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Chapter 9
Orgasm Embargo
Prudence
“You haven’t had sex with him?”
My face flamed red hot as Daria’s shrill voice drew the attention of several other patrons in the little deli near the casino. She and Lennon met me there for lunch after my morning physical therapy session, though I was regretting that decision.
“Keep your voice down,” I hissed. “My, uh, situation is not for public consumption.”
“Then you should’ve waited to tell us in private.”
“Trust me. I’ve seen the error of my ways.”
Lennon bent over our table and, in a voice much quieter than my sister’s, asked, “No intimacy at all or just no”—she made a lewd gesture with her fingers—“penetration.”
Daria snorted. I scrunched my nose. “The latter.”
“Thank god,” they said at the same time.
“Just forget I said anything.”
Before Zak, I had exactly one boyfriend, Steve. That sham of a relationship ended the moment I found the cheating bastard in bed with my supposed best friend. The betrayal hurt, but it didn’t devastate me. Probably because my heart was never truly his.
Zak was different. I fell without even realizing it. He treated me with respect at work and like royalty at home. So why was he treating me like glass? Was there something wrong with me? I didn’t realize I said the last part out loud until Lennon answered.
“There is nothing wrong with you, Pru.”
“I’ve seen the way Zak looks at you, big sis.”
Picking up a wedge of my perfectly grilled ham and cheese sandwich, I took a generous bite before asking, “What way is that?”
“Like his whole world revolves around you and your happiness.”
“Really?”
“He bought an entire building just to be close to you, for fuck’s sake.”
Lennon gaped at me with eyes so wide it was comical. “Holy crap. He did?”
“Yup,” Daria answered. “Those are the actions of a man who knows what he wants.”
“Then why does he keep putting on the brakes in bed?”
Neither of them had an answer. I was about to change the subject when I noticed an evil grin spread across my friend’s face. It was a little scary, truth be told. Lennon didn’t have a wicked bone in her body. Daria saw too, but unlike me, she didn’t have a problem calling her out.
“What’s with that look?”
She turned her gaze to me, and her smile got bigger. “Orgasm embargo.”
“Excuse me, what?”
“Put him on an orgasm embargo. It means––”
“I know what the hell it means,” I broke in, then lowered my tone. “But why would I deny him orgasms? That’s cruel. Besides the fact, wouldn’t it mean denying myself too?”
“Crap. Clearly I didn’t think it through.”
