Her voice was almost a sob. Her pussy clenched and tightened, growing wetter as he lavished attention on her most sensitive parts. Her plea sent another surge of arousal through his body, his dick already leaking pre-cum.

Yeah, he wanted it to last, but he also knew that wasn’t happening. This first time wouldn’t be perfect, but they would have plenty of other times to take it as slow as they wanted. Right now he had to have her. Had to be inside her or they’d both come before he got there.

“Give me one second, honey,” he rasped out. “Need to get a condom.”

“Hurry,” she urged.

He rolled off her and off the bed, fumbling with the nightstand drawer. He grabbed one of the foil packets and ripped it open. He rolled the condom on, nearly coming with just the pressure of his hand.

“Down, boy,” he muttered. “You’ll like her a hell of a lot more than you like my hand.”

Eve laughed, and he looked up to see that she’d heard his muttering. Mirth shone in her eyes and she extended her hand, an invitation to come back to her. As if he needed any such thing.

“Are you sure you’re ready for me?” he asked as he parted her thighs and settled comfortably between her legs.

She shifted, lifting her hips to him. “Yes!”

He lowered his body even further, reaching down to gently spread her for his entry. He positioned the head at her entrance and then removed his hand, placing both on either side of Eve’s body.

Closing his eyes, he began to push forward. He gritted his teeth and sweat broke out on his forehead. No way could he take this slow and easy. He was dying to get inside her.

He thrust forward, powering into her body in one motion. She cried out, the sound freezing him. Several things registered all at once. Her cry was not of pleasure. It was a sound of pain. She was exquisitely tight around him. Too tight. Her body was protesting his entry with everything it had. And he registered a tearing sensation, had felt a part of her give way with his entry.

He stared down at her in shock, taking in her expression, her startled eyes and the fleeting look of pain. Then he glanced down as he slowly withdrew and took in the smear of blood on the condom.

She’d been a virgin and he’d plowed into her with all the finesse of a rutting bull.

CHAPTER 24

“DONOVAN?”

He looked back to see Eve staring up at him with wide, fearful eyes. His name had come out quivery and filled with apprehension. Her uncertainty nearly slayed him. She was worried that she’d done something wrong when it was he who’d fucked up royally.

Careful to remain perfectly still and not push farther inside her, he stroked a hand through her hair and then caressed her cheek.

“Ah hell, honey, why didn’t you tell me?” he asked gently.

“I w-wasn’t t-thinking,” she stammered out. “I swear, Donovan. I was so caught up in the moment that it didn’t even occur to me to tell you. I mean, I thought of it earlier, but I was nervous and didn’t know how to tell you. I was afraid you wouldn’t want me if you knew, but I swear I was going to tell you. And then I got so caught up. I wanted you so much. I wanted you to make love to me. I wasn’t trying to deceive you. I promise! You have to believe me.”

Her anxiety made Donovan go soft in every part of his body except the part of him that was still penetrating her, though he was extremely careful not to cause her more discomfort. He rushed to reassure her, not wanting her to take any blame for what had happened, for the way it had happened. He’d been just as caught up as her. And the fear in her eyes was undoing him. He couldn’t let her think for another second that he was in any way angry with her. God, angry? How could he be when she’d just given him something immeasurably precious?

He gently hushed her with his lips, tenderly kissing her, absorbing the moment, the knowledge that he was her first lover. He was overwhelmed. Never had he placed a huge importance on virginity. He wasn’t that much of a caveman, and he’d never been with a virgin. Never considered how humbling an experience it was for a woman to trust her first time to him. That he was Eve’s first staggered him. He felt many things, indescribable, but anger? Never that.

“I’m not angry with you, Eve. Quite the opposite. I’m overwhelmed by the gift you’ve given me. First your trust and now your virginity. I only wish I’d known so I could have made it better for you. I would die before causing you an ounce of pain. I would have gone slower. I would have been more gentle. I would have kissed and touched and held you all night. I would have made it perfect for you.”

She reached for him, framing his face in her small hands, her touch like velvet against his skin. He nuzzled into her palm, regret seeping to his very soul.

“Don’t you know, Donovan? It is perfect. You made it perfect. Are making it perfect,” she corrected with a gentle smile. “It will never be more perfect than with you. The first time is supposed to hurt. But it wasn’t bad. It surprised me more than it hurt. Like I said, I was so caught up and you made me feel so good that when it happened, it startled me because I wasn’t expecting it. I wasn’t thinking that I’m a virgin and this will hurt. All I was thinking was that if I didn’t have you inside me I was going to die.”

“Darling Eve. So very generous and sweet.”

He kissed her again, unable to resist the temptation of her passion-swollen lips. He drew away, his breaths coming in ragged spurts. He was throbbing inside her. It was taking all of the control he possessed not to thrust into her again, to lose himself in her satin heat.

“I could have made it better,” he gently corrected. “It might have hurt, but I could have made it hurt less by not taking you so hard with that first thrust. I was overwhelmed and I wanted you so desperately. But I can make it better from here on out. And I will, Eve. Trust me to make it right.”

“I do trust you,” she whispered. “Please don’t stop. Don’t let this ruin tonight for us. I want you. Need you. It doesn’t hurt anymore, Donovan. Please don’t stop.”

He let out a tortured groan. “I’m not stopping, honey. I don’t think that’s possible. But I’m going to take it nice and slow and work you back up again. Okay?”

She stirred restlessly underneath him and he clenched his teeth together, his jaw going achingly tight as he fought his release.

“I’m with you, Donovan,” she said softly. “I’m okay. Really.”

