Local Hero

shoulders, then slid them around to encircle his neck. He felt her fingers touch the skin there, shyly at first, then with more confidence.
    “Still afraid?”
    “No.” Then she smiled again. “Yes, a little. I’m not—” she looked away, and he once more brought her face back to his.
    “What?”
    “I’m not sure what to do. What you like.”
    He wasn’t stunned by her words so much as humbled. He’d said he’d cared for her, and that was true. But now his heart, which had been teetering on the edge, fell over into love.
    “Hester, you leave me speechless.” He drew her against him, hard, and just held her there. “Tonight, just do what seems right. I think we’ll be fine.”
    He began by kissing her hair, drawing in the scent that had so appealed to him. The mood was already set, seduction on either side unnecessary. He felt her heart begin to race against his; then she turned her head and found his lips with her own.
    His hands weren’t steady as he drew down the long zipper at her back. He knew it was an imperfect world but needed badly to give her one perfect night. No one would ever have called him a selfish man, but it was a fact that he’d never before put someone else’s needs so entirely before his own.
    He drew the wool from her shoulders, down her arms. She wore a simple chemise beneath it, plain white without frills or lace. No fantasy of silk or satin could have excited him more.
    “You’re lovely.” He pressed a kiss to one shoulder, then the other. “Absolutely lovely.”
    She wanted to be. It had been so long since she’d felt the need to be any more than presentable. When she saw his eyes, she felt lovely. Gathering her courage together, she began to undress him in turn.
    He knew it wasn’t easy for her. She drew his jacket off, then began to unknot his tie before she was able to lift her gaze to his again. He could feel her fingers tremble lightly against him as she unbuttoned his shirt.
    “You’re lovely, too,” she murmured. The last, the only man she had ever touched this way had been little more than a boy. Mitch’s muscles were subtle but hard, and though his chest was smooth, it was that of a man. Her movements were slow, from shyness rather than a knowledge of arousal. His stomach muscles quivered as she reached for the hook of his slacks.
    “You’re driving me crazy.”
    She drew her hands back automatically. “I’m sorry.”
    “No.” He tried to laugh, but it sounded like a groan. “I like it.”
    Her fingers trembled all the more as she slid his slacks over his hips. Lean hips, with the muscles long and hard. She felt a surge that was both fascination and delight as she brought her hands to them. Then she was against him, and the shock of flesh against flesh vibrated through her.
    He was fighting every instinct that pushed him to move quickly, to take quickly. Her shy hands and wondering eyes had taken him to the brink, and he had to claw his way back. She sensed a war going on inside him, felt the rigidity of his muscles and heard the raggedness of his breathing.
    “Mitch?”
    “Just a minute.” He buried his face in her hair. The battle for control was hard won. He felt weakened by it, weakened and stunned. When he found the soft, sensitive skin of her neck, he concentrated on that alone.
    She strained against him, turning her head instinctively to give him freer access. It seemed as though a veil had floated down over her eyes so that the room, which had become so familiar to her, was hazy. She could feel her blood begin to pound where his lips rubbed and nibbled; then it was throbbing hot, close to the skin, softening it, sensitizing it. Her moan sounded primitive in her own ears. Then it was she who was drawing him down to the bed.
    He’d wanted another minute before he let his body spread over hers. There were explosions bombarding his system, from head to heart to loins. He knew he had to calm them before they shattered his senses. But her hands were moving over him, her hips straining upward. With an effort, Mitch rolled so that they were side by side.
    He brought his lips down on her, and for a moment all the needs, the fantasies, the darker desires centered there. Her mouth was moist and hot, pounding into his brain how she would be when he filled her. He was already dragging the thin barrier of her chemise aside so that she gasped when her breasts met him unencumbered. As his lips closed over the first firm point, he heard her cry out his