by Sahara Kelly
He took a breath. “For some stupid reason, women try to make themselves look like what they see, what they’re shown in every media outlet from here to Outer Mongolia. Skinny, sexless, pouty-lipped abnormalities. Do you really think men want that in a woman?”
Eden opened her mouth to answer but he forestalled her. “Haven’t you ever wondered why these women starve themselves to skeletons then go spend thousands for fake breasts to replace the ones they would have had in the first place if they’d left well enough alone and let nature provide for them?”
“I—”
“All those hipbones sticking out. Ribcages on display. And what do guys drool over? Breasts. That’s what guys want. The things that make a woman a woman. Hips. Curves. Soft skin over soft flesh. Thighs than can cradle a man between them and not leave bruises. An ass that feels warm and full in a man’s hands, not something that’s more like the carcass of a dead cow covered in skin.”
“Eeeeuw.”
“Sorry. Bad analogy.” Sean shifted his shoulders in an apologetic shrug. “But it’s a subject that gets my temper going.”
“No kidding.”
“And when someone like you, someone who has all the best attributes of womankind, starts demeaning herself based on a false assumption…well, it just pisses me off.”
“Oh.” Eden gulped. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be.” He squeezed her hand. “Just don’t apologize for what you perceive as shortcomings. Because in my book, they’re not. I look at you and I see a woman with more sex appeal than a thousand magazine ads. I see heat, passion and sweaty nights sprawled with you in rumpled sheets. I see a body I’d like to lick from top to toe and then do it again in case I missed anything. I see breasts I’d like to—”
“Sean. I get the point.” Eden knew her cheeks were on fire.
“Do you?” He watched her intently. “I wonder. I wonder if you know how much I’d like to slide that shirt off your shoulders right here and right now. How I burn at the thought of finding your nipples hard and ready for me to suck and lick and taste…and then I look at your lips and wonder what they’d feel like wrapped around my cock.”
“Uh…” Eden’s words caught in her throat. Heat poured over her, intense and almost painful as her body responded to Sean’s fantasies with eagerness.
“I’m not going to do it, Eden. Not yet. But soon. There’s not a damn thing to be gained by playing games here. We’re adults. I’m responding to you sexually because you’re everything I find desirable in a woman. Everything I love to touch, to kiss, to taste and to take to bed. Why should I hide it? I want to fuck you. I want you to fuck me. I want us both brain-dead from the best sex anyone’s ever had since the Big Bang.” He winced. “No pun intended.”
Eden’s tension eased as she laughed. “Physics creeps in there, huh?”
He laughed back. “Can’t help it. But seriously? You do it for me, Eden. I love talking to you. Listening to you. Looking at you and wondering what’s underneath those soft, silky clothes of yours.”
His gaze drifted over her and Eden swore she could feel the caress.
“I want to taste you something fierce.” He leaned close enough for Eden to catch a whiff of his scent, clean and masculine. “I want to make you come with my tongue, Eden. I want to watch you orgasm while I’m between your legs. And then I’ll do it all over again. I’m passionate about doing things right and believe that experimentation is the only way to achieve perfection.”
She found herself leaning toward him and watching his mouth as he lowered his voice to a whisper.
“Would you let me, I wonder? Would you let me love your pussy like that?”
“Can I get you folks anything else?”
The waitress stood at their table—a welcome interruption for Eden who was about to slide off her chair and embarrass herself by grabbing her dinner date and devouring him right then and there. The mere idea that she could feel this way about a man stunned her.
Sean flashed a glance at Eden and she managed to shake her head. “No, I’m fine, thanks. That was great.”
Sean agreed. “Fabulous food as always. I guess we only need the check, thanks.”
Money changed hands as Eden took a last sip of her iced water, resisting the urge to upend the glass and pour it over herself. The fact that she would have welcomed the chill added to her confusion.
It had been a long time since she’d gotten turned on to the really-damp-panties stage by a man, let alone by just his words. In fact, she wasn’t sure she ever had.
