The Firefighter and the Virgin Princess (6 page)

"About being a goddamned virgin,
Princess."

She sipped her juice. "I didn't say I was a
Virgin Princess. Just a virgin." There was a little twitch of a
smile and she blinked, her dark lashes flickering sensuously
against her cheeks.

Joe shifted on the vinyl seat, feeling his
prick get hard. On a Sunday morning? His ma would never forgive him
for an erection on Sunday.

"I've been busy," Lily added quietly. "As
you know, I don't date. The opportunity to lose my virginity,
therefore, never arose."

He didn't know what to say. For the first
time, possibly, in thirty fucking years, he had no words. She was
the only person he knew who said things like "therefore" and
"arose" and "circuitous" in sentences.

She was wiping up a spilled drop of his hot
chocolate from the table top with her neatly folded napkin. "Since
you appear to be interested, Lieutenant Rossini, and if you have
nothing else on your schedule this morning, perhaps we could do it
now."

"Now?"

"Once you've digested your breakfast, of
course."

Joe looked over both shoulders, just to be
sure his brother and the guys from the firehouse weren't sitting in
the booth behind, laughing their asses off. "You got this all
planned, Lily Keene?"

"No. Actually I hadn't planned it at all.
But the thought just occurred to me. I have no class this morning,
no rehearsal until this afternoon. Perhaps this is an opportunity I
should take."

"Great." He threw out his arms. "Ain't I
lucky? So you can fit me in."

She hesitated. "Is that a pun?"

He didn't know what the hell to do. It was
true he did want her. But it wasn't supposed to be like this, was
it? In the old days, Joe would probably have taken her up on the
offer, no questions asked. She was hot— damn hot— and he was primed
at the pump. Why not?

Trouble was, he'd never had a virgin
before.

This would be a first for him too.

"How old did you say you were?" he asked.
She looked young. Her face, as far as he could tell, was free of
make-up, and despite her poise there was a certain naiveté in her
satiny gaze, an innocent wonder. Hey, it might not be polite to ask
a lady her age outright, but since she was being blunt...

"Twenty-two."

"And never been fucked?"

"Correct."

He hesitated, screwing the napkin tighter in
his fist, looking out at the snow. "But you just decided on me.
Why? We've established that I'm attracted to you, but I thought you
didn't even like me. You said you were humoring me."

She seemed to consider this for a moment,
stirring her yoghurt. "But I like your hands," she said finally,
almost shyly.

Joe wanted to laugh. He wanted to laugh loud
and long. It was all so weird.

Yet he knew, as soon as he saw her in the
street in her splashed coat, that she was something special. That
he wanted her in his life, and he wanted to be in hers. Most of
all, he wanted to take the tears out of her blue eyes and make her
smile.

He leaned over the table. "You'd better
admit you like me, Princess. C'mon, there's something about me that
turns you on, right?"

"I told you. Your hands. I want to feel your
hands," she paused to lick her lips again, "on me. All over me. As
soon as possible."

Little miss prissy-pants was playing with
him. She had to be. So he'd call her bluff.

He finished chewing his last bite of bagel.
"Okay. Let's go now."

"Go where?"

"Your place."

"I can't go there," she exclaimed hurriedly.
"I have a roommate. And it's a really small place with thin
walls."

Uh huh
. Just as he thought. "Okay. Then come back to Staten Island
with me."

"Too far. I might change my mind before we
get there."

He laughed curtly. "You might change your
mind?"

"The journey will take too long."

He shook his head. "I don't wanna sleep with
a woman who's not sure about what she wants."

"That's okay, because we're not going to
sleep," she said firmly. "Let's get a hotel room."

Not only was she blunt, she was taking
charge. Maybe that was why he felt so unsure about this. Joe had
never given over control to a woman before, and he wasn't about to
start now.

But she had him knotted up like a pretzel
and he couldn't get unknotted.

