Never Love A Stranger Part 10

"Why not'" She moved her fingers slightly, and felt his erection throb sharply in response. He tightened his grasp on her wrist.

"Please," he said hoa.r.s.ely. "Don't."

She pulled back and looked at him, seeing the very real distress on his face. "No one has ever touched you that way before, have they'"

Wordlessly, he shook his head.

For all she knew, he'd had s.e.x with a hundred women, but in many ways, he was still a virgin. "It's all right," she said gently, bringing her hand up to caress his cheek in a rea.s.suring gesture. "You are ent.i.tled to enjoy yourself, James."

He swallowed audibly. "It is not my job to take pleasure," he said roughly. "I am supposed to give you pleasure."

She ran her fingers across the high, beautiful sweep of his cheekbone. "Making love isn't about taking pleasure from another person. It's about sharing."

James hesitated, breathing heavily. "In that case," he said at last, "I don't think I've ever made love before."

"I don't think you have, either." She reached up and brushed her lips across his, then pulled away from him and looked into his eyes. "But tonight-- you will."

Chapter 7.

It took some effort to coax James into the bedroom. He was clearly frightened of the feelings she had managed to evoke in him, which she found both charming and somewhat disturbing. It was very like introducing an adolescent male to the mysteries of s.e.x--if she did a poor job, he might be put off lovemaking forever. It seemed like a heavy responsibility.

Annie shrugged aside her concerns. She intended to do a good job.

She stood in front of him and began methodically taking her clothes off, suspecting he might be more comfortable if she made herself symbolically vulnerable. He watched her without speaking, but his eyes, serious and intent, did not waver from her. At last, fully nude, she stepped closer to him.

Yanking the tail of his s.h.i.+rt out of his pants, she slipped a hand up beneath the fabric and stroked his chest. His skin was warm and soft, but the muscles beneath were hard as iron. She felt the nervous tension in his rigid posture, heard his breath coming in a shallow, rapid rhythm.

She ran her hand down the sculpted ridges of his abdomen. His muscular development was nothing short of amazing. It was, she thought, the first time she'd ever really encountered a six-pack. She heard his sharp intake of breath as her fingers slid downward. "Do you like that'"

He nodded jerkily. "But I should be--"

She stopped him by pressing a finger against his lips. "Not tonight, James. Tonight I want to look at you. To touch you. Tomorrow...." She grinned. "We'll see how things work out. But tonight, for heaven's sake, please stop arguing about it."

She tugged the s.h.i.+rt up over his head and tossed it to the floor, then stared at him, indulging herself. Since the moment she'd seen him naked in her kitchen, she'd yearned for an opportunity to stare at him as long as she wanted. His heavy chest muscles were clearly defined beneath amber skin dusted with light gold hairs. "You are the most gorgeous man I've ever laid eyes on," she whispered in awe. "You really are."

Despite her obvious admiration, James looked uncomfortable. He was obviously not accustomed to being touched with reverence or affection. She placed her hands on his bare chest and began to explore him with her hands. "Relax," she advised him. "I won't bite. That is, unless you want me to."

James stood stiffly beneath her questing hands, unmoving, but definitely not relaxed. He watched her with a peculiar anxiety, like a deer watching a wolf's stealthy movements. He was, she realized with compa.s.sion, nervous. Possibly even frightened. Slowly, she bent toward him, breathing in his citrusy scent, brus.h.i.+ng her lips lightly against his chest, hearing him respond with a small sound of pleasure, almost a whimper. She heard him swallow nervously, felt him stiffen.

"Don't you like that, James'"

He hesitated for a long moment. "I like it too well," he said hoa.r.s.ely.

"It's okay, James." She let her lips drift across the bulging muscle of his chest a second time. "Let yourself enjoy it."

"I am not supposed to enjoy it."

Hearing what sounded almost like self-loathing in his tone, she looked up in surprise. She gazed into his eyes steadily. "I want you to enjoy it, James."

A flash of astonishment ignited deep in his eyes, as if that was a revolutionary idea, and then his expression cleared a bit. Seeing some of the nervousness ebb from his posture, she continued her exploration of his chest. Her lips brushed softly over his rigid nipple, and he jumped as if she'd electrocuted him.

