Authors: Lauren Gallagher
Twenty One
Kat let out a long sigh. "Oh my God, that feels good."
"I’m not even touching you." Chris eased himself into the hot tub beside her.
"I was talking about the water."
"Come on now, you’re going to make me jealous." He sipped his wine, then set it on the side of the tub.
She laughed. "If you’re jealous of a tub full of hot water, then you’ve got some insecurity issues, Christian."
He shot her a playful glare. "Well, I just won’t turn the jets on, how about that?"
Smirking, she said, "Or you could leave me alone with the jets for a few minutes."
"What?" He rolled his eyes and sighed, feigning exasperation. "Haven’t I already done
enough
for you tonight?"
"I’m always ready for more, you know that."
"Dirty woman."
She scoffed with mock offense. "I beg your pardon! I am
not
a dirty woman."
He laughed into his wine glass. "Then I’m a pure, unspoiled virgin."
"Yeah, that’ll be the day."
"Exactly. I’m no virgin and you are a dirty, dirty woman." He set his glass down again and reached for her. Pulling her into his lap, he gave her a knowing look as he rested his hands on her hips. "In fact, my dear, I think you’re even dirtier than you’ve admitted to me."
"I don’t know what you’re talking about."
He grinned. "I think you do."
Raising an eyebrow, she said, "Oh?"
"Come on, tell me."
She trailed her nails lightly up and down his abs and chest. "I don’t know what there is to tell that you don’t already know."
His hands moved from her hips up her back, the water rippling gently against her skin as droplets fell from his hands. "I know a lot of things about you that you’ve never told me."
"Oh?" Her hands stopped on his chest. "Did someone kiss and tell?"
"Oh yes," he said. "They told me a lot of things."
She cocked her head. "Who, and about what?"
He drew her towards him and gently took her nipple between his teeth. "Someone who knows a lot about you and the sexy, dirty things you’ve done. And do."
She whimpered softly as he flicked his tongue across her nipple. "Tell me, Bailey."
"I know you’ve kissed another woman." He paused, closing his lips around her nipple and sucking it just hard enough to
almost
hurt. "And I know you’ve dabbled in some BDSM."
A nervous flutter in her gut made her breath catch. "Chris…"
He smiled. "No one told me, Kat, don’t worry."
"Then how did—" She gave him a playful glare. "Nice bluff. You’re just trying to trick me into admitting things."
"Oh no, I’m not tricking you at all," he said, moving to her other nipple and sucking gently. "Because I know you’ve done it. And you’ve all but admitted to it anyway, so you might as well confess."
"Okay, you got me." She ran her fingers through his wet hair. "I’ve kissed a woman, and I’ve been known to dance with the devil of BDSM. But how did you know?"
He grinned. "I have my ways."
She tightened her grasp on his hair and pulled his head back, keeping her breast just out of his reach. "
How
?"
As casually and matter-of-factly as possible, he said, "You told me."
"I know," she said, rolling her eyes. "I told you just now."
"No, you just confirmed what I already knew." He tried to flick his tongue across her nipple, but missed when she pulled away.
She laughed, putting her hands back on his chest to keep him back. "Come on, tell me. How did you know I’m into BDSM?"
"That was easy," he said, looking damned proud of himself.
"Was it?"
He nodded. "You left evidence." His hand left her back and he gently picked her hand up off of his chest and brought it up to his lips. He kissed her palm, then the inside of her wrist. Meeting her eyes, he ran the tip of his tongue just below the heel of her hand. "Handcuffs," he whispered, his breath cool against her wet skin.
In that instant, she remembered the welts she’d tried —evidently unsuccessfully—to cover up. She ran her hand down his other arm and brought his hand out of the water, kissing his palm just as he had done.
"Well, if you knew what left those welts…" She made a circle on the inside of his wrist with the tip of her tongue. "Then something tells me you’ve seen them before…" She kissed below the heel of his hand. "Or you’ve had them yourself."
"Maybe a little of both." He kissed her palm again, then nipped the side of her hand. "I can be a sub just as much as I can be a dom."
"Preference?"
He paused, pursing his lips, then looked at her. "If I had to pick, I’d say sub."
She leaned forward, keeping her breasts just out of his reach and grinning when he tried, but failed, to take one of her nipples into his mouth. "So you like it when a woman is in control?"
He let a frustrated breath out through his teeth. "Absolutely." He swallowed hard. "So do
you
like it when a woman is in control?"
"I like being in control, yes."
A devilish grin pulled at the corners of his mouth. "That wasn’t what I asked."
She raised an eyebrow. "How did you know about
that?"
