“Again you can see the symbolism behind the name. Courtship is often a game of cat and mouse, of the hunter and the hunted. The game always ends the same.” Her grin made him wonder if she thought he was the cat or the mouse. He was always the cat.
“If at any time you feel tired, transition into the Inverted Embrace. Just relax your arms to grip his waist. As long as you are smaller than him he should be able to support your weight. You can rotate your hips in every direction, resting your head on his chest or raising your head to look into his eyes. Again his hands are free.”
The twinkle in her eyes showed she knew she really wasn’t playing fair at all. He raised his hands up her back and tried to list the fifty states in alphabetical order.
Sophie rolled off him slowly, using her body to shield his response to her from the rest of the class. David was grateful she never tried to embarrass him about his reaction. He was only human after all.
He stayed behind her as she stretched the class and reminded them of the importance of not straining themselves. By picturing the faces of the presidents he was trying to name in order, he was able to calm himself enough to put the mats away while she answered questions and said goodbye to the students.
The way she doled out advice amazed him. These people were looking to her for wisdom, yet she had no practical experience of the topic. They respected her, trusted her and presumed she was an expert on the subject.
Her knowledge was extensive. The classes were making David feel like he had a limited repertoire even with his vast experience. He’d only ever shared a night with a woman. The students were sharing a lifetime together. He was beginning to understand how you might want to know more if you were trying to communicate something more than physical need, than instant gratification. How sex would need to mean different things at different times.
He shuddered at the thought. He was getting it.
———
Sophie enjoyed the way she felt around David. She had a heightened sense of awareness whenever he was in the vicinity. It made her feel more confident, sexy and secure than she ever had before. This was a strange combination of emotions elicited by a man slipping from her fantasies into reality. Her ability to arouse him delighted her more than she thought possible.
She’d wondered if his reaction last week was just a fluke, a physical response to the material. She knew now. It wasn’t her or the racy nature of the class that was exciting him, but the two of them, together. There was something heady and electric, something she always felt buzzing below the surface. The more time they spent together the louder it became, thundering so loud even David couldn’t ignore it now.
Sophie turned the manual lock on the door after thanking the last of the students and turned to the empty reception area. David sat on top of the reception desk, a wide grin across his face. He’d left his shirt off all through class, to the noticeable delight of the female participants and chagrin of their husbands. He was the epitome of masculine beauty.
Sophie had cautiously enjoyed touching him all night, careful not to let herself get too carried away. But now there was no audience, nothing to stop her. She saw his eyes darken as she stepped closer, watched his chest rise and fall with each rough breath.
“I put the mats away.”
“Trying to earn another merit badge?” Sophie kept her voice light, not sure if she wanted him to know yet just what she had in mind.
“How do you do that?” he asked from his perch on the desk. His posture relaxed, his legs wide apart, hands in front of him on the edge.
“Do what?” She stepped easily between his legs. With him sitting on the desk they finally came eye to eye.
“Talk about sex so openly without getting embarrassed.”
They were so close Sophie could feel his warm breath as he spoke. She shrugged. “It’s a natural act, everybody does it.” She looked down as she felt the color rise from her shoulders clear up to her cheeks. “Well, everybody but me, anyway.” She steeled herself against her moment of insecurity and met his gaze again. “I’ve never really understood what there is to be embarrassed about.”
“Most women are.”
“I’m not most women,” she smiled. “Besides, I’m talking about sex in theory, not in practice. I think sometimes women get nervous because what they’re saying tells about them emotionally. Here, it’s just physical.” She leaned closer, breathing in his deliciously spicy male scent. “What did you think of tonight’s class?”
His head cocked to the side. “Are you fishing for more compliments? Really, Sophie.”
“No, I’m not. I was just curious how you felt about the topic.”
“Woman-on-top positions? Nice show.” His grin leered at her.
“I’ll remember that.” She placed her hands on his knees and slid them up his thighs. She smiled, hearing him suck in a harsh breath as she found his hips.
“Sophie,” he warned.
“I meant, what do you think about giving up some control?”
“When have you ever let me be in control?” His voice was gravelly and solemnly serious.
Her hands retreated to mid thigh. “I don’t let you, you just take it.” Not that she minded.
David cleared his throat and slid forward, his toes tapping the floor. “If you’re referring to when I kissed you last week, I should remind you that you started it.”
“But you wouldn’t let me finish it,” she pouted.
He shook his head. “Sophie, I warned you about that.”
“You don’t understand how frustrating it is to be kissed.”
“Frustrating?” he smiled. “That wasn’t the response I was going for.”
“You couldn’t do it.” Her fingers again began their march north.
“What?”
“Be kissed. You’d never allow it to happen to you. You would have to control even that.”
He shook his head. “That’s ridiculous.”
“I dare you.”
“We’re not children. You don’t need a game if you want to kiss me,” he winked.
She licked her lips. “You’ll let me?”
“Only to disprove your hypothesis. Purely for the betterment of science.”
“How unselfish of you,” she taunted, flattening her palms against his bare chest. “Are you sure you can do it?”
