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monitor. “I didn’t hear you come down the stairs.” Peter cleared his throat.
    Meghan bent and turned on a side lamp next to the couch. “I missed you.”
    Peter held out his arms. “I had work to do, and I didn’t want to disturb you.”
    She settled into his lap, and he nuzzled her neck, immediately making her want. She missed the tickle of his moustache against her skin, but he had mentioned how much it bothered him. She wasn’t surprised he’d returned home without it. “What kind of work couldn’t wait until the morning light?” She turned to look at the monitor, but he cupped her face and drew her into a long, deep kiss that left her breathless.
    “Nothing important. Just another project.” Peter reached around her and shut the computer down. “Trust me, babe, it’s nothing you want to hear about. Boring engineering stuff that nearly put me back to sleep.”
    “No, probably not.” She nipped at his bottom lip, sucking it into her mouth and teasing it with her tongue. “I’m tired of work keeping you from me.” Her teeth grazed the cleft in his chin, and he hissed. “You’re crazy for having driven through the storm, instead of waiting to fly home.” Her fingers tangled in the soft fuzz of his chest. “But I’m so glad you did.”
    “I couldn’t spend another night away from you. I missed you so much.” His hand slid up her thigh and pushed away the robe. “I thought about you while I was away and brought you a gift.” He nuzzled behind her ear. “We got a little preoccupied last night, and I didn’t get a chance to give it to you. It’s on the counter in the kitchen. I was going to bring it up with me when I came back to bed.”
    “I love presents.” Meghan tried to stand, but he held her firm in his lap.
    “Later.” His fingers tangled in her pubic hair, and she wiggled against the flannel of his pajama bottoms, the heat of his erection filtering through the material.
    Peter’s voice was low in her ear. “How about if I take you back upstairs and make you my love slave?”
    “I’m at your mercy.”
    Peter pulled away, his eyes searching her face. “You mean it? Completely mine?”
    Meghan could see, even in the feeble light, something truly naughty twinkled in the depths of his eyes. She had liked their little fantasy role play last night. Exploring more of her naughty side might be fun. She giggled. “Completely and without reservation.”
    Peter scooped her up and carried her to the stairs. “I don’t know what to use for a whip, but I’m sure the belts from our bathrobes would hold you and…”
    She grabbed the newel post and pulled him to a stop. “You’re joking, right?” The words came out on a quiver of disbelief. Peter set her feet down one stair above him, her eyes level with the confusion filling his.
    “Meggie, I … well, last night you seemed so into it. The whole spanking, naughty girl thing, I…”
    Heat flushed her cheeks. “Peter, making love in the kitchen is one thing. But playing tortured slave girl to your master fetish, well … I’m just not sure that’s something well-adjusted adults do.”
    Peter flinched as if he’d been struck. “No, it’s not like that.”
    She couldn’t hide the disgust contorting her face.
    “Forget it.” Peter backed down the stairs, putting the banister between them like a shield. “I just thought it might be fun to try something different. But the way you make it sound all sordid and dirty … well, it’s lost all its appeal, anyway. Forget I mentioned it.”
    He stormed into the kitchen, leaving Meghan to battle her uncertainty alone.
    * * * *
    Meghan waved absently at Peter as he backed the rental car away from the shop. The morning she had hoped would be filled with steamy lovemaking had become an uncomfortable morass of polite grunts and one word answers. Even the sun and milder temperatures couldn’t brighten her foul mood.
    Unlocking the door, Meghan made her way around the myriad Christmas trees