I grab his thick wrist with both of my hands.
“I’m sure. But I need to tell you something.”
Sutton closes his eyes, breathing sharply through his nose. “Please tell me you aren’t a virgin.”
“What? No. Of course not.” I laugh, but abruptly sober when I remember what I was about to say.
Sutton notices my hesitation. “Whatever it is, you can trust me.”
“It’s just that…” I bite my lip. With a deep breath for courage, I tell him, “I’m bad in bed.”
The silence pulses around us like a living, breathing thing.
Sutton buries his face in the junction of my shoulder and neck, his shoulders shaking with soundless laughter.
“It’s not funny,” I scold, affronted by his humor.
Sutton straightens, brushing a wayward strand of hair off my cheek while his other hand continues teasing my stomach. “Who told you that you were bad in bed, gorgeous?”
My stomach flutters at both his touch and his sweet compliment. “My exes. Random hookups.”
His eyebrows snap together. “Why would they say that?”
I shift my gaze to a spot on the wall beyond Sutton’s left shoulder. “Because they couldn’t get me off.”
Immediately, his demeanor changes. The humor evaporates like morning dew on a hot summer’s day. Sutton sobers, hishand sliding up my neck to cup my face, bringing my eyes back to his.
“You’ve never had an orgasm?”
“Oh, jeez.” Flames lick my cheeks. “No. I mean, yes, I have. If you must know, I can get myself off just fine.”
“My Firecracker,” he huffs, hands skating down my sides. “Those guys are the ones who are lousy in bed. Not you.”
“But they didn’t seem to have any trouble.”
“Exactly.” Sutton nods as he begins working my shorts over my hips. He doesn’t even need my help. Just lifts my ass off the counter as if I weigh as much as a feather and tugs the stretchy material down. “It’s the man’s job to make their woman come. However he has to do that for however long it takes to get the job done.”
Sutton spreads my knees, lifting one foot to set it on the counter, exposing me to him. Cool air hits directly between my thighs.
He trails kisses up my inner leg, starting at my ankle.
“What are you doing?” I whisper, dropping my hand onto his broad shoulder for balance.
He pauses near my knee, sweeping the crease with his tongue. “I’m showing you that you aren’t broken, gorgeous. Not even a little.”
My shoulders tense as apprehension sneaks in. “You’re going to be so disappointed,” I mumble.
Sutton snaps the string of my thong. “Love this. Do you have more of them?”
“It’s all I wear.”
“Good.” Sutton grips the side in both hands and tears the string in two.
I don’t have time to react before his fingers take the place of my underwear. His touch is soft and exploring. He starts byrunning his fingers down, tracing each side, before circling back to the top, where I keep a neat triangle of hair.
“Relax,” he murmurs into the quiet, his eyes steady on mine. “Lean against the cupboards.”
I do as he says, melting into the wood at my back.
