I spent the rest of the afternoon practicing my walk in the ice-cream cone wedge heels and getting used to my earrings. At seven o'clock, Rogan was gone, so I tottered the few steps down the hallway to Blaze and Diesel's apartment. I knocked on the door and held my breath. I could do this. My first party in the outside world. Rogan's friends must be nice guys, right? Even if they cleaned their rifles at breakfast, they'd been nothing but kind to me. This would be easier if Cyan and Tori could go with me, but facing this alone would be good for me too.

When Diesel opened the door, his warm smile and open arms immediately calmed my nerves. "C'mon in." I followed him to a small kitchen. Blaze waved to me as he walked in from the balcony carrying a plate of cooked meat.

"Uh, hey, Blaze." His faded blue jeans fit him snug and his long-sleeved black T-shirt hugged his bulging shoulders.

"Swift." Blaze placed a platter of barbequed meat on the table.

Diesel sat down next to a striking woman with straight brown hair and blunt bangs. "This is Yolanda."

Wow, Yolanda was showing lots of cleavage. I thought I was being daring with my low-cut blouse, but she wore a shirt made of two triangles that tied behind her neck. I could see the bottom of her perfectly shaped breasts. She must know Victoria's Secret because there's no way I could get my breasts that round even with a miracle bra.

"Hi, Yolanda."

"Hi, Tessa." She offered me a pleasant smile.

"Have a seat." I sat down opposite Diesel.

"What's your poison? Beer, wine, tequila?" Blaze asked me.

"Um... Wine?"

"Sure." He went to the kitchen and returned with a wine cooler. He winked at me as he twisted the cap and handed the bottle to me.

Yolanda chatted about the wedding, and the guys remained quiet as we ate a delicious meal of steak, potatoes, and corn. The wine cooler tasted fruity and bubbly.

After dinner, Blaze opened a box and placed it in the middle of the table. He pointed to the assortment of sweets and dried fruit inside.

"No, thanks. I'm stuffed."

He tossed what looked like a chocolate coconut cluster in his mouth and sat down opposite me. "Let's play I never."

"How do you play?" I asked.

"You say something you've never done. Anyone who has done it has to take a drink."

"Okay." I kept my voice even, but stifled my laugh. Blaze was trying to get dirt on me.

Good luck, Blaze. There's not much for me to tell.

"I'll go first," Blaze said. "I've never had sex in an elevator."

Diesel and Yolanda smirked and drank at the same time, but Blaze didn't take a sip of his beer. Oh, this should be interesting.

"Your turn, Swift." Blaze popped another cluster in his mouth.

The door flew open and Rogan strode in. He snatched the box of treats off the table. "Don't steal my mail."

Blaze laughed as he chewed the lumpy treat. "Your mom rocks the exotic care packages, Boggs. She'd want her little prince to share with his loyal subjects."

"Fuck you." Rogan sat down on the couch in the living room and tossed the box next to him. He put his feet up on the coffee table and clicked on the TV.

"As I was saying... Your turn, Swift." Blaze tilted his head at me.

Hmm. Obviously they expected me to say something about sex, but I didn't want to announce my virginity to the whole table.

Following Blaze's lead, I said, "I've never had sex in a car."

They all took sips of their beers and looked at Diesel for his turn.

"I've never sucked cock." Diesel kept his eyes on Yolanda.

"Ugh." Yolanda groaned. "So unfair." She took a sip of her beer.

Diesel swiveled his gaze to Blaze and raised an eyebrow. Blaze took a casual sip of his beer. What did that mean? Did I understand the rules correctly? Did Blaze just admit to being gay?

All eyes came to me to see if they had me. The truth is Zook and I had experimented with it a few times when we were out at the reservoir. His dick was in my mouth when my father caught us. I took a sip of my wine cooler before the horrid memories and pain of that day showed on my face.

Rogan glanced at me when I pressed the bottle to my lips. He masked his expression and turned his attention back to the TV. Why did it always feel like he knew what I was thinking?

"I've never tasted pussy," Yolanda announced to the table.

Diesel and Blaze smirked as they raised their beers again.

"Would you like to?" Diesel asked Yolanda.

She peered at him with a twinkle in her eye. A naughty grin lit up his face as he trailed one hand up her thigh, the other curling behind her neck to pull her in for a kiss. I squirmed in my seat and searched the room for something else to focus on.

I stopped on Rogan's eyes locked on me. His tongue ran over his top teeth under his lip like he was chewing on something. The hunger in his face sent a tremor from my chest to my belly. My hand slid down the bottle of my drink, and I gulped back the lump in my throat.

