Playing With Fire (Tangled in Texas, #2)(70)

“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 as my fingers traced over his thickness and I delighted myself in the bumps and ridges under the smooth, silky skin.

“You’re so hard,” I said, then blushed a little as I realized I spoke out loud. “I mean, you have a lovely, um…” Damn. I still can’t say dick out loud.

I found certain motions took him to a higher aroused state. Direct contact made him grow thicker and longer, which I hadn’t thought possible, while my hand pumping his shaft deepened the color of his helmet. Every moan, every grunt he released, hit me low and deep, sending ripples of pleasure cascading throughout my body. Then I tried this contract and release variation on him that I’d read about.

A quiver ran through him and his eyes flew open, wild and burning with need and desire. “Don’t overdo it,” he managed to say, “or this demonstration won’t last very long.”

I smiled sweetly at him, but a dirty little giggle left my lips. I couldn’t help it. I loved the look of immense pleasure in his eyes.

At this point, I felt like an artist, harvesting my creativity and experimenting freely with his “materials.” And my eagerness to please didn’t want to lessen the severity of his symptoms. Nope, I wanted to magnify them, even though I knew his self-control would be tested.

So I sloped my hand underneath him, investigating the underside. His stomach flattened as I cradled him, cupping his balls in my palm and savoring the different textures while kneading him gently. Then, in slow motion, I leaned forward and dropped my moistened lips over the tip of him, tasting him for the first time.

A guttural moan left his lips. “Oh, Christ.”

Then he groaned as I dragged my lips all the way down until his head hit the fleshy part of my throat. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched his hand fist my comforter. “Anna…you don’t…have to do that.”

I pulled my head up, allowing my lips to linger just over him, and he sucked in a breath. “I want to,” I whispered and lowered my head again.