She'd never thought of herself as a passive lover, but this was different. Lucas was different. She knew him, but she'd never seen him like this, with this lusty determination on his face. It had her aroused, yet unsure of her own role. So she just stood there and let him touch, let him take the lead.

Which he was. He seemed to be approaching her the same way he would a chemical equation. He was assessing her, observing her reactions, deciding on the best plan to proceed with. He was slow and steady, lips on her neck, her shoulder, nuzzling, caressing, while his fingers touched higher and higher until they were brushing back and forth over her nipples.

Ashley swallowed hard, her legs quivering, her pulse racing. She was still clutching the Ben-Wa balls in her hand, and suddenly aware of the fact, she reached back for the table, intent on dumping them. The image of those balls, what he could do with them, was so hot and scorching she nearly moaned. Too much. It was all too much to take in.

His eyes followed her movement. "Maybe later," he whispered, his mouth rubbing over the front of her shirt, right at the swell of her breast. "The second or the third time."

He yanked the cup of her bra down at the same second she realized his meaning. Ashley sucked in her breath. He meant more than once, tonight. He meant all night. He meant… oh, boy.

"Sounds like you've got this all figured out."

With one expert flick, he popped open her bra. Why had she ever stupidly thought that Lucas was naive when it came to women? He clearly knew his way around intimate apparel.

"I've had a lot of time to think about it, and what I want."

He took a step back, and she whimpered when his hands fell off her.

"And right now I want to see you naked. And then I'm going to touch and taste every inch of you."

If he insisted.

Lucas was having a hard time not just ripping Ashley's clothes off and taking her on the Pleasure Party table.

But he had meant what he'd said. He had anticipated this moment for years, never really expecting it could actually happen, and he wanted to savor it. Savor her. Savor the feeling that he could give Ashley pleasure.

"Well, that's getting right to the point, isn't it?" She smiled at him then, a naughty suggestive smile that made his gut clench and his groin tighten.

Ashley had been tense a minute before, but now she seemed to have made a decision to enjoy this shift in their relationship.

"Are you going to get me naked or should I?" Her tongue slipped out and wet her bottom lip.

She looked gorgeous with her flushed cheeks and her wild curls, with her shirt shoved up and the top of one breast peeking out of her unhooked bra. She had golden skin, and a tiny silver ring in her belly button above her skirt that made him want to lick it.

No woman was as attractive to him as Ashley was, because she was a beautiful woman and because he was in love with her. And one way or another, tonight she was going to be his.

"Oh, I'm going to get you naked." He tossed his hair out of his eyes. "If you don't mind."

She shook her head. "I don't mind."

Lucas's heart filled. Damn, this was everything he wanted, everything he could ever hope for. Ashley in front of him, desire in her eyes, and a sweet smile playing about her lips. Did she even know what she meant to him? He wanted to tell her, knew he shouldn't.

So he reached for her and took the shirt over her head, her hair tumbling back over her shoulders as the tank top cleared her head. He dropped it onto the empty box Ashley had set on the table to pack up her products.

Since her bra was sliding down her arms and was crooked on her breasts, he just pulled down the straps and flung it over in the direction of the shirt. Then stopped to look. To stare. To mentally groan and to try not to grovel.

Damn. His blood rushed, his pulse pounded, and his jeans were unbearably tight.

"Stop looking at me like that." Ashley was blushing, her hands on her hips, shoulders raised protectively.

"Like what? Like I think you're incredible? Amazing? Sexy? Because I do."

Her skin had goose bumps, her nipples taut.

Since it was hotter than hell outside, he knew she wasn't cold.

"Like I'm a cell on a microscope slide."

He had to laugh at that. "Never once has looking at a cell from any organism given me a hard-on. I'm staring at you because I think you're gorgeous."

"Since when?" Her hand was reaching for her discarded shirt.

Lucas stopped her by grabbing her arm. He'd cry if she covered up those breasts after only sixty seconds. "Remember that summer you went away to camp to be a counselor?"

She nodded, hand still poised to grab her top. He knew she would if he let go of her wrist. "I was eighteen."

"When you came home, tanned and confident, laughing and excited, I watched you. And I realized that you were beautiful. You've only grown more so every year since then."

"Lucas…" she said, and it sounded like a warning, but her green eyes had gone soft.

He knew what her warning was. He knew now there was no time to take it slow, to hesitate, to savor Ashley. Not this time. She wasn't sure of him, her feelings, what they were doing, yet she wanted him. Lucas was sure that Ashley cared about him, maybe even loved him, given how she had treated him over the years. But she wasn't in love with him.

That was okay, because he planned to make love to her until she did fall in love with him. Or at the very least until she saw that they had something really solid to build a relationship on.

If she got cold feet, it would be over before they could even start.

So he had to take her so far into pleasure, she'd forget to think.

Instead of answering, he kissed her. Hard. With tongue.

She gasped.

He took the wrist he was holding and draped her arm around his back. He pulled them together. Then bent down and took her nipple into his mouth. She tasted warm and sensual, her nails digging into his back. Lucas sucked, and he licked, and he sucked, until she was whimpering and breathing hard. Until he grew rougher and rougher, nipping at her with his teeth, flicking along her breast with his tongue until he reached for the other one.

The room was quiet except for their heavy breathing and an occasional random moan from Ashley that spiked his temperature and sent him sweating. She tasted so damn good, so sweet and eager and he was so completely sure that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. When he cupped her ass, a tight firm cheek in each of his hands, Ashley swore.

"Shit, this feels good," she murmured.

"You're telling me." Lucas pulled his mouth back from her breasts as he slipped his hands under her skirt. Her panties were silky, tight across her backside, and low on her hips.

He wandered around, his thumbs landing on her soft mound. "It's very hot under here."

"I'm sure there's a purely biological reason for that," she said, her head tilted back. "Like that the proximity between my thighs raises the temperature."

"Or because, biologically speaking, your body wants to be fucked."

"Lucas!" She stared down at him, her mouth open as he dropped down onto one knee.

"What?" He pulled her skirt down, watched it puddle around her ankles, exposing her pink panties. Of course they were pink. Ashley was a pink kind of girl. "All the signs of arousal are here. Heavy breathing, tense muscles, heated flesh."

Ignoring her fingers pressing down hard on his shoulders, he skimmed his thumbs under her panty line, sinking one into her slickness. "Wet. Definitely aroused."

"So this is all about biology?" Her voice had gotten sharp. "My body is reacting to a stimulus? How flattering. I suppose that's what has happened to you too, then. Your body is reacting to the arousing image of all these sexual products and their functions."