Seven Sexy Sins (11 page)

“Nice, huh?” He led her over to the house. It had double sliding doors leading onto the large decking, which faced north to catch the sun all day.

He let them in and she wandered around, seeing the open-plan kitchen off the living room and the two bedrooms, small, but neat and clean. She came back into the living room to see him placing the cooler on the work surface, her night case in his other hand. He handed it to her, smiling. “Does the house meet with your approval?”

“Very much so.”

“Good. Now, I want you to go and unpack. And don’t come out until I call you.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Because I said so.” When she didn’t move, he ushered her into the bedroom.

“I’m not one of your schoolgirls,” she protested.

“Faith, for God’s sake, I don’t need any more provocation. I told you, I’m turned on enough without imagining you in pigtails and white socks.” He gave her a hot kiss before going out.

Wondering what he was getting up to, she began to unpack her bag. She placed her toothbrush in the bathroom and hung up her clothes for the next day. Then she took out her notes and began to jot down a few titles and headings, thinking about her next article. As she did so, she had to quell the ripple of excitement and nervousness that shimmered through her. Eventually she put down the pad and lay back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling fan that turned slowly, circulating the air.

Rusty had said sex was always fun like this, if you were doing it right. Was that really the case? She’d never felt this excitement, this anticipation, with either of her other lovers. But then this was different, because of the articles, and their exploration of the seven sins. Ordinary sex, with a partner you’d been going out with for ages, wouldn’t be the same, would it? If she’d been dating Rusty for months, or years, her heart wouldn’t be racing at the thought of kissing him and feeling his hands on her eager body. Would it?

She closed her eyes. What was he doing out there? She wanted him, badly, had been planning what she was going to do with him all week, since they last parted. It felt as if she’d been in a permanent state of arousal for days. She moved her hands down her body, inhaling as her fingers brushed her nipples. If he didn’t take her soon…

The door opened and she sat up, flushing at the direction of her thoughts. Hands on hips, he observed her, raising an eyebrow.

“What?”

“You look guilty.” His lips curved. “Have you been getting started while I’ve been busy?”

“No! Goodness.” Could the man read her thoughts? Or was her desire really written all over her face? She’d never been a good poker player.

“What? I don’t mind.” He came over to her and pulled her to her feet, nuzzled her ear and kissed her hot cheek. “I’d prefer it if I could watch, though.”

She tried to push him away. “Stop embarrassing me.”

He held her tighter. “I like embarrassing you. You go all pink. Like you do before you’re about to come.”

“Rusty! What’s got into you?”

“I don’t know.” He kissed her ear again, making her shiver all over. “You smell all…womanly. Mint and lavender and…something with vanilla…”

“That’s probably the custard I had for lunch.”

He chuckled, but didn’t stop touching his lips to her neck as his hands began to wander across her body. “Joke all you like, you’re not putting me off.”

“We should wait. I’ve got everything prepared…”

“And you’ve made so much effort, I want to make it worthwhile. I have a plan…”

“Another warm-up session?”

“Yep. Pre-sex sex, as you lovingly called it.”

She sighed as he ran a hand up her skirt and reached around to cup her butt. 

“You’re so wicked,” he whispered as his hand found bare skin, moving her to the bed.

“I’m wicked? You’re the one who keeps embarrassing me.” She gasped as he pushed her and she fell backward, bouncing on the mattress. He fell on top of her, making her squeal.

“Oh God. No. Air. In. Lungs.”

“Tough.” He kissed her, hard.

Desire shot through her, as if Cupid had injected her with a vial of lust. She opened her legs and wrapped them around him. “Okay, I give in.” She wriggled beneath him, pushing herself against his erection. “Come on, Thorne. Squish me flat.”

Hot and aroused, not even bothering to undress, they made love in about five minutes, which was slightly better than the six seconds he’d promised her. Faith would have been embarrassed at how little time it took her to achieve an orgasm, if he hadn’t nearly beaten her to it.

Afterward, they lay back on the bed, letting the fan waft cool air over them. He looked over at her. “Sorry.”

“For what?”

“Being so quick. I did warn you.”

