The Love Series Complete Box Set (83 page)

I reach behind me for the knob and twist. Stepping over the threshold makes my heart crash into the wall of my chest. My pulse accelerates and my breath hitches in my throat. Anxiety and nervousness morph into desire. And despite my deep-seeded insecurities, I know that I see that same desire etched into Bryan’s face.

He leans his face into the crook of my neck and kisses the part of my collarbone that’s exposed from behind the neckline of my shirt. Hot, wet lips trace the path of exposed flesh until he arrives at my shoulder. Gently nipping at my skin, and then kissing his little bite, Bryan says, “You have the most beautiful skin. I want to taste all of it.”

Emboldened by his seductive words, I step back from him and reach for the hem of my shirt. I pull it up over my head and toss is to the floor. Even though I’m standing before him in my jeans and black lace bra, I feel naked and exposed. Crazy thoughts fly through my head, but I try my best to silence them. Bryan’s widened eyes fix on my breasts and suddenly I don’t feel so shy.

I feel beautiful.

Wanted.

Desired.

Sexy.

I reach for the hem of his shirt and he pulls it up over his head. His abs ripple under the movement. I have to touch him. When my fingers trace tentatively across his muscled stomach, I feel him shudder and hear a breath hiss from between his lips. With steadier fingers than those that tugged at his shirt, I pull on the button of his jeans and pop it open. He repays the favor and takes it a step further by pushing my jeans down over my hips.

Standing before him in nothing but my bra and panties is exhilarating. The look in his eyes tells me that I have nothing to worry about. The bulge in his unbuttoned jeans tells me that he wants me. The pulse beating visibly in his neck tells me that he’s about to lose control.

He steps closer to me, but doesn’t stop when his chest presses up against mine. Instead, he keeps walking and pushes me with him until my butt collides with my bed. I stare up into his eyes and get lost there for a minute. Usually, they’re the color of liquid chocolate—dark and molten. But right now, I’m seeing amber flecks and golden shimmers.

Bryan effortlessly lifts me up onto the bed, and for the first time in my life, I feel dainty and feminine. Wrapped up in his muscled body, I feel tiny and pretty. He slides my body against his and lowers me onto my back.

With one hand supporting his weight, he unhooks the front clasp of my bra and pulls the straps down my shoulders. Dropping the bra rather unceremoniously to the floor, he stares at my breasts with hunger in his eyes.

Licking his lips, he says, “My God, Melanie. Do you realize how perfect you are? You are so damned beautiful.” I shake my head, to both deny his statement and to avoid having to look into his eyes. He cups my cheek softly, and turns my head back to him. He doesn’t use words to convince me of his recent declaration. His lips do all of the work.

They move from my lips to my neck to my shoulder to the soft curve of the tops of my breasts. He rolls to my side and supports his weight on his bent arm. Using his other hand, he cups my breast and kneads it tenderly. When his thumb strums across my hardened nipple, a groan eases out of my mouth. He does it again, but this time, instead of just passing over it, he squeezes the pink tip gently and pulls slightly. My hips roll seeking some kind of release. “Ahhh, Bryan.”

His lips are buried into my neck. “More?” he asks and I just nod in return. I don’t want to think about what I should say. I just want to feel.

Traveling the same path they did earlier, his lips descend past the top of my breast. When he softly kisses one nipple while rolling the other between his fingers, my hips gyrate wildly and my insides pulse with desire for more.

Bryan senses that
more
is exactly what I want, so he licks and sucks at my breast like his life depends on it. Ravenously, he moves over to the neglected breast and pays it the same attention. I’m not sure who is more satisfied by the action.

My fingers tangle into his brown hair as it tickles my chest. My flesh prickles and my nipples pucker even more. His kisses follow a path down my body and his tongue dips into my belly button. In the month or so that we’ve been together, we haven’t done much more than making out and groping at each other above our clothes. This is the farthest we’ve gone and he must sense that we’re on some kind of precipice—some kind of point of no return.

