“I’ll try.”

But her body tensed. If she became overly nervous it wasn’t going to be pleasurable for her. And it meant everything to him that her first experience with lovemaking was one she would remember fondly, without regret.

“Sit up,” he commanded with a gentle pull on her hands.

He placed her in the middle of the bed and positioned himself behind her, massaging at the tension in her shoulders. He whispered to her softly, reassuring her, telling her how beautiful she was, how desirable.

Eventually she relaxed as he continued his leisurely work on the knots.

When his erection pressed against her back, she scooted towards him, rather than away. The feel of her rubbing against him was sweet torture. He wanted—needed—to be inside her, but his needs had to wait.

Right now it was more important that she relaxed. When he was certain she was calm, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the back of her neck. She shivered.

“That feels nice,” she said.

“Good,” he murmured, his lips sliding over to that luscious spot between her neck and shoulder, lightly kissing and nipping the tender flesh. He heard the sharp rise and fall of her breathing, felt her shudder.

He grasped the scraps of lace at her shoulders and pulled them down, baring her to the waist.

“Your back is beautiful,” he said as his fingers slid over her spine, smiling as he felt the goose bumps rise. “Your skin is incredibly soft.”

“Your hands are warm,” she said, her voice growing raspier with every breath.

He moved around on the bed to face her.

And time stopped.

A pink blush covered her skin, only adding to the allure of her body.

His gaze traveled over her slender collarbone, the freckles on the top of her chest, the perfection of her breasts. Her ni**les puckered and she brought her hands up to cover herself. Ryan caught her hands in his.

“Don’t. You’re beautiful, Faith.”

The look in her eyes tore him apart. Blatant desire colored their depths until they were like an azure sky at dusk. She wore every emotion in her eyes. It took all the restraint he had to keep from pressing her on the bed and plunging into her waiting heat, but he knew that would be only for him, not for her.

Tonight was for her.

With as much patience as he could muster, he lifted his hand and circled one breast, playing with the taut nipple until she gasped. Her eyes followed his fingers, seemingly mesmerized with their effect on her body.

He leaned over and lightly flicked his tongue over one peak, and she practically shot off the bed. She arched her back and moaned, long and low.

“Ryan, that feels so…wonderful.”

She was killing him. She tilted her head back and exposed her neck While he grasped both br**sts in his hands, alternating his mouth on each until the peaks were stiff. He removed his mouth and looked at his handiwork, supremely satisfied at the sight of her glistening nipples, moistened from his tongue and tight with desire.

He gently pressed her back on the bed and slid the gown over her h*ps and down her long legs.

This was the body she’d hidden all these years? This perfectly sculpted treasure? Her h*ps were full and made for a man’s hands. He ached with the need to grasp them and pull her to him. But he fought for control, knowing if he moved too fast he’d ruin the mood.

The feel of her skin against his almost sent him over the edge. She was soft where he was hard. He wanted to drive into her, hard and fast, and release the need he’d felt for too long.

But still, he didn’t.

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” he said, lightly stroking her br**sts and belly, his fingers traveling ever lower towards the dark curls between her thighs. She was so wet, pouring over his exploring fingers.

Her eyes widened. “Wh…what?”

“I want to know what you’re thinking. Right now.” He didn’t even recognize himself. This wasn’t like him at all. His usual forays into sex consisted of heavy kissing and touching and once the lovemaking was over that was it. No talking, no murmuring, no coaxing.

But this was Faith, and she made it special.

“I’m thinking how beautiful your body is. And how…”

A blush stained her cheeks. Damn if she didn’t look like one of those cherub paintings.

“Tell me. It’s all right, Faith. Tell me anything you want.”

She hesitated, her eyelashes fluttering against her cheek. “I’ve never…that is, I’d like to…” she stammered, angling her gaze to his cock.

Her innocence humbled him, made him realize what this moment meant to her. And where she was looking? Damn, it made him hot just to think of her hands on him.

This was going to require the patience of a saint. “Go ahead. Touch me.”

When her palm circled his engorged flesh he arched back in pleasure.

He gritted his teeth and let her explore, her hand sliding over his engorged flesh with easy motions.

“Harder,” he said. “I won’t break.”

She squeezed, then stroked him, her gaze riveted on his c**k as she moved her hand up and down his shaft. The sound of her escaping sigh tightened his desire and he knew if he didn’t stop her it would be over before it started.

With a shudder he grasped her hand, removing it from his tortured flesh.

“Did I do something wrong?” she asked.

“Oh, hell no. You did everything right. So right, in fact, that I don’t want to finish too fast.”

“Oh.”

That sweet blush stained her cheeks again. God, she was irresistible.

He captured her mouth in a slow, devastating kiss that rocked his senses, then slid his mouth from her lips to her neck and back again, nipping and licking until she pushed his head toward her breasts. He complied happily, surrounding first one, then the other tight nipple. With deliberate patience he teased and rolled his tongue around each rosy crest until she cried out. Her fingers threaded through his hair, pulling him closer to her, begging without words for fulfillment.

Ryan’s world changed right before his eyes. He’d never felt this way about a woman before. He wanted to possess her. And not just for tonight. The thought of any other man but him touching her, ever claiming what he was about to claim, was unimaginable.

She was his.

Faith wanted to die. She wanted to scream, rejoice and rail at him.

What Ryan did to her was criminal. Need and desire she’d never felt before, never even knew existed, bound her with ropes of sensual bliss.

She climbed higher and higher with every touch of his heated hands, every stroke of his tongue against her inflamed nipples. Her mind and body cried out, wanting more until she was sobbing her need. He rose up and claimed her lips once more.

His body was perfection. She only wished she had arms long enough to reach out and touch every inch of him. There would be time for exploration later. Part of her recognized that fact. But still, right now, she wanted all of him.