Her skin tingled as he took her arm and led her from the restaurant and back to the car. “Where to?” He glanced at her. “Where’s home?”
“The store.” She answered almost absently, her mind still dancing around some deliriously erotic images. “I live above it.”
“Handy.” He grinned and started the engine, letting something melodic from the radio fill the silence.
Eden didn’t feel the need to speak either. The heat was there, shimmering between them. Sean had thrown down the gauntlet—honestly told her what he wanted from her. Now it was her turn to decide if she was on the same page. If she was interested in sharing some of those sexual delights.
Lost in her thoughts, she was almost surprised when he pulled up in front of Sunstone and silence fell as he turned off the car. She waited, oddly moved as he walked around and opened her door. The old-fashioned courtesy seemed to fit him, to be a part of who he was.
She slid out of the passenger seat and stood, finding herself bracketed by his arms.
“Eden, I’ve enjoyed tonight more than I’ve enjoyed anything in quite some time. I’m not seeing anyone, not in any kind of relationship. I’d like to start one with you. I want to see you again and maybe explore some of my more decadent fantasies with you.” His lips curved into a grin. “Well, maybe we’ll start with the simpler ones. I don’t want to shock you.”
She couldn’t help smiling back. “I enjoyed tonight too, Sean. It’s been longer than I can remember since I had a date.” She glanced up at him through her eyelashes. “I take it this was a date, right?”
“If you have to ask then it’s definitely been too long.” He leaned closer, his arms slipping comfortably around her. “But to refresh your memory, yes, this was a date. And—since that’s been established—we’re going to end the date traditionally.”
“We are?”
“Yes.” He pulled her gently against him. “Oh yes we are.”
She knew the kiss was coming and wanted it. What Eden didn’t know was that it would taste so sweet or start a hot shiver of excitement deep in her belly.
Sean’s lips were firm and warm, brushing hers at first as he settled their bodies together. But then his shoulders shifted and Eden found herself opening her mouth, encouraging him, urging him on, moving her hands to his shoulders and eventually his neck and his head.
Greedily she sucked his tongue between her lips, sliding her own against it, thrusting into the sweet wetness, touching his teeth, anxious now to learn about his taste, how he felt as they kissed. Her hands fisted in the softness of his hair, clinging tightly of their own volition.
His body was hard, pressed to her breasts, her thighs, a warm solid mass surrounding her, encompassing her even as his mouth claimed hers and she claimed him right back. She was vaguely aware of hands stroking her, delicate but purposeful touches of Sean’s fingers playing up and down her back.
She gasped into his mouth when his touch slipped beneath her blouse to the bare skin, heightening her arousal and bringing a soft moan to the back of her throat.
“Mmm.” He purred the sound as his lips eased from hers. “God, you taste like sunshine and heaven. I could kiss you for hours.”
“Yeah.” Eden fought the urge to pant and drag his head back to hers. “Yeah.”
“I want you, Eden Morell. Saying goodnight to you at this moment is going to be right up on the toughest things I’ve ever done in my life list.”
His face was dap
pled with light from the streetlamp and she couldn’t read his eyes. “You do? It is?”
“Silly questions.” He grasped one of her hands and brought it between their bodies. “Touch me, Eden. Touch me and find out exactly what you’ve done to me.”
She let him draw her fingers down, down until they rested beneath his belt. Sucking in air, Eden explored. He was harder than nails, bulging against his pants, distended and throbbing—a pulse that echoed her heartbeat pounded in his erect cock.
God, what it would be like to draw down his zipper and see for herself—
“But I’m going to say goodnight.”
Eden almost moaned with disappointment.
“I’m going to let you go upstairs alone. I’ll probably go home and take a cold shower. Or perhaps I’ll take care of this…” He glanced down at himself. “Perhaps I’ll masturbate tonight and think of you.”
“Sean, I don’t—”
He kissed her again, hard and quick. “It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything. Just promise you’ll see me again. Next week. I’ll call the store and give you my number.” He reached for her arms and held them tightly. “Promise me, Eden.”
