“Ten reps of what?”
She batted her lashes. “My most useful muscles.”
He bent and caught her earlobe with his teeth, giving her a sharp nip that sent a sizzle straight to her womb and made her work those muscles then and there.
“Not bad, baby vixen. Not bad at all.” He leaned back just enough to look down her body. “I want to see you working out.”
“I’m working out right now.” Yep, still clenching her inner muscles, wishing she were clenching on him instead of the dull-aching emptiness.
“I can’t see it.”
“If you’re lucky, you might get to feel it.”
“Now that’s the bait. You have me hooked.” He put his hands on her hips and pulled her close against him.
He half laughed, half groaned. “Here’s your first lesson: anticipation heightens response.” He leaned in. “Arouse. Then pause. It’ll heighten arousal.”
“Delayed gratification?” She shook her head. She’d been delayed over twelve hours already. An entire night tossing and turning and dreaming. “It’s so not what it’s cracked up to be.”
“No?” He reached out to cup her cheek.
“No,” she whispered, unable to hide the thread of yearning in her voice.
His face tightened and he stepped closer. “The things you make me want to do, Abbi. It’s…”
“What?”
His smile faded. “You don’t want to know.”
She put her hand on his wrist, stopping him from withdrawing. “That’s not fair. I do want to know. That’s the whole point of this, right?” She stared up at him.
“Fine. I want to strip you bare, I want to bite on your softest curves, I want to eat you out until you come on my mouth, I want to fuck you so hard you scream loud enough for everyone on the block to hear. Then I want to flip you over and do it again with you on your knees, begging me so loudly and long you lose your voice.” He pushed her backward against the wall. “Is that what you want?”
That was exactly what she wanted. “Please don’t make me wait any longer.” Abbi reached up, wrapped her arms around his neck, and melted against him. Falling into the kiss, letting him go as deeply as he liked.
And he liked it deep.
Her upper thighs quivered. There was no way she was going to be able to wait much longer. “So”—she sent him an innocent look—“what do we do now?”
“I’m not going to take you upstairs and fuck you senseless.”
He wasn’t?
He burst out laughing. “The look on your face.” He framed her cheeks with his palms. “Not yet, Abbi.”
“Why not?” She leaned closer. “Isn’t that what this is all about? Why the delay? I want to learn. I need to learn.”
He nodded. “We need to work on the basics first.”
“What’s more basic?” She wanted him so bad. How could he do this to her—parade his body, smile, tease and not physically fulfill? She was on edge. Aching. Needy.
His eyes rested on her, his smile tight. “You’re really wound up.”
She refused to answer. She was angry with him. She tried to pull back but his grip tightened. “You’re all talk, you know that?”
“Talk is a good place to start, and you don’t talk enough,” he said. “Though you’re not bad with the flirty innuendo. Yesterday you set me on fire with your pole-dancing tease.”
She shook her head. “It was too much, too soon.”
“No.” He ran a finger around her lips. “Added to the eye contact and the dress, you had me hard in a heartbeat. Abbi, if it’s sex you want, you only have to show off your curves.”
“It takes more than curves to please a guy.” She shook her head. “Once interest is lit, I still need to follow through.”
He looked pensive.
“I think getting the balance right between being assertive and being aggressive is difficult to master,” she said huskily.
“I think you just need to be yourself. Be honest. Communicate your needs.”
“That doesn’t work.” She lifted a hand in frustration. “I’m missing something. Technique.”
“I don’t think it’s about tricks,” he said.
She sighed. “So what is it then? And don’t you dare say ‘confidence’—all the articles say confidence and none explain how to acquire it.”
“Okay, I won’t.”
“And what if she’s shy?” Abbi asked, all the more irritated.
“All she has to do is smile.”
Only smile? That’s it? That was his brilliant advice for the day? Her first lesson better not be over already or she’d have to kill him.
“It’s true.” He half laughed. “Your eyes—the way you’ve been watching me? Very good. Body language—the licking of your lips, the brushing back of your hair… all good.”
That hadn’t been intentional. She hadn’t even been aware she was doing it.
“You know,” he said softly, “the more sexually charged the atmosphere, the more chance of having multiple orgasms.”
“And you would know this because?”
He smiled. “So much of it is in the mind.”
He was in her mind. But he liked the way she’d been watching him? She decided to look at him some more. She peered up at him from under her lashes. “Joe?” she whispered.
“Quit it, you’re making this really hard for me.” He glared at her, his body rigid.
The pleasure of triumph washed through her. “Good.”
“Let’s get upstairs.” He swallowed. “But we’re not having sex. We’ll play, but not all the way this time. Vixens don’t give it all up on the first date.”
Not having sex? What did he mean not having sex?
“Leaving him wanting, building that anticipation—the atmosphere,” he said as he led the way. “That’ll seal it for you later.”
“But wasn’t last night our first date?” she asked innocently as she followed him.
He paused on the staircase and sent her a fierce look back. “You can try to make me change my mind if you like.”
She’d never claimed she’d be a good vixen.
They took the stairs to the next level—past the sign labeled Private, and to a big steel door. He took a key from his pocket and punched a code into the number pad on the wall beside the entrance.
Then he opened it and stepped inside. He turned and looked at her from across the threshold. “Coming?”
She took a couple of steps. He reached out and with a flick of his hand slammed the door shut behind her.
All senses screaming, Abbi faced him.
He held her gaze as he walked back toward her with that slow, confident gait. Within a couple of paces he reached her, his smile twisted, and to her surprise, he dropped to his knees.
“Are you really ready for me?” he asked huskily.
The sight of Joe Fuller kneeling before her and looking that filled with lust did something to her. Something hot and fierce flipped over in her belly.
Confidence.
No, more than that. Aggression stirred.
She was sick of waiting. Sick of watching. Now she just wanted.
“Why don’t you find out for yourself?” she said, staring down at him. “You have my permission.”
His whole body stiffened. He shot her a burning look. “Good to know.”
He reached forward, curling his hands around her ankles like shackles. “What else do I need your permission for?” he drawled so very slowly. “Tell me. Honestly.”
She had six sessions. Six sessions to get the most out of, to learn, to satisfy, to indulge. With nothing to lose, Abbi gave herself over to fantasy. “Everything.”
His brows lifted in a quick flash, his jaw firmed, and so did his grip on her ankles. “I need more detail. Am I allowed to push up your skirt?”
“Yes.”
“Am I allowed to remove your panties?”
“Yes.”
“Am I allowed to run my tongue across your swollen clit and bury it i
nside of your hot pussy?”
She squeezed her inner muscles tight, so turned on, so stunned, she could hardly speak. “You’re not allowed to stop until I come.”
She was only a stroke away from it anyway.
The most wicked smile spread over his face. He looked like a man born to serve. “Your wish is my command.”
His grip tightened. He lifted one of her feet, placing it farther from the other. Abbi drew in a deep, shaking breath as he slowly traced a single finger up the front of her shin.
It tickled slightly, causing Abbi’s concentration to shatter. She anticipated the caress to climb higher, to her knee, to her thigh. But it didn’t; instead he stopped. Then started low again—this time two fingers traced a curving, unpredictable path that set her skin ablaze.
She needed him to go higher. But still he didn’t. Still he moved—so deliciously, so not enough.
“Please,” she whispered.
At that, he finally rose on his knees, bunching her skirt in his fists as he did and pushing it up. He leaned in, his hot breath blew over her thighs, and then he inhaled deeply.