Page 72 of Love Without Demands

Lehra burst into laughter and seemed to relax into the conversation. “Have you role played before?”

“A little, but I’ve never done the mermaid thing. Hell, I’ve never even told anyone about it before you. One girlfriend was willing to play around, but she was more into scenarios you’d see in a cheesy porno, like the pizza delivery man or the pool boy.”

Her face scrunched up. “I tried to do anaughty nanny seduces the dadthing with Dwight, and he accused me of condoning cheating.”

I reached out and stroked the backs of my fingers down her cheek. “I’m sorry, Tink. I’ve gotten judged before and it sucks. Makes it hard to be open and honest about it.”

“It makes me feel guilty sometimes because a guy once told me it was disgusting that I wanted to fantasize he was someone else, but that’s not it at all,” she said, her voice rising.

My heart ached for her because I knew exactly how she was feeling. “Same. It’s more about… letting your imagination run wild, both of you falling into a role like an actor or actress. And it’s not something I need every time or anything, just enough to make things interesting.”

“Me too. And for the record, if there were still real Vikings, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t sleep with one. To be honest, I imagine they wouldn’t have very good hygiene.”

A low chuckle reverberated in my chest. “I promise to be a very hygienic Viking. I mean, if you want me to.”

Lehra’s lips twisted to the side, and she looked up at me from beneath her lashes. “Youreallywant to be my Viking?”

More than anything, beautiful.

“I do. Would you like to be my mermaid?”

Pulling that full bottom lip between her teeth, she nodded happily. “I’ve never thought about it before, but it sounds fun.”

I was pretty sure I’d never been more excited in my life. Those were the words I’d always wanted to hear but wasn’t sure I ever would. Someone willing to step outside the box and let go of their inhibitions.

But with her, I wanted so much more than two fulfilled fantasies, so I decided to lay out the plan I formulated in the wee hours while staring at the shadow of my ceiling fan making quick revolutions above me.

“I was thinking, what if we each wrote down a few things we’d like to try, and then…”

“Fulfill each other’s weirdo fantasies?” she finished, and I laughed. Then her expression turned serious. “With no shaming?”

I suddenly felt the need to punch Dwight or anyone else who’d ever made her feel like this. Standing, I gently parted her legs and stepped in between them. It felt like home.

“Absolutely not, Tink, but if either of us doesn’t like something, it’s okay to say, ‘Hey, let’s try something besides this.’ Everything isn’t for everyone, and that’s fine.” My palms lifted and held her pretty face. “I read that entire book last night when I couldn’t fall asleep, and the number one theme was communication without judgment.”

“Okay, so I guess we need to talk about ground rules?”

Sliding my hands over her shoulders and down her arms, I linked our fingers together and lowered my voice to a whispery rasp. “Do you like rough sex, Lehra?”

The full body shudder that trembled through her gave me the answer, but she replied verbally anyway. “I do.”

Good fucking answer, baby.

I gave her hands an encouraging squeeze. “And what are your sexual limits?”

She tilted her head to the side and thought for a long moment. “I don’t want to do a threesome.”

“Yeah, not gonna happen,” I assured her. If I had my way, no one besides me would ever touch her again.

“This isn’t necessarily sexual, but I don’t like to be tickled. Actually, I hate it. Dwight used to think it was funny.”

Well, Dwight’s an asshole.

“No tickling. Got it. What else?”

“I can’t think of anything. What are your limits?”

I liked that she asked. Men should have the right to set limits just as much as women. “There’s a full list in the back of that book we can go through. Besides agreeing with your no threesomes rule, the only other one I can think of off the top of my head is no pegging.”

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