Текст книги "Insider"

Автор книги: Olivia Cunning

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Текущая страница: 3 (всего у книги 34 страниц)

Two

Logan grinned as he settled on the sofa next to Dare. “Three hours,” he said.

Dare chuckled. “Three days,” he countered.

“Never,” Steve said.

“Never?” Logan said. “Why would you say that?”

“She’s a good girl. She won’t fall into bed with you in three hours.” Steve raked his fingers through his long damp hair and used a band to tie it back.

“How do you know she’s a good girl?”

“If she wasn’t, she’d have already fallen into bed with me,” Dare said and offered a teasing wink.

“Doesn’t matter. Good girls are easy,” Logan said.

“Logan, don’t fuck with her,” Max said. “This is business, not for your twisted sense of pleasure.”

“I can mix business with pleasure.” Logan peered toward the open bus door. Shouldn’t Toni be climbing the steps now? He hoped he hadn’t scared her away. He found her incredibly attractive. He had a thing for women who understated their beauty, and Toni took understatement to a whole new level. And her rack? God, he could get lost between her enormous tits for hours. He hoped she wasn’t wearing a padded bra under that turtleneck sweater. He planned to find out really soon.

Dare thumped Logan on the side of the head. “You’re so full of shit.”

“Why do you say that?”

“You’re talking smack. You like her.”

“I don’t even know her. How could I like her?”

“Are you talking about me?” a soft, feminine voice said from the top of the bus steps.

Busted.

Logan turned his head and smiled at her. “Of course not.”

“Oh,” she said, her face falling.

“I already know I like you,” he said.

Her hand moved to her mouth. She touched her lips with two fingers, and a pretty blush spread across her face. Sweet, shy, and female, a combination Logan could never resist. Especially the female part. Her fantastic tits were just a bonus.

“Have a seat, Toni,” Dare offered. He stood and took a gym bag from her hand. He set it on the floor next to the spot he’d vacated, making it clear that Toni should sit next to Logan on the sofa. Logan loved the guy. Such a thoughtful son of a bitch. Toni’s dark eyes, hidden behind a pair of thick-rimmed glasses, scanned the interior of the bus as if searching for refuge. Apparently the seat next to Logan was not it. Dare plopped himself down in the only available recliner and extended the leg rest, as if he had no intention of moving for the night.

“Th-thanks,” Toni said, pushing her glasses up her nose with one trembling hand.

Logan wasn’t sure what she was so nervous about all of a sudden. She’d seemed perfectly at ease when they’d been interacting with their fans. Perhaps she’d taken his comment about a lamb in a den of wolves to heart. He’d only been teasing, but he found her skittishness endearing in a world where most women threw all inhibitions to the wind when in the presence of any member of his band, much less all four of them.

The bus rumbled as it rolled forward. They were on the road again. Toni’s hands flew out as the unexpected movement threw her off balance.

She plopped down beside Logan, perching on the edge of a cushion as if the sofa’s back was made of shards of glass. Logan was pretty sure she was looking for the emergency exit. Her gaze settled on Butch, who was standing next to their driver and running over a strict schedule detailing how to get them to their next show in time while making a promotional stop between venues. Their schedule never had an inch of give. Their manager, Sam, was a genius when it came to getting the band the most exposure, but he had the tendency to believe that because they were a metal band, they were made of iron. They didn’t require useless things like down time and rest.

“So tell us more about this book,” Dare said, which was apparently the exact right thing to say to Toni, because her unease evaporated instantly.

“Have you seen the new interactive electronic textbooks?” she asked, her eager gaze moving from Dare to Max to Steve.

Logan was very conscious of the fact that she didn’t look at him once. He’d thought their attraction was mutual, but maybe not. He scooted several inches closer to her because he saw something he wanted and wasn’t one to sacrifice his personal needs for the greater good.

“Textbooks?” Steve asked. “Like for school and shit?”

“Yeah, that’s usually where textbooks are used,” she said, a teasing grin on her lush lips. When no one laughed, her face fell. Logan forced a guffaw about five seconds too late. That got his bandmates laughing. Not at Toni’s understated joke. They were laughing at his blatant stupidity. Nothing new there.

“I can’t say I’ve even seen a textbook since high school,” Steve said.

“These new interactive ones are amazing. Each topic has videos and pictures and links. It presents the information in a way that gets students who are used to constant entertainment excited about learning.”

“So you’re writing a textbook about us?” Dare asked, brows drawn together in a confused scowl.

