Free Sex Drive by Susan Lyons

wonder. “Day? That’s a really nice thing to say.”
    He shrugged. “It’s the truth. Any man in his right mind would feel that way.”
    “Not so as I’ve noticed.” The humor was back, this time wry.
    “Then you haven’t been looking in the right places.” He picked up a strawberry. “Want another?”
    “I think it’s your turn.” She took the berry from his fingers, dipped it in mousse, and held it out to him.
    He nibbled the treat and with the last morsel sucked the tip of her index finger into his mouth.
    She gave a startled, “Ooh.” A flush colored her cheeks and the exposed V of her chest. Under the thin sweater, her nipples tightened.
    It was those nipples he imagined as he sucked on her finger. When he freed her, he teased, “Do you blush when you’re teaching at the uni?”
    Her hands went up, covering her cheeks. “No.”
    “Why not?”
    “I guess because I know what I’m doing. I’m confident.”
    “But not with me?” He put a slice of cheese on a cracker and offered it to her.
    “No thanks, I’ll stick to fruit and chocolate.”
    He ate the bite himself and fixed another. “You didn’t answer my question.”
    “It’s not you, Day, it’s men. I’m not confident with men. As colleagues and students, yes, but not, uh, socially.”
    That was nuts. She had so much going for her. How could she have let one man destroy her confidence? “Jeffrey has a lot to answer for.” He broke a grape off the small bunch on his plate, dipped it into her mousse, then held it out so she could take it from his fingers, her soft lips a tantalizing whisper against his skin.
    “It wasn’t only him. I was always years younger than the boys in my classes. Like, graduating high school at fourteen? You can bet no one asked me to the prom.”
    “I see what you mean. But once you reach a certain age, when everyone’s grown up, the differences don’t matter so much.” He fed her a slice of overripe papaya and a bead of juice trickled over her bottom lip and down her chin.
    He wanted to lick it, but she caught it with her finger. “Yes, but by then I had my doctorate.” She stuck her finger between her lips and sucked it, which made his cock jerk inside the confinement of his jeans.
    “I’d missed out on all the girlie stuff,” she said. She slanted him a glance, wet her lips. “And on Sex.”
    Sex. The word, coming out of her full lips, sent a surge of lust straight to his already aroused groin, and he could barely suppress a moan.
    “Sure,” she went on, “I knew the textbook facts about male/female relationships, but that’s not the same thing as being a normal teenager. Trying to decide if a boy really likes you, having your first kiss, wondering how far to go. Knowing when you’re in love versus in lust. Knowing when a guy’s in love versus just using you.” She’d gone from sounding wistful to bitter. Thinking of her ex again.
    “Okay. But hell, Theresa, you’re grown up now. A beautiful, intelligent, interesting woman. You must’ve gained a bunch of experience since Jeffrey.”
    She shrugged. “I wasn’t interested in trying again.” Quickly she added, “Look, I’m not completely pitiful and naïve. Jeffrey wasn’t my first and he wasn’t my last.”
    “I didn’t mean that.” Only that she was vulnerable. Perhaps he ought to back off. He didn’t want to hurt her.
    Theresa jabbed a finger in the middle of his chest. Hard. “No!”
    He jerked and almost knocked his food tray off balance.
    “I see that look in your eyes.” She jabbed him once more. “I hate that ‘poor little smart girl’ look. Don’t you go making decisions for me. If I let you…” she went even pinker, “uh, feed me dessert, it’s because I want to.”
    Feed her dessert? The woman had to be aware that the dessert was foreplay.
    “Not,” she went on, “because I’m some loser who’s desperate for the attention of a handsome guy. And I want you doing it because you want to, not because you