Holly woke up feeling better than she ever had in her life. Her eyes were clear, blinking in the morning light—by the angle it couldn’t be much after dawn—and her mind was clear, too.
Remembering the events of last night, she closed her eyes and made a little sound at the back of her throat.
She opened her eyes suddenly. She wanted to make Alex feel that way, and for the first time in her life, she thought she could. Holly had never felt very sure of herself in bed, never sure about the pleasure she was giving or receiving, but a confidence was rushing through her now, not that she knew what to do but that she’d be able to figure it out. If she wasn’t sure, she could ask Alex to tell her. He was so passionate, so uninhibited, that he made her feel that way, too.
Luckily she was still naked.
This time, standing in his doorway, she was glad to see Alex in bed, sound asleep on his back with one arm flung out to the side. She went over to him softly, taking hold of his covers and pulling them down slowly and carefully, smiling when she saw that he, too, hadn’t bothered with clothes last night.
She climbed onto the bed and lay down beside him, farther down than he was, and took him softly in her hand.
Then his hands were in her hair and he was saying “Holly?” as if he could hardly believe what was happening.
She stopped what she was doing to smile up at him. “Hi,” she said.
“What are you doing?”
“Reciprocating,” she said.
She heard him moan, felt him tense, and suddenly he sat up, pulling her into his lap and kissing her fiercely.
Then the kiss stopped and Alex slid off the bed. “Wait here,” he ordered her, stabbing a finger in her direction and heading out the door. She heard him go down the stairs, and a minute later he was coming up them again.
“What in the world are you doing?” she asked as he came back into the room carrying a portable CD player.
“Fulfilling a fantasy,” he said with a grin, setting the stereo down on the dresser and hitting the play button. A moment later Marvin Gaye was singing “Let’s Get It On” and Alex was coming toward her, wearing the sexiest smile Holly had ever seen.
“I love this song,” she said.
“It makes me think about you. About making love to you.” He sat down on the bed next to her, stroking his hand down her naked shoulder.
She shivered at his touch. “I never figured you for the romantic type,” she said.
“I’m not, normally. You bring it out in me.” He leaned over to kiss her and she slid her hand down his body to cup him in her hand.
Alex froze against her briefly, sucking in air.
“I want you,” he said roughly. “I want to be inside you. Do you want that?”
“Yes,” she breathed.
His hand tightened on her shoulder for one moment. Then he pulled back to open the drawer of his night-stand for a condom.
He opened the little foil packet but then she took it from him, taking her time sliding the lubricated latex over his arousal, smiling when she heard him catch his breath.
“Red-haired witch,” he said, pulling her closer so that she was straddling him, and then using his hands to guide her down on top of him.
As she slid down his hard length she felt his hands on her hips tense, gripping her hard. A shiver ran through her at the feel of that hard masculinity inside her, all that raw power beneath her, and at the glorious freedom of being the one on top, able to set the pace.
She leaned forward, putting her hands flat on his chest, and watched his face as she began to move, finding a rhythm that made his eyes close and his head rock back, the strong, corded muscles of his neck tensing and releasing as he clenched his jaw.
She was so distracted by the passion and intensity in his face that she didn’t notice how close she was to her own release. Then she felt the tremors beginning, in her fingers and toes this time, and then traveling like white lightning to her core. She exploded, crying out and tightening all her muscles, including some she hadn’t known she possessed, and Alex was first rigid beneath her and then pulsing inside of her as he called her name and opened his eyes to meet hers for one blinding moment.
Once again it was a while before they could move or speak. Eventually Alex dislodged her gently and then slid down to lie beside her, trailing a hand along the perfect curve that dipped from her torso to her waist and then up to her hip.
“I think you broke me this time,” she said, her face turned into the pillow and her voice muffled.
He chuckled. “If that’s true it’s only fair for me to fix you. Let’s see, how could I manage that?”
Without opening her eyes Holly scooted so that she was cuddled against his chest, the top of her head tucked under his chin and her arm around his waist. Alex felt a stirring of something, a feeling that was probably as old as time. It was a voice inside him that said, “This is my woman, and I’ll look after her until the day I die.”