Sexting the Limits (5 page)

like competing against himself as this sexy mystery man. He also didn‟t want to give up

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the hot banter they had going on over text messaging. There had to be some way that he

could merge the two personas.

The first step, though, was to see if he could get the sexual tension that was

clouding his judgment out of the way. And he thought he knew just the way to do it.

Grant smiled, woke up his phone and started typing.

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Celeste hurried around the room, lighting candles here and there until her bedroom

was bathed in a warm, romantic glow. As the last candle was lit she placed her lighter

on the bedside table and ran her hands down her silk robe to get rid of the perspiration

that had collected on her palms. She surveyed the room with her emotions caught

somewhere between nausea and exhilaration.

On Monday night after leaving the bar, Celeste had received another text, asking

her to set aside some time on Wednesday night for a more intimate chat. On the spur-

of-the-moment high from finally hearing from him again, she‟d immediately said yes.

Then she had the next two days to rethink and obsess.

She had taken Rory into her confidence again, even though her friend was against

the whole idea. Celeste had listened to all of Rory‟s laundry list of things that could go

wrong and decided not to do it. Tuesday night, when it was just her and her hormones

lying in bed together, she‟d changed her mind.

When Wednesday arrived, Rory and her arguments had stopped by Celeste‟s office

at lunch to make sure Celeste was standing strong, only to find that she‟d had to re-

outline her objections.

After Rory and her common sense had left, Celeste had stared at her phone, arguing

with herself. Although all of Rory‟s arguments had been perfectly rational, Celeste

couldn‟t keep her heart from pounding like a drum every time she thought of the sexual

possibilities that could await her. Yes, corresponding with this unknown man could be

dangerous and yes, it was probably going to be a letdown. She‟d already had her quota

of disappointing text sex and knew that more likely than not, it was bound to be bad.

But this mystery man‟s earlier texts had turned her on and filled her with excitement, so

maybe there was a small chance. Plus the thing that had always been so hot about when

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David texted her was that she could erase his face and imagine a tall, dark and

handsome stranger was giving her naughty directions. This sort of thing did not

happen every day. How often did a girl‟s most secret fantasy come to life?

All of her own not-so-sensible rationalizations had drowned out Rory‟s common-

sense objections by late afternoon. Which had given Celeste enough time to compound

the lunacy and make an errand run after work to collect candles, fresh berries and

cream, wine and a few scandalously tiny pieces of lingerie. In the back of her mind she

knew that she was setting the scene as if she had a flesh-and-blood lover coming over

when it would only be herself and a nameless, voiceless person on the other end of a

phone. She could recognize the possible loser quotient that went along with that fact as

well, and even embrace it. She had to keep reminding herself that no one she knew

personally had ever had a man create one of the romantic evenings that were so often

shown on television and movies. Especially not her, with the string of jerks she‟d been

with in the past. What was the harm, really? It wasn‟t like the guy on the other end of

the phone would know or care that she was a raging romantic.

Her reverie cum last-minute-pep-talk was disturbed by the harsh rattle of her

phone buzzing on the nightstand. Her eyes flew to the clock and noted that her

mysterious stranger was early. Maybe he was a little anxious himself? The thought had

her smiling and bounding over the bed, disturbing the freshly washed and tucked-in

sheets, to grab the phone and check her incoming text message. But instead of sexy,

sinful directions there was only Rory‟s picture with a text message next to it.

Rory:
I’m sure it doesn’t feel like it but you are making the complete right decision,

girl. Let me know if you want to do something tonight and take your mind off of it.

Celeste pushed back any guilt brought up by Rory‟s sweet words and ruthlessly

deleted the text. Maybe she should have talked to Mac about this problem instead. Mac

had finally come clean and told her best guy friend about her longtime romantic

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feelings for him and was now reaping the rewards in a big way. Of course, all that

reaping was making Mac a little hard to get to right now. Celeste knew that amongst

her group of girlfriends she‟d been considered the loud and crazy one back in college,

but more and more often these days she craved someone to settle down with. Not get

married or anything—that was a long way off—but someone to cuddle on the couch

with on Friday nights and argue over the remote with instead of always putting herself

out on the dating market. And for someone who had experienced her fair share of

sexual encounters, none of them had left her feeling incredibly satisfied. Sure, she came,

but it was never the earth-shattering, got-to-have-it-now kind of sex that Mac seemed to

be having now. She wasn‟t jealous of her friend but she did want what Mac had—a

good man to call her own. Someone who could light her up just by saying her name or

touching her hand the way that Mac‟s boyfriend did to her.

Feeling herself start to slump and knowing that slumping was not sexy, Celeste

refocused and decided to head to the kitchen to grab the wine, berries and cream from

the refrigerator. She‟d figured she may as well go all out for herself. On the way back

from the kitchen, her arms were loaded with her “sex bounty” and she juggled to keep

it all upright and off her carpet. Which, of course, meant that her mystery man chose

that moment to text her, causing the phone to buzz and Celeste to jump about a foot.

Seriously, even in fantasies, when she was alone, she couldn‟t get it together. Luckily,

only the wine bobbled out of her hands and it didn‟t come uncorked when it hit the

ground. She hastily picked it up and deposited everything on the other nightstand

before reaching for the phone. Thank God, this time it wasn‟t Rory. It was him.

