wouldn’t know the difference.”
“A fair point. That is some comfort.” He settled himself between her thighs. “You don’t want me to stop so you can count out sugar lumps or something?”
She laughed a little. “No sugar lumps required.”
“Alexandra.” He set aside teasing and spoke in an earnest tone. “If I take you this way, I mean to keep you always. Do you understand, love?”
She nodded.
“When I ask a question, I need an answer.” He stared into her eyes. “Tell me you want this.”
“I want this.” Her hands slid to his neck. “I want you.”
Chase hoped to hell she meant it, because he’d emptied his reserve of gentlemanly restraint. Nothing remained to him but fierce, mindless wanting. Blood-searing desire. The single-minded need to be in her, and of her. To face down anything that held them apart and shatter it with crude, primal thrusts.
He reached between them, taking his cock in hand and positioning himself at her entrance. The head of his cock slipped into her wet cleft, and that single inch of possession had him shuddering with pleasure.
He braced himself on his arms, gritted his teeth, and pushed into the hot, tight silk of her body. “God.”
Her fingers clutched his shoulders. He heard her sharp intake of breath.
“Are you hurting?” Even as he asked, he dug his hips to steal another inch. Bastard. “Can you bear it?”
She nodded. “I . . . I’m fine.”
Thank heaven.
He kissed her in gratitude. With each advance, he sensed her wince beneath him and felt like a monster for causing her pain.
All his rakish technique had been forgotten. He wanted to be gentle, patient. But it had been forever since he’d been inside a woman this way, and this wasn’t just any woman.
This was Alexandra.
His Alexandra. His always. His only.
Just a bit more, he promised himself. He wasn’t a selfish lover. He could be patient. He’d take this at a leisurely pace, allow her plenty of time to adjust.
But first, just a bit more.
A bit more. And a bit more. And oh, God, more. Until he’d taken everything she had to give. Sheathed to the hilt, his hips welded to her thighs, her body surrounding his.
He’d never known such bliss.
On her part, Alex had never known such pain.
Good heavens. She knew virgins often found the first time uncomfortable, but she hadn’t known it might be like this. Pleasure wasn’t even a mirage in the distance. She would count herself lucky if she made it through the act without shrieking.
She bit her lip until she tasted blood, determined not to give herself away. She didn’t want to hurt Chase’s feelings.
“Alex.” He rocked against her. “You feel so good.”
She growled in pain through sealed lips, hoping it sounded like a moan of pleasure.
“Tell me what pleases you,” he said.
“That’s perfect. Just . . . keep doing what you’re doing.”
“At the moment, I’m not doing anything.”
“Yes, I know.” She let her head roll back against the grass and flung a hand over her eyes. “It hurts like the devil. I’m sorry, but you’re either unusually large or unusually bad at this. I suspect it’s the former.”
Laughter rumbled through his chest. It rumbled through that painful part of him, too. Alex whimpered.
“You should have said something.” He pushed up on his hands, kneeling between her thighs. “We’ll stop at once.”
He began to withdraw. She squeezed her thighs together, locking his hips in place. “I don’t want to stop.”
“But—”
“If it’s going to hurt the first time, I’d rather have the first time over with.”
“Yes, love. But I’d rather our first time not be something you grimly endure. Unusually large men have their pride, too.”
“I don’t see the way around it. There must be some solution.”
“That’s my girl,” he said fondly. “Always sensible, never deterred.”
Alex’s mind began spinning. “I mean, there are a dozen positions for intercourse, aren’t there?”
“Hundreds. If a well-worn, illustrated volume in my library can be believed.”
“Perhaps we can find one that isn’t quite so painful,” she said. “If it’s not an inconvenience.”
“An inconvenience?” he echoed. “Alexandra, you are asking me to make love to you in a dozen different positions. If that’s an inconvenience, I beg you. Impose upon me nightly.”
Alex smiled. She loved him so.
Oddly enough, the pain had already begun to lessen. Their time spent talking had given her body time to adjust, and now that she wasn’t trying to hide her discomfort, she wasn’t holding every muscle tensed.
“Let’s try this, then.” He rolled onto his side, taking her with him. He grabbed her bottom, holding her close and hooking her leg over his hip. “Any better?”
“I think so.”
Without the force of his body weight added to every thrust, the sensations were gentler. More within her control.
He still felt impossibly big within her—but Alex was gaining faith in her ability to conquer the impossible.
As a test, she cautiously rolled her hips, slowly moving up and down his length. The dull ache was still there, but it had a new, sweeter edge. A low moan eased from her throat.
He studied her face. “Still that bad?”
“No.” She repeated the same subtle movement. “No, it wasn’t bad. It was rather good.”
“That’s encouraging.”
“Yes,” she breathed, moving her hips again. “Yes.”
She didn’t know how long they remained that way. Moving together in a slow rhythm, perspiration building between their bodies.
Alex felt as though she were climbing a mountain slope, one step at a time. Each movement taking her higher and higher. The nearer she came to the peak, the thinner the air became. Her lungs worked for breath. She was dizzy.
“Chase.”
