"Then why do you feel the need to call me beautiful?" Avery asked. "Why not take me seriously as a businesswoman?"
Lucas crossed his arms over his chest and cocked his head to the side. "Just because you're a woman does not mean you're entitled to my respect," he said. "You have to earn it. Like I said, nearly half of my company is women. More than half of the managerial staff is women. I know businesswomen. I know they've worked their asses off to get where they are and they're still held back because of the fact that their women. You should take it as me being completely equal, non-sexist that I haven't already clapped you on the back and welcomed you to the club. You still have to prove yourself to me. Many of the women I work with didn't have their daddy's company to intern at or a blank check at their disposal and they still somehow managed to get where they are now."
Avery clenched her jaw from saying anything stupid. He made a point and she did not want to admit it. That didn’t mean he had a right to comment on her appearance, however. There was no need for that. It had nothing to do with business and more than a little unprofessional.
"Then why did you tell me I'm beautiful?" she asked. Her voice had gone soft and she didn't know why.
Lucas looked at her for a long moment. The inside of her cheeks burned under his heavy gaze. She had to look down, had to make sure she was wearing clothes due to the intensity of his dark eyes. They made her feel exposed. Vulnerable. Naked. Finally, he said, "Because you are. And I feel compelled to let you know, just in case you didn't."
“It’s not relevant,” she managed to get out, and to be honest, she was proud her voice came out as steady as it did.
“No,” he agreed, his eyes lingering on her lips. His fingers twitched, almost as though he was restraining them from touching her. “Your beauty has nothing to do with business.”
I want him to touch me, a voice said, popping up without warning. Avery bit the inside of her bottom lip to keep from screeching in disagreement.
The hair on her arms stood up and she clenched her jaw to try and control her physical reaction to his words. People had called her beautiful before. People complimented her face and her legs, her body and her eyes. But no one said the word where it actually made her feel beautiful as a whole rather than as an individual body part. Like her whole soul, the very essence of who she was, was beautiful.
"You know," he said, cocking his head to the side and looking at her with half-hooded eyes. "If you ever need any help" -
"Do you know who my father is?" Avery asked. She hated saying the phrase - in fact, she didn't think she had ever said the phrase in her life - but it came out of her before she could stop it. Once it was out, there was no going back so Avery decided to run with it. "I can go to him should I need any education concerning business."
"It's not just business," Lucas said. His eyes were locked with hers and once again, her breath voluntarily left her. "I can educate you in other things that you can use in business. It will make you a stronger business woman. The way you use your feminine wiles to your advantage. The way you can smile, how to dress. Not that there's anything wrong with the way you dress." He bit his bottom lip as he looked her up and down. A thrill went through her. She had never felt a burst of excitement in her body before. "You can integrate different aspects of your life into business and it will make you better in business."
"And what aspect of your life do you integrate into your business?" Avery asked with a raised brow. She looked at him with a skeptical look on her face, deciding to ignore his educational offer and the offense she took to it.
"My pack mentality," he replied. "My leadership skills. My sex life."
Avery felt herself blush at the word sex coming from his mouth. He caught onto it quick.
"Are you..." he said and his eyes suddenly widened. "You are, aren't you?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"A virgin," he said.
Avery was ready to deny it but her face turned even redder and gave her away. She crossed her arms over her chest. "My sex life is none of your business," she said.
He gave her a knowing smirk. "Perhaps not," he agreed. "But the offer still stands. I'd be happy to teach you whatever it is you would like to know."
Was it wrong that she was tempted by the offer?
4
“So tell me,” Rick said as he pulled out Avery’s chair. “How’s this whole business venture going? I hear you have some pretty stiff competition.”
Avery nearly choked on her wine as she slid into her seat. That was one way to put it, she supposed. He took his seat across from her and she took a generous gulp in order to buy her some time to think about how to respond to his question.
Lucas Cruz was unlike any man she knew. He caused flares to soar across her stomach while simultaneously dragging the very essence of her soul to her core, making her feel like she might choke, like she was gasping for air and he was the only one who could provide such a thing for her. If he decided she deserved it. He was gorgeous and gorgeous men made her nervous because she never knew what their true intentions were. Were they speaking to her because she was rich? Beautiful? Because they wanted to be seen speaking with her? Because they wanted to sleep with her?
Avery was a good judge of character. It was one of the few things she knew she was for sure good at. She could read men like the back of her hand. It was one skill she picked up from her mother and actually helped rather than hindered her. Every now and then, she was wrong about someone. Her heart would break, she would learn from it, and move on. But for the most part, she was on top of who to trust and who not to. It was why she was so certain of Rick.
Well. She was when they first met in college. Their careers had caused a distance to build up between them but that wasn’t something either of them could help. All relationships suffered the loss of butterflies and flowers and romance. They lived together. They were engaged. It was bound to happen. It didn’t even matter that they had yet to sleep together. They were in the comfortable phase of their relationship – which Avery didn’t exactly mind, particularly when she could bust out her yoga pants and boyfriend tees and not feel like she was being lazy.
