Some Girls Do (20 page)

‘A what?’

‘A five-date rule. You know, I won’t sleep with a guy until we’ve been on five dates.’

‘Seriously? Girls have those?’

‘Apparently, yes. Yvonne told me about it. Lots of girls have them. Sometimes they’re three-date rules.’

‘Huh! No one’s ever used that on me,’ he said smugly.

Claire ignored him. ‘Anyway, that gives me more time, but I’d like to get as much done as possible in the next couple of weeks. I’ll have more free time while my mother’s still in the nursing home.’

‘Okay. You can come over as many nights as you want to for the next two weeks – as long as you check with me first.’

‘You’re sure that’s not too much? I’d pay you more.’

Luca shook his head. ‘No need for that. Consider it a fixed-price
job. Five hundred to turn you into a sexpot or your money back.’

It didn’t seem fair when she would be taking up so much of his time, but Claire could tell he wasn’t going to budge. Maybe she could find other ways to pay him extra – like buying groceries … ‘Okay,’ she agreed. ‘Now, one last thing – I made a list,’ she said, bending to fish it out of her bag.

‘A list?’

‘Of things I want to learn.’ She had typed it on the computer and printed it out. She unfolded the sheet of A4 paper and smoothed it out.

‘Okay, let’s see,’ Luca said, taking it from her. To her mortification, he began reading the list out loud. ‘Basic sex, hand job, blowjob, positions, e.g. woman on top, doggy style, sixty-nine … How much of this stuff have you done before?’

‘I’ve had sex but I don’t think I was doing it right – I told you that.’

‘Okay.’ Luca’s lips twitched as he placed a tick beside ‘basic sex’. ‘Hand job?’

‘Um … same thing. I tried it, but it didn’t work.’

‘It didn’t
work
? What exactly happened?’

‘I tried to do it, but I wasn’t any good at it. The guy … he kind of gave out to me.’

‘What? You were giving him a hand job and he
gave out
to you?’

‘Yeah,’ she said in a small voice. ‘I think I was doing it too lightly. He kept telling me I didn’t have to be so gentle, but I was scared of hurting him. Plus I don’t have great upper body strength. My arm was aching and he just kept complaining, so … well, I just gave up. He was really pissing me off. I mean, I was doing my best. He didn’t have to be so critical.’ Her cheeks flushed. She could still feel the burning shame. It had been so humiliating.

‘Arsehole!’

‘Well, I suppose it’s like you said – if he’d faked it and
pretended he was enjoying it, I’d have just kept doing the same thing.’

‘He didn’t have to fake it. He could have just shown you what to do, given you a bit of encouragement.’

‘Anyway, I just left – got out of bed there and then and never saw him again.’

‘Serves him right.’

‘I don’t think he’d have been crying after me, considering,’ she said. ‘He was probably happier on his own.’

‘Wankers usually are.’

‘I’m not telling you this to make you feel sorry for me, by the way. You have to tell me if I’m not doing something right. I want to learn.’

‘I’ll be firm but fair.’ He grinned. ‘Was that the half?’

‘Sorry?’

‘You said you’d had sex three and a half times.’

‘Oh, yeah. That was the half.’

‘What about positions? What have you done?’

‘Just missionary.’

‘Blowjob?’

She shook her head.

‘Well, we can start with this fundamental stuff, and later on, when you’ve got to grips with the basics, we can move on to more kinky things, like on your blog.’

‘You’ve been reading my blog?’ she asked disconcerted.

‘Yeah, of course. I needed to get an idea of what we were working towards.’

‘Oh!’ It felt like he had been reading her diary, discovering her deepest, darkest secrets and fantasies – which was ridiculous, since the blog was public. But that was different. Luca knew her. He knew she had written that stuff, and she felt exposed.

‘Hey, don’t look so scared,’ he said smiling. ‘I thought it was great. Some of that stuff was shit hot!’

‘But none of it’s real,’ she said.

‘I know that.’

Oh, well, at least now he knew what a gulf there was between the person she wanted to be and the reality. ‘I know it’s a hell of a leap …’ she began, hoping he wouldn’t be scared off by the enormity of the task ahead of them.

‘I love that you have such a kinky imagination. It makes me think my job is going to be very easy.’

