Seven Sexy Sins (3 page)

She’d thought he was only going to kiss her once, but he continued to plant light, soft kisses on her mouth, very correctly keeping his tongue well out of the way.

What the hell
. She opened her mouth and brushed his lips with her tongue.

He lifted his head. “I thought you said—”

“I lied.” She slipped a hand into his russet hair, curling her fingers in his ruffled locks.

He laughed, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. If the first kiss had been like the gentle sweep of a wave, the next one crashed over her with all the force of a tsunami. He kissed her deeply, his mouth hot, and he cradled the back of her head with his hand. She caught her breath, finding it difficult to exhale as he pressed her to him and brushed her tongue with his, filling her with a hungry need and an ache between her thighs.

Eventually, they both pulled back, breathing heavily, and he ran a hand through his hair. “Wow. I’d heard of spontaneous combustion, but I’ve never experienced it before.”

She wiped her lips with the back of her hand, shaking.

He studied her, smiling. “Too weird? You don’t feel like you’re kissing your brother or anything?”

“No, certainly not that.” It hadn’t felt weird at all. It had felt very…right. And very hot. “I’d better go in.” She picked up her bag.

“Wait.” He caught her hand as she went to get out. “Are you okay?”

“Sure.” She met his gaze and smiled. “You kiss nicely, Thorne.”

“You too, Hillman.” He tucked her hair behind her ear. “So, are we on?”

She pressed her lips together and nodded. “Sure.”

“When shall we start?”

“How about Saturday night? I’ll book a room somewhere.”

He smiled. “Okay.” The smile grew into a mischievous grin. “You want me to sort out the porn?”

“Nope. You can leave that to me. I want to see how easy it is and how embarrassing it is to get hold of some.”

He laughed and nodded. “So, until Saturday?”

“Until Saturday. Have a good day at school tomorrow.” The students had only recently returned after the Christmas break, and it would be a busy day for him.

“You too. Are you going to start your article?”

“Yes. I can tell the world I’ve found someone to play with.”

“I’ll read it. We’ll have to come up with a codeword so I know you were thinking of me when you wrote it.”

She thought for a moment. “I’ll call you Beau.”

“As in Peep? Who lost her sheep?”

She touched his hair. “Idiot. As in Beaujolais. My young red.”

He leaned over and kissed her again. “I look forward to reading it.”

She let him kiss her before drawing back, and gave him a cautionary look. “I’m not inviting you in.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Her lips twitched. “See ya later.”

“See ya.”

Chapter Three

The week seemed to pass slowly, and yet suddenly it was Friday night, and the next day Faith was due to meet Rusty and launch the first of the seven sins. Her heart pounded every time she thought about their date.
Why?
she kept asking herself.
It’s only Rusty
. But then that was the problem, wasn’t it?

She was on her way to Dan’s house. He’d rung and asked her to pop around, and she’d been happy to jump in the car, desperate to take her mind off the coming mission. She hadn’t really thought this through, she realised. She’d accepted Rusty’s proposal when she was half-drunk, using the organ located below her navel rather than the one in her skull to make the decision. The fact that she hadn’t been laid in a few months might have had something to do with it. But she was also aware that the latent attraction she’d tried to ignore for the past ten years or so had leapt to the surface with amazing speed.

It was only a matter of time
, he’d told her. Had she thought that too? Certainly, after the kiss in the garden, she’d daydreamed about him, but as time went by and he showed no sign of wanting to develop a relationship, she’d tried to let go of any feelings she had for him.

But of course, they’d always been there. If she was honest with herself, she knew she’d fancied him from the moment he’d walked in with Dan when she was twelve. She’d been fixing her bike in the garage and had looked up to see this lanky guy dressed in black, whose brown hair glowed red in the sun like copper wire heated in a Bunsen burner. She’d fallen for him right then, but he’d always had a girlfriend on his arm, and after a few years Faith had talked herself out of the belief they would one day get together. The kiss hadn’t helped, but she’d managed to move on.

Until now. And now they were going to have sex. And not just any sex—an exploration of the most intimate things a guy and a girl could do together. They’d gone from stationary to light speed in seconds. How on earth had that happened?

