I chuckle. “I don’t know about that, I’d ruin your art with my novice attempts.”
“Not at all, I’ve got some shockers that you can’t see,” he says with a smile.
“Prove it,” I find myself saying, smiling back despite myself.
I only realize how it sounds when Gage looks both surprised and pleased as he lifts his t-shirt to reveal his washboard abs and a tribal tattoo along his side, a style that’s a bit dated but by no means ugly. My breath catches at the arousal that seeing his body sparks within me, and I blush.
“I’ve seen worse,” I respond. “Case in point, this disaster I did myself,” I say, pulling up my pajama pant leg to show him the tattoo on my knee.
He tilts his head to the side, puzzling over it. “I’m not sure I know what I’m looking at…”
I laugh, and he grins, pleased to hear it. “Exactly.”
“Aren’t you gonna tell me?”
“Nope,” I tease, laughing again as he mock pouts.
We amicably chat about tattoos and bikes. Gage is easy to talk to, and I find myself forgetting for a while the horrendoussituation that landed me here. But inevitably, the conversation ends up circling back to my brother and how he got caught up with the Rusted Scythes, and I became a commodity to pay off his debts. Gage listens sympathetically.
“I can’t help feeling as though my being a damn virgin made this all ten times worse,” I say.
Gage considers his words carefully before speaking. “It certainly made you more valuable in their eyes. But maybe that saved your brother’s life? Your chastity.”
I snort. “Chastity? You say that like I’m a nun. Celibate for some noble reason.”
“Well, why are you?” he asks, his brow furrowing slightly. “A virgin, I mean. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, but it’s not common at your age.”
Again, I surprise myself by opening up and telling the truth. “The one and only guy I ever tried to date in high school spread a rumor that I had sex with him and was a slut. Everyone believed him, and my life was made a misery. Since then, I only seem to meet assholes who are after one thing. Result is, I’ve not exactly had much faith in men. Plus I haven’t met anyone I’ve liked enough to want to sleep with. But it’s not like I’ve been treasuring it or saving myself or anything like that,” I quickly add.
Suddenly, an idea occurs to me. “One of the reasons the Rusted Scythes want me back is that I’m valuable as a virgin, and they likely don’t think you will have sex with me; they probably knew you were paying to rescue me, and that’s why they were so strict about returning me.”
He looks at me, trying to follow my line of reasoning. “It’s possible, yes.”
“Well, what if I wasn’t a virgin anymore?”
He studies me, and I stare right back at him. When the penny drops of what I’m suggesting, he shakes his head. “No. No way.” His words hit me like a slap, the bitter sting of disappointment. But then he clarifies. “You don’t need to feel like you have to do that. You shouldn’t be forced into doing that, and if the only reason you’re doing it is because you don’t want them to hunt you down. I can’t…”
He’s so kind, so earnest, that it makes me want my first time to be with him even more. “If I’m to be sent back to those monsters and forced into being a sex slave, at the very least, I want my first time to be with someone good and kind.”
Sadness, followed by fierce determination, crosses his face. “You won’t go back there. I won’t let that happen.”
“Regardless, my being a virgin is an unnecessary danger to us all,” I point out. He can’t argue with that, but he still looks as if he’s going to argue with me. “God. If you don’t find me attractive and don’t want to, just say it,” I snap, feeling embarrassed for having suggested it.
“No, it’s not that, believe me. You’re beautiful, Naomi,” he says, with such conviction that I actually feel it.
I lean closer to him, so close I can smell his minty breath. “So, kiss me,” I challenge in a whisper.
His resolve crumples in a gentle exhale as my lips touch his, light as a feather. He kisses me, gently at first, as if I might break, but when I return the kiss with heat, it grows deeper andmore passionate. I move to straddle him, pulling off my shirt and throwing it onto the floor.
He groans at the sight of my pert breasts, pink nipples hard with arousal. “Naomi.”
God, I’ve never been more turned on.
I grind against him, feeling his cock harden through the pants, and I rub myself against him, desperate for more. My tongue delves into his mouth, dancing with his. His strong hands grip my waist, setting my skin on fire, as he kisses my neck. I arch my back, crying out as his mouth captures my nipple, his tongue circling it and sending ripples of pleasure throughout me.
I’ve masturbated, imagined what sex would be like, but in all my imaginings, I never envisioned this hunger, this need that would be awakened in me. I claw at his shirt, tugging at it, and he breaks contact, leaving my slick nipples hardening as the air hits them, helping me to remove it. I run my fingers down the firm contours of his body, lingering over the smattering of hair on his chest. His mouth captures mine again, kissing me passionately.
I want him. I want him now.
