Unwrapped by Chantilly White Page A

his questing
gaze.
    Derrick struggled to control his breath, passion riding hard
in his blood. Likewise, Mia's breaths caught and shuddered, quickening every
moment, telegraphing her awareness of him, her response to his glance. Her need
for his touch.
    But not yet.
    Continuing his visual exploration, Derrick's eyes trailed
over her quivering stomach, to the darkly shadowed V between her legs. He
wanted his mouth there, to nuzzle into her curls and part those rosy lips with
his tongue, to taste and stroke and suckle her to shattering climax.
    Three long months stretched to eternity before him.
    "Derrick. . ." His name was a sigh falling from
her lips, bringing him back.
    He retied the robe, then with a burst of speed that drew
another gasp from her, he yanked her to her tiptoes by its furry pink lapels
and crushed her lips with his, plundering the sweet recesses of her mouth,
tangling their tongues. He kissed her until he felt her knees give, until his own
were ready to collapse.
    Still holding the lapels, he broke the kiss and stared into
her eyes, gone blind with passion. He said, "Day one."
    And fled, before he forgot every promise, every ideal, his
ultimate plan, and his care for her virginal state. Before he tossed it all out
her darkened window and ravished her there on the bed of her innocence until
neither of them could stand, or think, or breathe.
     
    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
     
    Outside in the cool night air, Derrick sucked air like a man
drowning. Hands at his waist, he leaned back, his head tipped to the stars,
struggling for oxygen. All his years of wondering, daydreaming, hoping, and
nothing had come close to the reality of Mia, naked and willing in his arms.
    He foresaw a lower heating bill in his future with the
number of cold showers he'd be taking between now and Christmas.
    She just. . . Wow.
    Gradually, the nighttime temperature reduced the boiling in
his blood. The stars shone in a cloudless sky above a midnight sea. The calm of
the ocean and the quiet beach soothed the last of his tension.
    He was going to ensnare her with lust, with emotion, with
need, until she could do nothing but fall in love with him. He'd weave his web
around her so carefully, she wouldn't even know she was caught until it was too
late. And if he failed? If he ended up a prisoner in his own cell? Well, he'd
be no worse off than he was now, and she would have gotten the one thing she
said she wanted—de-virginized.
    But he wasn't going to fail.
    He'd started out a little shaky, he thought, but damn, he'd
finished just right. He'd enjoy spending the next three months driving her
crazy with passion, until she was practically begging for him, and so madly in
love with him she would leap to accept his proposal.
    Congratulating himself on a successful first strike, Derrick
made his way to his car doing an end-zone victory dance in his head.
    This plan was brilliant.
     
    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
     
    "You're an idiot," Jeff said in disgust the
following afternoon, shaking his head as though he'd never seen anything more
pathetic than Derrick's sheepish face. "Did you really say you'd be her
Christmas present?"
    Derrick hunched his shoulders. "I know, it was stupid.
I was flying blind, trying to convince her, and I got carried away."
    Jeff snorted. "I'll say."
    The two of them perused the rows of glass cases, sparkling
engagement rings winking in an overwhelming display beneath tasteful
chandeliers. Who knew there were so many ways to set a diamond? Sales staff
helped other customers or stood at a discreet distance, but Derrick thought he
heard one of the women snicker.
    "Yeah, well, I closed the deal. That's all that
matters."
    "Son, you haven't come close to closing that
deal," Jeff countered, "you've just made the first cut. You've got
three months left to fuck it up."
    Jeff meandered toward the next case, and Derrick followed
behind, frowning at his friend. "Thanks for the vote of confidence,"
he said.
    Waving a dismissive hand above his shoulder