Page 23 of Sex Coach

Slowly, I let go of her hand and leaned back in my seat once more. Her hand stayed on the surface of the table where I'd left it, and I watched as she curled her fingers in until she could make a tight fist. I imagined her mentally picturing how it had felt to have me touch her, reliving it, clinging to the way it felt when I pressed my mouth to her, then clinging tight to the sensation .

"I was..." She swallowed as a server approached with a black portfolio, my card already tucked inside. She frowned, seeing the card as I plucked it out. "I didn't even see them come by ."

"I left it with the maître d when he seated us. We're... acquainted ."

She lifted her chin. "I was going to cover the meal ."

"I wanted to. It was, after all, my idea." After leaving a tip and scrawling my name, I rose and held out a hand. "I was thinking we could walk. You have a coat ."

* * *

"I f you're too cold,we can go back inside," I offered ten minutes later as a cold wind sliced down the street. We'd just turned the corner and Times Square loomed up in front of us. The hotel where I'd taken her for dinner was less than a block behind us and that was where I wanted to be. With her .

But she wasn't ready .

"I'm from Chicago," she said, her voice almost teasing. "This feels like spring ."

Ruefully, I replied, "I'm from Texas. This feels like it's fucking freezing ."

Almost as soon as I said it, I wanted to yank the words back. I had no idea why I'd tossed that out there. But as she swung her head around to face me, a faint smile on her face, I realized that I didn't really want to take it back .

"Texas, huh? I thought I heard something almost cowboy-like in there ."

"Cowboy..." I chuckled. "I never even rode a damn horse until I came to New York City ."

"I used to ride all the time." She sighed, tipping her face back to the sky. "I was even on the equestrian team in college. But now..." She shrugged. "There's hardly any time. Have you ever noticed how hard it is to see the stars in the city ?"

I fought the urge to look up .

Yeah, I'd noticed. I'd noticed, and I hated it. It made me miss home, the one place that I could never return. So, I tried not to think about the stars .

"There are plenty of things much prettier than the sky to look at, Michelle," I said, leaning over to whisper in her ear .

She shivered a little, and I knew it wasn't from the cold. "That's another sign on the map ."

I stopped walking and pulled her into the small dip of a close storefront. The shop, for now, was closed, and I had no doubt we were being monitored by some security camera somewhere, but I didn't care. "Sexual attraction is all about learning to read the clues, you know...and a good lover is just a partner who read them well and pays more attention to those clues than to his or her needs." I used my body to block the wind as I eased her back up against the door. Resting a hand on the dip of her waist, I added, "Like...here ."

She shivered when I touched her, but it was nothing compared to how she tensed, then moaned when I dipped my head and pressed my mouth to the arc of her neck a moment later. "You like it when I touched you the first time...but this," I whispered, adding teeth to the touch and feeling her go rigid, then quake against me. "This might not point straight to your G-spot, but it's an arrow pointing in the right direction ."

"You're arrogant," she said, her voice thin and tight .

"No. I just know how to pay attention." Lifting my head, I held her eyes. "And I'll bet every other man you've been with has been a clueless bag of shit ."

Her eyes widened then, her tongue sliding out to dampen her lips .

I smothered a groan, because if she had any clue how deep the want I had for her went, it was going to scare her to death. She couldn't know that, didn't need to know that .

"Let me show you how it's supposed to be, Michelle," I said, pressing my mouth to her hair. At the same time, I leaned in and pushed my knee between her thighs, slowly lifting it until the muscles of my upper leg were wedged against the heat at the apex of hers .

She clamped tight around me, almost from the first .

I wonder if she realized .

"I...what?" Her voice shook. "Are you...you can't be talking about what I think you're talking about ."

"It's just sex." No, it's not , a part of me thought. "You can get a first-hand example of what I've told you. Talk about an exclusive ."

"I'm not going to have sex with you just to write a fucking article!" A split second later, her eyes widened. "I didn't just say that ."

I chuckled. "You did, but I'll pretend otherwise if you want. I'll even go so far as to suggest this...have sex with me because you want to. We both want to. Besides, it's just sex, Michelle. A basic human function. There's very little that's more natural than this ."

I caught her hips in my hands and rocked against her, then smiled when she sagged against me. Knowing when to move was a specialty of mine, so I dipped my head and sought out the curve of her neck. "What do you say ?"

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