Rick was warm and friendly. Easy to trust. Smart. He saw her for the woman she could be, the woman she wanted to be. He never pressured her for sex, which she really liked. To be honest, his patience with her hesitation was a big factor in why she fell in love with him so quickly. He always supported her, even if he didn’t agree with a decision she made. He never made her feel bad for having more money than his family, for moving in with her rather than the other way around. She really lucked out with him.
Which was why when she was ready to have sex, it was important to her that she please him as best as she could. She wanted to be as good as she could and she knew that being a virgin prohibited this, to a degree. She started reading erotica and watching soft-core porn when she was by herself as a way to educate herself, but there was something about experience that made all the difference in the world.
“Stiff is an understatement,” she said, staring at her glass of wine and trailing her fingertip on the rim of the glass. “Lucas Cruz is my competition.”
Rick whistled. “Christ, Av,” he said, shaking his head. “Do you need any tips? He’s a” –
“I know he’s a werewolf, Rick,” Avery snapped and immediately regretted it. She rubbed her lips together and quickly apologized. “Sorry. It’s just, I know his reputation. In every sense of the word. He’s experienced. I’m new at this. He knows what he’s doing. I’m fumbling my way through it. He’s confident, and I’m unsure. Mom continuously reminded me his Alpha instincts are what make him such an excellent businessman and how it’s not fair humans have to compete with them, but that’s just her prejudice talking.” She rolled her eyes at her mother’s prehistoric behavior and inhaled. She needed to calm herself down. Somehow, Lucas Cruz managed to get under her skin and she couldn’t figure out how to get him out of her.
“
Listen, Av,” Rick said slowly, his eyes focused on her. His gaze was unwavering, serious. “I’m going to be upfront with you about something because you deserve that respect. I know how you want to be taken seriously in business so I’m going to talk to you as a business partner and not your future-husband, okay?”
Avery nodded, a small smile on her face. She appreciated Rick’s honesty. At least he didn’t treat her like some damsel in distress over her head in an environment she had no idea how to figure out.
“Experience is everything in business,” Rick said. “That’s why people call us sharks. We’re looking for blood. And you, love of my life, are fresh blood. You’re easy. You’re exactly the type I wish I could go against because it would be so easy to break you.” He paused to take a drink. “I’m not trying to be a jerk, I’m trying to be honest. Experience is everything. Think about a relationship, Av. Do you feel more comfortable with someone who knows what they’re doing, or who has no clue? Why would I want to waste my time teaching someone something when I could be with someone who knows their way around a body? You get my meaning? No one is going to let you just invest; an investment is a partnership. They need to be able to count on you to do your part, trust that you’re not over your head.”
Avery swallowed. Her throat went dry for an entirely different reason than it had with Lucas. “Well,” she managed to say, her tone raw. “What do you suggest I do?”
“Get experience,” he told her. “A lot of it.”
At that moment, the waitress came by to take their order. Avery kept her mouth shut because Rick liked to order for them and since he was much more familiar with the cuisine, she trusted him to get her something she would like. He knew her well enough to know she did not like chicken and preferred either shrimp or red meat with sauce. Normally, Avery would not pay much attention to the exchange between Rick and the waitress (or waiter); instead, she would be slicing the bread or drinking her wine. Perhaps it was because of the onslaught of stress this business venture brought out, perhaps it was because as the wedding loomed near, it became more and more apparent that Rick preferred experience over innocence, or perhaps it was because things were spinning out of control and she needed to grasp onto something, but she watched the two interact. She forced herself to notice things, things she otherwise would have dismissed.
The waitress was pretty. Beautiful, even. There was no denying that. Her hair was slicked back and wrapped tightly into a perfectly circular bun. Avery's hair was the one thing she could not get right unless she went to a salon and paid them to do it. Even now, she ended up throwing her hair in a simple ponytail because the way it curled made it appear messy no matter how many times she brushed the locks and she refused to straighten her hair every day just to make it look nice. Personally, she liked her hair the way it was but Rick didn't always like it and if he was taking her out on a date, she wanted to look attractive for him.
The waitress's makeup was perfect - Avery had no idea how the waitress was able to do the perfect eyelid eyeliner - and she was busty, with long legs covered in dark tights, a slim waist, and a flirty personality.
She watched in wonder as Rick looked up at her, as he blushed under her gentle stare and warm smile, as he tripped over his words. Avery never made a man trip over his words before and it didn't appear as though the waitress actually intended for him to do so. In fact, she didn't appear to be one of those girls who saw a deep wallet and tried to seduce him into it. She was a beautiful woman doing her job and Rick just fell at her feet because.
Avery wanted that power. She wanted that experience. She wanted to make Rick look at her the way he looked at the waitress. She didn't hate her for it and she couldn't hate Rick for it. Hell, Avery was staring at the waitress like she was a goddess. She wanted that. She wanted to be able to make men trip over themselves without even trying.