“I’m not a control freak. I can do it.”
It was intimidating, kissing a man who could clearly kiss so well, who had kissed so many. She wasn’t sure if he liked kissing someone with her limited repertoire. But she felt a primal need to feel his lips beneath hers, to know how his mouth tasted on its own.
She lightly brushed her lips against his, breathing in his scent. Closing her eyes she went further, placing tender, soft kisses against his slightly parted lips. She pressed her mouth more firmly against his, and then gently nibbled his upper lip. She slid one hand up his body, the heat of him warming her cool fingers. Threading her hand through his hair she pulled his head in closer.
She moved on, planting soft kisses on each of his cheeks, brow, ears and finally his eyelids, forcing his eyes to close if only for a moment. She pressed her forehead against his.
“Do you always keep your eyes open?”
David nodded slowly, his eyes fixed on hers.
“You should close them, just focus on the sensation.” She smiled at the thought of giving him advice on kissing. Absolutely absurd. As if the man had anything to learn.
He shook his head. “There’s no way I’m missing the show.”
She revisited his mouth, gently licking his lips with the tip of her tongue, tasting her way across his mouth. Clean and cool, as refreshing as water. Growing bolder she took his lower lip in her mouth and sucked it gently. He responded in kind to her upper lip. She pulled back slightly and smiled, rejoining him by sucking his upper lip. She danced her tongue inside, slowly beginning her exploration of his mouth. He sucked her tongue hard, and she pulled back, silently reminding him who was in cha
rge.
Chapter Six
The hardest thing he’d ever done. Letting her kiss him and not take control, not throw her on the desk and do every wicked thing he’d been dreaming about all week.
From time to time she would pull away and gaze up at him, watch him watching her. Then her eyelids would float slowly down as her mouth returned to his.
David loved to watch her when she kissed him. Her soft moans mingling with the sound of lips meeting and the exquisite feel of her mouth were causing a sensory overload. For the first time in his life he closed his eyes and just let himself be kissed. Moments later, his own sigh startled his eyes open. He’d never done that before, let his guard down even so subtly. Had she noticed?
He reminded himself that he was doing all this for her. He was going to let her push until she found the boundary and called it off. The feel of her hand drifting down his chest blurred his mind. He just hoped she would find her wall soon, before he’d gone past the point of no return. Her fingers slid beneath the waistband of his track pants.
“Sophie, play fair,” he hissed.
“What?” she asked, batting her eyelashes. Her smiling cheeks pushed her big eyes into semi circles. “This is against your rules?” Her voice was low and throaty as her fingertips advanced another inch into his pants.
He grabbed her wrist to protect himself. “You are playing with fire, Sophie.”
She smiled wickedly and reaching up with her free hand, ran her fingers along the stubble at his jaw. “Not yet, but I’m trying to.”
Something about her touch moved him. The way she looked at him was different, less hungry and more reverent than he anticipated. He shook his head at the romantic notion.
“You should get your coat.”
“Really? And where are we going?”
“Home.” He slid off the desk and stood up as tall as he could manage without displaying just how affected he had been by her kiss.
“My place or yours?”
“Very funny.” David pulled on the T-shirt he’d rescued from her office. “Do you need a ride?”
She circled her arms around his waist and looked up. “I’m going to walk home unless you promise to come with me.”
“And do what exactly, Sophie?” It was now or never. David swallowed hard and began his onslaught. “What do you want to do once we get there? Are you going to kiss me again? Are you really prepared for what happens next? Are you ready to peel my clothes off and work me through all of the positions you tried tonight for real?
“What are you looking for Sophie?” He leaned in closer and whispered in her ear, trying to ignore the trouble she was having catching her breath. “Do you want to see how many times I can make you come in one night?” He leaned closer, puffing the heated words against her skin.
“With my fingers, my mouth, my cock? Do you want me to make you scream, Sophie?”
———
Sophie’s stomach clenched and she forced her eyes open. Making her come by kissing her had been one thing. There was no way she was going to let herself climax just from listening to him talk. She did her best to take a deep breath, raised her hands to his chest and pushed him as far away as she could manage. Which wasn’t far because what she really wanted to do was take him then and there.
She looked up into his face, surprised that he didn’t look angry, but strangely pleased. “I don’t want that much pressure. I would end up so preoccupied with the task that pleasure might elude me and ruin my enjoyment of my first sexual experience.” She watched as his face fell. If she had to guess, he was now baffled.
“Sex should be more than just the pursuit of orgasms. Lovemaking should focus on the emotional and physical connection between two people. You’re putting too much pressure on me to climax. Let’s just focus on a mutually pleasurable experience, okay?”
He shook his head and crossed his arms across his broad chest. “And here I was, thinking I had performance anxiety.”
“You? You can do whatever you want and I’ll think it’s normal. I’m the one who has standards to live up to.”
His head tilted back as the laughter erupted from his throat. She smiled in spite of her insecurity and swatted his arm. “That’s right, laugh it up.”
