You, and Only You (25 page)

Alex could sense Tiffany’s mounting desire, and though he
knew it was lunacy, he seemed helpless to deny the unspoken invitation
reflected in her eyes.
 
Leaning forward,
he opened his hand, his fingers moving to the back of her neck, delving into
her thick curls.
 
Pulling her slowly
toward him, he exerted the gentlest of pressure until their lips finally
touched.
 
His gentleness lasted only a
moment however, for as soon as Tiffany parted her lips, he abruptly lost what
little control he possessed.
 
Dragging
her body up against his, he devoured the delectable sweetness of her lips.

Tiffany responded instantly.
 
Raising her arms, she wrapped them around his neck, pressing herself
even more tightly against him as she returned the kiss with an intensity that
rivaled his.
 

Running his tongue along the curve of her lower lip, Alex
deepened the kiss, seeking entrance to her luscious mouth.

Moaning softly, Tiffany eagerly welcomed the pleasurable
invasion.

She was so willing, so responsive, it shattered his
self-control.
 
Pushing her back against
the soft pillows, Alex expertly positioned them so that they were now lying
atop the cushioned bench, without once breaking their kiss.

Tiffany was hardly aware of how it happened, but one minute
she was sitting upright and in the next she was lying prone against the firm,
muscled length of Alex’s body, the wide bench cushion accommodating them
perfectly.
 
As he settled over her, he
coaxed her legs apart with a gentle nudge, positioning himself directly between
her parted thighs.
 
Wantonly, she made no
attempt to forestall him as he settled against her.
 
She could feel the solid length of his shaft
then, pressing against her pelvis with only the thin barrier of their clothing
separating them.
 

Resting his weight on his forearm, Alex began to gently rock
his pelvis against Tiffany’s.
 
Forward
and back, forward and back, he continued the tantalizing motion as his lips
finally moved from her mouth to trail along her throat.
 

The heat of Alex’s breath against her throat, combined with
the erotic movement of his loins against hers was causing a now familiar ache
to unfurl within her body.
 
“Alex,” she
breathed, tilting her head to the side and arching against him as he nipped
softly at the base of her neck.
 
Writhing
against him, she was helpless to deny it; she wanted more.
 
Almost desperately, she wanted him to soothe
the ache and to quench the fire that burned within her.
 

“God, how I want you,” Alex murmured as his lips moved to the
swell of her breasts.
 
Reaching
underneath her with his free hand, he felt the row of tiny pearl buttons that
ran along the back of her gown, and with nimble fingers he undid several,
loosening the constricting fabric and then sliding it from her shoulders along
with the thin straps of her chemise.
 
Freeing her breasts, he touched his hand to her bare flesh and
immediately felt her tremble.
 
Cupping
one of the lush mounds, he flicked his thumb lightly across her nipple.

Tiffany jerked beneath his touch, moaning aloud at the
incredible sensation it evoked.

Alex massaged the sensitive flesh for a moment, and then
dipped his head, closing his lips around the impudent peak.

Clutching at his shoulders, Tiffany arched her back, gasping
in sheer pleasure.

As Alex lavished attention upon her magnificent breasts with
the moist heat of his mouth, his hand traveled downward along her ribcage and
past her waist, gripping and tugging at the skirt of her gown.
 
Although the niggling assertion of his
conscience urged him to stop before things went too far, recklessly he ignored
it, wanting to give her a taste of the pleasure that awaited her once they were
wed.

When Tiffany felt the smooth fabric of her gown brush
lightly against her stocking-clad legs, sliding slowly upward as Alex pulled it
higher and higher; she didn’t even consider trying to stop him.
 
Lost in a dizzying maelstrom of sensation,
she waited with bated breath as he neared the center of her desire.
 
Then, a moment later, noting a sudden
dampness between her thighs as his fingers skimmed lightly across the thin
layer of her soft, cotton undergarment, the breath left her lungs in a gentle
whoosh.

