Building Dreams

by Ginna Gray

  Then his arms came around her. "Tess. My sweet Tess.'' rhe gentleness and longing in his deep voice banished the budding panic, and when he pulled her to him, their soft noans of pleasure blended at the first thrilling touch of varm flesh to warm flesh.

  His kiss was deep and penetrating, exploring her mouth vith the same urgency that his hands explored her body. He raced the long, lush line of hip and thigh, the inward curve tf her waist, the exquisite flare of her rib cage. Tenderly, he upped his hand around her breast and flexed his fingers gainst the soft flesh.

  In restless passion, Tess's hands ran over his shoulders nd neck and back, her fingertips tracing the tiny knobs in is spine, then slipping around to explore his chest and twine the coarse hair that covered it, tugging gently. Every touch, every tiny incoherent sound of pleasure wound their emotions tighter. Their breathing grew rapid, eep, labored.

  Tess trembled, her body awash with sensations and driv-^g need. She had not known such voluptuous pleasure ex-ted. It was sweet agony, and she gloried in it, greedily ivoring each wondrous rush of emotion. The taut, throb-Ing ache that consumed her was nearly driving her mad. A whimper escaped her as Ryan's hand slipped between r legs and cupped her womanhood. The soft cry seemed to steal the last of his control. He dsed his head and looked down at her, his face flushed and ut. "Oh, Lord, sweetheart. I can't wait any longer."

  "I don't want you to." Slipping her arms around his wdl-muscled torso, she urged him down to her. "Love me, Ryan," she whispered. "Love me, now."

  It was a cry from the heart, but Ryan was too caught in the throes of passion to notice. He levered up and positioned himself between her soft thighs. Holding her gaze, he entered her in one smooth stroke, smiling tightly as he watched her eyes glaze, her face soften in ecstasy.

  He pressed deep, and when he was fully sheathed in her silken warmth, he stilled. "Are you all right?" he asked, his voice gritty from the control he was exerting over himself.

  Tess smiled and stroked her hands over his back. There had been a moment of pinching tightness but it had passed quickly. His concern for her touched her deeply and her heart overflowed with love for him. "rm wonderful," she whispered in his ear.

  It was all the encouragement he needed. He pressed deeper and began to rock her with him in an ageless rhythm.

  His thrusts were sure and strong and Tess met each one eagerly. Passion built and spiraled. Their movements became rapid, urgent, drawing the knotting tension tighter, ever tighter. At last, the explosion came and together they were hurled off the edge of the earth. They cried out and clung to each other as the world seemed to disintegrate in a starburst of ecstasy.

  Chapter 11

  Molly knew nothing about newlyweds or sleepless wedding nights—nor did she care.

  As always, at precisely six-thirty the next morning she awoke and let out her first tentative grunt and squeak of displeasure. When that did not instantly bring the desired result her complaints worked up into a string of fussy squawks. Then she really turned up the volume.

  Across the hall, her mother groaned but Tess wearily raised her head from the pillow and started to climb from the bed,

  "Stay there. I'll get her."

  Tess jumped, barely stifling a scream at the sound of that voice coming out of the darkness beside her. Then she remembered. Ryan.

  She sagged back against the pillow and put her hand over her caroming heart.

  The mattress shifted, and she could make out Ryan's naked silhouette as he climbed from the bed and stepped into his pants. Memories of the previous night and the feel of that magnificent body against hers sent a tingling sensation sweeping over her.

  Tess had lost count of the times they had made love. Quick and hot, long and languorous, playful and rowdy, desperate and frantic—they had experienced it all. They had been insatiable, greedily indulging themselves to the fullest, she recalled with a blush. She had not known herself. Even now, the m.emory of their passion brought a surprising return of desire.

  When Ryan headed for the door, she tamped down on the feeling and raised up on her elbows. "Ryan ... uh, maybe I should get her. Molly is always a soppy mess in the mornings."

  "No problem. I've changed her before, remember," he said, giving her a wry look.

  "Yes, I know. But she'll be hungry and impatient for her bottle and—"

  "Hey, I can handle it. But if it makes you feel better, you can get her bottle and cereal ready and we'll meet you in the kitchen."

