“That’s never happened to you before.”
“No.”
“Are you a virgin?”
She shook her head.
The tension in the hard set of his jaw slackened.
“Would it have mattered?”
“Of course it would have. I told you I don’t get complicated with women, Isabel.”
“And a virgin is more complicated?” She didn’t get it. She was one step removed from being one herself, and it didn’t feel complicated.
He shrugged. “Of course they are. Women always want to romanticize their first sexual experience. Didn’t you?”
She shook her head. “My ex-boyfriend was more interested in satisfying himself than me. Not that we want to dredge up stories of past lovers,” she added lightly, desperately afraid he might ask her exactly how many men she’d slept with.
“No, we don’t,” he agreed, bending down to slide an arm under her knees so he could swing her up into his arms. “I can think of much better things to do with the time.”
Izzie had never been carried by a man. Which was a shame, really, because she felt so delicate and feminine in Alex’s arms as he carried her inside she decided it was an experience every woman should have at least once in her life.
He set her down on the cool hardwood floor of the utterly masculine master bedroom he’d shown her on the tour earlier. The bedroom featured the same floor-to-ceiling views the rest of the penthouse had, decorated in rich, muted tones that perfectly reflected the man himself.
She looked around as he flicked on some lamps. “No curtains.”
He gave her an amused look. “You can’t see in the glass, only out.”
Which made it the perfect venue for an incredibly erotic sexual experience, she decided, trying not to jump out of her skin as he moved behind her and set his teeth to her shoulder. “Was that your idea or the builder’s?”
He laughed softly. “The builder’s. Were you imagining me creating some sort of seduction pad?”
She shrugged, jealousy flaring inside her despite the fact that she had absolutely no claim on him. “I’m sure you’ve brought more than a few women up here.”
His fingers moved to the clasp of her bra. “Are you asking?”
She made herself shake her head. Except when he unhooked it with extreme ease and flipped it to the floor, she thought maybe she should.
He slid his arms around her and cupped her breasts. “I’m a pretty choosy guy when it comes to female companionship.”
She gasped as his thumbs brought her nipples back to erectness. She was sure he could afford to be.
The soft rasp of her zipper came next. Cool air hit her skin as he pushed the dress over her hips and it fell to the floor, leaving her clad only in her thong. She swallowed hard as he turned her around and surveyed her from head to toe. “Beautiful,” he said softly, his gaze catching and holding hers. “You take my breath away, Isabel.”
She felt breathless, unable to pull even the tiniest bit of air into her lungs. He picked up her hand and placed it over the top button of his shirt. “I think I’m a bit overdressed, don’t you?”
The thought of exposing all that hard, tanned flesh had her hands shaking as she worked on the first button. It slipped frustratingly out of her grasp.
“Relax.” He captured her hand and lifted it to his mouth. “We’re in no hurry here.”
The calm, sexy assurance in his gaze grounded her, made her heart flip over in anticipation. Returning her fingers to the buttons, she managed to get the first one undone. Then the second and third, exposing a mouthwatering expanse of olive-skinned torso. Dear heavens, he had one of those six-packs, what looked like the consummate athlete’s body. Insane.
She pushed the shirt off his shoulders, her mouth dry as she took him in. Alex groaned. “Christós, Izzie, touch me. I’m going a little nuts here....”
Emboldened by the want in his eyes, she lifted her hand to trace his pecs, feathering her palms down over his nipples. His quick intake of breath spurred her on, sending her hands down over the taut muscles of his washboard stomach. He was all hard male and nothing but. It thrilled and intimidated her at the same time.
Forcing herself not to think, she moved her hands to his belt, her unsteady but determined fingers pulling the leather from the buckle. His zipper was next, her hands brushing against his arousal as she pulled it down. He let out a tortured groan.
She lifted her gaze to his. “Should I stop?”
A harsh bark of laughter escaped him. “I would say that’s the last thing you should do.”
She kept going, unsure exactly about what she was supposed to be doing because with her ex there had never been any foreplay. Letting her instincts guide her, she slid her hands inside the waistband of his pants and pushed them down over his hips to the floor. He stepped out of them, clad only in a pair of sexy, body-hugging black boxers that did little to disguise the thick, hard length of him. At that moment, looking at his size, she wasn’t at all sure this was going to work.
He must have seen the uncertainty in her face. Sliding his fingers under her jaw, he brought her gaze back up to his. “I’m big, Izzie, I know, but I promise I won’t hurt you. We’ll take this as slow as we need to, okay?”
She nodded, wondering why she trusted this man she hadn’t even known for twenty-four hours more than she’d trusted anyone in her life. He lifted her up and carried her over to the huge king-size bed, the soft satin sheets and comforter of which were indeed white. Her head landed in the fluffy pillows, a smile curving her lips. “How’s the hair?”
He ran his gaze lazily over her, his mouth quirking up on one side. “Better than I could have imagined.”
Resting a knee on the bed, he looked every bit the part of an incredibly sexy Greek god, and her heart tripped over itself. Then went into freefall as he laid another one of those lazy, never-ending kisses on her that brought her body firing back to life in a heated rush. His hand slid down between her legs to caress her sensitized flesh, stroking her gently until she was once again writhing under his touch.
“Alex...” She wanted more this time. Wanted that incredible hard length of him she’d touched inside her.
He rose in a swift movement and stripped off his boxers, sheathing a condom over the jutting evidence of his arousal. She stared dry-mouthed at the size of his erection as he came back to her, his powerful thighs nudging hers apart. It had been two years since she’d been with her ex. Did your body go back to a virginal state after that amount of time? She supposed she was about to find out.
He read her expression easily. A corner of his mouth lifted in a teasing smile. “Sweetheart, you’re so ready for me I can guarantee this isn’t going to be an issue.”
Her heart skipped a beat. And then his hands were sliding under her hips, lifting her as he moistened the tip of his erection with her wetness. Izzie closed her eyes, his erotic foreplay much too much for her to meet head-on.
The first couple of inches as he took her made her gasp and open her eyes. “Alex,” she breathed, “I can’t—”
“Shh.” He set a finger against her lips, holding himself completely still. “Wait...”
She closed her eyes and tried to force herself to relax. And felt her body slowly loosen, stretch to accommodate him, until the discomfort she was feeling turned into something very different.
“Okay?”