Reaching the slit in her drawers, Alex inserted his finger
through the opening, brushing it ever so lightly against Tiffany’s moist heat.

Though surprised by the shockingly intimate caress, Tiffany
didn’t shy away from his touch.
 
Instead,
she lay still beneath him, near mindless with anticipation as she waited for
what came next.
 
Then, as Alex continued
his gentle stroking she felt something different, something she hadn’t felt
before, an astonishing new sensation that had her unconsciously arching her
hips against his hand.
 
But then, as the
pleasurable feeling grew stronger and more intense, he stopped.

Lifting his head, Alex looked at the beautiful young woman
sprawled beneath him.
 
“Open your eyes,”
he commanded softly.
 
He wanted to see
the look in her eyes when she tumbled over the edge and experienced the true
meaning of pleasure.

Tiffany obeyed at once, blue eyes locking with grey.

Parting her delicate folds, Alex watched her face as he slid
his finger into her slick passage.

Tiffany’s eyes widened at the shocking invasion.
 
“Oh,” she gasped.

Alex smiled as he viewed the changing expressions on
Tiffany’s face, watching as the pleasure built once again as he slowly stroked
her inner depths.
 
Using his thumb to
caress her taut, sensitive bud, he continued to draw his finger in and out of
her tight sheath as he patiently stoked the fire that was gradually building
within her.
 

Oh dear lord, she’d never felt anything like what she was
feeling now.
 
“Alex,” Tiffany whimpered,
as a sudden, inexplicable tension began to build inside of her.
  

“Relax, Tiffany, let it happen,” he murmured softly, feeling
her muscles tighten and clench, knowing her climax was near.

“Oh, please,” Tiffany cried as she writhed beneath him;
though in truth she didn’t know exactly what it was that she yearned for.

“Now, my sweet,” Alex urged.

Gazing into Alex’s eyes, Tiffany surrendered body and soul
to the man she loved, and in the very next instant, experienced a sensation so
profound that it shook her to her very core.
 
Throwing back her head, she bit her lower lip to keep from crying out as
shudder after shudder of unmitigated pleasure racked her body.
 

Alex watched her as she soared and then moments later,
slowly drifted back to earth.
 
Limp and
gloriously sated, Tiffany was by far the most beautiful, most alluring woman he
had ever laid eyes upon he thought as he looked down upon her.

Dazed and overwhelmed by what had just happened; Tiffany
struggled to recover her wits as she slowly emerged from the sensual haze that
held her in its thrall.
 
As her eyes
gradually regained their focus, she realized that Alex was watching her, his rakish
expression one of supreme satisfaction.
 
“Oh, I…
 
I never…,” she said,
struggling to form a coherent sentence.

“I should certainly hope not,” Alex said with a devilish
grin.
 

Smiling in return, she gazed in blatant adoration at Alex’s
handsome visage.
   

Drawing his hand from beneath her skirt, he readjusted his
position, slowly levering himself off of her.
 
Despite the damnable fire raging in his loins, Alex was still very much
aware of their present setting.
 
“If we
don’t stop now, I’m liable to take you right here, my darling girl,” he uttered
softly.
 
Noting the sensual, come hither
look that immediately sparked in Tiffany’s eyes, he gave an amused
chuckle.
 
“Have you forgotten where we
are, my little wanton?”

Where they were?
 
Tiffany’s brows pulled together as she
struggled to focus.
 
Oh God!

Alex watched in amused silence as Tiffany’s eyes grew as
round as saucers.
 
Then, struggling to
sit up, she pushed against his shoulders and nearly sent him toppling from the
bench in the very next instant.

“Oh good heavens,” Tiffany gasped in horrified dismay.
 
They were only a stone’s throw from the
house, and here she was lying sprawled beneath Alex with her breasts bared and
her skirt hiked up to her thighs.
  

Sitting up, Alex pulled Tiffany with him, setting her
upright beside him.
 
