She looked nervous. In fact, she looked afraid. He was puzzled. Of course she would have had lovers over the years.
‘It’s all right,’ he said soothingly. ‘I promised to take care of you and I will.’
He took a packet of Durex from his trouser pocket and placed it on the bedside table.
He kicked off his socks and shoes, unbuckled his belt, unzipped, slipped off his trousers and underpants. Then he slid under the sheets and cuddled up to her. She stiffened, but he drew her close, nuzzled at her neck. Tentatively, her arms went around him. He kissed her more deeply, and she pulled away.
‘We’ll take this slowly,’ he said, although he didn’t want to. ‘As slowly as you need. Don’t worry about a thing. Now, perhaps we could just slip this off…?’ He indicated the nightdress.
Orla nodded. He thought that she looked as if she was about to be shot, not pleasured. But she yanked the unflattering thing off, tossed it on the floor, and then clutched the sheet against her breasts.
He was almost amused by her reticence. It was like seducing a teenager, not a full-grown woman. He’d had lots of experience, personally. There’d been many women, impressed by his bulk and strength, younger ones and one particular older one, a goddess in human form, who had taught him at a very young age how to make a woman lose her mind in bed.
‘And the sheet, if you could let go of that,’ he said, smiling, making light of it to relax her.
Orla let go of the sheet. Rufus pushed it down to the bottom of the bed, his eyes running over her with great admiration. Where his eyes went, his hand followed, smoothly gliding across her silky white skin, lingering at the fiery red bush, progressing to her cinnamon-coloured nipples, which were hard as pinpoints on the soft small mounds of her breasts.
‘I’ve dreamed of this,’ he said with a shiver of delight. ‘So many years, I’ve dreamed of it.’
‘I know,’ she said in a small voice. ‘I always knew.’
‘And you wanted this too,’ he said. ‘Didn’t you?’
She didn’t answer. She pulled his head down for another kiss. It became deeper, longer. Her head snapped back, but his hand was on her neck, holding her there. He came forward again. This time Orla drew away completely.
‘What is it?’ he asked. ‘Don’t you like that?’
Orla shook her head.
‘OK, I won’t do it. No problem.’
His kisses were lighter now, fleeting, and she relaxed a little. He guided her hand down, folded it over his erection. She flinched again, jerking her hand away. Rufus looked at her.
‘You’re not ready for this, are you?’ he said. ‘Maybe I’ve rushed you.’