New Year, New Man. Laura Iding

opened her eyes to find him naked and so very fine, all broad, hard, muscled manliness, kneeling on the rug again. “Dami...” She reached for him.

      He rose and leaned over her, bending close and kissing her, a quick, hard kiss. And then he lifted her, rearranging her so that she was full-length on the bed with her head on the pillows. He stretched out beside her. She buried her face against his chest, breathed in his scent of sea foam and musk and man.

      And the wonder began all over again. He kissed her—arousing, hungry, lingering kisses. First on her lips and then along her throat, across her chest, her breasts, her belly. He opened his mouth on her, using his tongue and, so carefully and deliberately, his strong white teeth.

      By then she was wild for him, tossing her head on the pillows, begging him, “Please, Dami, please,” as she clutched him with her hungry hands, pulling at him, yearning for the moment when she would have him within her.

      He took his time about that. He drove her up to the brink again with his hands and his hot mouth—and then, just when she knew she was going over a third time that night without him inside her, he lifted up and eased his hard, hair-rough thigh between her two soft ones.

      She opened her eyes and he was above her, gazing down at her, his eyes so dark, edged in deepest green.

      He put one hand on either of her thighs and pushed them wide. She knew he could see everything. And that only made her hotter, made her want him more.

      “Dami.” She was breathless. So hungry. Needing. Wanting. Everything. All of him, now. “Please...”

      “Now, Luce?”

      She looked down between them and saw that he was more than ready for her. And also that somehow he had already put on the protection she’d totally forgotten they were going to need.

      “Luce.” He growled her name.

      And she looked in his face again. “Um. I...”

      “Now?” Softly that time. Patiently. Tenderly, too.

      “Um, yes. Yes. Please. Now....”

      He braced his forearms to either side of her, cradling her head between his two hands. “Look at me.”

      She nodded, eager. A little bit scared, too, thinking again of the size of him.

      Would there be pain? How much?

      “Stay with me.” His eyes were on her. She met them, held them.

      And then she felt him, nudging her where she was so wet and soft and sensitive now. The tip slid in. Wonderful. Perfect.

      “More,” she said on a low moan.

      He gave her exactly what she asked for, sliding in by slow degrees.

      It was good. It was heaven.

      And then it was too much. And then it was hurting. She gasped, “Oh! I... Wait.”

      “Shh,” he said. “It’s all right.” He lowered his head, pressed his forehead to hers. “We’ll wait....”

      They lay there half joined, still. Waiting. Her breath came swift and hungry; her body felt stretched, aching.

      And then the ache was changing, easing into something electric and wonderful again.

      She lifted her head and kissed his mouth, whispering, “Yes. Now,” against his parted lips.

      “More?” It came out on a low groan.

      She nodded. “More...”

      And he went deeper—until she gasped again.

      Instantly, he went still for her. There was only the sound of their breathing, the burning down low that once again eased and changed to a thrilling fullness.

      She said it again. “More...”

      He bent his head, captured her breast, drew on it in slow, deep pulls.

      That did it. She moaned and clutched him close to her, lifting to meet him that time as he went deeper.

      And deeper.

      And then, with a low, hard groan, he was in all the way, filling her completely.

      Finally. At last.

      She laughed a little, then stopped on a moan. “Oh, Dami. Yes.”

      He was still again, waiting for her untried body to accept his invasion.

      “Yes,” she said, pushing against him.

      “Sure?” It came out a rough, painful growl.

      “Yes. Yes, yes, yes...”

      And then, at last, he started to move.

      He did it carefully at first, gently, with slow deliberation. Bracing up his hands to give himself better control, he kept his thrusts steady, even.

      But she was more than ready by then, more than eager. She lifted her hands and clasped his big shoulders and held on good and tight as she moved in rhythm with him.

      She tried to keep her eyes open to see his face above her, to imprint every burning, beautiful second of this wonder into her memory, to seal it in her heart.

      But the pleasure was too overwhelming. It was raising her up, making her dizzy with the flood of sensation. There was nothing to do in the end but surrender to it.

      She closed her eyes. And once again she was whirling up and up—and over the edge of the world into an explosion of light and sensation as she felt her body pulsing around him, felt him surge into her deeper, fuller, harder even than before.

      And by then she could only hold on and keep sighing, “Yes, yes, yes,” as the pulsing faded down to a lovely glow of happy satisfaction.

      * * *

      At seven o’clock on Sunday morning, Dami gave her a robe to wear and led her to the kitchen, where he made her coffee and served her croissants from Justine’s café. She ate two. They were so good and she was hungry.

      Then she returned to his bedroom and put on her clothes from the night before as he stood in the doorway, big arms across his broad chest, watching her, his expression unreadable.

      Yeah, it was a little sad. A little strange. To be leaving him so soon after the complete fabulousness of last night.

      But she remembered what she’d promised herself at his studio. Not to cling. Not to linger. She scooped up her evening clutch and went to him with a bright smile.

      At the door to the outer hall, she kissed him. His mouth touched hers, tasting of coffee, making her long to lift her arms and pull him closer. It was early yet. They had time.

      To share more kisses. To make love again in the morning light.

      But no. That would only hurt more in the end. She was on her way now. Better to keep moving, go back to her room, get her things packed, call a cab....

      She kept her arms at her sides and when he lifted his head, she said, “It was perfect, Dami.”

      He framed her face between his hands and there was such an ache within her. The end had come way too soon. Already she missed the beauty and rightness of all they had shared. “Travel safe, Luce.”

      She pressed her lips to his once more. “Have the best Christmas ever.”

      “You, too.” His hands fell away.

      She turned from him.

      He reached around her and pushed open the door for her. She went out into the wide, beautiful hallway and started walking.

      She didn’t glance back to find out if he watched her leaving him. She didn’t need the temptation of seeing him there staring after her—or worse, not seeing him.

      Better not to look. Better not to know.