Claire was encouraged by that.

‘Okay, if that’s it, why don’t you unpack your bag and then we’ll finish getting dinner?’ he said. ‘I’ve cleared some space in the top drawer in my bedroom if you want to leave some stuff here. And I’ve emptied a shelf in the bathroom too.’

‘Thanks, Luca,’ she said, touched that he was going out of his way to make an awkward situation as easy as he could for her.

When she had unpacked her things, Claire joined Luca in the kitchen. He splashed wine into short tumblers and they drank while they worked. He sliced onions and mushrooms, while Claire crushed garlic and chopped chives to mix with the crème fraîche. Then she melted a thick slab of butter with olive oil, the steaks hissing as she slid them into the pan and the delicious aroma of searing meat filling the air. She was surprised by how relaxed she felt with Luca, chatting easily in the kitchen as they cooked together. She had felt increasingly nervous about the evening the closer it got, but now that she was there, she was fine – more than fine. She was enjoying herself.

When the food was ready, they took their plates through to the living room and ate at the little folding table, their knees almost touching underneath it.

Luca cut into his steak enthusiastically. ‘This is fantastic!’ he said, raising his glass to her. ‘Thank you.’

‘You’re welcome,’ she said, clinking her glass against his.

‘I think you’re trying to feed me up,’ he said with a smile.

She was enjoying it too. The steak was juicy and tender, the
potatoes soft and fluffy, topped with fat dollops of the crème fraîche and chives.

Later they ate bowls of raspberries with thick cream, sitting on the sofa.

‘Are you trying to stupefy me with food and drink so I won’t be able to do anything?’ Luca asked her, his dark eyes twinkling.

‘No, of course not. I’m here to learn.’

‘Good,’ he said sternly. ‘Glad to hear it.’

He put his bowl on the coffee table, and Claire moved to pick it up, but he grabbed her wrist, pulling her back onto the sofa. ‘Leave it,’ he said softly, gazing at her intently now. His thumb stroked gently over her wrist. Then he kissed her, and his mouth tasted of wine and raspberries. ‘Let’s go to bed,’ he murmured, pulling back.

Claire glanced at her watch. ‘It’s only nine.’

He cocked his head to one side and looked at her in silence, a small smile playing around his mouth.

‘Oh! Yes, of course.’ That was what she was here for, after all.

‘Unless you’d rather watch television or something.’

‘No.’ She shook her head.

‘Good,’ Luca said, standing and pulling her up with him. ‘Because I don’t have a television.’

In the bedroom, Luca began kissing her. He took his time awakening all her senses, just kissing and touching her until every nerve-ending in her body was tingling and she was weak with desire. Their kisses became more heated until she was so worked up that she was acting purely on instinct, clawing mindlessly at his clothes, frantic to feel his bare skin against hers, her hips rocking into his, desperate for more. She tugged at the hem of his T-shirt, and he lifted his arms so she could pull it off over his head, and then she ran her hands over his chest, loving the feel of his firm, warm flesh. Lost in a fog of lust, she was hardly
aware of her clothes coming off until Luca pulled away from her to remove his jeans and she realised she was only wearing her knickers. Then he pulled off his boxers and stood before her naked. Claire just stared, her eyes raking over his taut, muscular body, taking it all in. She knew she was gawping, but Luca didn’t seem to mind. Why would he, when he was so … beautiful?

‘Can I?’ she asked, reaching a hand tentatively towards his cock, hard and straining against his stomach.

‘I’m all yours.’ He spread his arms wide, and Claire couldn’t believe her luck that she had free rein with his amazing body to practise on.

She wrapped her hand lightly around his cock, and felt it twitch and grow beneath her fingers. Luca sucked in a breath, his teeth clamping down on his lower lip.

‘Sorry,’ she gasped, pulling her hand away.

‘Okay, teachable moment.’ He smiled, grabbing her hand and wrapping it around his shaft again, firmer this time, his hand warm over hers as he held it there. ‘Don’t apologise for getting a guy hard. That’s generally considered a
good
thing.’

Claire felt strangely proud that she had done this to him, and grateful that he hadn’t made her feel weird and clueless for not knowing how to touch him.

