Serpent's Touch (Serpent's Touch 1)

He stopped abruptly, then sank to his knees in front of me. Clasping his hands together, he dropped them into my lap.

“You’re right,” he said, looking down as if talking to his hands. “I should’ve known. I just never really stopped to think about it. There are men outside of the menagerie. One or two of them could’ve been appealing enough for you to—”

“Kyllen, I’m sorry, but what on earth are you talking about? No, there haven’t been any men for me—appealing or otherwise. You are the first one who has ever kissed me. And now—” I leaned forward and enclosed him into a hug, then quickly released him. “There, now you’re the only man I’ve ever hugged, other than Radax. When it comes to men, everything is for the first time for me.” I put my hands on his shoulders. “Do you think it’s a problem?”

I liked him. Very much. But if my inexperience bothered him, there was nothing I could do about it.

He lifted his head, enough for me to see his mouth. “I’ll tell you what it is. I’m seventy-eight years old—”

“You look good for your age,” I quipped, making him smile, which was the point.

“I’ve had many…encounters. Fae, in general, are pleasure-loving creatures. We don’t run away from it. I certainly never have.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to.” I held no illusions. Kyllen had lived in this world three times longer than I, and he’d be alive for centuries after I was gone. He didn’t pledge me his heart, just his care and protection. “I’m not asking you for anything more than what you’ve already given me. All I want is a friend I can trust.”

“Oh, but you see, I most definitely want more than just a friend in you, my sweet pea. Sooner or later, I’ll want more than just a kiss, too.”

My lips still tingled from his last kiss, but I already wouldn’t mind having another one. I was definitely not opposed to “more,” whatever he meant by that.

“Why is that a bad thing?” I asked softly, hoping that with his hood on, he wouldn’t notice my fervent blushing.

“Bad? No… I…” Kyllen obviously struggled for words, which I couldn’t recall him ever doing before. “Listen. Virginity is not something my people keep for long. There is no reason to hold on to it. I lost mine to one of my mother’s ladies-in-waiting. I was in my teens, and she was…well, older than me. After her, there were many others. The people at my father’s court love to party and…well, to fuck. I’ve never been with a virgin. I don’t think I’ve even seen one of age. I certainly have never been anyone’s first kiss, or first touch, or first anything. There had always been lots of others before me.”

“And? Why is it such a big deal for you to be my first?”

“Because I don’t know what to do!” He threw his hands up in the air dramatically. “It feels like a huge responsibility. What if I mess it up for you?”

I laughed.

The problem wasn’t me, it was him. Kyllen had finally encountered something that knocked him off balance and shook his confidence.

“Then there’s something new in it for both of us,” I said.

Frankly, it was a relief to see him like this. He had his own insecurities to deal with, which in a way made us equal.

I hugged his wide shoulders and gave him a peck on the cheek. He rested his head on my shoulder.

“At least I finally made you laugh,” he mumbled.

I couldn’t help another burst of laughter. “That you did.”