How had she missed seeing him over the years? How had his smile not reached down and clutched her heart, and how had the sound of his voice not filled her with longing? Or had it? Had all those wonderfully beautiful things actually happened without her acknowledging their existence?
Would Bailey have to trade friendship for all that beauty? Nowhere in her life could she be so lucky to have both. Until now, she had ignored the wonderful and traded it for the secure, but could she keep it up? Could she hide her desires in order to preserve that friendship? Not tonight. She needed him more tonight than she’d ever needed anything in her life. Did he know that? Could she have one night with him, then wake up tomorrow and have everything back to the way it was?
She reached up, pulled the hat from his head, and ran her fingers through his wild hair. Her hand felt heavy, like dead weight, but the strands of silk slid through like flowing water.
His hand rested on her waist, the pressure a welcome friend, his fingers massaging as they pulled her closer to him, his chest warm, soft, and smelling like fresh air. Bailey breathed him in, dizzy from the sensation. No high in the world could compete with this. Her inhibitions and walls were gone for the first time in her life. She felt completely comfortable with him. No insecurities or questions, just the feel of him as he touched her. Did he feel as comfortable with her?
She hoped, for his sake, this was just a physical need, a cure for the lonely, and nothing more. She could live with the broken heart of tomorrow, but she wouldn’t wish it on him for all the pleasure in the world.
She reached up and pulled the ribbon lying across her shoulder, untying the sheath of fabric between them. Ryan’s eyes glazed over in longing as he watched her. Once untied, she slid her hand down his back and pulled at the hem of his t-shirt. He tugged it over his head, pushing his hair in all different directions. If Bailey wasn’t so besotted, she would have laughed at him, but all she wanted now was to taste him.
Her mouth found his chest, touching him like a lover for the first time, and it made her heart ache for more. She’d never wanted anything like she wanted him now.
He seemed just as urgent to have her, but he held back. She wondered what his hesitation was about, but she didn’t dare ask. She didn’t dare speak at all, afraid she’d wake and find herself in a dream.
Then she heard his voice. It broke the silent night like a song. “Bailey, is this what you want?” His words were breathy, almost pained, and she wondered if he were afraid of waking from a dream, too.
“Yes,” she breathed, pulling her lips from his warm skin. She tugged down the front of her new dress and pressed against him. His smooth chest was like a blanket of silk against her breasts.
With reverence, he touched her, softly, caressing as if she would break. First her neck, then along her collarbone, then, with a hitch in both their breathing, he cupped her breast in his hand.
Never had anticipation built in her like it was now. What would he feel like inside her? She thought of how beautifully he played the piano and wondered if he would play her just as well. Could he untangle the mass of nerves now pulsing through her? She sighed when his mouth came down on her nipple, and her mind blanked on everything but the sensation of him.
* * *
Ryan knew he should’ve stopped long ago. She was drunk, but shit, so was he. He tried to stop, but when their eyes met, her expression pulled him back in. God, the taste of her, and the feel of her, he’d always wondered what it would be like, but he never imagined it would be this good.
He swayed over her in rhythm with the boat, but before he nestled deeper into her, he ran a mental checklist. Boat anchored, check, safe location to spend the night, check, enough gas to get back in the morning, check, condom in the cabin, check, check, check.
He pulled her dress down farther and looked at the glow of her skin in the faint moonlight. It shone silver and sparkled like glitter, or was that the reflection of the water? He couldn’t be sure. Ryan wasn’t sure of anything except how much he wanted her. He had to go slow; he had to consider how new this was to her. She’d never looked at him in any way but friendship, and now he had his hand on her bare breast, aching from the need to take more.
Damn, he was a jerk or a pervert…or hell…a motherfucker for touching her after she drank so much. He couldn’t help himself. She was everything to him, and now he wanted to have every part of her, finally.
“Bailey.” He looked into her shining eyes, so full of fascination he almost changed his mind. “I don’t think this is a good idea.” Yes, reason finally took control of his brain. He wasn’t a pervert after all. He shook his head at the thought. “I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to…”
“Ryan, please, don’t stop. I want this. You feel so good. Just don’t stop.”
“But, Bay…” He brushed the hair from her forehead.
“We’ll worry about it tomorrow.”
Worry about it tomorrow. Could he live with that logic? What if tomorrow was too late? “Are
