Though on some subconscious level she felt as if she had lived any number of lifetimes before this moment, she was absolutely certain that what she was experiencing right now, at this instant, was totally new. The feelings were as fresh and delicate as a tree’s first spring leaves and held all the promise of summer’s full glory.
When Riley touched her breast for the first time, his fingers skimming lightly over the nipple, her pulse bucked wildly. She could feel a strange and thrilling moistness gathering between her thighs, along with an aching, demanding need.
With each of his tender caresses, her body grew more anxious.
“Please, Riley,” she whispered with a soft moan. “Please.”
“Soon enough,” he vowed, as he explored her inch by inch, stroking, caressing, loving. The red dress, already tattered, was ripped and shoved aside so he could touch tongue to breast in a gesture that took her breath away.
Abby twisted beneath him, her hips shifting in search of the fulfillment he deliberately withheld. He teased and taunted and plagued her until her skin shone with a fine layer of perspiration and her senses screamed with a passionate need so powerful it terrified her, even as it drew her.
She had known, she had known it would be like this with Riley. And yet this desperate yearning, this heady pleasure went far beyond anything she could ever have imagined.
By the time his fingers skimmed along her bare thigh, by the time he touched the sensitive folds of skin above, she was gasping for breath. Then with one deliberate, delicate stroke of his finger across the core of her femininity, he sent her off into a whirlwind of throbbing ecstasy.
Abby shuddered with pleasure as the unfamiliar sensations broke over her.
And yet...
She slowly opened her eyes and met Riley’s intense, satisfied gaze. She returned that look hesitantly. “You didn’t...”
He smiled. “I will,” he promised. “The night is just beginning.”
Abby drew on the reassurance in his smile. “You sure take a long time stripping out of those clothes, cowboy.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve been bored with the wait,” he replied with a touch of feigned indignation.
“Hardly bored,” she admitted. “Just lonely.”
“Lonely?” he repeated.
His expression immediately softened. Clearly he was responding to something in her voice she hadn’t even been aware was there. His embrace tightened around her.
“Oh, Abby, I swear you will never be lonely again.”
He set about stirring her senses again. The task was even easier the second time with anticipation sharper and more experienced. Heat blazed in the space of a heartbeat. Desire rampaged with no more than a touch.
This time, though, Abby insisted on returning each caress, demanded access to Riley’s feverish skin. She tangled her fingers in the dark mat of hairs on his chest, found the flat, masculine nipples and teased them until he was breathless. The satisfaction that came with knowing she could arouse him thrilled her.
She reached beneath the waistband of his denims, her fingers gliding as low as possible until she could touch the first coarse hairs below.
Then Riley’s anxious hands were tangling with hers as he struggled to rid himself of the confining pants. He shucked them off with amazing haste for a man who had been content to go so slowly only moments before.
Abby’s gaze fell at once on his powerful erection and for an instant her confidence faltered. Then, drawn by his pleading expression and her own curiosity, she touched the silken length of it, marveling at its heat and texture. He trembled beneath her caress.
Then he was easing her onto her back, positioning himself between her thighs, touching the tip of his arousal against her. She thought she would die from anticipation. Her hips shifted restlessly as a smile crept across his face.
“I’ll try not to hurt you,” he promised, his gaze intent. “I never want to hurt you, Abby.”
“I know that,” she said confidently. “I trust you, Riley. I will always trust you.”
He entered her then, slowly, carefully until Abby thought she would scream in frustration.
“Please,” she begged. “Please, Riley.”
There was a sudden, sharp, tearing sensation and then they were joined. She felt...magnificent. Whole. And looking into Riley’s eyes as he began to move inside her, she could tell that he shared her sense of triumph. Their bodies were made for this union, striving in perfect harmony for a joyous release.
This was what was meant to be, the two of them, together, always. That was the last rational thought she had before waves of pleasure broke over her, carrying her to a place she’d only imagined, with the man she’d always dreamed of.
* * *
They made love again and again through the night. Even so, at first light, Abby was up and dressed. With her own dress ruined, she’d found one of Riley’s shirts, tied it in a knot at the waist, turned up the sleeves, then added a pair of his denims with the cuffs rolled up. She sat in a chair across from the bed and waited uncertainly for his decision.
She didn’t want him to take her with him out of any sense of obligation because of what had happened in that bed during the long, incredible night. She knew that despite his vow not to do just that, in the cold light of morning he could be consumed by guilt and swamped by a sense of responsibility. She wanted him to realize, instead, that they belonged together, just as she knew it in her heart.
He moaned finally and rolled over. He opened one eye and caught sight of her. Both eyes came open then, and he took a leisurely, provocative survey that made her breath catch in her
