His sky. I wondered why Rys chose that nickname. I'd ask him later; it's not like he'd call me nosy.

"Thank you," I said to Kaia. "You make me want to learn Spanish."

She stopped dancing and gave me a thumbs-up. "You should."

I was grinning like a fool, but I didn't care. It'd been forever since I went to a concert and had fun with a friend. Payton's jobs barely gave her time to hang out with me, and although I understood her priorities, I often wished things could go back to how they were when we were younger and spent lots of time together

There was a brief pause before the next singer would appear onstage. Both Kaia and I wiped the sweat off our foreheads, and I scoured my surroundings, hoping to see Rys returning from the bar.

Instead, my eyes landed on someone familiar a few feet away. Beads of a different kind of sweat - cold, uncomfortable - formed on the back of my neck.

If Brock's best friend, Max, was here, it meant Brock was too. My heart thrashed against my ribs because another guy I knew, Parker, was with him. And to my horror, he looked my way.

Kaia touched my forearm. "Lyra? You okay?"

I shook my head. "See those two guys over there? The blond one's Brock's best friend. That means Brock's here, Kaia."

"Oh my god." She gaped at me. "What do we do? Do we leave?"

"Too late," I said. "One of them saw me. I'll go say hi because if not, it'll seem suspicious."

"All right." Kaia looped her arm through mine. "I'll go with you so they see you're here with a friend."

Talking to your boyfriend's friends shouldn't be nerve-wracking, but we'd only had a few interactions despite knowing each other for years. I dodged a couple of girls and walked up to Max and Parker with Kaia.

"Lyra." Max cleared his throat, raising his beer can in greeting. "What a surprise."

"I didn't know you guys would be here. Where's Brock?"

Next to Max, Parker rubbed the back of his neck, looking toward the stage.

"He wasn't feeling well, so we had to leave him at the hotel," Max said.

"Which hotel? I might surprise him since he's here."

I'd been clueless about lots of things lots of times, but Brock used to go to parties with a fever and upset stomach because he was the leader of his gang, and he hated the idea of missing out on something. There was no way Brock would miss a festival like this one, and if Brock's buddies were telling the truth, giving me the name of the hotel shouldn't take them so long.

Max downed the rest of his beer and crumpled the empty can in his fist. "His father's hotel, but Brock told us about the break. I don't think going to surprise him is a good idea."

Kaia let out a loud snort beside me. "No worries, we're having too much fun to leave. Enjoy the Ocean Breeze, guys."

Parker waved at us with a sheepish smile, and a fake grin stretched Max's lips.

"Say hi to Brock," I muttered.

Kaia took my hand, steering me toward the densest part of the crowd. As soon as the mass of dancing bodies hid Brock's friends and, hopefully, us from view, she groaned. "I hate some men."

"Those two are full of shit. I know." I also knew that Brock's parents had been vacationing at our resorts for years because none of their hotels were on the coast. That Brock's buddies had to come up with a lie on the spot only meant Brock didn't travel to the beach with them like he said, and his reasons for wanting a break were different.

It meant he lied to me more times than I realized, and there was no doubt that his two closest friends knew.

Dancing where they'd see me was the last thing I wanted because the patriarchy I'd gladly piss on would make sure they reported back to Brock, and I'd be the villain of the story for being here without him.

"Listen, why don't we check out one of the other stages?" Kaia asked as if she'd read my mind. "The music's different, but I wouldn't want to stay near those two if I were you."

"Sure. Thank you."

We pushed through the clusters of people to get to the VIP area exit. Relief slammed into me when I spotted Asher and Rys carrying our food and drinks.

"Where are you going?" Ash asked once they'd caught up to us.

"We wanted to check out the other performances," Kaia said, accepting the burger Asher gave her.

Rys handed me mine, and we made a beeline for the exit.

After eating, it was time to check out the other artists. Once I was sure Max and Parker stayed behind, I finally relaxed and focused on the music and the atmosphere of the Ocean Breeze. A band both Asher and Rys liked was playing on the second biggest stage. We squeezed through the crowd and stood in the heart of it, surrounded by mostly couples who sang the lyrics, hugged, or made out. Rys pressed me to his front, keeping an arm secured around my waist and the other one higher, closer to my shoulders. He hummed the lyrics of the ballad, something about not wanting to ever let her go, and his lips found the spot between my shoulder and neck that made me weak in the knees each time he kissed it.

I closed my eyes, letting his mouth imprint itself on every inch of my skin he touched. Rys paired his kisses with languid and slow caresses of my stomach and waist exposed thanks to the crop top, and as I ground my hips against him, I felt him harden behind me. Heart banging like the drums on the stage in front of us, I turned around. Rys jerked me to his chest, bundling me into his arms, and I got caught in the vivid blue of his eyes, overcome with equal parts affection and lust.

