He froze, and then his mouth twitched as though he couldn’t decide whether to laugh or to roar some more. The smile won out. “My cock works fine.” He pecked my lips. “But we don’t have protection.”
Before he could put me down, I did something completely reckless, which I supposed fit the girl I’d become. I slid my hand between our heaving chests and wrapped my fingers around him.
His breath caught. Held. And so did our eyes.
“Wouldn’t be the first time we behaved irresponsibly, now would it?” I kissed the corner of his mouth and stroked him, marveling at his silkiness and bulk, reveling in his ramping breaths. “But you don’t need to worry. I had a shot a few months ago. It lasts two years.” I didn’t explain that it was because I had weird cycles and not because I was sexually active, although I did wonder if Nima suggested it for the latter.
The exhale that escaped him was so substantial Giya had probably felt its tailwind. “Thank fuck.” His fingers crimped my ass, lifting me a little higher, until we were so perfectly aligned that when he lowered me back down, he slid right in. Well, the tip of him did; the rest of him encountered resistance that made him gasp my name, and not in a sexy, throaty way, but in a shocked and slightly horrified way.
I shut my eyes. Not so much because I was embarrassed, but because I was in pain, and I didn’t want him to freak and pull out. When he didn’t push in any farther, I rocked my hips, bearing down on him.
He hissed. So did I. Most probably not for the same reasons.
Sweat broke out over my upper lip. I licked it off.
“This was your first time?” His tone was full of something—regret, reproach. Definitely not smugness.
I opened my eyes to ascertain his mood: not happy. His jaw was getting a full workout from how unhappy he was.
Before my next breath, he pulled out and set me down.
Heat glided down my inner thigh. And then heat glided down my cheeks. I closed my eyes again, floundering in how very awkward it had all gotten.
His hands came up to my face, gentle and trembling. “Look at me, Trifecta.”
I lifted my lids, sent him a death glare. “What?”
His brows drew together. “Whoa there.”
I turned my face to the side. Well tried to anyway. Only my eyeballs managed to move.
His thumbs dragged across my cheekbones, skipping over the bruised skin. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I assumed you knew.”
“How could I have known?” His eyebrows slanted some more. “More importantly, though, why are you mad?”
“You looked horrified.”
He snorted. “That was most definitely not horror, baby. Shock and worry, but trust me, zero horror.”
“Then why did you stop?”
“Because your first time shouldn’t be against a wall in a cave that smells of wet fur when you’re feeling so emotional.”
“I don’t care about the how or the where. All I care about . . . all I’ve ever cared about is the who.”
“I’d ask if you’re certain you want me to be that person, but it’s a little late now.” His arms came around me and towed my stiff body into his. “I know it sounds pretentious, then again I am a pretentious ass, right . . .?”
My snort was muffled by his satiny skin.
“But thank you for giving me that honor.”
I rolled my eyes behind my lids.
“Now, let’s start over,” he said, pulling away from me.
“I’m pretty sure we can’t.” I gestured to the trickle of blood on my calf.
Remo towed me toward the laid-out pelts. “What I meant was, let’s try this again. Let me make this . . . better.” He let go of my hand, walked over to our balled T-shirts, picked one up at random, then returned to me. Before I could figure what he planned on doing with it, he crouched and wiped the blood off my leg before tossing it aside.
“I liked it, Remo.” Sure the stabbing pain had put a tiny damper on how much I’d liked it, but the fact remained that I’d enjoyed the brief fullness, the quick slip and slide of flesh, the hiss of pleasure that had fallen from his lips. “You sounded like you liked it, too. Well, until . . .” I nibbled on the inside of my mouth.