@BroderickAdams to @LucyFitz Human head + horse body = centaur. Horse head + human body = WTF. So, the first one, obvs.
@RonanFitz to @BroderickAdams @LucyFitz No more acid tabs for either of you.
Lucy
Oh, man. Oh, wow.
I couldn’t tell if it was down to me being such a good teacher or Sean having so much untapped potential, but our first sex lesson was going swimmingly. I lay back on the mattress, completely spent as I tried to catch my breath. Then a light? disbelieving chuckle escaped me. This situation was just beyond weird. Anyone might think I was getting far more out of the arrangement than him. I mean, he had given me two pretty fantastic oral sessions, even if he’d come prematurely during sex . . .
He was currently sprawled out beside me on the bed, his head turned to the side as he surveyed my post-orgasmic bliss with barely concealed fascination. He’d laid a claiming hand on my stomach; it was so large it splayed from my ribs to my hipbone.
“What’s so funny?” he murmured tenderly.
I shook my head, unable to answer, words catching in my throat.
Looking at him now, his eyelids lowered and his voice heavy with wonder and longing, a force of uncomfortable and unanticipated emotion gripped me. Maybe it was the stellar and surprising double orgasm, or perhaps I was just tired from the trip, but seeing him now, how he watched me made me feel greedy for him. And the greed felt foolish and unsafe.
I sat up and pulled the bathrobe closed, turning away and swinging my legs over the edge of the bed. Taking several deep breaths, my gaze then snagged on my suitcase.
“Lucy?” His hand was on my back, rubbing a circle at the base of my spine.
I closed my eyes, needing to swallow before I could respond. “You’re a very fast learner.”
Now he chuckled, a sexy, low rumble. It hit me like a wave crashing over my skin.
“Thank you. You’re an exceptional teacher.” He sounded pleased.
“Ah, well . . .” I forced amusement into my voice and stood, moving purposefully away from him and his warmth. I crouched in front of my bag and pulled out a pair of clean yoga pants, underwear, and a baggy T-shirt.
“You’re getting dressed?” By the distance and direction of his voice, I could tell he was still on the bed.
“Yes.” I plastered a carefree smile on my face and, gripping my clothes to my chest, turned to face him as I walked backward into the bathroom. “Unfortunately, I will not be able to stay for steak and sex. I have places to be and pictures to take.”
His scowl was immediate. His eyes sharpened and felt like piercing icicles as he studied me. I held my breath. I thought he was going to argue.
Scratch that.
Idiot me hoped he would argue. I hoped he would ask me to stay, or flex his newly found flirting muscle and coax me into staying. I didn’t understand this desire, but there it was: weird and alarming and completely unwelcomed.
For a split second, I thought I would get my wish because he opened his mouth as though to contradict me.
But he didn’t.
“Fine,” he said, his lips curving into a quick grimace of a smile, his expression growing distant. Sean lay back on the bed, moving his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling. “But I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”
Crappers! I felt like a total bitch. He’d just given me the elusive double orgasm and I was leaving him hanging.
“Yes. Absolutely.” I tried for cheerful, but didn’t quite manage it. “And tomorrow we’ll focus on you. Sorry to leave you hard up.”
Sean shook his head, his voice sounding distant in a way that made my heart ache. “I’ve told you before, you should never apologize for not wanting to have sex with someone.”
My steps faltered on the threshold to the bathroom and I hesitated, wanting to correct him. I did want to have sex with him. I wanted to have more than sex with him. And that was the problem.
Instead I said, “Tomorrow afternoon should be fine, but I’ll only be able to stay for an hour.” I didn’t have to leave after an hour, but I needed to set some boundaries for myself.
“Fine.” He nodded, then grabbed a pillow, pulled it to his chest and turned his back to me. “Turn off the lights, would you? I think I’ll take a nap.”
***
Nothing like a long bath, an hour of quiet yoga alone in my apartment, and marathon episodes of Blackadder to pull me out of my weird sentimental funk. Well, that and a good, stern self-talking-to.
Also a big help, doing a Google Image search for “Sean Cassidy Girlfriend” and being positively dumbfounded by the sheer number of Sean +1 bimbo images. The most recent one was from a few weeks ago and the woman had taken a selfie with Sean while he slept . . .
While. He. Slept.
Bloody weirdo.
But I couldn’t help but notice that the only woman he’d appeared with more than once was Brona O’Shea. Now I knew his involvement with Brona had been a deception, I was no longer surprised that Sean was so terrible between the sheets.