Perfect Partners

invitingly against her lips. “Tell me, Letty.”
    “Open your mouth,” she breathed, feeling bolder by the minute.
    He did as she instructed and opened his mouth against hers. Letty parted her own lips at the same time and then waited on tenterhooks for the feel of his tongue.
    Nothing happened.
    Tentatively Letty ran the tip of her tongue along Joel’s lower lip. He groaned in instant response, and his arms tightened around her. A curl of fire sizzled through her at the realization that she had elicited such a reaction from him.
    “Now you do it to me,” she managed.
    “Do what?”
    “You know. What I just did to you.” She dug her nails into his scalp. “Do it.”
    “You got it, boss.”
    Letty held her breath as she felt his tongue slip warmly across her lips, teasing her. It wasn’t enough. She gripped him harder, not minding the wetness of the kiss at all.
    “Inside,” Letty commanded urgently.
    His tongue moved obediently into her mouth. She touched it with her own and was astounded at the sense of intimacy. A shiver went through her.
    “You like that, boss?” Joel’s voice was low and husky.
    “Yes.
Yes
. I like it very much.”
    “Good.”
    For a long while Letty was content just to explore the full potential of the deep kiss. Joel seemed prepared to oblige her until the end of time. She leaned against his chest, aware that the feeling of damp heat that was filling her mouth was beginning to flow in her lower body.
    After another minute or two of the intimate kiss, Letty pulled away just far enough to speak.
    “Joel?”
    “Yeah?” His voice was darker, harsher, almost raw. “What next, boss?”
    “Touch me.”
    He went still for an instant. “Where?”
    “My…” She hesitated, losing her nerve at the last second. “My waist. Put your hands on my waist.”
    “Right. Your waist.” His fingers settled just above her hips and squeezed gently. “Like that?”
    “Maybe a little higher?”
    “You don’t sound sure.”
    “Try it,” she murmured, frustrated.
    “Anything you say, boss.” His hands slid up her sides until his thumbs were resting just below the weight of her breasts. “Now what?”
    Letty mentally flipped through the articles and books she had read on the subject of sex. She stopped scanning when she recalled one particular discussion on erogenous zones.
    “My nipple,” she got out in a tight little voice.
    “What about it?”
    “Touch it.”
    “Like this?” Joel’s thumb grazed it through the fabric of her nightgown.
    “Oh, God, yes. Just like that. Do it again.”
    He did it a second time. “How about the other one?”
    “Yes, please. That one, too.”
    “My pleasure.” Joel lightly scraped her other nipple.
    It was not enough. Not nearly enough. “Take off my nightgown,” The instant the words were out of her mouth, Letty was appalled. She could not believe she had given such an instruction.
    But it was too late to recall it. Joel was already undoing the buttons. Letty closed her eyes and held herself very still as he peeled the nightgown off her shoulders and let it fall to the floor at her feet.
    “Oh, my God,” Letty muttered.
    “How am I doing so far, boss?”
    “Oh, my God.” Letty did not open her eyes. The thought of herself naked in front of him was simply too much. She clung to him, afraid she would collapse if she let go. “Do what you did that night in my apartment.”
    “What did I do?”
    “You know, that thing you did with your leg. Between mine.”
    “Oh, yeah. Right. You liked that, huh?”
    “Yes,” she breathed. “Do it. Please.”
    “Yes, ma’am.” Joel eased her back against the wall, bracing himself with one hand behind her head. His bare foot slid between hers, edging her legs apart.
    Letty kept her eyes squeezed shut as she felt his denim-clad leg move upward. The jeans were excitingly rough on her bare skin. Slowly his thigh slid along hers, easing her legs farther apart, opening her.
    It was too outrageous for words.
    It was too erotic for words.
    The damp heat within her began to feel like a river of lava. Her nails dug into his shoulders, and her head fell back against the wall.
    And then he was there—or rather, his knee was—pushing against her softness, lifting her up onto her toes and then off the floor entirely. Panic seized her for an instant. She felt so vulnerable.
    “
Joel
.”
    “Change your mind?” His leg started to slide back down, lowering her to the floor.
    “No, no, I haven’t