Weddings: the Brides: The Shy Bride / Bride in a Gilded Cage / The Bride's Awakening

Friends with benefits. He would have to discuss this concept with her. The idea she might decide to have benefits with another friend down the road did not sit well with him. Their case was a special one and she would need to understand that. Another man might not treat her generosity with the respect and appreciation it deserved.

But right now, Neo was going to give her exactly what he had promised. He was going to blow her mind with pleasure.

They entered the bedroom and he turned on the light with his elbow. The California king-size bed was in the center of the room and he headed directly for it. He leaned down to pull back the top sheet and duvet, then he laid her on his black Egyptian cotton sheet-covered mattress. Her beautiful brown hair fanned out on the pillows just as he had known it would.

Reaching out, he smoothed his fingers through it. “It’s like silk.”

“It flies everywhere when I don’t keep it put up.”

“And yet you left it down for me.”

She looked at him with confusion for a second, but then she smiled and nodded. “Yes, I think I did.”

“You knew I craved to see and feel it.”

“I did notice you looking at my braid rather intently by the pool.”

“I was looking at all of you intently.”

“I wasn’t sure if I wasn’t imagining that.”

“You were not.”

“I’m glad.” Her smile was sweet and, for all her innocence, full of womanly mystery. “As am I.”

“I wanted to feel our bodies pressed close together in just our swimwear.”

“I will give you better than that. There will be nothing between us.”

She shuddered, her eyelids going half-mast. “I might not survive it.”

“You are good for my ego.” And Zee had been so right. Even the bantering with her was different … he was himself, he wanted to talk.

“Does it need stroking?”

“No,” he admitted with a smile. “But it feels good nonetheless.”

“I get that.”

“Do you?”

“Yes. I know I have uncommon talent with the piano, but it still feels really nice when others express their appreciation.”

“You do get it.” She got him like no one else. Not even Zephyr. The warm approval in her pretty amber eyes went straight to his groin. “Yep.”

“Get this,” he said as his hungry mouth pressed down over hers.

Her lips gave way under his almost immediately and he took instant advantage, sliding his tongue inside to taste sweetness that was rapidly becoming addictive. Her response was complete and unhesitating. She flicked her tongue against his while her sweet lips moved with unconscious sensuality.

His body knew what to do and without even thinking about it, he started stripping his clothing away as he kept her occupied with one devouring kiss after another. He wore only his briefs when he started on the buttons of her blouse.

Her hands slid down from his head and seemed to stutter when they encountered naked skin, but within seconds she was caressing everywhere she could reach, her slender fingers mapping his torso with passionate curiosity.

He slid her blouse back, revealing her lovely body. He wanted to see, but he didn’t want to stop kissing her.

She made up his mind for him by dragging her mouth from his. “You won’t be disappointed?”

He reared back and looked down at her, taking in the satin smooth skin of her stomach and the worried glint in her amber gaze at the same time. “How could I be disappointed? You are beautiful.”

“I am not.”

“Who determines the splendor of a piece of music?” he demanded.

“The person listening.”

“And who decides what is beautiful in what they see?” She hesitated for a moment, but then grudgingly said, “The person looking.”

“So?”

“To you I am beautiful, but you’re just saying that.”

“No.”

“But …”

“You must trust my words.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.” He used the moment of trust to pull her blouse the rest of the way off and dispense with her bra in one well-practiced series of movements.

Instead of trying to cover up as he half suspected she might, she reached up. “Come closer, I want to feel your skin against mine.”

“You are perfect for me,” he told her heatedly. “I adore this passionate innocence of yours.”

“Passionate innocence. That’s me,” she said with a self-deprecating laugh that choked off into a moan when he gave her what she craved and felt the trembling result in the feminine limbs wrapped around his shoulders.

How had such a sensual woman made it to twenty-nine without having sex? Even with her lifestyle and limitations?

“That’s so good,” she breathed into his ear while moving from side to side infinitesimally. “So good.”

“Yes, it is.”

“I want my slacks off, too.”

“My pleasure.” And it was, undoing the crisp navy trousers and pulling them down her legs.

He had to stop and look, soak in the sight of her sprawled out on his bed in nothing but her panties.

“Incredible,” he said.

She shook her head. “Now, I know you are lying. You told me I had bird legs.”

“I was teasing.” With a shake of his head for her ignorance, he pressed his body down onto hers, reveling in the feel of naked flesh pressed against naked flesh. “I was picturing them wrapped around my torso while I pleasured you.”

“You weren’t.”

“I was.”

“Like this?” she asked in an innocent tone, completely belied by the mischievous sparkle in her eyes. Her legs wrapped around his hips, her calves hooking over his thighs.

“Exactly like that.” He took a deep breath and held it while keeping his body rigid. “Careful, pethi mou. I am in grave danger of reaching the goal long before the game is over.”

“A Casanova like you?” she teased. “I don’t believe it.”

“Believe.” No matter how embarrassing he might find it, that was the truth.

“I like affecting you that strongly.”

“I, too, like it.” And to prove how much, he began to kiss her again. This time, caressing her with his lips all over her face and down her neck.