She pushed herself up onto an elbow. “You did. I was hardly hanging around, in case you didn’t notice.”

He rolled to face her and propped his head on a hand. “I did notice, as a matter of fact. You’re very easy to please.”

“Well, when your guy has all the moves, what can you do?”

He gave a short laugh. She studied him for a moment. “How many girls have you had, do you think?”

His smile turned into a frown. “Faith…”

“I’m interested.”

“I’ve already told you…”

“You don’t kiss and tell, I know.” She met his gaze openly. “Seriously, Rusty, I’ve never spoken to a guy like this. You all joke about sex and who and what you’ve done, but I never know if you’re being serious. You know what my job involves, that I write about this kind of stuff for a living. You’re great at helping out on the website, and with this.” She indicated the bedroom. “I could do with an honest answer or two.”

He continued to frown. “I don’t know that I’m comfortable with talking to you about stuff like that.”

“Why not? As I told you last time, we’re not dating. It’s not as if I’m a girlfriend or anything. We’re business partners. And friends.”

The frown turned back into a reluctant smile. “I guess.”

“Consider it part of my education. I know you can’t resist educating me.”

He sighed. “You know me too well. Okay, what do you want to know?”

She sat up and crossed her legs. “How many girls have you been with?”

“I honestly couldn’t tell you. It’s not like I’ve got notches on the bedpost or anything.”

“Over a hundred?”

His eyes widened. “Fuck me, Hillman, I’ve already told you, I feel enough of a gigolo without your help. No, nowhere near a hundred.”

“Ball park, then.”

“I honestly don’t know. Thirty-something?”

“Could you name them all in order if you had to?”

His gaze drifted to over her right shoulder, as if he was trying to list them in his head. It came back to her and he smiled. “More or less.”

Her heart pounded. She didn’t know why this was so important to her. But she needed to know about him, about whom he’d loved, and why. “How many were one-night stands?”

“Ah…a few.”

“Ten? Twenty?”

“Er…” He looked embarrassed. “Probably nearer the latter. University.”

“Hmm.” She supposed she should feel upset or annoyed at his many partners. But she didn’t. For some reason it made her want to jump him again. “Any you didn’t know the last name of?”

His lips twitched. “Possibly.”

“Any you didn’t know the first name of?”

“No… I’m not that bad. Jeez.”

She bit her lip to stop herself smiling. “Any gay experiments?” She burst out laughing at the look on his face. “Sorry, I had to ask.”

“No, you didn’t. You’re enjoying this too much.”

“I sure am. How many times have you been in love?”

The frown reappeared. “Never.”

“Never?”

He shrugged. “Don’t think so.”

“Not even with Meredith? I thought she was special.”

He looked out of the window. “She was a nice girl. She wanted things to get more serious. But I…” He let the sentence drift off.

“You didn’t feel you wanted to spend the rest of your life with her?”

“No.”

“So a more apt description might be you didn’t
want
to fall in love.”

His green eyes came back to her. “Maybe.”

“Are you ever going to get over this thing you’ve got about being like your father?”

“I doubt it.”

“So you don’t think you’ll ever fall in love?”

“Not if I can help it.”

They studied each other for a while. His gaze was open, honest. She didn’t want to spoil the day, and decided not to pursue him down that road.

He seemed willing to wait patiently for her to come up with the next question.

“Who’s the best you’ve had?”

“I’ve already told you.”

She sighed. “Seriously.”

“I’m perfectly serious. Look.” He gestured at his face, indicating the absence of a smile. “Why do you think I’m not telling the truth?”

“I think you’re being polite. Love the one you’re with. I don’t see what would be so wrong about you giving me an honest answer. I know it’s not me, Rusty, I won’t be wounded. You’re only my third lover. I’m well aware some of your girls have…” She thought how to phrase it.

“Been around the block?” 

She giggled. “No, that’s not what I was going to say. Had more experience is how I would phrase it.”

He smiled. “Yes, most, if not all, were more experienced than you.”

“So who was the best?”

He sat up, leaned forward and kissed her. “One day, I’ll say ‘you’, and you’ll believe me. Now, come on. I’ve got something to show you.”

