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When I pulled out, I watched as my release poured out of her with me, leaking down the crack of her ass to settle on the pillowcase I’d shoved underneath of her.
It was the hottest thing I’d ever seen.
She laughed weakly.
“That was everything that I ever imagined it would be,” she whispered breathlessly. “If I’d known it would be like that, I would’ve insisted that we do it…” She suddenly trailed off.
And understanding finally hit me with the force of a battering ram straight to the chest.
Our first time.
Her first time.
She’d been a virgin.
That’d been why she was so tight.
She’d been a virgin?
“Francesca…” I said, voice ragged. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Her breath caught in her throat before she said, “That was our first time. My first time.”
The news hit me like a physical blow.
I reared back in shock, going back on my heels in the bed to stare at her.
“We never…”
She shook her head, her face heating.
“I…” She blew out a frustrated breath. “There was a point in time that Cora thought she caught me and you having sex. And then I just thought… I’m not that girl. So I decided that I wanted to wait until marriage. So… you respected my wishes. We did other things, just not that.”
‘That’ being what we’d done earlier in and what we’d followed it up with.
“Why did you let me go all the way this time, then?” I asked curiously, not mad that I’d taken her virginity, but questioning it when she wouldn’t let me do it before. “I would’ve kept respecting those wishes.”
She sat up onto her elbow and stared at me.
I knew the moment she got up and stared me boldly in my eyes that I wasn’t going to like her explanation.
“I thought that you’d always be there at the end of the line,” she said. “That we’d be married and have time… but then you were taken. Held prisoner. And I thought you were dead. I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t ever stop you if you came back to me.”
That made sense.
She didn’t want to lose the opportunity.
I didn’t either.
“So that was our first time together officially,” I said. “I didn’t forget.”
She smoothed her hand down my cheek, cupping my chin.
“No,” she said. “You didn’t forget.”
The fact that that made me deliriously happy wasn’t lost on her.
“I’m happy that I didn’t forget that,” I admitted. “I didn’t like thinking that we’d done that before and I forgot. I feel like it was something that should’ve been permanently etched in my brain. Like you. How could I forget you?”
She smiled sadly.
“But did you?” she asked. “Did you really? You may have forgotten…but, deep down, you were drawn to me, right?”
She knew me so well.
“Yes,” I said simply.
“Then you know that you didn’t forget me,” she said. “You were just as much a stranger to me when you were Riel. Trust me when I say, you didn’t forget. Your soul recognized mine. We just had to figure out why.”
I stood up and reached for her, hauling her out of the bed.
“Let’s go get cleaned up. Then you can run with me on the beach,” I teased.
She was already shaking her head. “If it’s all the same to you, I’m going to clean up and steal your pillow. Then I’m going to go back to bed until it’s a normal time. I’m sleepy.”
I curled my arms around her hips and pulled her in tight for one last kiss. Then let her go.
“I guess I could let you sleep.”Chapter 13I’m returning your nose. I found it in my business.
-Luca to Captain Morgan
Luca
It was mid-morning, almost eleven, when Frankie finally emerged from the bedroom.
I’d already run, took a dip into the ocean to cool off, and showered in the outdoor shower before returning to the deck to drink coffee and wait for her to wake up.
I was now on my third cup of coffee—thank God they’d stocked the house with essentials such as coffee and coffee cups—when she finally showed her sleepy little head.
I grinned at the way she looked but didn’t comment.
“Shut up,” she said. “I didn’t feel like brushing it.”
I expected her to take the seat next to me.
Instead, she bypassed the seat and came right to me.
She climbed right into my lap and laid her head onto my chest, her hand reaching out to snag my coffee.
After taking a long sip, she said, “How did you know that you liked your coffee like that?”
That was a good question.
“I’m still learning,” I admitted. “It’s close, but still not there.”
She took another sip before handing it back.
“Did you add two sugars?” she asked.
I sifted my hand through her wild hair, working the knots and snags out as I replied.
“I did,” I confirmed.
“What about a splash of half and half?” she wondered.
