Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

Lucas frowned. He hadn't thought about the fact that she would arrive on his little island without anything at all.

With the twins providing for all her clothing and fashion needs, he had just assumed that she would bring her clothes with her when she came to him.

Instead, she had come with nothing but the clothes on her back, which meant he would have to provide everything she needed right here on this island.

"We could see what we can scrounge up for you." He murmured, his mind darting here and there, trying to figure out how to get clothing for her.

The women on the island all wore bright floral skirts with bandeaus across their chests. Maybe he can get some of those for her…

He was still thinking through the clothing situation when she spoke up.

"I don't need much. We're on an island. We're not really going to go anywhere, are we?"

"No. But you still need clothes."

"Why? Can I just live in a bathing suit all day? We live right off a beach anyway."

Lucas smile. Bathing suits were easy to get, and if that was all she wanted to wear all day, he would be more than happy to accommodate.

"You can do whatever you wish, Darling. There is no one here to tell you what you can and cannot do."

His eyes grew serious. "I want you to understand something. You're not here on vacation at some resort hotel and have to abide by anyone's rules. This is our home."

"Our home." Candace smiled with a dreamy look. "You make it sound so amazing and delightful, and I look around and I can barely believe it."

He shrugged. "However long it takes for me to convince you, whatever it takes to make you believe it, I will do it."

Candace laughed. "You can start by giving me a welcoming kiss."

"Kiss?" Lucas swallowed.

Damn it. Why did God make him so shy? Why couldn't he have been gifted with an overabundance of self-confidence like all his brothers?

Candace smiled and took a couple of steps toward him.

Lucas fought the urge to back away.

Something in his eyes must have shown his nervousness because she stopped.

"Is everything okay?" Candace's face was full of concern.

"Yes. Of course. I just…" he paused. Why was he so hesitant to kiss her?

Candace's face fell. "Okay. I need to ask you a few questions and I need for you to be straight up with me. You don't need to say much, but you need to be absolutely honest with me."

She gave him a serious look. "I don't want you to give any explanations or excuses. I just want a yes or no answer. Can you do that for me?"

Lucas looked at her for a moment. She was scaring him.

He nodded.

"Hmm. Ready?"

Lucas nodded again. Sweat began beading on his forehead even though the gentle cool breeze from the beach was blowing into the room.

"First question." She held out her index finger.

"Do you love me?"

Suddenly, the thundering of the surf outside their window pounded in a staccato alongside his rapidly beating heart. He couldn't tell which one was which.

Holding on with everything that was in him, Lucas nodded.

"I cannot heeeaar you." She called out in a sing-song voice.

"Y—yes." He said hoarsely. At least that was an easy question.

Candace smiled. "Second question." She held out two fingers.

"Are you gay?"

"What?" He sputtered. That was so far out in left field, he could bare grasp what she was saying.

"That's not part of the allowable responses. You only get a 'yes' or a 'no'."

Lucas coughed. "No."

Candace grinned.

"Third question." She held out three fingers.

"Have you ever kissed a woman before?"

Lucas gave her an exasperated look. "Of course I have."

"Try again. You only get a 'yes' or a 'no'."

"Yes."

"Good, good." She grinned widely. "Fourth question. Are you a virgin?"

Lucas suddenly choked up. His face turned red and he looked away.

He suddenly thought about lying to her, but immediately discarded that thought as he realized she would find out anyway, as soon as he tried to deliver the Avgo shard to her.

Lucas opened his mouth and tried to say the word, but his throat wouldn't work and the word got stuck there.

Suddenly, he felt his world come crashing down around him. He wanted crawl into a hole and hide.

This was such a huge fail! Why did he think he could do this?

He could not even pass her initial screening and now she was going to know just how much of a loser he was.

Candace's face turned serious. Her lips lost its smile.

She took two steps and reach his side. As she got closer, her head tilted up higher and higher until she was inches from his 6'2" frame.

"You're really tall."

Lucas cleared his throat. This one he could answer.

"Yes."

"I want to kiss you, but I can't quite reach you." She smiled. "Could you bend down a little for me?"

She reached up on tip toes but there was still a gap of six inches between her face and his.

"Yes." He answered again and lowered his mouth onto hers.

So warm.

So sweet.

His mouth was barely touching her, but the feels were so intense he could hardly stand it.

A tingly feeling started from his toes and fingertips and sparkled up through his limbs, all the way into his torso.

Candace reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck. She opened her mouth and suddenly, her tongue was probing into his mouth.

It was then that Lucas lost his head.

Gasping with barely suppressed longing, he cradled her head within his large hands and began tasting her. Truly tasting her.

All the techniques he'd learn to be able to make movies were completely thrown out the door.

At this moment, he was like a brand new baby feeling his way around with only his mouth to guide him and trying to figure out how to do something for the first time.

Going on instinct, he began to touch her with the sole intention of feeling her. His tongue tentatively penetrated her mouth in soft caresses.

All the nerve endings on his tongue, his lips, his mouth were alive and tingling with sensations so intense that his breath kept getting stuck in his throat.

Waves of pleasure rolled over him as he struggled to retain sanity. Her lips were the only thing he could taste, touch and feel. There was nothing else that existed.

His breath came in gasps as he struggled to get enough air into his lungs.

"Breathe through your nose Lucas." Candace was saying gently into his ears.

Lucas pulled back, his eyes barely focused on her.

"Yes." He said the only word he was allowed to use.

The man who kissed hundreds of women as a matter of course during his working life had finally experienced a real kiss for the first time.

It was truly an eye-opening experience.

He had finally found out the difference between kissing someone he truly loved, as opposed to touching mouths with random strangers just to get a good movie angle.