Page 31 of The Lessons

“Just that—just that you have this innocence about you.” He took his hand and started to trace a line from my ear down to my collarbone.

I closed my eyes and moved my face toward his fingers. Suddenly, I wanted them in my mouth. I’d never had that urge before, but now I had to have them, taste them. I opened my lips and found two of his fingers with my mouth. I licked them slowly at first and then brought them both inside, carefully avoiding my teeth. I sucked softly for a moment and then finished with a light kiss.

“Natalie,” he murmured, “Are you sure you haven’t done this before?”

I opened my eyes and found him staring at me.

His eyes were dark and hooded; his face serious.

I nodded.

“We should probably kiss. I mean, if you are ready for that.”

I flushed. I had kissed guys before, but Serious Boyfriend #1 had been the last time, and that had been years ago. Was it possible to forget how to do it? Oh, well.Here’s goes nothing.

I nodded, closed my eyes, and braced myself. In an instant, his lips were on mine. They were soft but firm. Then, as his arm moved around me and pulled me into him, I felt his hard length against my thigh.Whoa.That was a new sensation. I was surprised by how much it turned me on. A tingle rushed through my body, and my brain started to burn as he ran his hand along my back, up to the nape of my neck. Just as I started to open my lips to let him in, he pulled back.

WHAT?

“Mm. That was nice,” he offered.

Nice? Yes, that was nice! So why the fuck did you stop?I wanted to scream. But I couldn’t betray what my body was thinking, so I took a deep breath and mirrored him. “Yes. Nice.”

He looked down at my chest and then back at me.

“So what should I call them?”

“Huh?” I tilted my head, feeling a little lightheaded from that kiss.

He gestured down with his nose. “How should I refer to them? If you don’t like breasts.”

Oh. Right. “Um, I mean, breasts are okay, but it just sounds…I don’t know, so matronly. Almost anything is better.”

He chuckled. “Okay, how about tits?”

I smiled. “Yeah.”

“Ta-tas? Tatters?”

“Sure.”

“Boobs?”

“Only in a pinch.”

“Cans?” he said with a grin.

“Okay, probably not.”

“Should I keep going?”

I laughed.

“Okay. Tits, ta-tas, and tatters. I think I can work with those options.” He flashed that smile again. It was a good thing I was lying down. That smile was a knee-breaker, for sure.

Something had changed between us. I couldn’t pinpoint when it had happened, but he was much more relaxed now. Not so…formal. Maybe it was that he was finally in his element, here in bed. Whatever it was, it made me more comfortable, too, so I let it go.

“Okay, now that we’ve got the terminology out of the way, where were we? Oh, right. You have very nicetits, Natalie.” He ran his hand along my hips before taking my nipple into his mouth.

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