“I wasn’t particularly interested in a man before.” She found the strength and started to lift her arms to circle him. Then her smile faded. “I wasn’t good at it? I did something wrong? You’re not feeling the way I’m feeling?”
“You destroyed me.” Shane rolled off her to lie on his back and scrub his hands over his face. “I had no control. Even when I realized, I couldn’t stop. I should have been able to stop.”
“I’m sorry if I didn’t do everything right.” Stiff now with embarrassment, she sat up. “It was my first time, and I’d think you’d have some patience.”
He swore at her and snagged her arm before she could climb regally from the bed. “Look at me. At me,” he repeated, until her sulky eyes met his. “I’m not going to give you a damn grade, but I’ll tell you this. I want you. Right now I want you again so much I could swallow you whole. It doesn’t even seem to matter that I feel guilty that I was rough. If I’d known, I would have been gentle. I would have taken some care. I would have tried.”
“You didn’t hurt me, Shane.” Something in her heart shifted as she lifted a hand to his cheek. “I didn’t tell you because I thought it wouldn’t happen if you knew. I thought you’d want someone with experience.”
“Who the hell are you?” he murmured. “Why can’t I understand you?”
“I’m still working on understanding myself.” Leaning forward, she touched her lips to his, then sighed as he drew her close to cuddle. “This was the most beautiful first of my life. I want to feel this way again. You’re an incredible lover.”
“How would you know?” Surrendering, he nuzzled at her throat. “Ah, Rebecca?”
“Hmm?”
“Is something wrong with those academic types? How’d they manage to let you get away?”
She rubbed her curved lips over his shoulder. “If you’d known me even a year ago, you wouldn’t ask. You wouldn’t have looked at me twice.”
“I always look at women at least twice. Any woman.”
She chuckled, enjoying the feel of his muscles under her hands. “I was a mess, believe me.” It didn’t sting to admit it now, not now that she nestled in his arms, still groggy from loving. “A certified geek.”
Amused, he drew her back. “Baby, no geek’s ever had eyes like yours. I don’t care what’s in your brain, those eyes are pure sin.”
She blinked. “They are?”
He laughed and hugged her hard. “We’re going to have to make love a lot. It dulls your wits.” He tipped her head back, kissed her lightly. “I’ve got work that can’t be put off, or we’d get started right now.”
Testing, she slid her hands over his chest. “Can you work fast?”
His heart stuttered. Before they could get into trouble, he snagged her hands and lifted them to his mouth. “I think today I can work real fast.”
She had work to do herself, but stayed where she was when Shane went downstairs. He would have to eat a cold breakfast, she mused, and found herself wonderfully smug at the knowledge that he’d hungered for her more than for food.
She’d tempted him. Destroyed him, she thought, grinning at the ceiling. His words. What a powerful, wonderful thing it was to be a woman.
As much as she would have loved snuggling in bed with him all morning, she was glad to have the time alone. Now she would be able to relive and savor every moment, every sensation, every surprise.
Dr. Rebecca Knight, prodigy, lifelong nerd, academic wonder and social oddity, had a lover women would ki
ll for. And, at least for a little while, he was all hers.
With a throaty sigh, she lay back amid the tumbled pillows, holding the excitement, the wonder, to her.
He had the face of some dark, clever angel, the hands of a working farmer and the body of… Well, why be conservative? The body of a god.
And if you went beyond the surface—which was outstanding—he was kind and sweet. Volatile, certainly, but that only added to the package. He was sturdy, the kind of man who did what had to be done, who worked hard, loved his family, respected his roots, laughed at himself.
For heaven’s sake, he even cooked.
In her estimation, he was as close to perfect as the species came. And wasn’t it a fine stroke of luck that she should fall in love with perfection?
She reared up in bed with a jolt. That was a textbook reaction, she reminded herself, swallowing panic. She was mixing emotion with a physical experience. Enlarging affection and attraction into a complicated equation. It was a very typical female response. Sex equals love.
She knew better than that. She was a psychiatrist.