Or was it relief? Maybe it was more like a release of tension—all the tension that was building up inside her as she tried not to be on the receiving end of Griffin’s considerable pleasure-giving abilities.
She finished getting herself dressed, debating how much she wanted to tell Lauren about what had already gone down tonight. She normally wasn’t a kiss-and-tell kind of girl, but these were special circumstances. And Lauren was a scientist. Maybe she would have some kind of medically sound tips on how to have sex without enjoying it too much.
She straightened up the covers on the bed so that it didn’t appear as though anyone had been on it, and she went to the bathroom and grabbed a bottle of hairspray to spray in the air to cover up any lingering sex odors.
Not that she could smell anything. But Lauren had a bizarrely acute sense of smell. She was like a dog the way she went around noticing scents that no ordinary human could detect.
Macy had just finished spraying when there was a knock at the door. She opened the door to her friend and smiled.
“I owe you big-time.”
“Yes, you do,” Lauren said as she breezed past pulling a small rolling suitcase, with a leopard-print carry-on bag slung over one arm. “I had to sit next to a guy on the plane who spent an hour telling me about how he engineers plastic tubes for a living.”
“On the bright side, now you’re in Vegas. In a kick-ass hotel suite.”
Lauren put down her bags on a bench and looked around. “This place rocks.”
“Told you.”
“Give me the scoop on this Carson guy I’m supposed to be entertaining,” Lauren said as she took off her shoes.
“He’s hot—about six feet tall, green eyes, medium-brown hair, great body. He’s kind of a…” What was the best spin to put on the fact that Carson probably loved sex more than anything else in life?
“A what?”
“A ladies’ man.”
“So what you’re saying is he’s a total pussy hound.”
Macy winced. Lauren never fell for her advertising slants. She had an uncanny ability to see through bullshit.
“I wouldn’t use those words specifically, but he does love the ladies.”
“Like to the point of male slutdom, or what?”
“I only know what I hear through the grapevine at work, but…”
“It’s okay. I can hang with that. Have condoms, will travel, right?”
“I think you’ll like him.”
“I just need a willing body this weekend, and it sounds like he’ll be that, correct?”
“Most definitely.”
Lauren was unpacking her suitcase now, removing outfits she only wore when she was in a serious party mood and hanging them in the closet.
“Okay, so here’s my story. I’m a flight attendant based in San Francisco. I work for United, and I’m not into commitment.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I just want a weekend fling, okay? And guys usually don’t want to fling with brainiac medical researchers who’ve just discovered that sex is the root of all idiocy. So let’s keep those little details under wraps. Got it?”
“Um, sure, I guess. But I’m really not buying that whole guys-don’t-go-for-smart-women thing.”
“Is my love life not a cautionary tale about that very issue?”
Macy eyed the impressive array of lingerie Lauren had packed. Carson was going to be one happy boy.
“You know how I feel about that. Your love life is much more likely a cautionary tale about the dangers of being a commitment-phobic man-eater.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you take what you want from guys, then toss them aside and move on to your next victim.”
Lauren shot her a familiar glare. “You make me sound like such a wicked bitch.”
“You are wicked.”
A mysterious smile crossed her friend’s lips. “You don’t know the half of it.”
The phone rang again, and Macy jumped at the sound, then grabbed the receiver.
“Where the hell are you?” Griffin asked when she answered.
“I’ll be there in just a few. I promise.”
“I’m getting tired. I need stimulation.”
“Then turn on some pay-per-view porn or something,” Macy said and hung up.
“Porn? Is there something I should know?” Lauren said as she flopped down on the bed still in her street clothes.
“That was Griffin. He’s waiting for me in the next room.”
“Very interesting.” Lauren sat up on one elbow, her perfectly sculpted black eyebrows arching.
“We’ve already, um, been kind of busy tonight.”
“And?”
“And it’s freaking torture! I mean, I just want to let go and enjoy it, but you of all people know what happens then.”
Lauren smiled. “You start liking Britney Spears and thinking Married with Children reruns are high-brow entertainment.”
“Exactly.”
“Just enjoy yourself until you’re about to come. Don’t try to ruin the whole experience. You’re there—you might as well savor it.”
“But if I let myself get all worked up, won’t that make it harder not to come?”
“Not at all. Women are hardwired through aeons of lousy lovers to enjoy delayed gratification. We’re so used to almost coming, but not having the guy push the right buttons to get the job done, that our bodies have actually adapted to the whole frustrated-sex process and release endorphins that help us enjoy ourselves quite nicely whether or not we actually have an orgasm.”
“I can’t believe we’re having this conversation.”
“It’s all true.”
“So I’ve actually wasted a potentially enjoyable sexual experience by spending most of the time trying to think about scrubbing my toilet.”
“Ew.”
“Exactly.” Macy grabbed her overnight bag out of the closet, went into the bathroom and tossed a few essentials inside. She grabbed some clean underwear and a change of clothes from the closet and put those in, too.
“Then you’d better go get yourself some endorphins before you explode.”