“I’m sorry, I just never even considered you would be nervous. You’re never nervous.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m always nervous. I have a low-level hum of nervousness going on whenever you’re around.”
“Really?” His face morphed into a little boy grin.
She smiled back. “Come on,” she said grabbing his hand and pulling him toward the door. “Let’s go earn you another merit badge.”
———
David knew Sophie was mad, but there had been no way he could trust himself to get out of that car. Entering his condo, he knew he was facing another sleepless night of cold showers and torrid fantasies. The lights on inside surprised him.
He never bothered with the lights, the glimmer from the water was usually enough to help him find his bed at night and the door in the morning. The warm glow and buzzing television could mean only one thing. Kelly was here.
Tossing his wallet and keys he went straight to the kitchen. Kelly always brought food. Really tasty, party-in-your-mouth food. Maybe she’d brought something sugary. Sophie said sugar was good for sexual frustration.
His baby sister didn’t disappoint. Reading “Moonstruck Chocolate Company” on the lid of the crescent-shaped box David dove in. As one truffle melted in his mouth he rolled another between his fingers and wondered which would be Sophie’s favorite.
He liked the Italia Espresso, but guessed she would be more The Mayan with its milk chocolate, almonds and cinnamon or The Ocumarian. Yes, he nodded to himself, The Ocumarian’s dark chocolate and chili pepper suited her perfectly. She looked innocent, but she played with fire.
“There you are,” Kelly said from the doorway to the laundry room he never entered. “I called your office. They said you have a standing appointment for seven every Thursday.” His sister stepped closer, standing toe-to-toe with him. At six feet tall she could almost look him in the eye. “David, are you seeing a therapist?”
“What? No. Why would you ask me that?” He eyed the remaining chocolates, choosing Cinnamon Roll Latte and grimacing at the cutesy candies that remained. Ivory Cat and Chocolate Lab. He wasn’t desperate enough to go there, yet.
“There’s nothing wrong with seeking professional help.”
David rolled his eyes and leaned his hip against the counter. “And exactly why do you think I need a shrink?”
She waved her hand in dismissal and walked back to the laundry room. “Everyone could benefit from a little analysis. I was just surprised you had a standing appointment on the books. What is it, a poker game?”
“No,” he said quickly, running through possible excuses in his mind. What had Sophie said the other day? Lying is too much work. He stomped his foot on the tile. Enough thoughts about Sophie.
“Then what is it?” Kelly asked, carrying a basket of sheets with her. Pulling one out, she handed the corners to David. “You might as well tell me because you know I’m not going to stop asking.”
“None of your business,” he said as she approached him with her two corners, folding the sheet in half.
“Oh, now I really want to know. Golf lessons?”
“I don’t need golf lessons.”
Kelly took the sheet and finished folding it.
“You should just leave your stuff and let the housekeepers take care of it.”
Kelly ignored him, plucking another sheet from the basket. “I know it’s not a date, so let me see. Are you meeting with a trainer?”
David cocked his head to the side. “How do you know it’s not a date? I date.”
“What you do isn’t dating. Your attention span is too short, and your list of rules too long for dating.” Kelly set the sheets on the counter and dug in the basket for the pillowcases, then slowly looked up at him
with wide eyes. “Omigawd, it is a date isn’t it? You’re finally seeing someone.” She dropped the pillowcase on the tile and ran at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “David, I’m so happy for you. I was so worried you would never let yourself fall in love with anyone because of Dad.”
“I didn’t say it was a date, just that it could be. And I’m not in love with anyone.” Infatuated and preoccupied, but definitely not in love.
“Who is she?” Kelly asked, beaming up at him. “How long have you known her? What’s she like?”
“Slow down, there’s no date.”
Watching Kelly’s face fall he felt a little sad. Had the morning at the bakery been a date? Maybe they were dating. “I’m helping a friend teach a class.”
“A woman friend?” She didn’t bother to mask the hopefulness in her voice.
“Craig’s sister-in-law. Sophie.” He watched Kelly’s face as he said her name. Could she tell?
“Sophie.” Her eyebrow arched. “What kind of class?”
He was not going there. “It’s a yoga class for couples.” Omit, don’t lie. That was Sophie’s philosophy. Damn if it didn’t seem to be working. “Craig and Daphne usually teach it, but Daphne’s on bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy. Sophie fills in for Daphne, and I do Craig’s part.”
“Daphne’s okay, right?” Kelly asked, putting her folded linens back in the basket.
“Seems to be. Craig’s freaking out though.”
“That’s what he does.” Kelly smiled. “Is it at one of Strong Gyms?”
“No, Working It Out. It’s a women’s only center Daphne and Sophie own.”
Kelly picked up her laundry basket and headed back for the laundry room. “In the Pearl District. I’ve heard of it. You know they teach a class…” Kelly’s basket hit the floor and she spun around. “Get out!”
David’s stomach twisted as he realized his baby sister had just figured out exactly what kind of class he was helping teach. “It’s not what you think.”
“That class is for committed couples only! How long have you been keeping this from me?”
Compromising Positions Page 6
