Free Unintended Love: A contemporary romantic novella by Harley O'Riley Page A

doing her best, but she wasn’t used to being forward with men. She wished she could just be direct and ask him to spend the day with her.
    “I’m flexible,” he said. “What did you have in mind?”
    She tried to read his expression. He looked open, but she knew that he wasn’t going to take charge this time. It was up to her. She glanced down at the table top and traced the wood grain with her fingertip.
    “I guess I owe you an apology for how I treated you. I should have told you about Martin.”
    “Yeah.”
    Melanie looked up. “It just felt so good with you. I hadn’t felt like that in so long, and I didn’t want it to stop.”
    “I didn’t want it to stop either.”
    Melanie stood and went over to him. She looked into his eyes and smiled at what she saw in them. He wanted her like she wanted him. He bent down and softly touched his lips to hers.
    “There is nothing to stop us now,” she said.
    He kissed her again. This time not so lightly.
    “Good,” he said, “Because I don’t want to stop.”
    When he picked her up, Melanie wrapped her arms around his neck feeling surprised, but delighted. She felt light in his arms.
    “Oh! Well, what now?” she asked.
    “How about we try a bed this time?”
    The memory of lying in the sun on a sleeping bag while he did magical things with his mouth quickly raised the level of her excitement. What delicious things could they do to each other in the comfort of her bed?
    The mess of her bedroom flashed through her mind, but something told her Alex wouldn’t notice or care.
    “Just down the hall,” she murmured into his ear as she kissed his neck.

CHAPTER 11
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    H e tossed her on her unmade bed and began to unbutton his shirt, never taking his eyes off of her. She knelt on the bed, undid the belt on her dress, and pulled it over her head.
    She felt vulnerable and very excited sitting in front of him in only her black lace panties and bra.
    He took the last of his clothes off and stood before her fully aroused. Her eyes widened. He was so beautiful, every part of him, that she wanted to go to him. But he came to her, and then was on top of her.
    They were both still for a moment, Melanie stunned at how good it felt to have the warm, solid length of him touching so much of her at once. Her body began to buzz with pleasure. He pushed up on his hands, taking his weight off her and kissed every inch of her face. As she looked into his eyes, it was as if she had known Alex forever, and that they were somehow connected in a very deep way. She felt her heart expand in her chest.
    “Hello,” she said softly.
    He smiled and kissed her. “Hello to you back.”
    ***
    W hen she came back to herself and opened her eyes she found him looking into her face with a very pleased expression. She felt grateful, but she wanted more. And she wanted to take him with her this time.
    She pulled on his shoulders and he moved up. She wrapped her arms around him and held on tight. His moan seemed to come from some primal place deep within and Melanie responded with her own deep sigh.
    He looked into her eyes and on his face was an expression so intense it sent a shock wave through her heart. It hit her that as fun as this was, it was also very serious. Her heart was involved, and as he moved within her an invisible connection was being formed between them. Invisible, but strong.
    Until long afterwards, Melanie snuggled in his arms, feeling as content as she had ever felt. She seemed to almost vibrate with well-being and the warmth of Alex next to her quickly soothed her into a deep sleep.
    When she awoke, Alex was sitting on the edge of the bed next to her.
    “I need to go.” He said. He leaned down to nuzzle her neck. “Can I see you tomorrow?”
    “Yes,” she said. “But if you keep doing that, I won’t let you go.”
    She watched as he moved about the room, picking his clothes off the floor from where they’d landed and pulling them on. When he was done