* * * *

She had walked past this hotel before and
imagined that if the moment ever came to have sex with a man it
would be here. Why? Maybe it was the old-fashioned look of the
place, the "Georgian" facade and funny little lanterns by the door.
It just looked like the sort of place where people went for
clandestine affairs. If the tall office buildings and billboards on
either side were photo-shopped out, it could be a little bed and
breakfast in some European city such as those she'd seen through
bus windows when on tour with the company.

"I'll get the room," he said.

"No. Let me pay."

He refused. Even looked angry with her for
suggesting it.

The hotel was quiet, but of course it was
Sunday and the early hours. Dawn light hadn't yet crept over the
sky. She decided to save an argument and let him pay for the room.
Didn't want to draw attention.

In the elevator, making their way up to the
fourth floor, she stared at their reflection in the mirrored door
panel. It was rare for her to look in a mirror and not be
stretching or posing, leaping or spotting a turn. For once she was
still and a man was beside her. A man who slouched, ate with his
elbows on the table and talked with his mouth full. Her grandmother
would be appalled.

"Do you have protection?" she asked,
realizing suddenly that she should have mentioned it sooner.

"Fuck! I'll have to go out and get
some."

Apparently he wasn't thinking clearly
either.

They got to the room and then he left her
there while he went out in search of condoms. Lily took off her
clothes, folded them carefully, went to the bathroom, used some
mouthwash that she found in a mini bottle, and then leapt under the
covers to wait.

Abruptly it occurred to her that he might
not return. He might decide it was too strange, or that he didn't
fancy her after all. He might get on the ferry and go home to
Staten Island.

Rude
!

And here she was, wasting time on her fat
ass.

Lily got out of bed and started stretching,
moving on to plies and battements— forward, side and back. Might as
well kill time productively. She was feeling restless, the way she
used to feel. Excitement fizzed and sputtered through her
veins.

Outside the flimsy net curtains the sky was
lightening to grey and purple, but streetlights were still on. The
snow had stopped falling and innocent people wandered through the
slush in the street below, no idea she was about to lose her
virginity to a virtual stranger. How far would he have to search
for a condom? There must be a 24-hour pharmacy somewhere near.

She looked around the room, opening all the
drawers, hoping to find a magazine or something. Nope. Empty.

Couldn't figure out how to turn on the
TV.

Slid open the closet door. Roomy. A few coat
hangers— the kind that are attached and can't be removed from the
rail. Who were they kidding? Who would steal cheap coat
hangers?

What was that on the floor back there? Was
that a dollar bill? She stepped inside to check. Nope. Just a
receipt. Wow. Huge closet. The door seemed stuck, half off the
runners. She tugged it hard, trying to get it straight. It slid
shut with a bang, plunging her into darkness.

What the fuck?!

There was no handle on the inside, and her
fingernails weren't long enough to be of any use in prying the door
open from the tiny crack of light left.

Lily Keene, stark nekkid, was stuck in the
closet.

And he might not even come back.

Well, this was certainly turning out to be
an adventure.

* * * *

Joe entered the room and saw the bed sheets
rumpled, her clothes folded on a chair.

"Lily?" He peeped into the bathroom.

"I'm...er...I'm in here."

At least she didn't take off on him, he
thought with relief. "Where's here?" He looked around the empty
room.

He heard a deep sigh. "In the fucking
bedside cabinet. Where do you think?"

Smothering a chuckle, he went to the closet
and after a few careful tugs, slid the door smoothly open. "What
are you doing hiding in here? I guess the door jammed, huh? You
have to ease these babies open, 'cos if you force it they'll just
get stuck or come off the runner."

"Thanks for the lesson in cheap closet
doors." She was standing there naked, arms folded, hair loose over
her shoulders. "Where did you go, China?"

Apparently she wasn't afraid of the dark or
confined spaces. He knew a few women who would have screamed the
place down. Not this one.

"If you must know," she blushed, "I thought
I saw a dollar bill. Then the door shut and wouldn't open."

"Wow. I didn't think you were that hard up
for money, Princess." He chuckled.

She stepped out and
grabbed the bag of condoms from his hand. "Are you planning to
use
all
these?
We'd better get a move on. If you can stop laughing long
enough."

