Prologue: Lydia

 

 

 

Was this what falling in love felt like?

Feeling foolish and yet crazy happy at the same time? It was a good feeling. I liked it. I read the words of his note over and over. Each time I felt a coil tighten more and more in my belly.

The hours seemed to stretch forever until eight o’clock. At last, there came a knock on my door and I forgot all about how long I’d waited. I dived to answer it and felt immeasurably happy to find Brian standing there.

I noticed in a flash that he seemed drawn and somewhat paler than normal. But none of that diminished from his boyish, gorgeous smile when I practically jumped into his arms, almost toppling us both.

“Whoa!” he chuckled as he steadied me, his hands resting warmly on my waist. “Glad to see you must have missed me.”

“Come in, come in!” I said and pulled him back inside with me, closing the door. I turned to him with worried eyes. “Obviously I got the note, Brian. You said something about a family emergency?”

He sighed. “Yeah, my Dad. He had a heart attack. But he’s okay now,” he added hurriedly when I gasped in dismay. “He knows he needs to take things easy from now on.”

I sat heavily on the bed, my hand tugging him to sit next to me as if I couldn’t bear to be apart from him.

“Thank God he’s alright,” I breathed. “When I saw your message, I wasn’t sure what to think.”

Brian cupped my face gently and turned it to his. My breathing hitched and I was struck by the overwhelming sense of moisture suddenly seeping between my thighs. He smiled, which launched an intense throbbing in my secret place. I had to blink rapidly and force oxygen into my lungs just so I wouldn’t miss his next words.

“There’s so much I wanted to say in that note,” he said huskily, “But I decided it could wait until I was looking in your beautiful eyes. The last few days have been insane, Lydia but the one thing that kept me on track was the thought of you.”

I lowered my lashes shyly beneath the searing heat of his gaze. “I...I thought about you too.”

“Couldn’t be as much as the way I thought about you,” he said grinning, before lifting my palm to his lips and turning his face into the scented skin, inhaling deeply.

The mere sensuousness of his light caress made me shiver deep inside.

“I couldn’t get any rest, with you on my mind until late. I was worried you’d be gone before I got back and had the chance to talk.”

I let out a soft laugh.

“I almost did leave. But I just couldn’t,” I confessed. “I don’t know how you did what you did to me. I almost feel like I must have been bewitched. There’s this hold you have on everything I do. I used to think I knew exactly what I wanted from life. Now all I want is for us to get carried away. Let’s not even think about it first. All that matters is that it feels real.”

“Yes. So real,” Brian said on a half groan as his head lowered and he kissed along my neckline, making me gasp. His body pressed up against mine and I was caught off guard, falling back in bed as his welcome weight pushed on me. I instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck, unable to hide the melting seduction from my gaze as I looked up at him.

“Just being this close to you,” Brian began, then shook his head as if to ward off pain. “I can’t wait for you to find out everything about me, Lydia. And I want to learn everything about you. What makes you happy.”

“Right now, it’s simply to have this, with you. Your body on mine, your strong arms surrounding me,” I whispered. “You want me, don’t you Brian?”

I bit hard on my bottom lip, my last trace of fear quickly dissipating when Brian seized my mouth in a kiss and let his lips do the talking.

He placed his hand on my stomach, the touch gentle yet firm against my shirt, keeping me in place when I would have straightened up. I felt suddenly nervous with Brian looking at me like that, with an almost feral heat. My nipples hardened against the pads of my bra at the sensation of his fingertips brushing my skin as he began to slowly unbutton my shirt.

He leaned closer, kissed the swell of my cleavage. I was submerged in his deep blue eyes that had always seemed so filled with calm, yet now had grown dark, fierce. He wanted me strongly and I could feel his desire like a beating drum in my chest. I could smell the stimulating aroma of his unique scent blended in with his aftershave and it made me feel even more overpowered by him.

It felt like he knew exactly how to touch me. I held his gaze pleadingly, not sure what I was even begging for.

Brian paused and looked deep in my eyes. “You want me to stop?”

 “Don’t stop. Please,” I finally answered, and his eyes blazed almost tempestuously black.

In contrast, his touch was light as he stroked up the side of my breasts, skimming over the patterned lace. He cupped me and squeezed gently, bringing every nerve cell I had to life. I gasped out loud, back arching. His unbearably soft fondling had more impact than any rough, ravenous passion could have done.

Whatever storm raged in the air around us, Brian seemed to want me to know that he was in full control, that I could trust him to take utmost care with me.

Brian’s mouth came hot on mine, a melting kiss.

My breath quickened up again just as I felt Brian open up my folds, exposing my clit. His fingertips brushed the eager bud and I almost jumped. Oh God. Rushes of pleasure coursed through my whole pelvis, jarring my hips forward.

“You want more?”

“Yes,” I said, not really knowing what more lay in store. All I felt certain of was I’d love anything he’d do to me.

That was when I saw him slide down between my legs..