"I want you now."
He felt shaken, off kilter. Christ, he felt out of control. Suddenly it was important to him to know that she wanted this as desperately as he did. He looked into her eyes. “Tell me you want this," he whispered. "Before we go any further. I need to know."
"I want this. I want you," she said simply.
Randall didn't miss the flicker of uncertainty. Nor did he miss that she was trembling. "You're nervous."
"This is ... new for me."
Easing back, he looked down at her, relieved when he saw her smile. "It's been a long time for me, too."
He kissed her temple. Slowly, he reached between them and released the clasp of her bra. She shivered in his arms.
"Relax, honey." Never taking his eyes from her face, he slid the tiny piece of silk from her shoulders.
Her breasts were small, upswept, and exquisite. The tiny nipples were dark and fully erect. His hands trembled as he cupped them. Closing his eyes, he tumbled into a free fall and careened out of control.
*
The fire warmed her bare back and case yellow light on the hard angles of his face. Her heart beat out a maniacal rhythm as his hands covered her breasts. She withheld a moan when he took a taut nipple between his thumb and forefinger.
White-hot desire cut through her midsection. She couldn't breathe as waves of passion splashed through her, shaking her and thrilling her at once. She'd never felt so wanton. She never thought she could so completely abandon the safe, responsible shell she'd been living in all her twenty-six years.
At some point, she'd started to tremble. Small shivers that grew quickly into knee-shaking quakes she could do nothing to control.
"Are you okay?" Randall's voice was hoarse. "You're not cold, are you?"
Addison shook her head, trying to still her knees, embarrassed by her powerful reaction to him. She tried to smile, afraid her inexperience would show, and silently cursed her lips for failing her. "Not cold," she managed.
"Still nervous?" He shot her a disarming smile. That crooked smile that gave his handsome face so much character. She was beginning to cherish that smile.
"No," she said.
"Good."
Heat blazed through her when he kissed her neck. His mouth lingered on the sensitive flesh and sent her senses humming. Addison felt as though she'd begun a tumble every bit as wild and tumultuous as the fall she'd taken down the side of the mountain. She was falling into unexplored and yet uncharted territory. A new world that was as exciting as it was terrifying.
His hands were firm and controlled as they slid her leggings down her legs. Her knees felt like jelly as she kicked them aside. She resisted the shiver, but the tremor took her anyway, and she wrapped her arms more tightly about his neck to keep her legs from buckling. He slid her panties down, touching her in places that sent zingers of pleasure rocking through her brain.
Her world went into a slow spin when his hand found its way to the dark nest of curls at her vee. He kissed her deeply as his index finger found a place she'd never shared with another man. Addison closed her eyes against the waves of pleasure as he began to stroke her. She cried out, arching into him, telling herself this was just sex, knowing deep down inside she was a liar.
His mouth captured hers. He devoured her lips before sweeping her off her feet and lowering her gently to the rug in front of the fire. She was aware of his mouth on hers, taking her breath, stealing every last shred of rational thought. She was aware of her breasts aching to be caressed. The place between her legs pounding with each beat of her heart.
She moaned as he poised himself over her, resting his weight on his elbows on either side of her. For a fleeting second, she considered telling him that this was her first time, but she wasn't sure how he would react. Admittedly, she was afraid he would think it was strange that she hadn't experimented with sex during her college years or that she'd never been in love before.
"Look at me."
His voice drifted to her through the fog of passion. She looked into his eyes, seeing urgency and the same need that was rocketing through her. Only then did she realize the extent of her trust for him. She trusted him fully and without question. With a start, she realized she'd already lost her heart to him.
With his hands on either side of her face, Randall poised himself at the warm wetness of her opening. Murmuring her name, he closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers. "I want to see your face when I'm inside you. I need that."
Whispering his name, Addison opened to him. With a small cry he thrust forward, breaking through the resistance of her hymen in a single, earth-shattering stroke.
The pain was intense for only an instant. She winced in a moment of surprise; felt him stiffen in response.