Free Light Beyond the Darkness by Tami Lund Page B

Carley.”
    “This is the part that hurts,” she whispered.
    He squeezed her more tightly, as he struggled with his own self-control. He felt dual urges at the moment. First, to show her that sex did not hurt, and was not meant to be feared. And second, to go find whoever scarred her this badly, and teach him a well-deserved lesson. His hands shimmered as they shifted from human to animal, and he pulled on every ounce of control he possessed to tamp his temper.
    “I suspect it hurt because you didn’t want it and weren’t ready for it,” he said, and then he rolled his hips, sliding his erection through her outer lips, and the wetness there. “Do you feel that?”
    She gasped and arched against him.
    “You’re ready for me, Carley. Do you want to? Or do you want to stop now?” He said another silent prayer to whatever Fates might be listening. Please don’t ask me to stop . Had he ever wanted anything so badly in his life? Another memory tried to intrude, but he ruthlessly pushed it away. This was nothing like that. Nothing.
    “I…Do that again,” she whispered.
    He did, pressing his hand into the small of her back as he did so. She gasped again.
    “It’s never…felt like this.” She sounded confused, uncertain.
    “I can make it feel even better,” he promised.
    “Okay,” she said, shyly. “But go slow.”
    It might kill him to do so, but he vowed to try. He started to lie back down, and she wrapped her arms around his back and said, “No. Like this. I like this.”
    So he held her in his lap and slid backward until his back was pressed against the headboard. She straddled him, and he lifted his hips again, sliding his erection across nerve endings that he knew were ultrasensitive. Her gasp of pleasure confirmed it.
    He wrapped one arm around her waist and slipped the other between their bodies. “Ready?” he asked, and when she nodded, he trailed a finger through her wetness until it slid inside. Her inner muscles tightened around his appendage, and she gasped at the intrusion as her eyes flew open and gave him a questioning look. He slid the finger out and in again, and her fingernails dug into his shoulders.
    “Good?”
    “I’ve never…”
    “But good?” he urged as he continued to slide his finger in and out. Her eyes glazed with passion as she nodded. He added a second finger, and she sucked in a breath as her body finally kicked into gear and began to move with the motion of his hand.
    “That’s it,” he encouraged as his thumb teased her clitoris. She let out a strangled cry, so he did it again. And again. And over and over until she suddenly arched and threw her head back and let out a shriek as her body convulsed through what he suspected might be her very first orgasm.
    He was immensely proud that he’d been the one to give it to her.
    She collapsed against him as he pulled his hand out from between them and wrapped both arms around her, holding her tightly as she struggled to catch her breath.
    “That’s never happened before,” she mumbled against his shoulder, confirming his suspicion.
    “Explains why it hurt to have sex,” he commented. “A little manual stimulation never hurt anyone,” he said with a teasing smile.
    She blinked rapidly. “No, that certainly didn’t hurt,” she agreed, and then she giggled.
    He shifted his hips. “Ready for more?”
    “I don’t think I can—”
    “Trust me. You can.” He pressed against her and then waited. His entire body was tense with the need for release. But he would wait. He needed her assent first.
    She wiggled her hips experimentally. He sucked in a breath. And held it.
    “Okay,” she finally said, and he let out the breath.
    With one arm wrapped around her waist, he held her still, while the other guided his erection to her opening. Her nails dug into his shoulder as she buried her head into the crook of his neck. Her body tensed. If she wasn’t so wet right now, he would probably not be able to even do this. But she