Shame slammed against his chest. Once again, he was going too far. Demanding too much. “I’m sorry. You are right. I should let you...”
But she grabbed his arm, holding him in place. She snagged his gaze over her shoulder, held it tight. “I was just teasing, Dale. In fact, I find your demands... stimulating.” She rolled her hips. The minx.
The vise of shame around his chest eased, and he could breathe again. With one long thrust, he sank deep into her, and then held still. The better to savor the sensation of being inside her hot, welcoming flesh.
“I love being inside you. God, you feel so good.”
His hand continued to tease her breasts. Alternating between one nipple and the other until they were both stimulated to aching hardness.
Without the frenzy of movement, he was more aware of the subtle movements of her flesh. He could feel every pulsation and contraction of her core around him. It was an exquisite pleasure. They aroused his own member to excruciating hardness and demanded swift satisfaction, but he wanted to make her come first. He loved to see her come apart in his arms. Loved the sounds that she made in her ecstasy. It heightened his pleasure tenfold. She squirmed and tightened around him, drawing a ragged groan from his throat.
“Easy, don’t reach for it. Let it come to you, slowly,” he murmured in her ear.
“Dale, I can’t. How do you... without even moving? I need more.” She moaned, turning her face into the pillow. Lost in a frenzy of desire, she reached down to touch herself.
He laughed softly. That’s how he wanted her—frenzied. “Who is being demanding now, you greedy wench? Put your leg over mine.” She did so, and he lifted their legs together, opening her.
His fingers slid over her stomach, meeting hers over her place of raw sensitivity. They learned the motion, the sweet glide and circling, and then took over, caressing her in sweet counterpoint to the gentle rocking of his hips. Bringing her higher and higher. He felt her insides tighten, her spine stiffen, and she exploded into a rain of moans and erratic hip thrusts. Her cries of ecstasy unknotted something inside him. He bit her shoulder as the spasms of her internal muscles brought about his own shattering release.
She was so sweet, so sweet. Her responses were so honest, so completely uninhibited. A man could get addicted to such pleasure. And that was his last conscious thought as he succumbed to a deep sleep, still inside her.
***
OLIVIA AWOKE THE NEXTmorning when the first rays of sun filtered through the partially open curtains. Dale still slept, one of his legs between hers, his arm draped over her waist. She remembered falling asleep with him still inside her, after the tempestuous climax. She had not slept so well in a long time.
They had moved and shifted throughout the night, but always remained closely intertwined. His face rested mere inches away on the pillow, and his features were so beautiful, so relaxed in sleep. The temptation to touch his face, and keep running her hands over the magnificent body she had come to know so well, was great, but he needed to sleep. So did she.
The sun had just risen. She couldn’t have had over four or five hours of sleep, yet she felt rested, but not ready to leave their cozy bed and his warm body. She closed her eyes, not expecting to sleep. She wanted to enjoy the feel of his body next to her.
She laid still and calm by his side for several breaths when her eyes popped open and her pulse raced. And not from the naked man pressed against her. He had come inside her twice. Without protection. Might she become pregnant as a result? Her heart slammed in her chest. She wasn’t sure whether from fear or excitement.
Unlikely, she decided, bringing her heart rate under control. She had actively tried to get pregnant for over a year, and it had never happened.
That guaranteed nothing, of course. After all, she had never been diagnosed with infertility. Still, it seemed unlikely that she would conceive after only one night, when she had failed to do so for over a year. Even if it happened, it wouldn’t bother her as much as it should. A surprise, that.
She was surely losing her mind. A baby under these circumstances would be a disaster. Even so, she could not change her heart. Was she falling in love with Dale? She didn’t want to look deeper into that. But maybe she should marry him, if this is how she felt. It was ridiculous to balk at a piece of paper if the thought of a baby did not make her panic.
Hugging these new thoughts to her heart, she fell asleep again and woke up later when he dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose.
She opened her drowsy eyes and contemplated his smiling face above hers. His dark blonde hair fell carelessly over his brow. He looked different. Younger, more carefree. Happy? She smiled in return, and before she lost her nerve, she told him what this morning’s revelations had put in her heart.
“Okay, I will marry you.”
His smile grew, and his eyes became more focused. Intent. “I’m very glad. Also very honored. But may I ask what brought about this change of heart?”
Impossible to tell him about her feelings. He had made it clear they were unwelcome. Besides, she didn’t even understand them herself. She was probably just infatuated. Liar. She was falling hard, and she knew it. Even if she didn’t want to admit it to herself.
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe a good night’s sleep helps to clear the mind. I realized I was overthinking the whole thing, letting my fears lead me. I decided to go with my instinct.”
He didn’t seem entirely convinced, but thankfully didn’t press the matter. “Whatever the reason, I’m happy you accepted, and I’ll do my best to make you happy.”
She knew he would. If only they had time to be happy.
