Willow Smoke (23 page)

He
gave
her
a
curious
look.
“I
imagine
the
pillow
is
something
you
learned
from
the
videos.”

She
nodded.

“This
may
hurt
a
little
the
first
time,”
he
said,
kneeling
before
her.

She
nodded.
He
parted
her
slick
folds.
It
seemed
like
he
played
at
her
entrance
for
an
eternity.
He
leaned
forward
and
rolled
a
nipple
between
two
fingers.
That
felt
so
good
she
reached
for
the
other
nipple
and
did
the
same.

His
weight
shifted
over
her
body.
He
entered
her
gradually.
Her
eyes
widened.
At
last,
she
held
his
full
length
in
her
most
private
chamber.

He
hovered
above
her,
holding
himself
up
on
both
hands.
“Are
you
okay?”
he
whispered,
hoarsely.

Daisy
nodded
and
smiled.
He
dipped
his
head
and
laved
a
breast.
She
splayed her
fingers
across
his
back,
raised
her
knees,
and
squeezed
his
buttocks
like
she
was
asking
a
stallion
to
move.

Nick
responded
with
a
low
growl
and
began
moving.

If
there
was
pain,
she
wasn’t
aware
of
it.
She
couldn’t
comprehend
the
fullness
and
emptiness
she
felt
as
he
penetrated
deep
and
then
nearly
withdrew.
She
wanted
more;
she
needed
more.
She
strained
upward,
meeting
his
thrust
to
keep
him
inside.

When
had
her
eyes
gone
shut?
Dammit,
she
wanted
to
experience
all
of
this.
She
opened
them.
He
was
staring
at
her.
His
look
was
raw
and
savage.
She’d
never
witnessed
him
on
the
verge
of
losing
control.
Was she having
that affect on him?
He
was
certainly
having
that
affect
on her. She struggled to stay
present.

His
eyes
closed
and
then
he
churned
in
and
out
of
her
as
if
he
were
racing
against
life
and
death.
She
gripped
him
like
a
vise
for
fear that he might die, and then she
disintegrated.

A
few
minutes
later,
Daisy
tried
to
reconstruct
what
had
happened.
There
had
been
little
warning.
Not
at
all
what
she’d
expected.
She
was
there,
and
then
she
wasn’t.
She
was
whole,
and
then
she’d
shattered
into
a
million
fragments
of
light.
Somehow
their
bodies
remained
entwined
as
they
lay
side
by
side.
His
arms
held
her
tight.
He
was
still
inside,
but
had
softened.
He
must
have
climaxed,
but
she
sure
didn’t
know
when.

God,
she
was
warm
and
tingly
all
over.
Couldn’t
they
just
stay
like
this
forever?
Maybe
they
should
have
died
in
ecstasy.
How
did
you
go
back
to
the
way
things
were?

His
tongue
traced
her
jaw
line.

She
smiled.
She
pried
her
eyes
open.
He
looked
nearly
as
satisfied
as
she
felt.
Maybe
they
never
would
move
again.

“Are
you
okay?”

“I’m
fantastic,”
Daisy
whispered.
“How
are
you?”

Nick
smiled.
“Feeling
younger
by
the
minute.
It may be time for some wine. And
then
we’ll
see
what
else
might
happen.
Just stay here, I’ll pour the wine.”

Daisy
accepted
the
wine
he
offered
and
sipped
it.
She
didn’t
like
beer,
but
she
did
have
a
taste
for
wine.
Cassie
had
given
her
some
from time to time. Daisy blinked.
What
would
Cassie
say
if
she
saw
her
now?
Daisy
blushed.

“It
doesn’t
make
any
difference
to
me,”
Nick
began,
running
his
fingers
lightly
down
her arm. “This
was terrific, but why the charade?”

Daisy
frowned.
“What
do
you
mean?”

“The
virgin
act.
There
was
no
hymen
to
break.
You’re
not
bleeding.”

“Oh,
I
forgot,”
she
said,
idly
pulling
the
sheet
up to her throat. “I took care
of that
with
a
wine
bottle
when
I
was
eleven.”
She
flinched as she saw
the
horror
sweeping
across
Nick’s
face.
“My
grandmother
repeatedly
warned
me
about
being
raped.
Where
we
lived,
young
girls
lost
their
virginity
early,
one
way or
another. I didn’t want to give it
to
a rapist, so I took it myself. Figured if
I
got
raped,
it
would
hurt
less
if
I
wasn’t
still
a
virgin.”

“Jesus
H.
Christ,”
Nick
swore,
cuddling her
to
him
and
kissing
her
forehead
and
eyelids warmly. “I’m so sorry.”

She
broke
away.
“It
doesn’t
matter,”
she
said,
pulling
her
knees
to
her
chest
and
clasping
them
tight,
wishing
the
tears
streaming
down
her
face
weren’t
telling
a
different story. “At least this—what we
just shared—matters more. It’s more than I
had
ever
dreamed.”

“Sounds
like
you
dreamed
about
it
a
lot.”

She
smiled.
“I
suppose
so.
Not
many
girls
who
live
in
group
homes
are
asked
to
proms. I refused to
be easy; my
grandmother
wouldn’t
have
liked
that
at
all.
She
drummed
words
of
wisdom
into
my
head.
What
you’ve
got
between
your
legs
is
your
most
prized
treasure.
Cherish
it
and
use
it well. Don’t give it away to just
anybody
who
thinks
he’s
a
man.”