Having Melody in his bedroom was almost enough to destroy what little self-control that Cisco had left. He had been dreaming of this for several nights now. It wasn’t dark as it usually was in his dreams, but perhaps that was better. The golden late afternoon light filtering through the filmy white curtains covering his tall bedroom windows burnished her face in shades of light and shadow.

Cisco felt bold. He would not have hurt this woman for the world, but for right now, his hands were holding the reins and he was ready to give her the ride of her life. He began with the shapeless polo shirt she was wearing. The royal blue fabric was thick, and the weave was stiff. Taking hold of the hem, he lifted it over her head and threw it aside. It hit the floor, and he had the thought that this was where it belonged. It should not have been anywhere near her beautiful skin.

Her top half was lean, and her breasts were beautifully shaped. Each was the size of an orange. Her nipples were pale pink. They contrasted lightly with the creamy color of her skin. He could not resist the urge to cup those breasts and gently rub the pad of his thumbs across their smooth surface.

She gasped at the touch. Her lips parted, and he saw her suck in a deep breath. Her shoulders were flung back, and her belly muscles tightened until he could see the outline of each muscle in her torso. Her ribs were stark and far too prominent. She was so lean and so spare that there was hardly a single ounce of fat on her body.

Cisco put his palms flat against her sides and slid them down toward her waist. He fumbled at her waistband and finally managed to unfasten her stiff black slacks. They practically fell off her narrow hips. He gently touched the soft skin just below her navel where the elastic band of her panties sat. She shivered, and her belly shrank reflexively away from the light touch.

Her quickly indrawn breath turned him on. He loved the way she did not hide her reactions. As he slid her pants down over her narrow hips and the round globes of her ass, he cupped that warm flesh and knelt before her.

He pressed a kiss to her belly. Her fingers tangled in his hair. He laved his tongue around her belly button and blindly reached for her feet to help her out of her shoes. He loved the way she put one hand on his shoulder to brace her weight while she helped him take her pants off and toss them aside. The trust in that simple gesture made him giddy. She had placed her confidence in him. He would not betray that.

Cisco peeled her panties down her legs and gently bared the thatch of tangled brown curls covering her mound. The scent of her was strongest here. He nuzzled her gently and drank in the pure essence of her body. She shivered at the attention. He could not resist kissing her mound. He gently placed kisses in a line from hipbone to hipbone. Her belly muscles grew taut as he brushed his lips and tongue across them.

Carefully nudging her legs apart just a little more, he pushed his face against her. Using his tongue, he carefully teased her slit until he heard her gasp and give a broken cry. He could taste her arousal here. The flavor of her was erotic. It was perfection and he wanted it all.

Wrapping his arms around her body, he cupped the round globes of her buttocks and held her as he kissed and nuzzled her cleft. She began to tremble and moan. Her taste grew tangier, and the subtle flavor of her rose toward an apex he knew would come soon. He could feel her legs trembling and did not want to push her over the edge just yet.

Cisco stood up and gently nudged Melody toward his bed. The king-sized monstrosity dominated the room with its dark wood and four-poster style. He helped her climb up into the middle of it. She reclined with her weight resting on her elbows, and he could not help but think that she was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen. No fantasy had ever been this good.

His fingers were clumsy as he tried to get his own pants unfastened. Finally, he got the fly undone and managed to slide the trousers over his butt. He hopped a bit to get his loafers off, then his socks. Finally, he was naked from the waist down. The tail of his dress shirt covered the erection stretching toward his belly.

He reached for the buttons on his shirt, but she stopped him. “Let me,” she told him huskily.

Getting to her knees, Melody carefully unfastened each and every button. It felt as though it took an eternity. By the time she reached the last one, he felt like ripping it off like a beast in full rut.

Then Melody gently took his length in her hands, and he forgot everything but the feel of her fingers exploring his shaft. He was putty in her hands. She banded her fingers around the base of him, and the pressure began to build until he could not keep his eyes open. The feel of her touch was electric. His nerves were singed by the sheer power of it. Every brush of her hand against him was soft and deliberate. She wasn’t tentative. It was almost the opposite. The way she touched him instilled confidence and hope. Every motion of her hand increased his pleasure and sent the passion soaring to the heavens.

Heat built at the base of his spine. She was pushing him toward the heights with her measured teasing. Soon he would be unable to control himself, and that wasn’t what he wanted. Not this time anyway.

Cisco laced his fingers with hers. “Stop, sweet one. I need you. I need all of you.”

Her smile held a hint of the devil. Then she rose to her knees and wrapped her arms around his neck. She took his mouth in a kiss so passionate that it made his toes curl into the plush carpet. He put his hands on her hips and pushed her back down onto the bed. He covered her with his body. Their skin slid together like silk. Or rather she was like silk. The contrast between the dusting of dark hair on his legs and arms and her perfectly smooth body was delicious. He could not stop touching her. His hands were everywhere.

Finally, she spread her thighs just a little and his body nestled perfectly against hers. They fit together like two puzzle pieces. He kissed her lips before moving down her jawline to her neck. All the while he was gently nudging her cleft with his erection. He needed her so badly, and yet he wanted to make this last. Making it good for her mattered more than anything else.

Nipping the base of her neck, he ran his tongue across the bite mark that he left behind. She was squirming beneath him now. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she pulled him to her. The length of him pressed into her in agonizingly slow increments.

