11. Colder

The bag crinkledunder my grip as her raspberry scent slid over me.

Naomi standing outside my apartment was the first thing that rocked me. I'd nearly convinced myself last night was just a fever dream. She'd come to her senses, and we'd dance our way through days of embarrassment—mostly hers.

Then we'd just get back on track.

Thishad not been in any of my imaginings.

The elevator pinged again, and I eased her over to get my keys in the door before I hustled her inside.

"Colder!"

"Someone was coming." I threw my keys into the dish and dumped my wallet beside it. Cup and bag went next. I blew out a breath before I turned to her. Nope still there—still in that damn pink coat. It was zipped back up to her neck again and she rolled her foot to the side adorably.

Uncertainty flowed off her along with some embarrassment. There was the Naomi I'd been expecting.

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" I walked toward her, and she took a few steps back. Was I making her nervous?

"Maybe."

Relief rolled through me. "How are you feeling?"

"A little ridiculous." She licked her lips. "A little excited." She toyed with the sleeve of her jacket with her fingers. "Interested in our next lesson."

Right. Lessons.

I was surprised at the level of disappointment that hit me, but then she slid the zipper down and I didn't give a damn.

"Sweet fuck."

She wasn't wearing anything under the pink jacket. Well, nothing she should be wearing out of her damn apartment, anyway. More pink was revealed as she shrugged out of the jacket, and it slipped down to the floor. Satin and lace in a similar color of her jacket cupped her high, firm breasts and the curve of her hips.

Speechless, I just stood there.

This was not what I'd been expecting for the start of my day.

She crouched and picked up the jacket and draped it over her arm.

"Oh, no. We don't need that." I took it from her and tossed it on the chair of my small living room area.

"We don't?" Her voice wavered a little, but she lifted her chin and stared me right in the eye. "Is class in session?"

"Most definitely." I took her hand and drew her closer. I had to put my brain back in my head before I ruined this whole damn thing. Instead of pulling her into me like I wanted, I lifted her hand over her head and motioned for her to do a slow twirl. "You came prepared for class. A daytime lesson, for sure."

The curve of her ass was hugged by the stretchy fabric, and I wanted to drop to my knees and worship there. So many curves had been hiding under her sweatshirt and jeans from the day before. I'd caught a glimpse of her in her night clothes last night, but nothing had prepared me for this.

I eased her back against me and curled my arm around her, not letting her hand go the whole time. "I wasn't prepared for class," I murmured against her temple. "So, for this first lesson, it will be all about you."

She peered up at me. "I don't mind that you're sweaty. Won't we just get sweaty,anyway?"

I sucked in a groan. "We will. God, we will. But this time, we'll just go with our first full lesson in bodies."

"I know my body. I don't know yours."

"You don't know it like I will. I promise."And I looked forward totouching and tasting every fucking inch of her. I pressed my nose into her hair. She'd done something to it, so it was soft and smooth with a little curl at the ends. As if it was curving into the lines of her.

I stepped back just enough to get a hold of it all, gathering it through my fingers as I finger-combed it. The soft moan that slid out of her made my cock stir. I was already half ready to go just from a glimpse of all her skin, but the craving rose from her sigh.

"Hair and your scalp have a millionnerve endings. From a pull," I gripped it harder, and her breath caught, "to a soft stroke—both of them can cause a reaction. Which do you likemore?"

"I don't know."

I draped the heavy fall of it overher shoulder and gentled my fingers along the nape of her neck. "And then we go with a combination." I let her hair slither over her shoulder and back to swing down her back. "Feel it slide across your skin. It's just as good for us. It's why so many men love long hair. The softness, the way you smell all over us, and using it as a tool." I wrapped my hand with it and pulled her head back. "A gentle tug or firmer one."

I watched her nipples tighten under the lace. "You like the tight."

"It's like it's connected."

"Oh, it is." I coasted my hand along her arm then over to her waist and hip. I used the tips of my fingers to draw lazy lines then jerked her hair to drag her head to the side and latched my mouthon her neck. "See?"She swayed and I eased her back against me again. I nipped her and she jumped a little, rewarding me with a moan. "Tell me what you feel."

"Like a little shock under my skin." She licked her lips. "I like it."

I nipped again and chased it with a light lick.

"When you moan like that?" I nuzzled my way up her neck to behind her ear. "It makes me nuts. Makes a man want to give more."

"Like what?"

"The moan?"

She gave a little laugh. "No, want to give me more what? Give a woman more what?" she corrected.

"We search out the sound. But we don't want you to give it up unless it makes you feel good. Faking it doesn't help anyone in the bedroom. If we can't trust your responses, then we don't learn what makes you unique."

She glanced up at me, her eyes searching.

It made me angry that she was so surprised at that fact. "Surely you've read that before. In the books?"

"I just thought it was fiction. Written to what a woman wants to read."

"Doesn't have to be." I slid my hand along her stomach and slowly up the curve of her ribs to just below her breast. "Only a jackass only goes for these." I did a quick coast over the tips of her nipples. I wanted to stay there. I knew she'd be sensitive, but I had a lesson to give.

Even if it killed me.

"But it's here that can make a woman sigh or moan even more." I coasted my way up to her collarbone and lightly curled around her neck. Her pulse fluttered madly under my hand and my cock lengthened and hardened at each swallow. "But this isn't for a first time. This requires trust." I released her neck and went back down to her chest. "Remember, an authentic connection between people isn't just about the quick fuck. It has its place. And that will be one of our lessons."

