I certainly couldn’t argue with that. Pleasantly sore probably described me very well. His hand ran down my leg, soap sliding along with it. “So this bathing thing works for you?”
“Yes, it has in the past. It’s intimate, and women dig that.”
Laughing, I shook my head. “You’re such a player.”
“Look at it this way, no man will ever be able to manage you again. I’ll tell you all my secrets if you tell me yours.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked, amused. I figured there wasn’t much a man could get past me anyway.
“Yep.”
“Like what?”
“What’s your tell? How do you tell a man that you want to have sex with him?”
“It depends on the man. If I’ve been dating him a while I’ll just ask him to take me to his place. If he’s a new guy…and I’m rather impatient for him to make a move, well, I might just ask him outright for sex.”
“See, women have it so easy.”
“No way.”
“Yes way. Women always know when they are going to get laid.”
I paused and considered his words. “Okay, that may be true. But that’s only because men are so easy. A breeze can make you guys hard.” Reaching out, I took my poofy and rubbed it between my hands. “There is a double standard. I take a lover…maybe several lovers in the same year, I’m a slut. You do the same thing and you’re just being a man.”
“Which means that all men are sluts and people are just so used to it that it isn’t worth saying.” He grinned and leaned back on his end of the tub.
Well, I couldn’t argue with that. I shifted my foot and slid it across his chest and teased his nipple with my toe. It hardened under my attention. “So, what else do you do to seduce a woman?”
“I treat every woman like she’s special and the only woman I need.”
“Lord, that probably gets you laid all the time.”
“Every woman is smart, amazing, and so sexy that no man can resist her.”
I laughed out loud. “You’re impossible.”
“It works.” He snagged my foot and massaged it briskly with both hands. “What works for you?”
“As you know, women don’t have to do a lot of work when it comes to men and sex. You guys are easy as hell. But I find letting a man think that he’s in charge goes a long way.” I glanced at him and had to laugh at the speculation on his face. “But I’m not very good at playing the damsel in distress.”
“No, I don’t imagine that you are.” He tilted his head. “Come here.”
I slid to my knees and scooted across to him, straddling his thighs as I did. “And sometimes I even follow instructions.”
I gasped a little as he pulled me forward. Water sloshed between and over us as I settled on his thighs. I reached down between us and wrapped both my hands around his cock. I loved the silky feel of his skin and the way he shifted under me as I stroked him. In the past, I’d taken some satisfaction in pleasing my sexual partner, but I’d never been so compelled to pleasure a man like I was with Mathias. I wet my lips at the thought and met his gaze. As if he knew what I had on my mind, he moved against my hands.
“I do enjoy a woman who can pretend to be obedient when it suits her.” He cleared his throat and then groaned softly. “Later on will you put on that pin-striped suit you wore to work on Tuesday?”
“Why?” I tilted my head as I rubbed my thumb across the head of his cock again and again.
“Because it made you look sexy and powerful. And all day Tuesday I wanted to take you into a dark room and fuck you up against the wall.” He cleared his throat and closed his eyes. “Are you trying to kill me?”
“As far as I know no man ever really died of an orgasm.”
His hands clamped onto my hips. “About that suit?”
“I’ll have you know that it would be disgraceful to fuck in a two-thousand dollar suit.” But I was going to put it on the first chance I got and we both knew it.
“Disgraceful and hot.” He lifted his hands from my hips and cupped the back of my head. “Give me your mouth.”
Who could deny such a demand? I moaned against the press of his lips and slid my tongue inside to taste him. I sat back abruptly and pulled my mouth from his. “We need to get out of this tub.”
He laughed. “Why?”
I glanced at him briefly as I stood and exited the tub. “Do you know how many accidents happen in bathrooms every year?” Grabbing a towel from the counter, I glanced back at him just once before going into the bedroom. “Besides, I want to suck your cock.”
Every little moment I spent with him had started to hurt a little. How many hours had we known each other? He would be gone on Monday. Not gone from my life, but gone from this small space we’d given ourselves. There wasn’t room for more…was there?
I dropped the towel into a basket near the bathroom door and then left the bedroom. I hadn’t spent so much time naked in recent memory, but I knew putting on clothes would’ve been a waste of time. I grabbed some juice from the refrigerator and poured half a glass. I reached for another glass when he came in, a towel wrapped around his waist.
“Thanks.”
“You need to keep your strength.” I handed him the glass and put the juice away. “What do you want for dinner?”
“How about we put some clothes on, find some out-of-the-way place with bad service and good food?”
“It just so happens that I know such a place. Best pasta in town, family-owned business, and all the waitresses are family members who hate their jobs.” I walked over to him and slid my fingers into the front of the towel. “But at the moment I just want more of you.”