She nodded, helpless, aroused and bewildered by what they’d come so close to sharing. “Yes. Yes, Sean. I want to see you again.”
“That’s my girl.” His strained laugh echoed across the hood of the car as he walked around it. “Go inside. I’ll wait.” There was a rough chuckle. “But not much longer, Eden.”
She caught his meaning. He wouldn’t wait. As she unlocked her door, gave him a little wave and then closed it behind her, Eden realized she didn’t want to wait either. She wanted to know Sean Rafferty in the biblical sense.
And she also wanted to know if there were any batteries in her old vibrator.
—
“Well, hey now.” Dee’s eyebrows were raised almost to her hairline. “You’ve really hit the jackpot, Eden.” She paused. “You bitch.”
There was laughter around Fenny’s table where Eden had gathered with her friends. She hadn’t intended to regale them with her amorous adventures, but in that uncanny way women have, the other four had taken one look at her and intuitively deduced she’d found herself a man. Or had sex. Or both. And promptly demanded information and details.
Eden groaned. “I swear to God, Dee. I did not have sex with that man.”
“Hmm. Back to politics. It didn’t work then, either.” Stella rolled her eyes. “Try again, Eden.”
“He’s a physicist too?” Dini bounced in her chair. “I bet he could tell me all about supercolliders. He’d be fabulous for research, Eden.”
“Down, girl.” Fenny rested her hand on Dini’s head as she walked past and kept the enthusiastic elf seated. “I think Eden’s research is more about human bodies than cosmological particles.” She pushed a dish of candy corn into the center of the table. “So you had a fabulous Italian dinner, talked hot sex, kissed him and then he went home. Did I get the basics right?”
Eden, her mouth full of the terribly awful candy she couldn’t resist, nodded, chewed and swallowed. “Yep. And every day since, he’s sent cute things to me.”
“Like what?” Dini looked fascinated. “God, this stuff is really bad.” She grabbed her own handful of sweets. “Got any more?”
“I got a little bunch of flowers the next day. Then a funny card. And yesterday he sent me a t-shirt with a picture of Einstein and a quote on it…It’s a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.”
Four sighs followed her words as the candy corn vanished and Eden’s friends absorbed the vicarious delight of having a man shower them with gifts.
“He’s seducing you, you realize that, don’t you?” Dee pushed the dish away.
“Yes.” Eden nodded. “He pretty much made that clear up front.”
“So how do you feel about being the seducee?” Dini glanced at Fenny. “Is that a word?”
Fenny shrugged. “Not sure. But it works for me.”
Eden twisted her fingers together on the table. “I kinda think I like the idea. He’s so much fun to be with. We talked about everything under the sun. We even talked about the sun. Solar energy, stuff like that. He—he listened, you know?” She looked up to meet four sets of eyes fixed on her face.
“It was a conversation in the truest sense of the word. A dialogue between two people, not just one hogging the limelight. I reckon I talked more to him than I’ve done to any guy in years. He’s just that type.”
“Nothing like a guy with good ears.” Dini nodded sagely.
“Especially when he’s between your legs and you’re hanging on to ‘em.” Dee snickered.
Eden laughed with everyone else, but knew she was blushing as well. “Yes, well there is that.”
Stella leaned over and touched Eden lightly on the hand. “You want my advice? Go for it, Eden. He sounds like a really good guy. Even if it’s not forever, it could be wonderful while it lasts.”
“I’m leaning that way.” Eden swallowed. “It’s been a long time for me. I have—” she glanced down at herself awkwardly, “issues with my physical appearance and sex.”
Derisive snorts greeted this statement but Eden lifted her hand to quell them. “I know, it’s stupid. Believe me, Sean made that clear. But I’m still female and still have doubts about whether I’m sexually appealing or not.”
“If I was a guy, I’d do you, babe.” Dee finished off the candy corn.
“You say that to all the girls.” Fenny chuckled.
“Well, I really like you all. So, logically speaking, if I was a guy and liked you all, I’d be doing you. Right?”
“Not all at once, I hope.” Dini sighed as she finished the last of her candy corn.