Still, he carefully withdrew, watching her face for any sign of discomfort. Then he slid his hand between them, stroking over her clitoris, watching when she tightened as pleasure winged its way through her body.

He leaned down, shifting his position so his head was at her breasts. Using his free hand, he caressed one breast, plumping it, teasing her nipple until it was hard once more. Then he sucked gently, coaxing each one to a rigid peak while he continued to stroke her satiny flesh with the hand between her legs.

“Donovan!” she cried out, her back arching up off the bed.

“Are you close, honey? Are you about to come?”

“Yes!”

Carefully, he fit himself back to the mouth of her pussy, probing tenderly until the head slipped just inside. Her eyes widened but no pain registered in her expression. As he pushed farther in, one agonizing inch at a time, a dreamy haze entered her eyes and she smiled. Then she closed her eyes and arched into him once more.

“Wrap your legs around me,” he directed. “And hold on to me. Grab my shoulders, honey. I’m not going to last and I want to make sure you’re with me.”

“I am,” she said breathlessly. “I’m so there.”

She complied with his request, wrapping her legs around his waist and hooking her ankles just above his ass. He cupped her behind, just as he’d imagined doing, tilting her at an angle that made penetrating her easier.

Then he slid into her, all the way until his balls pressed against her ass. She gasped. He gasped. He wasn’t sure which of them was the louder. Her eyes widened and her fingers dug into his shoulders, her legs squeezed his sides, clamping like vises around him.

He pulled back and paused for a brief moment before diving deep again, his gaze never leaving her so he’d know if he was hurting her.

But she gave no indication she was experiencing anything but the sweetest of pleasures. She emitted soft, feminine sounds of appreciation as he thrust into her repeatedly. She matched his rhythm and they moved in unison to a song as old as time.

He slid his hands up her body, gathering her in his arms, holding her tight so that only his hips moved, arching into and out of her. Her breasts were flat against his chest, her breaths mingling with his. He kissed her, scorching over her mouth, devouring her as his orgasm rose, threatening to blind him with lust.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, her pussy going hot and wet around him, bathing him in her sweet heat.

“That’s it, honey. Come for me. I want you to get there before I let go.”

“I want you with me,” she said breathlessly. “I want us to go together.”

“How close are you?”

“If you won’t stop, I’m close!”

He sealed his mouth to hers and slid his tongue deep inside just as he planted himself just as deeply into her body. He went hard, losing all sense of himself. Of time. Of place. There was only Eve. Beautiful, innocent Eve.

He loved her and he knew he loved her. There was no denial. No argument that she was the one. She was his. Completely his. And he’d never let her go.

She began to shake uncontrollably. Her legs trembled around his waist and her fingers fluttered over his shoulders. Her breathing sped up until she was gasping with every thrust. And then she let out a long cry, swallowed up by his mouth as they breathed the same air.

And then he followed, plummeting right over the edge, falling hard and fast, spiraling rapidly out of control. Everything blurred around him. The slap of flesh meeting flesh distantly registered and then his release boiled from his groin, pulsed up his cock and he exploded in a frenzy, jetting into the condom.

After a moment he became aware of Eve kissing him. His jaw, then his neck, then up to his ear. Murmuring sweet words against his ear. Caressing his shoulders where moments before she’d dug in with her nails, scouring his skin.

Her legs had gone slack, splayed open and resting against the mattress as he lay between them, resting deeply within her body. He was covering her completely, his full weight bearing down on her. But she seemed content to be there. She wore a dreamy expression as she continued her tender caresses.

She lifted one hand to run it over his hair and then around to cup his jaw in her soft palm. He covered her mouth with his, wanting to taste her again.

They were both breathing hard, and regretfully he shifted upward so she wouldn’t bear his weight any longer. He rolled to the side and then away from her long enough to dispose of the condom. Then he rolled back and gathered her in his arms. He kissed the top of her head, holding her as close to him as he could get her.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She nodded, bumping the top of her head against his chin. “Very okay.”

He smiled. “I’ll be right back, all right? I’m just going to run into the bathroom to get a washcloth to clean you up.”

He could feel her blush and his smile broadened. She was so adorably shy.

Reluctantly, he extricated himself from her and hurried to the bathroom to get a warm washcloth. He returned a few moments later and gently wiped the blood from between her thighs. He tossed the cloth on the floor several feet away and climbed back into bed, immediately pulling Eve back into his arms.

She snuggled into his embrace and let out a contented sigh that he felt all the way to his toes. But it was he who was contented. He could never remember feeling as satisfied as he was right here and now, his woman in his arms, warm and soft and sated from his lovemaking. It would never be better than this.

And then he imagined them in ten years’ time. With children of their own. A huge family surrounding them. More nieces, nephews. Love, good times. Laughter. Twenty years from now. Forever. Yeah, it would get better. Every single day with her would be better than the one before.

He stroked her hair, smoothing the tendrils from her face. Then he cupped her chin and tilted her head upward so she could see him. He could stare at her forever. No matter how much time passed he didn’t think he would ever grow tired of seeing her in his bed, her hair tousled from lovemaking, a sleepy, contented look in her beautiful eyes.

“I don’t want to ever hear from you again that I do all the giving and you do all the taking and that you aren’t giving me anything. Because what you’ve given to me is more precious than anything I’ve received. I can’t even describe what it means that I was your first lover. It means a lot, Eve. It means everything. I’ll always treasure the gift of your virginity, and I’ll cherish you always.”

Moisture glistened in her eyes, making the gold glints vibrant and electric in the light.