“A couple of years later I started cutting grass for a new lady in the neighborhood. She was maybe early forties, but hot as hell. I was seventeen, already six foot and muscled. Rock-hard abs.” He grinned, patting his stomach. “We had an affair that lasted a year. She taught me a lot. She was totally uninhibited in her sexuality. She answered every question I had, and I had a lot. I learned how to please her, what turned her on, what turned me on, and how to watch the signs a woman gives.”
“Signs?”
“Signs. I learned to tell when she wanted it slow and gentle, and when she wanted it rough and hard. Every way there was to fuck, every position you can imagine, she taught them to me. And not just how to fuck, but how to give pleasure. Sometimes it wasn’t even about the sex. Sometimes it was just about touching.”
Shannon looked away, lifting her hair off the back of her neck.
A smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. “You’re getting hot and bothered.”
Her eyes came back to him. “Am I?”
He nodded. “Want me to help you out with that?”
She rolled her eyes and looked away.
“Truth or Dare?”
Her eyes came back to him. They stared at each other a long moment before she swallowed and murmured, “Dare.”
“Walk over here and kiss me.” He watched her eyes get big. “Come on, Shannon, where’s all that courage now?”
She took in a breath and walked over to him, her eyes skating down over his bare chest and arms. She stopped in front of him.
“Kiss me,” he ordered.
She went up on tiptoe, her hands lightly touching his abs to keep her balance, and she pressed a soft kiss to his lips. It wasn’t bad as kisses go, but it wasn’t nearly what he’d had in mind. She dropped back down.
“Like you mean it, Shannon.”
Her eyes moved from his eyes to his mouth, and this time her soft hands came up to cup his face, determination to meet his challenge clearly written on hers. She tilted her head to the side and opened her mouth over his lips. He opened, inviting her inside. After a moment’s hesitation, her tongue slipped inside, tentatively at first, then with more boldness.
He let her lead, let her set the pace, following wherever in this dance she wanted to take him, taking whatever she gave, but not asking for more. He could sense her uncertainty when he broke off this time. She’d expected him to take control, which was exactly why he hadn’t. “Ask me, Shannon,” he demanded.
“What?” She frowned, confused.
“The game, it’s your turn.”
“Truth or Dare?”
“Dare. And make it good, Shannon.”
“Kiss me. Kiss me the way you want it.”
He grabbed her face in his hands this time and pulled her face up. His mouth came down on hers. A moment later, his arms slid around her, one pulling her hips against him, the other sliding up her back—his hand sifting into her hair. His fist closed over her hair, and he pulled her head back giving him more access, taking control of the kiss. His mouth plundered, his tongue sweeping inside. It was a long time before he came up for air. When he did, they were both breathing hard.
He stared down into her bewildered face, wondering if the kiss had affected her as much as it had him. “Truth or Dare, Shannon?”
“Truth,” she whispered, wondering what he would ask.
“How long has it been?”
She cocked her head to the side, questioningly.
“When was your last time?” He didn’t know why i
t was important to him, but it was.
She suddenly pushed out of his arms and spun around. “I don’t want to play this game anymore.”