She drove down to Dan’s house and pulled up outside. Toby’s car was there. And so was Rusty’s.

“Shit.”

Should she just drive off? But that would look too obvious. She’d told Rusty he had to pretend nothing was happening—she could hardly go and do the exact opposite.

Cursing, she got out of the car and let herself in the front door.

They were all in the living room, and she stopped dead. They’d obviously heard her pull up. Dan was standing, arms folded, in front of a chair he’d placed in the centre of the floor. Eve sat on the sofa next to Toby, both sipping a beer. They said hello and grinned. Rusty sat in the swivel chair at Dan’s computer desk, a Coke in his hand, halfway through a crossword. Dressed in his customary black T-shirt and jeans, he looked no different than usual, and yet her heart gave a very
un
usual thump as he glanced up. He nodded at her. His look, before he smothered it, was plainly apologetic.

“What’s going on?” Faith put her hands on her hips.

“Come and sit down,” said Dan, pointing to the chair.

She didn’t move. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Twenty questions?” They always carried out this ritual when one of them was trying to keep a secret.

Her brother glared at her. “Sit.”

She was tempted to turn around and walk straight out of the door but knew she had to play it cool. She closed the door behind her, walked past them and sat on the chair, Eve and Toby in front of her, Rusty to her right, just in her line of vision.

Dan stood in front of her, arms still folded. “Okay, so who is he?”

“Who’s who?”

He tipped his head. “You know perfectly well who. Eve read your website, and then I read it. You said you’ve found someone to help you out with your research.”

Faith lifted her chin. “So?”

“So who the hell is it?”

“I’m not going to tell you, Dan. I’m allowed to have some secrets in my life.”

“No you’re not. I want to know who he is, and I want to meet him.”

She burst out laughing. “And ask him about his prospects? Jeez, Dan, where are you from, 1852?”

“I’m serious.” He looked pained. “You can’t ask any guy off the streets to have sex with you.”

“Dan! He’s not just some guy off the streets. I’ve known him a while.”

“How long?”

She gave him a cool look. “A
while
.”

He glowered at her. “Tell me his name, at least.”

“Beau.”

“His
real
name.”

“Er… No.”

“Faith, he could be a freak, or a pervert or something.”

She bit her lip. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rusty chew his pen and knew he was trying not to laugh. “He could be. I’m hoping.”

“Faith!” Her brother looked horrified.

“What?” She felt a rush of exasperation. “I’m not sixteen anymore, Dan. I’m twenty-two, for God’s sake. And I’m hardly a virgin.”

He looked across at Eve. “Help me, please.”

Eve grinned. “Come on, Faith, spill the beans. We won’t tell anyone.”

Normally, Faith would have told her roommate all the gory details. But this time she was going to have to work through it on her own. “I’m not ready to talk about him, not yet. It’s a new relationship. Nothing to do with you. I want to keep him to myself for a while.” She could feel Rusty’s eyes on her, burning on her skin like lasers, but she didn’t look at him.

Dan looked at Toby and then at Rusty. “Come on guys, talk some sense into her.”

Rusty shrugged and cleared his throat. “I think we should mind our own business—I’m sure Faith knows what she’s doing.”

“Well you’re a big help.” Dan glared at him. “Toby?”

Toby gave her a wistful look. “I’m just sorry it’s not me.” He held up his hands as Dan shot him a glance. “What? I’m saying it’s not!”

Dan was growing increasingly frustrated. “Look, we all watch out for each other. It’s what we do.” He gave her a pleading glance. “Don’t do this, love. Talk to me about it first. You know I worry about you.”

“Dan, I was at university for three years, you didn’t seem that bothered about my sex life then.”

“Absolutely I was, but anyway, that was different.”

“Why?”

“Because this is…” he shivered, “…creepy.” 

Faith laughed. “It’s really not. Sweetie, there’s no need to worry. I wouldn’t pick any old guy. He’s nice. You’d like him.”

“I want to rip his head off.”

She said nothing, aware of Rusty shifting in his seat to her right.

Dan studied her sulkily. “Are you going to be careful?”

She closed her eyes. “Please don’t say what I think you’re about to say.” 

