With all their parts pressed together. In all the ways that made all her girly ones very happy.

His wings wrapped around them both like a little cocoon, shielding her from the world. She met his gaze and for a second, she had a thought.

Or was it his? She couldn't be sure, but it was one of those thoughts that friends weren't supposed to have about their friends. The ones that talked about boy parts meeting girl parts and all the moaning that went along with it.

"Um..."

He stared at her, his lips parting, and she froze.

He was going to kiss her.

Like really kiss her...

OMG.

What in the world was she thinking? This was Duncan. Her friend.

His hand roamed over her side and slid along her back. The stroke was gentle yet sensual, and it felt, well...

Good.

He moved his head toward her.

Did she get closer to him, or did he close in on her? She wasn't sure. It didn't matter, inside this little cocoon of Duncan's wings, nothing in the world could hurt her. Or touch her that she didn't want to.

Their lips brushed together.

It was soft at first. Delicate. Until more desire burned inside her, and she slid her hands into his terribly overgrown hair. He caressed her neck while deepening the kiss, and she fell into it.

Washed away in the sensation of Duncan, she burned in a way she'd never felt before. Sure, she'd had boyfriends. And she'd kissed plenty of them. But not a single one made her feel like this.

What this was, she wasn't sure, but it was something she'd never had before. Maybe it was because he was a fairy and she was a kind of fairy herself, and they had a special energy together. Maybe it was because she had always dreamed of kissing him, ever since he'd rescued her five years ago.

The more they kissed, the more doubts swirled in her head. Was he doing this because he felt sorry for her? Wanted to make her feel better?

Did she make him feel like he had to kiss her, somehow?

No. She shouldn't be kissing him. This wasn't right.

She broke the kiss and rose up, but the wings didn't budge. "What are you doing?"

"I-" His wings opened and released her, his cheeks turning just a tiny bit pink, and he couldn't meet her gaze.

She crawled off him and he sat up.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't know what came over me."

"It's okay." She put her hand on his arm, trying to soothe him. "I've never kissed anyone inside wings like that. It was kinda cool."

He smiled. "No place safer."

She shifted on the rocks and slid away from him. Not a lot, but just a little bit, and calmed the weird desires inside down. After all, this was Duncan. She wasn't supposed to be attracted to him. Not for her friend. It was too strange.

"Cara-"

"Don't. Look. We kissed. Let's not make a big deal about it, okay?" She tried to sound calm, like it didn't affect her at all-which it totally did-but she didn't want him to get the wrong idea.

For one, this was not the time for her to be bouncing into someone's arms, especially someone she cared so much about, like Duncan.

After all, she was still getting over Luke. She was vulnerable. Not quite together enough to decide to have a fling with anyone.

And what about that? What if they had a fling, and then Duncan was gone? That was a far greater loss than losing Luke.

She'd rather have this be kinda awkward than lose him all together.

Duncan cleared his throat. "Should we practice, since I'm here?"

"I guess. I can at least tell Mom I did something useful while at the beach." Because she sure as hell wasn't telling her about Duncan and his wing-cocoon kissing.

Holy moly.

She still wasn't sure how she felt about it.

She closed her eyes and felt the initial nudge of Duncan's telepathic thoughts.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she answered. "Lost in moments and all that," she said aloud. "Let's do this so Mom will be happy."

He nodded. "She still giving you grief about me?"

"She just-"

Duncan shushed her.

Cara sighed.

"She's menopausal." That was Cara's explanation for it, anyway. While not the biggest fan of the time Cara spent with Duncan, her mother couldn't complain about how much better Cara's telepathy was improving.

Besides, Cara loved hanging around Duncan. He told her stuff about the Fairy Realm, how that all worked-something her mother would never talk about. Practicing telepathy with Duncan was probably the only good excuse she had to spend time with him.

"No, she is not," Duncan said. "Your mother is a very kind lady."

Cara snorted. "I don't think she likes you telling me about the Fairy Realm."

"Why?" Duncan answered her back.

"Because...because you're..." The thoughts got jumbled in her head, and she couldn't figure out how to articulate them. Probably because she was still feeling the after-effects of kissing him.

