Aristide scooped her up into his arms and carried her down to his bedroom. They had finally got there and he could hardly hold his libido back. Never had he felt such impatience, such eagerness.
Tabby surfaced from that mindlessness that had gripped her from the instant he’d touched her and gazed at him with concealed wonder. She was feeling what she had always dreamt of feeling, physically and emotionally and, even though she had told herself that there was nothing emotional about what she was about to do, she ignored that self-warning.
Aristide cast off his jacket, yanked at his tie, kicked off his shoes. He was struggling to hold back, to pace himself, stay in control. ‘I find you incredibly attractive,’ he confided in a driven undertone.
Tabby followed his lead more awkwardly and slid off her heels, pausing, not quite sure whether she should be stripping, which she was a little too shy to do for the first time with a man. Should she be waiting for him to undress her?
He came back to her and kissed her again and she felt his hands at her shoulders. Taking courage, she stepped back and lifted the dress off over her head, which was the only way to remove it, leaving herself bare but for her bra and panties. He pulled her back to him and then she remembered the one thing she had sworn she would never forget, and she pulled free to run back and grab her little envelope purse and dig into it for the item there she had been carrying round for just such a purpose for years. Cheeks scarlet, she pressed it into his hand and said shakily, ‘Use this…’
A woman had never in Aristide’s entire existence handed him protection to use before because he always used his own. It was a weird request, he thought, but everyone had their quirks and possibly this was hers. He tossed the condom down on the bed and embarked on unbuttoning his shirt. His hands weren’t quite steady because any kind of control when she set him on fire was a challenge.
He hadn’t argued and Tabby was hugely relieved but, ever since being warned that there was an occasional man who damaged protection because his private kink was ‘breeding’ from a woman or because he was keen to pass on some unmentionable disease, she had been determined that such a thing would never happen to her. Not that she thought Aristide was of that ilk, yet how could anyone know such a thing if only one night was to be shared? Better safe than sorry, she reflected, glad that that moment of embarrassment was already past.
The shirt dropped to the floor and revealed Aristide’s breathtakingly male physique. Her admiring eyes roamed over prominent pecs, an indented torso, strong biceps and the legendary V muscles disappearing below the waistband of his trousers. He was so beautiful, top-to-toe beautiful like a pin-up, and she marvelled that she had never before seen a male in that light.
Aristide surveyed her slender frame with fierce hunger roaring through him. She was sort of hovering beside the bed, giving him the vibe that she hadn’t as much experience as he might have thought, but that was no deal-breaker for Aristide, who had once fallen intensely in love with a woman simply because he’d believed that she had chosen him to be her first lover. The treacherous betrayal that had followed a few years afterwards still bit deep.
Ever since then, the concept of virginity had turned him off. It was a social construct, an out-of-date expectation that had once wowed his ancestors, not something he would ever seek on his own behalf. It certainly didn’t mean that that virgin would magically be pure of heart and faithful.
‘You seem nervous,’ Aristide commented as he closed his arms round her again, still finding it difficult to disconnect from a need to touch her continually. More than just lust, more than he would allow himself tofeel, he finally recognised. He would handle it, of course he would, by being sensible, by walking away afterwards as he always did.
A tight smile curved her lush pretty mouth. ‘I haven’t done this much,’ she muttered apologetically.
For the first time in his life, Aristide wished he could’ve said the same and as soon as that bizarre thought occurred to him, he shut it down fast, tugging her into his arms and kissing her, before lifting her and bringing her down on his bed.
‘I want you so much,angelos mou,’ he husked, detaching her bra with a skilled hand.
‘Me too,’ she managed unevenly, stretching up to taste his mouth again, already addicted. ‘What language is that?’
‘I’m Greek, born and bred.’ Aristide was distracted by the small, pretty breasts he had unveiled, dipping his head to catch the hard little button of a pink nipple between his lips and dally there.
Tabby writhed, that first touch more than enough to set fire in her already overheated body. Long fingers tugged at the peaks of her sensitive breasts and her hips rose, catching her breath suddenly a challenge, her heart racing. And then he traced the heart of her, scoring the tender flesh still shielded by her panties, setting a flickering flame to the tingling nerve endings there.
‘I need to be inside you,’ Aristide groaned half under his breath, wildly impatient as he could never remember being before. He skimmed off her last garment, exploring the delicate damp flesh, teasing her clit and inserting a finger. By then, she was gasping, twisting and turning under the onslaught of more delightful sensation than she had ever dreamt would feature in her first experience.
And then he was reaching for protection, tearing it open with his teeth, leaning back from her to use it and she really could not help seeing that there was rather more of him than she had expected. She tensed, bracing herself even though she knew she should relax, and then he was sliding over her, lifting her up to him and her whole body was screaming with impatience for his next move even though she was nervous.
He eased into her slowly, with more care than she could have hoped to receive, but still it burned a little, stung as that part of her stretched to accommodate his invasion.
‘Thee mou…you’re so tight.’
As he lifted her to him, he plunged his hips and a stark jolt of pain raced through her, disconcerting her, startling her, and she gave a little gasp between clenched teeth, thinking thatthathad hurt more than she had been prepared for. She tucked the knowledge away fast, fighting to get back into the moment and still savour the other feelings.
Like being so close, so connected to him and she liked that. And the worst was over, past, she reckoned, a truth proven by the reawakening of those sensitive sensations at her core as he shifted position and with one ruthless twist of his agile hips sent a current of pure pleasure shooting through her whole being. Brilliant dark golden eyes assailed hers in a collision she felt to her very marrow. Her heart pounded and then he was moving. Sensation raced through her in ever surging waves until she was straining frantically to reach some distant peak of perfection.
But before she could reach that peak, he eased off her and flipped her over to change position. A little whimper of complaint escaped her because she would have dragged him back by force had he dared to walk off at that point. Every fibre of her was pleading for that ultimate end goal. He drove into her again. Hard. Deep. She was struggling to catch her breath, her heart banging so hard she was afraid it would burst and then suddenly it was happening for her, every sensation merging into a wondrous whole that blew her away. Fireworks detonated low in her belly and blissful pleasure washed through every nerve cell. Shaken by everything she had felt, she felt him reach completion as well.
She slumped down on the bed and then slowly eased round onto her back again.
Aristide vaulted off the bed in a rage. The condom had split, the condomshehad insisted he use. He snatched up the discarded wrapper and checked the expiration date with a vocal growl of disbelief. ‘Yougaveme an expired condom to use! What sort of a scam is this?’
In shock at the angry words, Tabby emerged from her stupor, suddenly feeling very naked and exposed. She slid off the bed to grab up her dress, putting it on over her head fast to feel covered again. Covered, the way you wanted to be when under attack. And that was how she felt: underattackat the least likely moment, when she was completely unprepared for the development.
‘Expired?’she repeated chokily as he tossed the wrapper down on the bed between them rather as an official would produce Exhibit A in a courtroom. She lifted it and saw that he was correct from the date stamp. How long had she carried that item in her purse? Evidently longer than she should’ve done and she was only now recalling that she had invested in that box while she was at university. ‘I’m sorry… I should’ve checked,’ she muttered awkwardly, discreetly retrieving her bra and panties, digging the first into her bag and sliding into the second because she refused to travel home bare beneath her dress.
‘And on top of that, you were a virgin too, weren’t you?’ Aristide prompted tautly.
Tabby paled. ‘I don’t think that has any relevance here but, for the sake of clarity…yes, I was.’
