briefly unsettled him. But he refused to let it taint his pleasure for long.
With a smile, he tenderly smoothed his hand down over the tumbling red-gold curls that nestled just beneath his chin. When Kit tipped up her head to glance at him her cheeks had the bloom of a ripe red apple and her blue-eyed glance appeared surprisingly guilty.
‘I—I don’t know what to say...’
‘Did you enjoy it?’
She blushed again. ‘Yes, I did.’
‘Well, there’s no need to feel guilty if you enjoyed it, is there? I don’t want either of us to have any regrets about being together like this. In truth, the attraction we feel for each other has been building up for a while—you know that. And I don’t want you to feel guilty just because you experienced pleasure. Trust me, there’s going to be plenty more of that coming your way. We haven’t finished yet. Not by a long chalk. But first...’ he jerked his head towards the satinwood cabinet next to the bed ‘...I think I’m going to need to use some protection—that’s unless you’re already covered?’
Sliding carefully to the side of the bed, Kit sat up, her hands immediately adjusting the thin straps of her chemise back over her shoulders and tugging the bodice up higher to cover her breasts.
‘I’m not on the pill, if that’s what you mean. There’s been no need. Just in case you want to know, I haven’t had sex in a very long time.’
Hal’s heart missed a beat. ‘How long?’
She frowned. ‘The last time...and the first time, in fact—was when I was seduced by a man who turned out to be married. It only happened the once.’ Her shoulders lifted in a pained shrug. ‘It was a stupid mistake that I deeply regret. I’m just thankful that I had the common sense to make sure he used protection.’
For a moment Hal didn’t know what to say. When he finally managed to make sense of his feelings, he asked, ‘And when did this happen?’
‘I’d just turned twenty-one and had gone to a club with some friends. That’s where I met him. Anyway, like I said, it was a long time ago.’
‘And since then you’ve really never been with anyone else?’
‘No.’
‘Why not?’
‘Do you really need to ask? Don’t you think I’d be wary of men after what happened? Being deceived like that made me feel dirty. I never want to experience such a feeling again, and it made me more aware than ever that relationships shouldn’t be a priority—that I should just focus on trying to make a better life for myself. That was and still is my main priority. Shall I get the protection for you?’
With a slightly bemused nod of his dark head Hal indicated his agreement even as he resolved to delve a little deeper into her surprising confession at the earliest opportunity—to find out a bit more about the cheating rat who had stolen her virginity and deceived her.
‘You’ll find some in the second drawer down.’
As soon as Kit had handed the foil packet over to him he wasted no time in pulling her back against his chest and passionately claiming her lips in a languorous open-mouthed kiss. As he did so he tugged down the straps of her chemise until he was satisfied he could feel her lovely breasts again. Then, still kissing her, he shaped his hands over her pretty bottom and started to ease her panties down over her svelte hips as much as he could manage without jeopardising his injured leg.
Although he was more than ready to take her, and almost in pain because his desire was so acute, Hal didn’t want to rush anything, so he made sure to take his time exploring his lover’s supple and slender body. It was hardly a sacrifice... Not when her skin was as soft as down and as satiny-smooth as the finest silk. And, being that her only experience of lovemaking had been with a man who had lied to her about being free so that he could get what he wanted from her, Hal’s greatest desire was to make this experience with him one Kit would never forget—but only for the best of reasons. He wasn’t promising her something he couldn’t deliver, but he honestly wanted to help her erase that painful episode from her mind and replace it with a much better one.
Earlier Hal had joked that he liked to be on top, but because of his injury it was only natural that Kit should straddle him, and with her surprisingly strong slender thighs clasping him, and her tumbled copper hair and bare tip-tilted breasts on seductive view for his personal pleasure and edification, he had no qualms in silently admitting that, in truth, he actually had the best position of all...
With his hands settling either side of her womanly hips, Hal suddenly couldn’t wait any longer to fulfil his growing need for her—and told her so. ‘If I don’t take you now, angel, I might—just might—lose my mind. But you’ll have to help me take these boxers off.’ When she’d accomplished the task he told her, ‘Now it’s your turn.’
With the same graceful and athletic prowess she’d used to remove his boxers, and mindful again not to jar the cast on his leg, Kit reached down and carefully slid her flimsy underwear down to her ankles. Then she scrunched the delicate cotton into a ball and threw it onto the floor.
When she resumed her position, Hal murmured huskily, ‘You were gone too long, baby.’ Hungrily fastening his hands either side of her flushed face, beneath the bewitching cascade of her burnished copper hair, he finished, ‘I missed you.’
‘I missed you too.’ She bent down teasingly to brush her fulsome moist lips against his mouth, making him groan.
Before he could completely surrender to his burning desire he ripped open the silver foil packet he still held in his closed fist and fitted the latex protection over his member. He was rock-hard. The soft gasp Kit couldn’t prevent feathered over him. Reaching for her once again, Hal knew it wouldn’t be easy for him to be as mindful of her inexperience as he would like to be, and as much as she deserved, and he honestly regretted that. But his hunger for this woman was off the scale...
Never before in his history of conquests had it been this wanton or voracious. When he placed the tip of his member at her moist entrance and pushed upwards without preamble her satin heat all but overwhelmed him. He had no choice but to take things slowly or his lovemaking would be over almost as soon as it had begun.
Any tension Kit might have felt at the thought of properly uniting her body with a man’s after five long years of sexual abstinence quickly disappeared the moment Hal’s hard silken manhood entered her body. It was as though she’d been waiting all this time just for him. Although her feminine muscles might be understandably tight due to her inexperience, Hal’s initial thrust had not been as painful or shockingly invasive as she’d expected. In fact after a brief searing sting his possession hardly made her flinch at all it was so natural. And the fact didn’t detract from the inconceivable pleasure that filled her.
It was like drowning in a sea of the most exquisite honey. She’d honestly never felt more alive or glad to be a woman as she did right then. And as he drove into her again and again, and she allowed herself to relax completely, she didn’t have the slightest reticence about meeting his voracious hunger with her own, bending her head greedily to kiss the side of his chiselled jaw and forehead and nip the velvet lobe of his ear.
How was it possible that a man’s body could taste this good or feel so wonderful? she mused. It made her wonder how she’d survived so long without such sublime intimacy and gratification. The heat that filled her made her feel as though her blood was being lit by a fire. A fire
