Protector(74)

“Alex,” she said, once she felt as if she might be able to string two coherent words together.

He’d been lying next to her, holding her as the last of shudders had finished wracking their way through her body. Now he propped himself up on one elbow, dark eyes sharp and worried, as if he was expecting her to tell him that was all they could do, that they needed to stop this madness here and now. “What, Caitlin?”

“I — ” Her tongue seemed to be stuck to the back of her throat. No wonder, really, with the way she’d been panting. She sucked in a breath and started over. “I just — I need to tell you something.”

His mouth tightened. “What is it?”

Just get it over with! “I’m a virgin,” she said simply.

He didn’t quite pull away, but she could feel him go very still. “You’re — seriously?”

“Is it that unbelievable?”

“For a girl as gorgeous as you? It’s kind of unbelievable.”

He called me gorgeous! a part of her mind burbled happily, but she forced herself to say, “It’s not as if I really meant to wait this long. It just never felt right before.”

He watched her, eyes half hidden by the sweep of his lashes, thick and dark as his hair. Then, finally, “Are you saying this feels right?”

“Yes. Doesn’t — doesn’t it feel right to you?”

His expression softened, and then he was pulling her close, kissing her cheek, her neck. Once again he caressed her, his mouth warm against the sensitive skin of her breast. She shivered, let him touch her, explore her, his fingers moving deeper. But then he paused, murmuring, “We don’t have to go any further than this if you don’t want to.”

She shut her eyes, made herself pull in a deep breath. Then she blinked and gazed back up at him, at the sensual curve of his mouth, the dusting of late-day stubble against the warm tones of his skin. Every part of him seemed so perfect, so uniquely Alex, that she knew she could never have said this to anyone else.

“I want to. I do. Make love to me, Alex.”

He let out a soft, soft moan, a deep, guttural sound that seemed to have come from deep within him. Without replying, he kissed his way down her stomach, moving lower and lower. When his tongue touched her, she had to grab hold of one of the pillows and grip it tightly to keep herself from screaming in pleasure. She’d heard how good that could feel, but she’d never let a guy do that to her before, make love to the most intimate part of her body, the touch of his mouth and tongue setting another series of those warm waves loose in her, streaming over her, until at last she let go of the pillow and knotted her fingers in his hair, convulsing against him as the orgasm struck her with the force of a tidal wave.

Then he raised himself on his hands, positioned his body between her legs. She could feel him pressing against her there, the heaviness of his arousal pushing her open just a fraction. Even that touch was so amazingly intimate that she let out a gasp.

Immediately, he stopped. “Am I hurting you?”

“No.” She knew it probably would hurt some, but right then she didn’t care. All she cared about was having him inside her, joining to him in a way she never had with anyone else. Still, she wasn’t so lost that she didn’t forget to send the mental prayer to Brigid out into the universe, the one that would protect her from any long-term consequences of this time with Alex.

Blessed Goddess, now is not the time. Bestow your blessings elsewhere.

When her mother had first told her of the charm, Caitlin couldn’t help wondering if a witch saying it meant some poor civilian somewhere would still get knocked up instead. Now she knew the magic didn’t quite work that way. But it would protect her, and that was the most important thing.

“It’s — it’s good,” she went on. “Don’t stop. Please.”

That seemed to be all the encouragement he needed, because he pushed against her more. She could feel him sliding in, and there was a twinge, almost like a sharp tug, and then he was in her, all the way in, moving gently, as if he was still worried that he might be hurting her. To show him that he wasn’t — not really, anyway — she wrapped her legs around him and pulled him closer to her, then began moving with him, her hips rocking against his as they found their rhythm, moving together, their breathing speeding up.

Time didn’t seem to exist anymore. Nothing did, except Alex, his face above hers, eyes locked on hers in a kind of wonder, his expression seeming to say that he’d never thought they would come to this place, to this suspended moment where the world was gone and it was only the two of them, the push and pull of their bodies, the beating of their hearts, joining in a moment of perfect synchronicity, perfect harmony.