by Calista Fox
“He was very sweet. As were you. But he never made my stomach flip.”
Ryan was quiet a moment as he took another sip of wine. Then his gaze locked with hers as he asked, “Do I make your stomach flip?”
“No,” she said. His face fell and she laughed. “You make everything inside me practically incinerate, I get so hot and bothered. All you have to do is look at me and liquid fire runs through my veins.”
His grin was nothing short of triumphant. “Now that’s more like it.”
“Stop gloating. It’s unbecoming.”
She lifted her fork and dug into her linguine with clams. They polished off their meals and a bottle of wine while chatting about high school and how things had changed in Wilder since then.
“It’s not that your aunt and uncle are trying to keep everyone under their thumbs,” she told Ryan, “but they do have a lot of influence and tend to bend the rules to suit their purposes.”
He cleared away the dishes and rinsed them off before putting them in the empty dishwasher. “I’ve been hearing that. And seeing it too.” He washed his hands and turned back to her. “I’m not blind to it, Ginger. I did live with them for a year. And while they were gracious hosts, I really couldn’t wait to get out that house. It’s almost…oppressive.”
“I’m sure Lydia didn’t take well to hearing you were staying at Reese’s.”
“No, she did not. But I found it much more comfortable at the B&B.” He crossed to where she stood and suddenly swept her up in his strong arms. “I like it here too.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck as he carried her over to the sofa in front of the tall fireplace and sat down with her in his lap.
“I like you here as well,” she told him. “Thanks for dinner. It was fantastic.”
“Thanks for the wine.” He eyed her a moment, then added, “And for the nightgown.”
“This old thing,” she scoffed playfully.
Tugging on one end of the bow below her breasts, he said, “Let’s have a look-see.”
The robe fell open and she felt his entire body go rigid.
Ginger’s teeth clamped down on her lower lip, but for a second. She couldn’t hold back the smile his lusty look brought to her face.
“Hey,” he whispered, his voice tight. “Stop gloating. It’s unbecoming.”
“I should be allowed this one time. I told you, I’ve never worn this for anyone else.”
“In that case, you’re forgiven.”
The backs of his fingers grazed her throat and then moved higher, over her jaw and to her temple where he pushed a few curls from her face.
“You are absolutely breathtaking,” he told her.
His free arm draped over her shoulders as his fingers continued to caress her skin at her temple.
Ginger cozied up to him and said, “Kiss me.”
He swallowed hard. “That’s exactly what I want to do. But so you know, I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do.”
“You’re quite the knight in shining armor.”
“My parents taught me good manners.”
Ginger sighed. “I’m sorry about them.”
“Yours as well.”
She nodded. Then she leaned in close to him and brushed her lips over his, the way he’d done earlier. The touch was simple, yet electrifying. His fingers threaded through her long curls as he returned her kiss, more skillfully, more demanding. She snaked an arm around him and pressed her hand to his shoulder blade as her other palm flattened against his chest at the opening of his shirt. His skin was warm and smooth and it felt so wonderful beneath her fingers, Ginger had the overwhelming urge to undo the long line of buttons.
With Ryan’s slow, hot, deep kiss, she gave into temptation and slipped the first disk through its hole. The second one easily followed and she slid her hand inside the flap to splay her palm over his well-defined pecs. The muscles flexed beneath her touch and his arm around her shoulder tightened their semi-embrace.
His fingers tangled in her hair released the strands and moved to her upper thigh. He caressed her outer leg through the satin material covering it as he continued to kiss her. When he finally dragged his mouth from hers, it trailed over her jaw and down her throat. His hand on her leg eased upward, over her hip and around the front of her to cup her breast.
Ginger started and sucked in a breath of air as the thrilling sensation of his palm covering her breast jolted her.
Ryan lifted his head from her neck. “You okay?”
Rolling her eyes at her dismal lack of experience with a man’s hands on her body, she said, “Sorry. No one’s ever touched me like that.”