“What kind of textbook would that be? A manual on mayhem and debauchery?” Toni cringed when no one laughed at that joke either.

Logan guffawed five seconds too late again. He was going to have to pay really close attention to what she said to figure out when she was joking. He didn’t think she lacked a sense of humor, she just looked serious. She’d definitely fit in better at a library than at standup-comedy night.

“The publishing company I work for designs and distributes these interactive textbooks,” she said. “Samuel Baily approached us to make an interactive book about the band, the first of its kind. He’s very forward thinking.”

That got the band laughing. “You might say that,” Max said. “Sometimes he’s a bit too forward thinking. He’s got every minute of our schedules booked for the next eighteen years. He thinks we’re robots or something.”

Toni’s eyes bulged. “Eighteen years?” she muttered under her breath.

Surely she knew Max was joking, so why did she look so unsettled? Wondering if he could make her blush again, Logan scooted a few more inches closer to her. His knee brushed her thigh, and she yanked on her skirt. Other than her hands and face, not an inch of bare flesh was showing. He wasn’t sure exactly what she was trying to conceal. Maybe she wasn’t open to his attempts to seduce her. Which made her a challenge. Which, like her tits, he couldn’t resist. Or maybe she had a nice boyfriend at home. His loss.

“Speaking of robots,” Steve said. “How are the prototypes of our androids coming?”

“Good until they tried to replicate my dick and ran out of materials,” Logan said.

Toni’s sudden intake of breath made him grin. That shocked her? Seriously? Too easy.

“If they ran out of materials, it had to be due to Max’s giant forehead,” Steve said.

“Or your enormous feet,” Max countered.

Toni grabbed a pad of paper out of her bag and started writing furiously. Logan leaned against her shoulder to read what had her so excited. She was writing down their conversation. In the margin, she wrote: Keep video camera close at hand when all band members are together. They’re hilarious.

He was close enough to feel her body heat and inhale the sweet fragrance of her fruity shampoo. He wondered if she tasted as sweet as she smelled.

“For the record,” Logan said in her ear as he pointed toward her notes, “I was the one with the big dick.”

Toni leaped from the sofa as if it were on fire. Her gaze darted from one guy to the next, and she pushed her glasses up her nose with the back of her wrist. God, he wanted to take those glasses off, take those clothes off, and do things to her. Naughty, devious, delicious things.

“Um . . .”

The twin bumps poking against her shapeless turtleneck drew Logan’s attention. Hard nipples? Did his crassness turn her on? That was all the encouragement he needed to behave inappropriately. Visible nipples also meant that her bra was not padded. There was so much win in that, he should have her name engraved on a trophy.

“What’s wrong?” Logan asked. “I won’t bite. But I will nibble. And suck. And lick.”

She stared at him with her mouth agape and her eyes wide. Her nipples strained against her sweater, begging him to do all those things and more to the tips of those luscious melons.

She glanced down at her tits and immediately crossed her arms over her chest. “Is, um, there a bathroom I can use?”

“At the back of the bus,” Dare said, nodding his head toward the end of the corridor.

“Don’t take a dump in there,” Steve said. “We stop at rest areas to do that business.”

Face flaming, she sucked in a deep breath, turned, and sprinted to the back of the bus. She fumbled with the closet door and when it popped open, a stack of towels that had shifted during transit tumbled out and pummeled her in the face.

Logan climbed to his feet to rescue her. He decided to take it easy on her for the moment. He wouldn’t want to traumatize her so much she decided to leave. They both bent to pick up the same towel at the same time and bumped heads. They jerked apart and rubbed their heads in unison. Toni looked up at him, her brown, doe-like eyes watery with tears. He wasn’t sure if they were tears of pain or humiliation, but seeing them in her eyes did strange things to his chest. He wasn’t sure why it was suddenly tight.

“It’s okay,” he said, deciding that though it was fun to tease her, he’d better tone it down a bit. She obviously wasn’t used to it, and he didn’t want to harass a woman who wasn’t receptive to provocative flirting. He hadn’t intended to upset her, just wanted to have a little fun and get under that conservative skirt of hers. “I’ll get the towels, Toni. You go ahead and do your business.” He opened the bathroom door for her.

She lowered her hand from her forehead to reveal a large reddened bump.

Logan winced and leaned forward to press his lips to the lump. She sucked a startled breath into her chest. Shit. There he went crossing the line again.

“Sorry,” he murmured. “I always kiss boo-boos.”

