Virgin Seductress

She shook her head. “I didn’t know how to be there for you either. No one is at fault. Passion is a great thing, and we had that to spare. But it wasn’t enough to keep us together. Stop letting his death eat you up. You’re still alive. He was killed by a drunk driver. We did everything right. We had him for four years. That’s more than a lot of people get.” Tears filled her eyes and she impatiently brushed them away with the back of her hand.

He knew she was right, but letting himself not feel beyond the surface seemed safer. He wasn’t like her. She had a lot in her heart. Every bit he had was taken up by his son. And when Benjy had died, he’d closed himself off to everything. “How come you’re the smart one?”

She dropped her fist on his knee. “I’m an ex-beauty queen. All that mascara stimulated my brain cells.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot.”

As she stood, she wiped a tear away from her cheek. “If you hurt Nell, I promise I’ll gut you.” Her chin went up. “And I won’t be quick about it.”

He had no doubt Chloe meant every word. He didn’t want to hurt Nell. As she’d said, damaging Nell would be worse than kicking a puppy—it would be stomping the poor thing in the head. “Nell is safe with me.”

“Be ready at nine on Saturday morning. You are going to the land of the enemy.”

A sharp, cold chill ran up his spine, and he could smell his own fear. He had never gone shopping with Chloe when they’d been married and he sure as shit wasn’t about to go now they were divorced. “What do I know about women’s clothes?” Okay, he was good at getting them off. And paying for them. That was the extent of his expertise and he planned to keep it that way.

“Trust me. You know plenty.” She hooked a thumb toward his bulging magazine rack in the corner next to Chester’s bed. “And don’t try and hoodwink me, I know you have your own subscription to the Victoria’s Secret catalog.”

I’m so busted. He hoped he looked a little bit ashamed, but he didn’t think so. “That may be so, but I’m still not going with you.”

“You damn well are coming. I’m not the one she’s hoping to impress. I’m not about to make over your sex puppet all by myself.” She smiled. “I’m not that good.”

What the hell did he know about dressing a woman. “I don’t know about that crap. Take Mario.” Mario, an old high-school friend of them both, owned a fashion boutique the next town over.

“You are a straight man. You know what other straight men like. Mario is wonderful, but given no firm direction, he’ll dress the poor thing like a drag queen. I want your help on the clothes.”

“Damn. I knew this was going to get way too complicated.”

Chloe leaned on the doorjamb and crossed her arms. “I should have figured out long ago why you liked me to dress up as a waitress, as opposed to a French maid or a candy striper.”

He was a guy, what did she expect? The heat of embarrassment crept up his face. The naughty waitress was his favorite fantasy. “I plead the fifth.”

She pursed her lips. “I didn’t make the connection until after our divorce when you started hanging around the diner every day for lunch and dinner. But there is one good thing about this.”

“What?”

Pushing away from the doorway she shrugged. “At least you never called me by her name.”

She had always been a woman who could be direct no matter if she hurt his feelings. But that statement was particularly low. “That’s cold, Chloe.”

“I call it like I see it.” She saluted him. “And we’re taking your Escalade. I’m driving. You’d better have it detailed.” She whirled around and tapped her way toward the back door.

Chloe was right, he did get to have one of his major sex fantasies fulfilled, although he didn’t want to think about making sweet virginal Nell into his personal sex puppet. Especially since she planned to take her act on the road. Somehow the thought of her leaving so soon was not sitting well with him.

Sitting back in his easy chair, he swallowed the acid in his throat.

Nell had been surprised when the phone rang and Riley had called to say he would be right over. When they had parted earlier in the day, she’d thought he would take some time to really think about her offer, but here he was on his way.

She’d taken a quick shower, put on her prettiest skirt and white cotton blouse, then rushed around the living room straightening pillows and pushing a feather duster over every little knickknack and her grandmother’s antique clock on the mantel over the fireplace. Her grandmother had loved the clock and for a second Nell felt a storm of tears brewing at the sides of her eyes. She wouldn’t cry, not anymore. She needed to move forward.