He gave her a toothy grin. "So it’s true, then?"
"Yes, it is. How did you know?"
"The lipstick on your blouse and the side of your neck at the club one night wasn’t the same color as the lipstick you were wearing."
She smiled. "You’re very observant, aren’t you?"
"So it
was
someone else’s lipstick?"
"Well, unless I was just really drunk and got more of it on my shirt than on my face."
"Doesn’t explain the different color."
"Maybe I was trying something new."
His grin turned into a cocky smirk. "Oh, I think you were, but that something wasn’t a new lipstick color."
She laughed. "You make it sound like that was the first time I’d ever kissed a woman."
"So you make a habit of these wild acts of sexual deviance?"
"I wouldn’t call it a habit as much as a hobby."
He chuckled. "You’re even dirtier than I thought."
"And you love it." She kissed him. "So there you have it. I confessed." She took a deep, melodramatic breath. "I’ve kissed…a
woman
."
"And did you like it?"
"I wasn’t sure," she said. "So I had to try it again." She kissed him. "And again." Another kiss. "And again."
His lips barely leaving hers, he asked, "Do I ever get to see you kiss another woman?"
"Maybe." She laughed. "It’s not like that’s the dirtiest thing I’ve ever done with a woman."
His eyebrows jumped. "Oh
really
?"
"I’ve done more than kiss a woman, Chris." Her lip brushed his.
He swallowed. "Do tell."
"I know what a woman’s kiss tastes like." She kissed him, just her lips against his, no tongue. "I know what a woman’s nipple feels like against my tongue." She bent and kissed his neck, then sucked his earlobe between her teeth for a second before letting it go. "I know what another woman’s pussy feels like around my fingers." He sucked in a breath, his body tensing, and she flicked her tongue just below his ear. "And I know what a woman tastes like right when she comes."
A shiver ran up his spine and he let out a ragged breath. She couldn’t be sure if it was from what she said or the fact that she was breathing against his skin, but the reaction satisfied her nonetheless. She kissed him deeply, letting him draw her tongue into his mouth and wondering if he was imagining what her kiss tasted like after she’d gone down on another woman. Judging by the shudder that went through him, that may very well have been the case.
Barely whispering, she said, "So now you know what a dirty woman I am."
His voice trembled. "And I
love
it."
She sat up, looking him in the eye. "So, now that I’ve confessed to some bisexual experimentation and having a thing for BDSM, it’s your turn to fess up."
"And I confessed to BDSM, so we’re even."
"No, I’m still one ahead of you." She leaned forward and kissed him again. "I know there’s more filth lurking in that colorful past of yours."
"I have nothing to confess." He batted his eyes. "Clearly you’re the dirtier of the two of us, so I bow down to your superior—"
"You’re a terrible liar." She laughed. "Now tell me."
"Tell you what?"
"Anything. Something dirty that you’ve done."
"Do you really think I’ve done anything as dirty as kissing someone of the same sex?"
"
Have
you kissed someone of the same sex?"
His eyes never left hers. "Does it only count if I was sober, it wasn’t a bet, and I initiated it?"
"Yes."
"Then yes, I have."
She blinked. "Really?"
He nodded, his cheeks coloring a little. "A few years back."
"Have you ever—?"
"
No
."
"You don’t even know what I was going to ask."
"Yes, I do," he laughed. "And no, I didn’t."
"So, what, you and another guy were bored one night,
so you decided to give it a go?"
He chuckled, his cheeks darkening a little more. "Well, it wasn’t
quite
like that."
"So what
was
it like?"
He shrugged. "I was curious." He trailed his fingertips up and down her back, letting droplets of water trickle down her spine. "We kissed to see what it was like, made out for a while. Never went any further than that."
"Did you ever do it again?"
He shook his head.
"Wasn’t my thing. I mean, it was fun, I’ll give you that, but I just never felt any desire to do it again." He put his hand on the back of her neck and brought her down to kiss him. "Kissing another man is fun, but it’s got nothing on kissing a woman." His tongue parted her lips and his fingers wandered into her hair.
"I don’t know," she murmured. "I think men are better kissers than women."
"Oh?" He kissed her lightly. His other hand cupped her breast, his thumb running back and forth over her nipple.
She bit her lip, suppressing a moan. "Women are too gentle. I mean, I like kissing women, don’t get me wrong, but I like a more…" She paused. "
Aggressive
kisser."
His fingers tightened in her hair and he pulled her closer. "Then that’s one more thing we both have in common, isn’t it?" He didn’t even give her a chance to breathe before he kissed her deeply, passionately, bordering on violently, and she returned it with equal fervor.