Virgin Seductress

She pursed her lips. “I didn’t make the connection until after our divorce when you started hanging around the diner every day for lunch and dinner. But there is one good thing about this.”

“What?”

Pushing away from the doorway she shrugged. “At least you never called me by her name.”

She had always been a woman who could be direct no matter if she hurt his feelings. But that statement was particularly low. “That’s cold, Chloe.”

“I call it like I see it.” She saluted him. “And we’re taking your Escalade. I’m driving. You’d better have it detailed.” She whirled around and tapped her way toward the back door.

Chloe was right, he did get to have one of his major sex fantasies fulfilled, although he didn’t want to think about making sweet virginal Nell into his personal sex puppet. Especially since she planned to take her act on the road. Somehow the thought of her leaving so soon was not sitting well with him.

Sitting back in his easy chair, he swallowed the acid in his throat.

Nell had been surprised when the phone rang and Riley had called to say he would be right over. When they had parted earlier in the day, she’d thought he would take some time to really think about her offer, but here he was on his way.

She’d taken a quick shower, put on her prettiest skirt and white cotton blouse, then rushed around the living room straightening pillows and pushing a feather duster over every little knickknack and her grandmother’s antique clock on the mantel over the fireplace. Her grandmother had loved the clock and for a second Nell felt a storm of tears brewing at the sides of her eyes. She wouldn’t cry, not anymore. She needed to move forward.

She heard Riley’s car pull up into the driveway. She gave herself one last look in the mirror as she tossed the feather duster into a drawer. From the drawer, she pulled out a small spiral-bound notebook and pen and set it where she could easily find it. She’d bought the notebook at Doolittle’s after she’d left Riley. If she was going to learn so many new things, she needed to take notes.

The doorbell rang and Nell checked her breath and then opened the door to find him leaning against the jamb looking so masculine he sent heat racing through her like a summer thunderstorm. Her heart pounded at the look in his face and she stood aside to let him in.

Riley walked in looking big and male and out of place among her grandmother’s dark wood furniture. His sheer masculinity just made everything smaller. Nell felt as if she were violating some sacred temple as she looked around her grandmother’s small tidy house and tried not to think about what she and Riley were about to do. But Riley had insisted that she would be more comfortable in her territory.

The black shirt and tight jeans fitted over every muscle of his body. Her heart fluttered. She wished she didn’t feel so anxious.

Sex was a biological function like breathing or eating, right? What was the great mystery? Wiping her damp palms on her yellow-and-black floral skirt, she took a deep calming breath. The less nervous she was the more likely she was going to be a better student.

She’d only admit it to herself, but he could take her breath away like no other man ever could. In a way, he was what she always thought a real man should be. Clean, strong and a bit rough around the edges—everything her grandmother had warned her about for years. Where these bad-girl thoughts had come from was a mystery to her. All she knew for certain was that she wanted to be very, very bad. With Riley. “What should we start with?”

The corner of his mouth went up. “Touching. Men love to be touched.”

Her bottom lip trembled. She could think of nothing else but the kiss she and Riley had shared. She hadn’t expected the kiss to be so intense or so passionate. Her nerves tingled with anticipation. He took her hand and placed it on his chest. Slowly she touched him, feeling the hardness of his muscles, the heat of his skin, the texture of the cotton shirt.

She could feel him breathing, his broad chest rising and falling. Until now she’d never thought of a man’s body as a thing of beauty, but Riley was glorious. The tip of her finger grazed the fabric of his shirt and her throat went dry. Her hand began to tremble.

She was so excited. She felt so naughty and wicked and almost immoral. She tried not to think about Pastor Willis and his sermons. She was about to do everything her grandmother and Pastor Willis had warned her was bad.

“Come on, Nell,” Riley said softly, “you can do better than this.”

She licked her dry bottom lip, but didn’t proceed any further. She was too afraid to do the wrong thing. “I don’t know how.”

Riley gripped her wrist. “Let me show you.” He forced her hand flat against the wall of his chest and covered her hand with his.

His strong, callused fingers were rough on her hot skin. The longer he held on the more she wanted. She placed the other hand on his chest, right over his heart. Under her hand, his heart raced.

He took a sharp breath.

Feeling a sense of freedom, she let herself explore him. “I’ve never seen a naked man before.” Did those words really come out of her mouth? Her voice sounded strange.

“Don’t you have Internet?” he asked.

She did now. She’d had DSL put in the week after her grandmother had passed. “Well yes, but, you know, the FBI can track where you’ve been on those sites and I don’t want that on my record.” Somehow her grandmother would have found out.

He chuckled. “We’ll have to change that, won’t we?”

His low seductive laugh rolled over her, curling her toes. Nell clenched her knees together to stop their shaking. She didn’t think he was asking a question. Nor did she care. “Yes. Please.”

He lowered her hands to her side. Then he started to unbutton his shirt.

This wasn’t how she wanted to do this. She wanted to undress him herself and discover his body in her own way. Nell grabbed his wrists. His muscles flexed under her hand. “No, I want to undress you.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she was shocked that she’d said them.

Riley raised an eyebrow. “I’d like that.”

She couldn’t help herself, she giggled. “Do most men like a woman undressing them?”

“I like a woman who lets me know what she wants.”

“Why?”

“Because that means they’re as excited about going to bed with you as you are about them.”

Okay, she thought, I can do that. Nell let go of his wrists. His hands dropped to his sides. Her stomach fluttered with excitement and anticipation. There was a languid achy feeling between her thighs. She was a bit disconcerted about her body’s reactions. To go from zero to red-hot inferno had to be bad. But she didn’t care. One part of her felt as if she was abandoning everything her grandmother had taught her about what was proper. She’d heard the stories of her mother’s too-easy reputation and tried all her life to be different from that. Deep down inside, maybe she was more like her mother than she believed she was. The thought didn’t make her feel naughty as she suspected it would. “You’re shaking.”

“I’m excited.”

“Me, too.” Nell freed the top button of his shirt. His skin was a smooth earthy bronze color. He was warm and alive. The aching in her body became more fierce as she unfastened the next button.

“Nell, before we go any further, I want to make one thing perfectly clear to you.”

That this was real. She already knew that. “What?”

“If at any time you want to stop, we stop.”

He didn’t have to say that. She knew she could trust him with her body. “I know.”

“Not just with me, but with any man. Promise me you won’t waste your time on a man you can’t trust.” He reached up and touched her cheek.

Nell rubbed her face against his palm. She drew from his strength. He knew how to comfort a woman and make her feel safe. “I promise.”

Nell undid another button and pulled the hem of his shirt out of his jeans. She pushed the fabric aside to reveal his wide shoulders. He shrugged out of the shirt and she leaned back to look at the smooth expanse of his chest. He was beautiful. The shirt dropped from her cold fingers to the rug, landing near his feet.

She raised her eyes to him again, and saw that his entire body was sculpted like a Greek statue, all corded muscles and six-pack abs. His skin was smooth and a rich cinnamon-brown that made her gasp. No statue, he was alive and hot, not cold marble. His chest rose and fell with every breath. His nipples, small and brown, were like hard pebbles. Carefully she reached up and touched one nipple with the tip of her finger.

Riley sucked in a quick breath and Nell felt a surge of power. This was better than unwrapping her presents on Christmas morning. Nell glanced down at the telltale bulge in his jeans. Pride swelled inside her. She, plain old Nell, could make a man feel desire.

Riley leaned forward until his mouth was less than an inch from her ear. “That’s what you do to me, Nell. What you’ve always done to me.”

She met his smoldering gaze, silently thanking him, but not sure if she completely believed him. “I want to see you naked.”