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and was determined not to be distracted.

Of course, that was before she reached the main target and realized she wasn't sure she would be any good. It had been a long while. That fact made her pause for only a moment, though; then Terri decided that there was only one way to find out: to just go for it. And since that seemed to be the motto for this relationship...

Besides, Terri thought, if she made a complete flub of it, she could always apologize sweetly and go read a how-to article off the Internet. They had instruc¬tions on everything else on the Web, there must be something on this as well. It was just a shame she hadn't thought to do so beforehand. But then, Terri thought, hindsight was always 20/20.

Chapter Fourteen

The woman was as skilled as a professional, Bastien thought faintly, and wasn't sure whether to be grate¬ful, or alarmed at what it might mean. He decided to worry about it later, however, and merely twisted the sheets under his hands as he struggled not to humili¬ate himself by climaxing two minutes after Terri took him into her mouth.

What was she doing with her tongue? he wondered feverishly. Dear God! Where had she learned to do that? How--

"Oh," he groaned aloud, then clamped his teeth down on his lower lip to keep from issuing a second groan--one of disappointment--as Terri stopped what she was doing and raised her head to look at him.

"Am I hurting you?" she asked uncertainly.

"Hurting?" Bastien echoed, his voice unnaturally high. He was panting and finding it difficult to catch his breath. "No." He shook his head.

Looking relieved, Terri bowed her head and wrapped her lips around him once more, only to pause before she went any further. She raised her head again. "Am I doing this right?"

Bastien blinked. Didn't she know? She was driving him right around the bend! "Yes," he answered quickly, realizing that sitting thinking was only going to delay the pleasure he had interrupted with his groan.

No more groaning, he told himself, nearly sobbing with relief as she bent to take him into her mouth again. Her mouth was sweet, warm and moist. She had the sexiest damn lips--full and plump. And her tongue...

"Ahhhh," he cried, as she did something with her tongue that made his whole body shudder. Damn, she was--stopping again?

"You're sure I'm not hurting you?" Terri asked with concern, then explained, "You sounded like you were in pain."

Had he groaned? Bastien wondered. No. No, he was sure he hadn't groaned. But he had cried out. Apparently, that had distracted her too. No more cry¬ing out then either, he ordered himself firmly. He'd bite his own tongue off if that's what it took, but no more groaning or crying out. Better yet, he'd stick a pillow in his mouth--then he couldn't make any sound at all.

Realizing Terri was waiting for an answer, but un¬able to remember the question, Bastien briefly de¬bated whether to ask her to repeat it, or to simply guess and answer yes or no. Deciding it would be faster just to guess, and that the chances were fifty-fifty either way, he blurted, "No."

"No?" She tipped her head to the side quizzically. "No, you're not sure I'm not hurting you? Or no, you aren't in pain?"

"Yes." He nodded firmly. Thinking was really quite beyond him at that point. All Bastien could think about was that he wanted Terri to wrap those sweet, luscious red lips around his--

"I'm really not doing this right, am I?" she said on a sigh. "And you're just too sweet and polite to tell me I suck at this."

"No, I'm not," he said in a panic. "I'd tell you if you sucked. Well, you are--I mean, you're doing a wonderful job. Just wonderful. Just... wonderful," he repeated helplessly.

"Really?" Terri perked up perceptibly, a smile tip¬ping her lips as she stared at him, apparently eager for praise. "What am I doing right? Tell me, and I'll do more of it."

Bastien stared at her helplessly. Why was she doing this to him? Was it some sort of torture? Punishment, perhaps? Had he not pleasured her enough when he'd woken her earlier? Had he snored and kept her awake?

Realizing he was losing it, Bastien gave his head a shake. This was Terri--sweet, fun, adorable Terri. He didn't think she had a mean bone in her body, and she certainly wouldn't set out to torment him delib¬erately. Which meant that, despite the fact that she had