Satisfaction Guaranteed(41)

Her words do something new to me. They don’t simply turn me on. They warm my bones. They reach inside me, touching a part of my heart that has never been touched.

I brush her damp hair from her cheek. “I’m glad you faked it with me. Because I want to be the one to help you let go. I loved it when you came.”

She offers a shy smile. “Did you?” Her voice trembles, like my answer matters deeply.

In this moment, my sense of how complicated this new arrangement will be to pull off sharpens.

So does my awareness of how hard it’ll be to end it.

Much harder than last time.

But we’ll have to.

When I answer at last, I keep it on the sex level. “I did. You have no idea. You are the picture of sex and lust and desire. And then watching you let go like that? Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything more arousing.” I push against her. “This is what you do to me.”

She reaches between us. Her eyes seem to sparkle, to light with mischief as she strokes my dick. “I like being able to touch you like this.”

“I’m not going to stop you. I’m also still waiting to hear about the socks. We only talked briefly about them on Friday night. I want the full sock story.”

As she fondles my dick, she answers my question. “Socks are the unsung heroes of the clothing world. They need a little help, like rescue dogs. I love little sayings, so I come up with them and have them printed on socks and sell them on Etsy. Plus, it makes me a little extra money, and that’s helpful, given my job.”

“What kind of socks would you make for me?”

She eyes me up and down, appraising me. “It would be fun to get you undressed down to your socks. They would say ‘Time to See Stars.’” She drops her voice to a dirty whisper. “And I would know what it really meant. Because you made me come so hard, I saw stars.”

I grab her, pull her against me, and give her a hot, deep kiss. “I see we’ve unleashed an incredibly filthy, sensuous vixen in you.”

“You have. How the hell did you pull off that trick earlier?”

“There’s no trick.” I tap my temple. “The magic is here. I listened to you. And I researched. I read a bunch of articles in women’s magazines about how to help a woman reach orgasm.”

“You did?” This notion seems to delight her to no end.

“I did.”

She smiles like we have a secret. Dancing her fingers up my chest, she whispers, “Me too. And one of the articles said to focus on your breathing. That if you do that, it takes your mind off the pressure to climax, but it also helps you be present in your body. Can we see if that works?”

I wiggle my fingers. “I love the way you think. Let’s try it now.”

She presses her beautiful naked body against mine. “I’m up for it.”

“I’m definitely up for it.”

Soon enough, she’s fucking my fingers, closing her eyes, and, I imagine, seeing stars.

As it should be.

In the morning, after she leaves, I find a note from her on my fridge.





33





Sloane Elizabeth’s Notes to Malone

Top Five Things I Like About You

One: You’re a good listener.



Two: Your restaurant-ordering skills are unparalleled.



Three: Your dick.



Four: Your confidence. You knew I was going to mention your cock, didn’t you? How could I not? It’s glorious. It’s big and pretty and perfect.



Four and a half: Your comfort in your own skin. Because even if I didn’t mention your cock, you’d have been fine with that.



Five: Your eyes. They melt me every time you look my way.



Six: The way you make me laugh.



Seven: The way you take things seriously, and then you don’t take things seriously at all.



Eight: How much you love animals.



Nine: Your determination.



Ten: The fact that you have way more than five things to list.



Eleven: And way more than ten too.





34





On my way to work out the next morning, I hum a tune.

“You're always wishing and wanting for something."

Isn’t that the truth? There is so damn much I want. “When you get what you want, you don't want what you get.”

Oh, but I do want it, Irving Berlin. I want it badly.

The sex and everything else. Last night was more than a good screw.

Last night made me see there are so many things for my top five list too. But, like her, I can’t keep myself to just five. That’s the trouble. Sloane is thoughtful and bighearted. She loves animals and wants to save them all. She talks to the kitties who need company, and she made friends with Sam on the first day in the clinic. She cares about her parents and looks out for her friends. She gave me a Frank Sinatra bootleg CD—one she tracked down in record time because she knew I was salivating for it.

The woman is an angel and a goddess.

And then there’s the pièce de résistance: She lets me in. She opens up. She shares herself.

If I don’t watch out, I’m going to fall flat on my ass for her.