect, growing tauter under his mouth, sending a thrill through him. He ran his hands down over her lithe, satin-clad body. The fabric was sensual, just as she was, her body heat increasing as he lowered his head to kiss her stomach and thighs through the thin material.

      Impatiently, he pulled at the nightgown, and she sat up, helped him to take it off. Her eyes, impaling his, were full of emotion, her desire naked on her face. She lay down again, and he savoured her beautiful body with his eyes, admiring the tautness of the pale ivory skin, smooth and sleek like the satin nightgown he had just taken off.

      He knew she wanted his hands on her, and so he let his fingers explore that tender and secret part of her, at first moving them gently on the fleshy core, gradually increasing the pressure until she was trembling under his touch. Crouching over her, Kevin brought his mouth down to her thighs, began to kiss her, slipped his fingers into her. Within seconds she stiffened; a deep spasm ran through her and she climaxed, a moan trickling out of her throat, her body throbbing with intense pleasure.

      ‘Kevin,’ she said at last, her voice so low he could hardly hear it. ‘Oh, Kevin, darling.’

      Kevin threw himself up along the bed, in order to rest his head against hers on the pillow. He murmured, ‘Did I please you?’

      ‘You always do. And you always have, from the very first time. There’s never been anyone like you.’ She sat up, adopted a kneeling position, stared down into his dark eyes, smoothing one finger over his black eyebrows, and then his lips, and with a small smile of pleasure she lowered her mouth to his, kissing him tenderly.

      Wanting her so much he could hardly stand it, Kevin pulled her on top of him almost roughly, continuing to kiss her and fondle her breasts. As always, she met his kisses with equal fervour, but suddenly she leaned back on her haunches, bent over him, began to kiss his chest and his belly, running the tip of her tongue over his body until he thought he was going to explode.

      Swiftly he drew her up to rest beside him, lay on top of her and, bracing his hands on either side of her, he entered her with some force, moving against her, wanting to satisfy her. Wrapping her legs around his back, she clung to him, moving in rhythm with him, but he was aware she was holding back.

      ‘Come to me,’ he breathed against her face.

      ‘No,’ she whispered back, ‘I’m waiting for you.’ Yet as she was speaking a deep trembling seized her, the heat flowed out of her, enveloping him, and she cried, ‘Kevin!’

      Her reaction to him never failed to excite him, and as she continued to move against him he could no longer control himself. ‘Oh God, Nell, I’m coming,’ he gasped. ‘Oh, Nell! Oh, Nell!’

      She lay within the circle of his arms, her head resting on his chest, her eyes closed, her breathing light and even.

      Kevin glanced down at her, half smiling to himself. With her he enjoyed the aftermath of lovemaking as much as the sexual act itself. He was as relaxed as she was, and at ease with her, and with himself, was always comfortable in her presence. Perhaps this was because he had known her since she was seventeen. Like his sister Rosie, her best friend, she was thirty-one now, but at this particular moment she looked much younger, more like a woman in her early twenties, her figure girlish, her skin youthful, her face without a line.

      Nell Jeffrey had become very special to him, and whenever he was with her he felt renewed. Every day the city claimed a little bit more of him, but when he was with Nell she somehow managed to claim part of him back, or so it seemed to him, and without even knowing she was doing so. She was restoring him to himself, in a way.

      To a certain extent, Kevin was able to lose himself in Nell, and when he did some of the pain went away, and his heartache and sadness about Sunny dimmed. In any case, it was as if Sunny was dead, considering her terrible condition, and life was for the living, wasn’t it? Certainly he had come to understand this very well during the past year, especially since Nell had become such an essential part of his life.

      These days he found himself thinking less and less about Sunny; six years was a long time, after all. And anyway, about nine