The kiss shattered their differences, sweeping them away on a glut of passion. His hands moved to her back and slid to her behind. He palmed each cheek, then dragged her on to the balls of her feet and crushed her breasts against his chest. He pulled her against his pelvis and let her feel his long hard erection. She wasn’t afraid. Instead she felt free. Free to explore for herself what other girls her age knew. Free to be a desirable eighteen-year-old on the verge of becoming a grown woman. She was flushed with new sensations and wonder, and she wanted him to touch her like he would any other girl. To lose herself in him.
He pulled back and let her slide down his body.
“We better stop right there, wild thing.”
Delaney didn’t want to stop. Not yet. She slid right back up his chest, fitting her body to his. She licked her lips and tasted him there. “No.” A shudder ran through him and he stared at her as if he wanted to shove her away but couldn’t quite bring himself to do it. She looked into his eyes then let her gaze skim his handsome face. She kissed his cheek and just below his ear. “I’m staying right here.” She opened her mouth and licked his warm flesh. He smelled of soap and skin and cool mountain breezes.
His hands moved to her waist, then slipped up her sides, bunching the material of her dress. The hem rode up to the top of her thighs, and he pressed his erection into her abdomen. “Are you sure this is what you want?”
She nodded.
“Tell me. Tell me so there’s no mistake.”
“Touch me like you said.”
He filled his palm with her right breast. “Here?”
Her nipple tightened into a hard point. “Yes.”
“You never answered my question. Has anyone ever touched you like this?”
She looked into his eyes, and it was like she was seeing a whole other side of Nick. For the first time she saw past the breathtaking face to the man inside. She didn’t know this Nick. His gaze was intense, yet he caressed her as if she were made of something delicate. “No.”
“Why?” He lightly brushed his thumb over the tip of her breast, and she bit her lip to keep from moaning out loud. “You’re beautiful, Delaney, and you could have anyone you want. Why me?”
She knew she wasn’t beautiful, not like her mother. But the way he looked at her and touched her, and the tone of his voice when he said it made her almost believe him. He made her believe anything was possible. “Because you make me not want to say no.”
He groaned deep in his throat and lowered his mouth to hers once again. The kiss started as a light brush of lips but quickly turned hard, wet, rough. The carnal thrust of his tongue touched something equally carnal within her and she squirmed against him. She wanted to crawl inside Nick, feel surrounded by him. When he finally set her away from him, her breathing was heavy. He reached for the buttons that closed her dress, and he gazed into her eyes as he worked downward until the pink cotton lay open past her waist. A twinge of apprehension penetrated the warm haze clouding her head. No man had ever seen her naked, and while she wanted him to touch her, she didn’t necessarily want him to look at her. Not a man like Nick who’d seen more than his fair share of naked women, but then he pushed the dress apart and it was too late. The cool air beaded her already taut nipples, and he lowered his gaze to her bare breasts. He stared at her so long her apprehension grew and she raised her hands to shield herself from him.
“Don’t hide from me.” He grabbed hold of her wrists and held them behind her back. Her spine arched, and the straps of her dress fell down her arms. He again leaned his behind against the hood of the car, bringing his face level with her naked breasts. He whispered her name, then kissed between her cleavage. His cool cheek brushed the inside slope of her breast, and she forgot all about her apprehension. “You’re beautiful.” His words warmed her skin and tugged at her heart, and this time she believed he meant what he said. He rested his forehead against her, his dark hair in stark contrast to her white flesh. “I knew you would be. I’ve always known. Always.” Then his hot mouth drifted across her breast and he slid the seam of his lips across the very tip. “I knew you’d be pink right here.”
For one fleeting second Delaney wondered how he knew, but then his tongue circled her nipple and her brain shut to cohesive thought. Her breathing became shallow as she watched his tongue curl, licking her.
“Do you like this?”
Behind her, Delaney’s hands tightened into fists. “Yes.”
“How much?”
“A… a lot.”
“Do you want more?”
Delaney closed her eyes and her head fell to one side. “Yes,” she answered, and he drew her nipple into his mouth. His lips tugged and she felt the pull between her legs. It felt good. So good she didn’t want him to stop. Ever. His mouth moved to her other breast and he sucked that nipple also. His tongue licked and stabbed and drove her fidgety for more. “Nick,” she whispered and pulled her wrists free of his grasp. Her dress fell to the ground and pooled about her feet. She dug her fingers into his hair, holding him to her breast.
“More?”
“Yes.” She didn’t really know exactly what she wanted, but she definitely wanted more of the hot ache pooling in her abdomen. She wanted more of him.
One of his big warm hands slid between her legs and he gently cupped her crotch. The thin cotton of her underwear was the only barrier separating his palm from her sensitive flesh. “You’re wet.”
The hot ache intensified and she could hardly speak. “I’m sorry,” she managed.
“Don’t be. I’ve always wanted to make your panties wet.” He stood once again and gave her a quick kiss. Then he grasped her waist and set her on the hood of the Mustang he’d just vacated. He moved her feet to the chrome bumper and said, “Lie down, Delaney.”
“Why?” She put a hand on his chest then moved it to the front of his jeans. She pressed against the hard bulge beneath his zipper.
He sucked in his breath and pushed her shoulders until she lay with her back against the cool metal. “Because I’m going to make you feel real good.”
“I already feel good.” She held out her arms for him as he stepped between her thighs.
“Then I’m going to make you feel even better.” He planted both of his palms by the sides of her head and kissed her like he wanted to consume her. When he raised his mouth again he said, “I’m going to set you on fire.”
Delaney looked up into his beautiful face and she wanted him to make love to her. She wanted to know what other young women her age knew. She wanted Nick to teach her. “Yes,” she said to anything he wanted.
He smiled as his skillful hands eased her panties from her legs. She felt the cotton slide down her calves and then her underwear was gone. His palms drifted up the insides of her thighs, and one of his thumbs touched her where she was slick. The pleasure was indescribable. His fingers brushed her moist flesh until she wanted to scream.
“More?”
“Yes,” she murmured and her eyes slid shut. “More.” His touch felt so good it was almost painful, the building pressure in her groin intense. She wanted it to end, yet at the same time continue forever. She wanted him naked and on top of her, filling her arms with his warm body. She opened her eyes and gazed up at him, standing there between her knees, looking down at her through heavy lids. “Make love to me, Nick.”
“I’ll give you something better than love.” He knelt on one knee and softly kissed the inside of her thigh. “I’m going to make you come.” Delaney froze, extremely grateful she was surrounded by darkness. When she’d said yes, she hadn’t meant that. She would have clamped her legs together but Nick was in the way. She wasn’t sure what he would do, but she was pretty sure he wouldn’t do that.