“No.” She pushed past him and stalked into his room. The cotton skirt of her prim white nightgown flounced around her bare ankles. “We're going to talk about this.”
“The hell we are.” Joel took two strides toward her, put his hands on her shoulders, and yanked her up against him.
“Joel.”
He kissed her roughly and then raised his head, eyes glittering with menace. “If you don't want me to run down the main street of Echo Cove tonight, you'd better think of some other way for me to burn off a little energy. Got any ideas?”
Letty stared mutely up at him through fogged glasses. She touched her mouth with curious, wondering fingertips, and then she touched his bare chest. “No. No, I don't actually have any alternative suggestions.”
“Well, I sure as hell do.” He started to lower his mouth to hers once more.
Letty was suddenly finding it very difficult to catch her breath. She fumbled awkwardly with her glasses. “Uh, Joel, I'm not at all certain you want to do this.”
“I'm certain.” He brushed his mouth across hers. His mood was altering with blazing speed from anger to passion. The kiss was not at all rough this time. It was slow and full of exciting promise. “Real certain.”
Letty put her arms slowly around his neck. She shook her head slightly. “It won't work, you know. You can't control me this way.”
“I've got a better plan.”
“What's that?”
“Why don't you try to control me with sex?”
The thought of wielding that kind of sensual power over him or any other man was so ludicrous that Letty started to laugh. It was a nervous, giggly kind of laughter that, to her horror, she could not seem to stop once it had gotten started.
But Joel knew how to stop her. He covered her mouth with his own.
7
Joel eventually raised his head. When he did he was breathing heavily. Letty opened her eyes and looked up at him through tilted, steamed lenses. His face was a foggy blur. But then, she felt a little blurred herself.
“Joel?”
“Let's try it without these.” Joel gently removed her glasses and set them on a nearby table. He cradled her face in one hand and lowered his mouth once more to hers.
His mouth felt good, Letty decided. Very good. Not wet and sloppy like Philip's. She sighed softly and wrapped her arms more tightly around Joel's neck. Craving more of his wonderful warmth, she instinctively pressed herself closer. His broad chest was as solid as the face of a granite cliff.
“Can I take this to mean that you are not totally opposed to the idea of going to bed with me?” Joel asked against her mouth.
“Yes. I mean, no. I'm not totally opposed.” Letty opened her eyes and looked up. Even without her glasses she could see the lambent fire in his gaze. “I just didn't want you to get the wrong idea.”
“I know. I got the point.” He raked his fingers slowly through her wild, thick hair. “I can't control you with sex.”
“That's right.”
“Why not?” he asked with a whimsical tilt to his mouth.
“Why not?” She frowned, feeling she owed him an explanation of some sort. “I suppose it's because I'm not a particularly sensual person, if you know what I mean.”
“You don't like sex?” He ran his palms over her shoulders and down her forearms.
“I like being kissed and held as much as the next woman.” Letty shivered a little as his warm palms slid back up to her shoulders. She felt his strong fingers flex gently. “I like the feeling of closeness. But I think the rest of the business is overrated. I'm not alone, you know,” she added defensively. “I read an article—several articles, actually—that said a lot of women feel that way.”
He nodded, looking very serious. “Ah. An article. Let me see if I've got this right. You're not real wild about sex, so I can't use it to manipulate you. And the thought of being able to control me with it gives you the giggles.”
She smiled tremulously. “Well, it is kind of amusing, in a way. I doubt that anyone could control you with sex or anything else.”
“You think I'm so damn tough?”
“I think you're very tough,” she said honestly.
“Why don't you try it?” he invited softly.
She eyed him uncertainly. “Try what?”
“Controlling me with sex.” His hands tightened on her shoulders. “You're the boss around here, right?”
Letty licked her lips. “Right.”
“So why don't you try calling the shots tonight and we'll see what happens?”
“I don't understand.”
“It's simple.” Joel brushed his mouth lingeringly across hers and then carefully took her earlobe between his teeth. “You give the orders, Madam President. I'll follow them, just like a good, respectful, well-trained employee.”
Letty's mouth went dry. “I'm supposed to give you orders? For this?”
“Tell me exactly what you want and how you want it done.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “My only goal is to please.”
A wave of heat washed over Letty. “Joel, this is embarrassing. If this is your idea of teasing me, forget it.”
“I've never been more serious in my life. Tell me what you want me to do, Letty.”
She stared at his bare chest, refusing to meet his eyes. “How am I supposed to tell you stuff like that?”
“Don't you know what you like and what you don't like?”
“Not exactly,” she muttered.
“You must have read a couple of articles on the subject,” Joel said.
Letty gave a muffled groan and dropped her forehead down onto his rock-hard shoulder. “Well, yes. I have read a couple of articles on the subject. Whole books, in fact.”
“I figured you probably had. You being a librarian and all.” His hand moved lightly in her hair.
“Oh, my God, Joel, this is too much.”
“Was there anything in those articles or books that sounded particularly interesting?”
She nodded her head against his shoulder, unable to speak. She could not believe this was happening.
