A week ago, if someone asked her if she was ready to lose her virginity, she would have laughed and said no. She wasn’t a prude. She did other stuff. Plenty of stuff, in fact. She didn’t begrudge girls like Veronica who took charge of their sexuality. They knew what they were doing and made their own choices, just as she made hers. Ash was a wild kid, she knew that about herself, but she also knew she wasn’t ready to make that particular leap.

  Until that night, apparently. Until Sam.

  It wasn’t like it would have been with Randy. It wasn’t just about breaking the curse.

  Okay, the whole coma thing provided a little urgency to the situation, but even without the curse, she was confident she and Sam would have been popping each other’s cherries sooner or later. It just so happened that it was sooner.

  Ash wasn’t sure if the drugs still lingered in her system or if Sam’s touch was just that arousing. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he’d had practice. But that wasn’t the case. They told each other everything, there was no way she wouldn’t know. Also, he did enough fumbling and apologizing that there was no way he’d done any of it before.

  “Is that too hard?” He sucked on her left nipple, running his rough tongue over it.

  The only response Ash could give was a deep moan. She hadn’t known she liked her breasts played with. Randy had access to them many times, but—typical guy—he always had his sights below the belt and spent little time above.

  Too bad, she decided when she could finally formulate a coherent thought between waves of pleasure. If he had, he might have gotten what he so desperately wanted. It was good Randy hadn’t. She didn’t want to share this moment with anyone but Sam.

  The scene beyond the open curtains was like a ticking clock, a countdown to zero hour when their lives would change forever. She couldn’t shake the feeling they were being watched. There was a cloud of anticipation in the air like it wasn’t just her and Sam in the room, like the whole town had been waiting for this moment. In a way, she guessed it had been; people had always said she and Sam would make a good couple. She chalked the feeling up to nerves and pushed the worries away. Sam’s wet, rough tongue slid across her nipple again, and she bit her lip to keep from crying out.

  “Jesus, Sam,” she gasped, “you’ve been holding out on me.”

  His mouth broke free of her skin with a wet pop. “I was on the debate team freshman and sophomore years. I’ve always been good with my tongue.” He demonstrated with another caress of her nipple. “You could even call me a master debater.”

  She groaned. “Fewer puns, more tongue," she said, putting her hands on top of his head and pushing him down her body.

  “Yes, ma’am.” He answered between kisses, working his way down her sternum, over her stomach…and kept going.

  “Oh! Oh, yeah. Yep, more of that. Lots more of that.” Her toes curled. Five of the most euphoric minutes of her life later, she experienced her first orgasm with another person. Randy had technically been there for her first, but she'd done most of the work.

  Now, it’s my turn. A grin stretched her lips, and she wasn’t sure who was more excited, her or Sam.

  She felt a thrill of power as she nudged Sam back onto the bed, her heart pounding with a mix of anticipation and nervousness. As he lay back, his eyes met hers, filled with a combination of trust and hunger that made her stomach flutter. She leaned over, kissing him deeply, savoring the warmth of his lips. Her fingers trailed down his chest, feeling the definition of his muscles beneath her touch—chiseled and lean, a body she had seen countless times but never quite like this. Her mouth explored his neck and collarbone. His skin tasted faintly salty, a hint of the sweat and the heat of the moment, grounding her in the reality of what was happening.

  Ash’s eyes roamed over his chest, appreciating the way his abs tensed as her fingers explored. She felt a surge of excitement at how vulnerable he looked laying on his back, watching her as she explored his body. She loved the way his body reacted to her, the little shudders and the way his breath caught as she moved lower. She pressed gentle kisses along his sternum, down to his abdomen, her lips brushing over each ridge of muscle.

