back, then picked her up and gently placed her in the center of the wide mattress.
“I could have gotten into bed on my own, Blake.”
He looked at her tenderly as he stood up and hooked his thumbs in the waistband of his briefs to pull them down. “I like the way you feel in my arms.”
She would have told him that she liked having him hold her, but the words died in her throat as he slipped off his underwear and tossed them on the chair with the rest of his clothes. When he turned back toward her, Sasha’s heart stalled at the sight of his impressive arousal. Although she’d seen the nude male physique, nothing could have prepared her for the reality of Blake Fortune standing before her fully aroused and looking is if he intended to devour her.
Feeling more than a little intimidated by his size and the strength of his need, she raised her eyes to meet his questioning gaze. “There’s something … you probably need … to know.”
He shook his head as he tucked a small foil packet beneath his pillow, then lay down beside her to gather her to him. “All I need to know is that you want me as much as I want you.” He raised up on one elbow, and leaning over her, kissed his way down the slope of her breast as he skimmed his palm along her side to the swell of her hip. “You do want me to make love with you, don’t you, Sasha?”
As she gazed up at him, she knew in her heart that she’d waited for this moment her entire life. She’d had other opportunities to make love with the men she’d dated, but she’d never before been able to share herself. And with crystal clarity, she suddenly realized why. None of them had been Blake Fortune.
“Yes, I want you to make love to me, Blake,” she said, surprised at how steady her voice sounded, considering the amount of nervous excitement coursing through her.
He must have detected her lingering apprehension because he gave her a kiss so tender it brought tears to her eyes, then he raised his head and gave her a look that touched her heart. “I don’t want you to worry, sweetheart. I promise, I’ll never do anything to hurt you in any way.”
Before she could tell him that she knew there would be discomfort that neither of them could avoid, he covered her lips with his and she forgot anything she was about to say. Nothing seemed to matter but the feel of his body pressed to hers and the taste of desire in his seductive kiss.
Threading her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck, she held him to her as his tongue traced her mouth, then dipped inside to stroke, tease and coax. Shivers of delight skipped through her when he withdrew and allowed her to enter his mouth to do a little exploring of her own. She wasn’t exactly sure of what she was doing, but rewarded by his groan of pleasure and the feel of his hard erection against her thigh, she decided that Blake didn’t mind. Just knowing that she aroused such need in him heightened her own desire in ways she could have never imagined.
When he slowly moved his hand from her hip, down along her thigh, then up to the soft curls hiding her feminine secrets, she went perfectly still. But the intense impulses that his touch created when he stroked her with gentle care sent a tightening heat straight to her inner core and she couldn’t have stopped her moan of pleasure from escaping if her life depended on it.
Finding it all but impossible to lie still, she gripped the sheet with her fists and moved restlessly beneath his hand. “P-please—”
“Do you want me, sweetheart?”
“Y-yes.” Waves of heat flowed through her as he continued to heighten her passion, but when he took her nipple into his mouth as his finger stroked her deeply, she felt as if the blood in her veins turned to liquid fire.
“Is this where you need me?” he whispered against her puckered flesh.
Unable to form a coherent thought, much less get any words out, she used her hands to raise his head from her breast and, meeting his questioning gaze, simply nodded.
Smiling, he softly kissed her lips. “That’s exactly where I need to be.”
As she watched, he reached beneath the pillow, removed the small foil packet and arranged their protection. Then, taking her back into his arms, he used his knee to nudge her legs apart.
When he rose above her and she felt the blunt tip of him against her moist apex, she closed her eyes and braced herself for what would happen next. Hopefully, the discomfort would be minimal and wouldn’t last too long.
“Look at me, Sasha.” When she did as he commanded, the blazing passion in his dark blue eyes shook her all the way to her soul. “I don’t want there to be any doubt who’s making love to you.”
Confused by the odd statement and the insistence in his deep voice, she started to tell him she knew exactly who she was giving her virginity to. But her voice abandoned her when he pressed his lower body forward and began to fuse their bodies into one.
“So tight,” he said through clenched teeth as he continued to ease into her. But when he met the slight resistance, his eyes widened and he went completely still. “Holy hell. You’re a virgin.”
Five
Blake didn’t move a muscle as he tried to wrap his mind around the fact that Sasha had been telling the truth. She’d never been with Creed, or for that matter, any other man.
“You’re a virgin,” he repeated, still unable to believe he was the first man to sink himself into her soft body.
“Was,” she said, wincing as her tight body resisted the invasion of his. “I don’t think that’s the case anymore.”
“You should have told me.”
Moisture filled her pretty green eyes and he wasn’t sure if it was from the physical pain he’d caused her or the harsh accusation in the tone of his voice. Either way, he could have kicked his own ass for being the reason she cried.
“It’s all right, Sasha.” He gently wiped a tear from the corner of her eye then, brushing her trembling lips with his, added, “Just a little more and the discomfort will start to ease.”
It ripped him apart to see another tear slide down the side of her cheek as he pushed forward and completely buried himself in her moist heat. His reflexes urged him to move, to thrust into her and complete the act of loving her, but he remained perfectly still. Her body needed time to adjust to his and he wasn’t about to hurt her any more than he already had.
Gathering her close, he kissed away her tears. “No more pain, sweetheart. I promise.”
“It’s not really that bad,” she said, taking a shuddering breath.
“I just wish that you’d let me know.” He nuzzled the soft, wispy curls at her temple. “I might have been able to do something to make my entry a little less painful.”
“You were so gentle, I don’t see how you could have made it any easier,” she murmured shyly. “And I did try to tell you.”
He frowned. “When?”
Her watery smile did strange things to his insides. “Just before you assured me our lovemaking was not going to be a one-night stand.”
He vaguely remembered her telling him there was something that she’d never done,
