Page 33 of Sire

I open my mouth to tell her, but my gaze falls on her lips. Lush, soft, pink lips. I suspect they’ve never been kissed, and I can’t.

“You’re too young to know.”

She braces her fists against the countertop, her shoulders drawing up. Like a young lioness, she practically growls, looking ready to pounce and rip my throat open.

Fuck, I’m falling.

“We had this fight last night, and I won,” she says. “I’m a virgin, but not innocent.I’mold enough to know the difference. Areyou?”

“Why are you still a virgin? Are you waiting for marriage?”

Her gaze burns into mine. “No, I’ve been waiting for a man I can trust. I’ve been waiting foryou. And you feel it, too. I know you do. God. Fate. Destiny. Whatever you want to call it, it put us together.”

“You’re too young to know your fate. How can you be so sure?”

“Joan of Arc was seventeen when she led the French army to victory. She was my age, nineteen, when she was burned at the stake, and she’s a saint now. You want to tell me she was too young? That she wasn’t sure God had a plan for her?”

Damn, I don’t know yet who hurt her, but I won’t be like him. I won’t be like any man who’s preyed on her.

I’ll protect her.

She’s right.

God’s telling me to do it.

“Wren, you can trust me, and goddamn, I’m honoredyou’re asking me. You’re brave, but you don’t want me to be your first.”

“You’re right.” She rests her chin in her palm. “I want you to be my whole lot of times, too.”

Dick firmly agrees. He’s aching to take care of her, but my mind argues. “You can’t know that. You need more experience with a guy your age.”

She smirks. “A guy my age who lives with his parents, plays video games all day, jerks off all night, and then wants to mansplain how, in his sheltered world, he knows more about life than me? No, thanks. I’d rather experience death by masturbation. Which, by the way, I heard you again last night.”

I suppress a laugh because it’s maddening how right she is, how wrong this is supposed to be, and how refreshing it feels that we can talk about it.

“So when I jerk off or mansplain, it doesn’t bother you?”

“No. It turns me on because I know you’ve had sex, I bet you’re good at it, and you’ve lived a lot more than me. You’re a grown-ass man, but I’ve lived, too. Way too much for my age, actually, so let meshesplain...”

She leans even closer. I can see the smart wheels turning behind her eyes. I can feel the chains holding me back, snapping free.

“You’ve met your match, gangster, and yes, I’mmuchyounger than you.” She narrows her mesmerizing eyes. “So, tell me. Areyoumature enough to handle it?”

CHAPTER SEVEN

WREN

He smirks back,slanting his eyes like a predator.

It makes my knees knock. If I didn’t know better, I’d say Sire is going to attack me.

But I do know better; I trust him. I’m not afraid when he probes, “Areyouwoman enough to handle my answer?”

“Yes.”

He licks his lips. “You sure, little angel, because I’m the devil in bed?”

My pulse may be revving faster than a doe being chased, but my feet won’t move.