force of the pleasure her body gave him.
“It’s good, isn’t it?” she whimpered at his ear, shivering again and again as he moved helplessly inside her. “It’s so good, so good . . . please don’t . . . don’t stop, please, please . . . !”
Incredibly, those soft pleas hardened his body, an experience that was a first in his life. He groaned as he grew even more potent than he’d been before. He drove into her, hard and fast, as hungry as she was. It took longer, but the culmination, when it came, lifted them both off the bed and they cried out helplessly in unison as the world slowly came back into focus in the heated, dark room.
“You okay?” he asked as they lay damp and shivering in each other’s arms.
“Okay is too mild a word,” she whispered, and laughed wickedly. “Incredibly satisfied is much better.”
“I have to agree,” he replied, holding her closer. “I should tell you that most men can’t go at it twice in a row without a few minutes in between to recover.”
“I always knew you were one of a kind,” she teased, sliding her long leg against his hairy one.
“You inspired me to unimaginable skill.” He laughed. “God, what an experience!”
She arched with pleasure, sighing. “Oh, yes.”
He was chuckling to himself.
She rolled over, close, and snuggled against him. “Why are you laughing?”
“I’m feeling very smug.”
“You are?”
“You were a virgin, and I satisfied you the first time.”
She smiled against his chest. “Abundantly.” She smoothed her hand over his hairy chest. “And your arm didn’t cause you to fumble, did it?” she teased.
He sighed. “Apparently not.” He laughed.
“I told you. People cope.”
“What will you do if I turn on the light?” he asked.
“Not notice,” she said. “I think I’m boneless now.”
While she was wondering what he meant, the soft light of a lamp spread over the bed. He turned back to her and caught his breath. She was pink and cream. Flawless skin, firm, pretty little breasts with their dusky crowns relaxed in the aftermath. Slim waist, flaring hips, long legs. He whistled, obviously spellbound.
She was more inhibited. She glanced down and then back up and colored.
“You’ll get used to me,” he said softly. “Men aren’t as pretty as women without their clothes.”
“It’s hard,” she managed.
He laughed. “It gets easier.” He smoothed back her long blond hair, damp with sweat. “I think I dreamed you,” he whispered. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
She smiled. It wasn’t possible to be embarrassed when he was looking at her as if she was the very mystery of life. She stretched, watching his eyes follow the movement up and down her body.
“I thought it would hurt,” she said.
He grinned. “I knew a couple of ways around that,” he replied, and tried not to look as smug as he felt.
She nuzzled her face against his chest. “And now I’m sleepy,” she said, apologetic.
“Me, too.”
He reached up and turned out the light. “It’s been a long day, Mrs. Matthews.”
The sound of her married name made her feel warm all over. “Yes, it has, Mr. Matthews.”
“No regrets?”
“Oh, no. Not even one,” she replied.
He kissed her forehead and then pulled the sheet over them.
“I need my gown,” she began.
“No, you don’t,” he said easily. “If we have to run out of the house, I’ll wrap you up in the sheet first. Okay?”
She just laughed. “Okay.”
She didn’t mean to go to sleep, but she did.
* * *
The light coming in the window woke her. She opened her eyes and her new husband was sitting on the side of the bed, dressed in jeans and boots and a blue flannel shirt, a coffee cup in his hand, just looking at her with pure male appreciation.
She felt the faint chill and realized before she looked that he’d tugged the sheet away.
“Couldn’t help myself,” he murmured with a smile. “It’s like having my own private art gallery. Beautiful.”
The soft words eased away any embarrassment or indignation she might have felt. She just smiled. She was getting used to those dark eyes caressing her. And she didn’t really mind. It was new, to love, to be intimate, to be married. All those things. With any luck at all, one day his affection for her might suddenly turn to love, just as hers had, for him.
“I’ll get older and gain weight and have wrinkles eventually,” she said with a teasing expression.
“I won’t mind at all. I won’t even mind if you get as big around as