Once the door was closed behind them, Ryan cupped her cheek and kissed her softly.
"If you need me to stop, just tell me and I will, no matter how far into it we are."
Stepping closer to him, Hope placed her hand over his heart and whispered, "I know what I want."
"Say it."
"I want this. I want you."
This time, when Ryan kissed her, he brushed his tongue against her lips to encourage her to open her mouth to him. Slowly, tentatively, she let him deepen the kiss. Instead of taking full advantage of her acquiesce to his request for entrance, and completely dominating her like she'd seen in the movies, he brushed his tongue lightly against her, softly coaxing her to mimic his movements. Hesitantly, she caressed his tongue with hers and oh, god, since when did kissing feel like that?
Her body seemed to respond without conscious thought as she dug her fingers into Ryan's hair, desperate for as much of him as she could get.
When he caught her lower lip between his teeth and lightly tugged on it, Hope couldn't stop the whimper it drew from somewhere deep within.
Taking that as encouragement, he used one arm to lift her as he slid his other hand down her thigh so he could wrap it around his waist and Hope brought her other leg up. Once he had a firm grip on her, he carried her over to the bed and tipped her back onto it.
Hope looked up at him from where he stood between her parted thighs, an expression akin to awe on his face as he stared down at her.
"What?" Hope caught her cheek between her teeth.
"You're so beautiful." Leaning down, he caught her lips in another kiss as he knelt on the bed.
With more grace than she was expecting, considering how intoxicated he was, he maneuvered them both so that her head was on the pillow and he was hovering over her. Hope gripped his t-shirt and together, they pulled it over his head.
Throwing the shirt somewhere off the side of the bed, Hope flipped them over so that she was straddling his thighs. With him pinned beneath her, she could get a good look at his bare torso. Slowly, she traced her fingertips over his abdominal muscles, then up to his chest.
"Like what you see?"
Even though his words sounded arrogant, the vulnerability in his eyes had her kissing him softly on the lips.
"Very much so," she breathed.
Keeping his gaze on hers, Ryan started tugging at the zipper on her dress and Hope drew a deep breath. She wasn't wearing a bra, so if he took the dress off, she'd be wearing nothing but her panties and boots.
"Are you okay?" He braced himself on one elbow and cupped her cheek with his free hand. "If you don't want this, we can stop."
"No, it's just, I've um, I've never been naked with anyone before, so I got a little nervous."
"Boots first then, if that's alright with you."
At Hope's nod, he flipped them over and started tugging one off.
After tossing the boot onto the floor, Ryan placed a soft kiss to her calf, then to her knee. When he reached her thigh, he caught her eye and placed an opened mouthed kiss against it and Hope's hips jerked involuntarily as heat flooded her core. Smirking, he repeated the process with her other boot, though he pulled her skirt up high enough that she could feel his breath through the lace of her panties before he kissed her and Hope found herself arching towards him.
"Oh," she gasped.
"You liked that?" he asked as he braced himself above her.
This time, Hope was the one reaching for the zipper on her dress and he peeled it from her slowly, taking his time to reveal her body. She would have complained, except he took it upon himself to explore her skin with his lips.
"Ryan." She didn't recognize her own voice, breathy and soft, somewhere between a sigh and a moan.
All too soon, yet not soon enough, he had her dress off and on the floor, then his mouth found her breasts and oh god! He suckled one pebbling nipple as he twisted the other between his long fingers and Hope caught the back of his head in an effort to keep him where he was.
When he released the nipple, he blew on it softly, the chill of the air against her skin heightening the ache between her legs and she rubbed her thighs together, trying to create at least a little of the friction she craved.
"Eager, aren't we?" he chuckled, then caught her other nipple between his teeth and he tugged on it gently.
"Ryan. Please."
"Please what?"
With a knowing look in his dark eyes, he dragged two knuckles across the front of her panties.
"Damn." It was his turn to groan and he unbuckled his pants.
Using her foot, she helped shove the denim down his legs, then he kicked them off over the side of the bed, and good Lord the man wasn't wearing anything underneath!
Hope bit her lower lip as she took in his nude form. Were people supposed to be this perfect? Because if so, she was woefully inadequate.
"Are you okay?" he asked, his brows furrowing in concern.
"You're um, how will you fit?"
"Relax, sweetheart. By the time we get to that point, you'll be more than ready for it." He kissed her lightly on the lips.
Wasn't she ready for it now? She was so wet and aching to be filled. What more could he possibly want to do with her?
With a wicked look in his eyes, he slid her panties down her legs, then spread her thighs.
Before she could think to be nervous about his seeing her so fully exposed, he kissed her and oh, if that little bit of friction didn't feel so good! Taking her soft whine as permission to continue, he drew his tongue up the full length of her.
"Damn, Hope, you taste so good." His tongue darted out to taste her again, teasing her softly, flicking against her with just enough pressure to make her needy with want.