And maybe in order to achieve that, she needed experience. What she needed to figure out was how to obtain that experience.
"I can educate you in other things that you can use in business. It will make you a stronger business woman. The way you use your feminine wiles to your advantage. The way you can smile, how to dress. Not that there's anything wrong with the way you dress." He bit his bottom lip as he looked her up and down. A thrill went through her. She had never felt a burst of excitement in her body before. "You can integrate different aspects of your life into business and it will make you better in business."
"And what aspect of your life do you integrate in your business?" Avery asked with a raised brow. She looked at him with a skeptical look on her face, deciding to ignore his educational offer and the offense she took to it.
"My pack mentality," he replied. "My leadership skills. My sex life."
Avery felt herself blush at the word sex coming from his mouth. He caught onto it quick.
"Are you..." he said and his eyes suddenly widened. "You are, aren't you?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"A virgin," he said.
Avery was ready to deny it but her face turned even redder and gave her away. She crossed her arms over her chest. "My sex life is none of your business," she said.
He gave her a knowing smirk. "Perhaps not," he agreed. "But the offer still stands. I'd be happy to teach you whatever it is you would like to know."
Avery bit her lip. Was it wrong to think that maybe he would... But no, that would just feed into his ego. That would just give him the opportunity to reiterate that he was right, that she needed his help in order to be a better business woman.
This has nothing to do with business, a voice inside of her head reminded her. This has to do with what your mom said, with what Rick said and expects from you. Even Lucas Cruz knows Rick. Even Lucas Cruz agrees that experience matters. You need to learn. You need to learn about what pleases yourself and what pleases other people. You can't be shy about this, Av. If you don't even trust yourself, how are you possibly going to trust anyone else?
There was a long silent pause as she took in her own thoughts. She took a breath and then another. More than anything, she wanted to learn. She had always felt that way, even before Rick, even before Lucas. Sex was something she very much wanted to experience. Something she wanted to feel. The gasping breaths, the rush of blood, the pain that morphed into pleasure, the complete lack of control, the orgasm that could not be put into words that allowed her to really understand what something like that could feel like...
When she was alone in her room and she knew she wouldn't be bothered, Avery would try to touch herself. The problem was, she started thinking too much about what she was supposed to feel and then her hand would start to hurt and how was she supposed to touch herself and this wasn't working and wasn't something supposed to happen now? Then she would stop so her wrist could take a break and her thoughts would drift to other things and her moment of pleasurable solitude would deflate into failure.
Maybe... Maybe Lucas Cruz could help her. It sounded stupid and idiotic and lacked any form of common sense. But she knew she would never fall in love with him. And if he could help learn more about herself and her body, it would help her relationship with Rick, especially since she wouldn't be completely inept.
The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. She would ask Lucas Cruz for an education in intimacy.
5
It was raining. Of course, it would be raining. Things in her life could never be that simple.
To be honest, Avery had no idea why she was doing this. Well, scratch that. She knew. She just didn’t realize she would actually take action to do something so bat-shit insane. But she couldn’t help it. Rick was worth it. She wanted to be good for him. Not new. Not inexperienced. She was a twenty-four-year old virgin who had no idea how to please a man. At the time, she was very independent and her independence was not contingent on being with a man. She didn’t need one.
But now, she had one. And she still wasn’t sure. Maybe that hesitation stemmed from a lack of educ
ation in the art of intimacy. She could admit that. Now that she had, she needed to remedy that. She couldn’t do it with Rick. Rick deserved pleasure. She wanted their first time to be perfect, not a bumbling around and waiting and worrying and asking if she was okay. She wanted to get that over with, with someone who didn’t matter so she could focus on Rick.
It had no logic whatsoever, except in her head. Her friends would think she was crazy. And she was. She didn’t even consider it cheating. Not really. She just needed to learn. This was an educational experience done for Rick. Not against him.
Avery had no idea if Lucas Cruz was the correct person to bestow this information to her. However, she did know he was more experienced in the art of intimacy than she could ever hope to be, which meant he was qualified at the very least. He would keep her secret, probably. But the most important thing she was looking for was his willingness to say yes. She knew she was attractive. She was one of the few women who had yet to actually fall for his charm. She knew that would entice him even more. Werewolves liked the chase, liked a challenge, and she could do both for him. She would make it worth his while.
He would say yes. He had to.
Wouldn’t he?
He lived outside the city in a single-story house that was too small to be a mansion. In fact, it almost looked the same size as a penthouse apartment if he did live in the city. The place was surrounded by other similar houses – it was odd that he lived in the suburbs by himself as a bachelor – as well as greenery, trees, parks, and neighborhood watch signs. She looked at his place – the lights were on – but she wasn’t sure if anyone was home. Also, she understood from her studies that werewolves tended to live in packs but it didn’t seem as though anyone was here. Except him. Maybe.
The Somerset Series: A Box Set: Books 2-4 Page 19