When he settled his body between her parted thighs, though, Heather went rigid again.

“Easy now, easy…” He whispered gentle, calming words until she warmed and softened against him. All the while his manhood pulsed between her legs. He remained unmoving, letting her become accustomed to the feel of his rigid arousal, allowing her to respond at her own pace.

Heather quivered as the heat and power of his naked chest pressed down on her, his flesh smooth and hot. She wanted to escape the threat he posed, yet something deep and primal pulled her to him. Her woman’s body craved the maleness of him, his hard heaviness. Closing her eyes, she strained upward shamelessly, seeking his heat.

Sloan gritted his teeth, fighting the heavy throbbing sensation of his flesh. It had been so very long since he had touched a woman. Forcing himself to go slowly, he lowered his weight and arched his hips, pressing himself into her. Sweet Christ, she was tight.

Her eyes flew wide.

He saw the pain and panic in them, but he thrust inexorably, smothering her gasp of surprise with a deep kiss as he sheathed himself in her body. Then he held himself completely still, waiting for the pain to dissipate, waiting for her to feel the pleasure of a man’s fullness stretching her.

Her breath was coming in shallow pants, yet gradually it slowed, while her rigid body relaxed somewhat.

“All right?” he asked hoarsely.

“Yes,” Heather whispered, amazed that she could say so.

He was staring down at her, his eyes intensely blue, burning and tender.

She shifted her hips tentatively and saw him flinch. “I … don’t know what to do,” she whispered.

“Wrap your legs around me.”

She did so tentatively.

“That’s right, honey, let me feel you move.” He arched over her, probing deep.

Heather moaned, clutching at him. The pain was gone now, leaving nothing but a dark, secret pleasure. He was taking her someplace she’d never been before, somewhere brilliant and terrifying.

“Don’t fight it,” he said in her ear as she arched against him. “Let it happen.”

Heather whimpered, colors and blinding light blurring before her eyes. It was like being swept up in a storm, unable to do anything but go along for the ride.

The first tiny convulsions swelled to shafts of fire. She strained against him, burning, pulsating, spinning away into a netherworld of shooting flames.

Her writhing frenzy nearly shattered Sloan’s tenuous control. He clenched his teeth at the powerful hunger streaking through him, while her frantic cries filled the air. When the woman beneath him splintered into ecstasy, he groaned with a savage need held barely in check. At the rhythmic clenching of her loins, desire shot through his groin, white-hot and explosive.