He pulled back against her hold as she demanded with her body that he go faster. The slow ease of her muscles as her body surrendered to him was erotic beyond measure. The soft, damp flesh parted and welcomed him inside her even as she buried her fingers in his hair and her tongue in his mouth.

She made love to him with her lips and tongue even as he fully seated himself within her softness. She was so warm and welcoming that he could not begin to wait. He thrust into her body and heard the sound of their flesh coming together. The scent of their mating filled the room and saturated his senses. He loved the way she smelled. He loved the scent of her mixed with him even more. She moved her mouth to his shoulder, and he felt her teeth bite into his skin.

The pinprick of pain only served to heighten his pleasure. His body tightened. Every muscle was taut with arousal. He knew his climax was coming. He only wanted to know that she would be with him the whole time.

Reaching between their bodies, he cherished the jewel of her passion beneath the pad of his index finger. Around and around he went as he traced her slick folds and teased that tiny bundle of nerves until Melody exploded around him in a passionate release that left him panting for one of his own.

Finally he could let go. Cisco exhaled and groaned as he poured his seed into her warm, welcoming body. He convulsed as every ounce of what he had sank deep inside her body. Holding her close, he curled himself around her and savored her muscular tremors as his own climax left her trembling and moaning with the overwhelming pleasure of it all.

“Oh God,” she whispered. “Oh God, please.”

He held her close as the storm began to subside. His heart was pounding against his ribs. He could hardly catch his breath. Yet when he held her close, he could feel that her heart was pounding just as fast and her breathing was just as ragged. It made him feel so very complete to know that she had been affected just as much as he. So many times women were practiced or fake. This one was anything but.

“That was amazing,” she whispered.

The room was chilly. He hadn’t noticed before. Yet now, when a thin sheen of sweat covered his skin, he felt the coolness of the air far more acutely than before. Groping at the end of the bed, he finally felt the edges of the blanket and pulled it over their bodies.

She sighed and snuggled down into the bed. Of course, this effectively had her burrowing in closer to him as well. Cisco felt a strong urge to hold her close. He wrapped his arms around her body and felt her head automatically pillow against his shoulder. It was perfect. He could not have asked for more.

“Is it always like that?” she whispered.

“I don’t know.” He could not answer for anyone other than himself. “I thought it was amazing.”

“Definitely that,” she whispered. “Usually I feel so awkward afterwards.” She gave a lusty yawn. “It’s not even bedtime! Normally I would barely be getting off of work. Yet here I am, ready to take a nap.”

“Naps are wasted on the young,” he teased. “I think you need more naps in your life.”

“Life would be wasted if I spent all of it sleeping.” She sighed and pushed her nose against his sternum. The touch tickled, be he would not have changed it for the world. “I don’t want to sleep. I want to be wide awake.”

“You are wide awake,” he whispered. “I think you woke me up too.”

“What are you going to do now that you’re awake?” she asked.

Cisco did not answer right away. He could not think of an answer. His brain was full of his wants. He kept thinking about how good it felt to be inside her. Not just that, but how good it felt to have her beside him too. The feel of her skin next to his. The light scent of her sweat mingled with the aroma of sex to create the ultimate bouquet.

He rolled to his back, and Melody went with him. She lay with half her body draped over the top of his. It was the only time he had ever snuggled with a lover after sex, and now he understood why. Normally his brain was telling him to move on. There were better things to do. Places to go. Things to see. Tasks to accomplish.

Right now, his mind was utterly empty. There was nothing for him in this moment but the woman lying in his arms. She was it.

“I want you with me forever,” he whispered to Melody. “I want you here in my home and in my heart. I want to care for you. I want to—I want to love you. I want you to let me love you. Can you do that?”

There was a long pause. The pause was so long, in fact, that he was convinced she was about to say no or present a laundry list of things that would have to happen before this could be possible. Yet, in the end, she did not say anything.

Melody lifted her head and propped her chin on her hand. Then she gazed up at him for the span of perhaps two or three breaths. Her green eyes were bright and thoughtful. He knew that she was thinking this through very carefully and he should have been glad.

Finally, she took a deep breath. “What do you really want, Cisco? Do you just want a woman in your life, or is this something else?”

“I don’t just want a woman,” he protested. “I want you. I want your laughter and your smiles and your ups and downs and everything between. I want us to laugh and cry and get old together.”

“That’s a pretty tall order,” she whispered. There was a long pause, and he had to force himself to wait. She would speak when she was ready and not a moment before. That was certainly something important that he had learned. Finally, she exhaled long and slow. “I can’t promise forever. I don’t think anyone ever really can. I don’t believe in forever.”

“I do.” He nuzzled her gently and pulled her close enough to kiss her lips. “Perhaps I should try to convince you.”

Her laughter made him smile as though the sun had come out after a lifetime of rain. “Convince me? If that’s what you want to do, I’m willing to go through the treatment as many times as you’d like to apply it. I think I could use some convincing all day long. Then all night. And maybe all day tomorrow too.”

“Oh, is that right?” He rolled her onto her back. Leaning down, he kissed her deeply until he felt her tongue slide into his mouth to taste his. Then he drew back and gently bit her chin. “Perhaps I should tease you, then. I should show you what it’s like to be pleasured over and over again until you’re screaming and begging for it to end.”

“Yes. That would be a fantastic lesson.” She nodded her head emphatically. “Teach me! I’m so ready to learn.”

“As if I could teach you anything about passion,” he murmured against her mouth. “You are my passion.”

First he told her. Then he set out to prove it was true.