I stared into his dark eyes. “Inside here is compassion and tenderness and I see a beautiful soul who deserves to be loved. I can only hope that you trust me enough now to believe me when I say I would never do anything to hurt you.”

He rubbed my arm gently and then placed his hand on mine as it rested on his chest. A smile appeared on his face.

“I know.” Ryan took a deep breath and looked me in the eyes. “My life has been turned up-side-down these last few years. I feel like I’ve been living in this chaotic existence. But when I’m with you, I… I feel strangely at peace. I feel like I can trust you with my secrets. And you have something that no one else has. When I look at you,” his eyes held my gaze, “you take my breath away.”

His words momentarily took my breath away.

“Taryn, I’m fa…” He stopped to bite his lip and sighed, swallowing hard. “I care about you too – so much more than I think you realize. I’ve been trying to take this slow for a reason, you know… trying not to rush it. But being with you is just so easy and natural, and I’m pretty sure you feel the same way.”

“Yes, I do,” I breathed out, amazed that we both felt so deeply for each other.

“I can’t help the way I feel and I don’t want to hold back these feelings any longer.”

“Neither do I,” I whispered.

Ryan gently smiled. “Taryn, every time I’m away from you, I can’t wait to see you again. I just want to be with you.” His fingers swept the hair out of my eyes.

At that moment, I felt every fiber of my soul want to take the huge leap of faith. I was already falling in love with him, and to hear his confession of his feelings made my decision easier to make. No matter what happens from this point forward, it was too late to worry or regret. My body hummed with desire for his touch.

I leaned over and softly kissed him. His fingers tangled in my hair and I felt his hunger for me. Gently he rolled me onto my back; his eyes opened and locked onto mine.

“Are you sure? ‘Cause I want you more than air right now,” he sighed.

I reached up and pulled his face back to mine.

“Make love to me,” I murmured on his lips. “Please,” I begged.

Our mouths melted together. He wasn’t in a hurry; he kissed me slowly, sensually. I could sense that he was going to make love to me, not just have sex with me.

Ryan slid his hand underneath my shirt as he kissed me. He pulled my shirt up and I helped him remove it from my body. Without taking his eyes off of me, he wadded my top up in his hands and tossed it across the room behind him.

He trailed his fingertips down my neck, stimulating my senses, slowly cupping my breast in his hand. A powerful jolt of arousal shocked into my belly as his lips moved from my mouth to my breast. My entire body tingled; could he possibly know how good that felt to me? My fingers combed into his hair and I pressed his face into my body just a bit harder.

My eyes closed and I sank into the pure pleasure of his tongue on my skin. I ran my hands lightly from his hair to his shoulders, moaning from his touch.

I pulled his face back to mine, hungry for him. His hand slid down my back and his fingers entered the space between my skin and panties. a playful growl slipped up his throat when he squeezed my rear.

Ryan hooked the top of my panties with his thumb, peeling them away. I slowly wiggled, curling my legs onto his as he pulled them down and off my body. They also got tossed onto the floor. He ran his strong hand slowly over my body; from my breast to my stomach; from my hip to my thigh.

He trailed his fingertips up the inside of my leg, driving me a bit closer to insanity. I gasped and shuddered under his touch. His long fingers toyed with me, stimulating all the right spots. I was so aroused I felt like I could explode.

I slid my fingers under his elastic waistband and used my forearm to push the cotton that separated us down on his hip. My hand clasped around him and stroked while he moaned in my mouth as we kissed.

He broke away from our mutual pleasure and removed his boxers. We lay there on our sides facing each other, completely free of clothing, as open and vulnerable as one could ever be with another human being.

Ryan reached up and carefully cupped my face in his hand. He didn’t kiss me; he just rubbed his thumb on my cheek and over my lips as he gazed into my eyes for the longest time. A smile broke on his face and it made me smile back at him.

Slowly his body hovered over mine. His knees shifted on the bed and made my legs spread a bit wider, causing another wave of arousal to pulse into my veins.

He leaned down and softly kissed me. His kissing was slow, passionate, like every touch of his lips was meant to convey a specific feeling.