He unwrapped the condom and applied it to himself and then came back to settle between her legs, one of his positioned over hers, his weight propped up on his arms. ‘Still sure you want to do this? It’s not too late to stop.’
Abby took his face in her hands and eyeballed him. ‘What part of I want you do you not understand?’
He gave her another crooked smile. ‘Okay. I get it. You want me, but I don’t think you want me half as much as I want you.’
‘Try me and see.’ She moved against him, offering herself to him, going on instinct as if her body knew what to do and when to do it and all she had to do was go with it.
He parted her with his fingers, and then he gently inserted one finger. Once he was sure she had accepted him without flinching, he inserted two fingers, moving them ever so carefully against her flesh as if she were something infinitely precious. ‘Still okay?’
‘Wonderfully okay,’ Abby said on a shuddering sigh.
He moved over her, positioning himself so he could enter her, taking his time so she could get used to her body wrapping around him. She gasped with pleasure but he mistook it for pain and pulled away, his expression taut with concern. ‘Did I hurt you?’
‘No, I was just taken by surprise by how good it feels, how good you feel,’ Abby said.
He moved back to her folds, slowing entering her inch by inch until she accepted him fully. Then he began moving, slow and gentle thrusts that sent waves of delight through her body. It wasn’t as direct and intense as when he’d pleasured her with his mouth, but the rhythmic movement of him stirred a pool of longing into a whirlpool. She was almost there but not quite, her body straining to reach the summit but unable to find the point of no return.
Luke reached down between their bodies and caressed her with his fingers in a flickering movement that triggered an explosion in her intimate flesh. It radiated out in rippling waves that flowed through her body until she was half crying, half gasping from the ferocious impact of it.
He waited until she was done before he gave a series of hard, quick thrusts as if he was unable to control the tempo now he had finally allowed himself to let go.
And then there was silence—a silence unlike any Abby had experienced before. Peace descended on her like the feathery down of a luxury quilt, covering her body in a mantle of exquisite relaxation…
* * *
Luke couldn’t tear his eyes away from Abby, sleeping next to him. Her body was once more entangled with his; one arm flopped limply over his waist, the other hand resting on the thud-pitty-thud of his heart. He was in two minds about berating himself for what had just happened. What he had allowed to happen. But he couldn’t quite bring himself to fully regret making love to her. The experience of holding her in his arms, possessing her and leading her to her first orgasm with a partner was beyond anything he had experienced with any other lover.
Was that why it had been so different, because Abby had been a virgin? He wasn’t sure, although it had definitely given their encounter a special context that made him feel privileged and honoured that she had trusted him to be her first lover. He knew one thing for certain; he would never forget the experience.
But this was as far as it could go.
As far as he would allow it to go. A brief fling and then it would be time for her to move on and find her Mr Perfect—if such a man existed.
Luke had been so shocked to wake up with her spooned against him. Deeply shocked in his mind and yet his body had hijacked reason, sabotaged his resolve and made a mockery of his determination to keep away from her.
God only knew what his sister would make of his week-long fling with Abby. Ella had been at him for years—at least four years—to get back out there in the dating pool. Unbeknown to his family, he had gone on a couple of lukewarm dates over the last couple of years. But he didn’t take them any further because he was unable to invest in a relationship where he would be responsible—accountable—for someone else’s emotions.
He’d seen first-hand the emotional devastation of his mother when his father left. It had been gut-wrenching to witness and his sense of utter powerlessness had always stayed with him. Luke had worried for years she would never recover. He had an overwhelming sense of responsibility to keep the rest of the family together. To keep his mother in good spirits even though it had been a difficult battle to this day. She had never re-partnered and in a way he couldn’t blame her. He too had been blindsided by his father’s abandonment of the wife and family he had claimed so volubly and so publicly to love.
Abby nestled closer like a little cub. Luke began stroking her wavy chestnut hair in rhythmic strokes, breathing in the scent of her, of their lovemaking. Wondering again if he was a fool to have given in to the temptation of taking their relationship to this intense level of intimacy even if it was only for a week. He had always kept his distance from her—from anyone when it came to that. Whenever Ella had visited him with her in tow he had been formal and yes, a little gruff on occasion, but the way Abby’s big brown eyes lit up when she smiled had done something to him—something he’d found immensely threatening.