Page 38 of Fairies Never Fall

“Hmm?” I open my eyes, but he doesn’t keep going. “Yeah?”

“What Bear said.” His nose brushes my collar. “Will you tell me how well I did?”

“Of course I will, sweets.” Prickles break out across my neck. “You were stunning. You always are. It’s a privilege to watch you. Just like I feel privileged to even be here, in this room, to be trusted by you.” My thumb moves restlessly. “Everyone in this world adores you, y’know? Not just because of the show. They know there’s something special about you.”

“But they don’tseeme.” His fingers trace the band logo on my t-shirt restlessly. “Not like you do.”

I put a hand over his. “That’s cause I’m an outsider. I don’t see all the layers of your world, I only see what’s in front of me.”

He pushes off me suddenly, letting the blanket fall. “What do you see? Tell me.”

His eyes are piercing.

I grip the back of the couch. Honesty is a bad idea, but he deserves it. “I see someone who’s scared, yet capable. Smart. Compassionate. Maybe a bit lost.”

Like me.

I hope.

He looms on his knees, his wings straight out behind him and unmoving. My heart hammers at my ribs. “What else?” he demands.

“Someone who’s elegant. Beautiful. And kind of, um.” I gulp. “Sexy.”

“What does itmean?” he hisses, leaning in.

My pulse does triple time. “What?”

“When my heart — does this.” He grabs my hand and presses it to his chest. “And my…"

He drags my hand down.

A bolt of lightning strikes me in the gut as the tips of my fingers graze something firm and distended. Heat bursts inside me. I reel.

“Lysander, are you…?” I croak, my voice strangled by sudden, fiery arousal. I’m one move away from throwing all my hesitations out the window. “I have to ask. Have you done any of this before?”

“Done what?” The frustration in his eyes is answer enough.

“Have you had sex,” I say bluntly. “Or hadanyexperiences.”

“I’m not fertile,” he says, mystifyingly, which doesn’t answer my question at all.

“Okay.” I ignore my cock, which is now an iron bar in my jeans. My nipples brush my t-shirt as I sit up, sending sparks down my spine, and I ignore that feeling, too. I don’t know anything about fairy anatomy, but these signals are blaring, no matter his species. “You’re a virgin.”

“Of course.”

I carefully consider how to word the question. “Do you want me to touch you? Now, or ever. It doesn’t have to be now.”

“Now,” Lysander chokes out immediately, his brow furrowing as if he’s in pain.

Shit, I’m in so far over my head.

I cup his jaw. “Alright. Now. But I’m not gonna go down on you before you’ve even had your first kiss. Is kissing okay?”

He nods silently, eyes huge. I draw him in slowly. My hands are shaking. It’s the gentlest kiss I’ve ever experienced — his lips are butterfly wings against mine, trembling, letting out tiny puffs of breath. I deepen the kiss, eyes closing without my permission as I sink into the softness of his mouth. My heart beats somewhere in the vicinity of my throat. Lysander makes a tiny noise.

My body tells me to pull him close and use my hands to get him off, hold his lithe form against me while I make him feel good. But the rest of me wants to show him the stars.

Reluctantly, I break the kiss and open my eyes. Lysander looks dazed again. His bottom lip glistens and his pupils are huge.

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