Page 297 of The First Taste

"Like this?" Her voice is soft, almost seductive. I run my fingers along her arm, and she shivers.

"Just like that," I say, encouraging her. "I want you to be the best actress in a room full of phonies."

I see a flash of her pink tongue as she presses her lips together. She reaches out her trembling hand to touch my cheek, caressing it ever so gently. She rubs the tips of her fingers into the hair just behind my ear and then over the back of my head. I shudder, surprised at the touch.

It feels better than I expected for Talia to touch me of her own volition.

"Is this good?" she asks.

I nod, catching her hand and making eye contact with her as I bring her palm to my lips, then kiss her wrist.

Her skin is warm and smooth. Her breath catches in her throat at the movement of my lips on her skin. She doesn’t resist, but I notice her racing heartbeat as I swipe my tongue over her pulse point.

I sweep a hand down her thigh, causing her to jump.

"Dare," she says. A warning, more than anything.

I am not really listening. I tuck a strand of her copper hair behind her ear and look her dead in the eyes. "This is the way that you need to look at me," I grit out.

She gazes back at me, her blue eyes staring right into my soul.

"Like this?" she asks.

I have to admit, hearing her ask me for my approval stirs something in me—something hungry and primal. Like something is lurking just below the surface.

I smirk and readjust myself, moving her leg just so my stiff cock presses against the inside of her knee. I know that she notices the contact because I hear her gulp for air.

I arch a brow. "What? I’m just a man. You can’t expect me not to get turned on sometimes."

She shakes her head. "That isn’t what this is about, Dare. We are trying to make it look good, not feel good."

"That’s true." I tuck another strand of her hair back behind her ear and then move closer, my fingers entwining in her hair.

Turning her face up toward mine, I press my lips against hers. It’s slower this time, more languid, less rushed. I brush my lips over hers once and then press them a second time, more forcefully and passionately.

She gradually responds to my kiss, opening her mouth just slightly and letting my tongue enter her mouth. Our tongues writhe together, wrestling slowly, making my cock stiffen.

At length, I pull back. The next step should be to pull her onto my lap and pull down her dress so that her tits are there before me. I’ve never seen them, but I imagine that they are small, perky, and perfect, and ripe for tasting.

I drop my fingers to the neckline of her dress, admiring the creamy abundance of her breasts, and she pulls back. Skittering off my lap, she arches a brow. "Dare, that was over the line."

"Over the line for who? It seemed like the only thing to do at that moment."

"You know I have put a boundary there. No hands below the dress. We can fake it without having to actually have sex."

"Are you giving me boundaries, darling girl?” I give her a cool laugh. "I don’t believe in boundaries. Not between us. We are going to be married. We will not have secrets, and we won’t have boundaries either."

She laughs, looking disbelieving. "You are so contradictory; I can hardly believe it. You have done nothing but tell me how I should act since I’ve been unfortunate enough to know you."

"Yeah, so?"

“So.” She stands up and cocks her hip, pursing her lips. "Some people call those boundaries. And what’s worse is that this whole thing? It’s to fool your family. Where I come from, family is the only group of people that you can be your true self around."

"Well, you wouldn’t know what it’s like to have parents or grandparents. Maybe if you did, you would understand where I’m coming from."

She winces. "Jesus, Dare. You really don’t pull any punches, do you?"

She turns, stalking out of the room. I watch her ass sway back and forth as she goes, strutting in her high heels.