Learning the Ropes (9 page)

“Well, when you say it like that it sounds bad. Like I’m using you or something,” Rory fretted.

“Say it so it doesn’t sound like you’re using me.” Noah laughed when she sputtered and couldn’t come up with anything. “I hate to say it, but it sounds like you’re taking a page from our old friend Greg here. Pressuring me and exploiting my giving nature.”

Rory rolled her eyes at the mention of his ‘giving nature.’ “It’s not the same thing at all,” she protested.

“Explain to me how it’s different. You said Greg wasn’t interested in getting to know you. He just wanted sex. The only difference here is that the genders are reversed and I’m a guy so I’m supposed to go along with anything if I’m getting lucky.”

“Fine. You win. It’s not different. Greg was just trying to use me for sex, which I find disgusting. But I find it very empowering to use you for the same thing,” she mused aloud.

He shook his head in disbelief. “Your mental gymnastics are amazing.”

“If you’re expecting a gymnast, you’re going to be very disappointed.”

Noah backed her up against the counter, letting her feel exactly how turned on he was. “Neither of us is going to be disappointed, babe.”

He leaned down and took her mouth in a kiss that was hard and demanding. Despite the pleasure, it went against everything his instincts demanded. He wanted to be slow and gentle with her. But she wanted adventure and something new, so he would give it to her. He would give her everything she wanted until she abandoned this ridiculous idea of using him just for sex and agreed to give a real relationship a try.

In the meantime, he just had to keep her distracted with kinky sex. Noah smiled as his mouth moved on hers. He didn’t think it would be much of a hardship. He let his hands roam up and down her torso, cupping her breasts as he turned his head to change the angle of their kiss. He was taken by surprise when Rory pushed him away.

“We need to set some ground rules before we do this,” she panted. Maybe it wouldn’t be quite as easy to keep her distracted as he’d thought.

“What kind of ground rules? You’re not going to try to dictate positions and that sort of thing are you? Because it’s not much of an adventure if you know what’s going to happen to you.”

Rory looked arrested at that. He could clearly see her wondering what he was going to do and whether she would enjoy it or not. She shook her head and looked straight into his eyes. “No, as long as you promise to listen if I say no to something, then you can drive the sex.”

Noah felt a spear of heat journey through him at her words. “I’ll always listen if you don’t want something, Rory. I want to give you pleasure, not upset you.”

“Well… good. There’s only one other rule I guess. No one can know about this.”

Noah raised his eyebrows at that. “So I’m to be your adventure
and
your dirty secret.”

“It’s not like that, but yes, I do want to keep this is a secret for now. We’re not a couple and I don’t want people to know what we’re doing,” she said, her eyes earnest.

Noah pushed away and ran a hand through his hair. He didn’t like feeling like being with him was something she was ashamed of. “We’re adults, Rory. I promise you that no one cares about either of our sex lives.”

“Maybe not you. All you’ll get are high fives in the bar and questions about what I’m like in the bedroom.” She affected a man’s voice and moved her arms out to the side to make herself appear larger. “Hey dude, I heard you’re tapping that. Way to go.”

“First of all, I have never used the phrase ‘tapping that’ in my entire life. Secondly, we don’t live at the Jersey Shore so I’m not sure why your guy accent is from New York.”

Rory waved away his observations. “You know what I mean. If people find out that we’re just sleeping together you’ll be the hero and I’ll be the girl with a line forming behind her for after we break up. I’m not trying to become someone totally different here; I just want some new experiences.” Rory looked about ready to cry so Noah instinctively moved closer to her and ran a hand down her back.

“Okay, okay. I’ll be your dirty little secret. For now.”

Rory was silent for a few moments before turning to him. “I’m sorry if this hurts your feelings. Maybe it was a bad idea.”

“Are you kidding? It’s pretty much every guy’s fantasy. I know it’s mine.” He left out the part about it only being his fantasy with Rory. He wasn’t interested in other women right now. In fact, he hadn’t been since their first ill-fated lip lock months ago. Now that what he wanted was in reach he wasn’t going to let one measly rule keep him from it. “But if you get to make rules, then so do I.”