He set down his empty glass and reached out for me as I pulled at the towel and it fell away. “That I can do.”
His lips brushed against mine briefly and he picked me up. A modern, liberated woman isn’t supposed to be giddy about a man carrying her around. Yet I swung my feet a little and grinned as Mathias took me back to bed. I ought to have my head examined.
I sat back on the bed as he put me down and raised an eyebrow when he went down on his knees. “My, this looks exciting.”
He laughed and motioned me forward. “Move a little closer.”
I moved to the edge of the bed and jumped a little when he lifted my legs to his shoulders. “You could be perfect.”
He nuzzled his mouth against my labia and then boldly slipped his tongue in to tease at my clit. My arms weakened and I laid back on the bed, stunned. No man had made me feel so weak and so powerful in my entire life. I bucked against his skillful tongue with every breath I took, and I came within seconds. Being in a constant state of arousal surely had its advantages.
I sat up as he stood, grabbed a condom, and pulled it from its packaging.
“No.” I reached out for the condom. “Not yet.” He stilled in front of me as I tossed the condom on the bed and ran my hands up his thighs. “I want you in my mouth.”
“Yes, you mentioned that earlier,” he whispered softly.
I grinned and glanced up briefly at him as I started to stroke his cock with one hand. He was watching me intently, his hands fisted against his thighs. I sucked the head of his cock into my mouth, and he took a deep breath. Cupping his balls with my free hand, I whipped my tongue around the head and then slid him in until he pressed against the back of my throat.
“Christ.”
I felt one hand drift over my head and then lift away. He groaned softly when I pulled off him and then sucked him back in as far as I could. The way his body was tensed told me that he wouldn’t let me suck him for very long. Using my tongue, I played and sucked at the head intently. Tasting and taking in pre-come that flowed freely from him, I’d never felt more powerful and female in my life.
He touched my head and pulled free. “Get on your knees.”
Handing him the condom, I rolled to my knees, my clit still pulsing with the orgasm he’d given me. He gripped my hips tightly as he pushed against my entran
ce. My flesh gave way as he pressed, and I buried my face briefly in the bed beneath me. He filled me again and again, each thrust brisk and deep. It was perfect. He was perfect.
“Yes. Yes.” I continued to rock back against him, pulling him in as deeply as I could with every movement.
He ran his hands down my back again and again as we slapped against each other. I wanted as much as he could give and more. I braced against the bed as I edged closer and closer to another orgasm. He slid one hand underneath me and started to rub my clit.
Tears sprung to my eyes as I gave into him and the pleasure he gave so effortlessly. He pulled me tightly against his hips and rocked in a jerking movement as he came.
4
The restaurant was crowded, loud, and overstimulating by anyone’s scale, but it was amazingly easy to tune all of that out. He made me feel like I was the only one in the room, and considering my appearance that was a pretty mean feat on his part. No makeup, jeans, and a T-shirt that had been new about ten years before had been my attire of choice when I’d gotten dressed. It had occurred to me that I’d dressed down to sort of scare him off. He hadn’t blinked an eye when I’d come out of the bedroom.
“This place is all that you promised.” His tone was dry as he looked around.
I laughed. “The first time I was here I took it personally. Now I just realize they hate everyone equally.” I reached out and plucked a small loaf of bread from the basket between us. “But the food is to die for.”
“This is an odd time to ask such a question considering how we spent the day, but is there a man in your life?” He swished his straw around in the water glass in front of him, and I didn’t believe for a minute that the question was as casual as he’d made it sound.
“You’re right. It’s an odd time to ask.” I tore a piece of bread from the loaf and put the loaf back in the basket. “There isn’t anyone I’m serious about. I date, of course, but I’m commitment-phobic.”
“How about a 2 A.M. friend?”
“Of course.” I inclined my head. “It’s funny how we all refer to the backup sex partner in different ways. I knew a girl in college who called him a friend-friend and another simply called him BUD.”
“Backup dick.” He shook his head. “I used to believe that women didn’t think about sex the way men do.”
“Well, in some ways we do and in others we don’t. I think that both men and women deal with sex differently. There are plenty of people who treat it like a hobby, while others invest themselves emotionally into every encounter.” I certainly preferred to think of sex as a hobby, but I had a feeling that he wouldn’t enjoy hearing about that particular habit of mine.
I’d been shifting sex around in my mind since before I’d even had it. As a younger woman, sex was a revered physical act that had to involve love and commitment. Then, in college, I’d turned it into a game. Playing with sex and the men I had it with had been something of a sport for me. I’d been careful if free with my body, but I’d rarely ever given my heart a say in the matter. Falling in love, even then, had been too risky.
