If he'd argued with her, if he'd made any sort of statement about wanting to wait, or even if he'd hinted at it, she would've stopped. No real harm had been done. They'd kissed before, she'd sat on his lap before, it was no big deal.

But he didn't say anything. His hands came to rest on her hips and she leaned into him again, tracing her tongue down the side of his neck.

“I do not want this to come between us,” he insisted, clenching his fingers. “I don't want to do this if it could possibly ruin anything between us.”

Tate laughed again and as she bit down on his earlobe, she ripped his belt away from his waist, letting it fly across the room.

“This is two friends having a very good time together, and nothing more. If you understand that and you're okay with the fact that it'll only happen while we're here, then there is absolutely nothing to worry about.”

When she pulled off her top, he finally seemed to lose any reservations he'd had. His hands slid over her hips and up her back, his palms warm against her skin as he moved them up onto her shoulders.

“I don't understand why he would let you do this. Why he would share you,” he breathed, toying with one of her bra straps and gently sliding it to the side.

“Because he cares about you and he knows I'll take of you,” she told him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. “And he trusts me and knows that I know what I'm doing, knows that no matter what happens, I belong to him. Besides, sex has always been different for Jameson – it's not as emotional for him. It's an act. Think of it like a pick-up tennis game. We're just playing a friendly set, you and I.”

“Whereas you and he are a doubles team.”

She let her head drop back and she laughed loudly.

“You really do understand me, Sanders. Even when I'm talking absolute bullshit.”

This time, he initiated the kiss. Tate knew she was the only woman he'd ever kissed, but he was still pretty good at it. With a mind like his, she wouldn't be surprised to find out he'd thought about it and studied the act in his mind. Going over and over it until he was confident he could do it well.

If that's true about his kissing, then jesus, he's going to be amazing in bed.

He startled her by abruptly standing up. Sanders was like chorded steel – slender and tone, and also very strong. She wrapped her legs around his waist and scratched her fingers through the hair on the back of his head. He carried her across the room, his tongue becoming very acquainted with the inside of her mouth while he moved.

“See? This isn't so bad,” she laughed when he lowered her to the bed.

“Please, don't talk. I'm trying not to think about what is going on right now.”

“Oh, you better be very aware of everything that's going on right now.”

Since the age of eighteen, Tate had never been shy about her body. Jameson had cured her of that, fucking away any inhibitions in one night. She knew what she liked, how she wanted to be touched, and she knew how she wanted to touch other people. She let her hands wander over every inch of Sanders without thought, memorizing him in a totally different way from before.

She pulled his undershirt away from his body and over his head, chucking it behind the headboard. Then moaned as he kissed along the shell of her ear, sighed as his hands ran down the sides of her body.

While Sanders may have been somewhat uncomfortable – what with being with a woman for the first time, and being with Tate at all – she wasn't. She felt more comfortable with Sanders than with anyone else, including Jameson. So touching him and playing with him were just second nature to her, even in this new way. His skin was her skin. She smiled against his kiss as she swept her hands down his chest and hooked her fingers into the top of his pants.

“I want you to talk to me,” she whispered into his mouth. His eyes fluttered shut when she unbuttoned his pants.

“I can't talk like him. I don't want to,” he told her. She laughed softly as she pulled down his zipper.

“I don't want you to,” she assured him. “I want you to tell me what you want. I want you to say anything that's in your head. Anything at all. Everything.”

“I don't ...” his voice trailed off as her hand slipped inside his pants and her fingernails scratched at his boxer briefs.

“Think of this as Sex 101,” she suggested. “This is your chance to ask what goes where and what to do with what, and not feel nervous or embarrassed at all. Tell me what you want.”

“I don't know,” he said, then she could hear his breath catching in his throat. She opened her eyes wide and stared down between their bodies. Sex was usually just sex, one man was pretty much like the next, she'd always told herself that – especially in regards to this endeavor – but this was still Sanders. He could never be like any other man in any regard, and that proved to be true in more ways than one. She was a little blown away by how ready and hard and large he was.

“I take it all back,” she laughed. “No matter what happens tonight, you will do perfectly fine in the sex department.”

He actually laughed. A loud, warm sound, coming from his chest. A rarity, for sure. Then he sighed and dropped his forehead to hers as she started stroking her hand up and down.

“I ...” he tried to speak again, but still couldn't finish. She licked her lips and moved her hand faster. Arched her back and pressed her breasts to his chest.

“Do you like this?” she breathed.

“Yes,” he hissed through clenched teeth.

“What else?” she insisted, writhing slowly underneath him. Seeking some friction for herself. “Tell me what else you want.”

“I want … I want to touch you.”

“God, yes, please touch me.”

He was kissing her again. He was a surprisingly aggressive kisser, lots of tongue and crushing lips. Just like she liked. One of his hands pressed down heavily over her breast and she gasped, then moaned as the hand moved over her stomach.

“Move.”

The command startled her and before she realized what was happening, he was pulling away. Breaking her hold on him. As her arm fell away from him, his own hands were squeezing her ribs. He roughly moved her, shifting her around on the bed. As he pushed her back into the pillows, she strained towards him, kissing him even as he continued moving over her. She had her hands on either side of his face, holding him close while he laid down on top of her.