Taming His Tutor (Entangled Brazen) (9 page)

As for her supposed submissive streak? He was right—she’d liked it when he took control. She’d liked the idea of
him
tying her up. But this wasn’t supposed to be about what
she
liked. He was honorable in saying that sex should be good for both, but she wanted it to be the
best
for
him
.

So she should ask him questions, listen avidly—no problem there when she was so curious about him. She should laugh at his jokes, which wasn’t hard, because he was fun. But she was going to have to try harder to keep her own selfish urges under control. Because her ultimate aim in this wasn’t for her to have the best sex of her life.

But for him to.

Chapter Ten

“Always leave him wanting more.”

Joe woke two seconds before his alarm sounded. He rolled his shoulders and thrust back the sheet. Thanks to Abbi, he’d just had the best night’s sleep in months. The best dreams too, where he spent all his time plotting out his lesson plans for her. He always ensured his lovers were satisfied, but this was different. He wanted her to have the best. Sex was about the only way in which he could deliver that for her.

He just had to remember it was all about
her
. Sure, he was fulfilling an old fantasy, but it wasn’t anything more than that. This need to push her was only about the physical, right?

Damn, it was going to be a good week. He stretched out in the shower, thinking of what he’d do to her…was hard all over again. Yeah. Time to call a halt to that. He had work to do. He quickly toweled off and got into his workout gear.

He ran down the stairs just in time, ready to greet his Monday morning regulars. “You ready to sweat, you suckers?” he called, grinning widely. “I’m not feeling lenient today.”

He felt like making everyone work. He needed the exercise to eat up his abundance of energy. And he sure as shit had a ton of energy. So he took the second class as well.

“Back-to-back cross-training?” his receptionist asked. “Are you crazy?”

No, he just had a lot to think about. He’d told Abbi not to overthink things, but now
he
was the one who couldn’t stop. Thoughts of her dominated his mind. He wondered how long she’d been working at the magazine, where she’d been before. Wondered more about the jerk boyfriend. Wondered whether she’d ride him hard if she was on top—wondered how he could get her to stop thinking long enough to let herself do that.

His body was surprisingly stiff in some areas. It had been a while since he’d had marathon sex. The residual aches only made him want more. Like now.

In the end he spent the whole day in a futile attempt to concentrate on things other than the memory of Abbi in his bed. The only way he’d succeeded as much as he had was by single-minded determination. No distractions. Until now there’d been nothing and no one that had distracted him. But today?

Good thing there were only five more lessons. He couldn’t let this bleed into the rest of his life, and he certainly did
not
chase.

But twenty minutes after he finished taking the 6:00 p.m. cross-training class, Joe knocked on the door he’d seen Abbi go into last night. There’d been more than one reason he’d insisted on driving her home. Seeing her safe was a priority, sure, but he’d wanted to know where she lived. They hadn’t had the time for much swapping of personal details—other than some sexual preferences—but that didn’t mean he wasn’t interested.

He shouldn’t be here at all. He should be back at the gym, sorting through the job application forms, because he needed at least three new instructors for the new venue. He should be checking the monthly accounts. There were so many damn things he should be doing.

Instead he was waiting at her door.

She opened it remarkably quickly, her lower lip caught in her teeth, her cheeks reddening. “Joe.”

He looked at her through narrowed eyes, amused at her casual T-shirt and loose jeans. “Did you check the peephole before answering?”

Her blush deepened. “No, I was in a hurry, I—” She broke off. “How can I help you?”

Joe hesitated, unused to this kind of hesitation from a woman—usually he’d be inside the door and half naked already. Yet he knew Abbi was pleased to see him; it was obvious in her color. In her quickened breathing. In the desire clouding her eyes. But she wasn’t making it easy for him, and he was used to easy.

The need to challenge her bit deep. Irresistible. “Am I interrupting something?” he asked.

“No.”

“You ready for your second lesson?”

Her eyes widened. “Now?”

“Today’s subject is spontaneity.” He improvised. Spontaneously. “There’s nothing like spontaneous sex.”

