Chapter Twenty-Two

Christian laid Sheila down among the profusion of pillows. There were way too many for one bed but somehow it worked. She rolled to her side and propped her head up on an elbow not having a clue as to what to do next.

Christian just stared at her for a while. If she were dressed in her belly-dancing outfit she wore for James' bachelor party she would have fit right into her surroundings. However, dressed in her cozy pajamas gave her a cuteness that looked a little out of place but still endearing.

Sleep... she said she wanted to fall asleep in his arms. She didn't mention making love. Could he do it? He seriously had his doubts. Every inch of him screamed at him how much he wanted her...he felt just about every nerve in his body was electrified.

Sheila frowned at the way Christian was staring at her. At first, she would say his look was loving but now it was more serious and in deep concentration.

She sat up in bed, crisscrossing her legs under her.

"Christian? Are you okay?"

Christian nodded. Still struggling with his conscience.

"Look," Sheila began, "I'm sorry I am so confusing. I show you all sorts of signs I want to be together and then I keep pulling back and well there's a reason for that, and if we are going to be "together" she says the word adding in finger quotes... "you should know what you are getting into."

This conversation was straying really far from his thoughts and sounded rather sobering. So, he looked around and seen a plush chair, dragged it over and sat across from her.

"Okay, lay it on me."

Sheila laughed nervously. "Okay, here we go... I'm a...no... I meant to get around to...but you see I've..." She groans.

Christian gives her an encouraging smile. "Whenever, I have to say something I'd rather not...I just spit out it. Get it over with. We will deal with whatever it is, together. Okay?"

Sheila nodded. Spit it out. Spit it out. Just SPIT IT OUT... "I've never slept with anyone."

Christian eyes widened and she'd seen that look before and instantly regretted saying anything. She should have just kept the knowledge to herself. Why did she have to make this a big deal?

Christian was having a hard time computing what she said so asked to clarify, "Never? As in never ever?"

Sheila shook her head, affirming his question.

Christian couldn't fathom how that was even possible. How the hell did she get this far in her life without some guy, somehow, somewhere...and then a new realization set in.

"Wait, then that would mean," and his smile broadened considerably, "I'd be your first."

"That's normally how it works isn't it?" Sheila said a bit sarcastically but she's been hurt before and if Christian rejected her she was not sure she could handle that.

Christian couldn't believe it. It was almost... well it was too good to be true.

The thought that she was never with any other man, ever and that she would be solely his, was maddening. He thought he had wanted her before now his brain felt broken. It was decided. She will be his.

He stood up and walked over to her. Sheila's eyes widened at the primal look in his eye. There was no mistaking that look for anything else. He did not look horrified like every other guy she told who thought the idea of taking her virginity after she waited so long meant a level of commitment they wanted no parts of. Somehow telling Christian this had the reverse effect and the sheer look of desire that read across his features both shocked and amazed her, rocking her to her core.

Christian tilted her face to look up him, "You are completely serious about this? This isn't some kind of cruel joke right?"

"I wouldn't lie about something like this," she told him.

And that's all it took.

Christian wrapped his arms around her. Weaving his fingers through her hair. He tilted her back onto the bed. She felt so good in his arms and he greedily kissed her lips.

"All he wanted was to hold her," he told himself unconvincingly. Hold her and never let her go.

When she opened her mouth to him and he tasted her, he knew he was far beyond just cuddling and snuggling together. His need for her was real and he planned on letting her know just how real. If he were playing the fool again at this moment he could care less.

Sheila's hands reached up to his chest. She felt the erratic beat of his heart beneath her fingertips as she desperately fought to undo the rest of his shirt buttons. Her own heart was racing she could hardly believe this was happening. She dreamed of this but never believed.

Her working on his buttons was tortuously slow and Christian stayed her hands. With one swift movement, tore the buttons open sending them sailing in every direction.

Sheila's eyes widened in surprise and Christian smiled at her mischievously. "It wasn't really one of my favorites," he said echoing the words he told her once before.

Sheila giggled and Christian captured her mouth again wanting to taste what laughter tastes like on her lips.

Sheila splayed her fingers across his muscular chest feeling his smooth heated skin beneath her touch. She pushed against him and he thought she may be changing her mind as she was pulling away from him. He moved aside and she rose from the bed.

Sheila knew what she wanted to do. She had played this moment so many times in her head, in her dreams, she refused to rush through it. She pulled and released the cord that kept the canopy tied back in place causing it to fall and envelope him in his own seductive haven.

He sat up in the bed as she had a moment ago. Shelia could tell she confused him.

Touching a button on her music player soft Arabian music began to fill the room.

He felt like a voyeur on the outside looking in as he sat on her bed and watched her begin to dance.

Sheila felt so sexy and so womanly. She danced for him and watched the hunger grow in his eyes, as she swayed her arms and hips to the music.

Christian relished the seduction of the dance. She looked as if she were having a love affair with the music as her body kept time. His breathing became more rapid as he watched her lose herself to the rhythm.

If her dance wasn't torturing enough she began removing garments as she drifted about the room until nothing remained and she danced for him completely uninhibited allowing him the chance to appreciate every inch of her.

