A Prince for Jenny (11 page)

He was even careful to pull his hips back as soon as she began to feel the wonderful, mysterious changes in his lower body.

"Good night, my love," he whispered.

"Good night, Daniel."

Already bruised from her encounter at the party, she felt a crushing sense of defeat when he handed her into her room and shut the door. She leaned against it, listening to his footsteps in the hall. She could hear when his door opened, hear when he entered the room next door.

Didn't he want her the way a man wanted a woman? Gwendolyn had told her how it would be ... under duress, of course. And Jenny had felt all that swollen flesh.

She remembered Gwendolyn's exact words. Sweaty, tangled coupling. Why couldn't she have the sweaty, tangled coupling?

Jenny undressed and put on her gown. The changes in her body were evident. Her breasts were fuller, heavier, the nipples puckered and hard. And oh, that sweet heat between her thighs. It was wonderful and terrible at the same time. And it happened every time Daniel kissed her.

So many of her dreams had come true, was she selfish to be dreaming of more?

Her mind swung back to the party. Had her dream become Daniel's nightmare?

Jenny knew of only one thing to do, and that was find out the truth. Without design or forethought, she pushed opened the connecting door.

 o0o

"Daniel?"

He was standing beside the window with his back to the door. Every nerve in his body tensed when he heard her call his name. He turned slowly, and the sight of her made him catch his breath.

She couldn't have looked more desirable if she'd planned a midnight seduction. Her hair was loose and disheveled, her white cotton gown hung off one shoulder, and her cheeks were pink with excitement.

Desire slammed into him so hard, he almost reeled.

"I'm glad I didn't wake you," she said.

"You didn't." Sleep was the furthest thing from his mind. Standing there clad in nothing but his shorts and his passion, he was grateful for the darkness.

She came straight to the window, wrapped her arms around his waist, and laid her head on his chest. He bit back a groan.

Easing his hips sideways, he put his arm around her shoulders. Her thin gown was no protection. His skin felt seared where her body touched his.

"Having a restless night, Jenny?" Was that desire-clogged croak his voice?

"Yes."

No matter what was happening in his life, he could count on Jenny to cut right to the heart of the matter. One of the hallmarks of the truly innocent was total honesty.

Daniel thought of the news article resting in his wastebasket. Where did you draw the line between being protective and being dishonest?

Jenny held on a moment longer then stepped out of his embrace. "I know about the newspaper stories. Did you know?"

"Yes. I wanted to spare you that."

"I don't want to be protected." She squeezed her hands tightly together, praying for the right words. "I'm no longer a child. I'm a woman."

"There was never any doubt in my mind that you're a woman, Jenny."

"Would you have told a normal woman?"

Would he? Would they have laughed together over bad press, or would his male ego have demanded that he play the role of protector and hero?

"I honestly don't know, Jenny."

"Would a normal woman be sleeping in a separate bedroom?"

Caught off guard by her sudden veering of topic, Daniel couldn't come up with a quick answer. The truth was he would definitely not be sleeping in a separate bedroom. But how could he say that without hurting her? Another truth was that he loved Jenny more than he'd ever loved another woman. And yet, because she was special, he felt an urgent need to protect her ... even from himself.

His silence damned him.

Jenny put her hands over her face, then balled them into fists and began to pace. He'd never seen this defiant side of Jenny, and he'd never loved her more. She was magnificent, stalking about in the moonlight with her filmy gown swirling around her lovely legs and defining her high, proud breasts.

"I want truth and pain and real emotions. I want to sleep in the same bed with you, Daniel, and to know everything.'" Only inches away, she stood in front of him, tall and beautiful and so desirable that she took his breath away. Her chin came up and her eyes shot sparks. "I don't want to be treated like a retarded woman."

Fierce and swift, he closed the space between them and pulled her hard against his chest. Pressed full against her, he felt every tempting curve and every sweet hollow in her body.

"I never meant to do that, Jenny. Never."

"Do you want to love me, Daniel, man to woman?"

"More than you can possibly know."