She was glad they were both naked this time when they lay down on the bed and Luca pulled her close. His bare skin felt so amazing against the length of her naked body, her nipples hardening where they rubbed against his chest, the hardness of his erection digging into her stomach.

They made love slowly, and there was none of the awkwardness or uncertainty of Claire’s previous experiences. Luca showed her what to do when she hesitated, sometimes taking her hand and guiding her, patiently teaching her how to touch him. He told her what felt good, and his whispered words of praise and groans of pleasure spurred her on, giving her confidence, making her feel powerful and in control. She understood exactly
what they were striving for, both intent on their own pleasure and each other’s, and they worked together to make it happen – Luca changing angles as he moved inside her; Claire thrusting her hips upwards to increase friction, seeking her own pleasure; Luca reaching between them to stroke her clit so she came around his dick before he finally lost it, and collapsed on top of her with a helpless groan.

Claire woke the next morning and glanced at the clock – eight fifteen. It was only half an hour since she had last woken up. She had had a restless night. Luca was a messy sleeper, and he had sprawled over her side of the bed, constantly throwing a leg or an arm across her in his sleep. Now she was trapped beneath him, one heavy arm flung across her, pinning her to the bed, his legs entangled with hers. Her limbs were getting numb, and she was aching to move, but she didn’t want to wake him. She had tried gently rolling him off her in the night, but it was like trying to lift a fridge. Sleeping with someone else wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

She was relieved when he opened his eyes, looking at her dazedly, but then he just sighed and nestled closer into her, his eyes drooping closed. He was asleep again in seconds. She lay there for what felt like hours waiting for him to wake up again, but finally she could bear it no longer. She really needed to pee, and she was getting restless, lying there under him. She slid out from underneath him and darted for the bathroom.

She wasn’t sure what to do with herself when she had finished. She didn’t think she’d sleep any more if she went back to bed and, anyway, she didn’t want to risk getting trapped under Luca again. She’d been hoping he’d make good on his promise of showering together this morning. She’d been thinking about that since she’d first woken up. But it didn’t look like he was going to be awake anytime soon, so she decided to get dressed.
She hadn’t brought a dressing gown and it was too cold to hang around naked, waiting for him to get up. She toyed with the idea of throwing on one of his shirts, but she didn’t know how he’d feel about that. It might seem like something a girlfriend would do.

Her rumbling stomach settled the matter. She would shower and get dressed. Hopefully Luca would be awake by then and they could have breakfast together. Maybe they could do shower sex tomorrow. As she stood under the spray, Claire thought back to the previous night. Luca was a fantastic teacher. He was so patient and gentle, and she was so lucky to have found him. She had thought it was unbelievably big-headed of him at the time, but maybe it was a good thing he’d warned her off falling for him. It would be all too easy to think you were in love with someone who could make you feel that amazing. Of course, she had Mark to think of, so there should be no danger of that.

She towelled herself dry, then threw on her clothes and went into the kitchen. She flicked the switch on the kettle and glanced at her watch. It was nearly ten. She’d have a cup of tea and wait to eat breakfast until Luca was up so they could have it together. Surely he couldn’t sleep much longer. She was just pouring boiling water over a teabag when she heard noise at the door and froze. She knew Luca had some pretty ropy neighbours, and she hoped it wasn’t someone trying to break in.

But then the door opened easily, and it was obvious that whoever it was had a key.

‘Luca!’ a light female voice called, and then a very petite girl with an elfin face and huge brown eyes was standing in the doorway pulling a little wheelie case after her. ‘Oh!’ She stopped in her tracks, clearly surprised to find Claire there.

Not as surprised as Claire was to see her.
Shit!
Fuck Luca anyway! She had been adamant that she didn’t want to intrude on his personal life, determined to avoid a situation like this, but he had insisted there were no girlfriends she needed to be aware of. So why was she now confronted with this girl who had a
key
,
who looked for all the world like she
lived
here, and who was clearly shocked to find Claire in Luca’s kitchen first thing in the morning, her hair still wet from the shower. She looked at the girl’s case, so like the one she had brought with her. Was this the day shift arriving? Had he cleared a drawer for this woman too? Whatever – Claire didn’t want to know. She just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible.

‘Um … I was just going,’ she said, dropping the spoon with a clatter and racing past the girl into the living room.