“Uh.” She just stared at him.

Speechless? Good.

He thudded his shoulder against the doorjamb, blocking it. “You wanted a detailed schedule and lesson plan?” He shook his head. “You would. You’re the kind to do all the term’s required reading before lectures start. But you’ve done the theory here. The point of the practical is the unexpected.”

She opened the door all the way. “Then you’d better come in.”

He winked to keep it light, but an outsize level of hot satisfaction pooled in his belly, sending a surge of adrenaline to his muscles. “That’s more like it.”

She laughed. “I can only get better, right?”

“I’m not the one thinking you need to get better.” He walked inside and looked around the studio. It was neat as a pin, but man, it was packed with stuff. He did a slow circle in the center of the room—there were pictures, plants, books, computers, and neat rows and rows of woven storage baskets holding who knew what.

“It’s not always like this,” she supplied. “I tidied up.”

She had? Hell, there were books and pictures and
things
everywhere. “How long have you been living here?”

“A couple of months.”

And she had all this stuff already? “Where were you before that?”

“Sunnyvale. Before that, Stanford.” Her shoulders lifted and she glanced away.

His gaze landed on the photo in the center of the top shelf. “Your parents must be proud of you.” It was a university graduation shot. They stood either side of her. All three were beaming at the camera. Straight-up happy.

“I guess,” she answered vaguely, turning to face him. Her eyes had that aroused sheen. Liquid desire. “Can I get you a drink?” Her voice shook slightly.

She didn’t want to talk? He could live with that for now. “Abbi.”

Her chin lifted. He liked that. For all her concerns about performance, she was courageous.

“Come here.”
His
voice had packed it in too, a bare rasp.

She crossed the room to where he waited. Joe was used to women doing as he asked; frankly, they pretty much had from the moment he’d become sexually active. But for some reason, Abbi’s compliance satisfied him in a different way. Because giving in to her sensuality like this wasn’t usual for her. He knew she was both willing yet overthinking it at the same time. Unable to stop herself from analyzing and worrying, but unable to stop herself from responding. And those sparks in her eyes—that combo of defiance and self-consciousness and courage pushed him into being bossier than he’d ever been. He wanted to thrust past her boundaries, to take her beyond pleasure all the way to mindless ecstasy. To make her worry less and
feel
more, the way he had yesterday.

Because knowing that he’d done that? That he’d been the only guy to see her like that? To feel her?

That surge of satisfaction bubbled like molten lava. He wanted to do it again.
Now
.

“Are you nervous? After yesterday?” he asked her, shaking his head at her insecurity.

“Um…” She took an age to study his exceptionally plain T-shirt.

“You ready for another lesson or are you having second thoughts?” he prompted.

Her eyes flashed to his. Yeah. That got her attention.

“I’m ready.”

He’d gotten hard the second he’d heard the huskiness that entered her voice when things veered to the intimate. “What are you thinking about?” he asked, curious to see if she’d answer honestly. “You can tell me anything, remember.”

He waited. But he knew he’d get an answer soon; she wasn’t quite as silent anymore.

Her gaze didn’t waver, but the blue darkened. “What I want to do. What I want you to do.”

“Yeah,” he murmured, lust roaring. “There’s the thing. The more you have, the more you want, the better it gets.” He meant sex in general, right? Except his body was in a riot, wanting only her.

“You think you can do better than last night?”

Now that unintentional compliment pleased him. “Reckon I can,” he mused. “But first.” He reached around her and tapped his fingers lightly down her spine. “There’s nothing like foreplay. Lots and lots of foreplay.”

“What’s your favorite kind of foreplay?” she asked, rising up onto tiptoe.

“Turns out I quite like messing around on first base,” he answered quietly.

She reached her hand up, curling it around his neck and tugging so he bent. She kissed him, let her tongue swirl around his mouth before withdrawing with a suck on his lower lip and then a scrape of teeth.

He was momentarily surprised by her forward action—but he wasn’t complaining. “Vixen,” he murmured. “I think you’ve been putting in some study time.”

