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For some reason that set off little tremors in her body, a ripple that started deep inside her and radiated out.
“I am. So fucking close.” He thrust into her, the chair squeaking in protest beneath them as his big body covered hers.
Then he plunged deep with a strangled cry, a rush of warm moisture flooding her. He moved slower then, rocking back and forth as his body shivered. She felt his cock pulse inside her, and the feeling was both beautiful and strange.
So that’s what sex was like.
Marianna pressed her lips to Nico’s shoulder, letting the mixture of chlorine and sunshine dance in her nostrils. His weight was a comforting blanket over her, protecting her from the outside world. From the “now what?” question stirring to life in the depths of her pleasure-addled brain.
If only she could lay here forever without the thought of having to go home, knowing that she had been irrevocably changed. Would she be able to continue living her boring life back home? Would she be able to throw herself into work and subsist only on memories of today?
Had she opened Pandora’s box?
Nico stood. He was like a god towering over her, his broad shoulders casting a long shadow. One hand extended forward, and she took it, his strong fingers slipping over her palm so he could hoist her to her feet. Suddenly, she was very, very aware of how naked they were.
“Uh, thanks,” she said. “That was…wow.”
Nico bent down and plucked a fresh towel from the neat little stack sitting in a woven basket beside the lounge chairs. She hadn’t even noticed them there. What a luxury that must be, to have things at hand in case you might need them.
He handed it to her, and she wrapped herself up, grateful that she didn’t have to embarrass herself again by trying to struggle into her dress.
“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,” he said, his smile kinder and softer than it had been earlier that day. For some reason, she felt like she’d glimpsed the real man beneath the hard and beautiful exterior.
Don’t go writing love poems anytime soon. You’re leaving the day after tomorrow, and this was nothing but a checkbox on your bucket list.
…
In the past, Nico had been very careful about keeping a boundary between his home life and his sex life. He’d used the same approach with all women: fancy hotel, a nice bottle of wine, a little romance—though it was entirely superficial and mostly meaningless. Great sex. But he didn’t get close to anyone he slept with, because casual sex was difficult to use as a weapon.
His approach was purely for self-preservation.
But something about this soft little bird of a woman had him wanting to drop his guard. Their chemistry felt as real as anything, and the way she’d responded to him—so trusting and open—had him craving more. But now she could barely make eye contact, her hands clutching the towel that hung all the way to her knees, dwarfing her. Her nervousness was palpable, and it socked him square in the chest.
“Is everything alright?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“You’re very quiet.”
She looked up at him, those big brown eyes grabbing him by the throat. “It’s just…umm.”
“Say it.”
“Was I any good?” She nibbled on her lip and shifted from foot to foot.
“My moaning wasn’t enough to tell you that?” Nico raised a brow. “You were perfect. You don’t do anything for show, and that’s very refreshing.”
A smile tugged at her lips. “Good.”
“Why do you ask?”
She shrugged. “No reason. I’m just…not very experienced.”
He turned around, ready to help her gather her things when intuition grabbed at him like a fist around his windpipe. “You’re a virgin?” He shook his head, mentally correcting himself. “Were you a virgin?”
She blinked, her mouth popping open and her head shaking.
Did she mean no, she wasn’t? Or no, she couldn’t believe he was asking this question?
“I…” She sucked in a breath. “Does it matter?”
Not again.
His head spun, the past manifesting in the form of vicious images and a pain in his chest. An older man walking in on him, eyes blazing. The young woman—his best friend and lover—crying and trying to make it stop. But her father would not be calmed. He’d stolen something from her. Taken advantage of her. Only he hadn’t known it then. How could you take advantage of someone who was willing? Who wanted it as much as you did?
“Of course it matters.” His voice was ragged. He only had two rules when it came to women—keep it out of his home. And no more virgins.
“You wouldn’t even have known if I hadn’t said anything,” she protested. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Yes, you damn well should have said something…before you let me fuck you.”
She winced at his language. “It’s my business.”
“No, it’s our business. I’m involved in this too.” He raked a hand through his wet hair, feeling the downward spiral sucking him under. “Is this all part of the plan? You kept it quiet so then you could use it to manipulate me afterward?”