"Knock that the fuck off, you two," Blaze said.

What? Huh? Did he catch the heated look Rogan and I were sharing?

"Diesel, you need to move your ass into Yolanda's place tonight. I'm sick of this shit."

Whew. He wasn't talking to us.

Diesel pulled away from a dazzled Yolanda. "You can wait a few more weeks. Make her mama happy."

"Yes, because making her mama happy is such an important part of my life. God, Diesel, you're so whipped."

"That I am." Diesel gazed lovingly into Yolanda's eyes.

The passion painted on their faces was so tangible, watching them intruded on their privacy.

Blaze started talking and gave me an excuse to look away. "Hey, Swift. You should come live here when Diesel leaves. Got two bedrooms. You'd have your own bathroom. It's not the Bel Air, but it's a decent place to crash."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Rogan stand.

"Ooh, I love that idea." My father would absolutely hate me living with a male roommate. "When's the wedding?"

"Two weeks," Yolanda answered my question.

"Cool. And, Swift," Diesel chimed in, "you're coming to our wedding."

"What? No. I can't. I'd have no idea how to get there."

"Boggs'll take ya," Diesel said.

"Oh please. I'd love to have her there," Yolanda begged.

"That settles it. My bride wants her there. You'll bring her to watch me tie my can to Yolanda's bumper."

Yolanda slapped him on the bicep.

"I'll take her," Blaze said with his beer raised over the table.

"No. I'll take her." Rogan's voice boomed from behind me.

"Okay, Boggs, whatever. My turn again. I've never taken it up the ass." Blaze focused on Diesel, who held his gaze and defiantly didn't raise his beer. Blaze tipped his bottle toward Diesel and… took another sip. Okay. I totally didn't understand the rules to this game. If Blaze was following them, he'd totally admitted to sucking cock and um, taking it up the ass.

"Damn you, Blaze." Yolanda took a sip of her drink, oblivious to whatever the heck was going on between Diesel and Blaze.

As I shook my head and laughed, Rogan's firm hand wrapped around my upper arm and yanked me up from the table.

"Hey! What're you doing? We were having fun." Blaze stood to stop Rogan, but we were already at the door.

"Uh, bye..." I said to the group as Rogan hauled me out of their apartment.

My ankles twisted in my heels as he dragged me through the corridor and into his place. Good thing he held me up because I must've looked like a drunken scarecrow.

He ignored Takoda's greeting and pegged his gaze on me. "How drunk are you?"

"Not at all. I was winning that game before you pulled me away."

"Why're you walking like that?"

"I can't walk in heels, drunk or sober."

As I talked, he dipped his chin and crowded me backward. "Moving in with Blaze is not a good idea."

"Why not? I need a place, and he'll have an empty room in two weeks." My legs bowed out as I wobbled on my heels.

The weight of his big hands squeezed my hips and forced me back till I hit the wall. "You can do better than that place."

"It's just temporary. I'll look for an apartment of my own eventually, after I get more settled."

My awareness shifted from our conversation to the heat of his body invading my space. Standing close to Rogan was like being right up next to Traveler. A powerful beast that could smash your skull in with one kick of a hoof, but you know she won't because her shrewd eyes communicate with your soul.

"You wanna tell me how a girl who grew up on a fundamentalist commune has... sucked cock?"

Sweat beaded on my skin, and the air between us thickened. "If you think that place wasn't sexually charged, you're wrong."

"Really?"

"Mmm-hmm. There's an undercurrent of sex to everything. Girls know real young they'll be getting married, and they wonder who they'll get. They dream of having sex and making babies. We're taught all about intercourse and making sure the man is pleased."

"Hmm."

"One husband is sleeping with eight, ten, thirty women. Sometimes he takes two or three at a time." I lowered my voice to a whisper. "It's all about the sex."

"Huh." He stared at my mouth as I teased my bottom lip with my teeth.

"Did you have a boyfriend back home?"

I nodded, keeping my eyes on his. "We kept it secret."

"How long?"

"Started when we were both sixteen."

He pressed his palm flat to the wall over my head. "You have sex with him?"

"Rogan..."

"Tell me."

"No."

"No you won't tell me, or no you didn't have sex with him?"

"I didn't have sex with him."

"When did it end?"

"When I was eighteen. My dad caught us and sent him away."

"What was your boyfriend's name?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Want his name."

"Zook Guthrie."