Rory raised a skeptical eyebrow at him. “What kind of rules do
you
want to make?”

Noah thought fast. “I promised people wouldn’t find out about us, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t still do things together outside of the bedroom.” He put up a hand as Rory began to protest. “There are plenty of out-of-the-way places that no one we know ever goes. I’ll be your secret, Rory, but not just your booty call. Every now and then you have to go to dinner with me or to the movies or something.”

“Why would you even want that?” she asked, flabbergasted.

It was a struggle to keep the easygoing smile on his face and pretend that his rules were all in fun. Even though he could count the amount of times that he and Rory had engaged in an actual conversation on one hand, he had enjoyed those times. He just wanted to ensure that she wouldn’t only think of him as a friend with benefits. “Let’s just say that it will keep me from feeling so used and leave it at that.” He brushed a finger down her cheek to distract her. “Now, are we finished with the formalities? Because I’m dying here, babe.”

Noah lowered his hand to the bottom of her T-shirt and stroked the skin that was revealed between the hem and the top of her shorts. Slowly and lightly he brushed back and forth as he watched Rory’s eyes widen and then turn a deeper blue. He made a production of searching the door of the refrigerator. “Did you get rid of that quiz, Rory?”

Rory stared at him for a moment and then nodded. “That’s too bad. How am I supposed to know what subjects you need improvement in if you haven’t been tested first?”

“Why don’t you just assume I’ve got a basic knowledge of the mechanics and then work from there?” Rory smiled up at him and ran her hand up his back underneath his shirt, causing him to suppress a shiver.
She has more knowledge than she realizes.

Noah grasped her waist and lifted her up to sit on the counter. Before she could make a sound, he had lifted her T-shirt over her head and had dropped it on the kitchen floor. He had been right when she’d answered the door. She wasn’t wearing a bra. The sight of her bare breasts almost unmanned him right then and there. He moved his hands to lift and measure each globe. Her nipples were pink and tight and he blew on them to watch them pucker even more.

Topless on the counter, she was quite a sight. She leaned back against the cabinets with her eyes closed. He reached up to pull free the elastic that was holding her ponytail. Her hair fell onto her shoulders and he couldn’t resist leaning closer to breathe in the smell of roses that permeated it. He used his thumbs to abrade her nipples as he peppered her neck with small kisses and quick strokes of his tongue. Her skin was smooth and felt like satin against his lips.

Noah moved his mouth slowly down her chest until he reached her nipple. His tongue took over where his thumb had been doing the job. He licked her lightly over the tip, then sent his tongue around the areola, getting her worked up but not giving her what she wanted. She arched her back and pushed her nipple into his mouth. He smiled around it and began to suck her deeply, flicking his tongue over the crest before moving to her other breast and giving it the same treatment.

She was whimpering and threading her fingers through his hair to keep him close when he pulled back to survey his work. Her nipples were shiny from his attentions and beautifully beaded. She shook her head and one dark strand curled around her nipples. She made such a pretty picture sprawled in front of him, but her shorts were still on and covering the place that he most wanted to see. They definitely needed a more comfortable venue for everything he wanted to do to her this first time.

He dragged her hips to the edge of the counter and then picked her up. Immediately, her legs wrapped round him and her hands tightened in his hair to keep her balance. He carried her down the short hall and into her bedroom before placing her gently back on her feet.

“Let’s get these off you.” Noah didn’t wait for permission, but simply slipped his thumbs into the waistband of her shorts and underwear and pulled them down. He crouched down to help as she delicately stepped out of both. When he stood back up she was completely naked and totally avoiding his gaze. “God, you’re beautiful.”

She smirked at him and crossed her arms over her chest. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”

Noah shrugged. He appreciated women. “Maybe. All women are beautiful in some way. But, Rory, you take my damned breath away and that isn’t something that happens with all the girls.” She slowly smiled at him and he couldn’t stop himself from leaning down to claim her lips again.