"I know, Daniel." To his astonishment and delight, she touched his rigid flesh. It was a fleeting touch, so butterfly soft, he might have imagined it. "Gwendolyn told me."

Her eyes were so big and blue and innocent that a man could get lost in them.

"Jenny..." He was determined to be strong, but her slender fingers touched him once more, moving on him as he'd seen them move over a canvas. She had no idea what she was doing to him ... nor what he could do to her. There she was, his beautiful guileless Jenny, imploring him for something he wanted to give her so badly, he hurt.

"Did she tell you it's dangerous to touch a man there?" Gently he set her hand aside, but there was to be no easy relief for him. She'd set needs in motion that couldn't easily be conquered.

"I want to be dangerous." Her jaw was set in stubborn lines as she challenged him. "I want a sweaty, tangled coupling, Daniel."

The words were foreign on her innocent lips.
Gwendolyn again, no doubt. Good Lord
, he didn't know whether to thank the woman or to shoot her.

He cupped Jenny's face and ripped it toward his. "Jenny, I want you more than any man has ever wanted a woman, but I was waiting because I wanted you to have everything in its proper order ... a courtship, an engagement, a wedding."

"I don't want to wait. This is not a ... a whim, Daniel. It's a need. I need you here ... and here." She placed her spread hands over her breasts, then on her abdomen. Moonlight streamed through the window, illuminating her lush body.

Daniel felt as if all the treasure in the world had been laid at his feet. Jenny was freely offering him what he wanted to take. Still, he hesitated.

Nobility. Honor. Protectiveness. Scruples. For weeks he'd told himself that was why he couldn't make love to her. There was only one reason left, and that was fear.

With the insight that sometimes comes in the darkness when the day's worries are cast aside and the spirit is free, he realized that he'd postponed a physical union with Jenny because he was afraid. He'd failed too many people. He was terrified of failing Jenny, of not being wise enough and tender enough and strong enough to make the physical side of love special for a very special woman.

She was waiting for his answer, standing before him with the innate dignity that had captured his imagination from the moment he'd seen her.

"Daniel, teach me. Please."

He put a finger over her his. He didn't want Jenny to beg. Not his Jenny.

"I want to take you to my bed and love you in a way that will banish all your doubts. I want to kiss every inch of your exquisite body and explore all your sweet, secret places. I want to love you, Jenny, not as your teacher, but as an equal."

Then his beautiful, artless Jenny stepped back and slid her gown from her shoulders. It cascaded to the floor in a silken heap, and she stood, revealed.

"See?" she said, lifting her breasts. "You do this to me."

"I want to do more, Jenny." He covered her breasts with his hands, reveling in their ripe weight and satiny texture. Her nipples responded instantly to his touch. "Tell me if you want me to stop . Anytime, Jenny. Just say the word and I'll stop."

"Don't stop." Her face was filled with rapture. "Oh, Daniel. I like it. Please, don't stop."

He bent down and circled her nipples with his tongue. She caught his hair and instinctively pulled him closer.

 o0o

Remarkable sensations were spilling through her body, feelings she'd never known existed. And all of them originated in her breasts, where Daniel lavished his attention.

She knew nothing except what Daniel had already taught her—that to kiss him was rapture, that to have him touch her skin set off Fourth of July sparklers along her nerve endings, that sometimes merely looking into his dark eyes made her feel buttery soft inside.

His hands were moving now, moving along her upper arms and down to the tips of her fingers. With his fingers lacing hers, he kissed her breasts.

She felt a moist heat blooming between her legs, and a restless driving need to get as close to him as possible. Cries like a small animal in pain escaped her throat, and she pushed her hips against him.

"Jenny." His eyes were wide with concern as he looked down at her. "I don't want to scare you."

He bent down and scooped her gown off the floor. She would die if he stopped now.

"No." She put her hand out to stop him. "I don't understand this ... sweet aching." She pressed her hands over her breasts. "I don't want it to stop."

"It won't stop, Jenny. It just gets better."

Daniel was so virile, so worldly. He'd done this hundreds of times with women far more sophisticated than she. Suddenly Jenny felt shy and uncertain. She folded her arms over her breasts and looked at him from under her lashes.

