Ensnared (Brutes of Bristlebrook, #1)(18)

Dominic clears his throat, his annoyance far less measured than Jasper’s. “If you’re done getting off topic, she still hasn’t answered the question.”

I scowl.

“Are you a virgin?” he demands.

“One,” I mutter, realizing I’m not going to be able to escape his questioning. No torture devices needed, apparently. I have the backbone of a kitchen sponge. “I’ve slept with one person.”

There’s a momentary silence. Jasper leans forward, concern creasing his brow. “Please tell me I misheard that.”

I sigh, cheeks pink, and my gaze drops back to my drink. How can I possibly still be considered a dud in these circumstances? The quiet rejection stings worse, in its own way, than Jaykob’s harsh judgment. “My husband is the only man I ever slept with. We met when we were teenagers.”

When I was so desperate for a friend. When he was so desperate to be someone’s hero. Back before he lost everything and realized I wasn’t worth the cost.

“Sorry you lost him, beautiful,” Lucky says, turning from his game to look at me seriously.

I give him a stiff smile and shrug awkwardly. “It’s fine. I mean, it’s not, not really, but it’s . . . well, it’s been a long time now.”

In the end, while his passing during the strikes was certainly sad, I hadn’t been heartbroken. But I’m hardly going to get into that now.

“Anal.”

My head snaps toward Dominic.

“I beg your pardon?” Ice chills my voice.

He rolls his eyes upward, for all the world like he’s praying for strength.

“Have you had anal sex before?” He runs a hand over his jaw. “Never mind, I can see that’s a no. Something easier, then.

Has anyone ever gone down on you? Can you give a blow job?”

My mouth drops open, and his sinful lips curve, though amusement is scarce in his eyes. “Yes, that’s the general idea, but I would prefer a verbal response.”

My jaw clicks shut, and my eyes narrow. My one experience attempting a grand oral seduction had ended after all of five seconds, with Henry pulling my mouth off him and telling me I was prettier when I acted like a lady.

I hadn’t exactly protested, though. The clinging odor of urine had turned my stomach and left me wondering if I would embarrass myself further by vomiting all over his crotch.

That probably wouldn’t have been ladylike either.

“No,” I mumble, deciding not to share that detail with the class. I take another deep draw of my sugary drink and the syrupy flavor of Skittles slides over my tongue. Oddly, it’s growing on me.

“Maybe it would be quicker to cover what you have done. How many times did you have sex, ballpark? Did you do anything other than missionary?”

He sounds frustrated. Bah. Kings don’t usually need to sleep with silly, inexperienced women. He’s used to having his pick. How disappointed must he be?

Jasper has settled back into the chair, but the crease in his brow deepens with my every response.

I clear my throat.

“He . . . I mean, we did it from behind. Once.” At the silence, I moisten my lips and huff. “He was deployed a year after we were married, and I left him about two years after that. But, well, we weren’t . . . together . . . all that many times. He was out of the country so much . . . Things were so intense overseas. And I think, I mean I know, he didn’t really— I wasn’t what he—”

I can’t get the words out.

Dominic tensed during my speech. Now contempt touches his regal features. “You left your man while he was deployed?”

I stiffen, my nervousness of him temporarily leaving me at the disgust in his tone. Expression turning to stone, I say, “I am not answering any questions about why my relationship ended with Henry. That has nothing to do with this, and I do not need to explain or justify myself to you.”

Dominic regards me with a shadow of surprise, and only the background noise of Lucky’s game breaks the silence. His lips tighten, then he asks in exasperation, “Did you even enjoy having sex?”

Jasper gives a single shake of his head, not even waiting for my response. “She’s too inexperienced. This isn’t a good fit.”

Lucky snorts, eyes still caught on the game as he shoots his way across an abandoned airport. “She had shitty sex a half a dozen times as a teenager. Probably in one position, no foreplay, with the lights off. Making out with Beau was probably the highlight of her sexual career. She’ll be fine. She just needs to get Lucky.”

I squeak in utter humiliation. Though I have to admit . . . he pretty much summed it up.

Beau’s chuckle shoots right through me. There’s a clink as he sets his glass down on the side table. He leans forward until his lips brush against the shell of my ear, the warmth of his chest flush against my back.

“That right, darlin’?”

His warm breath in my ear makes me shiver. My nerves skitter in a way I’m not used to at all.

“I—” My voice is lower, huskier than it should be.

A hand reaches around and gently extricates my drink from my grip, then sets it beside his. Then his arm reaches back around my waist, holding me to him. I twist slightly in protest, but he corrects my position with firm movements until only my face is turned to look up at him. His other hand, still on my thigh, hitches higher, raising the silk shirt into precarious territory.