Under Fire

“Let’s not talk résumés when there are so many other interesting subjects up for discussion. Like that orgasm you’ve never had, for instance.”

“Ooh,” she practically purred. “I bet you’re great at seducing women. Do you seduce a lot of women, Ben?”

He detected a hint of apprehension in her voice and understood the import of her question. “No,” he told her honestly. He’d never been accused of being a player. In fact, just the opposite. “Not a lot.”

The tip of her tongue slid across her bottom lip. His libido spiked.

She dropped her gaze and slowly twisted their hands until his was cradled, palm up in hers. She traced the tip of her finger over his ring finger as if feeling for an impression. She continued her inspection of his hand, spanning the length with her fingertips. A sultry smile curved her mouth. “Very impressive,” she said, her voice a low, throaty whisper.

Drawing his next breath took a concentrated effort. When she lifted her gaze to his, his heart stuttered dangerously at the desire he detected in her gaze. One word from Jana was all it would take for him to open the door to a night of incredible pleasure. A night he wouldn’t have to spend alone with his own miserable hide for company.

One word.

“Ben? Let’s talk orgasms.”

She’d just said the magic word.

3

“WHAT WOULD YOU like to know?”

Can you make the earth move?

Got any fireworks in your pocket?

Pertinent questions, Jana thought. At least in her painfully uninformed opinion. Darned appropriate, too, considering the sparks still skimming along the surface of her skin.

Risk it. Those two words held more meaning for her than Ben could possibly know.

“Well…” She drew in a deep breath, gathering more courage. “Are orgasms really everything everyone says they are?”

She hardly thought it possible to surprise him more than she already had with her earlier admission, but obviously the feminine mystique was hardly in danger. Not if she used the distinct hike of his eyebrows and the curiosity filling his pale-blue eyes as a barometer.

He took a long, slow drink from the amber bottle of beer clutched in his hand. “You seriously don’t know?” he finally asked. A dark lock fell across his forehead and he rammed his fingers through his hair to push it back in place. His hand stilled at the back of his neck a moment before dropping to the table.

She shook her head and twirled the stem of her wineglass. “Nope.”

“Not close?” His long fingers flexed, tightening around the bottle. “Not even once?”

Did he have to sound so shocked? “Well…” She considered her answer for a moment. “Maybe. Once.” She shook her head. “No. On second thought, I don’t think it was the real thing.”

He stared at her with that intense, icy gaze, as if she’d just spoken in a foreign language.

“You don’t think?” He laughed. Full, robust laughter that made her smile despite the difficulty she was having discussing her malfunctioning G-spot. “This I do have to hear.”

She held up her index finger and gave him a look of mock sternness. “Hold it a minute. I thought I was the one supposed to be asking the questions here?”

His grin deepened. “Yeah, but your answers to mine are very interesting.”

“More like embarrassing,” she muttered, then took a sip of her wine.

His expression sobered. “Don’t be embarrassed, Jana. Inexperience is nothing to be ashamed of.”

She set her glass on the damp napkin. “I never said I was inexperienced. There’s a difference.”

“Not if you’ve never had an orgasm,” he said as he leaned forward. “Your lovers must’ve been damned selfish.”

She cleared her throat. A sharp stab of self-consciousness pierced her, then she quickly chastised herself for being so silly. Ben was absolutely right. Why should she be embarrassed by their conversation or because she’d had lousy lovers? Tonight, she could say or do anything. It wasn’t as if she’d ever see him again.

“You must find this all very entertaining,” she said.

The color of his eyes deepened to the color of the ocean. “I have a feeling you’d be a very entertaining woman.”

The air practically crackled with electricity around them at his quietly spoken words. She felt a sharp tug of desire in her abdomen. “I was thinking the same thing,” she said brazenly, unable to look away. “About you.”

Oh, good grief, why not just write Take Me Now, Stud on her forehead in bright red lipstick? It’d certainly be direct, but nowhere near as fun and liberating as flirting so outrageously with such a gorgeous hunk.

A slow, lazy smile curved his mouth. He had such a great-looking mouth, too, with a full bottom lip she was dying to taste.

Her breath caught, then came out in a rush. If just the thought of kissing him nearly stole her breath, she couldn’t wait to see what would happen if she tried to cure her orgasm problem.

“You’re evading the subject again,” he teased. “Tell me how close you’ve been to having an orgasm.”

What she wanted was to tell him exactly how close she’d like to get with him. Past the clouds. Over the moon. Fireworks, bursting stars, the whole enchilada.

Or so she’d heard.

“Jana?” he prompted.

“I felt…” The tempting quirk of his lips combined with the husky note in his voice snatched her breath again, halting her capacity for rational thought. “Tingly,” she finally blurted.

“Tingly.” He repeated the word slowly, as if absorbing it with care. “Just tingly?”

She nodded. “Just tingly.”

He cleared his throat, then shifted slightly in the booth, leaning forward to brace those drool-worthy forearms on the lacquered table. “Anywhere in particular?”

Moon, stars and fireworks fizzled like an interrupted daydream when her cheeks heated as if she were a teenage virgin. “Now there you go again,” she chastised him. “Asking me to reveal the secrets of being a woman.”

He reached across the table, peeling her fingers from the stem of the wineglass one by one. Gently, he lifted her hand to his mouth and brushed his lips across the inside of her wrist. Awareness skittered across her skin as he lightly feathered his tongue against her pulse before releasing her.

“That kind of tingly?” he asked in a voice reserved for lovers.

A jolt of electricity shot to the tips of her breasts and sizzled, warming her entire body with the heat of immediate arousal. Exactly who was seducing whom here? Forget his B.V.D.s. Her suddenly moist panties were close to becoming history.

She cleared her throat. “Those were some pretty high-grade tingles.”

“So was I close?”