She heard Riley’s car pull up into the driveway. She gave herself one last look in the mirror as she tossed the feather duster into a drawer. From the drawer, she pulled out a small spiral-bound notebook and pen and set it where she could easily find it. She’d bought the notebook at Doolittle’s after she’d left Riley. If she was going to learn so many new things, she needed to take notes.

The doorbell rang and Nell checked her breath and then opened the door to find him leaning against the jamb looking so masculine he sent heat racing through her like a summer thunderstorm. Her heart pounded at the look in his face and she stood aside to let him in.

Riley walked in looking big and male and out of place among her grandmother’s dark wood furniture. His sheer masculinity just made everything smaller. Nell felt as if she were violating some sacred temple as she looked around her grandmother’s small tidy house and tried not to think about what she and Riley were about to do. But Riley had insisted that she would be more comfortable in her territory.

The black shirt and tight jeans fitted over every muscle of his body. Her heart fluttered. She wished she didn’t feel so anxious.

Sex was a biological function like breathing or eating, right? What was the great mystery? Wiping her damp palms on her yellow-and-black floral skirt, she took a deep calming breath. The less nervous she was the more likely she was going to be a better student.

She’d only admit it to herself, but he could take her breath away like no other man ever could. In a way, he was what she always thought a real man should be. Clean, strong and a bit rough around the edges—everything her grandmother had warned her about for years. Where these bad-girl thoughts had come from was a mystery to her. All she knew for certain was that she wanted to be very, very bad. With Riley. “What should we start with?”

The corner of his mouth went up. “Touching. Men love to be touched.”

Her bottom lip trembled. She could think of nothing else but the kiss she and Riley had shared. She hadn’t expected the kiss to be so intense or so passionate. Her nerves tingled with anticipation. He took her hand and placed it on his chest. Slowly she touched him, feeling the hardness of his muscles, the heat of his skin, the texture of the cotton shirt.

She could feel him breathing, his broad chest rising and falling. Until now she’d never thought of a man’s body as a thing of beauty, but Riley was glorious. The tip of her finger grazed the fabric of his shirt and her throat went dry. Her hand began to tremble.

She was so excited. She felt so naughty and wicked and almost immoral. She tried not to think about Pastor Willis and his sermons. She was about to do everything her grandmother and Pastor Willis had warned her was bad.

“Come on, Nell,” Riley said softly, “you can do better than this.”

She licked her dry bottom lip, but didn’t proceed any further. She was too afraid to do the wrong thing. “I don’t know how.”

Riley gripped her wrist. “Let me show you.” He forced her hand flat against the wall of his chest and covered her hand with his.

His strong, callused fingers were rough on her hot skin. The longer he held on the more she wanted. She placed the other hand on his chest, right over his heart. Under her hand, his heart raced.

He took a sharp breath.

Feeling a sense of freedom, she let herself explore him. “I’ve never seen a naked man before.” Did those words really come out of her mouth? Her voice sounded strange.

“Don’t you have Internet?” he asked.

She did now. She’d had DSL put in the week after her grandmother had passed. “Well yes, but, you know, the FBI can track where you’ve been on those sites and I don’t want that on my record.” Somehow her grandmother would have found out.

He chuckled. “We’ll have to change that, won’t we?”

His low seductive laugh rolled over her, curling her toes. Nell clenched her knees together to stop their shaking. She didn’t think he was asking a question. Nor did she care. “Yes. Please.”

He lowered her hands to her side. Then he started to unbutton his shirt.

This wasn’t how she wanted to do this. She wanted to undress him herself and discover his body in her own way. Nell grabbed his wrists. His muscles flexed under her hand. “No, I want to undress you.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she was shocked that she’d said them.

Riley raised an eyebrow. “I’d like that.”

She couldn’t help herself, she giggled. “Do most men like a woman undressing them?”

“I like a woman who lets me know what she wants.”

“Why?”

“Because that means they’re as excited about going to bed with you as you are about them.”

Okay, she thought, I can do that. Nell let go of his wrists. His hands dropped to his sides. Her stomach fluttered with excitement and anticipation. There was a languid achy feeling between her thighs. She was a bit disconcerted about her body’s reactions. To go from zero to red-hot inferno had to be bad. But she didn’t care. One part of her felt as if she was abandoning everything her grandmother had taught her about what was proper. She’d heard the stories of her mother’s too-easy reputation and tried all her life to be different from that. Deep down inside, maybe she was more like her mother than she believed she was. The thought didn’t make her feel naughty as she suspected it would. “You’re shaking.”