  "All right."

  Ryan flipped the switch beside the door, and the bedside lamp came on. Tess sat up, carefully holding the covers to her, tucking them under her arms, not quite meeting his eyes. His gaze flickered over her bare shoulders and down her body. She felt the touch of that stare like a trail of fire over her skin.

  When she made no move to leave the bed, Ryan raised one eyebrow. "Well?"

  Tess's hold on the blankets tightened. She hadn't a stitch on. Regardless of the night of passion they had just shared, she simply could not bring herself to parade around naked in front of Ryan. "I, uh... I..."

  A look of mild surprise came over his face. "Don't tell me you're still shy?" Her blush answered for her and he gave a low, sexy chuckle. "Well, I'll be damned."

  Ignoring Molly's indignant wails, he recrossed the room in a slow, hip-rolling saunter, his bare feet soundless on the carpet. When he reached the bed, he grasped her chin in the wide V between his thumb and fingers and tipped her face up.

  "Honey, last night I saw every sweet inch of your delectable little body. Hell, I kissed every inch of it," he said in a dark, rasping rumble that brought scalding heat to Tess's face and sent excitement skittering through her. "I plan on doing it again. Often."

  He bent and took her mouth. The slow, heated kiss was so erotic, it turned her body to hot wax. Her heart pounded and her pulse thrummed and the delicious quaking she had experienced the night before began again. When he raised his head, he studied her dazed expression, his eyes hot and slumberous beneath heavy lids. He smiled and dropped another quick kiss on her wet lips. "Get used to it," he murmured.

  Tess still did not move until he disappeared through the doorway, not out of shyness but simply because it took that long to regain her equilibrium.

  Finally she rose from the bed and pulled on a long velour robe, belting the sash tight at her waist. In the bathroom she splashed her face with cold water. Touching one flushed .cheek with her fingertips, she stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her mouth was puffy and slightly red, and the skin around it bore traces of whisker burn. Her eyes glowed.

  And to think... at one time she had thought Ryan was cold.

  Over the past few months she had learned, of course, that his abruptness was a shield. Nevertheless, his passion had taken her by surprise. On the outside he was reserved and conservative, even distant, but inside... inside he sizzled.

  Ryan made love with an uninhibited, smoldering sensuality that had shocked and thrilled her. In bed all the barriers were down, feelings and physical pleasures were explored with unrestrained enthusiasm and joy.

  Tess looked at her glowing face in the mirror, a bit dazed. Her wedding night with Tom had been sweet and awkward, a period of fumbling self-consciousness and anxiety. With Ryan those hours in the darkness had been lusty and hot and intense, a voluptuous sating of the senses that had been beyond her wildest fantasies and had filled her heart with hope.

  Ryan might not love her yet, but he desired her. Surely a hunger that great would eventually lead to deeper feelings.

  Tess had just finished heating Molly's bottle and cereal when Ryan entered the kitchen with the infant cradled in the crook of his arm. He was still barefoot but he had slipped on his wrinkled dress shirt, leaving it unbuttoned, the long tail flapping around his hips.

  Earlier, when he had entered the nursery, the baby's furious cries had ceased. However, now that she was dry, powdered and dressed, she was tuning up again.

  "I hope you've got her breakfast ready. T
his child wants something to eat and she wants it now. "

  Tess laughed and snapped a bib around her daughter's neck as Ryan lowered her into the carrying seat that Tess had placed on the small kitchen table. "I know. She's turning into a little glutton. A demanding little glutton."

  She picked up the baby's spoon but Ryan took it from her. "Here, I'll do this while you rustle us up something to eat."

  Tess looked doubtful, but Ryan scooped up a mound of the mush, stuffed it into Molly's open mouth, and expertly swirled the tiny spoon around her lips, catching the overflow.

  While she prepared bacon and eggs, Tess watched them with a twinge of envy. Ryan made faces and kept up a string of nonsensical talk while he shoveled in bites of cereal and gave Molly short drinks from the bottle of formula. In turn, Molly kicked and cooed and flailed her arms, obviously enjoying both the food and the attention.

