Dread trickled down Joe’s spine, killing his happy vibe. “Is part of this plan to become a vixen because you want to get him back?”
“No.” She recoiled.
“You want some other guy?” Joe persisted. He had to know before he took this further. “You have someone in your sights?”
“No.” She winced, looking equally horrified. “I just want to know what I’m doing. That what I’m doing is good for the guy I’m with. To have some confidence. Like I said already.” She glared at him. “That’s why I’m not happy about what’s happening here right now. I’ve come, twice, and you’re all hard and unsatisfied.”
“Sweetheart, I’m satisfied.”
“You’re not. You can’t be.”
“On one level I absolutely am.” He rubbed her thighs, unable to resist shifting closer to her. “You’ve no idea how good it feels to hear you moaning. To feel how hot and wet you get. Believe me, you’re fucking gorgeous when you come.”
She looked so shyly pleased it almost killed him. Her lack of confidence here was nothing short of a crime.
“Didn’t he make you come like that?” he asked, trying to keep his voice soft and not let his anger toward the prick ex sound out.
“He wanted to liven things up. So we watched some porn.”
“Did it work?” Somehow he doubted it. He’d bet Abbi had spent the whole time watching it comparing herself to the women on-screen.
She shook her head.
“What else did you try?”
She rolled her eyes. “Do we have to do this?”
He wasn’t much loving it either, but he needed to know. For the lessons, right? “Yes. I’m your tutor—I need to understand exactly why you’re lacking in confidence in this area. You know as well as I do that learning something is hard when you don’t believe you can do it.” He slid his hand to the back of her neck, massaging her nape through her hair.
Hell, he wanted her so badly—wanted to see her fully relaxed and relinquishing all these worries. Welcoming him—no. It wasn’t about him. It was about her. And he could control his own selfish urges. “Learning anything is a whole lot easier when you’re having fun doing it. So relax and let go,” he murmured. “You have to be honest with me if we’re to get anywhere. I need to know your weaknesses. Part of the deal is that you can tell me anything. I need you to tell me.”
He inwardly winced as he said that last. Had he really just admitted he needed something from her? And it was this—her freaking sexual adventures with her ex?
She looked up at him. “You’re taking this tutoring idea seriously, aren’t you?”
He was her tutor. That was all. That was the only reason he’d said he needed anything from her. Right. He was back on track.
“I guess if you were only using me for sex, then you’d have actually had sex with me by now.” She colored. “But you can probably get sex any time…”
But he didn’t want it any time, with just anyone. “Tell me about what you did with him.”
Was he really going to keep torturing himself this way? Yeah, because he wanted to understand. He wanted to know more about her than he’d ever wanted to know about any woman.
“He wanted to try dressing up,” she mumbled. “Role-playing. I tried, I really did. But I just giggled and he said that killed it for him.”
“Nothing wrong with some laughter in the bedroom.” He rubbed her arm. “What about your other lovers?”
“Since Scott?” She swallowed. “Same problem.”
“You didn’t turn them on?” Joe flat-out didn’t believe her.
“He said I relied on my figure to get a fuck. That no guy likes a woman who just lies there.” She bent her head and hid her face from him. “So now you know. And it’s the same with you, isn’t it? You do everything and all I do is take it. Enjoy it.”
He said. Singular. Joe felt stupidly pleased. “It was a one-night stand?”
She nodded. “I showed off my boobs,” she said bitterly. “They weren’t enough.”
Her beautiful, bountiful breasts were but one part of her. A glorious part for sure, but she was more than enough. She just didn’t believe it. But he could help her with that. “So you think you need to learn some moves to be more of an equal participant?”
She nodded. “I need to know how to blow a guy’s mind.”
He chuckled at that. She really didn’t know she’d already blown his mind?
She shoved his shoulder. “Don’t laugh at me.”
“All right.” He stood up and held out his hand, lust and adrenaline and determination coursing through him. This he could control. This he could make work. This could be all about her…and only a little about himself. He got to enact an old fantasy, that’s all. “Come on then.”
“Where are we going?”
“To my bed. You’re going to have your wicked way with me.”
Chapter Eight
“Don’t expect sex early on to turn into something else.”
“I thought you said vixens didn’t put out on the first date.” Abbi was suddenly breathless. And hot. And afraid to believe she was finally going to get her wish.
“You were right about it not being our first date.” He winked. “We have six sessions, you’ve got to get the most out of every one.”
“If you’d rather not—”
He clapped his hand over her mouth. “Don’t even start with that, or you’ll have lesson number four right now and you’re really not ready for that.”
Hot silken moisture pooled at the top of her thighs. “What’s going to happen in lesson number four?”
He gave her an evil grin.
It drew another reluctant smile from her as she followed him deeper into his apartment. His easygoing nature and good humor warmed her. Joe Fuller, the guy every guy liked and so many women had loved. He left them with smiles. She was going to have to be careful not to let her heart get hurt.
She glanced around his bedroom. It wasn’t huge, but his bed was. The biggest she’d ever seen. She turned away from it to face him, quickly reaching up and kissing him to block out the moment of panic. Six lessons to become the ultimate lover. She was going to learn it all. She was going to be confident. Starting now.
And kissing him? Definitely helped.
“I want to see you naked,” she said as she broke free only long enough to breathe.
“Ditto.” He inhaled deeply. “As much as I’ve dreamed about stripping you slowly, I’m thinking you should take your clothes off for me. And I’ll remove my own. If you touch me, I’m not going to make it.”
Really? Abbi’s jaw dropped. Joe Fuller had dreamed about stripping her? When had he dreamed that? She smiled, about to ask, but he whipped off his T-shirt.
Abbi swore under her breath, all other thought evaporated.
“What?” He pulled down his shorts and stepped out of them.
“How many hours a day do you work out?” she asked accusingly.
“Why?” He followed the direction of her gaze and glanced down at his chest. “I’m naturally like this.”
“No one is naturally like that.” She poked him with her index finger as if struggling to believe he was real. Rock-hard. Ridged. Ripped.
But he was real. So hot.
“Take off your T-shirt,” he said, his smile widening. “Leave your bra on for me.”
She had to strip while faced with a body like his? But she wanted his body so badly, she was just going to have to suck it up.
Perhaps literally. Oh, yeah, maybe she was going to have to try that sometime.
Super quickly she pulled her tee over her head; she didn’t want to lose a second of seeing him.
He reached out and grabbed her waist, tugging her a step closer. She loved the firm heat of his big hands on her.
“Anyway, you’re naturally like this.” He swept his palms up her rib cage, his fingers lingering, caressing.
Abbi held her breath as slowly he skimmed over the silk and lace of her bra, reaching
around her to undo the clasp. Carefully he pulled the lace covering from her skin. His eyes didn’t leave her chest. She spread her arms so the straps slid down and off. The bra fell unheeded to the floor.
For a moment there was utter silence.
“So freaking lush.” He shook his head like he couldn’t believe what he was looking at. “You have the most incredible curves.”
For once she was happy to have a man stare at her breasts. Because while Joe was looking at them with something akin to awe in his gaze, she was looking back at him almost the exact same way. Well, she was feasting her eyes on him with total awe.
“They’re magnificent, Abbi,” he said softly. “But even without them, you’re so much more than enough.”
She so wasn’t. But she was going to be. After these six lessons.