“I’m excited.”

“Me, too.” Nell freed the top button of his shirt. His skin was a smooth earthy bronze color. He was warm and alive. The aching in her body became more fierce as she unfastened the next button.

“Nell, before we go any further, I want to make one thing perfectly clear to you.”

That this was real. She already knew that. “What?”

“If at any time you want to stop, we stop.”

He didn’t have to say that. She knew she could trust him with her body. “I know.”

“Not just with me, but with any man. Promise me you won’t waste your time on a man you can’t trust.” He reached up and touched her cheek.

Nell rubbed her face against his palm. She drew from his strength. He knew how to comfort a woman and make her feel safe. “I promise.”

Nell undid another button and pulled the hem of his shirt out of his jeans. She pushed the fabric aside to reveal his wide shoulders. He shrugged out of the shirt and she leaned back to look at the smooth expanse of his chest. He was beautiful. The shirt dropped from her cold fingers to the rug, landing near his feet.

She raised her eyes to him again, and saw that his entire body was sculpted like a Greek statue, all corded muscles and six-pack abs. His skin was smooth and a rich cinnamon-brown that made her gasp. No statue, he was alive and hot, not cold marble. His chest rose and fell with every breath. His nipples, small and brown, were like hard pebbles. Carefully she reached up and touched one nipple with the tip of her finger.

Riley sucked in a quick breath and Nell felt a surge of power. This was better than unwrapping her presents on Christmas morning. Nell glanced down at the telltale bulge in his jeans. Pride swelled inside her. She, plain old Nell, could make a man feel desire.

Riley leaned forward until his mouth was less than an inch from her ear. “That’s what you do to me, Nell. What you’ve always done to me.”

She met his smoldering gaze, silently thanking him, but not sure if she completely believed him. “I want to see you naked.”

His mouth curved into a smile. “You say the sweetest things.”

She’d never felt so bold in all her life. Something about the twinkle in his eyes, the wicked smile that just made her feel so darn comfortable and more importantly…confident. “You make me feel very naughty.” Naughty and wicked and any number of things. She hoped her grandmother wasn’t sitting on a cloud looking down and watching her.

“Good for me.” He ran a hand up her arm to her neck and the line of her jaw.

She wanted to purr. The feel of his fingers on her skin sent a shiver through her that made her want to curl her toes and fall back on the sofa. Her hands went to the waistband of his jeans. “I didn’t think I’d ever be so bold.” Not with any man. So few men had ever been in her life.

He started laughing.

“What’s so funny?” she asked impatiently.

He looked down at his feet. “I’m just really glad I took off my socks and shoes.”

She opened her mouth to ask why.

Riley winked at her. “It will make it easier for you to get my pants off.”

She covered her smiling mouth with her fingers, refusing to be shocked. Refusing to let all her grandmother’s rules about dates and men rush through her head. Flinging caution to the wind, she ran a questing finger across the round bulge of his jeans. “I see what you mean.”

“Come on, Nell. Take off my pants. See what you do to me.”

The metal button on his jeans gave her a little resistance, but she finally managed to unbutton it. The jeans fell open and she slipped her hands inside the waistband to caress the smooth skin of his hips. He wasn’t wearing any underwear. How very improper—and so very sexy.

She thought of her own little-old-lady underwear—cotton panties and a plain cotton bra. She’d have to get new sexy lingerie when she went shopping with Chloe on Saturday. For a second her mind wandered at the thought of sexy fire engine-red thong panties and a matching bra of smooth satin. Maybe blue would be better; she wasn’t a “red” type of girl.

She didn’t realize she’d stopped stroking him until he covered her hand with his.

“Don’t stop now,” he said, his breath coming out in a rush. “I’m enjoying myself.”

“Really?”

“You have very soft hands. I like being this close to you, too. You smell good.”