He dipped his head, and his lips surged forward, meeting mine in a smoldering kiss. I lifted onto my toes, winding my arms around his neck as our tongues slid against each other. Fisting my hair, he meshed my mouth with his, drowning me in his taste and the scent of his cologne.

There wasn't an inch between our bodies, and I felt how much he wanted me. I curled both palms around his neck, slowly ungluing my mouth from his.

He released a strangled breath that warmed my face and ran his hands along my bare arms. "I'm ready to go whenever you are."

***

Barely twenty minutes later, we were back at the hotel, rushing up the carpeted stairs, our fingers intertwined. I chose not to think about what Rys said to Ash to justify ditching him and Kaia, although they seemed too busy with one another to care about us leaving, and we'd see them at breakfast, anyway.

The door to our room opened with a soft click. Rys waited for me to go in before stepping inside and locking it.

My eyes drifted to the bed, and my belly clenched with nerves.

Rys skirted his fingertips over my waist as he stood behind me. "It's your decision, Lyra. There'll never be pressure on my part."

"I know," I whispered, seeking his fingers with mine. "And I want you."

He moved my hair aside and brushed his lips over the back of my neck. "I want you too, mi cielo."

"I know what it means," I said, leaning against him.

Rys went on to explore my skin with his mouth, and heat gathered in the lower part of my belly with each touch of his lips. "Never said I didn't want you to know."

As if sensing what he did to me, Rys kissed me with more insistence, splaying his fingers over my stomach. Then he crouched down behind me, and his hot breath tickled my lower back. Gently, Rys unbuckled my sandals and slid them off my feet before straightening and getting rid of his sneakers and socks.

We faced each other in the middle of the room. He pulled me into his arms, and our chests collided. Rys hoisted me up so I'd wrap my legs around his hips, and as my skirt rode up, he palmed my backside, carrying me to the bed. He threw the comforter aside with one hand, and as my back touched the cool linen, Rys whipped off his shirt, causing my gaze to wander to his trim waist and sculpted chest.

He tossed the tee aside and pressed a knee into the mattress, shifting forward until his face hovered over mine, and his hand found the zipper of my skirt.

Rys slid it down and tugged the garment off me. When he reached for the hem of my crop top, I arched my back, helping him rid me of it.

His heated gaze felt like a caress. It roamed every inch of my body, setting it abuzz with excited anticipation. Rys lay on top of me, and my nipples pebbled under my white lace bra from the feeling of his warm, hard chest on mine.

I wanted his mouth on them and every inch of me. My clumsy fingers fumbled with the button of his jeans, and Rys completed the job by pushing them off his hips and discarding them so the only barrier between us was our underwear.

The wet kisses he placed on my neck sent the pit of my stomach into a wild spiral. As I caressed the length of Rys's back, he dragged his mouth to mine and traced the seam of my lips with the tip of his tongue, asking to let him in. As soon as I did, our tongues swirled around one another, and he cupped the underside of my knee, pushing my legs apart.

Slow and exploratory, his kisses migrated south until they stopped at my chest. Rys tugged my bra down without taking it off, and his warm breath fanned over my hardened nipple, followed by the soft, wet suction of his lips.

I gripped his hair while his expert tongue flicked over the sensitive buds in the sweetest of tortures.

Unable to resist the need for more of him, I raised my hips to his, and Rys hummed in approval, palming one breast while he feasted on the other.

He slid his hand down the side of my body and stopped at my hip. Rys yanked my thong down and threw it aside, baring me to him. I felt every inch of his hard length through his black boxer briefs as he rolled his hips against mine. What would having him inside me be like?

Everything about being with him was different from what I was used to. He took his time playing with my nipples, and when I thought more pleasure from him fondling my breasts was impossible, he bit me softly, moving his wet mouth from one breast to another until a whimper left my throat.

Rys lifted his head off my chest and looked at me, his gaze filled with lust. He kissed a path down my stomach and traced my belly button with the tip of his tongue while his fingers stroked my bare hip sensuously. When his lips moved down another inch, I froze despite myself.

He braced his weight on his roped forearms, regarding me with worry clouding his expression. "I felt you tense. Is something wrong?"

This was the time to use my words, but how would I tell him he'd be the first guy to give me pleasure with his mouth? Brock never wanted to, and somehow it felt like my failure because I didn't make him desire me enough to do something so intimate.

"I..."

Rys's gaze didn't stray from my face. Even if he wanted to rush me, he didn't show any signs of impatience.

"I've never done it," I blurted.

Silence hung in the air. Before I could regret being honest, Rys put his hand on my thigh with gentle authority. "Let me be your first."

As soon as he heard my whispered 'okay', he nudged my legs apart and settled between them, keeping me pinned to the mattress with his hands on my hips.