“You like it?” she asked breathlessly.

“A lot. Do it again.”

She did, lingering before she asked with a very pleased smile, “What else can I do for you?”

He got it. She wanted to please him. Was she still not happy with the balance of orgasms? She wanted
him
to have more? He put on a thoughtful look, happy to humor her. For now. “What are you thinking?”

And she
was
thinking again, clearly. Thinking way too much.

“Massage?” she offered and immediately cringed. “Such a cliché, huh?”

It bothered him that she thought he was going to shoot her down. “It’s a cliché for a reason. It feels good.” His body was aching for any kind of touch from her. Anything she wanted.

“Okay.” A warmth lit her eyes. “You going to lie down?”

“You going to strip?” he countered. “Massage should always be done naked.”

“Oh really? You think the masseuse should be naked?”

“Uh-huh.” He winked, enjoying her tease, glad she was learning that sex should always be this kind of fun. “That way if one of your nipples comes within touching distance while you’re leaning over me, I can suck on it. Or some other body part.”

Her pupils flared but she held it together enough to adopt a thoughtful expression of her own. “Sounds sensible.”

He held himself in as he watched her slip out of her cute tee-and-trouser combo. Damn, her breasts were magnificent—big, luscious, ripe. As for the narrow waist that flared to the feminine hips? Enough to bring a man to his knees. And she’d taken care to leave a small thatch of pubic hair for him to enjoy, like a little bow on that hot present of her sex. He couldn’t wait to dive into it.

He ripped out of his clothes in record time, strode to the bed, and stretched out on her comforter. He was so tall his feet hung over the edge. She giggled at his predicament as she crawled onto the bed beside him, but that little laugh died as she glanced up his body and saw the size of his aching cock.

“Where do you want me to start?” she asked.

Gritting his teeth, he rolled onto his stomach, offering his back, shifting to ease the awkwardness of his erection. Best to throttle back or he’d come in a nanosecond. So not happening. “I’m taking advantage of you, you realize.” Hell, he so was.

“It’s my choice.”

He looked back over his shoulder and saw her brush her hair back behind her, saw the determination, the small smile of confidence. She inhaled deeply and settled her hands on his back, gently running her palms over his muscles, which twitched at her ministrations. He inhaled, trying to ease up the edginess within. He wanted her hands all over him. Truth? He wanted to flip her over and fuck her right this second. But he fought to calm himself and give her a chance to explore. After all, he’d been lecturing on patience just the day before.

He turned his head to the other side and focused on the corner of Abbi’s apartment. He saw something that looked like work papers next to an open bag filled with…

No way.

Chapter Eleven

“But yes, ‘take charge’ and be a little bit aggressive—men like that best in bed.
”

“What’s this?”

Oh dear Lord, she thought she’d hidden everything that might be remotely embarrassing. She’d spent a couple hours doing that last night after she’d been unable to sleep. The Lego collection had been the first to go—sorted in total OCD fashion into color, size, and set. Her 3-D printing gear had quickly followed suit.

Now she watched as Joe reached out with his outrageously long arm and scooped up the bag she’d dropped by her bed on Saturday after getting home from the spontaneous shopping spree with Nadia. She’d been so busy trying to get her nerdy stuff off the table and hidden in the new baskets that she’d completely overlooked Nadia’s bag of test products sitting on the floor under the small bedside table.

He chuckled and rolled onto his back to look up at her. “These are the sex toys from your desk at work.”

She cleared her throat. “Possibly.”

“Have you used any?” He tipped out the contents of the bag on her bed in front of her. “No, look at that, all still pristine in their sealed packaging.”

“Nadia gave them to me,” Abbi half mumbled. “Stuff like this gets sent to the magazine all the time.”

“She’s a really good friend, isn’t she?” Joe poked through the items.

“Yes.”

“This looks interesting.” He quirked his eyebrow.

Abbi glanced at the ball gag and couldn’t repress her shiver.

He laughed and swept the toys back into the bag. “I think I should take possession of these and bring them out a bit later.”

