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Page 153
became aware of how the unevenness of his breathing seemed to direct the irregular cadence of her own.
As the massage crept down Abby's back, and then lower, she stiffened. She wanted him to go on, but she was afraid. Nothing in her upbringing had prepared her for the feelings that inundated her. She had heard hushed whispers of what went on between a man and a woman. Proper ladies waited until marriage, and even then they did not enjoy what went on between husband and wife.
But, oh, the heat and the yearning that coursed through her! Was she odd in this as well? There was a burning inside her that threatened to explode into an uncontrolled conflagration, a throbbing in her most private areas that seemed to generate an unnatural yet quite pleasant moistness.
She pushed closer to Mike, willing him to continuebut he didn't. He ceased all movement. Then, as slowly and deliberately as if the effort caused him untold agony, he pulled away. ''I'm sorry," he said once more. "I shouldn't have . . . did I hurt you?"
Abby, her breath still ragged, said softly, "Your touch did not hurt me, Mike."
There was a silence. Then Mike said, "But my words before did."
She said nothing.
"Abby, what do you want from me?" His voice was a sharp cry, his handsome face a mask contorted by agony in the faint light from the door-

 
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