This was the man she’d wanted for years. Since the first day she nervously walked into his office and interviewed for the job. That day she fell in love with him.

Today she loved him even more. Tonight she’d become his wife—

finally, officially, and with all the rights and pleasures she’d denied herself for so many years.

The words of her mother became no more than a distant shadow of memory. She was worthy of this, she deserved to feel this way. Beautiful, desired and wanted. Ryan told her, and she believed him. For the first time in her life she believed.

“You’re perfect,” he murmured against her throat. He trailed kisses over her br**sts and belly, then moved lower, shocking her as his tongue circled her navel, and traveled even further down.

She dared to open her eyes, afraid of what she’d see and too curious not to look. Ryan’s eyes hardened to a stormy silver, a devilish smile on his face as his gaze held hers and he took one long, slow taste of her.

Whether she’d just entered heaven or hell, she wasn’t certain. She tilted her head back and fisted her hands in the sheets as his tongue and lips pleasured her, driving her nearly mad with sensation. It was like a fever, a madness coiling up inside her. She moaned and gasped in a near delirious state, mindless of anything except the feel of his lips on her throbbing sex. She felt her moist desire flowing over his tongue.

Through a cloud of passion his velvet voice coaxed her, encouraged her to let go, to let him possess this secret part of her. Ecstasy was within her grasp, and finally she could hold back no longer. She arched her back and screamed as the orgasm overtook her. Her body writhed against his greedy mouth, as if she could somehow escape the intensity of the gift he gave her.

He held her, stroked her until some semblance of sanity returned.

Her breath came out in raspy moans as she struggled for coherent thought.

Before she could gather her composure he laid his body over hers, a satisfied glint in his smoke-filled eyes. He positioned his c**k against her throbbing core, awakening it yet again as he slid slowly and delicately along its slick folds.

“I’ve waited an eternity to make love to you, Faith.”

His words brought stinging tears to her eyes as the sincerity of them tugged at her heart. She raised her h*ps and wrapped her legs around him, feeling the tip of his shaft penetrate her, her moist heat welcoming him until one quick thrust later he slid inside her completely.

There was very little pain. She was beyond feeling anything but the satisfying fullness of him as he withdrew and entered her again.

Incapable of words, she clutched at him, only able to gasp her delight as tears rolled over her cheeks. She hoped he’d understand the intensity of the experience—what it meant to her. They weren’t tears of sadness, but joy that such delight existed. That it could be this way between two people.

“It’s heaven on earth to be inside you,” he breathed in short rasps against her ear.

She threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled his head back.

Their eyes met, their lips tangling together in wild abandon as he steadily increased his thrusts.

She felt that sweet tension build again as he lengthened within her, his strokes measured and quickening like his breathing, taking her with him in a wild storm of passion. He moved, and she met his thrusts with an arch of her hips. His hands swept over her fevered flesh like a reverent caress, urging the raging storm inside her. The jolt was like rapid lightning, arcing through her ever faster. When she whimpered, feeling the tempest approaching, he roared out her name as he spilled inside her. She went with him gladly, both her body and her heart forever a part of him.

She was his.

Long moments passed before Faith could breathe normally. Their sweat-soaked bodies remained joined. She didn’t want to be separated from him.

For the first time in her life, she belonged to someone.

She belonged to Ryan. Maybe not forever, but for now she was his, and he belonged to her. Only her.

He swept the moist tendrils of her hair away from her face and smiled down at her. “Are you all right?”

She nodded and stroked his back. “Never better.”

“Did I hurt you?”

“Not at all.”

He cradled her face in his hands. “I need to ask you a question.”

She nodded.

“Why now? Why tonight? What changed your mind?”

“You mean about making love?”

He nodded and smiled sheepishly. “I have to admit, I tried everything to get you in bed. Jewelry, a new wardrobe, even the trip to Hawaii. And nothing. So why now?”

She should have been angry with him, trying to buy her virginity like that, but she wasn’t. On some level she understood the type of women Ryan normally associated with. He could buy his way into their beds. But that didn’t work on her.

“It was the kitten.”

His eyes widened in surprise. “The kitten? Why?”

She smiled and ran her fingertip along his jaw, loving the erotic feel of his stubble against her skin. “You brought me that kitten because I felt bad, and you wanted to make me feel better. That’s what convinced me.”

“The kitten?”

“Yes.”

“I didn’t get you the kitten to get you into bed, Faith.”

“I know. But Ryan, the best gift is always the one that comes from the heart.”

His eyes clouded over and he bent down, touching his forehead to hers. Then he took her lips in a tender kiss. She felt his heart in that kiss—the depth of feeling he was unable to verbalize.

“You amaze me, Faith. Every damn day you amaze me.”

“Is that a good thing?”

He nodded. “A very good thing.” He rolled away and trailed his finger over her stomach and hips. She shivered at the loss of his warmth against her skin.

“Are you sure I didn’t hurt you?”

“On the contrary, I’ve never felt so good. Now I wish I hadn’t insisted on waiting so long. Why didn’t you tell me what I was missing?”

He rolled his eyes and grabbed her around the waist, tickling her.

She squealed with laughter and grabbed for him, discovering he was extremely ticklish himself. He jumped off the bed and headed into the bathroom.

She followed behind him, admiring his magnificent rear end with a new wifely appreciation. “Well, you’re the expert here. How was I supposed to know how great it was going to be?”

He turned on the shower and leaned against the bathroom counter, ogling her. She should have felt self-conscious, but didn’t. He’d already seen everything anyway, had touched her in ways more intimate than anything she could have imagined. Modesty would be pointless from here on out.

“And if I had told you what you were missing, would you have believed me?”