Her legs’ hold on his hips broke as he continued his oral caresses down over her satiny shoulders and lower to her breasts.

Her breathing, which had grown rapid and shallow, hitched. “Oh, oh … Neo … yes. I like that.”

He would have laughed if he had any air to make the sound, but he didn’t feel like laughing when his lips closed around one delicately pink peak and she cried out with shocked delight. He felt like giving the victory chant. She was so incredibly responsive. To him.

Every one of her reactions belonged to him and him alone. As did she.

No matter how temporary his possession, it pounded through him as a primitive, fierce drumbeat. She was his.

He nibbled, suckled and licked her nipple and the soft mound surrounding it, like she was a particularly tasty ice cream cone, until she was making incoherent sounds of need. And then he moved to her other petite breast and gave it just as much attention.

Her hands went from caressing him, to burying in his hair, to pulling his hair, as she bucked her hips in an ancient if unconscious plea.

No matter how much he wanted to give in to that silent demand, she wasn’t ready. Not yet. But she would be.

He was going to drive his sensual little virgin out of her mind with carnal delight.

With that goal firmly entrenched in his mind, he moved down her torso, his lips and tongue caressing and tasting the salty smoothness of her skin. She writhed under his ministrations, making incoherent demands when he tongued her belly button. His hands were busy revisiting every spot his mouth had already been.

He played with her breasts, but it wasn’t until he pinched and teased at her hard little nubs that she tried to arch up off the bed. He laughed in victory-filled pleasure against her smooth stomach and slid his mouth lower. When he reached her hot pink panties, he stopped with his teeth on her waistband.

Everything in Cassandra seemed to go still. She stared down at him. Their eyes locked as he made silent promises and she reeled from the message he knew she could read in his gaze. He was going to make this the best first time she could possibly have.

She deserved the most incredible experience he could give her. She wasn’t just a one-night stand; she was his friend. And her innocence was not merely a powerful aphrodisiac, it was a great responsibility as well.

With a jerk of his head, he tugged the small scrap of lace down. Blatant desire tinged by virginal uncertainty washed over Cassandra’s precious features. She canted her pelvis so that he could pull off her last piece of clothing over her hips.

In other circumstances, she might be shy, but in this, Cassandra was tantalizingly open.

Pretty brown curls were revealed to his hungry gaze now that her panties were on the floor with the rest of their clothes. The natural feminine mystique was a nice change from the waxed, shaved and tweezed nether regions he’d been exposed to over the past few years.

He ruffled the curls with his fingertips and she bit her lip on a moan.

He smiled. “Sensitive?”

“Yes, but …”

He brushed his hands down her legs, stopping with them clasped around her ankles. “There are so many things your body can feel that I look forward to showing you.”

“And will you feel them, too?”

She was smart, his sweet little Cassandra. “Yes. Giving you pleasure will turn me on so much I won’t be able to stop—”

“Pounding into me.”

The earthy words coming from her prim mouth were almost enough to send him over the edge. “You are dangerous, pethi mou.”

“That’s good to know.” And indeed, she did look proud of herself. Then she dipped her head, looking up at him through her lashes in a gesture he was coming to recognize as her default in uncertainty. “You won’t really pound. Not at first, will you?”

“Sweetheart, I will never hurt you. Not even accidentally. I will be so careful with you, you will beg me to hurry.”

“That could be fun.” Her words were all bravado, but the relief in her lovely features told its own story.

“Yes, I think it will be.”

“You know what else would be fun?”

“Many things. What did you have in mind?” he asked, enjoying himself in a way he never had in bed with a woman.

“You. Naked.”

“You are a delight.”

“I can’t tell you how pleased I am to hear that. Now, strip.”

“I have already stripped, or hadn’t you noticed?”

“Don’t be smart. You know what I want.”

“Ah, you wish equal disrobing?”

“Well, you’ve just got those small briefs left and they don’t look like they’re very comfortable.” She did her best to appear like his comfort was all that concerned her. Of course, the innocent hunger in her eyes sort of ruined that.

Nevertheless, he looked down at himself and had to agree with her assessment. His briefs did not look comfortable, not with the way his hardness was trying to press out of them. The fabric was stretched thin trying to cover the length of his rigid penis and he had to wonder how much longer they would be able to do so. Though he was not sure he wanted to remove them just yet.

Leaving them on was a mental boundary for him. The last barrier between him and the untouched channel between her legs.

Instead of answering, he stalled for time by running a hand up the inside of her thigh.

She shivered, letting her legs drift farther apart. “Everywhere you touch feels so amazing, like I’ve got electric currents running under my skin and your fingers are the conductors.”

“I like making you feel electrified.” He let his fingertip dip into the honeyed warmth of her passage and had to stifle a growl of pleasure. She was soft, silky and wet.

Everything he so desperately needed.

Neo’s fingers breached Cass’s vaginal entrance for the first time and her brain emptied in a red haze of desire.

Everything they had done so far was new for her, but this was in its own class. Having him touch her there made her feel like she belonged to him on a primal level. And although he was the one doing the touching, that didn’t stop her from feeling like he belonged to her, too.