“Cotton blossom lotion.” Her grandmother had given her a selection of lotions, soaps and perfumes over the years and she’d always been saving them for when she’d need them. Tonight, she knew, was the time to crack the seals on those bottles. “I didn’t want to smell like chicken-fried steak, but you probably don’t want to know that, do you?”

“Chicken-fried steak isn’t so bad, but I’m pleased you went with cotton blossom. I like a lot of things about you.” He gently nibbled at her ear.

Heat started in her nipples and spread in ever-widening circles around her breasts. “Thank you for doing this for me.”

He pushed a stray tendril off her cheek. “Trust me, it’s my pleasure.”

His low, seductive voice rolled over her. The deep tones stirred her senses. “Not just the sex part, but for making me feel beautiful. Wanted.” For making her feel like a real woman.

“You are beautiful.”

She didn’t quite believe him, as much as she wanted to. “I’m nervous I’ll do the wrong thing.”

“Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

“I want…” Don’t get shy now, Nell, she chided herself. “I want to do more.” Deep inside her a feeling she didn’t recognize grew and grew.

He guided her hand. “That’s good.” The corner of his mouth lifted.

His words were barely more than a whisper, but they echoed through her head. Nell took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and pushed his jeans down, feeling her knuckles skim across his hips, his thighs, and when she reached his ankles she stood, but didn’t open her eyes. She was so frightened and excited she wasn’t sure if she could speak.

“Look at me, Nell.” Riley’s voice sounded tight and hoarse.

She opened one eye. She was level with his smiling mouth. She opened the other eye, and let her gaze roam down to his strong chin. Then to the corded muscles in his neck. She studied the wide set of his muscular shoulders. He had a little scar just beneath his collarbone and she wondered what had happened. She found another little scar in the crook of his elbow. She glanced down and spied the tip of his erect penis. She bit her bottom lip. Oh! He was so big.

Riley dragged one foot out of his pants then the other, then he kicked them aside. “Touch me, Nell.”

“Where?”

“Anywhere you want. Everywhere you want.”

Nell reached and pressed her hand flat against his chest. She was going to have to work up to touching his penis. Living, breathing muscle contracted under her hand.

She put her other hand on his shoulder. She moved closer and planted a kiss right on his heart. He groaned. Nell felt power radiating from him. She moved her lips over his smooth skin. “You are so beautiful,” she murmured.

“Thank you.” He pulled her close to him, pressing her tightly to his chest. He kissed her, his lips soft, his tongue hard.

Nell felt his penis pressing into her through the light cotton material of her skirt. The moist heat stunned her. A flood of emotions raged inside her. Finally, she thought, she would know what other women knew, feel what other women felt.

Nell’s hands roamed over his body. She licked his skin, loving the salty taste of him. Riley trembled as she ran her fingers down the smooth skin of his back and then around his hips to the heat of his penis. She loved the feel of the smoothness in her hand. In all her life, she’d dreamed and wondered what a man felt like, and the reality exceeded all her dreams.

Nell giggled, feeling wanton and feminine. Had she known this would be so intoxicating, she would have found a man a long ago time, despite her grandmother’s warnings that men weren’t to be trusted.

She wanted to touch Riley everywhere. With her bottom lip caught between her teeth, she reached out and touched the tip of his hard penis and jerked back, surprised. The skin was velvety hot and silky smooth and slightly moist. As she curled her hand around him and stroked from base to tip, a moaning sigh escaped his lips. What had she been missing? Apparently a whole lot.

She wasn’t certain what she’d expected, but she found herself thinking about the sex education classes she’d had, and she realized how inadequate they had been. The classes had not even prepared her for the most basic of her emotions. The clinical aspect of sex was one thing, but the reality was far different.

She cupped him in both hands, running her palms down the sides. His penis seemed to jerk in her hand as if it had a mind of its own.

This is what women yearned for. She wrapped her fingers around him. Her eyes closed as she tried to imagine them making love, him on top of her, being touched by him, invaded by him. Her mouth opened, her breathing became labored.

“Nell?”

She looked up at him, letting go of his penis. “Am I doing something wrong?”

“The doorbell.”

She looked toward the front door. It might be rude, but she wasn’t home.

Before he could respond, the doorbell rang again. “Don’t answer,” he said, his voice harsh.

