Ryan's Place - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,55

now. There wasn’t much caution or restraint in that.”

He gave her a sheepish shrug. “I honestly thought it was all talk.”

“Are you disappointed that it wasn’t?” she asked, a faint hint of worry in her eyes.

Ryan pressed a kiss at the base of her throat, felt the quick flash of heat beneath his lips. “Absolutely not. An eager woman can be a real turn-on, especially when it’s unexpected.”

She grinned at that. “Then you won’t mind if I do this,” she said, reaching for the snap on his jeans. “I think this break has lasted long enough.”

Ryan jerked as her knuckles skimmed his abdomen. With her gaze locked with his, she lowered the zipper on his jeans, then slid them down his legs. He kicked them aside.

“Anything else you’re anxious to strip off me?” he inquired in a lazy tone, curious to see what she’d do next.

“Those shorts have to go sooner or later,” she said with a considering look that sent his temperature soaring. She lifted her gaze to his, a half smile on her lips. “But not just yet.”

Ryan couldn’t breathe. “Oh?”

“Don’t think I don’t know the fine art of building anticipation, Ryan Devaney. Haven’t I been patient for weeks now, while you’ve been making up your mind? Hasn’t it almost driven me to distraction?”

“Really?” he asked, pleased beyond measure that she’d been as anxious as he for this moment. “You’ve had your revenge, though. You’ve done your best to torment me every minute.”

“Well, of course I have,” she said smugly. “Isn’t that the point? How else was I to make you want me so desperately you’d forget all your silly reservations?”

His mood sobered at once at the teasing question. “They weren’t silly, Maggie. And I still have a slew of them.”

She shook her head. “Not tonight, you don’t. And tonight is all that matters. One night, Ryan.” She grinned. “And then possibly another.”

It was the give-an-inch-take-a-mile attitude with which he’d become increasingly familiar, and which had made him increasingly wary.

“I can’t promise tomorrow,” he said, needing to be clear about that even though he’d begun dreaming of weeks and months from now.

“Have I asked you to?” she inquired lightly.

“No,” he admitted. “But you deserve all the promises of tomorrow a man can make.”

“If it’s right, they’ll come in time,” she said readily. “For now, I think it’s best if we concentrate on the moment.”

She lifted her sweater over her head, then shimmied out of her jeans, revealing all the fancy, delicate lace he’d fantasized about. She might tend toward an unremarkable wardrobe of sedate jeans and sweaters, but beneath she clearly indulged her feminine side.

Her body was perfect with its narrow hips, long, long legs and breasts that filled the cups of her bra to overflowing. He could have stared at her forever, but she was having none of that. She moved closer, looped her arms around his neck and hooked one leg around his, bringing all that satiny skin and heat in contact with his own suddenly burning flesh.

“Make love to me, Ryan,” she whispered against his lips. “Now.”

He pushed aside the last nagging cautions, lifted her up and settled her on his bed. Then he stripped off his shorts and joined her, making quick work of getting rid of those remaining scraps of lace. For the moment he was content to explore every inch of her with lingering caresses, discovering the secrets of her body, his gaze locked on her expressive face as her arousal grew and her movements turned restless.

“Now,” she pleaded, her back arching, her hips lifting off the bed in time to the rhythm of his fingers probing deep inside her. “Please, Ryan. I want you inside me.”

“It’s okay,” he said as her body tensed. “Go with it, darlin’. Let it come.”

“But—” The rest of the protest was lost as the climax ripped through her.

Only when the last shudder had died away did he slowly enter her, thrusting deep, then waiting as her body adjusted to him. The welcoming heat wrapped itself around him, and her last fluttering contractions made him even harder.

Then, looking into her eyes, he began to move, the steady, pulsing rhythm as old as time as it built to a higher and higher peak. The wonder on Maggie’s face would have been enough, but there was more. There were the sweet cries deep in her throat, the demanding rise of her hips to meet his, the glow of perspiration on her skin as she strained to reach that elusive,