He sees all this in a sweeping glance, and I remember that he’s a neat freak.
“I wasn’t expecting or prepared for company,” I say, by way of explanation for the mess.
“I’m a neat freak, but I don’t expect everyone else to be.” His eyes go to the drawer, pursuing the contents. “I have a lot of questions, Audra.”
I’m sitting on my bed, half-naked, trembling from my orgasm, and he’s fully dressed, standing across the room with a bulge behind his zipper.
“You can ask, but I make no guarantees to answer, at all or truthfully.
“I’d rather you not answer than lie.”
“I figured,” I say. “But that’s the truth, ironically.”
“The blindfold and handcuffs—for you, or for your partner?”
“Either.”
“When was the last time you were blindfolded and handcuffed?”
“Three months ago.”
“Last time someone else was?”
“A little less than four weeks ago.”
“Which do you prefer?”
“Not answering.”
“Why?”
“Ruins the fun of discovery.”
“So you’d let me use them on you?” he asks, shoving his hands in his pocket—and not so surreptitiously adjusting himself.
“Maybe. Not tonight. And only if I could use them on you.”
He sighs. “You know, being a neat freak and a perfectionist means I also have a bit of a thing for control.”
“I figured as much.”
He adjusts himself again. “Which toy is your favorite?”
“Can’t answer that. They each have their own specific purpose.”
“Explain.”
“For making myself feel as good as possible as fast as possible, I like the Womanizer. If I’m horny and want to mimic sex without going through the effort of finding a guy, I’ll use one of the vibrators.” I lift out a large, knobbed, curved, silicone thing with a second smaller stimulator. “Usually this one. If I’m having trouble coming, or I just want to get off hard and fast, I’ll use the wand.”
He eyes them all, and then his gaze rakes over me. He licks his lips, and adjusts himself in his jeans yet again.
“Do you ever use toys during sex?”
“Not typically, but I have.” I cross my legs, blocking his view of my center. “My turn.”
“Your turn?”
I crook my finger at him, and he crosses the room to stand a foot or so away from me. “Do you watch porn?”
He shrugs. “Sure, sometimes. Not a lot, though. I prefer…the real thing, you might say.”
“Have you fucked that hostess?”
“God no.” He frowns. “You sound almost jealous.”
I hate the burn in my chest. “Just wondering.”
“I have slept with women younger than me, but ten years’ difference is my limit. The thought of sleeping with a twenty or twenty-one-year-old girl makes me feel like a predator.” He grins. “You don’t have to admit it, but you were jealous.”
I hook my fingers in his belt loops—it’s a tight fit with his belt, but I have enough purchase to draw him closer. “You want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“The whole truth and nothing but the truth?”
“Yes.”
I unbutton his jeans, and then pause. “I was jealous. And that pissed me off, because I had no reason and no right to be jealous, and I’m doing my damnedest to squash it. I just didn’t like how she was openly hitting on you despite the fact that you were there with me.”
He leaves his hands dangling at his sides, affecting an easy, casual stance—his eyes and his slow, deep breathing tell me otherwise. “Even if she’d been within a reasonable age difference, and even if I’d been alone or with a buddy, I wouldn’t have pursued anything. Behavior like that is a turn-off to me.”
“Good to know. It is for me too.” I lower his zipper, and his package springs free through the opening. “Kinkiest thing you’ve ever done?”
“Not answering.”
“Fair enough. Something you’ve thought about, fantasized about, or otherwise want to do but never have?”
He blinks in silence for a moment. “Damn. That’s pretty personal.”
“And asking me about my vibrator isn’t?”
“There’s a difference between how you masturbate and what you fantasize about, Audra.”
I nod, eying the bulge, and then meeting his gaze. “True.” I reach down and bring his foot up, resting the sole of his boot on the bed between my thighs, slowly untying it. “My answer to my own question, then…” I take a deep breath, and focus on removing his boot and then untying the other one. “This is kind of weird, I guess. I’ve always had this fantasy of waking up to someone fucking me. I live alone and I’ve always lived alone, and I’ve never let anyone spend the night here, and I’d certainly never give a guy I was sleeping with access to my apartment. So it’s kind of a forbidden sort of thing, I guess. I don’t know. It’s not a rape fantasy—that’s messed up, and no thank you. The fantasy is always someone I know and trust, and it’s always consensual, just…unexpected. I don’t know how else to put it.”
He nods. “I get that, actually. More than you might imagine.” He thinks for a while. “So, let me go back and answer the question I asked you. I obviously don’t use a vibrator. I actually don’t jack off all that often, because like with porn, I prefer the real thing. I’d rather wait and let it build up until I can find someone to hook up with.”