He smoothed back the hair from her flushed cheeks and brushed light kisses on her temple. “Katherine, I’m going to make love to you.” He wasn’t asking permission. It was a statement of intention. He kissed her tenderly, drawing on her tongue with persuasive insistence.
He gloried in each part of her body as it was revealed to him. He removed her clothing with practiced skill and maddening leisure, frequently stopping to nibble and caress.
When he eased the bikini panties down her long slender legs, he whispered endearments in praise of her body that Katherine could never have imagined coming from anyone’s lips.
He stretched out beside her and held her tightly against him. Slowly the tension in her body ebbed under the soothing strokes of his fingers. Their arousing exploration coaxed her to participate. Her head was thrown back against the pillow, her chin raised, allowing his seeking mouth access to her throat.
His lips settled on her mouth, kissing it with infinite passion and tenderness. His tongue searched its sweetness even as his hands traversed her body. His lips were still resting on hers as he whispered, “I don’t know what you like. Tell me if—” She sealed his words inside by capturing his lips with her own. If this were an example of things to come, there was nothing she wouldn’t like.
His mouth trailed across her cheek to her ear and teased it with soft, warm breath and a darting tongue.
His hand caressed her from her shoulders, across her breasts, and around her waist. His fingers stroked the silkiness of her inner thighs, and a liquid fire ran through her from his fingertips to the very center of her being.
“Your skin is like velvet,” he murmured. He eased his hand back and forth across her feminine cradle. “Remember the night I put you to bed?”
“Yes, Jace,” she breathed. His hands were a vivid reminder.
“I wanted to touch you like this then.” He rested his hand on the soft tuft at the top of her legs. “I’m glad there’s nothing between us now.”
Her ragged breath was trapped inside her mouth by his plundering kiss. She clasped his head on either side of his jaw just under his ears and moved his head downward.
“Jace,” she pleaded, “kiss me here.” She placed his head against her breasts.
He kissed the soft curves. His tongue outlined their undersides until she was writhing with longing. When she felt his mouth close around her nipple, she heard herself moan in ecstasy. He pulled on her gently, then raised his head slightly and used only his tongue to assuage the aching bud.
She clasped his shoulders and explored the hard muscles under her fingers. She became braver and slid her hands between their bodies, combing her fingertips through the hair on his chest and curiously examining the small brown nipples nestled in it. It delighted her to hear his quickening breath.
“Ah, Katherine, you’re so sweet,” he said as his fingers discovered the moist warmth between her thighs. Her sighs echoed his.
“Now?” he asked with lips that nibbled hers. “Now?”
She nodded and his plunging kiss was symbolic.
He raised himself above her and found the treasure he sought. He fit his strength into her softness and applied a gentle pressure. When he met the unexpected veil of resistance, he paused and looked down at her with a bewildered expression. The urgent hands on the back of his thighs and her arching hips entreated him not to linger in his purpose.
The initial pain vanished, and Katherine submitted to the thrill of the experience. She blocked out every conscious thought, anything that would dim the lightning fury of the sensations washing over her. It no longer mattered what his name was, or who he was related to, or that they came from different worlds. All that had import was that her body was one with his. It was not only a physical fusion, but one of the spirit as well. She belonged; it was right.
Even though he was the first, Katherine knew him to be expert. He encouraged her, praised her, adored her, made love to her with words as well as his body. He kissed, nibbled, licked, caressed, stroked, breathed her. It went beyond mere consummation.
When she felt herself slipping into some uncharted but seductive oblivion, she cried, “Jace! Jace!”
“Yes, darling, yes,” he whispered in her ear. “Katherine, sweet Katherine, give in to it.”
And she did.
* * *
“A virgin?” Jace asked in awe as they lay side by side, holding each other close. “I’m married to a twenty-seven-year-old virgin.” He shook his head at the wonder of it all.
“Not anymore,” sang Katherine as she snuggled closer to him, if that were possible.
“Hussy!” He slapped her naked bottom playfully. “Now I suppose you’ll be wanting to do this all the time,” he sighed in feigned resignation.
She giggled and supported herself on her elbows while covering his face with wet, smacking kisses. He began tickling her ribs until she fell backward, and moments later she collapsed helplessly under his weight. He looked down into her face and laughed softly before taking her mouth with his.
Locking her hands behind his neck, Katherine drew him closer to her, welcoming their return to passion. He stroked her neck and moved his questing fingers to her chest before settling them possessively on her breasts.
He drew back from his ardent kiss and gazed at her breasts even as his fingers traced a path of arousal. He watched as the nipples tautened under his manipulation. “Fascinating,” he declared as he leaned down and kissed them gently.