She was silent as she absorbed his words, but he could hear her swallow down a hard lump in the quiet room, lit only by the beams of moonlight through the windows. The tops of the tall, wide frames were accented by ivory-colored sheer scarves, but the panes themselves were bare, showcasing a flower garden and the lake beyond.
“You’re very sweet,” she told him. “And I’m only petite when I’m not wearing heels.” Which she’d kicked off before joining him.
“I’m not complaining. I think you’re a little dynamo.”
She smiled as she brushed away the tear that had rolled down her flushed cheek. “I’m being overly sensitive again. Just seems as though there are a lot of odds stacked against us.”
“We can overcome them,” Ryan assured her as he pulled her to him. They were both lying on their sides and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly to him.
“This is certainly worth the effort,” she muttered, her soft breath teasing his skin at the opening of his shirt.
She continued what she’d started in the living room, working the buttons on his flap and then pulling the hem from the waist of his pants.
As her hand glided over his abs and up to his pecs, she let out a long sigh of appreciation.
“You are just so magnificently built, Ryan Bain.”
Grinning at her, he said, “Glad you like what you see.”
“I like what I see and what I feel. Your hard body pressed to mine. Your arms around me.” His head dipped as his lips swept over hers. She sighed again. “You kissing me.”
“I do enjoy kissing you,” he assured her. “And holding you in my arms.” His tone turned darker as he added, “And making you come.”
She shivered. “Do it again.”
Ginger didn’t have to tell him twice. Ryan rolled onto his back, bringing her with him. She straddled his lap as his hands slipped under the midnight-blue satin spilling all around them. His palms skimmed her bare skin as his hands swept up her outer thighs to her waist, bringing the flowing skirt with him as it draped over his forearms. He continued until he reached the lace of the bodice. He carefully worked his hands under the tighter material.
She giggled as he took advantage of the situation and cupped her breasts, giving them a gentle squeeze.
With a playful pout, he said, “I don’t think laughing is the appropriate response at this particular moment.”
“Just amused over how you don’t miss any opportunities presented.”
“Well,” he said with lust and admiration in his eyes, “they’re very nice breasts.”
“Too bad I didn’t have them in high school. I might have been able to divert your attention from homework and sports for more than ten minutes at a time.”
“Nothing could have diverted my attention from homework and sports for more than ten minutes at a time. I needed a scholarship in order to go to college.”
With a nod, she said, “I was thinking someday I’d take online classes. Maybe get a degree in marketing. That’s a skill I need to refine.”
“Never too late, sweetheart. And you’re only twenty-five.”
He continued on his mission of getting her naked. She raised her arms above her head and he stripped off the nightgown and carefully tossed it toward the bench at the end of the bed.
He groaned. “Damn, you are seriously beautiful.” With his hands on her biceps, he guided her forward, until she was propped up with her forearms resting on his chest.
Her blonde curls cascaded over her shoulders and down her bare back. He lifted them away from her face as he kissed her, long and leisurely, but with such heat an inferno ignited low in her belly.
Ryan eased her onto her back and moved away so he could hook his fingers in the waistband of her thong and drag the lace down her legs. The panties went the way of her nightgown as he took her in with an expression of desire, want and need on his chiseled face.
He yanked off his shirt and then parted her thighs, spreading them wide to accommodate his large frame between them.
Ginger’s pulse spiked at the way he looked at her, the way he touched her. He settled on the bed and trailed his lips and tongue over the sensitive inner portion of one thigh, sparking all kinds of riotous sensations within her. Her fingers plowed through his silky strands and her head fell back against the mountain of pillows. She sighed dreamily as he kissed and lightly nipped her flesh.
Then, coming up on an elbow, his free hand grazed her stomach before inching downward until his fingers covered her mound. He caressed the slick folds, and then massaged her clit with a tantalizing rhythm that made her eyelids flutter closed as a soft moan escaped her lips.
&n