arousal. I moan again. Louder this time.
“Does this mean you’ve found your oomph?” He sounds slightly breathless as he raises his head to scan my face.
He’s seeing me again. Even more intimately than before. And it’s not just my red cheeks and mussed hair and swollen lips he’ll be able to see.
It’s me.
I nod, my voice momentarily caught in my throat.
“So do you want to move this to the bed? If not, that’s completely—”
“Yes!” When I get a word spoken, it comes out too enthusiastically. A sharp burst of sound.
He blinks in surprise.
I giggle. “Yes.” I find the coordination to climb off his lap. “I think we’ll do a lot better there than in this chair.”
He’s smiling as he stands up. “I think we did pretty well in the chair, if you want to know the truth.”
I sit down on the edge of the bed. Then I slide off my shoes and leave them on the floor.
Things were so good just a moment ago, but I suddenly feel self-conscious. I swallow hard. Arousal is still pulsing between my legs, but my hands are starting to shake.
“Hey,” he says softly.
I stare up. He’s standing just next to where I’m sitting.
“Come here.” He extends a hand.
I take it and let him help me to my feet. Our gazes meet, and I know he can see my shift in mood.
“Are you nervous?”
I nod, once again losing the ability to speak.
“Do you want to stop?”
I shake my head, but the question breaks the block in my throat. “No. No, I don’t want to stop. I’m just kind of nervous. I’ve never... I’ve never done this before.”
He thinks I’m talking about having a one-night stand.
He doesn’t know I’ve never done anything.
And I’m not going to tell him. I don’t know when I came to the decision, but it’s solidified in my mind now. I don’t want him to know I’m a virgin. I don’t want him to know this is my first time.
It would change things, and I don’t want them to change.
“Okay.” He brushes some hair back from my face and then holds on to a bunch of it lightly. “If you want to stop at any point, you’ll tell me?”
“Yes. I will.”
“And if you don’t like something we do, you’ll tell me that too.”
“Yes.”
“If you tell me what you like, what works for you, I’m sure I can adapt to your preferences.” He’s almost smiling now. Sexy and sardonic both.
I giggle, but there’s no way I can tell him my preferences.
I don’t even know what they are.
“Do we really have to talk everything through beforehand?” I raise a hand to rub his shoulder and then curve around the back of his neck.
He leans forward to give me a soft kiss. “No. We don’t have to talk at all if you don’t want. Just tell me if you don’t like something. I get why you’re nervous. I’m a stranger to you. But I want this to be good for you. I’m going to try to make sure it is.”
“Thank you.” My voice breaks slightly. I don’t know why what he says affects me emotionally, but it does. “I’ll tell you if something isn’t working for me. But what we were doing earlier was definitely working.”
“For me too.” He kisses me again, deeper this time. It’s passionate like our kiss in the chair, and it has the same effect—immediately distracting me from the flurry of thoughts in my brain and awakening something in my body.
I’m not sure how it happens, but we somehow end up on the bed. I’m on my back, sprawled sideways with my legs hanging over the side, and Richard is on top of me, kissing me until my head spins and I can’t take a full breath.
I like his weight on me. It’s heavy. Secure. Incredibly warm. He’s holding himself up slightly on bent arms, but all his focus is on the kiss.
When his lips finally leave my mouth, I think he’s going to give me a break. But he’s not. He trails kisses down my face to my neck. Then down even lower to the V of my top.
I’m arching my back off the bed as tingles of excitement swallow me up. My nipples are almost aching, and I didn’t think that was possible. I’m clawing at one of his shoulders and clutching a fistful of his hair in my other hand. I’m making the most ridiculous sounds. Soft. Helpless. Raspy.
My shirt suddenly feels too tight. Restrictive. I’ve got to