LITMIR.BIZ

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never hurt you, Savannah.’

      How could he not? Ethan was so much bigger than the average man—bigger than most men—plus he possessed the power and the stamina of a natural athlete. She’d been around a farm long enough to know that nature allowed for this sort of unlikely coupling, but she wondered now if in some extreme instances such things weren’t possible. This was without doubt an extreme instance. She might be plumper than she wanted to be, but she was small and soft compared to Ethan. There was nothing soft about him. He was huge and hard.

      Expecting to be soothed and reassured, she was surprised when Ethan moved so quickly to pin her beneath him. And now he was straddling her with his powerful thighs, and she was completely at his mercy while he murmured erotic, outrageous suggestions in her ear that made her squirm with excitement.

      ‘Better?’ His lips were curving with amusement as he stared into her eyes.

      There was passion in his eyes as well as humour, and she was reassured to a point beyond fear. ‘Much better,’ she admitted. With Ethan’s thighs pressed close against her sides, there was nowhere else on earth she’d rather be. But still she asked for one last reassurance. ‘You won’t hurt me, will you?’

      His answer was to kiss her tenderly until she relaxed, and then he deepened the kiss, which made her want to do anything but relax. Lacing her fingers through Ethan’s hair, she tried telling him by her eagerness alone that her nerve endings were screaming for his attention.

      ‘There’s a lot more to you than meets the eye, Ms Ross,’ Ethan murmured, smiling against her lips.

      Savannah stared boldly at Ethan’s mouth, shivering with sensation as his kisses migrated down her neck. ‘What are you doing?’ she asked, writhing with pleasure when he reached the most sensitive hollow above her shoulders.

      ‘Exploring,’ Ethan murmured.

      The feeling when he teased her nipples was beyond description, and while he suckled and teased the sensation travelled through to the core of her being, until it was impossible to remain still. Ethan could have done whatever he wanted with her, and yet he never once made her feel vulnerable, other than to put her at risk of overdosing on pleasure. Bucking against him, seeking contact, she moved restlessly on the pillows as she assured him, ‘I can’t take any more of this.’

      ‘So, shall I stop?’

      ‘Just you dare,’ she warned him, seeing the laughter in his eyes.

      ‘What’s your hurry?’ he demanded when she pressed against him.

      ‘You,’ Savannah complained fiercely. ‘You’re my hurry.’

      ‘Then it’s time for you to learn a little patience.’

      ‘I don’t want to learn patience.’ She shivered with delight as he ran his hands down her naked body. ‘But, if I do,’ she proposed, ‘can we do this again?’

      ‘If you’re good.’

      ‘I’ll be very good,’ she assured him. And as he pulled away to look at her she pulled him back. She didn’t have sufficient strength to compel Ethan to do anything, but for now the pleasure machine was at her command. ‘No more teasing,’ she warned him.

      ‘What, then?’ His lips were tugging with amusement.

      ‘Make love to me …’ And she was deadly serious.

      CHAPTER ELEVEN

      HE PROTECTED them both, and then touched her in a way he knew she would like. As she moaned beneath him, inviting more of these touches, he feathered kisses down her neck.

      He hadn’t guessed he could be quite so gentle, or Savannah half so passionate. She brought out the best in him, more than he’d ever known he had, and as she clung to him, crying out his name, moving against him and driving him half-crazy with desire, he held back, knowing he had found someone who could reach him at a level no one else could.

      That it should be a young girl like Savannah both surprised him and stirred his conscience. This was the start of a new chapter in Savannah’s life as a woman, but when tonight was over he would have to end their relationship. But for now …

      Listening to her beating time with her voice to the music of their pleasure, he knew he had never known such extremes of sensation. Gathering her into his arms to stare into her eyes, he brought her to the brink and tipped her over, staying with her through the ecstasy as she enjoyed the release she had been searching for. When she quietened and snuggled in to him, he felt sure as he gazed into her drowsy face that time was playing tricks on them and that they had known each other much longer than one night. It was a short step from there to knowing Savannah should be with someone who could give her the kind of life she deserved.

      ‘Ethan, where are you?’ she murmured, reaching up to touch his face.

      ‘I’m still with you,’ he murmured.

      ‘No, you’re not,’ she argued softly, with barely the strength to open her eyes.

      She was right. He was in a dark place he wouldn’t take her. Dipping his head, he kissed her deeply, and before she had a chance to question him further he made love to her again.

      Savannah lay awake for the rest of the night, pretending to be asleep in the early hours when Ethan left her. She didn’t know him well enough to call him back. That struck her as funny and a little embarrassing, because she might not know him but she loved him. And loving him meant she understood his need for space. What had happened between them, what they’d shared, had been so much more than either of them could have expected. Of course, Ethan would need space to consider the changes this must make to his world. The changes to her world were immeasurable. Ethan was her man and her mate, and she had welcomed him inside her body with triumph and excitement. Ethan knew everything about bringing her pleasure, and they had been as one until pleasure had consumed them.

      Only one worrying incident had tarnished the night. Ethan had drifted off to sleep after they’d made love, but after a few minutes he had thrown up his hands, as if to ward off a blow. It was some buried memory he couldn’t bring himself to share, she guessed, and it hurt her to think of him locked in a nightmare where she couldn’t reach him. She had to believe there was a key to breaking that destructive cycle, and that she held that key.

      Turning her face into the pillows, Savannah inhaled Ethan’s scent. Exhaling softly in the darkness, she turned on her back as contentment consumed her. Her whole being was drenched in a warm, happy glow. She had expected to feel different when she gave herself to a man, but she hadn’t expected to feel quite so complete. She couldn’t wait to see the same look of happiness in Ethan’s eyes, and, as the lilac light of dawn was stealing through the heavy curtains, there was no reason why she shouldn’t go and find him.

      Stretching her arms, Savannah welcomed the new day with a heart full of joy. It was a new and better world with Ethan in it. She had never believed in love at first sight, but now she did. She’d heard that opposites attracted, and she’d proved that to be right. She was deeply in love, of that there was no doubt, and after last night it couldn’t be long before Ethan told her that he loved her too.

      He had left Savannah sleeping, and now he was avoiding her at breakfast, choosing instead to start the day with a dawn jog around the extensive grounds surrounding the palazzo. But even after that he craved more exercise to clear his mind. He moved on to the gym and after taking an icy shower he swam. As he powered down the Olympic-sized swimming pool there was one thing on his mind: Savannah. He could not get her out of his head.

      Did he love her?

      The thought was too fantastic to contemplate. He wasn’t entitled to love anyone. His stepfather had drummed that into him from the start, and over the years he had come to see that it was the one thing the man had said to him that made sense.

      CHAPTER TWELVE

      HE DRESSED in the changing rooms just off the swimming pool rather than return

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