She smiled at him. “I don’t intend to.” Not for anything would she interrupt this session. If it was another floral arrangement from someone in town, the florist could leave the arrangement. If it was someone else, that person could come back when they realized she wasn’t going to answer.

The front door crashed open. “Hello?”

Nell froze with her fingers still wrapped around Riley’s penis.

“Nell, honey,” came a once-familiar trilling voice. “It’s Mama. I’m home.”

Chapter 4

Speechless, Nell stared at her mother. Lucy Evans stood in the entry, her eyes going wide first with surprise, then disbelief and finally mischief.

Lucy dropped her suitcase on the floor. The dull thud reverberated through the silent house. “Nell, honey, whatever is going on here?” Her dark eyes raked over Riley who, after a paralyzed moment, scooped his pants up off the floor and held them in front of him. “Or do I want to know?”

Sliding a glance at Riley, Nell noticed he’d hidden that wonderful part of himself that most intrigued her and that she’d so enjoyed touching. Her fingers still ached to touch him, but not with her mama standing in the doorway and staring at her with that all-knowing expression on her incredibly beautiful face.

The first thought into her head sent shame through her. Nell’s greatest fear had just happened, she had become just like her mother.

“Mama, what are you doing here?” Nell stepped in front of Riley to shield him from Lucy’s questioning gaze, giving him a chance to put his clothes back on. Her own clothes felt way too tight, but at least they were still on.

“I’m visiting,” Lucy replied.

The words sank in as Nell stared at her mother.

Lucy Evans hadn’t changed since Nell had last seen her over seven years ago. Her slender, petite body was as delicate as ever. Not one wrinkle marred her high-cheekboned face and her flawless, bronze-tinted skin glowed with vitality and health. Her eyes were large and tilted up slightly at the outer corners, her nose was straight and her mouth wide and generous.

Lucy Evans was the most beautiful woman Nell had ever known, with the kind of sensual allure prized by modeling agencies and movie producers. She was perfection, with her black hair flowing smoothly about her shoulders and the way she moved with such fluid, elegant grace. She was the kind of woman who could wear a potato sack and make it look like high-end fashion. She was the kind of woman Nell would never be.

“Oh.” Nell straightened her clothes, mad at herself that oh was the only word she could think to say. She began feeling unattractive again. Her mother always made her feel dowdy and undignified. Nell was a mud hen, brown and nondescript, next to Lucy, the awe-inspiring peacock.

Riley struggled into his pants and zipped them up, his eyes rolling just a little when he hit a sensitive spot. “Miz Lucy,” he said politely, though his voice was strained and tight. “How are you?”

Lucy gave him an up-and-down look. “I’m fine, Riley, considerin’ everything,” Lucy replied in a cool, amused voice. Her sharp gaze flicked over him, taking in his bare chest and tight jeans. “But I have to admit, I’m a bit surprised to see you here, playing fast and loose with my little girl.” She gave a flirtatious little giggle and a knowing smile.

Nell felt two inches tall. She tried to hide her embarrassment, but her only defense was to look away.

Lucy Evans tended to blow in and out of Nell’s life like a Texas thunderstorm, leaving behind chaos and anger. And here she was back again to wreak her special brand of bedlam just like the seven-year locusts.

“What are you doing here?” Nell asked as she racked her brain on how to get rid of her mama. Lucy had been walking in and out of Nell’s life since she could remember. And nothing good ever seemed to come from it.

“I just heard about my mama.” Lucy walked over and pulled Nell into her arms and patted her hard on the back. “I just can’t believe she’s really dead. I always thought the old girl was indestructible.”

Nell clamped her mouth shut before something truly ugly flew out. The grief she kept at bay threatened to push beyond the walls she’d built, but she fought to keep her heartache contained. With Lucy, she couldn’t afford to lose her focus.

Lucy broke away with a shrewd glance at Nell. “I tell ya what, seeing as you two have some unfinished business, I’ll just take my luggage upstairs and get unpacked.” She kissed Nell on the tip of her nose. Her touch was as brief and light as a butterfly. “Come talk to me when you’re done.” And then she winked before prancing back to her luggage.