A sunbeam slipped through the half-drawn curtains. Susan surfaced slowly — to warmth, to the weight of a gaze on her bare skin, to the blanket already eased aside. Then to Alan's lips, gentle on hers; then to his tongue at the tip of her breast, coaxing her the rest of the way awake. She sighed softly. His hand came up to stroke her hair, and she felt his mouth find the pulse at her throat and linger there, as though he meant to keep it. She opened her eyes.

"Alan!" she murmured, blinking quickly.

"Why the blush, dear?" He smiled. "On account of my shameless state?"

Susan went redder still, her hand groping instinctively for the blanket.

"I'm sorry, but you still make me shy!" Trembling, she turned her face away. Alan laid his hand over hers. His lips traced her neck, sending sweet shivers through her hungry body.

"Then allow me to make you bolder!" he said.

His fingers found her, slick and swollen. Susan arched and clutched at his shoulders. She moaned as Alan slid lower, his morning stubble rasping the smooth, oversensitive skin of her belly. She cried out when he kissed her most intimate place.

"Alan, please!" she moaned — though what exactly she was pleading for, she couldn't have said. His tongue danced devilishly: knowing, lazy, shameless. Her bare feet shifted of their own accord; her hips began to circle. Then Alan slid up her body, his lips finding hers — and she could feel he was at the very edge of his patience, burning like a furnace. He caught her hands, raised them, and laced his fingers through hers.

"Look at me!" he begged. Susan opened her eyes and wrapped her long legs around his waist. With one strong thrust Alan was inside her, and then he moved with exquisite care. Susan arched to welcome him. It was nothing like the night before — no urgency, no hunger; he moved as if they had all the time in the world, and she let the ecstasy take her completely. Her head swam as his mouth crushed against hers, muffling his own cry of release.

She lay beneath him utterly spent, her fingers idly stroking his shoulders and his hair.

"If I'd had any resistance left, I'd never have done that!" she said lazily. Alan shifted his weight onto his hands.

"Done what — made love with me?" he asked.

"Yes... and fallen for you!"

He lifted his head from her breast and looked at her.

"Then marry me!"

"Don't spoil everything! We're so good just as we are!"

Alan did not look charmed. He pulled a sour face and knitted his brows.

"I don't see the problem. Didn't you say, two minutes ago, that you love me?"

"I said I'd fallen for you!" Susan shook her head.

"And what, pray, is the difference?" he asked — and he seemed to mean it.

"Falling for someone passes. It's brief, and it's shallow — attraction, and a little tenderness. Loving someone is the part of a relationship that lasts."

Alan nodded, hesitated, then shook his head and looked her in the eye.

"A truly staggering piece of analysis! And you work this out now!" He rolled onto his back beside her. "Explain it properly, if you'd be so kind!"

"I'm saying I've fallen for you, Alan — no question. But I don't know yet whether I love you! I'm not ready to bind myself, not yet!"

"But you're carrying my child, for God's sake! That's a fairly solid reason to bind ourselves!" he burst out.

"Enough! I'm starving!" She wrapped the blanket around herself and got out of bed.

"You'll have to decide eventually!"

"And you need to keep your strength up!" Susan called from the bathroom.

Alan sprang out of bed and followed her, still simmering by the sound of it. But whatever he had meant to say, it seemed to leave him the moment he saw her under the shower. He stepped in behind her under the spray and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Are you implying I go weak whenever you pounce on me, dear?" he whispered in her ear.

"Alan, right now I am genuinely hungry — for food!"

"Ah, well! Considering the exertions of last night — and this morning..." He kissed her warm shoulder. "I can imagine!"

Susan smiled and slipped deftly out of his arms. She wrapped her wet body in a short silk robe, smoothed back her blonde hair, and went to the kitchen. While Alan finished in the bathroom, she switched on the coffee maker and threw together some sandwiches. She was laying the table when he walked in, freshly shaven, a towel knotted around his waist.

Susan bit into a slice of bread and began pouring the coffee. Alan peered over her shoulder.

"Do you want anything else?" she asked.

"Mm. Definitely!" He gave her backside a gentle pat.

"Insatiable! Don't you have anywhere to be this morning?" she grumbled, frowning.

"Consider it all postponed!"

"Aren't you working?"

"From now on, my first job is you and the child."

Susan set the pot down on the table with a thump. His breath had warmed the delicate skin at the nape of her neck, and that innocent thing alone had set her tingling — which was precisely what she needed to avoid if she wanted to keep a clear head.

"Do I make you nervous?" Alan asked, pulling out her chair for her.

"I'm not complaining!"

Over breakfast Susan felt his eyes on her, and knew he had caught the tension she was trying to keep out of her shoulders.

"What's wrong, Sue?"

"Alan, I need you to stop pushing me! Please!" She sighed. "There's so much I have to get used to — my whole life, my priorities, everything changes. Don't rush me!"

"All right!" he agreed reluctantly. "I'll give you a deadline of... a few days!"

Susan nodded. The tension drained out of her; she even smiled a little.

"I'm planning to leave for Medea tomorrow. There isn't much time left before September fifteenth, and Grandpa wants to see me!"

Alan leaned back in the chair.

"Maybe I can get free as well! I've only the one conference coming up — the children are still on holiday. I could drive you there."

"No, no! I don't want to put you out. I'm sure the fresh air will do me good. Grandpa's letter unsettled me — I didn't pay him enough attention at the party, and apparently he's cross!"

"Sue — you're running away again! Why?"

"I did not run away! I was visiting a friend at the seaside!"

"That was plain flight, and you know it!"

"No — I just needed a change of scenery."

"If you say so..."

"I do say so! Now, I have packing to do, Alan!" She stood up quickly.

"Fine!" Alan frowned. "I'll leave you in peace — calm down! Until tonight, dear!"

He picked up his bag and headed for the door.