Marriage Made on Paper(35)

Her heart thundered hard when Gage walked to the bed and started to unbutton his shirt, his movements quick. Now she understood why he’d wanted the light on. She wished she could see him. But then she would lose her covering, and she wasn’t prepared to deal with that.

He shrugged the shirt off and it fell to the floor. She could see the outline of his muscles, the moonlight highlighting the ridges and valleys on his body. She swallowed, her throat suddenly dry.

“Come here, Lily,” he said softly.

She moved toward him, heart thundering. She was shaking, with nerves, with need, with the enormity of everything. It shouldn’t be such a big deal. It was only sex. People had it every day, and then afterward, they walked away. She would do the same.

“Kiss me,” she said. “Now.” Because when he kissed her, everything made sense, everything seemed right.

He didn’t move, he only offered her a half smile that she could see in the pale moonlight, the rest of his handsome face hidden in the shadows. “I told you, Lily, you have to come to me.”

She sucked in a breath and walked toward him, putting her hands flat against his chest, his body hard and hot, so masculine. She slid her hands up to his shoulders, his coarse chest hair rough against her palms. She leaned in and kissed him on the corner of his mouth, a move she hoped would tease him, because it was teasing her.

He turned his head and captured her mouth with his, the kiss turning hungry in an instant. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her breasts tightly against that hard, broad chest, the action helping to soothe the sting of her aroused nipples.

He moved his hands around to cup her breasts, to tease the hardened buds. She moaned into his mouth, the sound beyond her control, an expression of pleasure she couldn’t have held back if she’d been conscious enough to try.

He wrenched his lips away from hers, pressing a hot, openmouthed kiss to the side of her neck, the touch so erotic it made her knees buckle.

“I have wanted you,” he said, kissing her collarbone, “from the first moment I saw you.” He kissed the curve of her breast. “I’ve wanted you naked, in my bed, flushed with desire.”

“Now you have me,” she said, the words escaping before she could turn them over in her mind, before she could really analyze what she meant. What they might mean to him.

“Yes,” he said, his blue eyes glinting, “I do.”

He unbuttoned the top of her shirt then took care of the rest of the buttons with a practiced ease she was thankful for. He made it seem so easy, so smooth, that she forgot to be nervous when her shirt fell open, revealing her lacy bra.

He made quick work of that, too, both items of clothing falling to the floor. He moved his hands back to her bare breasts and teased her hardened nipples. Her head fell back, more uncontrollable sounds of pleasure coming from her mouth. All she could do was simply enjoy what he was doing to her, because she had no hope of doing anything else.

He replaced his hands with his mouth, sucking her nipple deep inside, before laving it with the flat of his tongue. “You taste as good as I imagined you would,” he said.

Kneeling down in front of her, he undid the closure on her shorts and pulled them down her legs, taking her panties with them. He leaned in then, his breath hot on her just before he claimed her with his mouth, his lips and tongue working magic on her clitoris. She gripped his shoulders trying to steady herself, trying to keep from dissolving into a whimpering puddle at his feet.

Tension started building in her stomach, so tight she thought her legs might buckle. She took a breath, trying to fight the growing sensation of pleasure. She knew what it meant. She was on the brink of orgasm, her whole body trembling with the effort to hold it at bay while he continued to subject her to an onslaught of pleasure.

She threw her head back, fought the rising tide that was threatening to overtake her, threatening to drown her. He’d brought her up so high that if she went over the edge, she was afraid of what might happen. Of what she might do. Of what he might make her feel.

“Enough,” she panted, desperate for respite, needing a moment to capture her sanity again.

“You don’t want it like this?” he asked, standing and flicking the snap of his jeans open and shrugging them off.

She shook her head, her eyes glued to his body, what she could see of it in the dim lighting. She’d never seen a naked man in person before. He was almost awe-inspiring. His body so different from hers. He was so masculine, muscular, his erection thick and tempting. It scared her how much she wanted him. How much she wanted to feel him inside of her. How necessary it suddenly seemed.

She sat on the bed, her legs shaking, her whole body shaking, inside and out.