He met her gaze. “Ask me for anything.”
Because in all honesty, he’d be happy to have sex with her under pretty much any circumstances. If she wanted to say “I’d like a Long Slow Screw Against the Wall” instead of “Take me to bed and fuck me, big boy”? Well, those were just words, and all he cared about was her intent. And giving her multiple orgasms.
“True.” She wet her lips with her tongue, an expression of something on her face. He wasn’t sure what that something was, but he could guess because he was feeling plenty of things himself. Things like need and lust and an intense desire to strip her clothes off her and lick the champagne from her mouth. From other places, too, if she was feeling adventurous. He might not be much of a drinker if his drink came in a glass, but a Maddie-shaped cup was one big hell yeah.
He planted his hands on the picnic blanket and leaned in. She didn’t retreat. “Can I make you a drink?”
She breathed out unsteadily, the small puff of air teasing his mouth. Any closer and they’d be kissing. Kissing was good, but he really, really needed to hear her answer. She searched his face, as if he had a menu printed there. He didn’t know what she was choosing, but damn if he didn’t hope it was him.
“Okay,” she said, her eyes drifting closed, her body swaying closer. “But...”
“Tell me what your objections are and I’ll fix them.”
Her mouth brushed his. “I want a list of my options, okay?”
“Anything,” he growled, and he meant it.
Her eyes popped open and she giggled. “You can’t promise me that. What if I wanted to do something really kinky and you weren’t okay with it?”
He couldn’t imagine anything she’d want to do that he wouldn’t. Maddie talked big, she lived to shock him and she definitely didn’t filter her words, but he also got the sense that her experience wasn’t as broad as she liked to pretend.
“Feel free to shock me,” he added drily.
Another giggle. “You should have a safe word.”
He shot her a glance and started packing up the picnic basket. “Is your drink called Tie You Up? Or My Sweet Submissive?”
She blew out a breath. “Now you’re teasing.”
Only partly, although his personal tastes didn’t include ropes and whips.
“I’m all ears,” he said instead and tugged her gently to her feet.
“I really want to say the right thing,” she admitted, a slight hitch in her voice.
“There’s no right or wrong answer, Maddie.” And then, because she still looked uncertain and he’d never seen her hesitate, he said, “Do you read those magazine quiz thingies?”
“Like Cosmo? Sure. But if you do, you may have to surrender your man card.”
He shrugged. “I have four sisters. You’d be amazed at how many magazine quizzes I’ve taken. They liked to use me as the male benchmark.”
She grinned. “You took advantage of that, didn’t you?”
“You bet. Otherwise I wouldn’t have stood a chance. So here’s a quiz for you,” he continued, steering her up the beach and toward the guest villas. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he gave in to temptation and stroked his fingers over her hip. “You tell me which answer you’d have picked. You kiss your girl for the first time. After you break your lip-lock, you, A, tell her you’ve been fantasizing about kissing her for days—and that the reality is even better than the fantasy.”
She leaned into him, her breast brushing against his arm. “Next option?”
“B, whisper that she’s the hottest kisser ever—and you’ve got a list of other places you’d like to kiss her.” If she couldn’t think of places, well, he had a list just waiting on the tip of his tongue for her.
“Go on,” she said breathlessly.
“Or C, praise her kissing skills and beg her to do it again just so you can be sure.”
She sighed. “You make this hard.”
“Give me more words.” Unfortunately, his mind—and his dick—had precisely one interpretation of the word hard at the moment, and it was a very literal interpretation.
Her bungalow emerged out of the darkness. He should have walked slower.
She tugged on his hand. “Which would you have picked?”
“That’s easy,” he said smoothly. “D, all of the above.”
“Wow. You’re good.” She fished in her bag for her key. Then she smiled up at him, biting her lower lip ever so slightly, and something in his chest turned over. “Come in?”