“It is better with some level emotion. It doesn’t have to be love, but if there is interest there…interest beyond the physical.” He shrugged. “So tell me about your backup dick.”
“Why?” His curiosity was surprising. Most men don’t like to hear about men that used to be in your life, much less a man that is actually still in your life.
“I’m just interested in the kind of man you normally spend time with.”
“He’s a lawyer.”
“That’s telling.”
I laughed. “Well, yeah, he is sort of lawyerly. Arrogant and something of a shark when it comes to the law. He’s a corporate attorney.”
“When does he make partner?”
“It’s in his five-year plan.”
“Blond, blue eyes, and he can trace his family tree back to the Mayflower.” He plucked up the bread and tore off a piece for himself.
I frowned. Charlie Wallace was everything he’d said and then some. “Is there something wrong with that?”
“No. Of course not.”
I didn’t believe it. He thought it was all kinds of wrong. Charles Dixon Wallace III was the Mary Poppins of men, practically perfect in every way. The oldest son of an old Boston family and a rising star in a large law firm, and he could fuck for hours. But Charlie certainly couldn’t compare to Mathias.
“So he thinks you’re serious about him.”
I glanced up and found him staring at me. He didn’t look upset or even all that interested. Was he playing a game with me? The thought irritated me. “We’ve been honest with each other. Now isn’t the time to engage in something serious.”
“Sounds interesting.”
It sounded just horrible and impersonal. Was I really allowing myself to have a relationship like the one I’d just described?
I dropped my keys and pushed the button on my answering machine as Mathias locked the door and took our leftovers into the kitchen. There were two new messages.
“Hey, just thought I’d check and see how my favorite commando is doing.” Mercy laughed at her own little joke, and I couldn’t help but grin. “I’m going out to Lisa’s tomorrow to help her with some man-bashing bitching. Let me know if you are interested. I’ll pick ya up.”
“Man-bashing bitching?”
I glanced at Mathias as the message ended and shrugged. “Lisa has a horrible ex-husband.”
“And you guys schedule time to bitch about him?”
I nodded. “Yeah, we do.”
“Hey there, Janie-girl.” My gaze jerked back to the answering machine as Charlie’s voice filled up my foyer. “Just wanted to remind you of the benefit dinner you promised to attend with me. It’s this Friday at 7:00 P.M., black tie, and promises to be amazingly ass-numbing. My mother wanted me to remind you that you agreed to have lunch with her on Wednesday at the country club. God knows why you’d allow yourself to be tortured like that. Anyways, give me a call.”
I blew air through my lips and crossed my arms over my breasts.
“That sounds rather serious to me.”
“His mother showed up unannounced at his apartment about a month ago. After about five phone calls I had no choice but to agree to lunch with her.” I frowned at him. “Why am I explaining myself to you?”
“I haven’t a clue, Janie-girl.”
“Don’t call me that. I hate it.” I walked past him into the living room.
The intrusion of Charlie had totally ruined my mood, and it reminded me that I was having a completely empty relationship with a man. Charlie was everything I’d always wanted, but as I stood there listening to his message I realized that I would have to break it off with him.
I threw myself down in my favorite chair and stared at the floor in front of me as Mathias followed. Lifting my gaze, I watched him sit down on the couch and stare at me. “What?”
“You look put out.”
“It’s just that…” I waved my hand toward the foyer and the answering machine. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Would you like me to leave?”
Frowning, I stared at him for a few seconds and then shook my head. “No, not at all actually.”
“You feel guilty about fucking me.”
“Charlie and I don’t have an exclusive relationship. So who I fuck is none of his business. We go out sometimes, but that’s rare. Mostly I just use him for sex.”
“I have my doubts that he would agree with that assessment.”
Mostly, I just use him for sex. The statement lingered in my mind and made me feel sick. First that it was true and second that I’d admitted it without a second thought. “We aren’t serious.”
“No, but I have a feeling he’s going to start pushing for something more than what you currently give him.”
The thought made me itch. I did feel guilty and horrible, but not for the reason that Mathias thought. I’d been sleeping with Charlie for nearly a year
and I knew next to nothing about him beyond his family pedigree and his career choice. I didn’t even know what his favorite food was or what he’d wanted to be when he was growing up. Things that I had learned about Mathias in a matter of hours.
“Yeah, I agree.”
“You need to make a choice about that, Jane. It’s not cool to let the man dangle like that.” He was frowning at me, which sort of ticked me off.
“I never made the man promises. Not a single one.”
“Yeah, but then you give in and make plans to have lunch with his mother.”
Deanna Lee Page 6