His lips stop at the top of my panties and he looks up at me through his dark lashes. I nod, giving him the answer to his unasked question, and he hooks his thumbs into the sides of my panties. My legs shake and my insides quiver as he pulls the black lace over my hips and down my legs.

I’m naked. Fully bared to him as he kneels in between my spread legs, forces a heated blush to race across my body. Bryan is staring down at me like he doesn’t know where to start, doesn’t know what to do. I would give anything to know what’s going on in his head, but he doesn’t say anything. Instead of talking, he runs his fingers up from my toes, to my calves, across my thighs and stops just inches from my sex. He’s unsure so I arch my back and force my hips up into his touch.

“Please, Bryan. I’m ready. I want you. I want this. Please,” I’m begging, but feeling his hands roam all over my body reduces me to a needy, wanton creature.

He wastes no time with words or explanations. When his fingers trace delicately over my folds, I feel the pressure begin to build inside of me. It’s delicious and unfamiliar. I want relief from it, but I never want it to end.

With my eyes shut and my head rolling from side-to-side, I’m lost to the pleasure of his touch. When he gently slides a finger inside of me, my back arches and my nipples pebble. “You’re so wet, Melanie. But I want to take this slow, so relax.” On his last word, he reaches up to tweak my nipple with his other hand, causing another hot gush of wetness to coat his finger.

When he slides another finger deep inside of me, my insides burn at the stretching feeling. The burn quickly vanishes though as he works his fingers from side-to-side, massaging me, preparing me. That last thought causes my insides to flutter and clench.

“You’re close, Melanie,” he tells me.

“Yes . . . Bryan . . . Yes . . . please.” My words are breathless and match the pattern of his fingers plunging in and out of me.

When he starts kissing the soft flesh of my inner thighs, I know where he’s headed. I know what he’s going to do. At the thought of his mouth on me, my legs squeeze together almost involuntarily. I’m just not sure if I’m ready for that.

Bryan feels the tension permeate my body, so he places his hand on my thigh and tenderly coaxes my legs back open. “Shh, Melanie. Let me do this, please. I’ve been dying to taste you. Since the moment I met you, I’ve wanted this, please.” I can’t say no to the begging tone of his words. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want it.

Letting my legs fall to the side, he lowers his mouth to my mound and kisses every inch of me. Soft, almost reverent lips float along the surface of my skin while his fingers return to their gentle motion. Pulling back my folds with his fingertips, he exposes my clit, and when his tongue traces along the hardened bud, I claw at the sheets with such intensity that I think I might actually rip them.

Unable to control my body, Bryan drapes his arm across my belly to hold me in place while he devours me. Licking, tasting sucking—my God, it’s all too much. On one final plunge of his fingers and one long, broad stroke of his tongue over my clit, my orgasm rips through me and I shriek out his name.

My skin flames and then cools as the waves of pleasure rise and fall throughout my body. Bryan pulls a blanket up over us and he lies to my side. Brushing the hair that has swept across my face out of my eyes, he kisses my lips sweetly. “I really enjoyed doing that, Melanie.” He smirks and looks thoroughly pleased with himself for having given me my first orgasm.

Dazed and relaxed, I mutter, “Hmmmm. I really enjoyed that too.” I feel his chest rumble next to me as he chuckles at my response. Lying next to him in this unfocused and hazy post-orgasmic state of bliss, I wonder if this glowing and overwhelmingly warm feeling in my chest is love.

But, I promised myself not to think—to just feel, so feel I will.

Overcome by the desire to touch his skin, I trace my finger along the waistband of his boxer briefs. Peaking up through my long lashes, I meet his gaze. “Is it okay if I touch you now?” Instead of waiting for a response, I cup his erection and watch in amazement as his eyes roll back. The sound of him groaning my name makes my body crave him more—even though I’ve just had him.

My touches grow firmer, more daring, and when I reach inside of his boxers to free his hardened length, I kiss and nip at his neck. “Melanie, I can’t take much more. Your hands . . . oh God.”