322-291-0508:
Good evening, Celeste.

Her hands trembled as she read the text message. With a short greeting, the man

had made her panties dampen and her heart speed up until it seemed that it was about

to burst from her chest. The usually lightweight phone was heavy in her hands. She felt

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as if she were on the edge of a tall cliff, searching with her feet for the ledge. She had

every intention of jumping off that precipice but that first step was the hardest. Slowly,

hesitantly, she used her thumbs to type back a message.

Celeste Benning:
Hey there, mystery man.

She fidgeted with the sheets, changed the alert sound on her phone from vibrate to

a pleasant chime and rearranged her sensual bounty on the night table beside the bed

while she waited for his response.

322-291-0508:
Mystery man, huh?

Celeste‟s mouth quirked as she responded. Her heart felt like it was about to beat

out of her chest and her palms were perspiring. She couldn‟t believe she was really

going to do this.

Celeste Benning:
What should I call you, then? Unless you’re willing to tell me your

name.

322-291-0508:
No. Not willing to give you my name…yet.

Celeste Benning:
Well then how will I know what to scream when you make me

come? You did promise to make me come, didn’t you?

Celeste‟s smile felt naughty as it spread across her face. She‟d never been so bold

before, not even with her ex when they had played some of the same sexy games.

Something was hot about the fact that she didn‟t know who he was, that there was

never any chance that she‟d be walking down the street and see him and know that

she‟d said all of these things to him. Somehow the words that were meant to tease and

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seduce him worked the same magic on her. She felt wicked and alluring and sexier than

she‟d ever felt before. And due to the fact that she had nothing to do other than wait for

his next message, she was incredibly impatient.

322-291-0508:
Oh trust me, baby, you will scream for me. Loud and long. But you

won’t get my name out of me so easily. If you have to call me something…just call me

Sir.

Celeste read it and let out a chuckle of disbelief but couldn‟t stop a shiver of

awareness from skating down her spine. Call him Sir, indeed. The thought was both

ludicrous and intriguing at the same time and she couldn‟t think of another cute,

teasing answer to save her life. Luckily, she didn‟t have to because her mystery man

was moving on.

322-291-0508:
Tell me what you’re wearing.

Celeste‟s breathing fractured and then sped up. Here was the beginning. She

pushed herself up on the bed so that she leaned against the pillows, letting her robe

flow open around her. She gave herself a small pep talk, assuring herself that

everything was going to be fine. Besides, the “what are you wearing?” question was

pretty standard. It didn‟t feel that way though. It felt like a big risk to respond. Like

saying that she was interested and invested in their encounter, even though she didn‟t

know him.

Celeste Benning:
I’m wearing a pink silk robe and a light-pink lace bra and panties

set.

322-291-0508:
Sounds beautiful. I wish I could see you. Tell me about how you look

in them.

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Celeste sat up on the bed and shrugged off her robe, shivering as the cool air

caressed her skin. She ran her fingers along the delicate lace edge of her bra and

thought about the words to describe the rasp of her fingers against it, the warmth of her

own touch on skin covered in goose bumps.

Celeste Benning:
Well, I’m lying on my bed, candles all around, in my new

underwear. My bra is pale against my skin and I have on a wispy little thong.

She hadn‟t ever intended to tell him about all of her preparations but it seemed she

had no filter. Something about the anonymity felt daring and secure all at the same

time. She could tell him whatever she wanted and not have to worry about seeing the

hesitation on his face or hearing that she was going too fast in his voice. She used her

hand to smooth out nonexistent wrinkles in the bedspread as she waited for his

response.

322-291-0508:
New underwear?

Celeste Benning:
Want to see?

322-291-0508:
God, yes, baby.

Some devil had made her make the offer to begin with. As hot as his words were,

she needed something stronger, something more to connect them and make this all

seem real. Some way to know that she was the only woman who he was fantasizing

about on the other end of the phone. Even though she didn‟t know who he was, he

dominated her thoughts. She wanted to be at the center of his thoughts as well. And

what she wanted most of all was to have all of his considerable attention focused on

her.

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She extended her arm as far as it would go above her to snap a quick picture of her

body encased in the pink bra and panties. Using the screen to line up the image, she

tried to make sure that her body was positioned to its best advantage while keeping her

head out of the shot. She knew it didn‟t make any sense, since he already knew who she

was, but if he ever made these pictures public at least she‟d have plausible deniability.

It didn‟t help her photography efforts one bit that her hand was shaking out of control.

She pulled the screen back to her face to take once last critical glance. In her

opinion, she looked pretty damn good. The low candlelight was very forgiving and it

shone on her recently moisturized skin. The pink lace of her underwear seemed to melt

into the color of her skin, almost appearing as if she wasn‟t wearing anything at all. She

looked, and felt, sexier than she ever had when in bed with a man before. Too bad he

wasn‟t in bed with her.

Celeste took a deep breath and pressed the send button. Almost immediately, she

dropped the phone on the bed and covered her face, waiting anxiously for his response,

hoping that he‟d be quick about it.