“I feel it’s my responsibility to remind you about having safe sex.”

Rusty cleared his throat again. “Come on Dan, give her a break. Any guy worth his salt will follow the edict of the President of the USA.” 

Dan raised an eyebrow. “Which is what?”

“Always come with protection.”

Faith giggled. She pressed her lips together as Dan glared at her. “Relax. I’ll bring my own, just in case.”

“It’s not a laughing matter.” He was beginning to look angry, and that made her cross.

She stood up. “Dan, stop it. You may act like it, but you’re not my father.”

“I’m the closest thing you’ve got, and you
will
listen to me.”

Fury flared in her stomach. “I won’t. I don’t have to do what you say. I’m desperate for sex, I’m going to meet Beau, and I’m going to screw his socks off over the weekend. Deal with it.”

Rusty coughed into his Coke. Luckily, everyone else was so shocked at her statement that nobody noticed his reaction. It took every ounce of self-control she possessed not to turn and look at him.

She glared at her brother instead. “I’m a grown woman now, Dan. I appreciate that you want to look out for me. But I don’t need babying anymore. So back off.” And she walked out of the house, banging the front door behind her.

They all watched her go. Eve looked up at Dan, who heaved a sigh. “You handled that well,” she said.

Dan swore and kicked the rubbish bin, sending it skittering across the floor. “She’ll be snotty with me for days now.”

“I’ll check she’s okay,” said Rusty. He walked outside to her car, closing the door to the house first. She’d just got in, but she pressed the button to lower the window as he came over.

“Hey.” He ducked down and leaned on the windowsill.

“Hey.” She met his gaze before she looked away and slid the key into the ignition.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.”

“He means well.”

“I know. I wish I hadn’t said that about him not being my father. I just wish he saw me as a grown up, not a kid anymore.” She looked sad.

“I don’t see you as a kid, if that helps.”

She glanced up at him. Her lips curved.

“And I can see right down your front from this angle,” he pointed out.

She gave him an exasperated look but laughed nevertheless.

He grinned. “So what’s the plan for tomorrow?”

“I’ve booked us in to Seaview Lodge in Paihia, you know, the one on the seafront?”

“Yep.”

“I’ll meet you there? Around seven?”

“Sounds good. Are you really going to screw my socks off?”

“You’d better believe it, buster.” Her large brown eyes were hot with desire. She lowered her lids and said, “I’m going to go now.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He stood and watched her put the car into drive. Then he called, “Hey, Hillman?”

“Yeah?”

He bent forward again and said softly, “You bring gay porn, I’m walking straight out.”

“Sure thing,” she said seriously. But she was laughing as she drove away.

At half past six on Saturday, Faith’s hands shook as if there were an earthquake in her stomach while she unpacked her bag in the room of the motel.
This is ridiculous
. At this rate, Rusty wouldn’t be able to get near her for the aftershocks. Her heart pounded, and her palms were damp. She wished she’d remembered to bring some wine, but as Rusty didn’t drink, she hadn’t even thought about it.

At least the room was nice. She’d been worried a standard motel room would feel tacky, so she’d booked a deluxe suite, and to her delight, it had a view across the Bay of Islands, a large room with a king-size bed, and a huge sunken tub in the bathroom that looked very tempting.

She’d arrived early but now wished she hadn’t, as the waiting was stretching her nerves to breaking point. She checked her appearance in the mirror a final time. She wore a plum-coloured short-sleeved fitted blouse with a long, light, black skirt, and underneath she had a set of expensive, black lacy underwear she’d invested in for this very purpose. She’d clipped her long brown hair up loosely, letting tendrils curl around her neck, and had applied the simplest of make-up, just a little eyeliner and mascara, and a slick of lip gloss. She’d shaved her legs, moisturised, put on perfume, eaten a breath mint—in fact done everything she could think of to make herself irresistible.

Had it worked? She frowned as she looked at her reflection. She would never have described herself as beautiful. She was slightly too tall, her boobs weren’t big enough, her mouth was a little wide, and she had far too many freckles to be anything approaching breathtaking. But she looked as good as she could, and that was the best she could hope for.