Bedding the Wrong Brother(36)

Reaching out, he rubbed his thumb against her bottom lip, loving the way her eyelids suddenly grew heavy. “That's the question for you to think about. What would you do to have me? Sexually, of course.”

Her brows furrowed. “I'm not sure I understand the question. In the context of our…our agreement, I suppose I'll do whatever you tell me pleases you.”

“So that's how you plan on handling the next man in your life? Letting him have carte blanche? Anything goes?”

“Well…”

“Bondage?”

Her eyes rounded. “I guess it depends…”

“Sex toys?”

She glanced away, blushing to the roots of her hair. “I-I don't have a problem with—”

“How about multiple partners? Two women? Two men?”

Her eyes snapped back to his. “No. I'm not having any luck keeping one partner satisfied. I don't need an extra person in my bed to worry about.”

“How do you know that's your stopping point? Have you ever tried it?”

“No. I've never tried eating worms, either, but I know that's never going to happen.”

“Okay, so you have a definite sense of what you wouldn't do. Not so much of what you would.”

“Why don't you just tell me what you want, and I'll let you know if it's something I'm not comfortable with.”

His expression grew serious. “And is that where your willingness to learn ends? With the obvious answer?”

She reacted just as he expected she would. Challenge Melina's thirst for knowledge and complexity, and expect her to sit quietly and take it? No way. Hands on hips, she thrust her chin out. “Just what are you getting at, Rhys?”

“You know as well as I do that sometimes the key to learning is figuring things out for yourself. Why wouldn't that apply in this situation, as well?”

She came very close to pouting. “Seems to me this is a trick question.”

He laughed. “It can't be, because the answer is what it is. If you're willing to do what I ask and nothing more, then that's the answer.”


“You're talking in circles,” she cried. “I don't want to guess what I need to do. I want to know. That's the whole reason I asked Max for help. I don't want to play the game just to fail again.”

His heart skipped as he saw the real distress in her eyes. “Baby, you're not going to fail. There's no way that's possible.”

She just shook her head, biting her lip until he wanted to take her in his arms and hold her close. So that's what he did. He pulled her in for a hug and rocked her. She let him hug her but didn't return the favor. Soon, she pulled away.

“I'm sorry. I obviously can't even do this right. I think I should just leave.”

“Is that what you really want?” he asked quietly to mask his own desperation. “To quit before we even get started?”

“No. But I don't understand why you're making this so complicated.”

“Because despite what you obviously think, men are complicated. Pleasure is complicated. It's not just a matter of telling someone what I like. It's about you figuring it out. Reading the signs. Learning to trust your instincts. And then acting even though it makes you uncomfortable. Because you know that in the end, the pleasure's going to be worth it.”

She looked unconvinced. Hell, she practically rolled her eyes, which sure told him something about the degree of pleasure her lovers had been giving her. She was obviously going to need more convincing before she'd willingly agree to his lesson plan.

“Okay, so let's go back to our conversation in the car. You said men wanted overt. An arrow painted with red lipstick falls into that category, right?”

She frowned, obviously not happy with thinking about that little message again.

“Well, things aren't always so black and white—even when the shade is Shanghai Crimson. When you say men like the overt, you're oversimplifying.”

“Really. And how's that?”

“What that woman did…it wasn't a turn-on because she sat down across from me practically naked—”

She snorted and he paused, glaring at her.

“Sorry,” she muttered.

“It was a turn-on because she went for it. Whatever her reasons, she wanted to have sex with me that much. Not me, necessarily. I could have been Max or any other successful magician, but she was going to get what she desperately wanted, one way or another. Have you ever wanted anything like that, Melina? Because, believe me, I have. And I never thought I had a chance in hell of getting it. Not until I walked into my hotel room last night and found you waiting for me. Not until I realized I'd do anything—run down the Vegas strip naked with lipstick all over my body—to have just one taste of you before you came to your senses and left.”