Chapter 9

She raised her eyebrows in an expression that mirrored his own and handed him a glass of wine. “All black. Do you do a lot of lurking in the shadows?”

“Not if I can help it.”

His dry tone combined with that appealing twitch of his mouth caused Sally to snort. When he set his leather case in the chair, I moved to stand beside him. “What goodies have you brought today?”

The first thing he pulled out of his case was a slim, pink vibrator still in its original packaging. He offered it to me . “As promised.”

My lips parting, I accepted the vibrator and stared down at it. “Thank you. It was nice of you to get it for me.”

“We can use it some this evening if you want.” His eyes rested on my face, as if he were checking my expression. “It might help in foreplay, and I can show you some ways to use it.” When I just stared at him, he added, “But only if it won’t make you uncomfortable.”

Getting vibrator lessons from a male escort might make me a little uncomfortable, but it did sound like a practical idea. “No. That would be fine. A little weird, but fine.”

“Why is it weird?”

I narrowed her eyes. “Have you taught other women how to use vibrators?”

“Of course.”

“Oh.” A little taken aback by this matter-of-fact answer, I concluded, “I guess it’s not that weird after all.”

Oyin smiled and reached into his case, pulling out a DVD. “This was the best I could find if we want to start with erotica again this evening. Well-made, female-oriented erotic movies are few and far between. This is a series of short films, so each is just a half hour. That would leave us more time, which might be smart if we want to practice with the vibrator before we move on to intercourse.”’

Nodding absently, I studied the DVD cover. “Is this as good as the one last week?”

“Not quite. It’s good made for women and not tacky. But the stories are not as well written. It’s the best I could find with business-type male leads. Manual laborers tend to be more popular painters, carpenters, pool boys, you know.”

I sneered faintly at that inexplicable fact. Then I thought about the implications of what he said. “Did you look for this one particularly for me?”

“Yes. I thought it would be best to have a shorter film for this evening, but I didn’t have anything in my collection that would work.”

Staring up at his smooth, polished expression, I tried to imagine Oyin rooting through shelves or online catalogs to find erotic DVDs. “That was awfully nice of you. Thank you.”

Oyin gave a half shrug. “It’s no problem. I can always use it again later.”

“Just exactly how big is your collection of erotic films?” my mouth wobbled with amusement as I imagined a secret room chock-full of sexy paraphernalia and DVDs in Oyin’s doubtlessly slick, cool-toned apartment.

He chuckled briefly with that same faint note of bitterness I ’d heard in his laugh last time. “Big enough to do my job.”

He moved over to put the DVD in the player and asked over his shoulder, “Do you want to go about things tonight the same way we did last time?”

I lowered my eyebrows as I took her seat on the sofa. “I want to have sex this time. Intercourse.”

A tiny lip twitch. “Yes. I meant in terms of my behavior. Did you want to continue the same attitude or perhaps play out a fantasy tonight?”

“Oh. I get it.” I chuckled as I thought about how I'd misinterpreted him. It was very nice of him not to laugh out loud. “No, I like how we did it last time. Don’t pretend anything.”

“Understood.” He hit play on the DVD player and went to sit beside me on the sofa.

Oyin was right about the movie. It wasn’t as good as the one last time. But it was basically well made and still quite sexy. But the time it had run its course, I was plenty aroused.

“We can watch another one if you need to,” Oyin offered.

“Nope. I’m good.”

Oyin got up, turned the film off, and went over to the table. He pulled some batteries out of his case and then removed the vibrator from the package. As I watched him slide the batteries into the little tube,I couldn’t help but admire his long legs and firm, well-contoured ass. I wondered how often he had to work out a week to sculpt his great body.

Then I wondered what he looked like without clothes.

When Oyin went over to the bathroom to rinse off the vibrator, I moved to the bed. I turned down the comforter and sheets and then sat down on the edge of the mattress. I took off the belted sweater I wore the same one I’d worn last time. Under it, however, I was wearing a chemise in the same soft cashmere as my favorite pajama set. I thought it might be smart to wear something that could just be pushed up to have sex. And the graceful lines and little tie just under my breasts made me feel kind of sexy.

It wasn’t any sort of racy lingerie. Pretty tame in the scheme of things. It was sexy for me though, and tonight I could use all the sexy I could get.

Before Oyin came over to join me, he turned off the overhead lights. “Is it all right if we leave the light on in the bathroom? It will still be quite dark, but it might help to have a little more light to work with the vibrator.”

“Sure.” I’d kind of liked the deep darkness of the room last time, but I wasn’t about to argue with what was obviously good sense.

Oyin picked up the tube of lubricant and a couple of condom packets from his case before he returned to the bed. “Did you want to lie down?” he asked, putting the vibrator and other stuff on the nightstand and turning off the bedside light.

With a long exhale, I pulled up my legs and reclined back on the bed. I’d been doing so well focusing on anticipation rather than anxiety but now I was starting to get nervous. I was still aroused, but not so much I stopped thinking about what was about to happen.

“Do you want me to keep my clothes on this evening?” Oyin stood, dark and looming, beside the bed.

Since I felt braver today, I replied, “Oh. No. I guess not. You can take them off.”

Oyin started unbuttoning his shirt. His motion was slow, almost mesmerizing, as he gradually revealed his bare chest beneath. When he’d untucked the shirt, he let it slide with unhurried ease to the floor. His chest was toned and masculine. I could see the clean contours of muscle development on his abdomen and shoulders, even in the dim light of the room.

He slid his belt out of the loops. He moved naturally, not ostentatiously, but I suddenly realized he was giving me a little show.