âUndress me, El,â Shane said as he grazed her breast with his fingers
âBut weâre friends.â Maybe if Ella forced herself to remember that, she could back away.
âSo maybe more friends should fool around,â he said. His hand snaked down, teasing the soft skin on the inside of her thigh.
âShane, I thinkââ
He cut her off with a kiss so long and deep, she was sure she was going to lose herself.
âDonât think,â he said. âLetâs finish what weâve started.â
Ella swallowed, but her fingers went to his jeans, fumbling with the button. Even though she knew she ought to stop this right now, somehow she couldnât. Somehow she had to have Shane. Now. Tonight. She wanted him inside her more than she could remember wanting anything before.
âTonight doesnât really feel real, does it?â she whispered. âItâs almost magical.â
His lips brushed her ear. âThere are always possibilities in the dark,â he murmured. âAnd with a blackoutâ¦â When he trailed off, she looked up to see his wicked smile. âWell, the possibilities are endless.â
As I touched her thighs, she put both hands down to stop me with a suppressed âoh,â neither action nor word those of a woman who was shamming. It wasnât the fierceness of a girl who first feels a manâs hand about her privatesâ¦. It was the exclamation and manner of a woman not accustomed to strange handsâ¦.
THE WORDS FLOWED OFF THE page of My Secret Life, sparking Ellaâs imagination and surrounding her with a haze of sensuality so thick and so hot that her pulse rate increased and breathing became an effort, like someone trying to suck in a deep breath in a sauna.
Sheâd been enrolled in the class for three weeks now and she still felt a jolt of excitement when she read a sensuous passage, little sparks deep down inside that made her wish for long nights with a determined man.
Sheâd never expected to be quite so intrigued by the words, although sheâd signed up for Professor Archerâs class not only because of Veronica Archerâs stellar reputation as an expert on erotica through the ages but also because Ella, frankly, needed to do something just a little wild. Just a little bit off the straight and narrow.
Not that sheâd told Tony that. No, sheâd told her boyfriend that she was taking the class out of loyalty and to investigate more fully her professional field. After all, sheâd known Ronnie Archer for a few years now, and the two had become friends. So naturally she was curious about her friendâs expertise. Plus, Ella was working toward her masterâs in art history, and Ronnie knew a lot about erotic art through the ages. So much that sheâd been recruited to teach at the university in an adjunct capacity.
It was a reasonable explanation, and Tony hadnât batted an eye. It wasnât, however, an entirely true explanation.
The truth was, sheâd seen something in Ronnieâs work that she needed. Something that reminded her of her past. She used to drive fast cars and date fast men. She used to ride motorcycles along country roads with her best friend, Shane, or take a skydiving class just because heâd dared her to. Lately, though, sheâd slowed down, the rough edges of her life smoothing out. She liked that, wanted it. But that didnât mean sheâd erased the pastâor that she didnât have the odd moment where she wanted to go a little crazy.
She smiled a little as she thought of Tony, with his clean-cut good looks and bank-officer wardrobe. While heâd indulge her with a night on the town to satisfy her wild streak, he was never comfortable with it. His sisters were another story, and when Tony was away or working, Ella and the girls sometimes went dancing or rock climbing or out to the track to rent and race fast cars. Fun, but not her life anymore. She was with Tony now, and unlike his sisters, Tony wanted a calm and orderly life. A family, with a picket fence and a dogâthe whole nine yards.
And she wanted that with him, even though there were downsides.
For example, sheâd tried twice to read him particularly enticing passages, but heâd managed to shift the subject, the mood, and very handily gotten her to drop the whole thing. Talking about sex, experimenting with sexâthose werenât Tonyâs things.
Not that sex wasnât his thing. It was. The man was just fine in that department, if a little unimaginative. She loved him, though, and that made everything else balance. He was exactly what she wanted in a boyfriend. And, if she was reading the hints right, in a husband. Any day now she expected him to give her a ring, and sheâd slip it on her finger without hesitation. Because Tony was everything she wanted, the man himself and his family. A big, boisterous, happy family. Exactly what sheâd always dreamed of and never had.