  As she moved below his navel, her heart raced. Nervousness bubbled within her, but it was coupled with an electric excitement, an eagerness to continue, to make him feel as good as he had made her feel. She could feel his eyes on her and it made her both self-conscious and exhilarated. She wanted to do this for him, to show him how much she cared, and the weight of that realization hit her as she kissed the sensitive skin just above his hipbone. While Ash was a virgin, she'd given head before. But those times had never felt like this. They were detached, almost mechanical, more about obligation than genuine connection. Transactional.

  She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath, letting the feeling of nervous excitement wash over her before she continued downward, her hands steady as they found their place on his hips.

  Ash kneeled between Sam's legs and ran her hands down his thighs. She giggled feeling him squirm under her touch. With one more steadying breath, her eyes roamed down his body, and the breath she'd just taken whooshed out of her. She'd known Sam was bigger than average even before he'd taken his clothes off, but being up close, eye-to-eye with it, so to speak...was another thing entirely.

  When she wrapped her hand around the base she had to squeeze to get her fingers to touch. She could feel his blood pumping and her own heart beat in time. "Fuuuuck...." she whispered, not realizing she'd said it until Sam responded.

  "You don't have to...you know. Not if you don't want to."

  Bless his heart, the guy was serious. Despite the fact she could feel him getting harder by the second, he was giving her the opportunity to change her mind.

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  She shot him a look she hoped communicated shut the fuck up, I got this and returned her attention down below, silently telling herself the same thing.

  Fully hard now, Sam's cock loomed like Sauron's tower, and just as menacing. Ash licked her lips and bent forward. Just before her lips touched it, she breathed out, her hot breath caressing Sam's skin. When she took the tip into her mouth, she glanced up in time to see Sam's eyes flutter close.

  Not entirely sure what to do next, she approached the act with a mix of curiosity and determination, wrapping her lips around him while trying different motions with her tongue, occasionally glancing up to gauge his reaction. Her hands gripped his base, working in tandem with her mouth, giving her something to do as she tried to remember tips from articles she’d read.

  Her gag reflex stopped her from taking more than a few inches, and her cheeks burned with embarrassment each time she tried and failed to take him deeper. His soft moans reassured her, urging her to keep going and letting her know he didn't mind at all that she couldn’t take all of him in her mouth. She gagged going to the dentist, so there was no way she’d be able to deep-throat him.

  Not without lots of practice, at least, the devil on her shoulder whispered with a throaty chuckle.

  Ash never spent much time pondering blowjob technique. It was clumsy at first and she was surprised at how much saliva there was, but she found a rhythm, his quiet groans and the way his fingers brushed against her hair speaking volumes.

  He didn’t seem disappointed with her performance a few minutes later when she was spitting out the result of her efforts.

  “Wow. That was…amazing.” He pulled her up beside him so he could wrap his arm around her.

  Wiping her mouth on her discarded shirt, she leaned in and gave him a kiss. “You realize you’ll have to give up your medal for stopping mid-blowjob.”

  “Worth it.” He kissed her again. She snuggled into him and they spent a few minutes in blissful silence.

  When she finally broke the silence, there was more than a little eagerness in her voice. “You know... I don’t think this is what the painting meant when it said ‘cleave.’”

  She could practically hear the grin in his voice. “Give me a few minutes, and we’ll see what we can do about that.”

  “Just a few minutes?” Sam nodded. “What ever will we do until then?”

  “I can think of a few things…” He pushed her onto her back and rolled on top of her.

  It took longer than a few minutes for them to finally get to it. Sam may have been ready after a few minutes, but she wasn’t about to let him move on until he finished what he started.

  They slowed down afterward, not only because of the weight of what was at stake, but because Sam kept pausing to make sure she was comfortable.

  “Everything okay?” he asked repeatedly, followed by, “Are you sure you're okay?”

  It was sweet, truly, but by the third time, her appreciation was overtaken by impatience. She decided to take charge and show him she was more than ready, grabbing him by the balls—literally—and making her intentions crystal clear.

  It turned out all those fashion magazines were right. Communication during sex really was important.