“You’re a virgin?”
She nodded. “Of course. Hard not to be if you’re unwed in this town.” Ryan let out a low grunt, prompting her to ask, “Is that a problem?”
A sexy-as-sin smile spread over his lips. “You really think I’d have a problem with the fact no other man has touched you or made love to you?”
Warmth pooled low in her belly. But she said, “The flip side is, I really have no idea what I’m doing.”
“Oh I beg to differ,” he told her with a wicked glint in his eyes. “Between our great chemistry and your instincts, I think the heat levels’ climbing up the charts.”
She squirmed excitedly in his lap and felt his erection against her hip. He shifted his arms and hooked one under the backside of her knees. Lifting her slightly, he placed her on the cushion next to him, so she lay against the plump pillows piled in the corner, while her legs draped over his thighs, the midnight-blue satin covering the lower half of his body.
He propped himself up on one elbow alongside her as the other hand skimmed over her thighs and across her belly, making her flesh quiver. His fingers grazed her rib cage and then he palmed her breast, giving it a scintillating squeeze.
As his thumb swept across her hard nipple through the lace covering it, he kissed her neck and then her cheek and then, finally, her lips.
He kissed her provocatively as he pinched and rolled her nipple before smoothing the pad of his thumb over it again. Tension coiled in her stomach and her pussy ached for him. His fingers whisked aside the lace and his mouth left hers to gently suckle her puckered nipple. Ginger moaned, low and deep. Her fingers plowed through his hair and she held his head to her breast as he alternately flicked his tongue over the taut peak and then drew it into his mouth.
Her back arched and more of her throaty sounds bubbled up to fill the room.
“Ginger,” he whispered against her skin, his warm breath teasing her nipple. “God, you make me hot.”
She found this ironic, since he was the one making her burn with desire.
He kissed her again as his large hand slid behind the lace that covered the other breast. He toyed with the tight bud, making it harder. Ginger writhed beneath him as heat blazed through her body.
When she couldn’t stand the sharp stabs between her legs a second longer, she gripped the hand on her breast and guided it down to the apex of her legs. Through the thick satin, he rubbed her pussy lips as his mouth grazed her throat, his teeth lightly nipping.
“Ryan,” she muttered, hearing the tension in her voice. The plea for release.
His gaze met hers, his blue eyes clouded by passion and his obvious, contradictory need not to push her boundaries. “Are you sure?”
A strangled cry slipped out. She said, “You have no idea how restless you make me. How desperately you make me want to feel your hands and mouth on my body. Everywhere.” She gave him a pointed look. Being a virgin did not preclude her from knowing what she was getting herself into. She’d read plenty of naughty books and knew there were many, many ways a man could pleasure a woman.
Ginger wanted to experience them all…with this man.
Chapter Four
Ryan’s adrenaline was already pumping at max capacity. His cock strained against the fly of his pants and his gut was so twisted in knots, it was a wonder he could even think straight. Eve
rything inside him felt tight and fiery. And his heart… It hadn’t beat normally since Friday night.
Yeah, he was way in over his head with Ginger. From the moment he’d laid eyes on her while sitting at the window in the diner, he’d found it damn difficult to curb his desire for her. Or slow his raging pulse. Or calm the riotous emotions colliding within him, tightening his chest, gut and groin.
She had him thinking crazy thoughts, along the lines of how he could spend every night for the rest of his life with her. How he could come home from work to find her in something lacy or satiny, waiting for him with a glass of wine and a smile on her beautiful face. How he could begin every evening cuddling and kissing on the sofa before whisking her off to bedroom to make love to her all night long.
He’d do the dishes. He’d take out the garbage. Whatever he had to do to free up her time so she could spend it with him.
He was a goner emotionally, he’d pretty much deduced that from the onset. Even when they were kids, he’d had a soft spot for her. He’d felt protective of her and had always wanted to do what he could to help her out. She’d always been in the back of his mind, even long after he’d graduated and left Wilder. And when he’d returned… That first night at her shop when he’d stared into her big green eyes and had seen the pain, the anger and the fear in them, he’d been furious someone had hurt her and he’d instantly designated himself her protector.
