the end, that she was still a virgin. Not that she would have minded at all having a bit of experience to share with her lover but knowing that he was the first and only man to touch her like this… it made her feel special. Sacred, almost. As though this was something important they were sharing, something holy. Something she’d certainly remember for the rest of her life.
And then his hands were moving lower, and she felt him glance up at her for permission before he reached her sex. The shiver that ripped through her as he caressed her there was unprecedented — she bit back a moan, surprised by the force of the sensation that was rippling through her. Ever so gently, he parted her folds, exploring her body with his fingertips as she grew slowly accustomed to having someone else’s hands touch her there, surprisingly gentle for such a big, powerful man… and to her surprise, she could feel something building from his touch, something low in her stomach like a ball of electricity getting bigger and bigger, making her gasp and writhe beneath his hands… and then, just as she felt like it was about to crash over some peak, he withdrew his hands, moving up her body to kiss her passionately on the lips again. Feeling soft and pliant as warm putty, she fell into his arms, wrapping herself around him and trying to convey, with the heat of her kiss, how much she adored him, how wonderful he was, how attractive, how unbelievably, devastatingly sexy…
“Are you ready?” he whispered into her ear, and she could hear the desire in his voice, the low rasp of need for her, and it was so unbelievably hot that she almost whimpered in response. “Because if you don’t want to, we don’t have to. Honestly. I’d be thrilled just to hold you like this all night.”
“I want you,” she whispered back, surprised by how breathy her voice was. “I want to — I — Niall, I’ve never wanted anything like I want you right now.”
He groaned, a low sound — and she suddenly realized how close the room they were in was to the sleeping Eamon’s room. Not wanting to wake the child, she pressed her hand over his mouth, giggling a little at the look of reproach he gave her. “What?”
“Shh,” she said softly, drawing him closer. “Have to be quiet.”
“You be quiet,” he replied, raising an eyebrow. She took a deep breath as she felt his manhood, thick and hard against her leg. She hadn’t seen it yet — the blankets had taken care of that — and she felt an odd sense of curiosity about it. Carefully, she reached down with one hand, caressed him lightly, and grinned at the sound he made in response, his eyes flickering shut. Emboldened, she stroked him more firmly, drawing a gasp from him — and then, all of a sudden, he’d taken hold of her and driven himself deep, deep inside her.
She gasped at the sudden sensation of fullness. She’d been expecting pain, expecting blood, expecting trauma — but to her shock, she felt nothing but the odd sensation of another person’s body inside of hers. She shifted her hips experimentally, aware that he was holding still, checking whether she was okay — and was rewarded with a bloom of pleasure that erupted in her belly and spread out through her whole body like the world’s most delightful electric shock. Whimpering with need, she rocked her hips again, clutching at his shoulders as she encouraged him deeper. It felt so good — it felt so, unbelievably good — better than she’d imagined in her sleepless nights dreaming about him, better than she could ever have hoped… he was driving himself into her again and again, and the pressure was absolutely exquisite, the dull impact as he thrust over and over, bringing then both closer to some kind of edge that she’d never been to before — it felt close — it felt inevitable — and he was groaning with keen desperation as she felt them both fall over the edge together, pleasure spasming through her body as she did her level best not to scream.
They lay together in a tangled heap of sweat and limbs, completely exhausted… and completely content in one another.
Chapter 45
At some point, they must have fallen asleep, Helen realized drowsily as she steadily came back to consciousness. She had no memory of that —