“I have a pimple on my ass that needs kissing,” Steve called.

Logan closed his eyes and shook his head. “One of the things you should consider stressing in your book is how little fucking privacy a man has while on tour with his band.”

“I can include that,” she said, “but I think fans are more interested in the size of your dick.” She backed into the bathroom. “I know I am.” She bit her lip before closing the door in his face.

Three

Toni knew she had about two minutes to compose herself, or the band was going to think she was taking a dump and smelling up the bus. She wouldn’t want to break such an important rule right off the bat. Why was she so off her game? Probably because she’d never expected to be hit on by a man so far out of her league. She cringed at her train of thought. What was with the baseball analogies? She didn’t even watch sports.

But she couldn’t figure out why the band’s bassist kept hitting on her. Not only was Logan Schmidt rich and famous, he was ridiculously gorgeous with all that thick golden curly hair and those sexy blue eyes. And those lips. Dear lord, he’d kissed her bare skin. Yes, it had been her forehead, but it had been skin, by God. Logan must be toying with her for the sheer amusement of watching her behave like a gooftacular reject. There was no other explanation. She relieved her bladder and flushed the toilet before gazing at herself in the mirror as she washed her hands in a marble sink. As she expected, she hadn’t suddenly spawned supermodel good looks. Her mouth was too wide, dirt-brown eyes too big, dull brown hair too frizzy, glasses too thick, style too lacking for a man like Logan Schmidt to afford her a second glance.

She wasn’t going to let him make fun of her, though. She had to earn their respect as a professional. She was here to do a job, not get hard nipples just because some rock god brushed up against her and told her his dick was big. She checked her chest to make sure her high beams were under control, straightened her spine and exited the bathroom. She hadn’t expected Logan to still be in the hall shoving towels back into the linen closet. Her hand moved automatically to her forehead—the memory of his lips brushing against her skin had her belly quivering.

“Do you need an icepack?” he asked, his eyes trained on the lump on her head.

“No, thank you. I’ll be fine.”

“He’s got a head like a brick,” Steve said. He was standing a few steps away at a small refrigerator with the door wide open. He grabbed a beer and closed the door.

“Tell me about it,” she said.

“Would you like a beer?” Steve asked, tilting a brown bottle in her direction.

“Maybe later. Right now, I’m on duty.”

“So tell us more about this book,” Steve pressed. “What are we supposed to contribute?”

Max and Dare joined the little huddle in the corridor near the bunks. Four rock stars watched her expectantly. Her deodorant was certainly demonstrating its worth tonight. She’d have to remember to apply twice her usual amount for the rest of her assignment.

“Basically, you just need to be yourselves. The book is intended to be a candid look into your lives.”

“Smile!” Logan sang. “You’re on candid camera.”

Toni laughed. “I promise not to play practical jokes on you.” She made the mistake of looking at Logan. He completely shattered her concentration. If she shifted her body a few inches, she could discover firsthand what it felt like to be pressed against that hard chest. More than anything, she wanted to bury her hands in the silky-looking loose curls of his hair and taste his lips.

“It’s going to be hard to be ourselves knowing someone is watching us twenty-four seven,” Max said. His deep voice was like cool satin caressing the back of Toni’s neck. His singing voice was phenomenal and his speaking voice was equally remarkable. It might have been the only sound on the planet that could have broken Logan’s spell over her.

She forced her gaze to Max. He was scowling reflectively.

“Hopefully, after a few days you’ll forget I’m here,” she said.

“Doubtful,” Logan said.

The bus lurched unexpectedly, and the driver cursed at whoever had cut him off. “Learn how to drive, asshole!”

Toni took a step backward to regain her balance and bumped into Logan, who was still standing directly behind her. He grabbed her hips to steady her, but there was nothing steadying about the man’s hands on her hips. Or the progressively hardening cock prodding her in the ass. From the feel of it, his dick really would run those android makers out of materials.

Instead of pulling away, she relaxed against him. He tensed and shifted her hips a fraction of an inch.

“Fuck, woman,” he whispered in her ear. “Don’t encourage me. I’m having a hard enough time trying to convince myself that you’re off limits.”

She was starting to think he really was attracted to her and not just toying with her for his personal amusement.

“Do you have a boyfriend?” he asked.

“Huh?” Why would he ask her that?

“A big, mean-as-fuck, jealous guy who will break my neck with his bare hands if he knew I touched you?”

Toni shook her head.

“A raging case of herpes?”

