Chapter 12

Oyin let out a breath, and his mouth gave one more little twitch. “I was laughing, but not at you. You didn’t do anything stupid. It was my fault. My directions were unclear. When I said you could keep doing that, I didn’t mean the hand. You’d squeezed around me at the same time. That’s what I meant.”

Sally processed this. “Oh, I get it.” She choked on a laugh herself. “No wonder you lost it.” The more she thought about it, the funnier it got. As she laughed softly, she gasped out, “And I thought you were some weirdo who got off from a little tap on your shoulder.”

Oyin had himself fully under control now, but he smiled as she giggled. “Sorry about that.”

“No, don’t apologize,” she said. “I told you I don’t want to pretend. Did you want to keep going, or have you lost your momentum?” He still felt very hard inside her, but the interruption must have distracted him.

“That’s up to you.”

“I said I’d like you to come if you think you can.”

“I can. I’m almost there.”

Logically, she had trouble believing him since surely laughing at her silliness would have been a turnoff. But when he began to thrust again and she tried to pump her hips and squeeze her inner muscles around his cock, he was clearly not as controlled as he’d been earlier. His features twisted slightly, and his breathing became louder. His thrusts got faster, then a little jerky.

She was definitely going to be sore afterward, but there was something oddly pleasing, oddly compelling, about having a hot, hard, focused man about to lose it between her legs.

As silly as it sounded, she couldn’t help but feel a little proud of herself.

Oyin jerked his head to the side and froze abruptly, the tension transforming on his face. He took a few ragged breaths and pushed against her a few final times.

He pulled out before she could fully process the alterations of his body—the softening muscles and relaxing tension. He carefully secured the condom as he slid his cock free, and the move made an embarrassing sucking sound and rubbed her raw inner walls painfully.

“Are you all right?” he asked, rolling over to swing his legs over the side of the bed. His eyes scanned her closely.

“Yeah,” she said honestly. “A little sore, but it was really good. Thank you.”

He gave her a little smile. “I’m going to take care of this if that’s all right.”

At her affirmation, he picked up the vibrator and went into the bathroom to dispose of the condom. She heard water in the sink and figured he was cleaning up the vibrator while he was there.

Sally pulled down her chemise and stretched her stiff legs. Then she had a private giggle over her successful devirgining.

She knew it would have been better if she had an emotional connection with the man. She knew there was something missing in doing it the way she had. The sex had been good, but she knew it wasn’t a lie that sex was better with someone you loved. She wrote romance novels. As silly or high-blown as some of them were, romance writers at least understood the importance of love.

She’d done this on her own terms though, and the heavy weight of anxiety that had always been part of her thoughts on sex had now completely dissipated.

Oyin returned to the room with a wet washcloth, which he used to gently clean between her legs. When she’d thanked him and he’d returned the washcloth to the bathroom, she invited him back to bed.

She had him until midnight, and she intended to take advantage of it. He stretched out beside her, rolling on his side and propping his head up on one bent arm. He was completely naked, and he was showing the long lines and rippling muscles of his body to their best advantage.

Sally stared at him in admiration for a minute until she realized he was posing for her. As always, the act was very subtle, sophisticated—nothing crude or gaudy about it. But he knew what he was doing. Women must leer at him all the time.

Because she wanted to talk to him and not get distracted, she leaned over and grabbed his boxers off the floor and tossed them over to him.

“Did you have questions for me?” he asked, pulling on his boxers. “Did you think it went well?”

“Yes. It went very well. Thanks so much for being careful and taking your time. I can’t imagine it going better.”

Oyin’s eyes narrowed as he studied her face. “There’s something you want to ask me.”

There was. A foolish, nagging question at the very back of her mind.

“Ask me.”

So Sally blurted it out, “Do you think I’ll be any good at it? I mean, I seemed to mess up a lot. And there was the stupid thing with the hand. If I don’t have you there guiding me through every step, do you think I’ll be any good at it?”

To her relief, Oyin didn’t brush the question off. He paused as he considered it, and then he met her eyes soberly. “I don’t think any of that reflects your sexual capacities. You were nervous at first. And even when you got over that, you were still a little self-conscious, I think.” He slanted her a look, as if checking her expression. Maybe to make sure she wasn’t offended. “When people are self-conscious, they tend to fall into a defined role, something that will make them feel safe. You took on the role of learner, which might be why you kept wanting directions. But once you’re past that, you’re going to be just fine.”

She let out a breath, oddly comforted by his matter-of-fact answer. He hadn’t been flattering her or trying to delude her into believing she was some sort of sex goddess. He’d told her his honest opinions.

