Kellan stiffened. “Waited?”
His word hissed like the crack of a whip. She forced her eyes open. His forbidding frown seized her chest and squeezed hard.
“I’m not glad,” Tate argued, gliding his hand down her body until he cupped her thigh. “We wasted a whole year.”
“I don’t think that’s what she meant.” Kellan arched a sharp brow her way. “Is it, Annabelle?”
Belle squirmed self-consciously. The sweet haze of desire dissipated, replaced with something cold. Eric looked stunned as he stared, jaw dropped. Tate merely appeared puzzled. He might not understand now, but once he did, he probably wouldn’t like the truth any more than the other two.
In that instant, she tried to curl up and cover herself. Her nudity had seemed sexy earlier. Now she was keenly aware of her vulnerability. How had everything changed with one sentence? If they really cared about her and wanted her for more than the night, her virginity wouldn’t disappoint them. How had she read the situation so wrong? Or had they misled her for a piece of ass? God, she felt so humiliated.
Tears threatened. Damn it, she had to get out of here.
As she tried to scramble to her feet, tears clouded her eyes. Belle couldn’t see, couldn’t quite get her balance. Kellan didn’t try to hold her down, thank goodness, but she was too unsteady to stand.
“Help me, please,” she beseeched Tate.
His arms wound around her and he dragged her to her feet, into his arms. Belle curled against him, shielding as much of her body from Kellan’s searing stare as she could. Crap, where had her dress gone?
Tate’s concerned gaze sought hers. “What’s the matter? Tell me what you meant. If there’s a problem, we’ll find a logical solution.”
Kellan moved beside her, straightening his clothes. His expression hardened again. “I asked you a question.”
Belle blinked, knowing her answer would only disappoint Kell. She glanced Eric’s way. He still stood unmoving, in mute shock. No help there. Only Tate’s arms kept her protected and safe, but even against the warmth of his big body, she shivered. Would he still be her safe harbor once one of the others explained exactly what she’d waited for?
She didn’t want to take that chance. Time to get out of here.
But when Belle tried to move, Tate’s arms tightened around her. “What’s wrong? What is going on here?”
“I need an answer, Belle.” Kellan ignored Tate, staring at her with flat demand.
Kellan had asked for honesty. Fine, he would get it. She’d never intended to hold back the truth about her sexual inexperience. Once the clothes had started coming off, she’d known she would have to confess. The perfect, tactful moment simply hadn’t appeared before she’d accidentally let the truth slip. Of course, she’d expected them to be a bit surprised, maybe even give her a good-natured ribbing about it. Belle hadn’t expected Eric’s mute shock or Kellan’s terrible coldness.
“You’re right. I’m a virgin.” So what? No way they could miss the subtext in her voice. She did her best to glare right back, but Belle felt decidedly vulnerable wearing absolutely nothing.
Eric’s hazel eyes went wide. “You weren’t kidding?”
Tate eased back and he gaped at her. “That’s what you waited for? To have sex? Holy shit!”
Kellan’s jaw tightened. “Precisely what I thought you meant.”
Eric moved beside her, shaking his head and still looking shocked. “How the hell are you a virgin? You’re twenty-six years old.”
“I am well aware of the advanced age of my hymen.” She twisted, evading Tate’s arms, looking for her dress again. It had to be somewhere here on the floor.
Anger started to thrum through her. They sounded almost betrayed by her purity. So much for the guys considering it a gift. Maybe they had expected someone more experienced. Maybe she wasn’t worth sleeping with because she wouldn’t know what to do. Fine. As soon as she found her clothes, she was out of here. Coming to their suite had been a huge mistake.
Kellan beat her to the punch, grabbing his jacket and heading for the door. “I’m going to go.”
Annabelle felt as if he’d slapped her.
“What?” Tate asked his friend, obviously shocked.
Kell didn’t answer, just kept gathering his things.
She glanced all around the room, trying not to watch Kellan walk away from her. Finally, she located her dress and all but ran toward it. “I’ll go, Kell.”
Tate took her arm and stayed her. “Belle, what are you doing?”
“I’m leaving.” She yanked from his grip and dashed across the room to grab the emerald fabric.
As she darted toward the bathroom, her humiliation choked her. God, her ass was hanging out. She felt so wretchedly exposed, but she wasn’t about to dress in front of them and let them gawk at the dumb little virgin anymore. It was better to leave and save herself the tiniest bit of dignity. She slammed the door behind her and locked it just in case. Barely a second later, she heard them yelling.
Without them staring and judging her now, the mortification of the evening pressed in on Belle, crushing her dreams. She went to her knees and let the tears fall.
* * * *
Kellan’s stomach turned as he stared at the bathroom door Belle had just slammed. Fuck, what had he just done? One moment he’d had his hands on her, stroking her and making her come. She’d been the sexiest woman he’d ever touched because he’d wanted her for so long and her pleasure had been so honest. He could still feel her, smell her, so hot and wet and perfect. The moment she’d stripped naked for them, the primal need to carry her to the bed and sink his cock inside her had gnawed at him. He’d leave her body only long enough to see Eric and Tate please her before they started all over again. But that was a fucking fantasy. A joke.
Now, he found his two best friends staring him down. And they looked wildly pissed. He could hear Belle quietly sobbing in the bathroom.
“What the hell is wrong with you? How could you do that to her?” Eric strode across the room, grabbing his slacks with an angry jerk.
Staring at the ceiling, Kell sighed. He should just fucking walk out, like he’d promised. Opening the door and leaving would be the kindest thing he could do because hoping that he could share a woman with his friends had been a horrible mistake. He’d ruined everything, and they would never forgive him. He’d already learned the hard way that a man didn’t get second chances.
The door was right there. No one was guarding it. Eric still stumbled his way into his slacks, and Tate stood on the other side of the suite, pressed to the bathroom door, trying to coax Belle out.
None of this nightmare would be happening if he hadn’t deluded himself into thinking he could just fuck her without feeling anything or screwing the whole situation up.
Still, Kell couldn’t bring himself to go. He owed her an apology at least. “I can’t.”
Eric walked across the room, face red, teeth gritted. “Can’t what?” he snarled. “Act like a human being? Do you know what you just did to her?”
Taken all her sweetly blooming sensuality and crushed it under his loafer? Yeah, he knew he’d done that. “I can’t be with a fucking virgin, man. What the hell would I do with her?”
God, that had come out completely wrong. He sounded like the worst kind of asshole douchebag, even to his own ears. But as soon as Belle blurted that she was glad she’d waited, his stomach had done a tailspin. She would need so much more than he could give her—love, attention, devotion. She deserved all that and more. She’d waited for a man who could love her, not just a man who could fuck her all night long.