glad,” she said simply.
He scooped her up and carried her the few steps to the sofa. It was long and comfy and perfect for what he had in mind. He laid her down and sat at her hip, wondering where to start. The way she looked up at him with a tiny smile on her face told him she liked the fact that he was wildly aroused.
“Don’t move,” he said huskily. “And don’t rush me. I’m going to unwrap you like a present.” He took her arms and positioned them over her head. “After all this time, I want to savor the moment.”
Aria’s chest rose and fell with each shallow, rapid breath. “There’s something to be said for hard and fast.”
The image her words conjured up blurred his vision. His hands shook as he unfastened the button at the waist of her jeans and lowered her zipper. When he dragged the denim down to her ankles, he sucked in a breath. Her panties matched her bra, but they were smaller still. And just as transparent.
Her sex was clean-shaven, all pink and perfect. “Holy hell,” he whispered, gobsmacked by lust and awe and disbelief at the fact that he was about to make Aria Jensen his lover.
“Ethan...” She moved restlessly, her ankles trapped.
He looked down and saw that she still wore fuzzy pink bunny slippers. The juxtaposition of her sexy, nearly bare body and the whimsical footwear made him chuckle. “You’re adorable.”
“Undress me,” she begged. “Hurry.”
He dispensed with everything but the two items of sheer lace. “I told you not to rush me.”
Aria raised up on her elbows. “I never agreed to that.” She curled a hand behind his neck and dragged him down for a desperate kiss. “I want you.”
Ethan’s control snapped. For the first time, it sank in that Aria was a woman who knew her own mind. He wasn’t breaking any taboos.
The realization freed him. He leaned over her, supporting his weight on one hand as he kissed her mindlessly. It was wild and sweet and incredibly arousing. He was so hard, he ached, but even so, he forced himself to take things slowly. Not for Aria, but for him.
He’d never thought this would happen. Giving in to the rush of pleasure and exhilaration was elemental...almost animalistic. He buried his face between her breasts and tried to breathe. Air rushed in and out of his lungs in harsh bursts that left him dizzy and weak.
Aria played with his hair, her fingers massaging his scalp. “I think this is the part where we both get undressed,” she whispered.
He licked the slope of her breast. “My clothes are the only thing keeping me from taking you like a madman.”
Perhaps she heard the raw ring of truth in his words. She tugged on his chin, forcing him to look up into her blue eyes. “I love that you want me that much, Ethan. Really I do. Don’t hold back. I want it all.”
He nodded jerkily, sitting up long enough to unbutton his shirt. Though he couldn’t bear to break the physical connection between them, he stood and shed his clothes completely.
Aria’s eyes widened. Her face and neck flushed. “Wow...”
His sex bobbed at his belly. “This first time won’t last long. You’ve got me pretty wired. I’ll make it up to you after that.”
She licked her lips. “Okay.”
He grabbed her wrist and drew her to her feet. “You look damned amazing in those undies, but they have to go.” With one flick of his wrist, he unfastened the bra, slid it down her arms, and tossed it aside. The last remaining piece of lingerie was no challenge at all.
Dragging her slim, soft, naked body against his taller, harder frame immediately short-circuited at least half a million synapses in his brain. “God, you feel amazing.”
Her cheek rested over his heart. “So do you.” She scraped his butt cheeks with her fingernails, raising gooseflesh all over his body. “You’re an incredibly beautiful man, Ethan Barringer. I’ve always thought so.”
The unexpected adjective made him wince. “Men aren’t beautiful,” he protested.
She leaned back in his embrace and ran her hands from his throat, down over his pecs to his waist. “You are,” she said.
Then she touched him intimately.
His whole body began to shake. A red haze obscured his vision. Desperately, he tried not to come. “You’re killing me,” he gasped, his forehead beading with sweat.
“Buck up, cowboy,” she drawled. “I’m just getting started.”
When she sank to her knees on the plush carpet and took him in her mouth, he cursed. “No. Wait.”
Aria was not to be dissuaded. She suckled the head of his erection gently, her soft blond tresses brushing his thighs. The erotic position fed into his darkest fantasies.
He fisted his hands in her hair.
Her technique was untutored, perhaps even awkward. His body didn’t seem to mind. When she took more of his shaft, he gasped. “Stop,” he pleaded. “Stop.”
It was too late. He came hard, the force of his climax roaring through his entire body, it seemed.
Aria was unfazed. When his knees turned to jelly, she left him to collapse on the sofa and returned with a damp cloth. Gently, she cleansed him.
He was embarrassed and spent and ridiculously stunned. How did a man get to be almost thirty years old and suddenly have the best sex of his life? Hell, he hadn’t even taken her yet.
Trying to swallow the lump in his throat, he managed a smile. “You’ve grown up.”
Aria was sitting on the carpet with her legs curled beneath her. She rested her cheek against his arm. “Had to get there sooner or later.”
He played with her hair, sifting the silk between his fingers. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
She lifted her head and grinned at him. “I know.”
Her smug smile amused him. “I always thought you were shy.”
Aria raised one eyebrow. “Maybe you thought a lot of things that weren’t true.”
The prospect was both intriguing and alarming. “Can we call what just happened the overture?”
“A musical reference? I’m impressed. Maybe Houston has been good for you. All that ballet and opera and symphony.”
“I’m still just a good ol’ boy from Royal.”
“And the CEO of a huge, influential company. That’s why we’re celebrating, isn’t it?”
“If I’d known this was in store, I’d have worked twice as hard.” He ran his thumb over her bottom lip. “You’re delectable. Do you know that?”
The pink in her cheeks deepened. “Maybe you’ve been celibate too long. Too much work and no play?”
He leaned forward and kissed her roughly, his hand curling behind her neck to keep her still. “I’m hard again,” he said. “That’s not abstinence. That’s all you, Aria.”
She seemed surprised. His sex was as ready as it had been thirty minutes ago. He felt as if he could go forever.
Aria shrugged. “I won’t quibble over why,” she said softly. “I’m just glad you’re here with me tonight.”
He reached down and pulled her up on top of him, chuckling when she protested. “You can’t pretend to be shy now,” he drawled.
“Quit staring,” she whispered, her expression half embarrassed, half intrigued.
The new position gave him an exquisite view of her body. She was straddling his hips, her knees bent behind her. The few seconds it took