Page 30 of Blow Me Down
He didn’t want to discuss it. That was fine with me—I’d much rather pursue more entertaining avenues. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t despise you now, although I’m going to have to knock off a couple of points for the kidnapping.”
“It was the only way I thought you would listen to me,” he answered, his lips brushing against mine. The hands that had been counting my ribs slid around to meet on my belly, then started an upward climb. My breasts, not normally given to thinking for themselves, suddenly came to life and decided that more than anything in the world, they wanted out of the thin blouse and leather bodice, and into Corbin’s hands. “I knew you’d joined Bart’s crew, and with the bounty on my head, I half thought you might be after my blood.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, too distracted by the sudden throbbing in my breasts to do more than mentally flinch from his words about the bounty on his head. “I seem to be having some difficulty with my breasts.”
His brows pulled together as we both looked down to where my cleavage was front and center. His hands were just below them, poised to scale the linen-clad impudent mounds. “Difficulty? What sort of difficulty? They look perfectly fine to me. Positively tasty, in fact.”
“They’re unruly,” I admitted, then gasped when Corbin’s thumbs swept across my straining nipples. “Hoocheewawa! Don’t do that again, you’ll make them revolt or something!”
“No? They look like they need mouth-to-… er… breast resuscitation. Would it help if I did this?”
Before I could try to force air back into my lungs, Corbin’s head dipped to my cleavage, his tongue snaking out to caress the valley between my breasts.
My knees buckled.
“It’s not really helping, no,” I said, clutching his shoulders for support.
“Maybe I’m not resuscitating them well enough,” he murmured into my chest, tugging down the linen blouse until one (extremely happy) breast was exposed to his attention. “Maybe I should…”
A wave of undiluted pleasure rippled from my breast to all points on my body as his mouth closed over my aching nipple, setting my skin tingling, my bones melting, and my brain into shutdown mode. I couldn’t even form words; I just whimpered encouragement at him. Oh, the random thought popped into my head that I was not behaving in a discreet manner at all, that I had never been one for throwing myself into intimate acts with men I hardly knew, and that I really should be focused on getting out of the game rather than enjoying myself with the man who was currently making me mindless with the tongue swirlies that were laving my breast, but I pushed that thought down just as easily as I pushed the others.
Tara told me I needed to play more. Well, Corbin was here, I was here, and we were playing. End of story.
Only it wasn’t, of course. I knew that as Corbin raised his head, his eyes liquid silver with arousal. “I think it’s going to make it.”
“It might, but I may just die if you don’t do the other one.”
His lip, which I deemed from firsthand experience delectable, curved in a smile.
“We wouldn’t want that, now, would we? Shall we continue this discussion somewhere more comfortable? Say… my bed over there?”
I looked from the dark cherry captain’s bed snuggled up against a wall in the cabin to Corbin. His words acted like a bucketful of seawater splashed in my face. “Whoa, now. You wouldn’t be hinting not so subtly that you’d like to have sex, would you?”
His eyes went even more molten. “You didn’t seem to me like the sort of woman who likes playing verbal games about natural desires, but yes, as a matter of fact, I would very much like to make love to you. I’m not ashamed to admit that I wanted you the minute I realized you weren’t a computer-generated player.”
“It was the fact that I don’t play—verbal games or anything else—that got me stuck here in the first place,” I said, tucking myself back into my blouse. “I like you, Corbin, I really do. I enjoyed kissing you, and while I admit that allowing you to… er… resuscitate my breast might be considered leading you on, sex, actual sex, is out of the question.” I paused for a moment, something he said striking a chord. “You wanted me the minute you knew I was real?”
“Yes.” His frown was back. He let go of me and crossed his arms over his chest.
I took a step closer to him. I couldn’t help myself, I seemed to be drawn to him by some strange, magnetic force.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
“When was that?”
“When you mentioned being willing to trade away your PDA. The computer characters lack contemporary references in their dialogue array. Only other players, real people, would know what a PDA was, let alone mention it. As soon as I heard you say it, I knew you were a real person.”
“Wow. I figured you, as the game master or whatever you call yourself, would be able to see that I was a real player.”
He shook his head. “The in-game admin panel was too buggy, so we removed it while it’s being recoded. The only way I can tell which players are real and which aren’t is to access the admin panel, and I can’t do that while I’m in the game.”
“Hmm. Back to the other thing… are you always instantly attracted to women?”
“No.” His frown deepened, the lovely melty look in his eyes turning cold.
“I see.” I didn’t really, but I wasn’t about to admit that he had me confused as well as bemused. “Always Be the One to Remain in Control”: that was my motto (I’m a firm believer in a motto for every situation), and it had served me well for many a year.
“Are you trying to say that you don’t feel an instant attraction?”