Not believing him in spite of what he said, she followed him out into the living room. There she stopped, staring in surprise at the scene outside. He’d spread a large blanket on the decking, maybe six or seven feet square, and scattered it with cushions. Around the edges, he’d placed a ring of candles, some of which she could smell were citronella, to ward off insects, the rest a variety of colours. He’d lit them all, bathing the area in a warm glow. He’d carried out her cooler and placed it to one side with a couple of plates. And next to it were two glasses, one with wine, one with Coke.

She grinned happily at him. “You old romantic.”

He winked back. “Are you ready to reveal to me the secrets of your cooler? Only I’m starving. I haven’t eaten since lunch.”

“Good. I have a variety of things to whet your appetite.”

“I know, but do you have any food?”

Laughing, she led him over to the blanket, and they sat cross-legged on cushions, facing each other. She pulled the cooler over to her and unzipped it.

“So tell me about this sin.” He sipped his Coke. “What’s the big deal?”

“This sin is about your senses.” She rummaged in the cooler. “Specifically, taste and touch. I want to experiment with different foods, and see if some are sexier than others. Many foods are supposed to be aphrodisiacs. I want to see if they work.”

“Sounds good. Where do we start?”

“There are a couple of rules—you can only eat with your fingers. And as far as possible, we have to share.”

“Feed each other, you mean?”

“Yeah. Or off each other.”

He smiled lazily. “Sounds good to me.”

“Okay, sexy food can basically be split into two types: foods that contain chemicals that are conducive to feeling sexy, and foods that look…suggestive.”

“Hmm, sounds intriguing. What’s first?”

Chapter Eleven

She pulled out a small box of crackers and a jar. “Caviar.”

“Ooh.” He watched her spoon a small amount onto a cracker. “So what’s sexy about caviar? I’m guessing it’s not one of those foods that looks suggestive.”

“Not so much. It’s supposed to stimulate the formation of testosterone.”

“Well, I guess I could always do with more of that. Don’t know about you.”

She held the cracker up to his mouth. He ate it in one bite while she prepared another, which he then took and fed to her. She closed her mouth over it, feeling his thumb brush her lip as he pushed it into her mouth.
Great
. The first bite and she was already turned on.

He raised an eyebrow. “What do you think?”

She ran her tongue around her lips thoughtfully. “Slightly salty. Reminds me of something else…” They both laughed.

He scooped some more onto another cracker and helped himself as she rummaged in the bag again. He flexed an arm muscle. “I feel manlier already.”

“Well, there you go.” She retrieved the next box from the bag, opened the lid, and took out half a dozen jalapeno poppers.

“Chillies?” He looked wary.

“Apparently they help release endorphins, which give you a natural high.”

“Where did you get these from?”

“I made them.”

“You went to a lot of effort.”

She shrugged. “I needed to for my research.” She concentrated on his mouth as she held out the grilled chilli stuffed with cream cheese and spices. She didn’t want him to look into her eyes and see the truth—that she’d prepared every dish with him in mind, unable to stop thinking as she made them about whether they’d turn him on or not.

He bit into the pepper, chewed and winced. “Fuck, they’re hot!”

“What did you expect?”

“One of the milder ones. God, my lips are burning.”

“I forgot what a wuss you are with spicy food. Here.” She took a small mouthful of his Coke, leaned forward and kissed him, letting the liquid flood his mouth, the bubbles dancing on their tongues.

She pulled back. “Better?”

“No. But it was still nice.”

“Want another one?”

“Ah…no thanks. Do you have any food that doesn’t take the inner lining off my mouth?”

She retrieved some more containers from the cooler. “These will be more to your liking, I promise.” She popped open the lids. “Homemade guacamole, not too spicy, I promise.”

“So what’s the background behind this?”

“Avocados contain vitamin B6, which increases male hormone production.”

“Are you going to have a moustache by the end of this exercise?”

“I sincerely hope not. And even if I do, it doesn’t mean you’re turning gay. They also contain potassium, which helps regulate the female thyroid gland. And…the Aztecs called the avocado tree a ‘testicle tree’ because when the fruit hangs in pairs it looks like testicles.”

“And I’m supposed to find that sexy?”