My hands fisted and I fought the urge not to lose my shit at that fucked-up statement. My bitch was twenty-four and had never been kissed because of some bullshit, made-up excuse she believed. If I could dig up that bearded fucker and kill him again, I would… repeatedly.

“I have observed Styx and Mae doing it often.” Her lashes fluttered as she looked up at me again. “It seems… nice… intimate.”

Stroking a strand of hair from her face, I left my hand on the side of her head and pulled her close, her breath hardening, chest panting. “Ky…” she said, panicked.

“No talking, baby,” I whispered as my lips closed in on hers. “I’m gonna kiss you now and I’m gonna show you how fuckin’ good it feels. Yeah?”

I caught Lilah’s sharp intake of breath just as my lips brushed against hers. Her full lips were tight and unmoving at first, but when I ran the tip of my tongue along the seam, a groan ripped from her throat and her hand fisted my hair. As Lilah instinctively opened her mouth, my kiss became firmer and my tongue played against hers, our need growing more desperate. She tasted as sweet as honey that had been dipped in vanilla.

Fuck, her scent and taste was driving me insane.

I broke away on a gasp as my cock throbbed and Lilah’s eyes slowly opened. I froze waiting for what she was about to say, then her tongue ran along her bottom lip as she stared at mine and she whispered, “I did not know… It was…”

I smiled at Lilah as she couldn’t form her words, and her face suddenly became nervous. “What, baby?”

“Did…did you like it? Did I do it correctly?”

Dipping forward, I pressed my forehead to her forehead. “You couldn’t fuck up if you tried with those perfect fat lips.”

I trailed my lips down her cheek, and Lilah wrapped her hands in my hair, pulling me back down to her mouth. She was more sure of herself this time, her lips pushing against mine, her tits brushing against my chest.

But then her tongue pushed back in my mouth and met mine and I pulled back. “Lilah,” I rasped with a tense jaw. “If we ain’t gonna fuck, I need you to stop, baby.”

Lilah snapped away her hands from my hair like they caught fire and I dropped my head to her chest, trying to rein myself in. Her vanilla smell weren’t helping one damn bit.

“I am sorry, Ky. I—”

Sliding to the side of Lilah, I said, “Don’t fuckin’ dare, woman. Don’t apologize. That was fuckin’ amazing.”

Reaching over Lilah’s rigid body, I flicked off the lamp beside the bed and moved back to my side. I wrapped my hand around Lilah’s waist and brought her into my chest.

“Ky! What—”

“You may not wanna fuck me yet, baby, but you let me touch you, have your mouth on mine and now I ain’t ever gonna stop touching you, kissing you. Yeah?”

“Okay,” Lilah said, feigning a defeated sigh. I smiled into her long hair, my nose nuzzling into the long strands and my hand around her waist, ironclad as I kissed along her exposed neck.

Lilah’s hand lay on top of mine, and I felt her body relax.

I closed my eyes, the most comfortable I’d ever been in my life, when another gust of vanilla filled my nostrils. “You always smell of vanilla.”

“Does it please you?” she asked nervously.

“I fuckin’ love it.” Lilah’s finger started tracing patterns on the back of my hand. “Why do you always smell of vanilla?”

Lilah’s hand stopped, and I knew I’d asked the wrong question. “We were… to always be free of hair and anointed with vanilla oil. The cursed had to be pure. We had to be as clean as possible to be taken by the elders. It is a routine, a habit I cannot break. I’m always striving to be as pure as possible.”

Yeah. I wished I’d never asked.

Pulling Lilah closer into my chest, I pressed another kiss into her hair and said, “Sleep, baby.”

Silence filled the room until she said, “Thank you, Ky… for everything…”

Fuck.

*****

Lilah

The rising sun broke through the darkness of the room, and I had to blink several times to gather my bearings. Wooden walls, plaid linen… strong arm wrapped around my waist.

Ky’s ranch.

Feeling my heart swell at Ky holding me in his arms, I rolled over very carefully and studied his sleeping face.

He was so beautiful.

Things had changed for me so drastically in regards to this man. My feelings were so strong that I almost could not stand it. He was becoming the center of my world.

He was completely changing my life.

For the first time in my life, when I was with Ky, I did not feel like Delilah, a Cursed sister of Eve, just plain Lilah… an ordinary girl who had finally been kissed by a boy.

Seeing the room turn from the dark blue of the night to the orange glow of the dawn, I slid from underneath his arm, pressed a soft kiss against his slightly parted lip, feeling a full force of butterflies in my stomach and made my way out of the door, down the stairs, and onto the cabin’s wraparound porch. I took a seat on a wooden rocking chair and sighed at the blissful ambience.

The morning air was crisp, the birds were singing in the trees, and the sun was rising in the east. It was beautiful out here. I could sit here for hours just watching the Lord’s creation showcased at its best.

“Morning, Lilah!” Elysia’s voice called out from over the field, and I saw her walking back toward me from the stables, denim pants on her legs and a plaid shirt on top. I jumped up from my chair, embarrassed that I had not dressed. I hadn’t expected anyone to be up yet and was shamed that I looked so unkempt.

Elysia jumped onto the porch and dropped a bunch of ropes she was holding. “Hell, girl, sit down.” Elysia gestured, and doing as she said, I sat back down on the rocking chair.

Elysia sat next to me. “I didn’t expect to see you guys until later on.”

“I always rise at dawn. I have done so all my life and it is a habit I have yet to break. Plus, I love watching the sunrise and listening to the birds. It always makes me feel better.”

Elysia smiled. “I’m the same, girl. But I gotta foal born a couple’a days ago, so I’m getting up all times of the night.”

I watched Elysia and wondered why Ky had not mentioned he had a sister before. She must be around my age, twenty-four, possibly younger, and she lived out here alone? Elysia caught me staring, and I dipped my head with embarrassment.