Page 16 of His Virgin Vessel

"I mean, there are jobs you could get. Then maybe you and I could ..."

I laughed out loud. "You think there are employers lining up for ex-gang members? Besides, who says I want to change?"

"But you ..."

"I like what I do."

Corinne wasn't giving up yet. "Well, I suppose we could still find a way to ..."

"Even if I didn't like what I do," I interrupted her, "I wouldn't be changing it for you."

Corinne looked hurt. Which was good. She needed to hear this.

"I'm sure this was deep and meaningful for you, because it always is the first time. But it's not my first time, and for me, it was just sex. I'm not saying it wasn't fun, but no more than that. I'm sorry, and if I'd known it was your first, I wouldn't have let you go through with it, but that's the way it is. You're a pretty girl, with a kick-ass body, and, yeah, I might have let myself get a bit carried away because I was hot for you. Put it down to lust. Nothing wrong with lust—as I think we can both testify—but it doesn't last. It burns out. Get your clothes on."

Corinne listened to all this blank-faced and then, without a word, began to get dressed, pulling her top back over her head and wiggling her little ass back into her panties.

I watched a lot more closely than I should have. The girl really was incredibly sexy. It was not just that she was pretty, hot, or young. There was something else about her—an indefinable quality of sexuality that made me want to throw her to the ground and start again.

But then, even when we were having sex, there had been something more. I had no idea how many women I'd been with. The great thing about casual sex was that you could have a different partner every night of the week and no one worried. It was like how city-types played squash. But, in all those women, I’de never felt anything remotely comparable to what I felt with Corinne. I didn't think the sex itself was any better than with most girls, but there was something else between us, something that went beyond the physical. I didn't even think that sex could go beyond the physical, but it turned out it could, and when it did, it made the sex like nothing you'd ever known. It was like there was a whole other layer of sex above what I'd been having all these years that I'd never even known about. But you needed the right person to unlock it.

What might it be like to be in a relationship with someone like Corinne? For all that I liked to keep it casual, I'd had a few serious partners (call them girlfriends) over the years, but all of them came from my world. Corinne had no place there. And yet, while she didn't fit into my world, she strangely did fit me. It wasn't just her physical attributes that attracted me so strongly, I found myself actually rather liking her. She was sharp, and she was funny. God knew she had courage. She stood up to me and to her father. She saw what she wanted, she went after it, and she got it. She might be a kid, but she was a strong one. What might it be like?

Brief. That was what it would be like. She was still Corinne Dugas, and even if she left her family behind, I would still be dragging this decent girl down into my world. It would destroy her. Given the start I'd had in life, I was always going to end up here. But Corinne had a chance at a real life, if she could just get past her silly little rebel phase. I wasn't going to rob her of that. Even if a part of me wanted her more than I had ever wanted anything.

Corinne pushed her skirt down from around her hips where I had pulled it up earlier and smoothed it down into something almost presentable.

"It wasn't just lust, you know."

"Maybe not for you, but ..."

"Not for you either." She looked at me defiantly. "You say what you like, but I know ..."

"It was your first time. You don't know shit."

Corinne met my gaze. "I may not be sexually experienced, but I am a very experienced liar. You can't fool me, Mr. Covert. Shall we go?"

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