Christ, she was beautiful. And hairless from
the head down, he realized with surprise. Her breasts were fuller
than he thought, not large but perfectly shaped teardrops. Her
waist was narrow, her stomach flat and toned. Her pussy completely
smooth. And then, of course, there were those long, long legs.
Suddenly she shoved him back onto the bed.

"Hurry up, we've wasted enough time
already."

"Hey, wait a minute, Princess." He rolled
over so she was beneath him on the bed, her dark hair spilled
across the cover. "I'm in control here. You're the virgin,
remember?" He still wasn't sure she told him the truth about that.
A girl of twenty-two — and who looked like this one? Nah, it didn't
seem possible. "We haven't even kissed yet."

"Is that necessary?"

"Oh, yes." He quickly amended the oversight.
Her lips tasted of mint. They were soft, timidly yielding. "You
smell so damn good," he muttered.

She ran her hands over his shirt. "You smell
like pancakes."

He kissed her again, sliding his tongue into
her mouth, while she hooked her fingers under his shirt and pulled
it up. His cock was hard, aching with anticipation. It had been a
long time— since Donna. Hastily he thrust that thought aside, not
wanting anything to intrude on this stolen, surprising pleasure. No
thoughts of that bitch today.

He jerked as Lily's fingernails raked over
his nipples and one of her slender legs rubbed against his thigh.
Already his balls were tight and heavy. "Be careful, Princess, we
don't want this over with too quickly. I gotta take this slow. I
gotta savor you if you're really a virgin."

"Why? Don't be gentle. I'm not fragile. Fuck
me, Lieutenant. The way you want to. However you want to."

He grunted, kissed her neck, nibbled her
ear. Did she have any idea what those words did to a red-blooded
man this horny? "Call me Joe, for chrissakes, will ya?"

"Okay... Joe," she gasped, pulling on his
zipper to open his jeans. "Fuck me, Joe."

But she'd have to wait. Yeah, he'd make the
bossy Princess wait. Maybe he was the first one who ever did it his
way. So he kissed his way down her throat to her breasts. When his
lips touched her nipple she groaned and arched her spine. He licked
the little pink point, lapped around it and then sucked gently.

"No hair, huh?" He cupped her pussy with one
hand. "Your last boyfriend liked it this way?"

"No. It's for dancing," she replied
breathlessly as he stroked and teased her labia. "It's easier to
...be...streamlined...no lumps and bumps...aero...aerodynam—" He
put his mouth between her thighs and kissed her there. "—ic!"

Pushing her toned thighs wider apart, he
lapped at her wet cunt, lightly at first, then harder, firmer,
greedier. He loved the taste of her. Almond shower gel?

She writhed, wrapping her legs around him,
thrusting her sex at his mouth, totally uninhibited.

Virgin my ass, he mused.

Lifting his head, he watched her touching
her breasts, squirming and flushed as she neared her peak. He blew
on her sex and slipped a finger between her pretty, pouty folds,
pushing his way inside that warm honey pot. She sure was tight. His
cock started to ache with need to be inside her, and his sac felt
heavy.

"You want to return the favor,
Princess?"

She opened her eyes. They were so bright it
hurt him to look — like looking into the sun. "Yes?"

Joe jumped off the bed to remove his jeans
and boxers. His cock sprung gratefully free, arching upward in
search of that fine piece of pussy his brain had whispered
about.

"Oh, my god," she exclaimed, propped up on
her elbows. "Is that your penis?"

He laughed, scratching his head. "Er, yeah.
I hope it's mine."

"It's bigger than I envisioned," she said
solemnly.

"Right! You're gonna tell me you've never
even seen one."

"Of course I've seen one," she replied
haughtily, shaking her hair back over her shoulders, breasts
jutting upward enticingly, nipples puckered. "Just not up close. In
reality, so to speak."

"Princess, you say the oddest things." He
knelt on the bed so she could explore his erection, running her
hands over the pulsing veins, cupping his balls, stroking the
bulging head. He started to lose his breath, so he told her to lay
back and then he straddled her, holding his cock for her mouth.