by Body, Heart
“You did.”
Barbara’s hand slid across Kira’s shoulders, her head bent over the sofa, bringing her lips right beside Kira’s ear. The soft scent of gardenia spilled over Kira as her even softer voice asked, “Did you not like the books I gave you? The videos?”
Kira did shiver then. The books had been informative, if a little graphic, but she hadn’t gotten five minutes into the first video before she’d freaked out and spent the rest of the night berating herself for her stupid overblown modesty.
“They were…nice?”
She cringed, hearing the weakness in her own voice. After all, since the night of the party nearly two weeks ago, Barbara had been nothing but helpful. She’d set aside all her other responsibilities as if Kira’s problems were the only thing in the world. They’d spent nearly every waking hour together.
Barbara had schooled her on all things sexual. At times, the lessons were uncomfortable, she’d been touched in places she would have rather not, been kissed by men she had no feelings for and been made to watch others groping one another—all because Barbara insisted she needed desensitizing. Honestly, Kira couldn’t argue with her logic, but she wasn’t sure any of it had helped with her main problem. She was still very much a virgin and still quite terrified of not being one any longer.
Or at least with the process that would accomplish that goal.
She’d been forced to read erotic poems, watch erotic movies that bordered on porn without quite crossing the line, had been taught to dance and strip seductively and had even been fitted for more clothes, things more seductive and revealing. Things that made her feel alternately alluring and trampy. One thing she had to admit, she wasn’t anywhere near as naive as she had been the night of the party, but she still wasn’t in Dev’s arms.
Barbara came around the sofa and taking both her hands, pulled Kira to her feet, gently caressing her face before she spoke. Barbara, Kira had discovered, was a very touchy feely sort of person, and Kira still wasn’t entirely comfortable with it, but that was the least of her problems at the moment, Barbara’s latest suggestion was.
“Kira, my darling, we’re all friends here. Miguel and I have known each other for many years. He and Dev are even friends.” She brought her face near again under the guise of whispering. “And men talk, dear. Dev will be positively green with jealousy. He won’t be able to stay away.”
Kira suppressed another shudder as she swore Barbara inhaled her scent before backing off.
“It’s just that, well…”
Kira rubbed her forehead roughly and bit on her top lip, then she began chiding herself for not being more comfortable talking about sex. She had decided that losing her virginity was the only option at this point. It had become as useless as a furry orange and she just wanted it thrown in the garbage so she could get on with life, but this was not how she’d planned on getting rid of it.
“Kira, mia innocente.”
Miguel, who’d been rather quiet since Barbara had brought him to her suite and introduced him, now stood beside her as well. If it weren’t for her feelings for Dev and the current proposal on the table, she might have found him attractive. He was tall, with dark hair and deep brown eyes and had a beautiful smile. His body looked like he pulled it from an athletic club poster.
“I know you’ll be nervous, but that won’t bother me in the least.” He caressed her cheek, Barbara still touching her shoulders. She felt caged and overwhelmed and her breathing began to reflect it. “I’ll go slow, there will be no pain.”
His thumb brushed her lower lip about the time Kira remembered she wasn’t breathing at all anymore.
“Darling, Miguel is a fabulous lover. Your first experience will be more than any of your friends ever experienced. I’m only suggesting you let me stay to offer moral support. We have nurtured a friendship, you trust me.”
She pushed her fingers through Kira’s hair again. “Sometimes a woman can better arouse another woman.” Her fingers ran along the back of her neck and over her shoulders in a slow tantalizing move that left Kira cold. “We know things about our bodies that men obviously don’t. It will make your first time that much more comfortable.” She placed a kiss to Kira’s ear and whispered, “It will be completely natural. Did you watch the video I sent up last night?”
She hadn’t, she’d thrown the thing in the fire. She pulled away from both of them and turned to face them. Distance was important here.