  Not wearing a condom went against everything their parents and teachers taught them, but the last thing they wanted was to violate the unspoken terms of the "blessing" due to a technicality.

  She reveled in the sensation of Sam inside her, her body trembling with anticipation and desire. At first, their motions were awkward, both of them inexperienced, fumbling through unfamiliar territory. But as they explored one another, their movements became less hurried, more fluid, their bodies finding a rhythm that fit them perfectly. The looming sense of doom that had hung over them dissipated, replaced by something raw and beautiful, an urgency driven by the need to be close rather than fear.

  Sam eventually found his stride, and his attention drifted back to her breasts, his rhythm unbroken. Ash let out a breathless laugh, her mind supplying a cheeky thought: Yep, he's definitely a boob man. But it wasn't just physical—each caress felt like a promise, each touch filled with affection.

  She decided to return the favor, reaching down and giving his balls a squeeze. His reaction was instant—a loud, guttural moan that sent vibrations through her, making her gasp. His cock stiffened inside her, his breaths becoming more frantic, and she couldn't hold back any longer. The pleasure hit her all at once, a wave of ecstasy that left her gasping, her body shaking in release. Even as she came, Sam continued, his pace slowing as he looked at her, his gaze filled with such tenderness that her heart swelled. She felt like she might melt under that look, the connection between them deeper than anything she’d ever imagined.

  “You didn’t come?”

  With a mischievous grin, he shook his head. “Nah, I pre-gamed while you slept. I'm not done yet.”

  “Pre-gamed? Samael Phillips Dyer did you expect to get lucky tonight?” She laughed, not knowing whether she was impressed or shocked at his presumption.

  He kissed her neck, and when her eyes fluttered shut at the sensation, he slid himself completely inside her. A post-orgasm shiver coursed through her body, and she gasped.

  "Disappointed?" He spoke with a teasing lilt, his voice full of playful challenge.

  Ash bit her lip, shaking her head slowly, trying to catch her breath. "Sam Dyer..." She had to pause, her lungs struggling to keep up. "You were a lot less cocky before I popped your cherry."

  He grinned, unable to resist a quip. "Funny, I could say the same about you," he said, giving a playful wiggle of his hips that sent a thrill of electricity through her.

  She growled, mostly at the terrible pun, but also because of the sensation that rippled through her. "Shut up and get back to work."

  "Yes, ma'am." A sheepish grin tugged at his lips. He hesitated for just a moment before adding, "Do you... wanna try it from behind?"

  The answer, as it turned out, was a resounding yes. Over the next twenty minutes, she found herself saying—and screaming—that word repeatedly. The second—or was it the third?—time Sam took her from behind, her hands clung tightly to the cold steel rods of her bed’s footboard, her gaze drifting to the painting hanging on the wall.

  The two lovers in the painting embraced each other, their bodies intertwined like the twisting branches of the tree above them. Ash couldn't believe she ever imagined that could be her and Randy. Sure, he was always eager to fuck, but she doubted he had it in him to hold someone with such tenderness as the man in the painting did.

  With a shake of her head, Ash forced Randy from her thoughts. She focused on Sam, pushing him onto his back before straddling him, her gaze lingering on the painting as she started to rock her hips. The position freed Sam's hands to roam her body, one finding her breast while the other slipped between her legs and began to rub, making her shiver with pleasure. Heat began to build inside her, an undeniable urgency growing stronger.

  Sam let out a moan, his focus slipping as pleasure overwhelmed him. Ash tried her best to hold back, to delay the climax as long as possible, but it was a losing battle. Her nails dug into his chest, each movement pushing them closer to the edge. He didn’t seem to mind the pain—if anything, it spurred him on. His hands gripped her hips tightly, pulling her down harder. Her ass ground into his thighs and for the first time, Sam bottomed out inside her. It was overwhelming—almost too much, like a feast she couldn't stop devouring. Ash wanted it all, but she couldn't hold back the cresting wave any longer, her body surrendering to the pleasure.