He laughed and straightened, pulling off the doublet and undershirt. He was all wide shoulders and rippling muscles, the ideal ofstrength given human form. Then his hands went for the front of his breeches.
“Don’t.” I sat up, scooting to the edge of the bed and dipping my fingers into his waistband. “Let me.”
The tendons on the side of Alan’s neck stood out in stark relief, but he didn’t move, letting me unbutton him. I pushed down the final layers of fabric, not caring that they got stuck at mid-thigh, and wrapped my hand around his hard length. I ran my thumb over the tip, and Alan jerked out of my hold, grabbed me by my waist and tossed me into the center of the bed.
Before I could scramble up, Alan hovered over me, completely naked, one knee sinking into the mattress between my legs, the other by my hip. When he kissed me this time, his teeth sank into my lower lip. The sting of something that wasn’t quite pain sent me arching against him. My core brushed against his thigh and I moaned.
“Behave.” He pressed his palm against my stomach, pushing me back onto the bed. “Otherwise, this will be over too soon.”
“Then we can do it again.” I let my hands roam over his back, exploring the feel of warm skin and abundant muscle.
Alan groaned and slid his hand up over my ribs, cupping one breast. He sucked my nipple into his mouth, and I arched against him once more. Instead of pushing me back against the bed this time, he switched to my other breast and shifted so that he knelt between my thighs. His cock pressed against me, sliding up and down.
“I can’t wait any longer,” Alan groaned. He fit himself against my entrance. His hips flexed, but he stopped with barely the tip stretching me open.
“Then don’t wait,” I commanded.
He didn’t wait, but he did take his time. He worked himself deeper inch by glorious inch. Finally, he was seated completely inside me. My eyes fluttered closed as I absorbed the feeling of fullness.
“Mina?” Alan asked in a strained voice.
I opened my eyes and saw concern in his deep brown gaze. “It feels almost too good,” I told him. I tried to shift, but Alan held us locked together. “I want more.”
“Thank the gods,” Alan muttered. Then he pulled out completely and repeated the process.
My nails dug into his shoulder blades. I didn’t understand how he had the control to move with such exquisite slowness, but I wasn’t going to complain. Then again, I wouldn’t complain if he sped up, either. But he didn’t.
Alan drew out my pleasure with slow strokes and long kisses. Waves of sensation lapped at me, pushing me a little higher each time. Then Alan’s talented fingers found the bundle of nerves at the apex of my thighs, and my release crashed through me.
Only then did Alan begin to move faster.
Before I could come down, he pushed me higher and higher. My pleasure had a bite this time, one that only enhanced the sensations. I climaxed a second time, and Alan fell over the cliff with me.
When I could remember what words were, I turned to Alan, who now lay on his back next to me. “‘Over too soon?’ I’m not sure you know what being in a rush means.”
He pulled me onto him, my thighs straddling his hips, and brushed a lock of hair off my face. His smile was smug. “I can slow down more than that. Unless you don’t want to try?”
I kissed him. “Of course I want to try. But I also want to see what those muscles of yours can do when you don’t hold back.”
He rolled us over so that I was on my back with him on top. He pushed up enough not to crush me, without letting any space come between us. “In that case, my muscles are at your service.”
This time our joining was fast, and though no less tender, it had an edge of intensity the first hadn’t. I told Alan with my body that I had feared he’d never forgive me. His movements betrayed his worries that he’d waited too long. I matched Alan’s speed, feeling his need for me, letting him feel my need for him.
I shattered, then the pieces of me settled back, somehow more whole than ever before. “I love you, Alan.”
He came inside me with a shout and I held him close.
Thirty-Four
Alan
???
“I love you.”
The words ricocheted through me, and admission I had felt in every touch and heard in every word, but hadn’t dared to believe. I rolled over, pulling Mina with me, so that she rested on my chest. Her hands stayed wrapped around my back, and I mirrored her, needing the embrace.
“I think I fell in love with you the first time you came to the smithy,” I admitted.
