It happens so fast—but I had been waiting for this my entire life. A man who would take his time with my body and show me that I was more than the sum of my past.

And when Clive turns me around and his fingers pull down the zipper on my dress, I take a deep breath, knowing that tonight my body is his. I will open myself up and let my guard down and I won’t tiptoe around what I desire.

I will give in, entirely.

The zipper is down and he gently tugs at the straps. In a flash, the dress is on the floor, and I step from my sandals, looking down at myself, trying to see what he will see. I wore a white lace bra and panties, and my tummy isn’t exactly flat. My hips aren’t either. I make candy for a living, for goodness sakes. But in Clive’s arms, I feel small, protected. His broad shoulders make me feel petite and that gives me confidence.

When Clive spins me to face him. It’s like he doesn’t see my imperfections. He just sees me.

“I’ve never done this,” I tell him. “But I want to. With you. Tonight.”

His eyebrows raise, his hand running over his beard. I’ve learned that it’s the gesture he makes when he’s thinking something through.

“You’re a virgin?”

I nod, hoping it won’t change things. Women have been eyeing him all night, so I know he’s been with women before. That doesn’t bother me. I know none of us can change the past, not that he’d want to. Still, I want this with all that I am.

“Does that make you change your mind?”

His eyes sear into mine.

“I’m not a fragile, breakable thing,” I tell him.

He shakes his head, stepping closer and cradling me in his arms. “Oh, Hazel, how wrong you are.”

I swallow, thinking he might walk away, leaving me undressed and alone.

I don’t want to be alone anymore.

“Being fragile isn’t a bad thing. It’s a beautiful thing. Being fragile doesn't mean you're not also strong. And I want to be gentle with you, regardless of your past. I told you tonight would be wild, but precious too. You, Hazel, are precious.”

I blink back tears, ones I hadn’t expected. And then Clive is pulling off his tee-shirt and taking off his jeans and standing before me, ripped and rugged and mine for the taking.

“Oh, God,” I mutter.

“Is this where you decide I’m too fragile for you?” he jokes, reaching around my waist, and pulling me close. I feel his hardness through his boxers, and it awakens me to my core.

I bite back a smile. “You are not fragile.” I tentatively run my hand over his chiseled chest. “You are solid.” I smack his abs, proving all six of them are as firm as they look.

“Oh, baby,” he groans. “I’m not just solid. I’m rock hard.”

He takes my hand and presses it against his length, and my eyelids flutter, feeling a cock for the first time. He is big and thick and I need to see more. I need it all.

His fingers slip under the waistband of my panties, easing them down. And then my pussy is bare and I need him bare, too. I hook my fingers into his boxers and tug, freeing his cock and seeing exactly what he is made of.

I gasp at the size, the length. He is all man—man candy. And he was made to please. It may be lewd to think, but all I want is to lick his hard lollipop until I get a sugar rush.

He unhooks my bra and tosses it aside. His hands taking hold of my round breasts and he runs his fingers over them, plucking my nipples and shaking his head. “Your tits are fucking insane, Hazel. So perky and perfect.” He lowers his head, his tongue licking them, sucking on them.

My hands run through his hair, and with eyes closed, I let the sensation of his mouth against my breasts rush over me. It makes me feel beautiful and alive and when my fingers circle around his cock I forget to breathe.

Catching my breath, I move closer to him, his long, velvety length needy and so is my body.

Clive draws me to the bed and when I’m lying on my back, he spreads my legs. “You are my heaven,” he says, his voice hushed, as he kisses my thighs. His lips make love to my pussy and when he dips his tongue inside me, licking me and leaving kisses against my most tender spots, I forget all about what led me to Linesworth. I forget about my mom and sister dying. I forget the man who hurt them, and whom I escaped. I forget the heartache and heartbreak that left me alone, scared, and broken. I had no one but myself. In this moment, I forget all that.

In this moment, I am not alone. Clive is here, taking away my bad memories and replacing them with kisses.

His tongue runs up and down my wet slit, and a finger slips inside me. My knees buckle, wondering if feeling this good is too much, too soon, but then Clive looks up and our eyes meet.

My knees drop, my fear cowed with his solid promise of taking care of me tonight.

“You taste like cherries,” he tells me with a smile.

“Don’t tease me,” I say playfully.

“I would never.” He pulls himself up, over me, and his cock is hard against my belly.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

He grins, then leaving kisses on my cheek, my collarbone, right between my breasts. “I haven’t earned a thank you yet.”

“Then do what it takes to get one, Clive.” I arch my back, telling him not to wait any longer.

He reaches for his jeans, and finds a condom. I resist teasing him about expectations. The truth is, when I showered today, I touched myself with visions of his naked body playing in my mind. I had hoped the night would end the exact same way.

He rolls it on his massive cock and my legs open, wrapping around him. I may have never done this before, but my body knows what my mind doesn’t.

“You feel so goddamn good,” he tells me.

“You haven’t even tried to go inside,” I say with a half-smile.

He shakes his head, his hand on his cock guiding himself toward me. “No, under me. Next to me. With me. That’s what feels good, Hazel. That is what feels so damn right.”

Then he presses himself inside me, ever so slowly, taking what is mine as I offer what I want him to have.

“Am I hurting you?” he asks, his hands pushing back the hair on my forehead, his other arm holding him up on my side so his powerful body doesn’t crush me.

“Not in a way that’s unbearable,” I tell him truthfully.

“The pain will pass,” he promises.

“It always does,” I say, my voice hitching at the truth. My eyes close as he enters me more fully. My pussy screams for just a moment as Clive’s words become true. With his cock inside me, the pain turns to pleasure. The hurt becomes hope. And our bodies collide with a crash.

“Clive,” I whimper, my legs wrapping around him, wanting to be closer until we are one. I don’t know what’s happening to my heart, but it’s being stripped of things I pretended I no longer harbored deep inside. The wounds of my past heal as Clive moves against me, ever so slowly.

Not all men are here to kill and destroy.

Some men are here to have and to hold.

So, I’ll hold on tight and won’t let go.

I don’t know what will happen tomorrow with Clive and me but I know that right now, he is giving me a gift.

He rocks against me, my body opening to his.

Our fingers lace; our bodies one, as we come together.

And when we come, it’s more than wild and precious.

It’s a miracle in the making.