She didn’t think she’d ever want to use some of those toys.

He dropped the bag back down on the floor and touched her chin with his finger. “Are you ready?”

Ready? That was an understatement. “Just call me Ever-Ready Abbi,” she joked lamely.

“I know.” He laughed as he leaned close.

She swatted him but he grabbed her hand.

“You’re asking for it,” he warned.

“You’re not into spanking.”

He shook his head. “I think I’d prefer to see you suffer in other ways.”

Pleasure spurted through her, mingling with relief. She didn’t think pain was her thing. “Such as?”

His eyes gleamed. “You’ll see.”

“You’ve always been good at this, haven’t you?” she asked half an hour later, so dazed she couldn’t think better of it before asking.

He levered himself up on his elbows and looked down at her, mild confusion creasing his gorgeous features. “At what?”

“Making this easy.” She shrugged. “Keeping things fun and light and good.”

“By ‘things’ you mean sex?”

She nodded, spreading her legs a fraction wider to fit him more comfortably; she liked him staying so close. “You don’t bat an eyelid at sex toys. At sex talk. It’s always been easy for you.”

He laughed. “Yes, maybe I discovered how good it could be.” He lifted a hand and massaged her shoulder, his fingertips moving in slow, firm circles. “But it wasn’t always easy.”

Back at school Abbi had wondered about his life prior to coming to the Burns household, and she wondered about it again now. She’d never heard him discuss his past—he’d just arrived at school and gotten on with making his future. She’d never heard any stories, never heard any gossip from the girls, other than about his sexual prowess. It was like he lived only in the present. Easygoing, making the most of the moment. But now that she had the opportunity, she couldn’t resist asking.

“In what way wasn’t it easy?” she asked softly, mirroring his light massage, only she traced the indentations of his muscled chest with the tips of her fingers.

She knew he’d been one of the youngest first picks ever in the NBA draft; he hadn’t finished college because he’d gone pro. And he’d proven himself. Until that day when he’d been taken out in a foul. His freak fall on the court had snapped his right femur, bone piercing through his skin. Even now the footage was on YouTube in those “worst ever on-court injury” compilations. Abbi had watched it once and was still horrified. Some sports pundits had reckoned that he could come back from it. But Joe hadn’t. He’d gone back to college, gotten his degree, and started his business. And here he was.

…

Joe carefully lifted himself off Abbi and onto his side, facing her. He’d never been one for pillow talk—never understood the need to open up and emote. After sex he liked to sleep or maybe eat or maybe just go for round two already. But Abbi looked all pink and pleased, her big blue gaze focused on him with interest. Searching, curious, wanting to know more.

He didn’t want to give more. But a verbal shutdown would shatter her blossoming bedroom confidence. He didn’t want to snuff that glow in her eyes.

“I was doing everything I could to hold on to my new world,” he said, feeling rueful. “I was busting my butt on the basketball court, in class at school trying to catch up. Trying to be the good son and brother, to fit in with my new foster family. I was scared of losing it. I’d lost it so many times before.” He’d been angry, alone, literally lost. It was only when his talent at basketball had been recognized by his foster father that his life began to take on some kind of meaning. Only then his basketball skill caused more problems for him in that family. With his new “brother.” “I tried to do whatever it took to stay. I worked so damn hard. So when some pretty girl smiled at me and asked me to kiss her? Feel her up? Invited me inside?” He shook his head and laughed. “How was I supposed to deny myself that pleasure? It felt good. Warm.” He ran a hand through his hair. “It worked for me.”

She rolled to face him, her skin luminous. Her eyes searching, but not judging. “Did it work for your partners?”

His lips twisted. “My foster mom at the time, Brigit, took me to the side and told to me be careful—not just in terms of safe sex, but emotionally. For my partners. I learned to keep it light.”

“Why not get heavy?”

“Because there was too much else I had to work for.” He shrugged. He didn’t have enough to give. He never would. There was just that bit of him missing. From birth.

“You worked hard.”