“I’ll call you in the morning and let you know where we’ll hook up with Carson, okay?”
Lauren lay down flat on the bed again and closed her eyes. “Okay, and remember, I’m a flight attendant!”
MACY TAPPED SOFTLY on Griffin’s door and waited. A few moments later, he was there in front of her, undressed again except for a pair of black Calvin Klein boxers that fit him extraordinarily well.
“Got the porn on yet?” she asked as she brushed past him into the room.
“Are you serious?”
“Only when I’m doing my taxes.”
He closed the door, then followed her and captured her in his arms from behind. She felt his erection pressing into her backside, and instantly, that familiar burning started inside her again.
“I was kind of serious about the porn, though.”
“Whatever you want, babe,” he whispered against her neck, then kissed her there.
She melted against him as his teeth nipped at the flesh of her neck, her shoulder.
“I’ve got this thing for cheesy soft-core skin flicks. Is that something I shouldn’t ever admit to anyone?”
“Maybe not, but it’s kind of hot, too.”
“And you can use it against me later if you ever need to blackmail me,” she said, her eyes closed, her body all too willing to enjoy the pleasures he offered.
His hands explored up and down, one massaging her breast as the other dipped between her legs.
In truth, she had high hopes that the porn would be a complete turn-off. That way she wouldn’t get so damn aroused. It was a shaky plan at best, but she was willing to try anything at this point. She wasn’t totally ready to buy into Lauren’s endorphins-are-enough theory.
She struggled out of his grasp and went to the armoire that held the entertainment sy
stem, grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.
“Hey, come back here,” he said, but she evaded his grasp again, giggling as she scrambled across the bed.
A minute later, they were staring at a menu of payper-view erotic movies. More Bounce to the Ounce, Selena’s Secrets, Blame It on Vegas and High Ballers were their choices.
“Hmm,” Macy said. “What do you think? Anything sound intriguing?”
“Could we pass up the chance to watch a movie called High Ballers?”
“I was just thinking the exact same thing.”
“Should we bother to read the plot description?”
Macy scrolled to the title and selected it. She read the description aloud. “A horny group of strip-poker players take the game to new levels of erotic pleasure.”
“Hmm.”
“Sounds straightforward to me.”
She used the remote to navigate her way through the warning that Griffin’s hotel bill would reflect a charge of $9.95 for the movie.
Griffin crawled across the bed and pulled her down onto him as the movie’s opening credits rolled. “I wouldn’t have pegged you for a girl who’s into porn.”
“I’m full of surprises,” she whispered right before kissing him.
Why did he have to feel so damn good?
“I noticed,” he said when they broke the kiss.
Macy wriggled around until she was resting in the crook of his arm and could see the TV screen, where a guy was playing poker with a table full of chesty babes in skimpy clothes. Within about two minutes, one of them was under the table giving him a blow job, and another was taking off her top because it was, of course, conveniently a strip-poker game.
When the game quickly wrapped up and everyone was on the table having an orgy, Macy bit her lip and tried not to laugh. Laughing might spoil the mood…which probably wasn’t such a bad thing on her end. But for Griffin, well, guys apparently weren’t so crazy about laughing in bed.
“Is he doing what I think he’s doing?” Griffin asked.
Macy twisted her head to the side, trying to view the scene at a better angle. “Yep.”
“Wow.”
Macy bit her lip with more force.
“I didn’t even know that was possible.”
“Want to try it?” she asked, inching her hand along his thigh, fully aware that his erection was about to pop out the barn door of his boxers.
“Um, I think a special surgical procedure is required before a guy can comfortably get into that position.”
“Oh.”
She stared at the screen, mesmerized by all the moving body parts. And in spite of herself, she was getting aroused. Really aroused. So maybe she was a little freakier than she’d given herself credit for.
And this whole not-coming thing was a little more complicated than Macy had anticipated. She could get through it, though. She just needed to stay focused, but the movie wasn’t helping.
Maybe if she just got things moving along here in the real world, she’d be able to tune it out. She slid down, trailing kisses over the rugged terrain of Griffin’s chest and abdomen, stopping when she reached his boxers. She tugged them off him, and he watched her, his eyes glazed with arousal.
She undressed, doing her best to make a show of it. Judging by Griffin’s expression, she did a decent job. She settled between his legs and slowly licked his erection, loving the hot, firm feel of him.
When she took him into her mouth, he gasped, and his fingers dug into the blankets on the bed. She tasted, licked and coaxed him toward another release.
And with the sounds of the movie in the background—even a flick as cheesy as High Ballers—Macy felt herself growing more and more excited. She loved the sound of his heavy breathing mingled with the sex sounds coming from the TV, loved the feeling of power that came with bringing him such an intimate kind of pleasure, loved having such a powerful effect on his body.
With her hands and mouth, she brought him closer and closer to the edge, and then they were there. He cried out and strained toward her as he spilled into her mouth. Macy felt herself nearly vibrating with her own arousal as she drank him in until the waves of pleasure had passed.
