Nothing had ever felt like this. Her body was soft and swollen with need, opening to him as he kept stroking her, over and over, and now he was using his other hand, too, his thumb settling on the tight pearl of nerve endings so ready for his touch that she almost cried out.
Her breath was coming in pants now, her body twisting, her hips rising from the bed to meet his hand. When she felt a finger slide inside her she did cry out.
Then she felt his tongue.
“Jake!”
His name was jerked out of her as she clutched at the quilt for dear life. Her pulse was roaring in her ears, the tension coiling so tight that when the explosion came she saw stars.
It took a long, long time to come back to earth. She still felt dazed, every cell in her body quivering, when Jake stretched himself out beside her and kissed the side of her neck.
She rolled onto her side to face him.
Her heart was still hammering as she ran a hand down his chest. This time he let her keep going until she found his zipper and lowered it slowly. He was wearing boxers under his jeans, and she reached inside the front opening and closed her hand around him.
He was thick and hard and hot against her palm.
He made a sound low in his throat. “Erin, we don’t have to do anything else if you don’t want to. We can stop now.”
“I don’t want to stop. I want you inside me.”
She’d never wanted anything so much. A moment ago she wasn’t sure she’d ever move again, but now, feeling the weight of him in her hand, a restless urgency sparked every nerve ending in her body.
He made another low sound, almost like a growl. “I don’t have condoms with me. Do you—”
“I have them.” She’d bought condoms the day after Allison’s wedding, determined to use them when the time felt right.
She’d never imagined she’d actually use them with Jake.
She sat up in bed and opened her nightstand drawer, taking out the brand new box and ripping it open. She tore off one of the foil packets and turned to Jake.
“It’s ready whenever you are,” she said, and he smiled as he shucked his jeans and boxers and pulled her back into his arms.
“Here’s the thing,” he said, stroking a hand down her torso and resting it on her bare hip. “I’ve been lusting after you for weeks, so I’m pretty much ready now. Are you sure you—”
“I’m sure.”
He took the foil packet from her and tore it open, and a second later he was sheathed.
He rolled them over so she was on her back. “This is new territory for me, too. I’ve never been anyone’s first time. I’ll be as gentle as I can, but I’m afraid it’s going to hurt you.”
She nodded. “I know. I’m ready.”
He kept his weight braced on his arms and his eyes on hers as lowered his hips.
She clutched at his upper arms, the hard muscles of his biceps turning her on as much as the hard shaft beginning to enter her.
He pulled back, and pushed in a little further. Again, and again, the friction heating her blood until her body pulsed with sudden excitement.
Then he slid deep inside with one powerful stroke.
She cried out, and Jake looked stricken.
“It’s okay,” she panted, the brief pain already easing. “I’m okay.”
Jake was trembling, and she could see from the way he clenched his jaw how hard it was for him to hold back.
She rocked against him, and his breath hissed through his teeth. She rocked again, and he groaned. “Erin…”
When he thrust inside her this time, her hips rose to meet his.
Then there was no more holding back. Jake drove into her with fierce urgency, and every time their bodies came together she felt a burst of pleasure. There was no explosion this time, but when Jake cried out her name and shuddered out his release, she was suffused by a wild tenderness, something primal and elemental.
He was still afterwards, his head on her shoulder and his body covering hers, and she could feel his breath and his heartbeat as if they were her own.
Jake didn’t want to move. Lying there with Erin, a peace he hadn’t known in years was seeping into his bones.
He’d never experienced anything like this. He tried to tell himself it was just that he hadn’t been with a woman in so long, but he knew better.
It had nothing to do with his long drought and everything to do with Erin. Being with her was like being in paradise, inside a garden of warmth and sweetness that touched places inside him he’d forgotten even existed.
Her hands were moving softly over his back and shoulders, her touch erotic in a way no other woman’s had ever been. He wished they could stay like that forever. But he knew he was too heavy for her, so he rolled them onto their sides.