"Did you love him?"

"I don't know. He was my only friend when I was a teenager."

"Do you still love him?"

"No. I haven't seen him in years. I rarely think of him. It came up because of the game." And because you're much sexier than him, and I want you more than I ever did Zook.

His gaze dipped to the cleavage above the buttons of my blouse and dropped to my feet. His lips mashed into a crooked line. "You got ice-cream cones on your shoes?"

"Aren't they cute?"

"Mmm-hmm."

My breath caught in my throat when he leaned in close to my ear. "Cute." His earthy scent drifted to my nose. I closed my eyes and inhaled, holding a piece of him captive in my lungs.

His lips skimmed along my ear. They felt as smooth and soft as I'd imagined. I angled my head to press his mouth to my temple.

A magnetic force drew my hands up to settle on his stomach. My fingertips only grazed his abs, but his raw strength charged through my arms.

He dipped one shoulder and weaved his fingers into the hair at the base of my scalp, tugging till my head tipped back. "Tempting."

My breath left me and my frame went weak. He supported my weight with his arm and trailed his nose along my raised jaw. "So fucking hard for you right now."

My fingers curled into his shirt.

Come closer. Kiss me.

A frustrated growl emanated from deep in his chest. He clenched then released my hair and inched away from me like he was fighting a fierce wind.

He tilted his head down and glued me with his golden eyes. "Goodnight, Sunshine." His voice softened.

With each step he took backward, the kinetic energy between us cooled. I pressed my hands to the wall to ground myself.

I teetered to the bathroom on shaky legs and closed the door behind me. The cold water I splashed on my face did little to douse the fire Rogan had started out there. My hands shook as I brushed my teeth.

I finished up in the bathroom and changed into the cute silk nightie I'd bought at Victoria's Secret on my trip with Tori and Cyan. The lavender lace at my thigh and around my breasts had sparkly swirls of sequins that made it my favorite purchase from that day.

I crashed in Rogan's bed and closed my eyes. My skin still sizzled from his breath on my ear, his nose on my jaw.

Fap. Fap. Fap.

A subtle noise from the bathroom thumped through the wall.

The sound sped up and got louder. I recognized it from the nights my father slept with me and from the time I'd spent with Zook. Either Rogan was brushing his teeth vigorously in the bathroom on the other side of my bedroom wall.

Or he was masturbating.

Like my father had done. No, not deviant and evil. Easy, like it had been with Zook. As natural as breathing, we'd released the tension between us during our time under our oak tree.

But this felt more extreme than the innocent interludes I'd shared with Zook. The smoldering fire in my belly turned molten at the thought of Rogan being so turned on he needed to touch himself, possibly thinking of me. I shouldn't masturbate at the same time, should I? My hands reached into my panties.

It's all in fun, not hurting anyone.

Exactly. Who would it hurt if I pleasured myself right now? I used to do it on occasion after Zook showed me how. I stopped after my father started coming to my room, but Rogan had awakened my sexual desires again. Only this time it was magnified a million times by Rogan's powerful body and the intense connection between us. Unlike before, now I was free to explore my feelings. No one would punish me if I got caught touching myself and that was liberating.

I held my breath and moved my fingertips over my clit while Rogan worked his dick on the other side of the wall. My mind quickly latched onto my new latitude to fantasize about Rogan.

He had me pegged against the wall, growling in my ear, tugging my hair.

"So fucking hard for you right now."

His hand gripped his cock and stroked faster and faster.

He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, envisioning me in my nightie with my hand down my panties.

I ran my fingers through my wetness and pushed them inside myself. If only it were Rogan's fingers touching me. How would his face look as he climbed closer to his release? I could only imagine the potent force inside him coiling and tensing, ready to explode. That thought threw me over the edge, and I bit my lip to stifle my gasps as I came. The excruciating voltage in my body flashed and flowed through me in an energetic wave. As it finally eased, a serene silence overtook me. My stiff legs and arms slackened, subsiding into a listless heap on the bed.

After a splash of water in the bathroom sink, I heard the door click open and Rogan walk out into the living room. The familiar sound of him settling on the couch was the last thing I heard before the apartment fell silent.

What just happened between him and me?

If I asked my father, he'd babble out a senseless diatribe about sin and judgement.

I turned to my side to cuddle with my pillow.

I didn't have to bear the weight of unraveling the complicated musings of my father's philosophy anymore.

Simply call me a sinner and let me sleep, because I'd just shared something incredibly human with a really hot guy and I loved it.