Scent of a Woman. Jo Leigh

      She wondered how long it would take for him to lose it. For a moment, she pondered taking pity on the man. Undoing his belt, perhaps. No. The point of this little excursion was to set the tone. To see if her plan would work.

      “I want,” she whispered, as she leaned over to touch the hollow of his throat with her fingers, “to play.”

      His eyes snapped open and she took the challenge, her gaze and his locked. “I want to be anybody,” she said. “Anybody I’ve ever dreamed of being. I want to take out each one of my wicked desires, one at a time, and see where they take me. Take us.”

      “Oh, God.”

      She smiled. “I’ll interpret that as interest?”

      “Yes.” The word was thick, low. As if his body were doing too many other things to be bothered with speech. Which, she imagined, was the truth.

      She moved her hands down his chest again lightly, feeling him quiver beneath her. When she reached his belt, she toyed with the buckle, knowing she was driving him nuts, and loving it. “And I want you to whip out your—”

      He inhaled sharply.

      “…fantasies. No hesitation. No embarrassment. Tonight, dear David, is a prelude. A summit of sorts. We’ll lay the ground rules. There are lots of things I want to try, but there are certain taboos.”

      “For example?”

      She hesitated. Her voice had been steady all the way through her little speech. Confident, in fact. As if she did this every night. But now she was about to cross the line. Tell him things she’d never told anyone before. Not even Larry. If it was awful, if she hated it, she would never have to see David again. She hoped it wasn’t awful. “I’m not excited by cross-dressing,” she said.

      “Me cross-dressing, or you?”

      “Both. I like the differences between us.”

      He flexed his shoulders, but he didn’t let go of the ties. “Go on.”

      “I don’t like pain. Well, not a lot of pain.”

      “What does that mean?”

      She leaned down and captured his right nipple between her teeth. It would have been more interesting had he been undressed, but she could still make her point. She held the hard nub gently, flicking her tongue over the silk of his shirt. Then she increased the pressure.

      His back arched as she continued to bite him. When he hissed and bucked slightly, she let him go.

      He settled back down, squirmed, letting her know her illustration had had far-reaching effects, and met her gaze again. “I see.”

      “Good. Now it’s your turn.”

      “You’re done? Those are the only two things you don’t like?”

      “No. But it’s still your turn.”

      After exhaling and flexing his hands a few times, he nodded. “I don’t like it too messy. No unexpected bodily fluids.”

      “Well said.”

      “I try.”

      “Go on.”

      “I don’t care to enlarge the circle.”

      “Hmm. Now that’s unusual.”

      “What?”

      “Most men would sell a lung to be with two women at the same time.”

      “Nope. I like to focus. I don’t want any distractions.”

      “So, I should call Tom Cruise and cancel?”

      “Hey, no fair. I didn’t know you were going to ask him.”

      She laughed. It took an exceptional man to be humorous when the subject was another man.

      “I believe it’s your turn again,” he said.

      “Right.” She let her hands wander south, and this time when she hit his belt, she kept going. Her touch as light as a feather, she ran her fingers down the straining length. “Safety first. No risking anyone’s life.”

      “Good plan.”

      “And we’ll always have an out. A safe word. I don’t want any psychological scarring here. This is meant to be freeing. Not twisted.”

      His hips pushed up, his desperation mounting. There was more to be said, but first she needed to show a bit of mercy.

      “David,” she said softly.

      He grunted an attempt at a reply.

      “We’re not going to have sex tonight.”

      His groan was achingly heartfelt.

      “Because we both need to think this through. This is new territory. Risky business. We’re going to be vulnerable. Bare our throats, as it were.”

      “Susan,” he said, forcing the word out between clenched teeth. “I appreciate what you’ve said. And I concur. However, you should understand that I’m going to die in about two minutes. And all your hard work will be in vain.”

      “Hmm. I suppose you have a point.”

      “To say the least.”

      She laughed again, but as she did, she lifted herself to her knees, her back straight, her eyes locked on his. Her hands went to the back of her head where she opened the tortoiseshell clip. Her hair tumbled around her shoulders and down her back.

      David’s mouth opened and his cheeks flushed with color. She knew he’d react this way. The next step was going to be even more fun.

      Slowly, knowing he couldn’t have looked away if he was on fire, she shook her head, fanning the last of the kinks from her hair. Only then did she lower her body once more. Controlling her movements with her thighs and her hips, she rode him. Friction, tension and heat were all focused on about eight inches of thick flesh. Her own breath became shaky as she rubbed harder, and she had to shift her position so she got as well as she gave.

      “Oh, my God,” he said, thrusting up to meet her.

      “I can’t… Please…”

      “Please what?”

      “I need to touch you.”

      “You are touching me.” She squeezed her thighs to remind him of the contact.

      “No. It’s not enough. Let me touch you. I need to feel your skin. Your hair.”

      “But that would mean untying you.”

      He groaned pitifully.

      She increased her pace. Even though she wanted to feel his arms, his hands, she wasn’t going to give in. Like Scheherazade, she was going to hold back. Keep an ace in the hole. She wanted this to work. She wanted a playground, and she wanted her anonymity, and she wanted it with him.

      His breathing changed, and she knew he was close. She bore down hard and ground herself against him. He wasn’t the only one close. Oh, damn, she was going to come before he did. No, no. Not yet. Not yet…

      Her body shuddered violently as she climaxed. Tremors from deep within stole her breath. She arched her back as she continued to ride him. David moaned and thrust his hips up hard, and then every muscle in his body tensed as he passed the point of no return. His head went back, his neck bare and straining as he gritted his teeth. She wanted to stay, to watch him come down, to see the release in his eyes, but that wasn’t for tonight.

      She slipped off the bed, grabbed her purse and her coat, and ducked into the bathroom. One coat of lipstick and a surprise for him, then she hurried to the door. Although she shouldn’t have, she looked back. David had gone slack, his chest heaving with his efforts to cool down.

      When his head started to turn, she slipped out, closing the door behind her.