A wholly alien sense of possessiveness washed over her even as she shifted again to give him better access to her most feminine place.

He touched her like he couldn’t get enough and that was more stimulating than the caresses themselves. It made her feel wanted for something other than her talent at the piano. For the first time in her memory.

This was no friend having pity on the hopelessly innocent. Neo wanted her and every touch of his hand or mouth showed just how much.

As did the erection seriously tenting his briefs. She wanted to see his male member, she really did, but couldn’t seem to remember how to make her mouth work to remind him of that fact. She couldn’t take her eyes off his body.

He chuckled, a dark and sexy sound that only increased the arousal pulsing powerfully through her body.

“How does this feel?” He pressed one finger inside her. She wondered how anything bigger was ever going to fit because she felt stretched with that single entry.

“Full,” she got out breathlessly.

“Do not worry. You will stretch to accommodate me.”

“Maybe.”

“Definitely.”

“You’re a lot bigger than your finger.” But that finger felt so good.

“You’ll be thankful for that later.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” she gasped out between panting breaths as his finger caressed her interior.

He pushed a little farther inside and she felt a flash of pain. Making a noise of dissent, she tried to arch away.

“Shh … relax. This is your hymen and it must be breached for our intimacy to be achieved.”

“I’m not a Victorian maiden. I know that, but it hurts.” It was unsettling the impact a little pain marring her pleasure could have on her. She would have to trust him to know what he was doing.

But she was acting on instinct, too.

“I want you inside me when the last barrier to my virginity is crossed.”

“Are you certain?”

“Yes.”

He smiled and nodded.

“As you wish.” He got up. “I need to get condoms.”

“Where are they?”

“In the guest room.”

He really never had sex in here. For some inexplicable reason, Cass was really pleased about that fact. Sex in his bed was for her and her alone. The newly developed streak of possessiveness in her nature rejoiced.

He was gone less than a minute, returning with a small box that he tossed onto the bedside stand. He’d already taken one of the small, square foil packets out of it and was tearing it open.

“Watch me. Next time, I want you to do this.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re bossy?” she asked even as part of her thrilled at his instruction. It wasn’t as if she wanted to look anywhere else.

“Demanding. Assertive. Pushy. Stubborn. Difficult. Perhaps bossy once or twice.”

She huffed out a laugh. “I have a feeling I’ll be using all those and more.”

“No doubt.” He pulled his hand away. “Now I make love to you, yineka mou.” The Greek in his accent was thick and strong.

She didn’t correct his semantics. She didn’t want to. Right now, for the first time, she needed to feel like they were making love. Even if it was just sex. Between friends.

And then, as impossible as it might seem, she realized in that moment it was because she did love him. She didn’t know how it had happened so quickly, or even if the feeling was real, but she felt a depth of feeling for him she had not felt in any form since her parents’ deaths.

And wasn’t this exactly what he had warned her against? Mistaking sexual feelings for real emotion? Only it did not feel like a mistake. And she had to wonder if the sex could feel so good and right for her without some emotion attached.

She wasn’t about to ask him, but it was a topic she would explore with some of her online friends. Ones who had more of a life than she did and might be able to give her the insight she needed.

For now, she just concentrated on how it felt to have Neo joining their bodies. It wasn’t all joy and yet rather than making her irritable as she’d feared it would, the pain felt even more intimate than the pleasure.

An indelible marking on her soul that would connect her to him for the rest of her life.

Though he was slow and careful entering her, it still hurt and tears leaked down her temples. He leaned down to kiss them away and whisper soothing Greek in her ear. She didn’t know what he was saying, but the tone comforted her and caressed the ragged edges of her spirit.

Once their pelvises touched, he stopped moving completely, giving her time …? She thought that must be it because the sweat beads formed on his forehead told their own story about the cost such patience had on him.

“I feel so connected to you,” she whispered as their gazes joined as intimately as their bodies.

His eyes closed and he whispered what sounded like no.

“No?” she asked, unaccountably hurt.

“Ne. Yes,” he hissed. “It is Greek.”

“Oh.” Good.

“You make me lose my English.”

She thought that might be one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to her.

“Is it always like this?”

His eyelids lifted, revealing a gaze gone dark with passion. “No. It is never like this. Not for me.”

She wanted to say something to that, but didn’t know what. He was not declaring love or even an intent for something long-term; he was simply acknowledging that this moment was special. For all she knew, she was his first virgin.

“Zephyr told me it would be phenomenal.” Neo’s voice was strained, like the toll from remaining still was getting heavier.

“Sex with a virgin?”

“Sex with a friend.”

“Oh.”

“Indeed.”

“But I already knew it would be like this with you.”

“You did?”

“Why do you think I wanted it so much?”

“Oh,” she said again, not having any other words.

He pulled out slowly, abrading torn tissues, but causing a jolt of pleasure to go through her all the same.

“Okay?” he asked.

“Yes.” Maybe more than.

And then he was moving, swiveling his hips and hitting a spot inside her that sent jolt after jolt of electric sensation through her body.

“So good,” she fairly groaned, though the soreness had not gone entirely. She felt a muted spiral of pleasure and she wanted more but wasn’t sure how to make it happen.

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