  It was so easy for them. The love between her daughter and this big brooding man was as natural and effortless as breathing. If only it could be that way for her and Ryan, Tess thought wistfully.

  Ryan finished feeding Molly at the same time that Tess set their breakfast on the table. After wiping her face and burping her one more time, he transferred the baby to a springy canvas seat and set it on the floor between their chairs. Molly kicked and bounced and banged her rattle happily while they tucked into their meal.

  "Did you talk with the apartment manager about us taking a three-bedroom place?" Ryan asked, buttering his toast.

  "No. I tried several times last week but she was always out. Things were so hectic and I was so busy getting ready for the wedding, I simply didn't get a chance to check back."

  "That's all right. I'll go down later today and make arrangements. With help from Reilly and a few of the guys on the construction crew, we should be moved before I go pick up Mike next weekend."

  A forkful of eggs halted halfway to Tess's mouth. "You're not going to work today?"

  Giving her a sardonic look, he swallowed the bite of food in his mouth and took a sip of coffee. "I hadn't planned on it, no. Why? Are you trying to get rid of me, Tess?"

  "No! Of course not. It's just... that is... you said you were so busy at work, I thought..."

  "We are busy, but I think I can afford to take one day off to be with my bride," he murmured. His gaze slid down to the V-neck of her robe where the overlapping lapels were gaping open, exposing a generous amount of cleavage.

  Turning pink, Tess tugged the edges together and tightened the belt at her waist.

  Something flared in Ryan's eyes. He reached across the table and touched her cheek with his fingertips. "Last night was wonderful," he said in a husky whisper that made her heart jump. "But it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough."

  "Oh, Ryan." Tess gazed into those vivid eyes, helplessly enthralled. His words, his hot look, sent a shower of sparks cascading through her body.

  The hand at her cheek slid downward and slipped beneath her hair, cupping her nape. Tugging her to him, his smoldering gaze on her parted lips, Ryan leaned across the table toward her. Slowly, they drew closer. Heads angled to the side. Breaths mingled. Eyelids drifted downward.

  Molly chose that moment to conk herself on the head with her rattle. The baby let out a piercing shriek and Tess jumped, but Ryan merely looked down at the infant and grimaced wryly. "Molly, girl, I love you but, sweetheart, your timing stinks."

  Tess scooped up the baby and cuddled her, kissing the red spot on her forehead and soothing away her tears. When she was calm once again, Ryan reached for her.

  "Why don't I take Molly with me while I go next door and shave and get dressed? That'll give you a breather to do whatever you have to."

  "Well ... I do need to sterilize bottles and prepare formula. And wash some of Molly's things."

  "Fine." Hoisting the baby up against his shoulder, he headed for the door. "We'll be back in a little while."

  ❧

  The apartment seemed eerily quiet without them. It was the first time she had been there without her daughter since Molly had been born, Tess realized.

  Taking full advantage of the peace, Tess rushed around to get done all the daily chores that came with having a baby. She didn't know how Ryan wanted to spend the day, but she wanted to be ready for anything.

  She started a load of Molly's things washing, prepared formula, filled the bottles and put them into the sterilizer and changed the crib sheet. When done, she changed the sheets on the bed that she and Ryan had shared, as well.

  They smelled like him, she realized as she stripped the wrinkled linens off the mattress. Unable to help herself, Tess buried her face in the rumpled folds of cloth, inhaling deeply Ryan's dark, masculine scent and shivering at the delicious memories it evoked.

  She finished making the bed and straightening the apartment and headed for the shower. Steam clouded the glass outer walls of the stall. Tess stood with her face up to the invigorating spray, luxuriating in the feel of the hot water streaming over her body. When the door suddenly yanked open, she let out a yelp and spun around.

  ''Ryan!" she squeaked when he stepped inside. Reflex-ively, she crossed her arms over her chest to shield her breasts. "What are you doing?"

  "Joining you. I told you last night we would shower together." His gaze traveled leisurely over her, taking in every inch from her wide eyes to her coral-painted toenails.

