"I'll be back in a fortnight," Angelo murmured against her lips. "I'm not leaving forever."

"I know." Jessica captured his mouth again; her hands tangled in his hair as she pulled him tightly against her.

Perhaps he should joke that she wouldn't even notice he was gone, tease her with tales of the beautiful women she knew perfectly well he wouldn't sleep with. Something, anything, to dispel her uncharacteristic desperation, his own reluctance to leave.

No gentle taunts sprang to mind; even if they had, Jessica gave him no chance to speak them, saying farewell as if it were goodbye.