“Of course not!”

“You’re not making this any easier on me.”

On him? What about her? She was pretty sure the other band members could hear his whispered questions. They’d definitely heard her blurted reply. She gave herself a shake to clear her thoughts and attempted to ignore the man behind her. Slim chance of that happening.

“I’ll also need to interview each of you,” she said to the rest of the band, who were watching the two of them with expressions ranging from amusement to bewilderment to annoyance.

“Tonight?” Steve asked. “Probably not a good idea. I’m a bit out of it after a show.”

“You’re always out of it,” Logan said.

“Sorry, but I need to crash immediately,” Dare said, stifling a yawn with the back of his hand. “It’s been an exhausting day and we have another full day tomorrow.” He ticked off events on one hand. “Radio interview, sound check, meet and greet, concert, after-party.” He ran out of fingers, so he waved his hands as if looking for extra digits. “And I might need to take a piss in there somewhere.”

“You don’t have time to take a piss, Dare,” Logan said.

“Did Sam forget to schedule piss breaks again? Fuck,” Steve grumbled. “Better start saving our beer bottles. Fair warning, Toni. Never drink out of an open bottle around here.”

“Eww.” She crinkled her nose.

Dare offered Toni a half smile. His piercing green eyes threatened to melt her into a puddle on the floor. This guy’s presence . . . Just wow.

“Why don’t we start the interviews Monday? We’ll have a long boring drive that day followed by two nights in a hotel. We should be more ourselves then.”

“That’s fine with me,” Toni said. “I want you to be comfortable. I intend for this book to reflect what wonderful men you are.”

Logan chuckled. “I think you have us mistaken for some other band.”

She shook her head. “No mistake.”

Toni glanced at the bunks on either side of the corridor. There were only four of them. “So I guess I get to sleep on the couch?”

“Butch sleeps on the couch,” Logan said.

“The floor?” She curled her nose. No telling what kinds of things were on that floor. It looked clean, but bacteria were microscopic. She was certain there were innumerable germs embedded in that low-pile carpet.

“You’ll sleep with me,” Logan said. “You have no other choice.”

Toni assessed each member of the band. “Actually, I have three other choices.”

Steve laughed. “Ouch! I think you’ve just been rejected, Lo.”

“Not necessarily,” Toni said. “I just like to keep my options open.” As if even one of these guys would consider her an option. Right, Toni . . . Keep dreaming.

“There’s a sectional sofa in the back lounge,” Max said. “Reagan sleeps on it when she’s not jumping Trey’s bones on Sinners’ bus. You’re welcome to sleep there.”

Logan’s hands covered her ears. “Don’t tell her that,” he said. “I’m making my move here.”

Toni laughed. She was used to being the brunt of jokes. She’d learned long ago that the best way to protect her feelings was to join in on the fun.

“Maybe there’s room on that sectional for two,” she said.

“We’ll make room.”

Logan spun her around and escorted her to the back of the bus. Next to the bathroom was a set of sliding doors she hadn’t noticed earlier. They were black and shiny and if not for the latches and the seam between them, they would have looked like a solid wall. Logan lifted the latches and slid the doors open to reveal a royal-blue semicircular sectional that ran the entire perimeter of the room. Several guitars hung on the wall above it. Toni stepped into the lounge, her gaze locking on a worn Flying V guitar. In her research, she’d read that Dare Mills used an old Flying V to compose the guitar music for Exodus End. She gaped at the instrument, wondering if it was Dare’s legendary guitar. How many amazing and famous songs had been created in this small space on that unassuming instrument?

“Is this where—”

The sound of the doors sliding shut behind her made her heart skip a beat. She turned, thinking Logan had left without even telling her good night, but he was standing just inside the closed doors, looking more like a lion than a wolf with that golden hair, but she was definitely feeling like a feast of lamb.

“This is where,” he said.

She’d wanted to ask if this was where the band composed music while on tour, but the words caught in her throat. Why was he looking at her like she was a seven-course meal that he was about to devour? All those things he’d said—the innuendos, the come-ons—he’d been teasing her, right? Like the few guys in her past. Getting her hopes up and then reminding her that she was merely friend material.

Logan took two steps forward, and she found herself wrapped in his arms. Before she could grasp how wonderful it felt to be held by a strong man, Logan’s mouth claimed hers and she was lost.

This was not her first kiss, but it was the first time a man feasted upon her mouth as if his life depended on it. His fingers delved into her hair to tilt her head just so. His tongue brushed her upper lip, and her bones melted.