He just wanted to lay her down on the bed and take her. But that wasn’t what she wanted. Rory was looking for something more—for adventure. He tried to clear his sex-filled mind to think of what that could be. He pried his eyes open to look around her room for inspiration as he continued kissing her. Candles, pillows, and flowers. All of the objects in her room were either too much inspiration or not enough. He didn’t want her asking, “Was that it?” when they were finished.

His eyes fell on her open closet door and the organizer that hung on the back of it. He suddenly had an idea. One that Rory would like and that was doing it for him as well if the rising of his dick was anything to go by.

Noah broke their kiss and walked her to the bed where she landed on her back with a small jolt. To keep her distracted while he fetched what he needed from her closet, he pulled his shirt off and threw it on her face. Before she could remove it, he was on the bed next to her pulling her arm up and securing it with one of the scarves he had seen on the closet organizer.

“What?” she spluttered as he leaned over her to catch her other arm and tied it to the bedpost on the other side. She pulled at her arms and shook her hair out of her face to look at him. Noah grabbed his shirt and threw it on the floor next to them so her view would be unobstructed.

“You wanted an adventure, didn’t you, Rory? Well, this is adventurous.”

Chapter Six

Rory stared up at Noah, caught somewhere amid excitement, dismay, and confusion, with a healthy dash of lust thrown in there for good measure. She looked back at the wrought-iron bars of her bed to which she was currently tied with scarves. It was true that she had said she wanted adventure, but this seemed a little extreme for their first time as lovers. Frankly, she would have considered it a walk on the wild side just
being
with him.

She turned her head back straight and almost collided with his chest as he leaned over her to make sure her bonds were secure. “Are these too tight?”

She was having trouble forming coherent thoughts in the face of all of his tanned skin. His muscles were lean and well defined and the hair on his chest was light blond and sparse. Not too much and not too little. Just right and heading in a very happy trail into the top of his jeans. Jeans that looked like they were getting to be uncomfortable. He moved back to sit on the bed next to her and put a hand on the side of her face to gain her attention.

“Rory? Are the scarves too tight?” he asked in a concerned voice.

She somehow managed to drag her eyes away from his abs to answer. “What? No, they’re not too tight. But they are… you know, restraining me. Want to tell me what’s going on here?”

Noah grinned at her and her stomach jumped. He had such a great bad-boy grin. “You said you wanted me to show you something new. This is new for us, right?”

“Ha, ha. Well, it is different. But any scenario where we were naked and in bed would have been different for us. Why the restraints?” She pulled at her arms for emphasis and raised her eyebrows at him.

His gaze grew heated as his hand slid from her face and down to her breasts. Her nipples were already hard and red from the attention he had lavished on them in the kitchen. Not to mention sensitive. When he tweaked one of them, her back arched from the bed. “That’s the reason for the restraints. You’re so responsive you make me lose my mind. But there’s a lot I want to do to you, show you. So this is how we have to do it… if you’re comfortable.”

He lifted his gaze to hers and waited for her answer, his thumb lightly strumming her nipple. How was she supposed to think when he did that? She bit her lip and nodded.

“I’m not sure if I believe that. I’m going to need some proof that you want this.” Rory looked at him in confusion as he coasted his hand down her sternum to her mound, not moving but just cupping her. “You’re hot here, Rory. Are you wet too? Wet from realizing that you’re at my mercy now? That I can take you, pleasure you in any way I want?”

She hadn’t been before, but, boy, was she now. She certainly didn’t feel alarmed at ‘being at his mercy,’ but she couldn’t deny that a shiver had skated up her spine at his words. She knew that Noah would never hurt her; however, there was a world between not hurting her and whatever salacious thing he seemed to have planned. A world she was more than eager to explore.

“Let’s see if you’re ready for me.” He slowly slid his index finger into her. She moaned as he sent his thumb coasting over her clit once, twice. “Oh yeah, you’re wet, baby.” He used his other hand to spread her thighs wider. He let out a moan of his own when he saw how sweet and pink she was down there. One hand ran up and down her smooth thighs while the other continued to work her deep inside. “God, you’re beautiful here.”

Rory let out a breathless laugh. “I think we already had this discussion.”