Playing With Fire (Tangled in Texas #2) - Alison Bliss Page 0,84

then flattened my palm against his chest. “Start here,” he said, guiding my hand down to where his erection curved over his belly. “And work your way down…to this.”

Holy hell.

I jerked my hand back. “Um, maybe we should start a little slower.”

“Suit yourself,” Cowboy said, laughing at my reaction.

“If you’re trying to embarrass me, it’s working.”

“Darlin’, I’m not trying to embarrass you. All I want is for you to feel more comfortable with me and less self-conscious about yourself. Trust me when I say that there’s nothing you can do here that’s wrong.” Cowboy rested his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes. “Just think of it as therapeutic massage,” he instructed.

“Am I being graded for this, teacher?” I asked.

He smiled. “Don’t worry. I’m grading on a curve.” Then he cracked one eye open to make sure I got his stupid joke. The humor helped ease the stress and humiliation coursing through my veins.

I shifted closer, folding my knees beneath me. My hand reached back out to touch his stomach, but I hesitated.

“Do you want me to talk about the weather or something to calm your nerves?”

“No. Just…be quiet. And close your eyes. I can’t concentrate with you talking and looking at me.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, wearing a huge grin.

Most likely he was surprised I was actually going through with his ridiculous idea. Or maybe he thought I wouldn’t and that’s why he was so amused. But I’d never been able to inspect a man’s nude body—especially one as fully equipped as Cowboy’s—at my own leisure before. So, in the name of research… Okay, maybe that’s the excuse I’d used to convince myself.

I lowered my hand gently onto his stomach. His muscles flinched under my unexpected touch. For a moment, I wondered if my hands were cold. Probably. I didn’t feel cold, but it would explain why my whole body was shaking. Then again, that could easily be my nerves jumping as my hand traveled over his well-defined abs.

As I placed my other hand on him, I glanced down at his narrow waist and my gaze followed the muscle definition down the length of his nicely toned body. He was still fully aroused, which only made my skittishness return.

My straying hands lingered in designated areas, a safe distance away from his… Nope. Not going there—yet. But even though I enjoyed the hardness of this fine male specimen under my hands, I was beginning to feel uninspired.

I traveled a little farther south and checked his face for any signs of embarrassment or him wanting to turn back. Nothing. No blushing cheeks. No shocked, what-do-you-think-you’re-doing look. He just reclined with a tiny smirk curving the corner of his mouth while prominently displaying an erection the size of a torpedo.

Obviously he knew I was avoiding his… Penis? Member? What the hell do you call those things? Oh, come on, Anna! Go for it already. You want to touch his…dick. Feeling weak at the thought, I shifted my weight forward, leaning into his muscular thigh. “I’m going to…um, do something different now.”

Cowboy’s grin widened, but his eyes stayed closed. “Whatever you say.”

Stretching out my hand, I concentrated intensely on the descent of my fingertips until I reached my destination and curled my fingers around the base of his shaft. The moment I grasped him, Cowboy’s entire body stiffened and his penis twitched.

I froze, not sure what happened. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Not at all.” He groaned, then relaxed his body. “Just caught me a little off guard.”

“I warned you first.”

Cowboy chuckled. “That you did. But I didn’t realize you were just going to…er, grab the bull by the horns. I thought you’d ease into it a little more.”

“So what I did wasn’t enjoyable?”

“Anna, you’re holding my rock-hard dick in your hand. What part of any of this do you think I’m not enjoying?”

I coughed to stifle the laughter bubbling in my throat. “Right.”

“Now, stop second-guessing yourself and just do whatever you want.”

Throwing caution and inhibition to the wind, I intuitively gave his swollen member a tight squeeze. He moaned under his breath, and the sound alone filled me with a renewed sense of confidence. It confirmed that I could elicit a response from him at will. A very positive one at that.

I caressed him slowly in what I deemed a vaguely sensual manner—something I observed on the DVDs I’d watched. He lay quietly, eyes still closed, while I touched him intimately, calculating every robotic move I made. My touches became more fluid