He brushed her hair back from her face, then gently removed her hands.

"Don't hide yourself from me, darling. You're very beautiful."

"You like seeing me naked?"

"Yes. I like it." He ran his hand from the base of her throat all the way down to her navel. Goose bumps rose on her skin. "You have an exquisite body. I want to touch you all over." His hands made small erotic circles on her abdomen. "May I, Jenny?"

"Please, Daniel. Do."

He scooped her up and carried her to the bed. Daniel's bed. Oh, the joy of it.  She spread her arms wide, feeling the cool sheets against her skin.

"The bed is cool and you're hot," she said.

His chuckle was low and sexy. "I certainly am, love. And you made me that way."

"I did?"

"Yes, you did. A woman who loves a man unconditionally as you do wields a great power over him."

"I don't want to wield power, Daniel. I want..." She didn't have the words to describe what she wanted. She lifted her eyes to his, hoping he'd understand.

 o0o

It was all Daniel could do to keep from giving her everything she wanted in one blinding rush. He wanted to be inside her, feeling her hot flesh surround him. He wanted to hear the cries of pleasure in her throat and see the joy of discovery in her eyes.

With great effort he reined in his feelings. Jenny's were the ones that counted tonight.

"Let me show you what you want" He brushed her erect nipples with his fingertips, then traced a hot, sweet line downward. She was moist and swollen, and his fingers entered her slowly, delving briefly, then easing back.

"Daniel! It's ... oh, it's better than flying."

Gwendolyn hadn't told her everything. She'd never imagined pleasure such as this. And with hands. Would hers do the same thing for him?

"If I touched you like that, would you like it, Daniel?"

"I would die from pleasure, my sweet Jenny."

"I don't want you to die. Not yet anyhow."

Her sassy reply delighted him.

His fingers parted her slick flesh, setting up a gentle rhythm. Jenny's breath quickened. He watched her face as he brought her closer and closer to the edge. She arched her back and pressed upward, then she splayed her hands out and clutched the sheets.

"Daniel... oh, Daniel."

"Go with the flow, sweetheart. Fly."

Jenny felt as if invisible strings were tugging at her whole body. She stiffened, trembling, then a hot, sweet explosion ripped through her, and she called Daniel's name.

He caught her close and pressed his face into her neck. "Sweet Jenny, sweet Jenny."

"I can't find the words, Daniel.
Wonderful
is too pale for what I feel."

He lifted himself on his elbows and pushed her hair back from her face.

"Do you trust me, Jenny?"

"With my whole heart, Daniel."

"There will be a little bit of pain the first time."

"There's more?"

"Much more. But only if you want it."

She cupped his face and pulled it close to hers. "Show me, Daniel."

He kissed her on the tip of the nose, then slipped into the bathroom and readied himself for her.

She felt the great power of him as he levered himself over her. Already sensitized, her nipples came erect the minute his chest hair brushed against them. Sensations rippled through her as his heavy rigid flesh sought, probed, then slid into her. The flash of pain caught her unexpectedly. Reaching backward she caught the headboard.

"I'm sorry, sweet Jenny."

"No ... it's all right." Impaled and not knowing what to do about it, she hung on to the headboard.

"There will be no more pain." She shook her head, afraid to open her mouth lest she cry out and make a fool of herself. "The rest is better ... I promise."

Daniel began to move, sliding deeper and deeper. At first Jenny resisted, and then the most miraculous thing happened. The pain vanished and in its place was a wondrous pleasure such as she'd never known. Her heart, her whole body, sang for joy.

She wrapped her arms and legs around Daniel, wanting to hold him so close, he drowned in her. Her hips danced against his, and she whispered his name, over and over.

In this miraculous joining, it didn't matter that she was special. Her body knew what to do, and it was neither clumsy nor uncertain. She thought she would burst with joy.

And finally she did. Everything was hot and bright at the same time, and she fell, melting, against the sheets. Daniel rolled them to their sides, still joined, and lay stroking her face and hair.

"You're wonderful, Jenny. Magnificent."