Page 109 of Prince of the Palisades

“Okay so far?” I ask while guiding him into my lap.

He stares down at me through thick eyelashes. I rub up against him. Hoarsely, he says, “Y-yeah. Perfect.”

His sweaty hand moves from my bare shoulder into my curls. A tentative tug.

“Can I—do you like that?”

An involuntary shiver wrecks my body. “Yes. What do you want to do?”

“All of it.”

I laugh. “Me too. But this is new.” I remember my own first time. The awkwardness and messiness and how fast it ended. I want more for him. “Tell me what you like first. What you’re comfortable with.”

He pauses, thinking.

I edge my fingers up his spine. His response is immediate—a breathy gasp. I wiggle to adjust my boner, then say, “Just tell me what feels good. Or what doesn’t.”

“What about other stuff?”

My eyebrow flexes in confusion.

“I mean, I’ve seen porn,” he says, chin jutting. “Should we know who does what?”

I press a kiss to his sternum. He smells incredible. Like peppermint and…

Wait.

“Did you shower because—” I purse my lips. “You already thought this through, didn’t you?”

He doesn’t blush or fidget when he admits, “I wanted to be clean. Just in case.”

Just in case. Those three words run like lava through my brain.

“We can talk about that,” I say, easing him onto themattress, swiping away the dozens of useless decorative pillows, “if you want to go there.”

“You won’t get annoyed if I ask too many questions?”

“I promise.” My hands spread over the waistband of his pajama bottoms. “Can we start here?”

After a long beat, he nods.

I untie the knot. It’s a clumsy, graceless effort, but we get there. Then he slides off my joggers, and my boxers too.

“Whoa.” He pauses. I can tell he’s trying hard not to stare below my navel. “You’re not, um, like me? Down there, I mean.”

I grin. “No.”

“Cool, cool.” He nods too many times. “Should I do anything…differently?”

This time, a full, stomach-clenching laugh rumbles out of me.

“I’ll show you.”

“Cool, cool,” he repeats to himself. “One more question.”

I raise an eyebrow.

“Why aren’t we kissing?”

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