She nodded. “You did. And since I lost my virginity in a barn, I suppose I have to reserve judgment.”
“Probably. Then I moved to Seattle. And I was even worse, because suddenly I was surrounded by women I hadn’t known my whole life.”
Danielle nodded gravely. “I can see how that would be an issue.”
He smiled. Then finished undoing his belt, button and zipper before shoving his pants down to the floor. He stood in front of her naked, aroused and beautiful.
“Then I got myself into a long-term relationship, and it turns out I’m good at that. Well, at the being faithful part.”
“That’s a relief.”
“In terms of promiscuity, though, my behavior has been somewhat appalling for the past five years. I have picked up a particular set of skills.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I suppose that’s something.”
“You asked.”
She straightened. “And I wanted to know.”
He reached behind her back, undoing her bra, pulling it off and throwing it somewhere behind him. “Well, now you do.” He pressed his hands against the back of the couch, bracketing her in. “You still want to marry me?”
“I had a very tempting proposal from the UPS man today. He asked me to sign for a package. So I guess you could say it’s getting kind of serious.”
“I don’t think the UPS man makes you feel like this.” He captured her mouth with his, and she found herself being pressed into the cushions, sliding to the side, until he’d maneuvered her so they were both lying flat on the couch.
He wrapped his fingers around her wrists, lifting them up over her head as he bent to kiss her neck, her collarbone, to draw one nipple inside his mouth.
She bucked against him, and he shifted, pushing his hand beneath her jeans, under the fabric of her panties, discovering just how wet and ready she was for him.
She rolled her hips upward, moving in time with the rhythm of his strokes, lights beginning to flash behind her eyelids, orgasm barreling down on her at an embarrassingly quick rate.
Danielle sucked in a deep breath, trying her best to hold her climax at bay. Because how embarrassing would it be to come from a kiss? A brief bit of attention to her breast and a quick stroke between the legs?
But then she opened her eyes and met his gaze. His lips curved into a wicked smile as he turned his wrist, sliding one finger deep inside her as he flicked his thumb over her clit.
All she could do then was hold on tight and ride out the explosion. He never looked away from her, and as much as she wanted to, she couldn’t look away from him.
It felt too intense, too raw and much too intimate.
But she was trapped in it, drowning in it, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She just had to surrender.
While she was still recovering from her orgasm, Joshua made quick work of her jeans, flinging them in the same direction her bra had gone.
Then, still looking right at her, he stroked her, over the thin fabric of her panties, the tease against her overly sensitized skin almost too much to handle.
Then he traced the edge of the fabric at the crease of her thigh, dipping one finger beneath her underwear, touching slick flesh.
He hooked his finger around the fabric, pulling her panties off and casting them aside. And here she was, just as she’d been the first time, completely open and vulnerable to him. At his mercy.
It wasn’t as though she didn’t want that. There was something wonderful about it. Something incredible about the way he lavished attention on her, about being his sole focus.
But she wanted more. She wanted to be... She wanted to be equal to him in some way.
He was practiced. And he had skill. He’d had a lot of lovers. Realistically, she imagined he didn’t even know exactly how many.
She didn’t have skill. She hadn’t been tutored in the art of love by anyone. But she wanted.
If desire could equal skill, then she could rival any woman he’d ever been with. Because the depth of her need, the depth of her passion, reached places inside her she hadn’t known existed.
She pressed her hands down on the couch cushions, launching herself into a sitting position. His eyes widened, and she reveled in the fact that she had surprised him. She reached out, resting one palm against his chest, luxuriating in the feel of all that heat, that muscle, that masculine hair that tickled her sensitive skin.
“Danielle,” he said, his tone filled with warning.
She didn’t care about his warnings.
She was going to marry this man. He was going to be her husband. That thought filled her with such a strange sense of elation.
He had all the power. He had the money. He had the beautiful house. What he was giving her...it bordered on charity. If she was ever going to feel like she belonged—like this place was really hers—they needed to be equals in some regard.
She had to give him something too.
And if it started here, then it started here.
She leaned in, cautiously tasting his neck, tracing a line down to his nipple. He jerked beneath her touch, his reaction satisfying her in a way that went well beyond the physical.
He was beautiful, and she reveled in the chance to explore him. To run her fingertips over each well-defined muscle. Over his abs and the hard cut inward just below his hip bone.
But she didn’t stop there. No, she wasn’t even remotely finished with him.
He had made her shake. He had made her tremble. He had made her lose her mind.
And she was going to return the favor.
She took a deep breath and kissed his stomach. Just one easy thing before she moved on to what she wanted, even though it scared her.
She lifted her head, meeting his gaze as she wrapped her fingers around his cock