"Ryan, please."
"Your wish is my command."
Drawing her thigh over his shoulder, he buried his face between her folds, alternating between suckling that bundle of nerves to send shock waves of pleasure through her body, or using his tongue to make love to her.
Each stroke of his tongue, every brush of his lips against her made her hips jerk and she dug her fingers into his hair, desperate for something to hold onto.
As a coil in her lower belly tightened, he plunged two fingers into her, stroking some place inside her that she didn't know could bring her pleasure, and that was all it took for her to buck against his face in earnest, writhing and moaning incoherently.
It didn't matter that there were people in the house who might be able to hear her. Someone could have barged in and seen then like this and she wouldn't have cared. All that mattered was Ryan and the pleasure he brought her.
When he added a third finger, Hope's back bowed and her lips parted, but no sound came out as the coil snapped. Instead of stopping what he was doing, Ryan continued to pleasure her through the cresting wave crashing over her, prolonging it almost to the point of pain, before he finally lifted his head.
For a moment, she wasn't so sure she needed to take him inside her, her body replete in the rapture she'd just experienced, but the sight of his lips wet with her arousal and his hair a mess from her running her fingers through it had her aching to take him fully, to know what it felt like to be possessed by him.
Crawling up her body, he brushed her hair out of her face and kissed her softly, the taste of her on his tongue, musky with a strange sort of spice, caused her to draw her leg up his side, encouraging his erection closer to where she needed him.
"If you need me to stop at any time, just say the word and I'll stop," he promised. "I don't care if I'm two seconds from climaxing, I'll stop.'
Brushing her fingertips against his lower lip, Hope looked up at him and whispered, "Don't stop."
After positioning himself, he looked down at her as he slowly entered her. To her surprise, there was no pain, only a delicious sense of fullness and Hope gasped. Slowly, he withdrew almost completely, before thrusting into her again. Hooking her leg over his elbow to allow himself to adjust the angle of his thrusts, then repeated the movement and this time her back bowed.
"Goddamn, Hope," he growled as he increased the pace. "Goddamn it! So damn good."
Hope's nails found purchase on his back and she rocked beneath him as every movement of their bodies against each other drew another whimper from her lips.
"That's it, sweetheart. Oh, goddamn it!"
Throwing his head back, Ryan started moving in earnest now, his lips parting with his own pleasure, then he pressed his face against her neck, his moans muffled as he kissed her pulse point, then behind her ear.
"Oh, sweetheart," he whispered, his breath hot against her ear. "You feel amazing, so tight."
For a long moment, there was nothing, except the sound of skin against skin and their moans. God, but she didn't want this to end, because when it did, she'd have to go back to the real world and that meant no Ryan Clarke with his dark eyes and perfect mouth. Going back to nothing after knowing how it felt to have every inch of her skin touched and caressed, of knowing that there was so much more to life than what she was being given.
"Hope."
She blinked and found him looking down at her as he continued to move within her.
"Don't think," he breathed. "Focus on me, on us, on this. Because right now, that's all that matters. Just you and me and the way our bodies feel."
Hope kissed him softly, allowing the feel of him inside her and the caress of his lips against hers bring her back into the moment. A whimper tore its way free from her lips and she arched beneath him, her breasts pressed against his chest and the brush of his skin against her sensitive nipples turned the whimper into a moan.
"That's it, sweetheart." He grit his teeth as he shifted the angle of his thrust in an effort to take as much of her as he could. "Be in this with me, because you feel so damn good."
Reaching between them, he pressed his thumb against her and that was all it took for her world to shrink until the only thing that mattered was the ecstasy he brought her. Some part of her was vaguely aware of his rhythm becoming erratic, and then she felt him spill inside her.
As she came down from her high, Ryan rolled onto his side, taking her with him.
"Damn it." He sat up.
"What?"
"I forgot a condom."
"I'm clean, if that's what you're worried about." Hope tugged him back down beside her. She'd worry about a morning after spell later. Right now, she just wanted to sleep with his arms around her.
"And since I'm sterile, I guess we're good," he attempted to joke, but the tightness in his voice gave away how much it hurt him.
Hope wanted to say something to try to ease his distress. After the pleasure he'd just brought her, he didn't need to feel sad and then an inspiration hit her.
"Be with me in this moment. Don't think about anything else. Just this. You and me."
"But you can't stay." He curled around her, wrapping his arms around her as though he could keep her there if he held her like this. "You'll soon be gone and I'll still be here."
"I can stay the night and you've got my number, so I won't completely gone."
Hope linked their fingers and pressed a kiss to the back of his hand, hatred for the people who'd broken him flashing white hot through her.
Maybe one day, she could find her way back to him and prove that he wasn't worthless. Without meaning to, he'd saved her and when she got the chance, if he wasn't opposed to the supernatural, she'd save him too.
Before she could think about her plan too much, she succumbed to sleep.
