his thumbs that made her breath catch and turn to cries.
Proving her own courage, to herself and to him, she put it in words: “I’d be happy now to find myself deflowered.”
He glanced up, eyes full of wicked laughter. “You’re rushing your fences, Bess.” Holding her gaze, he leaned forward just enough to lick her. A long, slow, lap.
Betsy tried to keep her mouth closed, but a needy whimper escaped her.
“You taste wonderful,” Jeremy said, his voice guttural.
She fell back, shaking, and put an arm over her eyes. He was holding her legs apart so he could lick her. She’d never felt anything so acutely in her life. Shudders wracked her body, and when one of his fingers slid inside, she called his name, clenching tightly around his finger, her legs restlessly moving against the sheets.
“What did you say?” Jeremy asked.
She dropped her arm and gasped, “More.”
“Like this?”
He eased a second finger inside her and she arched her back, breath shuddering in her chest, pushing against his hand because it wasn’t enough.
Jeremy said something in a low growl and his fingers slipped from her. She cried out, reaching down for him, but suddenly he was there, above her, and in a single, smooth stroke, he slid home.
For one moment, Betsy went still around him, her eyes widening with surprise. He was so much larger than his fingers.
“It doesn’t hurt,” she said, shocked. And again: “It doesn’t hurt.”
She daringly bumped her hips upward because he was still, his eyes searching hers.
“No?”
That joyful smile again, the one that she saw so rarely.
“Time to try for more than not hurting,” he muttered.
In answer, she nudged him again, her body burning to feel more. He drew back and claimed her again with a devastating thrust that brought fire in its wake.
A groan tore from his lips. “You feel . . . Bess, love, I’ve never felt anything like you.”
She tried to answer but words didn’t seem to have a part in a world narrowed to sweaty limbs and sobbing breaths.
He withdrew and thrust again. Betsy arched up, clinging to his shoulders, sucking in air, writhing in an attempt to get closer. She felt graceless and desperate, uncertain how to play her part.
He grabbed one of her knees and pulled it against his side, showing her. She was completely open to his every stroke now, and each made fire lick through her.
How could she ever have imagined she could lie still while making love? Every thrust made her nerves dance, and as he fell into a smooth rhythm, pushing deep inside her and then withdrawing, she kept shifting her hips upward, hanging on to him.
Behind her closed eyes, relentless pleasure was building like water trapped behind a dam, so ferocious that she was almost frightened.
“I’ve never felt like this,” Jeremy rasped, his lips brushing hers. “You were made for me. We were made for this.”
Betsy kissed him back, her hips rising to meet his thrusts, ragged cries escaping her lips. His movements were smooth and relentless while her hands flew over all the parts of his body she could reach, caressing him, loving him.
Still the pleasure built and built, until the moment came when the dam cracked and broke. He bent his head just in time and his lips covered hers, his hips moving faster and harder. Her fingers dug into his shoulders as waves of pleasure shook through her body.
She came back to herself, finding that sweat had slicked the backs of her legs and her body was shaking.
Jeremy was braced above her, his shoulders gleaming with sweat. He smiled at her, eyes slumberous, heavy lidded. “That looked like fun.”
His voice sounded as if he was barely holding himself in check. Betsy had a sudden realization that Jeremy never let himself go. Perhaps that’s why he gave way when fireworks exploded around him.
No, that was too simple.
“Rapture,” she whispered. She turned her head and rubbed her cheek against his sweaty shoulder because tears were misting in her eyes. “I love you,” she whispered. She wrapped her arms around him and then, daringly, her legs, and let her head fall back so their eyes could meet. “You feel so hard, and so right that I ache.”
His eyes flickered.
“In the best way,” she amended throatily.
He dipped his head and gave her a greedy kiss. The lovely sense of relaxation she had felt seeped away as delicious lightning crept back.
Jeremy began moving faster and then faster, his jaw clenched. Betsy tried to stifle wanton sounds by kissing