Page 97 of Holiday Love
“Both vessels are supposed to turn to starboard and pass port-to-port. You fail.”
I shake my head in disbelief. “Unbelievable. So what you’re saying is, size doesn’t matter?”
“Don’t fool yourself, sizealwaysmatters.” Grinning, Helen points at me like a judge handing down a sentence. “Boxers off.”
For a moment, I consider calling her bluff, but the way she’s looking at me, daring me, combined with how brave she was just minutes ago, leaves me no choice. Still, I can drag this out, tease her, make her squirm. I let the silence stretch, filled only with the soft patter of rain against the windows. Then I tip my head back and give her my best slow-burn smirk, looking up at her through my lashes. With deliberate, striptease precision, I grasp the waistband of my boxers and drag them down, never breakingeye contact. It’s a struggle to work them past my cast, but Helen leans in, helping me tug them the rest of the way. When I’m bare, my cock springs free, hard and straining, and her sharp inhale is better than any victory lap.
Her lips part, tongue darting to wet them. “Mmm,” she murmurs, voice low and husky. “I think I like tutoring too.” A long pause, then Helen shakes her head like she’s breaking out of a trance. She furrows her brow, concentrating. “All right. Last question. Make it count.”
Not at all embarrassed by my nakedness, I lean forward, elbows braced on my knees. “Hit me.”
She clears her throat, trying to sound calm, but the tremor in her voice betrays her like she understands how, now that we’re almost to the end, the stakes have risen. “You’re at sea. It’s night. You see a vessel showing a green light and a red light, both visible at the same time. What does it mean?”
My brain fumbles for a second, half-distracted by how close she sits, by how sexy she looks, but then it clicks. I smirk, slow and triumphant. “Easy. It means the other vessel’s coming head-on. The rule is that both of us turn starboard, pass port-to-port.”
Helen freezes. “Correct.”
I sit back, grinning like I just won the Super Bowl. “Which means…” I gesture at her with a lazy wave of my hand.
Her jaw tightens, but her cheeks flush red. She tries for sass, but it comes out breathless. “Fine. A deal’s a deal.”
With deliberate slowness, like she’s getting revenge on me for earlier, she hooks her thumbs into the waistband of her panties. The lace slips down her hips, her last piece of armor falling away until she stands in front of me, completely bare.
My throat works as I drink her in. “I’ve never been so happy to get an A in all my life.” My voice crackslike a kid during puberty.
Helen laughs, trying to sound unimpressed, but there’s heat flickering in her eyes, answering mine. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, Captain Cocky. You still need to study tomorrow and every day until the test.”
I grin, reaching for her wrist. I tug her toward me. “Oh, I plan on studying all night long.”
She falls into my lap. Her soft laughter halts, and her eyes widen when she feels how hard I am beneath her.
“Still want to argue about size?” I whisper into her ear, dragging my tongue along her pulse until she shivers.
Before she can answer, I flip her around so she lies on her back. I lean down and kiss her long and deep until her hand comes up and fists into my hair, tugging hard enough to make me groan.
Her breath catches, and I grin, crooked and reckless. “Do I get extra credit if I make you come?”
Chapter forty-three
Helen
Teddy laughs at his own joke, then runs his hand over my cheek and down my neck, staring at me with the most tender expression. Then he’s gone, shuffling his body down mine, which isn’t easy given the awkward bulk of his cast. The rough surface of it scrapes against my leg and then over my foot. I don’t complain, though. I know how much he hates the thing, how he can’t wait to get it off in four days.
When his face lines up with my pelvis, I tense, suddenly understanding what comes next. We’ve had sex, but this is different. For reasons I can’t explain, oral sex always feels like the most vulnerable act, more intimate than anything else.
Instantly, Teddy senses my hesitation. He lifts his head andpeers up at me. “Is this okay?”
I nod, breath shallow, because as apprehensive as I am, I’m equally turned on.
I want it. I want him.
He kisses my inner thigh while keeping his eyes trained on me like he’s judging my reaction. I force myself to hold steady, to let him see I’m not pulling away. That I’m ready for him.
When he’s sure I’m okay, he leans in, tongue teasing the inside of my thigh, warm, wet, relentless. Then a sudden jolt as I feel the solid, shocking scrape of metal against my skin.
His tongue piercing.
“Teddy,” I gasp.