When he starts pushing his cock up into my small hand, I know what he wants. I want it too. So I push his boxers down over his hips and stroke him from root to tip a few more times before asking, “Do you have a condom?”

Please say yes. Please say yes.

He rolls over top of me and presses me into the mattress. Reaching down to the floor, he picks up his jeans and pulls a condom out of his back pocket.

Thank God!

Kneeling between my legs, he tears open the foil packet and I watch in awe as he rolls the condom down over his cock. My eyes travel up the rest of his body and I’m amazed by how beautiful he is. His defined abs are accentuated with that glorious V etched into his hips. His chest is nothing short of a work of art. Perfectly muscled and lightly dusted with hair, I can’t resist the urge to reach up and run my fingers through it.

When I look up to his face, I realize that he is staring at me with the same reverence. Could it be that we see each other in the same beautiful light?

“Are you ready, Melanie?” His voice is soft and laced with gentle concern.

I reach up and wrap my arms around his neck and pull his lips down to mine. Kissing him with as much passion as I feel, I say, “I’ve never been more ready.”

I feel his tip nudging at my entrance, and then I feel his fingers relaxing me as they rhythmically dance over my clit—softening me, preparing me.

Relaxed and oh-so-ready, he pushes into me again. “Ahhhh . . . Bryan.”

“Shhh . . . it’s okay. We’ll take it slowly, nice and easy.” He lowers his body to mine, careful to sink into me as slowly as possible. It’s a weird combination of pleasure and pain. On one last push, he’s fully inside of me and then pain is quickly gone and replaced by the most deliciously full feeling I have ever known.

His lips are on mine, hot and hard. I can tell he’s holding back; he’s letting me get used to him, but I need him to move. I need to feel him. “I’m good, Bryan . . . please . . . move . . . please, I need more . . .” My words are lost to the rhythm of our hips, to the beating of our hearts.

“Melanie . . .” My name barely escapes past his clenched jaw and his pace becomes erratic. He hooks one leg up in a muscled arm, causing him to push into me at a different angle. With his other hand, he kneads my breast and tweaks my nipple. I arch my hips so that my back is almost completely off the bed and he moves his hand from my breast in search of my clit. Gently brushing against my sensitive skin, I feel the pressure building again. My insides tighten in ecstasy and he plunges into me harder and harder. “Ahhh . . . oh God . . . Melanie . . .” On one final thrust, he comes and collapses on top of me.

I revel in the feel of his body pressing into mine, of my arms wrapped around him. When his breathing returns to normal, he kisses me sweetly and stares wildly into my eyes like he’s searching for something. “Wow . . . that was . . .” I think it’s the most adorable thing in the world that he’s lost for words.

“Yeah . . . it was . . . perfect.” I run my fingers along his jawline and kiss him as he rolls to the side.

Pulling the sheet around my body, I get up to go to the bathroom. “I’ll be right back,” I say as I walk away from him. “You better,” he says as he stands and takes care of the condom.

Standing in front of the mirror, it’s like I’m looking at a different person. I’m not the Melanie I used to be—and I don’t mean the whole ‘not a virgin’ anymore thing.

The Melanie staring back at me is more sure of herself, more confident, and most importantly, she’s in love.

Chapter 7

Saturday, January 26, 2013

I’m brushing my teeth after my little vomitus fit of anxiety and I feel like I can’t even bear to look at myself in the mirror. Luckily the knocking on the door breaks me out of my little pity party for one. Bracing my hands on the counter, I rinse the remainder of the toothpaste from my mouth and hope for the best.

When I open the door and see Bryan on the other side, my pulse accelerates and my heart beats wildly in my chest. It’s not just out of nervousness; it’s out of love and lust too. He’s hot, and no matter how many times I look at him, I’ll never understand how I got lucky enough to have him as my own—even if that time is now running out. His body is perfectly muscled, and even through his heavyweight leather jacket, I can see the clear definition of his upper body. He’s got the strongest arms I’ve ever felt—not that I’ve felt any other arms, but, well, let’s just say they’re pretty damn strong.