But now she wanted more than kissing and light foreplay. He didn’t think she intended to go further than him fulfilling a need for her, nor did he intend to make love to her tonight. For one thing, he didn’t have a condom and he seriously doubted she kept her own stash, given her virginal status. Plus, he really didn’t want to rush sex with her.
Yet as her eyes beseeched him to take the edge off, he knew he couldn’t deny her. Hell, he wanted to touch her as badly as she seemed to want him to touch her.
With a low groan—because he knew how out of his mind she’d make him—he lightly grasped a fistful of satin and pulled it up until the material pooled around her waist.
Her fingers were still threaded through his hair and her eyelids fluttered closed. Ryan’s gaze shifted to her lace thong, which matched her gown in color.
“Jesus, Ginger,” he ground out. The sight of her stole his breath.
His fingers brushed along her inner thigh and her flesh quivered beneath his touch. Her breathing was already choppy, but she sucked in a sharp gulp of air as his hand covered her, the heel massaging her clit as his fingers rubbed her opening through the lace.
His head dipped and he took a perfect, plump, dusty rose nipple between his lips, teasing it with his tongue. Her soft panting echoed all around him as he brushed aside the triangle of material at the heart of her and slid his fingertips over her dewy flesh, slowly stroking her small lips as her body trembled and her fingers tightened around strands of his hair.
“Ryan,” she said, her voice raspy. “Oh God, that feels so good.”
He released her nipple and stole a glance at her pussy. The pink lips, the bare skin, the tight little hole. Pressing two fingertips to her swollen clit, he rubbed it in a slow, circular motion as she gasped from the shock of the intimate touch. Her hips jerked and she clamped down on her bottom lip. As he picked up the pace, she released it to accommodate the harsher breaths slipping from her opened mouth.
Ryan’s groin tightened and his need to pleasure her escalated right along with his raging pulse.
She was so sweet, so soft, so damn pretty. He wanted to give her everything her heart desired. To hell with what anyone had to say about it.
His fingers skated over her slick lips and then targeted her clit again, this time with a bit more pressure and a quicker tempo. She wriggled on the seat and her breathy moans heightened his arousal. Ryan stared down at her, her eyes closed, her lips parted, her chest heaving. With her long blonde hair framing her face, she was absolute perfection in his mind.
His tongue slid over her collarbone and then he kissed her jasmine-scented skin.
“I want to show you how good this can feel,” he whispered before his lips slid along the full swell of one breast as a finger eased inside her pussy.
Ginger’s body bowed off the sofa as a sharp moan escaped her.
“Ryan.” One hand remained in his hair, the other gripped his shoulder. She shuddered as her breath came in heavy pulls. “Oh God.”
His gaze locked with hers when she opened her eyes. Desire and excitement swirled in her emerald irises, spurring him on. He stroked her slowly and watched the pleasure and the need for more of what he had to offer flicker across her lovely face.
Pressing the pad of his thumb to her clit, he massaged it quickly as he pushed deeper into her pussy, making her gasp. Finally tearing his gaze from hers, he bent his head to her breast and tongued her nipple while she writhed and moaned.
Her hips lifted and he caressed her inner walls with a faster pace, delving deeper. She was driving him crazy with her breathy pants and her strong, uninhibited response to his ministrations. He felt the tension in her body, heard the ecstasy in her moans. Suckling her nipple made her squirm even more, in a restless, in-desperate-need-of-release way.
Ryan was more than happy to oblige. He flicked his tongue over her nipple once more and then murmured, “Come for me. With my hands and mouth on your body. I want you to come, sweetheart.”
She let out ragged pants of air as he stroked her faster, more forcefully.
“Oh that’s so good,” she told him in a strained tone. “Just like that.”
