‘Agree with what, Amber?’
‘I’d like...’ She licked her lips. ‘What I’d really like—is for you to teach me everything you know about sex.’
CHAPTER TEN
FOR A MOMENT Conall thought he must have misheard her because it sounded like one of those fantasies men sometimes had about women. Teach her everything he knew about sex? His mouth hardened. So that she could claw her manicured nails deeper into his flesh and learn more about him than she already did?
‘Why, Amber?’ he questioned, trying to ignore the sudden flare of heat in his blood.
‘Isn’t it obvious? Because I know so little and you know so much.’ She seemed to be struggling to find the right words, which he guessed wasn’t surprising in the circumstances. ‘And I...’
‘Oh, please, don’t stop now,’ he said silkily. ‘This is just starting to get interesting.’
She wriggled her shoulders again and Conall got a sudden disturbing flashback of how she’d looked when she’d been naked in bed, those green eyes all wide and hungry just before he’d entered her. Another fierce hit of blood made an erection jerk beneath his suit trousers.
‘I know this arrangement between us isn’t meant to last, but—’
‘Let me guess?’ he interrupted. ‘One day your knight in shining armour is going to come galloping over the horizon and carry you away, and in the meantime you’d like to learn how best to turn him on?’
A little angrily, she pushed a fallen lock of hair away from her face.
‘That wasn’t what I was going to say. I told you. I’m not crazy about men but I’ve realised that I like sex. At least, I don’t have very much experience to base it on, but I certainly like the sex I had with you. And it seems a pity not to capitalise on that, don’t you think?’
Her cheeks suddenly went pink and, in the silence which followed, Conall could hear the shallow sound of his own breathing.
‘You want to treat me like some kind of stud?’
‘That’s a little defensive, Conall. Couldn’t we describe it as making the most of your expertise?’
‘And this would be sex without strings?’
‘Naturally.’
‘With no boundaries?’
‘That would depend on the boundaries.’
Conall laughed. This was getting more and more like a fantasy by the minute. Gorgeous, defiant Amber asking him to teach her everything he knew about sex—with no strings?
‘So what would you say if I asked you to strip for me right now?’
‘I’d say that I have no experience of stripping and would be prepared to give it a try, but...’
He raised his eyebrows as he saw a trace of insecurity cross her features. ‘But?’
‘I want sex,’ she whispered, ‘but I don’t want you to make me feel like an object.’
And that whispered little appeal somehow pierced his conscience and made him realise he was behaving like a boor.
‘Is that what I was doing?’ he said softly.
‘Yes.’
He stood up and walked over to her. ‘Then I guess I’d better wipe the slate clean and start all over again. Come here and let me see what I can do.’
Amber felt herself melting as he pulled her to her feet and took her face between his hands, before bending to place his lips on hers. She told herself she must be true to her words and not read anything into it, but it wasn’t easy. Not when he kept brushing his lips over hers like that, as if he had all the time in the world—teasing her and tormenting her so that she felt like a cat having a cotton reel dangled before its eyes. As he skimmed his palms down over her dress she could feel the instant response of her body.
‘Want to take a shower?’ he murmured.