“You make me feel beautiful,” she whispered in return, her voice tinged with wonder. “You make me feel.”
The unspoken message in her words hung in the air between them. He made her feel? What did she mean by that? Had no one ever taken the time to make her feel beautiful, desirable before? Not even the man she had promised to marry? Raif found that hard to believe, but then again, he’d thought there had always been an untouchable air about Shanal. Maybe he needed to revise that thinking. Maybe she carried more of an air of being untouched?
“Shanal? You’re not—?”
“A virgin? No. But I don’t have a great deal of experience. No one has ever...moved me the way I feel right now,” she admitted shyly.
Whoever she’d been with and whatever the circumstances, Raif would make sure that this time, with him, she felt everything that lovemaking could be between two people. She would be as engaged in what they did together as a person could possibly be.
With that in mind, he transferred his attention to her other breast, sucking and pulling gently at her dark brown nipple until it, too, was as taut as its twin. He shifted so he could kiss her lips again, his hands never leaving her breasts, his fingers rolling and tugging at their tips until she began to squirm beneath him.
She kissed him back with a ferocity that made his blood burn in his veins, scorching him until his entire body was aflame. He’d thought to keep the barrier of his clothing to remind him not to rush things, but found he could no longer wait to feel her body against his, skin on skin, heat on heat, hardness on softness. Her hands were there to help him as he sat up and pulled his sweatshirt and T-shirt off in one sweep, his skin prickling in tiny goose bumps as her fingertips swept over his torso.
He felt ridiculously clumsy as he fought with the button fly of his jeans and finally shimmied out of the restrictive denim. His briefs, too, came off in haste. He almost groaned in relief as his straining erection was finally free of constraint, but the sense of freedom was short-lived as Shanal’s fingers closed around him like a velvet glove.
His eyes slid closed and Raif clenched his jaw with the strain it took not to thrust against her gentle caress, not to give in to the base need that threatened to overwhelm him. Her touch was tentative, exploratory—though she was clearly gaining confidence with each stroke, each featherlight touch. When she reached the aching head of his penis a shudder ran through his body. He opened his eyes and caught the smile of satisfaction on her face.
“You’re driving me over the edge,” Raif warned, his voice low and tight with need.
“I love that I can do this to you,” she answered, her eyes glowing with need. “You’re always so confident, so sure of yourself, but like this? In this moment you’re vulnerable, and I can’t help but wonder at the fact that it’s because of me.”
Did the woman have no idea of the allure she’d held for him all these years? Clearly, she hadn’t the faintest clue that from the first day he’d met her he’d alternated between teenage angst and fighting some crazy hormonal response to her nearness every time they’d been in the same room. She’d always had this effect on him, long before tonight. Hell, even thinking about her had given him a raging hard-on—then and now.
“I’m at your disposal. All yours,” he said. “Do what you want with me.”
There, he’d handed over the reins to her, to let her act rather than be acted upon. She gestured for him to lie on the bed beside her, and kissed him the moment his head hit the pillow. Her mouth was hot and wet and demanding; her teeth gently abraded his lower lip before she began her exploration of his body.
“I’ve wondered what you felt like, what you tasted like,” she said, positioning herself over him and rising onto her knees.
Her hands were spread like small fans over his chest, her fingertips tracing the shape of his nipples. Raif found himself ultrasensitive to her touch, not to mention the heat of her lower body as she settled over his groin. Shanal leaned down to mimic the movements of her fingers with the tip of her tongue, and he felt her touch all the way to the soles of his feet, his body attuned to her every movement, her every caress.
“Mmm,” she murmured, “I like the way you taste.”
Her mouth closed over his nipple and she bit gently on the sensitive skin, sending another bolt of sensation plummeting through him. Her long hair slid over him like a drift of silk. He didn’t know how much longer he could take this and not lose control, but he reminded himself to stay strong, to let her take the lead the way he’d promised she could.