Page 197 of Lone Star

Tenny returned, and put both hands on Reese’s shoulders, tipped his chin down – he was only a fraction taller – and locked gazes with him. He no longer wore bandages at his throat, and his wound had healed up, no longer a stroke risk, but the scar was an ugly, puckered, discolored thing. Fox had suggested he get a tattoo to cover it, but Tenny had fingered it almost fondly and said no.

“Okay,” he said now, “I want – just for a little while – for you to stop thinking like an operative. Okay? This isn’t a mission. This is a human thing.” He stepped to the side, but kept one hand on his shoulder, the touch oddly grounding. “This is Stephanie.”

The woman lifted a hand and waved at him with a rippling waggle of her fingertips. Winked.

“She’s gonna teach you how to do something fun for a change.”

Reese turned his head and sought Tenny’s gaze. “Fun?”

The grin he got in returned intensified the tight itchiness of his skin. “Sex, dummy. She’s gonna deflower you.”

“I…” His mind went very blank again.

The woman – Stephanie – sat upright and then stood with a grace he found surprising, given the height of her heels. She walked toward them, exaggerated steps that set her hips rolling and pulled her already tight dress even tighter over her breasts. Probably there was nothing between them. Probably nothing at all except a shadow, a deep shadow–

Warm breath across his face. He snatched his gaze up, and she was standing right in front of him, smiling in that predatory way, chuckling again. She lifted a hand – red painted nails, reaching toward him, a threat, Tenny’s fingers closing brutally tight on his shoulder in a warning, a restraint – and skimmed the edge of one nail along his jaw. He clenched his teeth together in response, and she must have felt it, because her smile widened an impossible fraction as she trailed that feather-light touch all the way down to his chin, and then slid it up so she had one fingertip pressed to the center of his lower lip.

“Look at those blue eyes,” she murmured. “You’re cute as hell, honey.” She cast a fleeting glance toward Tenny. “You sure he’s a virgin?”

“Of course. Look at him shaking.”

Hewasshaking, though he didn’t mean to be. He flashed hot and then cold; his lungs ached, like when he had to hold his breath. And in his belly – oh, in his belly was that low gathering pit of heat and pressure, like when he woke hard in the mornings, and touched himself just to get rid of that difficult state. It always felt good – put little sparks behind his eyes – but it was more relief than any sort offun. He couldn’t walk or work or function if he was hard, so he alleviated the situation in the quickest, most efficient way and went about his business.

He could feel the blood rushing to his cock now. Up close, Stephanie smelled of flowers, and warm skin, and her lips were very full and red, and his cock was plumping, pressing at the confines of his jeans, and Tenny wanted him to have sex with this woman, and he’d never, had no idea…

Tenny’s hand closed on the back of his neck and squeezed, bracing rather than punishing.

“It’s alright, honey,” Stephanie said. “I’ll take real good care of you.” She pulled her hand away, leaned in, and pressed her lips to his.

Kissedhim. That’s what this was: kissing.

With his eyes open, her face was blurry this close up, but he could see the dark fans of her lashes against her cheeks, knew that she had closed her own eyes. Her lips were soft, and slick, and plump against his – which were wind-chapped and closed tight.

Tenny squeezed his neck again. Something went and hot settled at the bow of his top lip – her tongue, he realized – and pressed for entry. His mouth opened, and her tongue slipped inside, a slow, sinuous flicker against his teeth.

Breath and lips at his ear. Tenny: “Relax.” Voice still low and soothing. “Unclench your jaw and open your mouth.”

It was easier to follow orders than to think, so he complied, and then Stephanie’s tongue was sliding against his own, and she tasted strongly of mint, and she was making a little humming sound, her lips vibrating against his, and–

He couldn’t breathe.

Stephanie pulled back, chuckling again. Pressed her hand flat to his stomach, scratching at him lightly with her nails through his shirt. “You nervous, baby?”

He couldn’t have described nervous at the moment. Couldn’t even speak. Every drop of blood was rushing south and he didn’t even understandwhy. He’d liked her tongue in his mouth, though. That had been…good.

“We’ll have to work on making him a better kisser,” Tenny said. “You wanna give him a little taste of something else?”

Stephanie grinned and tossed her hair – so gold, and gleaming, and coconut-scented – over her shoulder and said, “Sure.” Then she went down to her knees on the carpet.

Reese twitched forward, not sure if he was meant to pull her up, or push her away, or simply flee, but Tenny’s hand was still on his neck, pinching again, holding him in place. Stephanie pushed up his shirt and scratched at the bare skin of his stomach, the trail of pair hair below his navel, and Tenny gripped his chin with his other hand and turned his head so they faced one another.

He was very close, their noses almost touching.

Stephanie unfastened his belt, and then his jeans. The rasp of the zipper going down seemed terribly loud in the muffled quiet of the dorm room. It helped, having his pants open, eased some of the pressure on his swollen cock – but it tightened his belly with nerves, too. No one ever looked at him there, not like this, not on their knees, not smiling and wearing lipstick, and–

“Breathe,” Tenny said, and kissed him.

It felt both similar and different than Stephanie’s kiss. Tenny’s lips weren’t as full, nor so smooth, but his mouth and tongue were hot, and wet, and he pushed in faster, more forcefully, until Reese could only suck in a breath through his nostrils and open for him, push back with his own tongue out of instinct.

---