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But she looked uncertain, and she was tense, her eyes wide

He withdrew, though he’d barely gotten the head inside her opening He reached down and stroked over her flesh, teasing, wanting to an to arch upward, responding to the gentle caress

Onceand pressed forward, and she iain Her brow furrowed and creased in consternation and it was then realization struck hi no atte

"Grace?"

She stared up at hilossy with a sheen of tears He felt sick He’d hurt her He’d hurt her and it was the very last thing he’d ever intended to do

She was a virgin and he hadn’t known He’d als too far, had almost pushed inside her with one thrust because he’d been so eager to be balls deep in her sweet heat He would have torn her in his haste

"Why didn’t you tell me?" he asked hoarsely "This is definitely a conversation we should have had before now"

She flushed and started to look away as shame crowded into her eyes But he leaned over her, his body pressed to hers as he fra her to look at him

"D1emme on’t ust or the fact that I don’t want you It’s aboutthis the best possible experience for you You’ve had nothing but pain and abuse heaped upon you This isn’t just your first time, Grace It’s my first time too It’s my first time with you, and I don’t want us both to re beautiful"

"You areit beautiful," she whispered "You make me feel beautiful Wanted Nobody has ever made me feel the way you do, Rio Please don’t stop I’h to have been honest from the start I just wanted you so inity to cause any weirdness between us And ht you wouldn’t want me quite so much if you knew I didn’t have any experience," she added with a griht now the pri his chest like a dalad she hadn’t had another lover That she hadn’t ever wanted soive herself to another

"It was a stupid thought," he said with a scowl

Her lips quirked upward in a grin and her eyes sparkled She raised her hands to his face, fra it as he’d done hers, and then she lifted her ainst his mouth "Please"

He slid his body down hers, pausing to tongue her nipples "Just as soon as I ain"

"Already there," she gasped

But he patiently wooed her, with his entle caresses He kissed a line down her belly and then knelt at the end of the bed so that his hs One kiss Just a si flesh, and it was like being hit by lightning She arched upward, gasping as his tongue circled her clit and teased it mercilessly

Her knees shook Her entire body trembled as he continued to make love to her with his entle kisses of apology as if to say he was sorry for hurting her Then he pulled away and slid his finger into her opening, testing the resistance He stretched experirimaced, he withdrew immediately and then lowered his mouth to soothe away the hurt

"Rio, please!"

He rose up and over her, his eyes serious "I told you that you’d never have to beg "

He slid his pal them both Then he stared down into her beautiful eyes as he reached down to position hihs once an to push inside her with steady pressure He didn’t want to just rip into her, but neither did he want to delay the inevitable and cause her ave way underneath the relentless pressure and he heard her soft gasp

She went tense all around him Her eyes widened and her lips parted in a silent cry but then she bit down hard, as if to stifle any outburst He sed and clenched his jaw as he sought valiantly to get hiht out of his skin She was hot and swollen around hiht that he was nearly senseless with pleasure He’d never felt anything so daood in his entire life

But wth=rchhen he looked into her eyes and saw the tears she was valiantly trying to hold back, the ache in his chest grew until it was painful to breathe

"I’m so sorry, baby," he whispered

He kissed her forehead, her cheeks, her nose and then each eyelid He kissed the corner of her eye, where a single tear had escaped, and he licked it away

"I won’t hurt you anyrily finding his mouth "Please, just don’t stop Don’t…leave You didn’t hurtI just got eoing anywhere" He thuain, lingering, so tender it made hi anywhere until she was s as they were right now

There were so h his mind that he was dizzy with theet to here and noithout having had a man make love to her? Were they all brainless idiots or had she purposely kept her distance? And if she had, why him and why now?

It was stupid and pointless to try to read too inity to hiift that he felt savage satisfaction over receiving No one would ever have what she’d given him It was his alone

"Look at me," he said When she complied, he kissed her oncetoo soon, too fast, of hurting herto take this nice and slow and easy"

She nodded and he saw relief flash in her eyes

"I’et ain I want you to try to relax as much as possible I want you to enjoy this You liked it when I touched your breasts and your nipples"

She blushed hard but nodded her agreeot wet So we’re going to do that again and then I’et the hang of this, okay?"

She teared up again, nearly ripping his heart out of his damn chest Then she reached up with both hands and framed his face She pulled him down into a ferocious kiss that left hi hieted underneath hiht spot while she adjusted to his size and just having a man where no one had ever been

"Thank you forthis so perfect," she said in a choked voice

Her statement robbed him of speech His mouth opened but just stayed there Perfect? He stared down at her like she’d lost her ain