breath tickled her skin. Her chin lifted as a sudden wave of desire rose through her at the thought of that scorching breath trailing, very slowly, all over her body.
What do you want from him, Susana ?
Do you want to give up your powers? Do you want to give yourself to this man—just for one night—and wake up an ordinary girl?
Her gifts were not merely an entertaining talent; they were her livelihood. She didn’t know how to do anything else. Her hand slid back to her side.
But the mattress tilted her toward Joe as he eased his weight along it, closing the distance between them.
Susana knelt on top of the sheets, in the same position she’d sprung to when she realized he was there. As he shifted closer, his knee bumped softly against her thigh.
She could see the gleam of his smile in the darkness. She smiled back.
He’d broken into her locked room. Who did that but a thief? He’d come to steal something from her, something he didn’t even know he had the power to take.
But he knew she was a virgin. She could see that.
Her lack of sexual experience had always been a badge of pride she’d worn, a symbol of her apartness. You are special , her grandmother had said. Not like those other girls . She’d held her head high as they’d snickered behind their hands.
One by one the girls she’d grown up with had gotten married. By the time she was twenty-one she was the only girl in the extended family who had no man of her own.
Now she was the only one who lived alone.
Which was not a natural state of affairs for a gypsy.
Joe’s callused palms grazed her skin as they slid down the sides of her torso to ring her slender waist. She held her breath as his fingertips drifted over the soft flesh of her belly, causing a tremor inside her empty womb.
Don’t you ever want to have a baby ? her girl cousins had asked, eyes wide with astonishment.
No .
And she’d always meant it when her grandmother was alive, assuring her of the paramount importance of developing her third eye, the life of the mind supplanting the life of the body.
Joe’s hand slid lower, fingertips diving into the dark shadow of hair between her legs. Susana gasped. Little quakes of sensation shivered at the base of her thighs, sticky heat gathering between her legs.
Don’t you want to make love with a man ? they’d asked.
No , she’d always said.
Joe leaned forward, and her eyes slid shut as his mouth closed over hers in a hot, hungry kiss that stole her breath.
Yes .
Her nerves crackled with the strange and frightening response.
She wanted to give herself to Joe. A man who came with no promises, no assurances, no marriage contract. A man who demanded no dowry, no proud unbroken lineage, no lifetime of faithful bondage.
Joe pulled back, leaving her breathless, and her eyes sprang open. Heat shimmered between them as his face hovered only inches from hers in the darkness.
Instinctively, her arms rose from her sides and snaked around his neck, pulling him to her. Her fingers probed into his thick dark hair, relishing the coarse texture of it. She lifted her face to his unshaved cheek, enjoying its rough surface, teasing and pricking her lips over the unfamiliar masculine edge of his cheekbone.
Her breath came in shallow gasps, her body so stoked with desire she thought it might burst into flame at any second.
Joe’s big hands cupped her buttocks, raising her up, unsettling her and threatening to topple her onto him.
As he lifted her, one hand slid between her legs, into the moist warmth. Her mouth fell open and a soft moan hung in the air between them as a thick finger penetrated the wetness, filling her.
Shuddering, she felt herself already losing control. Muscles seized, already pulsing in an urgent rhythm as she fell onto him, clinging, her breath lost against his rough, musky skin.
And even as her body quivered with fierce aftershocks the questions rang in her mind.
Does it count ? Am I no longer a virgin ?
Eyes squeezed
What do you want from him, Susana ?
Do you want to give up your powers? Do you want to give yourself to this man—just for one night—and wake up an ordinary girl?
Her gifts were not merely an entertaining talent; they were her livelihood. She didn’t know how to do anything else. Her hand slid back to her side.
But the mattress tilted her toward Joe as he eased his weight along it, closing the distance between them.
Susana knelt on top of the sheets, in the same position she’d sprung to when she realized he was there. As he shifted closer, his knee bumped softly against her thigh.
She could see the gleam of his smile in the darkness. She smiled back.
He’d broken into her locked room. Who did that but a thief? He’d come to steal something from her, something he didn’t even know he had the power to take.
But he knew she was a virgin. She could see that.
Her lack of sexual experience had always been a badge of pride she’d worn, a symbol of her apartness. You are special , her grandmother had said. Not like those other girls . She’d held her head high as they’d snickered behind their hands.
One by one the girls she’d grown up with had gotten married. By the time she was twenty-one she was the only girl in the extended family who had no man of her own.
Now she was the only one who lived alone.
Which was not a natural state of affairs for a gypsy.
Joe’s callused palms grazed her skin as they slid down the sides of her torso to ring her slender waist. She held her breath as his fingertips drifted over the soft flesh of her belly, causing a tremor inside her empty womb.
Don’t you ever want to have a baby ? her girl cousins had asked, eyes wide with astonishment.
No .
And she’d always meant it when her grandmother was alive, assuring her of the paramount importance of developing her third eye, the life of the mind supplanting the life of the body.
Joe’s hand slid lower, fingertips diving into the dark shadow of hair between her legs. Susana gasped. Little quakes of sensation shivered at the base of her thighs, sticky heat gathering between her legs.
Don’t you want to make love with a man ? they’d asked.
No , she’d always said.
Joe leaned forward, and her eyes slid shut as his mouth closed over hers in a hot, hungry kiss that stole her breath.
Yes .
Her nerves crackled with the strange and frightening response.
She wanted to give herself to Joe. A man who came with no promises, no assurances, no marriage contract. A man who demanded no dowry, no proud unbroken lineage, no lifetime of faithful bondage.
Joe pulled back, leaving her breathless, and her eyes sprang open. Heat shimmered between them as his face hovered only inches from hers in the darkness.
Instinctively, her arms rose from her sides and snaked around his neck, pulling him to her. Her fingers probed into his thick dark hair, relishing the coarse texture of it. She lifted her face to his unshaved cheek, enjoying its rough surface, teasing and pricking her lips over the unfamiliar masculine edge of his cheekbone.
Her breath came in shallow gasps, her body so stoked with desire she thought it might burst into flame at any second.
Joe’s big hands cupped her buttocks, raising her up, unsettling her and threatening to topple her onto him.
As he lifted her, one hand slid between her legs, into the moist warmth. Her mouth fell open and a soft moan hung in the air between them as a thick finger penetrated the wetness, filling her.
Shuddering, she felt herself already losing control. Muscles seized, already pulsing in an urgent rhythm as she fell onto him, clinging, her breath lost against his rough, musky skin.
And even as her body quivered with fierce aftershocks the questions rang in her mind.
Does it count ? Am I no longer a virgin ?
Eyes squeezed
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