Amused by his reaction, she let her tongue slide over his nipple, and he gave a long, shuddering groan. The primitive noise sent a s.h.i.+ver through her, and she realized she was as aroused as she had ever been in her life.

She wanted to yank him onto the bed and have her way with him. She wanted to feel him deep inside her. But she struggled to control herself, to push her own needs aside. Tonight all that mattered was James.

It was a thrilling torture to go slowly, to force herself to make it good for him. Slowly she kissed her way down the rippled muscles of his abdomen, toward his navel, and beyond. As she began to unbuckle his belt he stepped backward, away from her.

She lifted her head. "What's wrong, James'"

He blinked down at her. "You are not going to'to'"

Amused by his inarticulate shock, Annie felt a smile tilt her lips. "James," she said softly, "I'm not going to do anything you don't want me to do. I promise. Right now I just want to look, okay' Because you were made to be looked at."

Something dark flickered in his eyes, and she abruptly remembered he had been made to look at, in a manner of speaking. She instantly regretted her tactless comment. "Look," she said, "there's nothing wrong with letting a woman touch you, James."

"In my world, it was wrong."

"Well, it's okay to try something new, isn't it'"

"Innovations in my society invariably led to punishment."

"I see," she said gently. As they spoke she had been unfastening his slacks. Now she pushed them down, seeing the enormous bulge in his briefs. He was violently aroused, whether he wanted to admit it or not. She pulled his briefs down, and he stepped out of them and stood before her, as naked as the night they'd met.

She hadn't been wrong. He was beyond a shadow of a doubt the hugest man she'd ever seen. Moreover, he was beautiful. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared, awestruck, at the length and thickness of his erection. The thought of what he would feel like inside her flitted through her brain, and she felt heat eddying low in her abdomen, felt an ache in her nipples she hadn't felt in a long, long time.

Unable to stop herself, she reached out and ran her finger lightly down his shaft.

He jumped, and she heard his breath hiss between his teeth. "Annie," he protested.

She'd never had a man object to such a simple caress, or act as if she'd done something so ... well, shocking. The horrified tone of his voice suggested he thought her action was almost depraved. "No one's ever touched you like this before'" she asked in a soft voice, gently running her finger from the unbelievably broad base of his p.e.n.i.s to the blunt, solid head.

He closed his eyes and made no answer. Beneath her questing finger he felt like satin over granite, hot and smooth and rigid. Looking at the tense set of his jaw, she got the unmistakable impression he was struggling not to make a sound. She wondered with sympathy if expressing pleasure in his world led to punishment.

That was an appalling thought, the most intimate act between humans being made into a power struggle, an experience of fear rather than of ecstasy. Not for the first time, she thought James' future sounded like a horrible place.

"It's okay to like it, James," she murmured, encircling him with her hand, noticing as she did so that he was so big her fingers didn't meet. She slid the pad of her thumb back and forth over the sensitive tip until she felt a drop of moisture, seeing his head arch back, seeing his teeth grinding together, seeing the tendons in his neck standing out like cords. He was losing the battle not to react, surrendering his self-control. Which was precisely what she wanted.

"Annie," he breathed again, but this time it sounded less like an objection and more like a plea. His hands were clenched into fists at his side, and his hips moved in an involuntary rhythm. She realized she was no longer shocking him.

She decided to shock him again. Dropping to her knees, she let her lips brush him, very lightly.

His erection jerked violently, and a soft groan escaped him. "What the--" he gasped, then abruptly broke off. Annie felt her lips twitch in an involuntary smile. She really had shocked him that time, almost enough to startle a cuss word or two out of him. She'd actually wondered if perhaps they didn't curse in the future.

She brushed her lips over him again, and he groaned aloud. "Annie," he muttered hoa.r.s.ely, "I really don't think--" He broke off with a startled gasp as she began to slowly stroke him with her tongue, feeling his scalding heat, tasting his moisture, exploring him more intimately than she'd ever explored her own husband, until he was writhing against her mouth, until he buried his hands in her hair, clenching his fingers and holding onto her like a lifeline.

