His tongue found the seam of her lips and demanded entrance. When she didn’t immediately open he pulled back and placed small searching kisses along her bottom lip. He shifted her until she lay along him. Her body followed the contours of his.
Did heaven feel like this?
When the bill of her cap hit him in the forehead she reached up and pulled it off.
He ran his hand down her braid. “I love your hair. You have no idea how many times I’ve wanted to touch it.”
She reached to remove the band. What little light there was spilled out from the kitchen.
“No, don’t. I want to be the one who sets it free.” His voice had gone low and gruff, creating tingles inside her.
Gently he removed the band from the end. He drew a finger between the sections of the braid, slowly releasing them as if he were opening a present he’d been eager to see for weeks. His sure, precise movements told of his skill as a surgeon. What she did to her hair every day he turned into a sensual experience.
“I know of no one who has hair as beautiful as yours.” He fanned his fingers out and ran them over her head, finishing the job. The waves fell about her shoulders and flowed around them. Filling his hands, Ryan watched in fascination as it spilled between his fingers. He brought a long lock to his cheek, sliding it across his skin.
His mouth returned to hers and this time when he asked, she opened. His tongue entered, savored, sipped and swirled, while his hands burrowed into her hair to hold her head.
She squirmed.
“Easy, honey. We have all night if you wish.” His tone was low and soothing but the tension in his body and the ridge below her hip said he was just as aroused as she was.
Her hands traveled up his chest and wrapped around his neck. Her mouth came down to his, then tugged on his bottom lip before she pressed her mouth firmly against his, letting him know just how much she desired him.
His hands spread her hair out along her back and moved to her waist. He ran a hand under her coat and lightly grazed the inch of bare skin separating her shirt from her pants.
She shivered.
He released her mouth and kissed his way across her cheek to nuzzle behind her ear. His hands glided over the hyper-sensitive skin of her back.
She moaned.
“You like that, do you?” He nuzzled her again while his hands pushed her shirt upwards. He released her bra, his fingertips grazing the under-curve of her breast.
She flinched at the shock of sensation that rocketed through her. His fingertips were prickling heat and softest torture as they trailed over her skin.
“Lift up, honey.”
“We can’t do this here?”
“Why not?” He hushed her opposition by bringing his mouth to hers and giving her another mind-altering kiss. “Are you cold?”
If he continued to kiss her like that, she’d do anything he wanted. She arched her back, allowing him to push her coat away. The movement brought her center into intimate contact with his rigid manhood.
Ryan O’Doherty wanted her. Her.
“Put your hands on my shoulders.”
She did so and he stripped her shirt and bra away. Before she could lower her arms his mouth found a nipple. His lips dropped away with infinite slowness. His actions and the cold air touching her sensitive tip caused her to shudder.
His low chuckle was one of pure male satisfaction.
She hadn’t recovered from the honeyed moment before Ryan showed the same mind-blowing attention to the other breast. His hands skimmed her waist then flowed leisurely upwards until his hands cupped both breasts. He lifted, and weighed them.
They’d changed while she’d carried Emily. Would he mind?
“Perfection,” he murmured, before he kissed the tip of each one again.
Not recovered from his devotion, she sucked in a swift breath when his hands skimmed downwards and dipped below the waist of her jeans while he left kisses across her breasts. She whimpered.
“More?”
“Mmm.” She sounded entirely too sensual even to her own ears. Ryan was making her feel more than she’d ever felt before and he’d done little more than kiss her.
She brought her hands down to his chest. He shifted so they lay facing each other and continued to fondle her breasts as if he found them extremely fascinating. She was grateful he couldn’t see them well. They weren’t as firm or high as they had been before Emily.
Her hand slid down to the edge of his sweater to play with the hem.
“You can touch me,” Ryan said before he nipped at her earlobe. “In fact, I wish you would,” he said as he found her mouth again.
She accepted his invitation and slid her hands under his pullover. It was warm there but his T-shirt still created a barrier. Touching skin was her goal.
Ryan must have heard her groan of frustration because he let go of her and pulled his jacket off and then his sweater. Jerked his shirt from his waistband. “I might lose my mind before you get up the nerve.”
“I don’t want to do anything wrong.”
He leaned back so that he could look at her face. “This isn’t your first time, is it?”
“No, but it’s been a long time. I wasn’t the girl with the most boyfriends.”
A soft smile of satisfaction came to his lips. “I’m surprised there weren’t hundreds.” She gave him her best “I don’t believe that” look, which he answered with another kiss.
“Honey, the only thing you can do wrong is not do.” His lips went to her collarbone and moved lower.
She ran her hand under his shirt and upwards until he was forced to remove it too. “That’s better,” she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her. “Cold?”
“No. How about you?”
“Mmm. No.”
* * *
Ryan went willingly towards her. The touch of her breasts against his bare chest almost ended any further foreplay. Her hair dropped around them like a silk curtain.
He had to have her. Soon.
Her hands fluttered over his skin, creating tiny points of pleasure as they went, but he wanted more. That shyness that he’d seen earlier had returned. It intrigued him that someone so sure of herself in some areas was so completely insecure in others. Cupping Lucy’s bottom, he brought her snugly against his manhood, letting her know clearly what she was doing to him.
Lucy flexed in answer, making his heartbeat rise, his blood pound in his head. Her lips found his chest as if she’d discovered the perfect playground. Her cheek rested just far enough above his torso for her to rub against his chest hair. Her warm breath blew gently against his skin, driving his desire higher. The fascination and pleasure she found in him was like balm to his damaged heart.
Ryan stroked along the waistband of her jeans. Each time he dipped beneath he was rewarded with a hitch in her breathing. He brushed her hair away from her face so that he could watch as she explored him. When he went to unfasten her jeans she grabbed his wrist.
“What’s wrong, honey? All I want to do is touch you.”
“I’ve...uh...had a baby. Things have been...stretched, moved around.”
He kissed her, showing her just how sexy he found her. “I’d be surprised if they hadn’t been.” He kissed her again. “Come on. I think it’s time we go in.”
At her stricken look, he grinned. “I said nothing about being done.