Page 19 of Teach Me
“Lie down.”
Anticipation roughened the words more than Con would’ve liked, but damned if he could do anything about it. He’d been thinking about tonight’s lesson since the last one had ended Thursday. And vowing not to give in to temptation, no matter how hard it was to ignore. Teaching Jess to defend herself was more important than his libido. She needed every tool he could give her just in case, by some slim chance, Brit was able to get to her in an unguarded moment.
Which sounded all noble and shit. Too bad his cock wasn’t listening.
Jess’s eyes were round saucers as she stared at him kneeling on the mats. “What?”
He waved a hand at the cool blue surface beneath his knees. “Down. Come on, Jess.”
She licked her lips. Even having to hold back a groan, he appreciated the fact that Jess didn’t live behind pretenses. All that she was, all that she felt was right out there for anyone to see—and what he could see was that she wanted to be beneath him as much as he wanted her to. If that made it even harder to keep himself professional, well, there were worse things to have to deal with.
But under the heat in her eyes—oh yeah, she knew where this was going too—he could see the beginnings of fear. His heart clenched. He held out his hand, coaxing her like the doe she’d once reminded him of. “It’ll be all right, I promise.”
Jess took his hand, easing down to sit in front of him, then lay carefully on her back. Her thick hair spread over the mat like it would a pillow. Her curves were emphasized by the slim fit of her workout clothes, the perfect mounds of her breasts a mouthwatering temptation he tried hard to ignore. He clenched his teeth, focused his gaze on her face instead of her body, and scooted closer to set his palms on her knees. “Open.”
Slowly Jess slid her feet out, allowing him access to the narrow V between her legs. It shouldn’t have been erotic—it never had been before. But he was learning fast that Jess wasn’t any other woman, and everything with her made him think of sex. Covering her as he was about to do would cause a major glitch in his ability to compartmentalize his libido and his teaching.
Leaning over, he settled his heavy weight above her, keeping to his knees and elbows. Every fantasy he’d had that included getting Jess into this position, every minute he’d spent jacking off imagining this, scrolled like a porn film through his mind, and his shaft jerked against his lower belly.
He ignored it.
Grabbing her hands, he trapped them securely above her head. The move stretched him out along her body, brought her breasts higher until the tops brushed his chest. Damn it, her nipples were hard. Jess stared up at him, trust and a hint of hunger in her eyes. He had to earn one or the other, but he couldn’t earn both.Get to work.
“The hardest time not to panic is when you’re trapped,” he said, his voice sounding like he’d swallowed gravel. “Just remember, if you still have your clothes on and his hands are holding yours down, he can’t rape you, can’t hit you. He has to movesomethingin order to further his goal, and it’s when he moves that he’s vulnerable.” He demonstrated by adjusting his grip, transferring both her hands to one of his before shifting so he could lift his free hand toward her breast. That close, he had to swallow hard before he could get more words out. “See how my body tips to the side? Shifting my weight puts me off balance. Now’s the time to make your move.”
“What move is that?” Her voice sounded breathy, aroused but trying to hide it. Sweat gathered on his upper lip.
“It’s called bridging. I want you to form the shape of a bridge with your body. Lift your hips as far off the floor as you can, creating an arch from your shoulders to your feet, knees in the air.”
“Like the backbends we used to do as teenagers?”
“That’s it.”
The moment she started to lift her hips off the floor, he knew he was on thin ice.
“Umph. Like this?”
“Yeah, that’s it.” A near-silent groan welled in his throat as her pelvis brushed his erection.
A blush crept across her cheeks. “Sorry.”
He cleared his throat.Ignore it.“Try to lift your weight up and tip me to one side, giving you room to maneuver—that’s the objective when you’re standing up, and it’s the objective when you’re on the ground. Make room, strike out if you can, get away. Same objective; same targets too.”
“Same objective; same targets.” Jess caught her lower lip between white teeth, her concentration palpable as she seemed to consider that. “Okay.”
She lifted, tipped. Conlan gave way, allowing her to push him off. A moment’s reprieve, not much. Not enough to catch his breath before he moved back over her. Jess opened her legs to him willingly. The feel of her soft thighs against his hips was way too good. What he planned to do next, though, threatened to destroy him.
“Now the real thing.” Settling his hands on either side of her shoulders, he laid his entire weight down on her.Holy fucking hell.She was soft beneath him, so sweet, from the cradle of her hips to those full lips mere inches from his. She wasn’t breathing either. As he watched, her pupils dilated, almost as if she needed to take in as much of him as possible. His cock thumped hard against his jockstrap, pressing into her lower stomach.
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
His gaze locked with hers. Jess sucked in a breath, pushing her breasts harder against the solid wall of his chest. The breath choked off midstream.
If it weren’t for the flush of hunger riding her cheeks, the need reflected in her eyes, he would be worrying about a sexual-harassment suit right now. The clues were there, though, even if he hadn’t known from her invitation Tuesday night: she wanted him, maybe as much as he wanted her. And damned if that nagging voice that was supposed to be reminding him what a bad idea this was, replaying images of Lee to warn him, hadn’t gone silent beneath a swell of the most painful need he’d ever experienced in his life.
“Ready?” Jess asked.
“Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m ready.”
