“Drop the fucking virgin act.”

He spoke slowly, low and clear and saw something flicker in those incredibly passionate eyes. “If I wanted a fucking virgin, I’d go find one. What I want is you, Kira.”

She didn’t speak, only looked up at him a little like a deer in the headlights.

“Do you understand me?”

She nodded, licked her lips again and said, “No virgins.”

He smiled, slowly and wickedly, and kissed her again, then swept an arm under her knees, pulling her off the ground and against his chest, taking her to the soft ground near the waterfall before tearing the wings off her costume.

He wanted to go slowly and treasure every moment of this first time, wanted to explore every square inch of satiny skin, wanted to taste every part of her, but his dick kept telling him it couldn’t wait. He shoved her skirt up over her thighs and tore the panties from her, then stared with excruciating need at her wet pussy.

“Beautiful, I swear I’ll make this first time up to you.”

His gaze moved from her wet, hot, swollen pussy to her face, only to find her eyes closed, her lower lip seriously being chewed on and her hands clasped together over her breasts.

“Goddamn, Kira! Can’t you stop playing even for a second? Is this part so deeply ingrained that it’s all you know how to do?” He shoved two fingers inside her, felt her flinch, then tighten around him.

“Is this what you like?”

He held back on his temper, his voice now coming out as a smooth caress as her pussy gripped his fingers, dripping all over him. Her scent thrust through him as a shot of white heat. He was nearly blind and deaf with need, but he did hear the voices heading their way. He waited, hoping they’d go right by, because he didn’t think he could stop himself now, but didn’t want Kira embarrassed, unless…He turned his eyes back on her.

“You like to be watched when you fuck, Kira?”

“I…I…” she drew a sharp breath. “I don’t know.”

He unbuckled the shorts he wore under the tunic, relishing the freedom as he pulled his cock out. He stroked it once, just to relieve some pressure. Several drops formed on the tip. He looked back down at Kira. “Take me in your mouth.”

He backed off her so she could sit up. She moved up on her elbows looking positively frightened. His brain started to short-circuit, trying to align all the opposing thoughts, feelings and needs shooting through him. His blood pounded in his ears with the need to take her, his conscience still screamed to protect her. His common sense told him he had missed some important piece of this puzzle, but his cock instructed him to charge, and quite frankly that was the only one he was really interested in listening to and the one that was hardest to ignore.

* * * *

Kira looked from Dev’s face—the pain, lust and need in his eyes—to his…she swallowed. It was so big that she was sure he’d break her if he tried to fit that thing inside her, and he wanted her to put it in her mouth?

This all seemed too fast. She did want this, but was slower too much to ask? At the same time, she felt terrible for lying to him. She knew he didn’t expect a virgin, but what was she supposed to do about that now? If she told him, he’d walk away and that level of mortification didn’t even bear contemplating.

Tentatively, she reached for him, barely grazing him with her fingertips when he groaned and moved a little closer. With his eyes closed, she took the moment to study him. Big and red and hard, it had clear liquid spilling from the tip and running down the back. She caught a drip with her finger and put it in her mouth. When she looked back at Dev, he was watching her and she was sure her lungs stopped working.

“Your tongue, Kira. Fuck me with your mouth.”

An intense surge of excitement flew through her at his coarse words, and she realized she wanted to. She just wished she knew how. A tear welled up in her left eye and spilled over at her own inadequacies.

“Shit, Kira!”

He jerked out of her hand and started putting himself back in his shorts. More tears followed the first. She wiped them away as she reached for him.

“Dev, please. Let me try.”

She hated the desperation in her tone, hated how she sounded weak and stupid, naive and unstable. She reached for him, but he wrenched away from her. Standing over her, she saw a torrent of emotion flooding his eyes and wondered why it had to end up this way. It had been so perfect just a few minutes ago.

“Dev.”

She was practically begging at his feet, but she didn’t care. She just didn’t want him to leave.

“Usually I’m all for games, Kira.” He sounded calmer now, as if nothing had happened between them. She watched his eyes and saw the moment he decided to cut her out. “But not with you.” He stopped just before disappearing around the hedge. Without looking back, he told her, “Be careful tonight, Kira. The garden’s full of snakes.”

Kira fell back on the ground as he left the garden. She knew how great his need was. She’d seen the evidence, held it in her hand at one point. She wondered if he was headed to Barbara. A real woman who could handle whatever kind of needs a man like Dev had. She was a pathetic failure. How could she have ever thought she would be enough for him?

She pulled her broken wings from the ground where Dev had thrown them. They were ruined, just like her heart.