“Look, I’m sorry I’m not as comfortable about this as you, but I grew up with a very conservative Baptist mother and where I don’t believe everything I was taught growing up, sex for me needs to be just with a man.”
She nervously licked her lips and paced a small pattern in the rug.
“I mean, its not like I think it’s a deadly sin or anything, and if that’s what floats your boat,” she gave a little thumbs up sign and a big smile hoping to cover her nerves, “then more power to you. But I just can’t.”
She watched Miguel and Barbara exchange looks. She wanted to believe they were simply trying to help her, but she wasn’t that naïve. She’d felt uncomfortable around Barbara ever since that night in the restaurant. The woman always found excuses to touch her and not always in benign places, then there was Miguel with his oh so kind sacrifice offering to de-virginize the virgin.
She wanted her virginity gone, and she might even be able to lie there while Miguel did it to her, but she was not going to allow Barbara to watch or participate in any way.
“Look, Kira.” Miguel caught her by the shoulders and stopped her pacing. He gently touched her cheek, and for just a second, she relaxed. “I won’t force you into anything. I’ve been with Barbara before, I’ve even been with her and other women, and, not to shock you too much, but I’ve even been with her and Dev.”
Kira felt the blood drain from her face.
“Dev…Dev likes…”
“Immensely, my darling.”
Barbara’s purr was less than comforting. She’d never thought about sexual preferences where Dev was concerned. She knew he wanted her and hadn’t thought much beyond being with him. Just him.
Barbara came over to where she and Miguel stood and once again caged her between them.
“Dev is a very virile man, darling. Did you think he liked it under the covers in the dark, him on top?”
No, she hadn’t. Actually she hadn’t thought any of this through at all and was just coming to the realization that maybe Dev wasn’t the man she thought he was at all and she’d probably been right in the first place when she decided he was way out of her league. She almost laughed, to hell with league, they weren’t even playing the same sport.
“He likes his women passionate. Aggressive. More than one at a time.”
Barbara began caressing Kira’s body again, but she was numb to it; she barely recognized that Miguel had started sucking her neck.
She loved Dev, she did, but maybe it was no more than a child’s love. Maybe she didn’t have a clue about what it was to love a man as a woman. Maybe she’d never figure it out, but the startling fact that she was even considering something that went so far against what she believed, just to grab the attentions of a man, shocked her.
This wasn’t her, she’d never been so malleable as to go along with anything just to gain attention, and she wasn’t about to start now. Dev needed her, she knew he did, and if he wanted her half as much as she wanted him, he’d have to bloody well take her on her terms. Virginity intact.
* * * *
“What the fuck is going on in here?”
Dev shoved the door open so hard it splintered upon impact. He’d never been so furious in all his life. She’d sent him on a fucking wild goose chase and he’d fallen for it. Jumped on a plane the morning after the party to help out an old friend.
Barbara had given him some story about Meg Wilson, one of the girls from a few summers ago. Told him she was being threatened by her husband and she wanted to come to the island to get away from him for
a while. Since she wasn’t comfortable traveling by herself, Barbara had sent him after her.
Seeing as how he’d completely screwed things up with Kira and was infuriated with himself, he didn’t trust himself to even say good-bye to her. He’d just left, figuring he’d be back in a day or two and then they would have to have a talk, but what should have been an easy task had turned into a big fucking wild goose chase across the entire country, and when he finally did catch up with Meg Wilson, she told him that she’d been under the impression it was just another game.
He’d been livid, had actually seen red. Then it dawned on him what was really going on and considered not coming back. He’d spent two days in a cheap motel in the middle of nowhere contemplating his life, and the only decision he’d come to was that he wanted Kira. As fucked up as his life was, he realized he might have actually fallen in love with her. There didn’t seem to be any other explanations for his feelings or his actions. Since that night on the balcony, nothing had been the same.