“Give me an example of something that sounded really fascinating.” Joel trailed his forefinger just inside the neckline of her nightgown.
Letty gripped his shoulders and took a deep breath. “Kiss me.”
“Where? Here?” He kissed her cheek, just under her eye.
“No. On the mouth. The way you did a minute ago.” She raised her face.
“Whatever you say.” Joel brought his lips down on hers. He kissed her slowly, lightly. He used no real force, and he seemed to be asking nothing in return.
“Harder,” Letty whispered, standing on tiptoe so that she could get closer.
“Sure, boss.”
Joel obligingly deepened the kiss. His mouth moved a little more roughly on hers. Letty strained upward on her toes, seeking a better angle. She put her hand on the back of his head and tried to force him even closer.
“Now what?” Joel whispered invitingly against her lips. “Tell me, Letty.”
“Open your mouth,” she breathed, feeling bolder by the minute.
He did as she instructed and opened his mouth against hers. Letty parted her own lips at the same time and then waited on tenterhooks for the feel of his tongue.
Nothing happened.
Tentatively Letty ran the tip of her tongue along Joel's lower lip. He groaned in instant response, and his arms tightened around her. A curl of fire sizzled through her at the realization that she had elicited such a reaction from him.
“Now you do it to me,” she managed.
“Do what?”
“You know. What I just did to you.” She dug her nails into his scalp. “Do it.”
“You got it, boss.”
Letty held her breath as she felt his tongue slip warmly across her lips, teasing her. It wasn't enough. She gripped him harder, not minding the wetness of the kiss at all.
“Inside,” Letty commanded urgently.
 
; His tongue moved obediently into her mouth. She touched it with her own and was astounded at the sense of intimacy. A shiver went through her.
“You like that, boss?” Joel's voice was low and husky.
“Yes. Yes. I like it very much.”
“Good.”
For a long while Letty was content just to explore the full potential of the deep kiss. Joel seemed prepared to oblige her until the end of time. She leaned against his chest, aware that the feeling of damp heat that was filling her mouth was beginning to flow in her lower body.
After another minute or two of the intimate kiss, Letty pulled away just far enough to speak.
“Joel?”
“Yeah?” His voice was darker, harsher, almost raw. “What next, boss?”
“Touch me.”
He went still for an instant. “Where?”
“My…” She hesitated, losing her nerve at the last second. “My waist. Put your hands on my waist.”
“Right. Your waist.” His fingers settled just above her hips and squeezed gently. “Like that?”
“Maybe a little higher?”
“You don't sound sure.”
“Try it,” she murmured, frustrated.
“Anything you say, boss.” His hands slid up her sides until his thumbs were resting just below the weight of her breasts. “Now what?”
Letty mentally flipped through the articles and books she had read on the subject of sex. She stopped scanning when she recalled one particular discussion on erogenous zones.
“My nipple,” she got out in a tight little voice.
“What about it?”
“Touch it.”
“Like this?” Joel's thumb grazed it through the fabric of her nightgown.
“Oh, God, yes. Just like that. Do it again.”
He did it a second time. “How about the other one?”
“Yes, please. That one, too.”
“My pleasure.” Joel lightly scraped her other nipple.
It was not enough. Not nearly enough. “Take off my nightgown,” The instant the words were out of her mouth, Letty was appalled. She could not believe she had given such an instruction.
But it was too late to recall it. Joel was already undoing the buttons. Letty closed her eyes and held herself very still as he peeled the nightgown off her shoulders and let it fall to the floor at her feet.
“Oh, my God,” Letty muttered.
“How am I doing so far, boss?”
“Oh, my God.” Letty did not open her eyes. The thought of herself naked in front of him was simply too much. She clung to him, afraid she would collapse if she let go. “Do what you did that night in my apartment.”
“What did I do?”
“You know, that thing you did with your leg. Between mine.”
“Oh, yeah. Right. You liked that, huh?”
“Yes,” she breathed. “Do it. Please.”
“Yes, ma'am.” Joel eased her back against the wall, bracing himself with one hand behind her head. His bare foot slid between hers, edging her legs apart.
Letty kept her eyes squeezed shut as she felt his denim-clad leg move upward. The jeans were excitingly rough on her bare skin. Slowly his thigh slid along hers, easing her legs farther apart, opening her.
It was too outrageous for words.
It was too erotic for words.
The damp heat within her began to feel like a river of lava. Her nails dug into his shoulders, and her head fell back against the wall.
And then he was there—or rather, his knee was—pushing against her softness, lifting her up onto her toes and then off the floor entirely. Panic seized her for an instant. She felt so vulnerable.
“Joel.”
“Change your mind?” His leg started to slide back down, lowering her to the floor.
“No, no, I haven't changed my mind. Do it again, please.” She grabbed at his shoulders.
Then he was letting her ride the heat of his leg once more. It was the most incredibly erotic thing Letty had ever experienced.
“Oh, my God.” She was dimly aware that her vocabulary had become extremely limited.
“Anything else, boss?” Joel kissed her throat.
“The bed,” she gasped.
“What about it?”
