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“It was just once,” she murmured into his chest a few moments later, after he’d released her lips and she’d sought refuge in his embrace, burying her head over his heart.

“What was just once?”

“My first time.  I’ve only been with a guy once.”

Why did that make him feel better?

“It was a mistake from the outset.  I was still hurting from my parents’ death.  From my whole life.  I’d felt utterly alone for four long years, and he showed up at my door on a night I was home by myself.  I was alone.  And vulnerable.  He…we…”

“You don’t have to tell me every detail, you know?”  Honestly, he didn’t want to hear it.

“I know.  It’s just…I need you to know this.  As soon as it was over, I wished I could take it back.  Honestly, in the middle of it, I wished I could take it back.  But things had already progressed so far, and I didn’t know how to make him stop.  And I was hoping,” a sob interrupted her, catching her breath for a moment.  She took a deep breath before continuing, still not meeting his eyes, “I was hoping he could heal my heart.  Make me feel something good again.  But I was wrong.  He just made everything worse.  I felt even more alone.  After that night, I never talked to him again.  In fact, I pretty much avoided guys altogether…until I met you.”

His heart stopped.  He stared down at her dark head.  She wasn’t looking up at him.  She was gazing firmly at his shirt under her fingertips.  

“Tia,” he whispered tenderly.  Still, she didn’t meet his gaze.

He reached up with a lone fingertip and touched the bottom of her chin, gently tipping her head up a little.  Her eyes rose to meet his own.  He bent his head, his finger still under her chin, and brushed his lips tenderly across her own, just like the caress of a butterfly’s wings, before he raised his head to gaze down at her once again.  He would show her what a man looked like, someone who wouldn’t take advantage of her or the situation.   He would prove to her that a man could feel a burning passion and still rein in all his impulses to protect the woman he loved.  Even from himself.

“Tia, your heart will always be safe with me.  I promise you.”

There was something solid in his gaze, an unswerving vow that he would keep his word.  Her heart had finally found a safe harbor.  She was home.