He lay featherlike kisses on the tender skin of my inner thighs, and my nervousness ebbed, replaced by desire.

"Relax and let me be in charge, mi cielo," Rys said against my wet core. He flattened his tongue over it and licked me slowly several times while I writhed beneath his mouth, overwhelmed by the new sensations.

I lifted my hips, desperate to meet Rys's mouth, whose caresses turned bolder the more relaxed I became. When he sucked on my clit, I rocked against him on instinct, seeking more pleasure.

"Do it again," he rasped, his beautiful chest heaving. "Take everything you need."

His lips returned to the bundle of nerves, and he ran the tip of his tongue through my swollen folds, keeping a steady pace that made the muscles of my core clench in anticipation of my release.

One more flick of Rys's tongue, and I gasped, spasming under his lips.

"That's it, mi cielo," Rys whispered, watching me with heat in his eyes.

Although I felt sated and weightless, my desire was there still, growing stronger as I examined Rys's toned, strong body.

He kissed my stomach and stood. As he grabbed the bag he'd put on the floor by the couch and rummaged in it, a series of erotic images of everything we hadn't done and all the things we could do tonight filled my mind.

Rys tossed a strip of condoms onto the bed and lowered himself onto the mattress beside me. I could taste myself on his lips as he wrapped me in his arms, and we kissed slowly, savoring the moment. Once again, he positioned himself between my bent legs, and I put my hand on the front of his underwear, feeling the ridges of him through the fabric.

"Your touch feels so good," he whispered, dropping his forehead onto my shoulder.

Bolder than I believed myself to be, I slid my hand under the waistband of his briefs and curled my fingers around Rys's girth.

"Do you want more?"

"Please. Do anything you want."

As I stroked him, Rys let out the sexiest groan I'd ever heard. I moved my fist up and down the silky skin, and he pulsed in my hand, hot and big. A drop leaked from the tip, and Rys cursed quietly, covering my hand with his. "I need to be inside you now."

He took off his underwear and grabbed a foil packet. Rys's mouth molded against mine as he tore it open, and the muscles on his arms strained while he rolled the condom down his erection.

I felt a twinge of nerves because I wanted our first night to be perfect, and selfishly, I wanted to know what pleasure from sex felt like.

"Come here, mi cielo," Rys rasped in my ear, gripping my leg and positioning it around his hips. He kissed my neck and played with my earlobe, grazing it with his teeth. His gaze glued to mine, he slinked a palm under my nape and nudged my entrance with his cock.

Rys did the same massaging motion on my neck he did each time I was nervous as he slid inside me inch by inch, stretching me to the point of slightly painful fullness. After letting me adjust to him, he moved back a fraction before thrusting back in slowly. He didn't vary the pace until I was used to him and kissed my lips when I wrapped both legs around his slim hips.

"Is this okay?" he asked, touching my cheek with the back of his hand.

"It feels good," I whispered. "So good."

Pulling out of me almost completely, Rys bent his head down, and his mouth searched for my breast, laying wet, sinful kisses on my skin. He sucked on my nipple and released it only to do it again, only that this time, he started to move, flexing his hips to get deeper inside me, timing each thrust with the sensual assault of his mouth.

There was no rush. No fear he wouldn't give me what I needed.

As if attuned to me, Rys slid his hand between us, finding my swollen clit with his fingers and pressing on it with his thumb gently while his thrusts were anything but.

His mouth devouring mine, he slammed into me, making me gasp. Rys rubbed me faster, and I moaned, growing wetter with each punishing stroke of his.

I was so close it'd take very little to make me lose it.

Rys wrenched his mouth away from mine, panting. "Don't hold back. Never hold back with me."

Transfixed, I stared into his irises, surrendering to the pressure in my insides first and the intense pleasure after. It crested, numbing me to everything but Rys, his body moving against mine, and his length filling me as if we were made to fit.

I embraced him with my legs tighter as Rys sped his thrusts and shuddered, letting out a low, masculine moan. "God, Lyra."

He collapsed on top of me, pressing me into the lush mattress, and I pushed his damp hair back, twining my fingers in his strands to massage his scalp.

I felt the happiest I'd ever been and the most miserable all at once because people grew accustomed to and put up with lots of things, but sometimes it took only one night with a different person to realize how many other nights had been wasted.

Happy Valentine's Day from Rys and me :) Hope you have a lovely day with your loved ones and most importantly remember to love and value yourself.

Lyra is learning to do that with Rys's help, and each time her sass shows I'm internally cheering her on.

That being said, I hope you liked it! And whew, now that Lyra knows how things can be, returning to Brock's lack of skills will hurt:*(

...and of course, Rys is nowhere near done showing and teaching her things.

Thoughts on the story?