He pumped his finger in and out of her as his thumb continued to rub her clit.
“Ryan,” she whispered his name again, making his own body tense.
Giving her pleasure pleased him. Turning her on turned him on. It was as simple as that. As tremors rocked her body, he worked her more aggressively, wanting to give her everything she needed.
Her fingernails bit into his shoulder, but it was an erotic sting.
“Let go, Ginger.”
“Oh yes. Oh God yes.” Her hips bucked and her pussy squeezed his finger. Her back arched and she let out a sharp cry of ecstasy as she came. Her body tensed and then quaked as she clenched him even tighter. “Ryan!”
“That’s it, sweetheart. Let it all go…”
Her body vibrated and her pussy held his finger captive for several long seconds. When her orgasm finally began to ebb, she released him and he grunted softly.
“That was hot, sweetheart. You got me all worked up.”
“You?” she asked in a hoarse voice. “I’m the one who came so hard I shook the rafters.”
“Not yet,” he said with a wink. “I’ll have to put some extra effort into it.”
She laughed and stretched languidly. “Really, you think you can top that? Because I’ve got to tell you, it was amazing.”
He kissed her tenderly, then said, “You haven’t seen my best moves yet.”
Wrapping her arms around his neck, keeping him in place, she told him, “So far, I’m ridiculously impressed. But don’t hold back because of my lack of experience. I’ve studied up some.”
His brow lifted. “Oh?”
“Mm-hmm. I’ve got a few sexy books hidden amidst the more conservative ones on my shelves.”
He hooked his forearm under her knees again and lifted her into his lap. Then he stood, with her in his arms. “Good to know. But there are some things books can’t prepare you for.”
She groaned dramatically as her arms flopped and her head fell back while she stared up at the ceiling. Point made, she then snuggled close to him again. “I know there’s going to be a little pain associated with the pleasure. We were both in Sex Ed together, remember?”
“Yes, but I’m not just talking about your virginal state.”
Ginger was quiet a moment, then said, “You’re talking about my size. Hmm. I hadn’t thought of that.”
“You are tiny, sweetheart.” He entered her room and placed her gently in th
e middle of her king-size bed. Stretching out beside her, he dropped kisses on her temple as he muttered, “And you’ve got a very tight pussy.”
With a hand on his chest, she pushed him onto his back and sprawled partially across him. She stared down at him and her voice turned challenging. “You think I can’t accommodate you, stud?”
The playful look in her sparkling green eyes did all kinds of crazy things to his insides.
“I’m just saying it’s going to be a snug fit.” Slipping one finger inside her had made him worry over hurting her. But she’d been so wet and slick, he’d eased right into her.
She brushed her fingertips over his lips as she said, “I get the logistics.” Her expression turned serious as she added, “If you don’t want to make love to me because you’re afraid you’re going to hurt me, that’s gonna be a problem. Because I really, really want you.”
He let out a sharp grunt. “You have no idea how much I want you. And not making love to you, particularly tonight, is all about not having a condom, and wantin’ to take things a bit slower.”
Her teeth briefly sank into her lower lip. Then she said, “Okay, I’m definitely an idiot. I didn’t even think about the condom.” Her eyelids squeezed shut…but fluttered open as he kissed her forehead.
“Wouldn’t expect you to be thinking about it. I didn’t come here tonight with the intention of making a move on you. We were going to have dinner and I was going to keep you company so you didn’t jump out of your skin at every noise you heard outside.”
“Wow,” she said, astonishment on her face. “I forgot all about those guys. Geez…” With a self-deprecating laugh, she told him, “You completely distract me with your hunky body and pretty blue eyes.” She smiled sweetly at him as she added, “And I feel so safe with you. Those jerks couldn’t possibly get close to me when you’re here.”
“I’m still hoping they high-tailed it out of town, since today was the last day of the rodeo. I really can’t imagine them hanging around. But in case they do, I want to make sure you’re—”