Rubbing her belly absently, she thought about his words. She thought about them for a long time. The she finally said, “You know, I think you’re right about that self-consciousness thing. I never thought about it before, but that is what people do. How did you get so smart?”

Oyin cocked an eyebrow at her. “My job provides me with a wide variety of experiences with human nature.”

She snorted. “I guess so.” Still thinking about Oyin’s comments, she put a few more pieces together in her mind. She mused, “You know, I think maybe I intuitively knew that about self-conscious people even before you mentioned it. In one of my books, I had the heroine feel really self-conscious about her appearance. And she always acted—” Sally broke off, noticing a distinct expression of curiosity on Oyin’s face.

For some obvious reasons she wasn’t planning to tell Oyin about her best-selling alternate identity. She used a pen name for a reason, and she was very careful about keeping her private life private—especially something like this.

“You’re a writer?” he asked. He appeared genuinely interested.

“Yeah,” she admitted, figuring it was all right as long as he didn’t know her pen name. “I write novels. Romance novels.” She snickered. “Pretty funny, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think one needs vast experience with sex to write a love scene in a romance novel.”

“Hey,” she said, immediately bristling at any apparent slam on her genre. “Don’t be snide about romance novels. Some of them are silly, but there are novels in every genre that are silly.”

“I’m not slamming romance novels,” he assured her with a half smile. “I’ve read a lot of them myself. Most women who come to me want to have their romantic fantasies fulfilled. It’s emotional as much as sexual for them. Romance novels are one of the best expressions of those romantic fantasies.”

“Wow,” she breathed, eyeing him with faint awe. “You really do your research.”

He lifted his shoulder in a half shrug. “Of course.”

Irresistibly compelled, she asked, “So who’s your favorite romance writer?”

Oyin thought for a moment. Then he made a face. “I guess it will sound clichéd since she’s everyone else’s favorite too. But Lucy Oyinson is probably the best I’ve read. She gives her characters a humanness that pushes them beyond the average. Plus she has a great sense of humor.”

With effort, Sally kept her face perfectly bland. Lucy Oyinson was her pen name. And she was thrilled beyond measure by the casual, thoughtful compliments Oyin had just given her writing. He obviously didn’t know he was talking about her. He looked leisurely and reflective.

Which implied he really meant what he said.

“I like her too, of course,” Sally said. “But everyone can’t write best sellers. Some of the rest of us are pretty good too.”

Oyin chuckled. “If you give me a couple of titles, I’ll be happy to read your books. Maybe I already have.”

“I doubt it. But who else do you like?”

Oyin told her about some of the romance writers he liked, and Sally had a fabulous time quizzing and arguing with him about his opinions on one of her favorite topics. Before she knew it, she glanced at the clock and saw it was eleven forty-five.

She gasped. “Wow. It’s almost midnight.”

Oyin glanced over, and she could have sworn she saw a faint flash of surprise on his face too. “Did you want to do anything else in the last fifteen minutes?”

“No. I’ve definitely had all I can take for tonight. You can take a shower if you want.”

Oyin thanked her. Then picked up his clothes and went into the bathroom. Sally pulled up the covers, deciding she felt a little chilly.

When Oyin returned, fully clothed and characteristically cool and polished again, he picked up the lube, extra condom, and the DVD and returned them to his case.

Sally got up and joined him by the table. “Thanks again. I mean it. I can’t imagine anyone else making it as easy for me as you did.”

“You’re welcome. I hope you feel fully satisfied.”

“Definitely. You’ll get another glowing referral if anyone asks me about you.”

He flashed her a quick smile, and she slid the envelope of cash toward him. As he put the money in his pocket, he said, “You can always schedule another engagement. There’s plenty more we can do.”

“No, thanks,” she said mildly, stifling the urge to snicker at his excellent business skills. “I just wanted to do this. I’m good now.”

“All right. Just email me if you change your mind.”

She walked him to the door where they looked at each other for a minute. Then Sally asked one final question. “How many virgins have you had sex with?”

Oyin glanced away, and she could tell he was trying to compose the best answer.

“The truth,” she said. “No pretending. How many?”

He let out a breath and met her eyes. “Just one. You’re my first.”

“Oh.” She swallowed. “You’re my first too.”

They said goodbye then. And as Sally watched him start down the hall, she acknowledged that he was probably one of the most fascinating people she’d ever met.

And really, really good in bed.

She’d done what she wanted to do. She was a virgin no longer. Now she could approach the rest of her life without the burden that had been troubling her for years.

Getting Sabrina to research male escorts for her had been an excellent idea.

THE FOLLOWING WEEK, Sally emailed Oyin asking if she could schedule another engagement.

He replied within the hour, saying he’d had a cancellation for the following Thursday.

She’d decided she might as well get a little more experience while she was at it since he was available.