by Sharon Page
It is more intense when you're in love. Now I know. The jolt of desire is so strong my legs shake. My gaze coasts down his amazing gut. His stomach is a flat plane, with an eight-pack instead of a six. Who knew there were that many muscles?
I let my eyes go a little lower-
"Mia, you're beautiful." Awe fills his voice. Awe that wraps around my heart and makes it feel warm and soft, like it did when I signed for my perfect rose.
He laughs. A rough, totally masculine chuckle that sends shivers through me.
"I-I'm freezing. You, however, are completely gorgeous." It's on the tip of my tongue to compliment him more. To say he's huge. To gasp, or take another furtive look between his legs and marvel as though I've never seen a guy's cock before.
I've never seen one like Ryan's, I have to admit. It's perfectly straight and points toward his navel. Blond hair skims down his stomach in an arrow then cuddles the hilts his erection with crisp curls.
He laughs, then sobers. "Do you really want to do this?"
I don't know what he means. Get naked? We've just done it. Have sex? Oh God, yes I do. After all the times I've shut my eyes and pretended things weren't happening, this time I want to open my eyes wide and savor every wonderful moment with Ryan.
"Are you sure you want to go swimming?"
Swimming. Oh yeah, almost forgot about that. "You did dare me," I hedge. "I never turn down a dare."
"That was something I never expected about you," he says. "You look too serious and smart to give a crap about dares. But you're crazier than me." He grins, showing his dimples. "So you aren't going to back down?"
"If you don't want to jump and you want to let me win, I'm good with that."
He holds out his hand. "No way, babe. We're in this together."
My heart gets utterly squeezed. Every girl loves Ryan's hair, which is now buzz-cut short since he's going to military college. It looks soft as velvet and every female in senior year wants to find out for herself by stroking it. I can't resist, standing on tiptoe to try to run my palm over it now.
That lifts my breasts upward and he groans.
"I think I'm going to need to hit that cold water."
No, I want to say, you don't..
Ryan is like no guy I've ever known. We're standing in front of each other naked, and he still is not completely certain this is going to lead to sex.
Sometimes I used to cry myself to sleep. I used to think: what if I meet a nice guy, the kind of guy who would be wonderful and romantic and who you'd want to be married to forever? How can I have that nice, perfect, beautiful guy after what I've done?
Now I think I can-as long as I don't ever tell the truth.
Standing beside Ryan, I stretch and dip my toe in the water off the edge of the dock. I scream. "Oh my god, it's freezing."
I try to haul my toe out fast and I'm so stiff with cold I lose my balance. My arms flail. My heart stops beating-as if in preparation for the pain I'm about to endure. Ryan grabs for me. His fingers graze my arm and he tries to catch my wrist but my arms swing wildly, out of his reach.
For a moment, I hang in space, then icy water slaps my back, wraps around my arms and legs, and sucks me into the cold, black depths. God, it feels like my lungs seized and my heart really did stop, and I suck in water in a silent scream.
A splash beside me and a rush of bubbles. Strong arms wrap around me and I'm being lifted to the surface. It's Ryan; he jumped in after me. I can swim, but when I hit the cold, it was like I forgot how to do it.
We burst through the surface. Ryan treads water, drawing me against him, my back to his chest, so I can cough out water and breathe again. "Thank you." He jumped in after me, into icy water, without even thinking about it. That thought warms me. Also, my extremities are going numb.
There's a parting in the dark grey clouds, letting moonlight spill down.
His arm is around me, strong and secure. "Are you okay, Mia?"
I tread water too. My ass bumps his cock, which is soft now. I imagine his balls must be sucked up tight in this cold. He leans back, pulling me with him. Powerful kicks glide us through the water to the ladder that hangs down the dock. My fingers are so numb I can barely make them curl around the sides. I start pulling myself out. A breeze rushes past. My nipples tighten so fast they almost jump off and run away.
Ryan's hand is at my waist, helping me up. Then he cups my butt, giving me a push. "Stop pushing," I say. "You know what we forgot?"
"Our brains?" Ryan asks. "I did a polar bear swim up here one drunken night in February and I swear the water was warmer than this. Come on, Mia. Get up the ladder and let me out of here."
"We forgot towels."
One Hot Fall Term is Book 1 in the Yardley College Chronicles series. Book 2 is One Hot Winter Break. Look for book 3, about Winter Term, coming in early 2014.
Want it now? Want a longer excerpt? Check it out here.
More Books by Sharon Page:
A Gentleman Seduced
Diana wants one night of adventure before submitting to a boring marriage. Lucien, Viscount Pembroke, makes her an offer she can't refuse: spend three days in his home, where he will introduce her to every exotic sensual pleasure under the sun.
Escape with a Rogue
Regency Prison Break - Lady Madeline Ashby must help a wrongfully accused man, Jack Travers, escape from Dartmoor Prison.
Sinful
Ruthless private investigator Trevelyan Foxton matches wits with feisty dressmaker Estelle des Jardins.
More Regency Erotic Romance:
Sin
Venetia secretly paints erotic art, and when she must confront a dangerous blackmailer, she turns to the decadent and delicious Marcus, Earl of Trent. At a scandalous orgy, her feisty naiveté captures the earl's heart, but can they outwit a murderer to find love?
Black Silk
Maryanne secretly writes erotic novels. One night of wicked pleasure forces her to marry gorgeous Dash, Viscount Swansborough, a man with many dark secrets.
Hot Silk
Grace believes she has no special talents-until she captures the interest of a roguish highwayman, Devlin Sharpe and tames him with pleasure.
The Club
In London's most secretive gentlemen's club, where married couples go for exotic sensual games, Lady Jane Beaumont is searching for her missing friend, Del. To get information, Jane has procured a "lover" for the evening. But the man who enters her bedchamber is no stranger. He is Del's brother, Christian, the Earl of Wickham, and London's most notorious rake-a man on a rescue mission of his own.
Engaged in Sin
Anne Beddington is in a desperate situation-on the run for a murder she didn't commit. Her only hope is to become the mistress of the Duke of March, Devon Audley. War has left him a recluse, and Devon wants only to be left alone. Until Anne barges into his life…and his bed.
The "Blood" Award-Winning Erotic Vampire Series:
Blood Red
Blood Rose
Blood Deep
Blood Wicked
Blood Secret
Blood Fire
Blood Curse
Silent Night, Sinful Night
Wild Nights
Deeply in You - Coming June 24, 2014 in ebook and print
Helena Winsome is a governess forced to spy on the gorgeous, naughty Duke of Greybrooke. She thoroughly disapproves of his scandalous ways. But when Grey decides to make her his mistress, wickedly seducing her and capturing her heart, how can she resist?
About Sharon Page
USA Today Bestselling author Sharon Page graduated with a degree in Industrial Design (School of Engineering) and worked for years, by day, in the structural engineering field. By night, her secret identity was "Erotic Romance Author".
After selling her first book, Sharon has indie and traditionally published 20 novels and novellas. Her books have won many awards including two RT Bookreviews Reviewers Choice Awards, two National Readers Choice Awards, the Colorado Award of Romance, an
d the Golden Quill. Sharon was nominated by RT Bookreviews in 2013 for Career Achievement in Erotic Romance.
Sharon is married, with two children, and now writes almost full time. Please check out her website at www.SharonPage.com. Or visit her on Facebook.