Really, should she still have the tinglies over it? It was like the drug that didn't wear off.

"Because I'll never be a part of any of that, and telling me all about it will just make me want it more," Cara blurted.

"You want to be a fairy?" he asked.

Cara shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe. I don't want to be chained here. I mean, I can't ever leave the island. I'm stuck here."

"This is not a bad place to be."

"Says the two-hundred-fifty-year-old guy."

He laughed. "I'm only thirty-five. Just in stasis."

They both laughed. He'd explained to her once about fairy aging. Basically, they aged until thirty-five, then, after they'd trained, they signed on for three hundred fifty years of service. Their aging stopped until they retired, and after that, they started aging normally again.

So Duncan liked to call it "being in stasis".

"You're still an old guy who's seen everything. And everything change."

"Except here." He brushed his hair out of his face. "This is the only place that hasn't changed."

"Exactly!" She huffed. "Exactly why I want to leave. I want to see something. Something more than just this island."

"There is not that much to see."

She shook her head. "Maybe not to you. My sister moved off the island. Did you know that?"

"No. I was not aware."

"She, uh, fell in love with a human near where she releases her cries. Went to be with him."

"Is the love returned?" Duncan asked.

"I guess. They're getting married. I think Mom would rather her marry a fairy, but Dad's all happy about it. Can't wait for grandkids. He keeps glancing at me, like he's waiting for me to come in and declare my love for some guy as well." Though she had to admit, she wasn't completely against the idea of marrying. Her ex turned her off to doing it anytime soon, but she wouldn't mind, you know, eventually.

But there'd be some caveats.

He'd have to be really good to her.

Yeah. Awesome, like Duncan. That's the kind of guy I need.

He shifted next to her and didn't look at her as he spoke. "You are far too young to consider marrying. Fairy or human."

"Says the two hundred plus year old guy. Unlike you, I don't get to live that long." She bumped into him, and they both sort of swayed for a second before he straightened himself out.

"You just need to be a grown-up for a while. Be you for a while. Then worry about marriage."

"I don't have any plans to be married. If the right guy came along, of course, I would." She glanced at him. "If a Fairy Godfather came and helped me out a bit..."

Good, Cara, keep playing it off like they hadn't kissed, she told herself. Don't act like you still want to kiss him again.

Because you don't.

Really.

He rolled his eyes. "I got out of the Fairy Godfather business long before you came along."

He didn't seem the find your true love type anyway. He was more a Git-Er-Done guy. Evidenced by his numerous blind dates and lack of serious girlfriend for as long as Cara had known him.

Cara bumped his arm with her elbow. "You know I'm just playing."

He smiled and wrapped his arm around her.

He really had a great smile. Nice shiny, straight teeth, but not that neon I-over-whiten white. Naturally pretty.

It didn't make her feel weird things in her toes. Nope, not her. No more weird feelings like when he had her all wrapped up in his arms. And his wings.

Even like now...

Her cheeks felt warm, and she was sure she'd probably turned bright pink.

Duncan didn't seem to notice; instead he stared out at the water. "Should we practice some more? You're still really cluttered when you try to use your telepathy."

Goddess, she hoped he hadn't heard that...

"Fine."

"So, why are you hiding from your date?" she sent him.

He raised his eyebrow and smirked. "Girls are stupid." He poked her.

She elbowed him back in the ribs. "We are not!"

"You're all smelly like flowers or citrus or something. And the lipstick. You all have to wear that stuff..." He stuck out his tongue as he sent the thoughts.

"What, you don't like pretty girls?" She slipped out of his touch and put her hands on her hips.

"Just don't like lipstick smeared on my lips when I kiss a girl."

Cara's turned away from him. OMG. He brought up kissing...

Did he still want to kiss her? Of course not. He wouldn't do that. He was a nice guy. He'd have to look at her a certain way...

Just like he was looking at her right now.

It sent shivers down all the way to her toes. And other places.

"Um." She picked up a pebble, not able to look at him anymore, and threw it out into the water. She couldn't kiss him again. Didn't matter if she wanted to. He was her friend.