In her inexperience, she wasn’t sure how to reciprocate, so she merely accepted his kiss, allowing him to coax her mouth open and slide his tongue against hers. She writhed her hips when an unbearable throb stirred between her thighs. Logan murmured encouragement against her lips when her tormented motions stroked the hard ridge in his jeans.

Did he really want her? It sure felt like it.

Her trembling hand sought the hard evidence of his desire where it rested between their bodies. She half expected him to tell her not to touch him. She definitely didn’t expect him to deftly release the buttons of his fly and fill her hand with thick, hot cock. His most private, bare flesh pressed against her palm. Oh, it was so hot. And smooth. And hard.

A distracting throb between her legs had her tugging awkwardly at his length. Toni’s face flamed. She didn’t even know this man and here she stood with his tongue in her mouth and his cock in her hand. A cock she had no idea what to do with. She’d seen some in pictures and watched a few in action in some second-rate online pornography, but had never actually touched one. Not that she hadn’t wanted to; the opportunity had never presented itself. It was presenting itself in abundance now.

He shifted slightly, and everything went dark when he lifted her sweater over her head and tossed it aside. His hands skimmed her bare shoulders as his gaze settled on the tops of her breasts spilling from the top of her black demi-bra.

“Even more beautiful than I imagined,” he said.

Did he really mean that? She’d never had a man look at her as if she were desirable. Never felt remotely beautiful until that moment.

His fingers touched the center of her back, and her bra came unfastened. He obviously knew what he was doing, and she wanted him to keep doing whatever it was he had in mind. Kissing. Making out. Sex. Yes. She was ready for any and all of it. When would she ever have an opportunity like this again? Probably never.

He slipped her bra down her arms and tossed it aside. His hands moved to cup her breasts, his thumbs rubbing over their hardened nipples.

“I love big tits,” he said. “I could suck on yours for hours.”

She cringed at his use of the word tits, but suck sounded like a good plan. “Yes,” she whispered, “suck them.”

“Are you just going to hold it all night?” he asked.

Hold it? Hold what? Oh . . . it! She tightened her hand around his penis. What was she supposed to do with it? She’d heard that guys liked to be sucked down there. And stroked. But she had no idea how to do either of those things without looking like the virgin she was.

“Tell me what you like,” she said.

“What I like?”

“Yeah, I want to please you.” Did that sound too needy? She gazed up at him, hoping to look sexy but figuring she probably looked desperate.

“Sucking your big, beautiful tits will please me plenty.”

He backed her toward the sofa, removing his T-shirt as he moved. His chest was covered with intricate gray-scale tattoos. The samurai warrior was so lifelike, she almost expected it to slash her with its razor-sharp sword. Before she tumbled back on the sofa, she fleetingly wondered how much it had hurt to have all of that artwork etched into his skin. She stared wide-eyed when her gaze landed on the enormous cock that protruded from his fly. The thickened tip curved upwards slightly. The darker shaft had a maze of blood vessels straining against the surface. She reached for it with a trembling hand.

“God, that’s sexy. Are you doing that on purpose?” he asked.

“Doing what?”

“Acting like you’ve never been fucked before. Like my dick is the first one you’ve ever touched.”

Her cheeks flamed, and she drew her hand away.

“Whatever,” he said, “keep it up. It’s a serious turn-on.”

Her inexperience was a turn-on? Or him thinking that she was acting inexperienced was a turn-on? She would have no problem keeping up the ploy since it wasn’t a ruse. But his way of thinking gave her the confidence to not pretend that she knew what she was doing. She was relieved that she could show her sexual cluelessness and turn him on at the same time.

She steeled her nerve and sat upright on the low sofa. She gazed at his cock with trepidation. It jerked, and he gasped.

“If you keep staring at it like that, I’m going to come all over your face.”

Did penises really do that? Could he ejaculate just because a woman stared at his cock? Or would he need a little more stimulation? She took a steadying breath, leaned forward, and kissed the swollen head. She gasped, shocked by her brazenness, and looked up at him in apology. “S-sorry.”

“For what?”

“Touching you without permission.”

“Trust me, lamb, you have permission.”

He dropped to his knees in front of her and gazed down at her bare breasts. He lifted his hands to cup them, but hesitated with his palms inches from her skin. Her nipples strained toward his hands, and her back arched involuntarily.

“Do I have permission to touch you, Toni?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “Please.”