“Relax,” he said
soothingly as she shoved her skirt downward over her legs and then frantically
tugged at the gaping bodice of her gown.
 
“No one can see us here.”
 
Turning
her within his arms, he pushed aside her long, golden curls and then swiftly
did up the buttons along the back of her dress.

Despite the tantalizing brush of Alex’s hands upon her skin
as he set her clothing to rights, Tiffany felt her stomach roll.
 
How long had they been gone from the house,
she wondered desperately?
 
Far too long
for a brief walk about the garden, she thought with sickening clarity.
 
Oh no!
 
How was she ever going to be able to face Alex’s mother now?
 
Turning back around to face Alex, she voiced
the question aloud.
 
“How will I ever face
your mother?” she moaned.

Seeing the genuine distress on Tiffany’s face, Alex felt a
pang of guilt.
 
Sweeping his gaze over
her from head to toe, he realized that she had good reason to feel
concerned.
 
With her hair tousled and her
gown wrinkled, it was too much to hope that his mother wouldn’t know exactly
what they’d been up too.
 
Damn!
 
He’d allowed his inexorable desire for
Tiffany to override his common sense yet again, and now look where it had
gotten them.
 
In dismay, he watched as
Tiffany’s eyes, just moments ago filled with wonder; grow moist as she fought
back tears.

“Shh,” he murmured comfortingly, brushing his thumb across
her soft cheek.
 

“But your mother…”

“Trust me, if my mother suspects anything at all, she will hold
me entirely accountable, not you,” he said reassuringly.
 
“And rightfully so,” he added with a
smile.
 
It was true.
 
But nonetheless, for Tiffany’s sake, he had
to fix this, and he had to do it quickly he realized. Fortunately, he knew just
how to solve their little dilemma.
 
Reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulled out a tiny velvet pouch.
 
“In any event, perhaps
this
will help to distract her.”
 
When he’d picked up the ring at the jewelers earlier that morning, he’d
had no intention of presenting it to her like this, but now it seemed the most
logical solution.
 
Besides, he reasoned,
the sooner he proposed, the sooner he could reap the one indisputable reward
that would come from the impending end of his bachelorhood.
 
He could finally take Tiffany to bed without
guilt or ramification.

As Tiffany’s eyes dropped to the small, drawstring bag in
Alex’s hand, her breath caught in her chest.
 
Watching as he pulled it open and reached inside, she stared in
amazement as he withdrew one of the most beautiful rings she’d ever seen.
 
The large, oval-shaped center stone was an
exquisite shade of blue and was flanked on either side by a smaller, triangular
cluster of white diamonds.
 
Raising her
hand to her mouth, she gaped at the glittering stones.

Holding the ring’s gold band between his thumb and index
finger, Alex held it up between them as Tiffany’s gaze rose to meet his.
 
“My lady,” he began, his voice surprisingly
steady.
 
“Would you do me the honor of
becoming my wife?”

Looking into Alex’s eyes, it was as if every wish she’d ever
wished and every dream she’d ever dreamt had finally come true.
 
Too overcome with emotion to speak, she could
only nod her head in response.

“Shall I take that as a yes?” Alex asked, smiling
affectionately.

“Yes,” Tiffany finally managed in a breathy whisper.

Taking her hand, Alex held it in his.
 
“It’s a blue diamond,” he explained as he
slid the ring onto her finger.
 
“I
selected it because the color is unique, just as you are.”

“Oh Alex, it’s beautiful.”

“It pales in comparison to you.”
 
It was true, for Tiffany’s beauty outshined
even the rarest of gems.
 
Leaning
forward, he placed his finger beneath her chin.
 
Then, tilting her face upward, he kissed her ever so gently upon her
rose-colored lips.
 
“Would you be
terribly disappointed if we kept our engagement brief?” he asked, his tone
husky as he forced his lips from hers.
 
“For truly I do not know how much longer I can wait to make you mine.”