  "Molly-"

  "Is taking her morning nap. If we're lucky it'll be a long one."

  "But-"

  "Shh. Just relax."

  Relax? How could she relax with him standing there naked, just inches from her? His nearness intimidated her, with his big body towering over her making her feel weak and defenseless and painfully self-conscious. She had never felt so vulnerable... or so excited.

  Watching her, Ryan picked up the soap and rubbed it between his palms, working up mounds of thick lather. When his hands were full, he replaced the cake of soap and looked at her.

  "Lower your hands, Tess."

  "Ryan—''

  "Do it, honey."

  The sensuality in that coaxing voice sent a shiver rippling through her and she obeyed helplessly. Ryan smiled and slowly, almost reverently, cupped his lather-filled hands around her breasts.

  Tess caught her breath. His long callused fingers flexed in a slow rhythm around the soft flesh, and a shiver rippled through her as his callused palms rubbed against her hardened nipples.

  The hot shower spray needled against her back and water cascaded down over her buttocks and legs. In front, Ryan's hard hands and the creamy lather caressed her while steam rose all around. With a low moan, Tess closed her eyes, absorbing the voluptuous sensations, her back arching with the pleasure of it.

  "Now it's your turn," Ryan murmured.

  Her eyes flew open, a look of confusion in the whiskey-colored depths.

  "Touch me, sweetheart. The way I'm touching you."

  Tess was quaking inside—from nerves, shyness, excitement—she didn't know which. As though in a trance, with a shaky hand she picked up the bar of soap and rubbed it between her palms, her lambent gaze locked with Ryan's.

  When her hands were full of rich lather, she hesitantly placed them on his chest and began to move them in slow circles, running her fingers through the silky hair, grazing his collarbone with her fingertips, rotating her palms against his nipples. Tess's gaze followed the motion, fascinated by the white lather and her small hands moving over the dark skin of that massive chest.

  "Mmm, that's nice," Ryan almost purred. He looked at her through slitted lids, a naughty smile curving his mouth. "Actually, though, I had a lower place in mind."

  Tess's eyes widened, and she jerked her hands back. Chuckling, Ryan took hold of her wrists and returned them to his chest. "Don't worry about it. There's no hurry. I'm sure you'll get there."

  And she did.

  Ryan's hands slipped around her waist, bringing her against him and up on tiptoe for his kiss. Of their own accord, Tess's hands slid
around him and moved over his broad back as Ryan took her mouth in a long, slow, melting kiss that made conscious thought impossible. His tongue swirled, while his big hands caressed and fondled and his body moved against her with an evocative rhythm.

  Tess lay against him weakly. Her hands restlessly massaged and explored the long flat muscles in his back, then glided downward, spreading lather over his waist, his firm buttocks, the backs of his thighs, their movements growing more restless and bold as the tormenting kiss went on and on. Her soapy fingers explored his armpits, glided over his ribs, massaged the points of his hipbones. One hand slipped between their bodies and found his navel, her fingers playing over his corrugated abdomen. Then—slowly, deliberately—her explorations began a downward path, and Ryan's low groan rumbled into her mouth as her small hand intimately cupped him.

  Every cell in Ryan's body tightened. His heart thudded so hard, it felt like it would club its way right out of his chest. The feel of that small soft hand touching him brought such exquisite pleasure he wasn't sure he would survive it.

  Ending the kiss, he slowly lifted his head and stared down at her. Tess didn't move. She stood with her neck still arched to accommodate his kiss, watching him languorously, her eyes glittering beneath heavy lids, her wet lips parted. Her cupping hand flexed around him like a heartbeat.

  "Put your hands on my shoulders, Tess," he commanded in a raspy voice. "Hold on to me."

  She obeyed, and he bent his knees. His hands smoothed down over her slick buttocks and thighs. Cupping the backs of her knees, he straightened and lifted her, bringing her legs around his waist. His big hands clasped her hips. Their feverish gazes locked. He watched her eyes glaze over and her lovely face soften as he slowly settled her onto him.

  "Oh, Ryan. Ryan," she almost sobbed against his shoulder.