“And do you trust me?”
I blinked. “How can you ask me that? You have a key to my home. I trust you completely.”
His shoulders relaxed. “Good. I always want to be the man you trust. And that’s the kind of man you need for number ten.”
“That is what I need.” I took a beat, considering the enormity of the step we were taking. But then, everything made perfect sense. I didn’t want a stranger. I didn’t want a hookup. I wanted to feel safe as I explored. “So that’s it? Those are the rules of engagement for my sex list?” I asked, because my logical brain liked to raise its hand at the most inopportune moments.
Like when Adam’s thick erection pressed against my ass. The weight of his hard-on even through all these layers of clothing was intense.
“Those are the rules of engagement for your dirty, delicious, enticing, sexy-as-sin list. Unless you have any you want to add,” he said, then rubbed the scruff of his jaw against my cheek.
My body screamed for contact. My mind loved the way he’d elaborated on my list, how he’d referred to it.
But there was one more rule to establish. “Protection,” I whispered.
“I have condoms. We’ll use them every time. No questions asked,” he said, and I smiled privately.
I loved that he assumed I wasn’t on protection already. If I were him, I’d assume that too. “I’m on protection and have been for years.”
“You are?” His tone was laced with question. Understandably. But now was not the time to dive into why.
“Yes. If you’re clean we don’t have to use condoms,” I said. “Are you? Have you been tested?”
His groan lasted for several carnal seconds. “I am. Clean bill of health at my last physical. I haven’t been with anyone since.”
I broke the hold he had on my hip. I spun around and took a few steps backward to the kitchen counter, feeling naughty, daring.
From a few feet away, I stared at my friend with new eyes, drinking in the cut of his jaw, the fire in his eyes, the expanse of his hard chest.
My eyes roamed over him. He was fully dressed, but fully revealed too. The outline of his arousal was visible through his pants. Thick and firm.
My mouth watered as I stared at the shape of it.
But tonight I wanted something else.
Something for me.
I didn’t need to start at the beginning of my list. The first three items set the tone. I’d cross them off as I worked through the others.
I knew where to start.
“Okay, then. Now that we’ve tackled the rules of engagement, I’d like to try number four, please.”
7
Nina
I wasn’t ready for sex tonight.
But I was primed and eager for touch.
And for restraint.
Aphrodite’s advice rang in my ears.
Don’t be afraid to be specific. Communication is key in any relationship, especially in an intimate one. Lay out your wishes. Speak your dreams. And hey, every now and then, you might want to present a detailed diagram or specific to-do list. There is nothing wrong with clarity. In fact, clarity can be incredibly sexy. Do you want your lover to bend you over the couch, bind your wrists, and kick your ankles apart? Then make it clear. Use your words, because words are as sensual as touch.
Yes. God yes. Those things, and more.
With a deep breath and a dose of goddess bravado, I parted my lips and said, “And here’s how I want it.”
Then I told him the basics of number four. “What do you think?” I asked, a touch of nerves in my voice.
His eyes seared me. “I think you’re going to get everything you want. And everything you deserve, dirty girl.”
A naughty smile tugged at my lips at the impromptu nickname. Lately, I’d felt like one, and like I’d needed to hide that side of myself. But the way Adam said those words made me feel like I could own the moniker at last. Like I could revel in it, rather than tuck it away, unseen.
He stalked over to me, closing the few feet between us, his eyes narrowed, shining with pent-up desire. Had that desire been there before or had I unleashed it in one night?
I didn’t know. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know.
All I wanted was number four.
But before he followed my detailed instructions, he clasped my cheek. “I’m going to give you all that you want, but there’s something I need to do before I turn you around and fuck you with my fingers.”
I shivered with anticipation. “What is it, Adam?”
His eyes blazed with lust as he brushed his finger across my top lip. “Kiss those luscious, sexy, pouty lips.”
My eyes widened. Yes. I nodded, took off my glasses, and in less than a second, his lips were on mine.
He didn’t prime me. Didn’t kiss me gently.
Instead, he took.
He seized the kiss, his lips consuming mine in the span of a heartbeat. With one hand on my cheek, another on my hip, he pushed me back against the counter and held me in place, devouring my mouth.
I’d never been kissed like this.
The others before Adam, and there weren’t many, were soft and sweet.
They kissed like they were testing the terrain.
Adam was not tentative. He was resolute.
And this kind of kiss was so foreign, I wasn’t sure what to do with my hands, my body. I stood rigid, even as my insides melted.
Was I supposed to touch him too? To run my hands up and down his chest? I had no idea, so I tried to focus on his moves, as if the camera of my mind was recording them to replay later.
He barely used his tongue. He was all lips and heat and strength, and absolute control. He slid his thumb to my jaw, his fingers to my chin, and yanked my head back. Kissing me harder. Making everything clear. He owned this moment, and he owned me.
My neck was exposed, my kisses were his as he whispered, “Do you need to be kissed like a dirty girl?”
That was when I relaxed fully. That was when I turned to liquid. I knew what to do with my body. Give in.
All of me melted.
“Yes,” I whispered.
“Dirty girls get kissed like this,” he said, tilting my head and licking a line across my lips.
Holy hell.
He was showing me how he’d kiss me in other ways. At the corner of my lips, he flicked his tongue. Then he drew a long, lingering line across my lips again, murmuring as he went, like he was going down on me. When he stopped, his eyes blazed with desire. “You taste so damn good, and I bet you’re going to taste even better when you show me how much you like coming on my face.”
Electricity shot across my skin, traveling up and down my body. “I bet I will,” I said, feeling emboldened.
Something like a growl seemed to rumble up his chest as he shook his head. “But not tonight. You know why?”
“Why?” I asked, nerves and desire thrumming through me.
He dipped his face near mine. “Because I know how you want number five. I know how you want me to eat you out. You’re going to get number five when you show me how good you can beg for my mouth, like the dirty girl you are. You’re going to have to plead before I bury my face between your legs.”
Flames licked across my body. I was an inferno, and he was my oxygen. I wanted him to fan the flames of my fire. “Do I have to beg you tonight?” I asked, and the possibility thrilled me.