She groaned. "When?"

I grinned into her neck. "Soon. But today, it's just about making you crave it. The more you feel it, the more you're lost to it, the better it is. I promise."

She dropped her hand to her side and reached back to me, gripping my thigh. "Doesn't just have to be me that craves today. I'm a really quick learner."

That was for fucking sure. And if she didn't want me to go to that quick fuck lesson, I needed to distract her.

"Next part of the lesson." I slid my hand back down her belly and traced the line of her panties. I didn't go under them. I'd be so screwed if I felt her wetness on my fingers right now. I wanted her too badly. "Over the clothes has just as much punch. Are you wet, Naomi?"

"Yes."

"I can make you wetter."

"Doubt it," she said and dropped her head back against my chest.

I drew two fingers down between her thighs, over the satin and lingered where I could feel her already warm for me. "Challenge accepted." I felt the line of her lips under the material, how swollen she already was. I followed the slight dip and arrowed a little deeper against the material and she circled her ass against my upper thighs. "Feel how hard I am?"

"Yes."

"I'm going to make you come without taking these off."

"Go for it. I'm all about demonstrations."

I grinned into her neck. "Only rule is you can't touch. Just me."

Her grip slid away from my thigh. "Okay."

"Close your eyes. Just feel everything. File it away in that amazing brain of yours."

"Okay."

I drew my middle finger along the seam of her lips again and again, slowly at first then slightly harder. With each stroke, I gripped her hair with my other hand. Slowly building each, then trading off with a sharper pull and softer stroke until her chest was heaving and her breath came faster. When her thigh trembled, I knew she was getting closer.

I was tempted to edge her into insanity, but this was our first time. I just wanted her to go over and enjoy it.

And I wasn't strong enough to play the edge game with her right now. Not before I'd buried myself in her sweet heat and taken my own edge off.

I felt her clit and rubbed harder. She stiffened in my arms and her arm went up to grip me. I didn't even care that she'd broken the rules this time. I was just enjoying how lost she was. "That's it. Fuck, you're wet through your panties for me. So wet for me. First one for me. Not the last one, Naomi. Just the first one for me like this."

"Colder." Her voice was reedy and her hips restless against me. Her nails dug into my shoulders and into the neck of my shirt as she held on, lifting against my touch.

I let go of her hair and gripped her breast as she went up, as she clamped her thighs over my hand and cried out for me. I tugged at her nipple through the lace as she shook.

Watching a woman fall apart for the first time always killed me. There were no two alike. Naomi was absolutely given over to the feeling. No acting, no choking down the sounds, she was absolute truth.

She arched her back and I moved to her other breast. I almost flipped up the material to get to bare skin, but it wasn't for me this time. I had to show her I had the control here to be her teacher.

"Fuck," I growled as she soaked my fingers. "Another."

"Another?" She craned her neck to look up at me and I closed my mouth over hers. The angle was awkward, but our tongues tangled as I stole every groan and dug down deep for more.

My cock was tucked tight into her ass, instinctively she rolled her hips until we were one writhing entity. Over the clothes, locked in a moment. I rubbed and tugged until she bit my lip and cried out.

She nearly slid to the floor as her body went lax and she shuddered under the onslaught of another orgasm. I gathered her up into my arms and went around my bookcase to where my bed was. The sheets were still unmade, and I was slightly sorry for it. She deserved a fresh bed, but right now, I just wanted her horizontal as she came down from her orgasm.

She curled into a ball, and I rubbed her back lightly. "Naomi?"

"Holy shit."

I grinned down at her laying in my bed in a slash of sunlight. Her hair was tumbled all across my misty gray sheets as she laid her cheek on her hand. Her breathing slowed and her heart rate eased.

"Wow. I didn't know."

I kissed her shoulder. "You definitely got an A."

She laughed. "I'm all about getting an A plus if that's in the lesson plan."

"You have a professor kink, Naomi?"

"Never have before." She rolled to a sitting position. "I feel like I got hit by a bus."

"Sure it wasn't from the wine last night?"

Her face flushed. "Yeah, sorry ‘bout that."

"Don't be sorry. I just wasn't sure if it was the wine talking last night."

"I wasn't that buzzed."

I arched a brow at her. "I beg to differ. I'm definitely a master at figuring out levels of inebriation."

"Okay, but I remember everything I asked last night. Including that I want to hire you for this."

"You're not paying me, dammit."

"But if I do, then I won't feel bad with all the stupid questions I'm going to ask you."

"There are no stupid questions."

"Oh, there are going to be a lot of them." She glanced down at my shorts. "Get ready, here's the first one. Doesn't that hurt?"

"It doesn't feel awesome, but I'm not going to die. Any guy who says otherwise is a fucking liar."

"Good to know." Her summer sky eyes met mine. "Is class dismissed?"

"It doesn't need to be. If you don't mind waiting for me to shower."

She sucked her lower lip in. "I don't mind. I'm not ready to go."

"Good thing I'm not ready for you to leave." I stood and groaned when her gaze shot right to my cock, and she licked her lips. "You're killing me."

The corner of her mouth kicked up. "I like the sound of that. Hurry up and shower or I'll ask to watch."

I cupped her face. "If my bathroom wasn't a damn closet, I'd take you up on that." I brushed my thumb along her lower lip. "I'll be right back."

Walking away from her about killed me.

I had a feeling the lessons would do even more damage to me. Evidently, I was a glutton for punishment.