LITMIR.BIZ

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choose not to follow through? If she didn’t, would he be angry?

      The time to make the decision was upon her as Rick reentered the room. But her voice headed for the hills when she saw him standing before her, all dark, sexy, sinewy male.

      Moonlight filtering in from the window spilled over his body, casting shadows that enhanced masculine planes and lean muscle. A gold chain sporting a small pendant hung to his sternum, a slight dusting of dark hair as its backdrop. She visually followed the progression of that hair as it traveled down his washboard belly in a silky ribbon.

      Lord, he was magnificent. She’d seen her share of male anatomy during classes and clinicals, but she’d never seen anything quite like him, especially that very virile part of him that kept drawing her attention.

      His sensuous smile sent a succession of pleasant chills all over her body. He threw back the covers and slipped into bed beside her, gazing at her as if she were priceless. She knew in that moment he deserved the truth.

      He tried to kiss her again but she turned her head to one side. His lips landed on her cheek. With gentle fingertips, he turned her face back toward him. “Do you want me to stop?”

      “No. Definitely not. There’s just something I need to say. I want you to know that I don’t usually do this. In fact, I—”

      “It’s okay. I know.” He ran his tongue over the seam of her lips. “You don’t have to say anything, Miranda. Just feel.”

      The way he said her name brought her senses to life as his sultry song had earlier that evening, potent as any aphrodisiac, robbing her of the need to confess.

      He came to his knees before her and tore open a foil package. She watched in fascination as he rolled the condom on, then slipped her panties down and tossed them aside.

      This is it, Miranda. No turning back now.

      When he reached for her camisole, she grabbed his wrist. “Don’t!” She hated the panic in her voice, but she couldn’t let him see the very thing she hid from the world. She couldn’t take it if he turned away, repulsed by the sight and feel of her damaged flesh.

      He sat back on his haunches. “Why not?”

      “I think it’s kind of sexy, leaving some of your clothes on.” It was the best she could do under the circumstances.

      He gently brushed her hair back. “Listen, Randi, you can leave it on if you feel more comfortable. But if you’re doing this because some jerk told you that you’re inadequate, I want you to know right now that he’s dead wrong. You are beautiful, and you’re not one of those women whose beauty ends at the superficial.”

      She imagined he’d had plenty of experience with women, but she wouldn’t let that spoil the moment. Not when he spoke to her with a sincerity that deprived her of air. Not when he studied her with a heated gaze that captured her thoughts and flung them away.

      No matter how deliberate she’d been in her planning, nothing else mattered at the moment but him. Not past or present. Only now. Making love with him could never be a mistake, even if it was only this once.

      She reached her arms out to him. “Rick, please. I want you so much.” Please, before you change your mind.

      “I want you, too.” His voice was a husky whisper. “I do want you.”

      He parted her legs and bent her knees with gentle fingertips, then moved between her thighs. She felt the first pressure as he began to enter her.

      He bent and kissed her again, his tongue simulating the act of love she so desperately needed. He nuzzled her neck and whispered, “You’re so small.”

      That wasn’t the half of it. And soon, very soon, he would know the truth.

      When he pushed harder, she felt a slight burning and winced.

      Rick froze like a statue. “Randi, are you…have you…?”

      “No, I haven’t.” She turned her eyes away from his scrutiny.

      He dropped his forehead against her shoulder. “Damn.”

      Bracing her palms on the sides of his head, she forced him to look at her so he would see how much she needed this. How much she needed him. “It’s okay.”

      Even in the dim light, she glimpsed uncertainty in his eyes. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

      “You won’t. Not unless you stop.”

      She tilted her hips in encouragement, welcoming him into her body, opening a whole new facet of her soul. With an animal groan and one hard thrust, he filled her completely. More completely than she’d ever thought possible. He stilled against her for a long moment, giving her body time to adjust and for the discomfort to subside. He whispered his praise with erotic, sensual words, some phrases spoken in a language Miranda didn’t understand. Spanish, she decided. Lyrical, erotic, enticing. Seductive and mysterious, like the man. She caught fire all over again.

      Miranda shifted restlessly beneath him, wanting more, needing more, even though she feared it might be too much for her to bear—more pleasure than she could survive. He began to move inside her, as fluid as his music, using his fingertips to play her like a fine instrument above the place where they were joined. She became lost in the movement of Rick’s powerful body, delighting in the heady sensations of this lovers’ dance.

      He continued to love her with care, until suddenly his thrusts grew harder and faster as he took her with him on a surreal journey. Her heart stuttered and her respiration quickened. Flashes of light flickered behind her closed lids. She registered so many sensations she couldn’t catalog them all. Random thoughts tumbled around in her brain, then disappeared altogether as she spiraled toward the same bliss she’d experienced earlier. And when she hurled headlong into welcome oblivion, a cry escaped her lips. He was with her this time, proclaiming his own release with a ragged moan.

      Rick collapsed against her, his heart pounding at her breast. She cradled his head and sifted her fingers through his dark hair, delighting in the feel of his body molded to hers. A single joyful tear slipped from the corner of her eye. She thumbed it away.

      So this was what it was all about, she thought. This was what she had been missing. Then again, she wondered if Fate had intervened, dictating she wait for this one night, this one moment, this one man. The feelings were so much more overwhelming than she’d expected. She had been transformed in the arms of one incredible man regardless of the fact he was a virtual stranger.

      Still, she couldn’t afford to feel anything beyond physical pleasure, so she pushed aside the romantic notions and tried to see the experience for what it was. A spontaneous act. A one-night stand. Nothing more. It couldn’t be anything more. Not if she wanted to guard her heart.

      Rick rolled to one side, taking her with him. When he slipped from her body, she almost cried out, No! She didn’t want to let him go just yet. She wanted to imprint the memory in her mind in case she never again experienced such bliss.

      “I’m sorry,” he said regretfully. “I should have known.”

      Old insecurities surfaced from a place deep within Miranda. “Was I that bad?”

      That brought him up on one elbow to loom over her. “No, no. You were great. Better than great.” He touched the tip of her nose. “And I love those little sounds you make.”

      After what they’d just done, Miranda thought she would never be embarrassed again. Wrong. She was thankful for the limited light, hoping he couldn’t see the hot blush raiding her cheeks over her sudden lack of inhibitions.

      He rested his head back on the pillow and sighed. “If you’d told me you hadn’t been with anyone, I would’ve been more careful.”

      Despite her efforts to protect her fragile emotions, the concern in his voice drew her close to his side. She nestled against him. “You couldn’t have been more careful.”

      He turned his face toward her.

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