Thankfully, an athletically built man interrupted them. “Good morning, Lovers.” He was standing at the podium with the brunette woman who’d been guarding the door.
“Hush, they’re starting.” And Desta was glad. The last thing she wanted, after blurting out her family situation to him earlier, was to have him asking more questions about her personal life. It was none of his business for one, and besides that, it had nothing to do with what they were doing here this weekend.
“Okay, we’re sure none of you have had a knock-down, drag-out fight yet,” the male speaker said. “At least, we hope not.” Now that she was staring at him, Mr. Athlete looked more like a hot sports model with his cool blue eyes and blond hair. The crowd of about forty chuckled at his remarks, and he gave a dazzling smile in return.
“But just in case you do this weekend, or sometime later, we want to make sure you’re prepared with the best make-up sex tips,” said his sidekick, who was almost as attractive as he was. “And oh, we have mimosas!”
Desta leaned over to whisper in Maurice’s ear. “Are they really about to give us sex tips?” Of course they were. Wasn’t that what this weekend was all about? It was much easier to accept that when she hadn’t known who her Dear Lover was.
Maurice’s grin was back, beaming at her as he turned so their faces were only inches apart. “We probably don’t need ’em, but let’s play along, anyway.”
The quick kiss to the tip of her nose was a surprise, and the uncertainty she’d been feeling momentarily dissipated.
“So, the thing about having a fight is that all the anger you were feeling during the argument makes you really hot.” Ms. Congeniality—that’s what she was calling the woman—fanned a hand in front of her face. “I mean, physically hot.”
“Right, so once you’ve given in and apologized...guys, this is usually us, especially if we know what’s good for us.” More laughter. Mr. Athlete obviously had jokes. “It’s time to get turned on. The feeling you get when you’re angry and when you’re turned on is very similar. Body heat rises, and shortness of breath ensues. It’s no big deal to just switch that around from anger to what could possibly lead to bliss.”
“And it can all start with a touch,” Ms. Congeniality said. “So guys, touch your lover. Just something light but arousing at the same time. Assure them that even in the midst of this argument, they’re still the one for you.”
Maurice was right on task. Desta had leaned back over to the privacy of her own beanbag chair, but now he was invading that privacy. Easing his body over to her, he reached out a hand and cupped her cheek. It was a soft touch, one that didn’t necessarily have to be intimate—damn, she really had feelings about that word. Still, she had to resist the urge to jerk back in surprise or pull away after the surprise settled.
“Good. Now, how did that touch make you feel?” Ms. Congeniality continued. “Does it make you want more? Does it make you hotter? Ladies, it’s your turn to respond. He’s sorry now for whatever he did to piss you off. Don’t you want to make him pay by getting him so turned on he can barely see straight?”
No. That was never how she’d felt when she and Gordon argued. Not after the first time when he’d put his foot through their patio door and warned she would be next if she didn’t get it together.
But at this moment, at Maurice’s touch, a heated flush draped her body. She told herself it was involuntary. While her mind was still trying to keep this class and what was expected of her in perspective, her body was all in and ready to do what she was told. And since she’d agreed to spend this weekend with Maurice, leaning into his touch was simple. His thumb rubbed over her cheek, brushing past the edge of her lips, and a quick spurt of desire took over. She swiped her tongue over his thumb.
His eyes instantly went darker, and before she could speak, he was moving from his bag to hers. Now their bodies were flush against each other, and he was exchanging his thumb for a finger that she promptly sucked between her lips. After all, her payback to him for any argument was supposed to be to drive him wild with desire. The sexual heat that morphed from anger, which Ms. Congeniality was currently describing in detail, was accurate as hell. Wearing a turtleneck today hadn’t been the best idea, because Desta was burning up. When Maurice began moving his finger in and out of her mouth, her breasts swelled with the need to be touched, and a tiny moan escaped her throat.
Maurice gasped at the sound, his gaze dropping to her mouth as she continued to suck on his finger with the same fervent hunger she’d had last night when it was his dick in her mouth instead. Why did this feel so good, and how in the hell could she be thinking of stripping out of her clothes so that he could dive deep inside her while they were in this room full of people? None of this was what she’d ever imagined herself doing. But she didn’t want to stop.
“That’s right, go with it. Let the making up and making out begin,” Mr. Athlete said, and she almost expected to hear the crowd cheering him on.
Except the crowd was moaning and groaning instead. She didn’t want to glance away to see what anyone else was doing, especially not when Maurice was pulling his finger from her lips, leaning in closer to trade it for his mouth.
His lips were warm against hers, his tongue slipping inside to tangle with hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. Obliging, he rolled until he was on top of