“You’ve no idea.” Inside he’d been terrified of stepping with the wrong foot. It had taken him a long time to believe that the Burnses’ was his home. And in the end, of course, it wasn’t. The resentment of his foster brother, Zach, who’d been the best basketball player at school until Joe turned up? That had turned the situation septic.

Wasn’t it just ironic that the thing he was best at had ruined his one chance of winning a happy family.

They were better off without him
. Like always.

So yeah, when some girl had gotten on her knees and given him his first-ever blow job, he’d found an outlet. He’d gotten good at that too.

But all it had ever been was a temporary escape. A way of relaxing from the pressure. He wanted to escape this intimacy now—via sex. “I never meant to hurt anyone. I like to think I didn’t.” He tried to close the convo.

But Abbi’s smile turned cheeky. “They all loved you. They all wanted to keep you. But they didn’t seem to be desperate when they couldn’t. You stayed friends with them. Which was pretty rare for most guys back then.”

He knew he’d hurt a couple of high school lovers, but breaking hearts was never his goal. It had taken him a while to adjust to the emotional arc of it. Now he knew how to keep it easy, when to pull back. He needed to pull back now.

“All those girls at school…” She trailed off. Her blue eyes flashed something fierce.

Joe sat up and leaned over her, to see right into her pretty face. “You’re not jealous, are you?” He shouldn’t be pleased. But he was.
She’d
wanted him back then?

No way.

She’d been doing math at a level three years above her own. She also had the knack of explaining things. And community service had been part of one of those geek-awards programs she’d been doing. He’d been her community service.

“When you tutored me in math, you actually looked at me.” He brushed her hair back from her face, enjoying the silky feel of the long strands. “You looked up from your book and stared right at me. And then I really saw
you
and you were so…hot.” More than hot, she’d been sweet. He’d wanted her to look like that always at him—with that intensity. “But after our sessions ended, you never looked at me again. I tried a couple of times, to catch your eye.”

“No you didn’t.” A confused expression crossed her face.

Oh God, she really had no idea. “A shy girl sometimes has to be careful she doesn’t make a guy think she’s not interested.”

“You were
never
interested.” Her jaw dropped.

His gut twisted at the same time desire rampaged through him. He almost shivered. “You have any idea how mesmerizing your eyes are? How luminous your skin is?”

He smiled ruefully as her skin washed over in a red glow. Damn, he’d miss it if she ever stopped blushing. But he breathed out, trying to ease the tightening in his chest. Trying to shake off that disappointed tension—that he could have been with her back then?

But reality slammed back into him. It never would have worked. He’d have hurt her.

“It’s a good thing you were shy,” he said, trying to convince himself as much as tease her. “You wouldn’t have liked being one of my posse.”

She rolled her eyes. “Your pussy posse.”

“I never called them that.” He laughed even as he winced. “What was it you were jealous of?”

“Don’t you mean who?” Abbi bristled. “You don’t get it, do you? You may have had it tough for much of your life, but when it came to getting it, you were on easy street.”

He couldn’t exactly argue with that.

“I hated Elle Manning,” she blurted.

Elle who? It took him a second to remember who Abbi meant. Then he placed her—total party girl who liked to work her way around the team. “How come?”

“How come?” She looked at him like he was a prize idiot. “Elle didn’t have to wear braces. She didn’t need to hide in oversize sweaters and a scarf. She had pert boobs and a perfect teen body.”

And oh yeah, Abbi was jealous.

Joe was too tickled. “You wanted to be like her?” Crazy woman, Abbi was so much more than gorgeous.

She hesitated. “I once overheard her talking about giving you a blow job.”

“Did you?” Now that annoyed him. “I can’t stand people who kiss and tell.”

“She said very complimentary things.”

“Don’t pacify me. I don’t care what she said.” The look on Abbi’s face made him forget the annoyance. Forget Elle. He leaned a little over her. “I want to know how it made you feel.” God did he want to know.

Blue eyes flashed up at him. “I wanted it to be me.”

Fuck yeah.
He wanted that too. So damn much. He rolled onto his back and thrust off the sheet covering him. “Take me then.”