His hands found her aching breasts. He lifted one to his mouth and sucked a nipple inside. Toni’s damp panties became instantly drenched. Pleasure radiated out from her nipple and coursed through her body to her lower belly. Something inside her tightened. A spasm gripped the swollen flesh between her thighs, and she called out. Whoa! Had she just had an orgasm? She wasn’t sure, but she felt delightful.

Logan shifted his mouth to her other breast, and another spasm caught her by surprise. She reached for his head and buried her hands in his glorious curls as she pulled him closer to her breast. He nipped the sensitive flesh, and her entire body jerked. He soothed the oversensitized nipple with a swirling tongue before sucking with a persistent, hard tug. When he pulled away, releasing his suction with a loud smack, she cried out in protest, and then she moaned when he latched on to her other breast.

One hand moved beneath her skirt to touch her knee and she nearly leaped out of her skin. She clamped her legs together, and her eyes flew open.

“Easy,” he murmured.

His mouth on her breast distracted her. Her thighs relaxed. Opened slightly. Logan buried his face between her breasts and then trailed lingering, sucking kisses down her belly. Her fingers clenched in his hair. What was he going to do with her? Would he put his mouth down there? At the thought, a wave of successive spasms gripped her saturated flesh. She cried out again.

“You’re so sensitive,” he murmured to her belly button. “I can’t wait to latch on to your clit. I’m going to suck it until you come so hard you scream.”

Toni’s knees clamped shut again. He was going to do what to her whozit?

“Are you wet? Tell me how wet you are.”

Heart thudding out of control, Toni concentrated on the wetness between her legs. She was so wet her juices had soaked through her panties and dampened her thighs. They even dripped down her ass.

“Very wet,” she said on a rush of air.

“Show me.” His hand slid halfway up the outside of her thigh. “Open your legs and show me. I want to see you cream for me.”

He wanted to see her? Between her legs? The thought definitely had her creaming for him and her heart thudding like a jackhammer.

He lifted her foot off the floor and tugged her boot off. He chuckled when he saw her purple– orange-and-green-striped sock. “Cute,” he said. He grinned up at her. She was so caught off guard by how attractive he was, she decided this must all be some vivid wet dream.

“I collect socks,” she said. She bit her lip, feeling stupid for sharing something so ridiculous. She did have over seven hundred pairs of socks, but he didn’t need to know that or the reasons why. Not now when things were so hot between them.

“You’ll have to show them to me sometime.” He removed her other boot. That sock was red with black and white spots. “Not matching socks, I see.” He chuckled, the deep sound making Toni’s belly quiver.

“I have only two feet,” she said. “I like to wear as much variety as possible. Doesn’t make sense to buy socks and not wear them.” And her little sister had all her mismatched sock mates, but Birdie was the last thing she wanted to dwell upon at that moment.

“Lucky me. I have a place for a third sock.” When he grabbed his engorged cock and stroked it from base to tip, she laughed at the mental image of that glorious appendage swathed in one of her colorful socks.

“Are you laughing at my dick?” He jerked his chin up in challenge.

She shook her head vehemently. “No. I wouldn’t. I just . . . I . . . The thought of it wearing a sock . . .” Her eyes stung as tears threatened to fall. He was going to leave her here alone, wasn’t he?

“You sure you’re into me?”

She rose up from the sofa and wrapped both arms around his neck. How could he possibly think she wasn’t into him? She got sexually excited when he merely looked at her, and she was pretty sure she was having spontaneous orgasms whenever he touched her. “I’m sure.”

“You keep closing your legs to me,” he said.

Just because she was skittish. “I’m sorry. I thought you wanted me to pretend I wasn’t experienced.” She’d tie her thighs wide open if need be.

“Is that really why?”

She nodded, knowing she was a terrible liar and that if she spoke, she’d probably blurt out that she was a virgin and the closest she’d gotten to having sex was at a college party when the guy had been so drunk that he couldn’t get it up. Or maybe it had been like he’d said and he couldn’t get it up because she was too fat and ugly to turn him on.

“I’ll pretend to be patient then,” he said, grabbing her breasts, “when all I really want to do is fuck you hard and fast. I can’t remember the last time I was this turned on.”

“I’ll show you how wet I am for you now,” she said, her belly quivering. Was she really going to show him her panties? She sat back on the sofa, pushed her skirt up, and forced her thighs apart. He shifted back and stared down at the scrap of black lace covering her aching flesh.

After a moment, he lifted her gaze to hers. “Well?”