Hope inhaled slowly, drawing on her reserves of courage. She pulled back her robe and let it drop to the floor.
Upon reflection she'd come to understand why Ryan had purposefully stoked the fires of their desire last night. Their mounting need for one another somehow penetrated the very limit of time.
She met Ryan's eyes, her chin tilting up with a mixture of pride and stubbornness. She would not cower because of her sex or her nakedness.
Besides, the way Ryan's eyes scorched her as they trailed over her body hardly called for a show of embarrassment. If anything, that hot look made her feel like a queen. She took a step toward him, pausing in mixed excitement and wonderment when the hand on the mirror reached further for her. Ryan's entire forearm extended into her bedroom.
A small burst of laughter escaped her lips when he turned his hand palm up and made an unmistakable gesture.
Come here.
She saw amusement curving his handsome mouth as well. That small smile erased all of her uncertainties. She took another step toward him and reached for him. For a long moment they grasped hands and locked gazes. He tried to reach for her with his other hand, but Hope knew he'd been stopped short when his palm pressed to the glass. His fingertips skimmed lightly up her arm before he cupped her shoulder, the caress gentle and cherishing and yet fiercely possessive as well.
Hope watched his face fixedly as he began to move his hand over her body. He slid it slowly over her neck and back down the slope of her shoulder before he palmed her upper arm and flexed his fingers into the flesh, his actions causing her nipples to grow achy and tight. Before she could stop herself she reached up and pressed her fingers to one of the sensitive tips, desperate to alleviate the prickling pain that plagued it.
He stared at her fingers on her nipple before his gaze leapt to her face. Hope moaned softly at what she saw in his fiery eyes. His penis flicked forward, drawing her gaze.
Then his big hand was cupping her left breast from below. He held her up for a few taut seconds while he examined her.
Her bead fell back, her long hair tickling the tops of her buttocks, when he began to mold and shape her breast to his palm. He pressed her stiffened nipple to the center of his hand and lightly rotated, causing her to cry out in pleasure. His actions seemed to strum a magical cord between her breast and sex, making her throb with excitement. As if he knew about this invisible connection, his hand dropped and he traced it down her belly.
He paused over her navel, his splayed hand over her center seeming to encompass her entire being, before he swept over her hips languorously. His fingertips and the upper ridge of his palm were slightly calloused, causing a slight abrasion on her smooth skin that excited her immensely.
"Ryan," she moaned, lifting her head. She reached for him but stopped abruptly when she saw him shake his head.
Let me, first, she thought she understood him to say.
He tried to push his other hand through the mirror again. Hope's eyes widened slightly in amazement when he at first seemed to be succeeding and the glass bulged toward her like thickened water. Then it sprung back into place. She read Ryan's frustration from his tensed muscles, but then he met her eyes and gave her a reassuring nod.
Don't worry. I'm going to reaclryou soon enough, his determined gaze seemed to say.
Hope shivered in anticipatory excitement.
Ryan moved his hand, perhaps sensing the trembling in her flesh. He ran his fingertips over her thighs, then sandwiched his hand between them. In her nervous excitement Hope found herself clamping her legs tighter together, not because she wanted to avoid Ryan's touch. Her muscles clenched to alleviate the stark pain of longing that stabbed through her at that moment. She noticed Ryan's eyebrows go up wryly and smiled shakily as she parted her thighs several inches. She almost bit her lower lip clean through in anticipation when he raised his hand toward her sex, but he merely cupped it ever so briefly before he rose back up, stroking her belly and waist.
She gasped in rising desire when he lightly ran his fingers against the side of her breast, making the crests bead into pointed little darts of sensation. Her reward was to have him lightly pinch a nipple between his thumb and forefinger.
Hope whimpered. Before she'd met Ryan she would have thought having her nipple pinched would be unpleasant and painful. But at that moment of sharp, intense desire it seemed the only way to
alleviate the ache that plagued her. Ryan's fingers on her breast caused a sympathetic tug in her womb, making her feel an aching emptiness.
Ryan glanced up into her face before his head dipped. For a breathless moment she thought he was going to penetrate the mirror and kiss her upturned lips. His hand opened and he cupped her breast in his palm. His massaging movement was neither soft nor forceful, only sure.
"No," she murmured in protest when he dropped his hand from her breast.
Yes, she saw him mouth.
His fingers dug lightly into her hip. Hope's eyes widened when she realized he wanted her to turn around. She stared over her shoulder in trepidation as she turned. It'd been monumentally thrilling and embarrassing to stand before Ryan naked while he stared boldly at the front of her, but she was surprised at how excited she became at the thought of him inspecting the back of her.
Liquid warmth bubbled from her sex.
>
When she continued to try to crane around to watch his outstretched hand, Ryan shook his head slowly. She felt his fingers on her neck, gently urging her to face forward.
Hope panted as she stared unseeingly at the fire leaping in the hearth while Ryan parted her hair at the nape, gently moving the heavy weight of it over each of her shoulders, baring her body to his gaze.
For a moment nothing happened. The air burned in her lungs as she held her breath.