“I want to be on it. I'm going crazy. I must be out of my mind. Put me on the bed.”
Without a word, he eased her down so that her feet touched the floor. Then he scooped her up and carried her over to the bed. He settled her lightly on the rumpled sheets.
When he started to pull away, Letty opened her eyes at last and clutched at him. “No, wait. Come here.”
Joel grinned faintly. “I take it I'm not finished yet?”
“No, you are not finished. I want to try some other things.” She licked her lips, willing him to come closer again.
“Why am I not surprised?” He came down onto the bed beside her. He propped himself up on his elbow and moved one jeaned leg lightly against hers. “So what else did you learn in those articles and books that you want to try now?”
“Touch me.”
“Here?” His fingertips moved over her breasts again. “You have beautiful breasts, Letty.”
“Thank you,” she said breathlessly, not knowing how else to respond to such a compliment. Philip had never told her she had beautiful breasts. God, she felt beautiful all over right now. “Lower, please.”
“Hmm?” His tongue was on her nipple.
Letty swallowed, summoning up her courage. She had gone too far to stop now. She had to see if it would work. “Move your hand lower.”
“Here?” Joel's hand moved down to rest on her belly. His fingers splayed across her skin, heavy and warm.
“Lower,” she ordered in a desperate, tiny voice.
His fingers slipped through the triangle of honey brown curls until they found the dampening folds of flesh between her legs. “Here?”
“Yes.” Letty lay stunned under the sensual impact of his touch. Her fingers dug into the sheet beneath her. Her toes flexed and pointed, and then her knees lifted. She could barely speak when she tried her next command.
“A little higher, please.”
“Like this?”
Joel's finger drifted upward with tantalizing slowness, and suddenly he was touching a part of her that Letty had read a great deal about in the past few years. A part that had never seemed to function according to specifications until now.
She thought she would go through the roof. “Yes. Right there. Right there.”
“Do you like circles or long, slow strokes?”
“I don't know. Try both.” She was breathing quickly, as if she were jogging or working out.
“Circles.” Joel's fingers moved lightly.
“Oh, my God.”
“Strokes.” Joel altered the pattern.
“Oh, my God.”
“Which do you want, boss?”
“I don't know. Either. Both. Just keep doing it.”
“Whatever you say.”
For long, glorious minutes Letty gave herself up to the incredible sensations that were budding swiftly within her. Occasionally Joel asked for further instructions. She gave them eagerly, trying different patterns until she found the ones that seemed to have been designed precisely for her body.
“Joel, it feels so good. So good. I can't believe it.”
“Neither can I,” he muttered. His fingers were wet and slick with her essence. He whispered something else, but Letty did not catch it.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing, honey. Anything else you want to try?”
“I don't know. This is good enough. Better than anything I've ever felt before. Wonderful. Joel, I don't think I can stand much more.” Letty arched her hips up off the bed, pushing against his fingers. One of them slid just inside her. “Joel.”
“I'm still here, babe. I'm not going anywhere. Are you sure there isn't anything else you want to try? No other commands you want to give me tonight?”
>
There was something else about which she was extremely curious, but there was no way on earth she could ask him to do that. Not this first time, at any rate. Not until she knew him a lot better. Not until she'd had a chance to feel him out on the subject.
“I'm fine, Joel. This is wonderful. Oh, my God.”
“You ever read any articles on this?” Joel kissed her stomach, and then she felt his breath fanning the curls of hair that shielded her softness.
“Joel.”
“Did you?”
“Well, yes. Yes, I read something about it, but I wouldn't ask you to do that. I couldn't.”
“You're giving the orders tonight, remember? You have to be very specific.”
“Good grief, Joel, this is hardly the kind of thing a woman orders a man to do.”
“Try it.”
She could not stand it any longer. His breath was so warm, and his fingers felt so good. “All right, do it.”
“You got it, boss.”
And then his mouth was on her in the most intimate, the most exotic, the most passionate caress Letty had ever known. It robbed her of breath for a single, exquisitely painful moment.
It was too much. It was all far too much.
“Oh, my God, Joel!” Letty screamed as everything inside her came undone and shattered into a thousand bright shards. The world fell away.
When it was over, she collapsed like a rag doll.
She wanted to laugh.
She almost burst into tears.
She did not have the energy to do either, so she closed her eyes and floated.
At some point Letty realized that Joel was sliding up alongside her and pulling the covers up over her. She turned on her side and nestled into his warmth, utterly exhausted. A part of her registered the fact that he was still wearing his jeans.
“Joel?”
“Go to sleep, Letty.”
“Philip thinks I need therapy.”
“What kind of therapy?”
“For this kind of thing. You know. To improve my sexual responsiveness.”
“Lady, if you were any hotter or more responsive, we would have set the damn motel on fire. Now go to sleep.”
She relaxed blissfully. Then she belatedly realized what the fact that he was still wearing his jeans meant. “Joel, you didn't…”
“Yes,” Joel growled. “I did. I'll admit the last time I came in my jeans was when I was sixteen, but what the hell. I'm only a man, and you are pure dynamite.”