Bedding the Wrong Brother(37)
She was breathing hard, her eyes wide and dazed, staring at him as if she'd never seen him before. And she hadn't. Not really. He'd never let her see the passion he harbored for her, not so clear and out in the open. But he was letting her see it now, if she bothered to look.
“Have you ever felt that way about any of your lovers, Melina?”
Slowly, she shook her head.
“Then if your exes found you wanting, it wasn't because you lacked skill. It was because they knew you didn't feel that passion for them. That doesn't mean you don't have the passion inside you.” I should know, he thought. She'd given him the taste he'd been craving, and it had almost blown his mind.
She shook her head, and her eyes cleared and narrowed. “I don't believe you,” she murmured. “What's that old saying? All cats look alike in the dark? A woman without inhibition, a woman who cares only about her own pleasure, makes demands. Her focus isn't on the man. Sure, it's an ego boost to have a woman crazy for him, but in the end the man's going to want his. I'm not the most passionate person, but if I have the skill, that's what's going to matter most.”
“I didn't say the woman would only care about her own pleasure the whole time. Great sex is about making a connection, even if it's just on a purely chemical level. It's about give-and-take. It's about someone wanting you for everything you are and aren't, regardless of measurements, wealth, or background. Which is why that woman's forwardness turned me on, but only to a point. She didn't want me. She wanted my stage persona. Who she thought I was.”
Their gazes locked before she took a deep breath.
“But what you're talking about…it almost sounds like you're describing emotion. Love.”
He shrugged, wanting to push the conversation in that direction but knowing that would just scare her. And him, too. He was fortunate to have this weekend. He couldn't get carried away and expect more. “It does, doesn't it? As I said, it's not black and white. Very few things are. This weekend is about experimenting. Learning each other's likes and dislikes. Playing and petting. But it's also about pushing each other to our limits. Finding out what drives us. How far you'll go to have me. That's how you'll learn what pleases a man, Melina. Not by me showing or telling you. By being motivated to figure it out on your own.”
“And you think you can motivate me?”
Saying nothing, he shot her a wicked grin. That's all it took to have her blushing. To her credit, however, she didn't go down without a fight.
“So let me get this right. You're saying that instead of giving me clear instructions as to what a man likes, you're going to make me figure it out on my own?”
“I promise to give you lots of feedback. But what I like might not be what another man does. Doing it this way strengthens not only your confidence, but your instincts, too.”
“Or it just makes me look like a fool again. And probably leads to a lot of frustration for you.”
“If you're willing to take the chance, I think I'll be able to stand it.”
She pursed her lips, thinking about it. “I don't know, Rhys. Maybe this just isn't—”
“What do you say we compromise?”
She took a step back, clearly not trusting him. “How?”
“I'll agree to tell you what I like. What most men like. But each time I do, you need to try something on your own.”
“And what if I do something you don't like?”
“Then you win and you won't have to do it again.”
“You're that sure of your theory?”
“I'm that sure of you. You can stand there and do nothing and I'll be turned on. You actually do something, anything, to me?” He growled, making her eyes widen.
“In all fairness, how would you know if you win?”
“It's a win-win situation for me, isn't it? I tell you what pleases me, you do it. You try something I like, it pleases me. You try something I don't like, we're back to me telling you what I like. Right?”
She squinted, as if trying to make sense of his convoluted reasoning. “I guess.”
“Good. Now, we should probably get going if we want to get in the water before it's cold.” He handed her a basket with a blanket and paper goods. “What do you say we play a game on the drive there?”
“A game?”