"Eleanor..." He hesitated, and she felt his other hand come up to tilt her face up to his. "I need you...just for a few minutes..." She read the hunger in his voice, the ache for what he"d lost, the grief... "Take what you need, Curry," she said quietly, her body yielding to his in an unspoken invitation. "I won"t hurt you..." he whispered unsteadily as he bent to her upturned mouth, feeling it open deliciously as his lips touched it so that the restraint went out of him almost immediately. He lifted her across his knees and kissed her like a drowning man who never expected to feel a woman's softness again. There was desperation in the rough mouth invading hers, urgency. His arms contracted and hurt her, bringing a soft moan from her lips."