Page 92 of Fortune's Blade

“I’m gonna lose my shit,” he answered fervently, which I thought was a strange response. But then he grabbed me and kissed me again, and I forgot to care.

It was different this time, more urgent, as were the hands exploring my body. He seemed to find it pleasing, too, and was very thorough. Extremely thorough, I though, as several fingers slipped between my legs and—

“Oh,” I said in surprise, my eyes widening. “That was—that was very—what was that? Do that again!”

But Ray did not do that again. Instead, his whole body stilled, and the magic fingers were slowly withdrawn.

“What is it?” I asked again. And found him staring at me in shock and something else that I couldn’t define in those blue eyes.

He licked his lips, and when he spoke this time, it was very deliberate. “You’ve done this before, right?”

It took me a moment to focus on what he was saying, and even then, it didn’t make much sense. “What?”

“You’ve done this. You’ve . . . been with someone before. Right?”

He sounded like it was important, when it didn’t feel that way to me. “Yes, of course.”

I tried to pull his hand back, but he wouldn’t let me. “When?”

“What?”

“When was that?” he persisted.

I huffed in frustration. “I told you. Dory had encounters from time to time—”

“I wasn’t asking about Dory. I was asking about you.”

He seemed strangely intent, which was maddening under the circumstances. But I knew Ray. He wasn’t going to budge unless I took the time to answer this.

“Well, not me, of course. I mean, not as myself—”

“Of course?” It was his turn to look like something didn’t compute.

“It was her body,” I explained, as patiently as I could manage. “Even had I met someone during the rare times I was in control, it would have been . . . wrong . . . to act on it.”

“How? How would it have been wrong?” he demanded, looking at me a bit wildly.

“It never felt like my body. It wasn’t my body. I was just the parasite—”

“That isn’t what you were!”

“But it felt that way!” I was the one staring at him now. Why was he doing this? “You are ruining the mood,” I pointed out.

“I am? I am? You’re telling me you’re basically a virgin, and I—what the hell am I supposed to do now?”

I took his hand. “You were doing quite well before—”

He snatched it back. “I can’t perform like this!”

“You just were—”

“That’s before I knew!”

“Knew what?” I was starting to get really frustrated. “I have known many men—”

“No! No, you have not! Dory has known many men. You were an unwilling participant and I am seriously not okay with that—”

“I did not enjoy watching them,” I agreed. “But . . .”