She crawled on top of him and lay there, listening to his heartbeat and his breathing.
One more orgasm down, countless more to go.
7
SATURDAY MORNING Macy woke up feeling as if she’d run a marathon. Her body ached in odd places, but in a good way. She got up before Griffin, showered and put on her clothes from the night before. She was about to slip out the door to go to her room and get dressed when he stirred.
“Hey, what’re you doing out of bed?” he said as he stretched.
“I need to get some clean clothes and catch up with Lauren. And you should probably track down Carson before he thinks we’ve permanently abandoned him.”
“Oh, right. Him. Why don’t we all meet up for breakfast downstairs at the buffet in a half hour? Will that work for you?”
“Assuming Lauren’s awake and ready to go, yes. I’ll call you otherwise.”
He got out of bed and crossed the room to her, then bent and placed a soft kiss on her lips. “Last night was unbelievable.”
“Yeah,” she said, smiling.
Frustrating as hell, but unbelievable.
She turned and left the room. Outside in the hallway, she tapped on her door and waited for Lauren to answer. A few moments later, the door swung open, and her friend peered at her from behind a mop of dark hair hanging in front of her face.
“What do you do at night—pretend you’re at a heavy metal concert?”
“I just finished drying my hair, smart ass.”
“You want to get breakfast at the buffet?” Macy asked, only to find herself being grabbed and pulled into the room without ceremony.
Lauren closed the door and started brushing her long mop of hair into submission. “Of course I do, but don’t start acting all casual like you have nothing to tell me about last night.”
“I don’t really have anything to tell you.”
“It’s my theory you’re proving here. I deserve details.”
“You want the truth? Okay, your idea about manipulating results in my favor sucks the big one. It doesn’t take into account guys like Griffin, who are so determined to make a girl come that they’re willing to stay up all night to make it happen.”
“You screwed all night?”
“No, I finally wore him out for good around two in the morning.”
“Bet you deserve another award for faking it,” Lauren said, not even trying to hide her amusement. “Maybe even a trophy case full of them.”
“Yeah, that would be great to show guests at my apartment.”
“I told you, you’ve just got to learn to enjoy the endorphins.”
“I enjoyed the hell out of those endorphins, but I still wanted more.”
Lauren went into the bathroom where she could look in the mirror as she put the final touches on her hairdo.
“Seriously,” Macy said, following her. “This is way harder than I thought it would be. Griffin thinks he’s a sex superhero or something. It was crazy the lengths he went to—even after I did my best acting.”
She sat down on the edge of the huge hot tub that dominated the bathroom.
“He didn’t even buy my first acting attempt—well, not completely.”
Lauren looked at her wide-eyed through the mirror. “He figured out you were faking it?”
“He asked, but I managed to convince him he was wrong. I thought I’d done a pretty convincing job.”
“You’re an award-winning orgasm actress. I’m sure you gave a great performance.”
“Ha-ha. After that first time, he kicked it into high gear and made sure he tried extra hard to make me come for the rest of the night.”
“Sounds like…fun.”
“I just don’t get how he could have figured me out.”
“Some guys actually pay attention to the signs,” La
uren said so casually that if Macy hadn’t been a witness, she never would have guessed this whole faking-it thing had been her idea in the first place.
“That’s wonderful. So I’ve probably lucked into the one guy in a million who can read a woman’s body.”
“Hey…” Lauren shrugged. “If it weren’t for bad luck, you’d have no luck at all.”
“You’re just overflowing with crap today, aren’t you?”
Lauren suppressed a smile. “I’m sensing hostility. Not an uncommon side effect of sexual deprivation.”
“Is my whole life just one big science experiment to you?”
“Basically,” Lauren said, and had Macy not known her better she might have believed her. “What I’m really interested in hearing more about, though, is the actual experience. Did you notice him having any immediate dumbed-down effects?”
“I thought you already had your results. Spare me the microscope.”
Lauren stared at her, the stubborn set of her mouth making it clear she wanted an answer.
“I didn’t come. He did. End of story. If you want to know the results, you can just wait and see what happens on Monday.”
Lauren’s expression changed from annoyed to amused, and she launched into a bad Jimmy Buffet version of “Come Monday.”
“Thank you for ruining that song for me.”
“Takes on a whole new meaning, doesn’t it?”
“I suppose it would if I had any intention of sleeping with Griffin again after this weekend is done.”
Lauren went into the bathroom and began fixing her hair in the mirror. “Why wouldn’t you? I mean, if you need a little relief from all the action you’re getting now…”
Good question. Why wouldn’t she? Well, there was the obvious. “Because I’m going to be his boss soon? Isn’t that a good enough reason?”
“I guess if you’re going to be all anal-retentive about it, sure.”
“Oh, shut up.”
“Seriously, though, you’re right. Once you’ve been promoted, no screwing around with the office help is a good rule to follow. But until then, why can’t you get yours?”
Sex, Lies and Dirty Secrets Page 7
