Page 86 of Bad Reputation

Right, she had to keep talking. “I mean, so unless there’s beena lotof foreplay, mostly, I come from ... rubbing.”

“Like oral sex?” He licked his lips.

It took a second for Maggie to be able to answer. The thought of Cole’s face between her legs had her feeling messy, breathless. “Sometimes. But, um, nipple play and dry humping. That usually gets the job done.” At this point, it wasn’t going to take much at all.

Cole half sat up. “Do you not like penetration?”

For maybe the first time in her life, Maggie knew that if she said no, this partner would respect that absolutely. “No, I do. At least—I enjoy it, and I want my partner to get off.”I want you to get off.“But thrusting alone doesn’t usually do it for me.” It was very hard not to pull the curtain of her hair in front of her face, but Cole clearly wanted to watch her, wanted her blushes, and cared very much about what she wanted. And that was going to be enough to carry her past the worries and the bashfulness. “What about you?”

“Maggie, when I touch you”—Cole relaxed against the couch, fully confident once more—“it’s going to be hard not to go off like a rocket.”

“Right. But after the first time ...”

“There will be a second time, and a third time, and a bazillion other times.” That was as fast and firm as the fuck he was offering her—and it was a glitter cannon inside her gut. “There will be many, many nights and mornings. Lots of days. Bunches of afternoons.”

“I, that, yeah. I’m on board with that. So what’s your ideal?”

He raised his hand to his mouth and bit his fingertip, and she wanted to offer him hers instead. But the second they touched, things were going to get intense. They needed to finish this conversation first.

“No bondage orFifty Shadesstuff. No anal, no groups. Toys can be fun, maybe, and yeah, I can see that you like that idea. But what’s going to make me come is getting you off. I want to bury my face in your hair. I want to kiss the underside of your chin. I want to feel you laughing against my chest. I want to learn how you taste.”

Which wasn’t exactly a road map to sex. It was more like the recipe for a happy relationship. Though that sounded good too.

Needing more specifics, she asked, “Do you like blow jobs? Hand stuff?”

“Yes and yes. The last few years, I haven’t had time for this. For dating. For ... getting to know someone. With you, I’m in deep. And I can’t say I’ve felt like this—ever, really. But when the connection is this deep, the rest tends to be mind blowing. We’re going to be mind blowing.”

“How can you be sure?”

“I just am.”

His certainty was intoxicating. How could she keep clinging to her worries in the face of his belief in them?

“And penetration?”

He blew out a long breath. “The thought of your pussy makes my dick throb.” He ran a hand down the front of his pants, and it was ... holy shit, she could make out his length and girth. “I mean, that’s normally what makes me come, but I don’t need that if you don’t want it.”

Maggie had to close her eyes then. There were too many sensations, too many emotions. The body stuff, yes. The hammering of her pulse in her clit. The way her pussy was swollen and wet. The hardness of her nipples against the lace of her bra. But it was also her heart, squeezing at his concern for her. His respect for her.

“I want you to be inside me,” she whispered. “I don’t know if I’ll orgasm that way, but I’m ... aching for you.” She’d never been ashungry for food as she was forhim. Every way she could have him, she wanted him.

It was almost scary, feeling that. Admitting it. If they’d known each other any less well, she would be standing here, trying to play it cool. To pretend that she wasn’t a pile of Jell-O where he was concerned. That emotionally, sexually, physically, she was desperate for him.

But his grin—cocky, hot—let her know it wasn’t embarrassing to feel like that.

Like he was equally worked up about her.

Like she’d made his life by letting him turn her into a puddle of want.

“Just tell me what you want, what you like, and what you don’t, and we’ll be fine.” He said it as if it were that easy.

But maybe with him, it would be.

“I will.”

“Then I think we’ve about covered things.”

“I think we have.”

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