“Bliss . . . I . . .” His voice trailed off and she watched sweat run from his temples. Somewhere deep inside a dam broke and she jerked in a contraction of joy. With an ecstatic cry, he went still atop her just as her spirit soared to the heavens and the kaleidoscope of colors behind her eyes became a warm blaze of light.

I love you, she thought desperately, but bit her tongue before the hasty words could reach her lips. This was sex, nothing more. The loss of her virginity, yes, but still just a coupling of two people who were not in love.

Stupidly, tears burned behind her eyes because she’d always thought that when she gave herself to a man, it would be for the time-honored and glorious emotion called “love.”

He cradled her face in his big hands and looked deep into her eyes. “Bliss . . . ?” He kissed her forehead and cheeks and must have tasted the salt of her tears. “Are you all right?”

“Perfect.”

“Yes,” he said with a reverence that touched her heart. “You are.”

Oh, God, was he serious? “If you only knew.”

“I do.” Twirling a strand of her hair around his finger, he slid to the side of her and with one leg possessively pinning her against him, added, “What I didn’t know was that you were still a virgin.”

A stain of embarrassment washed up her neck in hot, humiliating waves.

“You should have told me.”

“Oh, sure. At this age.” She managed a thin smile, but didn’t tease an answering grin from his lips. “It’s probably some kind of world record or something.”

He levered up on one elbow and stared down at her. “I doubt that we should call Guinness.”

“Good. Then it doesn’t matter.”

“No?” Still he was skeptical and with one hand he reached forward and touched her nipple with one long finger.

“I think it was long past time to give it up,” she said, clearing her throat.

“So why not earlier? And don’t give me that line about not meeting the right man, ’cause I won’t buy it.”

“All right, maybe I just didn’t trust anyone, okay?”

“But you do trust me.” He didn’t mask any of the skepticism in his words.

“As I said, it was time, don’t you think?”

“That’s your call, Bliss.” With a wicked grin he pulled her into the crook of his shoulder. His breath stirred her hair as he spoke. “What I think is that we—well, make that I—should have been more careful. I didn’t have . . . protection.”

She stiffened and stared upward where leaves of low-hanging branches shifted in the moonlight. The smooth beauty of the moment was shattered. “Believe me, you don’t have to worry about any disease from me.”

“Nor me,” he admitted. “I was tested last year. Twice. Since then I’ve been careful. Until now.”