Her tongue stroked easily across his silken skin as she delighted in the taste and texture of him, the soft sensual sounds he made, the way his body shuddered with pleasure. He was searingly hot against her mouth, hot and increasingly frenzied. When she took him into her mouth, his entire body quivered, and he gave a hoa.r.s.e, inarticulate cry.

Aware that she'd pushed him almost to his limits, she lifted her head. h.e.l.l, she thought wryly, she'd pushed herself to her limits. She'd never been this excited by a man before. She tamped down that thought, refusing to examine the disloyal implications. Standing up, she pushed him onto the bed. He fell back more than willingly.

Straddling him, she slowly lowered her body onto his. Despite his enormous size he slipped into her wet, hot sheath as if they'd been made for one another. He gripped her hips with his big hands and thrust into her deeply, and she cried out, stunned to feel herself explode instantly in a blazing climax. As she contracted around him he plunged into her, hard, over and over again, and she felt his body give a wrenching shudder, heard him sobbing with the violent force of his o.r.g.a.s.m.

She fell forward against his chest, and his arms came around her, holding her with what felt very much like tenderness. There was a long silence, punctuated only by their harsh breathing. At last he said quietly, "Why did you do that'"

"Do what'" she said in surprise, lifting her head and looking at him. "I just made love to you, James. That's how people make love. At least, that's one of the ways."

He closed his eyes, avoiding her gaze. "No one has ever touched me that way before," he said at last.

"Yeah, I figured that out. But you'd better get used to it. I plan on doing it again. And again."

James opened his eyes and stared at her solemnly for a long moment, then abruptly shot her a hopeful grin. "Now'"

She tightened her arms around him and laughed, feeling happier than she had in a long, long time. "Don't

be in such a big hurry," she advised, pressing a kiss to his chest. "There's always tomorrow."

"Oh, my G.o.d."

Annie awoke to the sound of a shocked female voice. No more alert than she ever was in the morning,

she slowly forced her eyelids open.

Her best friend, Kay Sterling, was staring at her with disbelief.

"What're you looking at'" Annie mumbled, stretching her arms and yawning. As she did so, her hand

came into contact with something solid and warm.

A man's bare chest.

Startled, Annie yelped and sat up, clutching the sheet to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Abruptly everything came back to

her. She had seduced James last night and now she was lying nude next to him. In Kay's bed.

Her instinctive grab for the sheets had uncovered James, who was still out cold. Kay's gaze slid to his naked form, and she uttered a single, stunned word. "Wow."

Chapter 8.

"I suppose you're going to tell me this isn't what it looks like."

Annie accepted a cup of instant coffee from her friend. "It is and it isn't."

"Oh, come on, Annie. Don't tease me. Tell Auntie Kay all about it."

Annie scowled into the murky depths of her coffee. She loathed instant coffee, but it was all Kay kept

around, and it was better than nothing. "Okay. It's what it looks like."

"About time," Kay said with satisfaction. She was a small woman with long black hair and flawless light brown skin, who had somehow managed to make it through medical school and the rigors of residency without losing her sense of humor. She had approved wholeheartedly of Annie's marriage to Steve, but

she didn't choose to tie herself down to any one man ... at least, she hadn't until Clark had come along.

Clark had been an accident, albeit one that had changed her life for the better.

"What the h.e.l.l are you doing here, anyway' I thought you weren't coming back till Tuesday."

"Obviously," Kay agreed with a twinkle.

Annie managed to resist the urge to pour the coffee over her friend's head. "Why are you here'" she repeated, downing a mouthful of the bitter brew.

"One of my patients had an emergency. You know, the little girl with leukemia. I got called back yesterday evening."

Annie nodded. Kay was in a practice with several other doctors, but she didn't expect her partners to take care of her emergencies. It was one of the reasons she almost never had a decent vacation. She joked that she'd had a baby just so she could get an uninterrupted twelve weeks off.

"Too bad. Was your mom mad'"

"Nah. Mom understands."

"Is the little girl okay'"