“Listen to me—oh, for the love of—” He drew her into his arms and locked his mouth over hers as she pulled his shirt from his waistband and in one swift movement he discarded the unwanted clothing. Bliss’s hands explored his body, the corded muscles of his shoulders, the mat of curling hair on his chest and the taut planes of his abdomen.

He let out a low, primeval sound when she touched his nipples with her fingers and his lips became more demanding. He reached for the waistband of her jeans, yanked hard enough that her button fly gave way in a series of pops and the denim slid easily over her hips and thighs.

“Bliss. Sweet, sweet Bliss,” he whispered, lowering himself, kissing each of her breasts and the hollow between them, then moving lower to the flat of her abdomen where he circled his tongue slowly around her navel.

A spiral of heat and need wound through her insides as his tongue slid along her skin. “Mason, oh,” she cried as his hot breath invaded the thin lace of her panties. She wriggled against him and he kissed the lace and the downy curls beneath it. “Please,” she begged in a voice that was not her own. “Please, oh, oh, ooh!”

His tongue worked magic through the fragile barrier of lace and she closed her eyes, her entire body centered where he touched her. Desire throbbed between her legs. She moved against him, silently begging for more until at last he stripped her of that last shred of clothing and kissed her intimately.

The world seemed to collide with the stars. She gasped for breath and convulsed. She was on fire, needing more. Wanting only this one man. Her body, slick with sweat, convulsed again and again before he kicked off his jeans and parted her legs with his knees.

“We should stop—”

“No!” Oh, God, please, no!

“But I can’t. Bliss . . . I can’t—” He lifted her buttocks and thrust into her, hard and deep, breaking that fragile barrier she’d held on to for twenty-seven years.

She let out a cry of ecstasy and pain.

He quit moving, his eyes wide. “Lord, Bliss, you’re a virgin!”

“Was,” she said. “Was. Oh, Mason, please don’t stop, don’t ever stop.” Her fingers pressed deep into his shoulders.

“But—”

“I want you,” she said, opening her eyes and staring into his. “I’ve always wanted you.”

“And I want you. Oh, darlin’—” He let out a groan of surrender and then began to move, slowly at first, then faster and harder as Bliss’s pain vanished and she matched his tempo. Her heart thundered, her breathing came in short anxious gasps, her body arching up to his. His hands held tight to her buttocks, drawing her closer as the world swirled in a vision of light and color.