“Well, probably not.”
“Although it would make a hell of an orgy scene…” Stella sounded thoughtful.
Eden shook her head. “Girl-girl won’t fly. Besides, I don’t think I can even imagine it. I have to go the ordinary route first.”
Fenny smiled. “Something tells me that if and when you get to it, it won’t be ordinary, Eden. Not by any stretch of the imagination.”
Eden shrugged. “I’ve listened to you all waxing eloquent about sex. If you must know, the reason I don’t write it—or haven’t up to this point—is that I’m not…” she paused, searching for the right words, “I’m not a very sexual person.”
“What do you mean, Eden?” Dini tipped her head to one side, looking like a curiously inquisitive elf.
“I mean I like the kissing and so on.” Eden waved her hand to encompass all the bits and pieces of so on. “But when I get into it…it’s over and done with and I have to wonder what all the fuss is about.”
Dee frowned. “Do you come, Eden?”
“Jesus, Dee.” Eden blushed.
“I mean it. Do you come? You’re an almost-ex-doctor, for chrissake, you know what I’m talking about. Of all of us here, you could probably describe an orgasm in the most accurate of clinical terms.”
“Yeah.” Dini nodded. “What she said.”
Eden bit her lip. There were so many advantages to having wonderful friends. But sometimes they did tend to put her on the spot. “I suppose it would be accurate to say that penetrative intercourse doesn’t seem to result in a sexual release for me.”
“Be sure to catch the special on this topic tonight at nine on the Women’s Health Channel.” The irrepressible Dini choked back a snort. “This is sex we’re talking about, Eden, not a workshop on gender-specific physiology. You gotta work up some enthusiasm for it, sweetie.”
“Maybe that’s not so much Eden’s problem as her lovers’.” Fenny tugged thoughtfully at her lower lip.
“Huh?” Eden tried to follow Fenny’s line of thought. And failed miserably.
“Look, we’ve all had those times when it was all about the guy, right? Didn’t do a damn thing for us?”
Nods and a chorus of groans greeted Fenny’s words. “Yeah. No kidding.” That was Dee.
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“More than I can count,” Stella agreed.
“So let’s just suppose that our Eden here hasn’t yet run into the guy who really turns her on. Who gases up the engine before throwing her into gear and hitting the accelerator? You know—gets her hot and wet and ready to come.”
“Jesus, Fenny.” Once again, Eden blushed and hid behind her hands. “Don’t hold back on my account. Even though I do happen to be sitting right here.”
“It’s statistically possible, Fenny.” Dini nodded. “Eden, do you orgasm with your vibrator?”
“Okay. That’s it.” Eden straightened and slapped her hands down on the table. “I adore you guys, you know that. But not when you’re talking about my orgasms or my vibrator. That’s just wrong on too many levels to count.”
“Wuss.”
“Chicken.”
“Am not.”
“Are too.”
“Braaaa-cluck cluck cluck…”
The soft chicken noises emanating from somewhere suspiciously near Dini’s mouth tipped Eden over the edge. She stood, pushing her chair back with a scrape and leaned forward, placing both fists firmly on the table.
“I am not a wuss or a chicken or anything else. I do know what an orgasm is. It’s the quick cycling of muscle contractions in the lower pelvis surrounding and engaging the primary sexual organs. It’s controlled by the autonomic nervous system.”
She paused for breath. “I’ve had them, thank you. My vibrator works just fine in that department. Men don’t.”
She sat down with a thump as the applause erupted.
“That’s my girl.” Fenny giggled. “You tell ‘em.”
“I’m so proud.” Dini wiped an imaginary tear from her eye. “Womanhood is redeemed.”
“Oh shut up, all of you.” Eden burst out laughing and lowered her head to the table. “You should all be taken out and shot at dawn.”
Stella, who was laughing as hard as anyone, finally caught her breath. “Okay. So the question remains. Are you going to give Sean Rafferty a trial run? See if he can do at least as well as your vibrator?”
Eden sighed. “That’s the crux of the matter. I don’t know.”