‘Is it because I’m not pretty enough?’she continued, wringing her damp blonde hair nervously in her hands.‘Or because of what we did in the outdoor shower yesterday?’
I shook my head, forgetting for a moment that I could talk with her mind-to-mind now.
‘No,’I made sure to say, pulling her hands into mine to keep her from yanking out her own hair with her worrying.
Cini nibbled on her bottom lip, her blue eyes filling with a sudden bout of tears.‘Then is it because I’m too pushy? You know I’ve always wanted to be with you guys, but if you don’t feel the same—’
‘It’s because I’m a virgin,’I finally blurted, cutting her off and squeezing my eyes shut so I wouldn’t have to see her reaction.
Down the bond I felt a jolt of surprise followed by… was that satisfaction?
I opened one eye and found that Cini’s expression had changed into something more thoughtful as she gave my hands a soft, almost reassuring, squeeze.
She sucked in an audible breath before she turned to face me fully.‘Can I ask why you’ve never had sex before?’
I shrugged my face already flushed with the oncoming confession.‘There was only one woman I ever wanted to be with.’
Her blue eyes widened at the implication of my words as she slowly lifted a hand to point at herself.
‘Me?’she asked, her inner-voice sounding shocked.
‘Yes,’I told her with a nod.‘I’ve been in love with you since I was ten years old, Luscinia Amante.’
Her pale cheeks turned pink.‘Why haven’t you ever told me that before?’
‘Elio is a bossy asshole who couldn’t figure out his own feelings. After Alesso died things were so fucked up and I didn’t even have the power to protect you while the other guys were in prison. How could I tell you how I felt when I was so damned weak?’
I felt no guilt about throwing my cousin under the bus, but Ididstillfeel guilty about leaving her in that house for the year the guys were in prison. The Cini who I saw when I was finally allowed to enter the estate had been a shell of herself and I was scared I’d lost her forever.
‘So, let me get this straight,’Cini said slowly as her eyes lifted to meet mine.‘You wouldn’t kiss me earlier because…?’
‘I’m scared I won’t measure up. Elio’s always been better at everything, so what if he’s also better at sex. I mean, yesterday he had you moaning and I just don’t think—’
I didn’t get the chance to finish my rambling because Cini’s mouth crashed into mine and she knocked me onto my back on the netting.
She straddled my chest, her wet hair hanging over one shoulder as she stared down at me with hungry eyes.
‘Don’t compare yourself to Elio, Nico. You are you and he is him,’she said softly in my mind. ‘And I don’t care if you are a virgin. I mean, I was also one myself a couple of days ago. So, let’s just figure things out together, okay?’
Her fingers splayed out on my bare chest, right over my heartbeat that had shifted and changed when I was completing the bond earlier until it matched with hers.
It was amazing how in-sync I felt with her now that we were bonded.
Then her face broke into a mischievous grin.‘We have this whole boat to ourselves for how many more hours?’
‘Five,’I told her as she pressed herself back until her crotch was pressed right on top of my cock that had been half-hard in my swim trunks from the moment I’d buried my teeth into her neck.
‘Wow, that’s so much time for more,ah, activities.’
Her hips rolled, and despite the layers of fabric in between us, I could still feel the friction from the movement and I had to grasp onto the netting in order to keep myself from coming in my swim trunks yet again.
‘Elio never lets me take charge,’she said as she folded at the waist and began to pepper my jaw with nibbling kisses.‘But something is telling me you won’t have any problem with that at all.’
I couldn’t disagree with her. My inner-alpha was basically a kitten under the wash of mixed pheromones coming off of her body. On one hand, it wanted to devour her whole and take her as fast and hard as possible. But on the other hand, it was picking up on her alpha pheromones and the damned thing was basically rolling belly-up, panting for any ounce of her attention and affection.
‘I’ve also never been on top,’Cini continued, her hand slipping in between us and underneath my swim trunks.‘So that’s a first that you get all to yourself.’
She grasped my cock firmly in her hand and the sensation of her fingers pulled an embarrassingly loud grunt from my lips.
