as she’d done once before, she slid her mouth over the length of his scar, pressing tender tiny kisses along every pucker and ridge.
“You’re beautiful to me,” she whispered. “I don’t care what others think. They’re idiots for not seeing beyond your scars to the heart of you. The person I know you are. As to how I could want someone like you, I can’t give you a cut-and-dried explanation. It’s just there. Something about you stirs me in a way no other man has ever been able to move me. I’ve waited because it never felt right before, and my virginity is something I considered precious, not to be given to just anyone. But it feels right with you. Perfect. I know without any doubts that I want you to be my first lover. But if it doesn’t feel right to you, then I don’t want it to happen. I don’t want to pressure you into something you don’t want.”
“I want you more than I ever imagined wanting another woman,” he admitted. “I’m blown away by the way you see me, that you still want me even seeing what I look like. I won’t lie. I’m petrified because I want your first time to be something beautiful and precious, and I worry that I won’t be able to give you what you deserve.”
She smiled again, her hair falling like a curtain over her shoulder and brushing over his chest. “And here I am worried that with my inexperience, I won’t be able to satisfy you or that I’ll fail miserably. I vote we do this together and to hell with expectations or fears. Let’s just let it happen and we’ll figure it out as we go.”
He leaned up, cupping her cheek, and then pressed his lips to hers, sliding his tongue inside her mouth, tasting and savoring the sensation, the intimacy between them before they’d even taken that final step in their budding relationship.
“I think that’s a perfect idea,” he said gruffly.
CHAPTER 19
EDEN relaxed, letting go of her earlier bout of nerves. She had argued endlessly with herself whether to tell Swanny she was a virgin, but in the end he deserved to know. And, well, she wanted the experience to be wonderful, what she’d been dreaming of, and now that he knew, she knew he would take extra care with her and make it as special as she wanted it to be.
When she’d first told him and he’d looked astonished and baffled and speechless, for a while she thought she’d made a mistake and that he would back out. But then she realized that he was simply overwhelmed and humbled by the fact that she wanted him to be her first.
Her heart had simply melted at his reaction. He didn’t feel as if he were good enough for her, and he was genuinely baffled by the idea that she wanted him when, in his words, she could have any man she wanted.
But therein was the issue. She hadn’t wanted a man or felt right making love with another man. Not until Swanny. And as she’d tried to explain, she couldn’t say why it was him. Just that for her, he was the one. Now, looking back, she was so glad she had waited. That she’d been discerning and holding out for just the right man, because she knew to her bones that Swanny was the right man to take this enormous leap with. He might have doubts as to why she wanted him, but she had none whatsoever, and if it was the last thing she did, she was going to make him see himself the way she saw him. Strong. Caring. Loyal. Tender. So very loving and humble. Her heart turned over just thinking of him being her first.
“Shall I undress or do you want to do it?” she asked him shyly.
He put his hand on her arm. “I’m going to undress you. I want to make this perfect for you, so I’m going to take this nice and slow and if there’s ever a point where you want me to stop, just say the word and it stops then. I want you to relax and let me love you. We have all night and I plan to make the most of it.”
She relaxed and then lay back on the pillow as he gently pulled the covers down to their feet, out of the way. She stared at his body, fascinated by the lean muscled contours of