What she managed to do to his body without touching him was amazing. His genie was dancing and she was dancing for his eyes only. Although she didn't look shy, he could tell when their eyes met that she had never done this for another and the idea hit him hard in the gut.

The prolonged anticipation was more than he could bear. With arms outstretched he willed her to come to him and she did without hesitation, into the bed, and into his arms. He laid her gently among pillows and stood beside the bed to discard the rest of his clothing before rejoining her again.

The soft velvets of her comforter matched the silky velvet of her skin. He straddled her giving her full view of his impressive form. He was ready for her but he refused to hurry his time with her.

He was her first and he planned on making a lasting impression. Taking his finger he traced her collarbone to the crevice between her breasts. Her body strained against him as she anticipated his touch but instead, he dipped his head to taste her on his tongue. He was pleased by her sharp intake of breath.

Sheila ached to welcome him inside her. Desperately wanting to feel him within her. She had no idea the need would be so strong. She reached for him but he pushed her hands aside. She looked at him perplexed. Could he not feel it too? The want that felt so overwhelming, it threatens to consume.

Christian mouth curved into lazy smile.

"Patience Shelly, all in good time. I promise," he whispered in her ear as he kissed the soft exposed skin of her neck causing her to moan with pleasure. He wanted her. God how he wanted her. He marveled at his own will not to take her.

Christian, however, wanted to ignite her passion, satisfy her every desire, even if he had to take her inch by blessed inch.

Bracing himself above her so that his full weight was not upon her he began his sweet torture kissing her temple, her eyes, her cheeks until he reached her perfect lips, which he only skimmed briefly before nuzzling her neck.

Heaven waited with her kiss but he was not ready to accept those wondrous sensations he would undoubtedly find there. Knowing full well it would be his undoing.

He trailed his blazing kisses over her arms, breasts, and midsection. Never lingering too long on any one area and always heading in one direction. She groaned with delight as he lavished his attention on her. Her supple hips thrust upward reminding him of his ultimate destination, and he moved on.

She could feel his hot breath against the sensitive skin of her stomach and her body craved release as he toyed with her belly button ring once he realized it was real and not just a decoration.

He slid his body to the very edge of her bed so that he was in the best position to kiss her inner thighs, onward and upward.

"Christian," Sheila gasped in intense astonishment of what wonders he could perform.

He devoured her. Holding her still as she writhed with pleasure, causing the heat of her desire to rise. The muscles in her body tensed preparing for the onslaught of sensations he was about to induce.

She felt the burn begin to spread through her. Her mind spiraled as Christian was relentless. He knew she was close to utter surrender. He felt her whole body prepare for it, enjoying the look of rapture that caressed her beautiful face, the rise and fall of her breast with each quickened breath.

Her world was spiraling out of control her hips bucked and she cried out his name. She felt her muscles contracting within her and around him. Her eyes opened in sheer wonder. He was within her. She could feel her orgasm drawing him in deeper and nearly blacked out from the headiness the sensations caused.

He held her gaze as she surrendered completely to his masterful seduction, burrowing deep within her. His thrusts kept a steady rhythm with the music that coaxed them both into wild abandonment. He will make her his own he promised himself that as he plunged into her and called out her name.

He was so on edge his body cried out for release but he didn't know if he should. He started to pull out but Sheila made up his mind for him as she grabbed hold of him, stopping him, matching him thrust for thrust until in a fevered pitch he groaned in ecstasy and was released within her.

She felt his orgasm and her own mingle as one. No longer able to tell where he ended and she began. He collapsed his full weight upon her. Crushing her breasts beneath his chest. He rested only a moment before he rose and brushed her hair from her face.

She smiled adoringly at him.

He gazed at her lovingly. She moved aside so he could join her in bed.

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. She snuggled in close to him.

"Do you have any idea what that meant to me? What you mean to me?" he asked, "God, I love you."

She could hear the hesitation in his voice as if he still expected her to reject his love even after what they had just shared.

"You really don't get it do you?" Sheila asked in disbelief.

A look of concern flittered across Christian's features. He didn't mean to say those words just yet. Perhaps it was too soon, but he felt as if he didn't say them his heart would explode within his chest. He loved her so much it hurt.

Sheila reached up caressing his face gently with her fingertips. Lingering over his cuts and bruises.

"Understand me when I tell you I've wanted you since the moment you reentered my life but it's grown into so much more. I can't look at you without wondering how do I become part of your life because a life without you is not an option anymore."

Christian sighed in relief and he smiled at her.

"I promise you, so long as there's a breath left in my body you'll never have to know what it's like without me again," he told her kissing her eyes, her cheeks and then sealing his promise when he kissed her lips.

"I love you, too," she added with a giggle, realizing she still hadn't said it out loud and the sound of it made her so deliriously happy she wished she could shout it from the rooftops.

Christian laughed with her.

"I was hoping I wasn't going to have to drag that confession out of you. Although, you may have enjoyed my plans for torture."

"Shameless," Sheila thought but he was hers and she was now a believer that dreams do come true.