Women didn’t draw his interest, he began wondering what was going on in the rest of the world. He felt the pang of loneliness, missed his brothers, had wept over a Tchaikovsky interlude and wanted things like picket fences and dogs and Christmas cookies and most of all, Kira.
Hell, he couldn’t actually imagine himself living a life like that, but for the first time in twenty-eight years, he wanted it. Then when he had come back, he’d been told almost at once that Barbara was with Miguel—in Kira’s suite.
The red haze had come back as images of Kira’s beautiful body being touched by those two flooded his visual cortex, and he nearly tore the house apart, going so far as to throw a Louis the XIV antique chair through a window before deciding confrontation—and possibly bloodshed—was the only thing that would satisfy him. He wasn’t going to be a coward and slink away with his tail between his legs this time, simply because the road ahead might be hard.
Darius’ words had rung in his ears every step of the way—Don’t fuck it up because you don’t feel worthy. Kira was his and he intended to fight for her.
“Dev!” Barbara quickly covered her shock and her cool persona came instantly into play. “When did you get back, darling?”
“Back?”
Kira’s shocked tone caused his gaze to fly to her. His groin pulled and flexed and begged to have her. Nothing she did seemed to matter to him, he still wanted her with an intensity that almost frightened him. He pulled his attention back to Barbara, forcing deadly calm he didn’t feel into his voice.
“Yeah, I’m back. Now get your fucking hands off my woman.”
Dev pulled Miguel’s hands off Kira and shoved her behind him. Rage rolled off him in waves, daring either of the other two to contest his dominance.
“Kira asked me here.”
That was all the provocation Dev needed. Miguel barely got the words out before Dev’s fist slammed into his jaw. The blow taking him off guard, he fell to the floor. Dev’s booted foot slammed down on the fingers of his right hand an instant later with a satisfying crunching sound accompanying the impact.
“God, Dev! You’ve broken his fingers.”
Barbara rushed forward to Miguel’s aid. Miguel seemed to be in shock, not saying a word, just moaning in pain.
“I’ll break every fucking finger he’s got if it’ll keep his hands off what’s mine.”
Barbara helped Miguel to his feet, casting Dev baneful looks as she did.
“Have Jean Philippe fetch Monty. Isa can put ice on it until he arrives.”
Barbara started to help Miguel to the door, but he shook her off, visibly paled and wincing, he still turned on Dev.
“Look, Kiersen, you know me. I don’t go where I’m not wanted. Your women wanted me. Fuck with me again and I’ll kill you.”
He shook off Barbara’s next attempt to help and stalked through the splintered door.
Dev turned to Kira, apprehension slicing into the rage. She didn’t look at all well, he took a step towards her before Barbara latched onto his arm.
“You won’t get rid of me so easily, Devlin.”
Dev shook off Barbara’s hold none too gently and touched Kira’s cheek, her bright eyes filled with confusion cutting through his heart.
“You okay, beautiful?”
“Isn’t that sweet. Devlin, let’s take this back to our suite.”
Dev growled low in his throat. The beast had been unleashed and though it terrified him to think what he might be capable of, he had no intentions of abandoning Kira to this vulture.
“Get Out.”
“It’s my house.”
She stood straight and proud and in Dev’s opinion, undaunted. He moved on her. He’d never hit a woman in his life and he didn’t intend to start now, though he damn well felt like it. Instead, he grabbed her by the arm and shoved her through the broken door.
“You think you can double-cross me and just walk away? For twelve years, I’ve kept your secrets, Devlin Kiersen. I can ruin you.”
He stared hard into her soulless eyes and wondered how in hell he’d ever trusted her, even cared for her for a time. He brought his face very close to hers, could smell the faint gardenia scent she loved and the cool mint mouthwash on her breath.
“Go ahead.”
He pushed the broken door closed as best he could. It hung at an angle, but still provided a modicum of privacy. Kira still waited near the window where he’d put her. She watched him curiously. He imagined he looked like a devil straight from hell.
