‘Never been more certain about anything in my life.’
I sink onto the ebony leather couch, while Ryan throws another log on the smouldering fire. He goes to draw the blinds, shutting out the snow, the sky and the entire world as we know it.
‘Don’t.’ I point to the light switch instead and he crosses the room, killing the intrusive beams.
The moon looms full in the starry sky giving a romantic iridescent glow. Crisp snowflakes flutter against the glass of the window pane.
Pulling his sweatshirt over his head in one swift manoeuvre, Ryan crosses the room to rest his knees on the oak flooring in front of the couch. Scorching eyes search mine with a lingering question. A tenderness floods my heart fast enough to make it explode.
I nod and he pounces, parting my legs, wriggling his hips inside my thighs, pressing his excitement against mine. Hungry lips ravage my skin as warm hands slip beneath my dress, fingers tracing the underside of my breast until I feel like I can’t breathe.
I yank the little black number over my head as a low whistle slips from his lips.
‘Sasha Sexton, you’re the most beautiful girl in the universe.’ He tuts and stares appreciatively.
Unhooking my bra, I lay myself bare for him. Eager eyes roam my chest and his head dips, mouth darting to capture my flesh. His hands wander beneath the hem of my underwear, removing every scrap of material separating us.
As our bodies unite, skin on skin, Ryan caresses every inch of me, kissing away the initial sharp burst of discomfort as we embark on the most delicious, intimate, loving act.
My raspy moan echoes around the otherwise silent room. He takes my body to places I’ve only ever dreamed of. Blistering heat invisibly sears us, marking us for each other, and each other alone.
I thought I knew pleasure before, but it was nothing compared to this.
Afterwards, we lie entangled, embracing each other in a vice-like grip, the leather sticking to our clammy backs. The hammering thud of my heart rings through my ears as my breathing struggles to regulate.
‘I never thought it would be so…’ It’s hard to summon the right word. A word big enough to represent what we just did. What passed between us.
Ryan’s lips press against my forehead, tugging me even tighter against his bare chest. ‘You’re amazing.’
An ear-splitting pounding on the front door sends the two of us leaping from the couch. Panic rises in my chest as I scramble around for my hastily discarded clothes.
‘Is that your dad?’
‘No, he’d hardly be knocking.’ Ryan’s eyebrows knit in a frown as he glances at the clock. It’s almost ten p.m. If I haven’t already been busted, I need to get back before I’m missed.
Worry worms at my stomach. ‘Shall I sneak out the back door?’
Ryan shakes his head vigorously. ‘No way. Give me two minutes to see who it is, then I’ll walk you back to the castle. It’s too dark for you to be out there alone.’
Even as my gaze rolls skywards, I’m flattered at the value he puts on my welfare. The pounding resumes again, replaced shortly by the sound of a flustered female voice drifting through the letterbox.
A voice I’d know anywhere.
Ryan yanks open the heavy front door and my middle sister, Chloe, bursts through, white-faced, wide-eyed and panic stricken.
With less than a year between us, we’re practically twins. I can read her every micro-expression like an open book. Though, nobody would need that ability to see the face she’s wearing now depicts serious cause for alarm.
My first thought is, I’ve been busted. My parents have discovered my whereabouts, and while they might be comfortable with us dating, they most certainly won’t be comfortable with me offering him my V-card on a crisp December night.
‘Shit! Is it Mam and Dad?’ My hands fly to my cheeks in a poor attempt to hide the burn.
She nods, a rare unnerving look of bewilderment in her eyes.
‘You need to come now,’ Chloe says, tugging me out of the cabin.
Within minutes life as I know it is blown into a devastating oblivion.
CHAPTERONE
