Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Tess sensed the change in Mac’s touch, as if the promise of completion gave new urgency to every caress.
And though she’d tried to seem casual about what was about to happen, in reality she felt like a canoe being carried down the rapids toward a thundering waterfall.
If anyone but Mac had been touching her, arousing her, she would have leaped from the bed, unsure if she truly wanted this change in status, after all.
But Mac was there, making her ache, making her long for the firm thrust of him, deep inside her. Perhaps there would be pain. She no hanger cared if only he’d finally claim her, complete her in ways she’d never dreamed of until this moment.
He lifted his head, a question in his eyes as he slipped his finger deep inside.
It was the penetration she longed for, but not nearly enough. A sudden shyness overtook her, causing her to close her eyes before she asked for what she wanted. “More,” she whispered.
He eased two fingers in, placing soft kisses on her mouth. “Tell me how that feels.”
“Different.” Her breath caught as he moved his fingers gently back and forth. “Wonderful,” she said, letting out a trembling sigh. “Mac, I’m going wild inside. Deflower me. Please.”
His kiss was soft and lingering, but still she felt the barely leashed power of him as he moved between her thighs and propped his arms on either side of her head.
Quivering with excitement, she wrapped both arms around his back and felt his muscles flex.
She couldn’t tell for sure because of her own trembling, but she thought he was shaking, too.
His breathing was affected, at any rate, as he probed her gently with the blunt tip of his erection.
She braced herself. No matter how much she might want him there, he would be substantial and might take some getting used to.
“Tess.” There was a smile in his voice. “Open your eyes.”
She gazed up at him, astonished by the tenderness in his blue gaze. She’d thought a man in his position would be in the grip of passion and appear much more fierce. “What?”
“You look just the way you used to before the roller coaster started. I’m going to go easy. You don’t have to clench your jaw like that. And keep your eyes open. If you’re looking at me, I’ll be able to tell how I’m doing.”
“How can you be so... calm?”
“Believe me, I’m not calm,” he said quietly. “But I am paying attention.”
“Oh, Mac. Thank you for being here.”
“I’m here.” He eased slowly forward and his eyes darkened. “Right here.”
She noticed the flicker of uncontrolled desire in his eyes before she became totally absorbed by the sensation when he entered her. She registered warmth and size. He withdrew and eased in again, and she moaned in pleasure at the friction that was unlike anything he’d provided before.
“Tess?”
“That was a happy moan,” she murmured, looking into his eyes. There was that flicker of primitive need again. She found it thrilling.
His breathing was labored, but he kept his movements slow. “I’m going a little deeper.”
“Yes.” Everything else, she began to realize, no matter how delicious, was only a lead-in to this, the ultimate connection. Nothing in her world had ever felt so right as opening her body to this man and being filled by him.
He slid forward, and met resistance. He stopped immediately and looked into her eyes. “This is it.”
Her heart thudded wildly. One movement and her life would be forever changed.
She would be a virgin no longer. Ah, but then she could welcome the whole length of him and know the wonder of joining intimately with another person.
And not just any person, either. Mac. One movement and she could be fully with him, in every sense.
She slipped her hands down to his buttocks and gripped firmly. “Let’s go for it.”
As he pushed gently forward, she rose to meet him, determined to share in the moment. The sharp pain brought a cry to her lips.
“Damn.” He stopped, his gaze troubled.
“It’s okay.” She trembled against him. “It’s going away. Don’t hold back. It’s over now. Love me. Love me the way a man loves a woman.”
With a groan he pushed deep, locking their bodies together, his hips cradled between hers. And the fierceness she’d expected to see earlier flared in the depths of his eyes as he gazed down at her.
As she met that gaze, she felt an answering intensity rise within her.
She’d expected them both to be naked tonight, but she hadn’t guessed he’d also strip her to the essence of her soul, and she him.
She looked into his eyes and realized they were both seeing depths they’d never imagined before.
And her world shifted, for she knew the connection they were making would not end with this night, or even with this summer. It would last forever.