“You didn’t try to stop me.”
She shrugged. “You were in a mood.”
Dev laughed so hard his chest hurt, he tugged her body close to his and kissed her with a lifetime of pent up passion. When he was done, he gave her a slow once over, the white sundress with pink roses hung below her knees in a full skirt and once again, he was fairly certain she wasn’t wearing a bra beneath it.
“Nice dress.”
She looked down at it, spread her hand over the skirt and looked up at him as if she was about to thank him for the compliment.
“Take it off.”
She didn’t gasp, her mouth didn’t even drop open. Her eyes flared slightly, but they quickly steadied and she looked at him as if making an important decision. He hoped it was to drop all the pretenses. With adrenaline still pumping through his veins, he didn’t want to play, he just wanted to fuck. Simple as that. He hoped she was as sick of the games as he was, he just wanted her to be herself with him, like they’d been at the beach and on several other occasions when it had just been the two of them.
“All right.”
She made quick work of the straps and had the dress partway off when Dev realized he simply couldn’t wait. Scooping her from the floor, he unceremoniously dumped her on the bed. Coming down beside her, he ripped off yet another pair of her underwear, briefly thinking she was going to think him an absolute beast, but then wasn’t that what most people thought anyway? Wasn’t that what he thought?
“No more games?”
“No games.” She licked her lips. “I didn’t invite him, Dev.”
“I don’t care.”
She flinched at his harshness but seemed to get over it as he slowly stripped off his t-shirt, then his boots, jeans, and underwear, and stood before her completely naked and achingly hard.
He knew he was physically appealing to most women, but he’d never cared before, until now. Until Kira. Now he cared. Placing one knee on the bed beside her, he reached for her cheek.
“Do I please you?”
She whimpered and nodded quickly then reached out to trace the dragon that half covered his chest.
“Does it hurt?”
He laughed and moved closer to her.
“Now, or when he was put there?”
She smiled and pulled her gaze from his chest to look him in the eye. She had a beautiful smile. It would make the sun jealous.
“I don’t know, to be honest. As you can see, I have several, but I’ve never been
sober when they were done.”
“You’re beautiful.”
Her words came out on a breath and he almost believed them. Touching his lips to hers, he whispered back, “You’re beautiful.”
He slowly slid the top half of her dress down and bared her breast. Though he’d seen them before, he sucked in air at the sight now. Somehow it was different. He stroked her skin with one finger from her neck to her breast to her nipple, and when he ran over the tip, she shivered and he smiled.
“I like it when you do that.”
“It isn’t exactly on purpose.”
Coming down beside her, he took her mouth in a possessive, hungry kiss that was wet and fervent and erotic as their tongues played and swirled, pressed against one another and slid off, sucked, and licked. He’d never kissed anyone the way he kissed Kira. Never knew a simple kiss could be so arousing and so fulfilling.
His hand held her breast, playing with her nipple until she shook with the intensity of the sensation. Then his hand ran up her thigh; he wanted to follow it with his tongue, but knew he was limited in how long he could last. Now that he could finally have this woman, he needed it to happen soon. Beside, there was always the next time.
And the next, and the next.
He left her only long enough to find the condom in his jeans and fit in on, when he lay back on the bed, he lifted Kira atop him, naked from the waist up her skirt flared out around them, covering and revealing enough to make him grow even harder. His cock was like a damn iron spike and wanted inside her like she was the home it had always searched for.
Or maybe that was his feelings, but it seemed easier to put them on his hormone driven cock.
“Slide onto me, Kira. Go slow.”
She nodded, chewing the corner of her top lip the way he’d come to love. He grabbed hold of her hair, pulling her forward for another kiss, then releasing her as she slid down his shaft.
He groaned and shoved his nails into his thigh to keep himself from coming as her hot, wet, and damned near impossibly tight pussy slid over him.
“All the way, sweetheart. Please, you’re killing me.”