An Act of Persuasion(77)

Suddenly she was bursting all over and the sound of glass breaking around her wasn’t hard to imagine. He thrust again then groaned like a dying man who happened to be in a great deal of pleasure. Together they rode out the ecstasy until the sensation subsided from their bodies, leaving them limp and satisfied.

Carefully Ben pulled away from her. He lay beside her on the bed and arranged them so that he could hold her from behind.

She felt his hand drift over her damp skin and watched as his palm settled over the womb he was so enamored with. For a time their breathing labored before settling. She could feel all of him behind her. His furred chest. His body heat. His solid presence.

She could feel his semi-hard erection pressed against the back of her thighs. Wet because of their passion.

Grateful that he couldn’t see her face she let the tears leak from her eyes while her body and mind tried to assimilate what had taken place.

In her life she’d never felt so exposed.

No, maybe once. When she’d been standing in that noisy room with people all around her, bumping into her, until the woman in the blue uniform knelt in front of her. Anna had felt this way then. As if she had no control over what would happen next.

“Are you okay?”

She swallowed. “Yes.”

“You’re sure?” he asked, moving closer and pressing his chest more firmly against her back. She tilted her head in invitation and immediately felt his lips where she wanted them, a gentle suction on that spot where her neck met her shoulder that made her body want him all over again.

Too late. I’m done. It’s happened and I can’t protect myself anymore. Now, I don’t want to think at all.

His hands roamed over her body, down her arm, her back, brushing over her bottom, then smoothing along her thigh. She could feel his erection grow between her legs. And when he lifted her leg and placed it over his heavy thigh she knew that the first time hadn’t nearly been enough to satisfy him.

“Can I have you again?”

He was almost apologetic in his request. As if he couldn’t believe his desire had built again so quickly. But this, she thought, was exactly what she wanted. She needed to be completely mindless right now. She didn’t want to think about what she’d surrendered to him. She didn’t want to worry about what that would mean for them tomorrow.

“Yes. Hard.”

He chuckled then and his wandering hand settled on her breasts, cupping them. He pulled and tugged on her nipples so gently it seemed he understood how sensitive she was and only wanted to give her the faintest echo of pleasure without pushing her too far.

Too bad that wasn’t what she wanted. She didn’t want him to be sweet and caring and sensitive. She didn’t want him to put his hand on her belly where their child grew. She didn’t want to believe that everything he offered—this house, her baby and a life with him together—could be so wonderful.

“Now,” she said, tilting her bottom back and rubbing it against him until she could hear his faint moan. The sound of a man on the brink of losing control.

“Anna, baby, we’ve got all the time in the world.”

She could hear this satisfaction in his voice. Knew that earlier when he’d said they could play later that he imagined them romping in bed all night. Maybe even making love again in the morning.

Like any new couple might.

But in that playing she would have time to think. And when she started thinking, she knew, the fear would return. She was so sick of being afraid all the damn time.

“No, please. I need you now. Inside me. Please, Ben. Please.”

She could feel the words jolt him and, before she had to ask again, he slid into her. Once again, their bodies connected with such wonderful ease. It felt blissful. It felt mind-numbing. Exactly what she wanted.

That’s it. Take me. Take me hard and don’t let me think and don’t let me run. Just let me feel.

She rocked her hips into his and she could hear his muted growl in her ear. She knew what he wanted. A slow, leisurely act that would build up the pleasure in stages and drive them both into a long, torturous, wonderful climax. Like dessert hours after the main course. Deliciously sweet and satisfying, but not truly the thing that filled you up.

There was too much time in slow and leisurely.

“Harder.”

“Anna, we have to be careful.”

Careful because she was pregnant? Or careful because this was fast becoming too much for her to handle? Ben was curled around her. Ben was sliding inside her from behind. Ben. Not anyone else. Only the man she’d wanted for six years and now, suddenly, he was almost hers.