Engaged to Her Ravensdale Enemy

He brushed a wayward strand of hair off her face, his dark gaze lustrous with desire. ‘I’m pretty turned on myself.’

She stroked him again, watching as his breathing rate increased with every glide of her hand. ‘So I can tell.’

He moved her hand so he could access her body, taking his time to caress her until she was swollen and wet. Her need for him was a consuming ache that intensified with every movement of his fingers. She writhed beneath him, restless to feel the ultimate fulfilment, wanting him to possess her so they both experienced the rapture of physical union    .

Finally he entered her, but only a short distance, holding back, allowing her to get used to him. His tenderness made her feel strangely emotional. She couldn’t imagine him being so tender with his other lovers. She knew it didn’t necessarily mean he was falling in love with her. She wasn’t that naïve. But it made her feel special all the same. Wasn’t this how her teenaged self had imagined it would be? Jake being so tender and thoughtful as he made beautiful, magical love to her?

He thrust a little deeper, his low, deep groan of pleasure making her skin come up in a spray of goose bumps. He began to move, setting a slow rhythm that sent her senses reeling with delight. Each movement of his body within hers caused a delicious friction that triggered all her nerve endings, making them tingle with feeling. She lifted her hips to meet each downward thrust, aching for the release that was just out of reach. Her body was searching for it, every muscle contracting, straining, swelling and quivering with the need to fly free.

He slipped his hand down between their rocking bodies, giving her that little bit of extra coaxing that sent her flying into blessed oblivion. Her body shook with the power of it as each ripple turned into an earthquake. It was like her body had split into thousands of tiny pieces, each one spinning off into the stratosphere. She lost all sense of thought. Her mind had switched off and allowed her body free rein.

He didn’t take his own pleasure until hers was over. She held him to her as his whole body tensed before he finally let go, but he did so without any increase in pace, without sound. Had he done that for her sake? Held back? Restrained his response so she hadn’t felt overwhelmed or threatened? He hadn’t rushed to the end. He hadn’t breathed heavily or gripped her too hard, as if he had forgotten she was there.

He didn’t roll away but continued to hold her as if he was reluctant to break the intimate union     of their bodies.

Or was she deluding herself?

Had he been disappointed? Had she not measured up to his other lovers? She was hardly in the same league. She might have had multiple partners but still nowhere near the number he’d had. Compared to him, she was practically a novice.

One of his hands glided up and down the length of her forearm in a soft caress that made her skin tingle as if champagne bubbles were moving through her blood. ‘You were amazing,’ he said.

Jaz couldn’t ignore the doubts that were winding their way through her mind like a rampant vine. Hadn’t she been exciting enough for him? Hadn’t her body delighted his the way his had delighted hers? Was that why his response had been so toned down? Maybe he hadn’t toned it down. Maybe she hadn’t quite ‘done it’ for him. The chemistry he had talked about hadn’t delivered on its promise.

It was her fault. Of course it was. Wasn’t that why she had been engaged three times and summarily dumped?

She was rubbish at sex.

Jaz eased out of his embrace, reached for one of the hotel bathrobes and slipped it on, tying the waist ties securely. ‘You don’t have to lie to me, Jake,’ she said. ‘I know I’m not crash-hot in bed. There’s no point pretending I am.’

He frowned as if she was speaking Swahili instead of English. ‘Why on earth do you think that?’

She folded her arms, shooting him a flinty look. ‘It’s probably my fault for talking you into it. If you didn’t want to do it then you should’ve said.’

He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and came over to stand in front of her. He was still completely naked while Jaz was wrapped as tightly as an Egyptian mummy. He put one of his hands on her shoulder and used the other to edge up her chin so her eyes meshed with his. ‘You didn’t talk me into anything, Jaz,’ he said. ‘I just didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable. Not our first time together.’

She rolled her lips together before releasing a little puff of air. ‘Oh...’

He gently brushed back her hair, his eyes searching hers for a moment or two. ‘Was that night at the party your first experience of kissing and touching?’ he finally asked.