His mouth dipped toward mine again. "Appreciated."

As goose bumps prickled across the swells of my breasts, I gestured around the room. "What now?"

"Do you want to start with me or with you?"

I frowned in confusion. "Why would we start with me? I know what I want. This is about learning what you want, learning to be good at doing it to you."

Nate immediately shook his head, a frown marring his brow. "How can you know what you want when you've only had sex once, Liv? You not only want to be confident you can get him off, you want to be confident in your own pleasure." His fingers moved to the buttons on his jeans and he began to undress. Blood whooshed in my ears as I watched. "Know what it takes to get you off and then let him know. If he doesn't want to know how to get you off, then get him off you."

At that my eyes drifted back up to his face and I snorted, relaxing a little. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Make sure that you do. Sex is a two-way street."

"Okay."

"So . . . me or you?"

"Uh . . ."

"We'll start with you." He kicked his jeans off. I admired his athletic body. He was by far the best-looking guy I'd ever seen in real life and I was about to have sex with him.

"This is a little surreal," I murmured without thinking.

"It's about to get very real," came his deep, seductive reply.

"Oh, boy."

He laughed again and stepped back into my space, the back of his knuckles brushing down the curve of my waist and sending a lovely shiver rippling down my spine. "I'm going to take off your underwear," he whispered, his warm breath dancing across my mouth. "Are you ready for that?"

I'd already stood in front of him in my skimpy lingerie and somehow gotten through it without feeling like a heifer. In fact, surprisingly, Nate had made me feel kind of . . . hot. I nodded, a little tongue-tied, my eyes lifting to his as his fingers skimmed around my back to the clasp of my bra.

"You really do have the most stunning eyes," he breathed as he expertly unclipped my bra, his own beautiful dark brown eyes penetrating mine.

I almost purred, my chest rising and falling quickly now as I felt his fingers caress my shoulder blades before drifting over the straps of my bra.

As he smoothed the straps down my arms he traced little circles in my skin. "Like silk," he whispered.

My bra fell from my body and Nate's gaze dropped to my naked breasts. They swelled under his attention, my nipples puckering in the cold air. "Babe," he said appreciatively, and I shuddered at the feel of his warm hand cupping my right breast, his thumb sliding across the nipple. "Fuck me, you're gorgeous."

A light switched on inside me, its luminance shining from the very depths of me, and I knew Nate caught that light because when our eyes met again he grew very still.

"Thank you," I managed to force out. For making me feel beautiful.

I didn't have to say the words out loud. Nate got it.

In answer he crushed his mouth over mine in a hard, deep kiss, and cupped both breasts, thumbs gliding over the pebbled nipples. I gasped into his mouth as heat dove through my belly heading for my sex. Wanting to touch him but still unsure, I trailed my hands tentatively over his chest, learning the feel of him under my fingertips. He was warm, his skin smooth, and I felt his strength in the coiled, hard muscles of his body. I throbbed at the feel of him under my hands.

He broke the kiss and my swollen lips pouted in disappointment.

His grin was wicked as he edged his body into mine and kept going until I had to move with him. The back of my legs hit my footboard. "Get on the bed," he commanded hoarsely. "Lie back."

I did as he asked, leaning up on my elbows, waiting excitedly for his next move. My eyes lowered to his black boxer briefs and my breath stuttered at the sight of his raging erection.

I did that.

A triumphant smile curled my lips, and my belly flipped at his low, pleased chuckle. It flipped even harder as his hands coasted up my outer thighs and his thumbs hooked into the lace edging of my panties.

I froze, my eyes darting to his.

"Liv . . ." His tone was reassuring.

Nodding, I lifted my hips to help him and couldn't stop the blood heating my cheeks as he slowly peeled my panties down my legs and let them drop to the floor.

He took his time eating me up with his eyes. "I like the underwear, but I've got to say, I don't think you've ever looked better than you do right now."

Oh, wow. That's so nice. Telling him I thought so might have spoiled the mood, though, so instead, still blushing, I croaked out, "What now?"

"Lie back and trust me. I want you to tell me if you don't like something I'm doing and let me know when you really like something I'm doing."

The breath whooshed right out of me as I lay back, watching him as he got on the bed and settled his knees on either side of my waist. The heat from his body hit mine and he wasn't even touching me. His cologne taunted me, its heady scent affecting not only my sense of smell but my taste buds as well. I wanted to find its origin on his body and I wanted to lick and suck and kiss his skin until he was groaning underneath me.

It seemed Nate had a similar idea in mind.

Hands braced on the mattress on either side of my head, he bent to graze his lips over mine. Back and forth, back and forth. Teasing. Tingling. Frustrating. Just as I was about to complain impatiently, he kissed me harder. I moved my lips beneath his, our tongues stroking each other in a deep mating that brought me new understanding of the sexual promise of a kiss. The kisses I'd had before had been mechanical-a bit like Will's at Club 39-and I'd felt nothing, not realizing that a kiss with someone you were attracted to, a sensual kiss, was a prelude to what was to come.

I gripped Nate's waist as the kiss grew rough and breathless; I sighed into his mouth with pleasure as his erection stroked my belly. He groaned, his lips drifting from my mouth, across my chin, down my jaw. He kissed his way down my body, his mouth hot, hungry, and I held on, caressing his muscled back, sliding my hands up toward his shoulder blades as he moved downward.

When that hot mouth of his closed around my left nipple, my hips slammed against him in reaction. "Oh, God." My thighs gripped him as I urged him closer, my back arching for more as he first licked me and then sucked hard, all the while pinching my other nipple between his forefinger and thumb.

I felt a wet rush between my legs.

"Nate." My fingers dug into his shoulders. "Oh, God . . ."

He lifted his head, his eyes black as he undulated against me, his dick pressing between my legs now, only the fabric of his boxer briefs shielding me from its throbbing heat. "You like that, Liv?" he asked, his voice thick. "Like me sucking hard on your nipples?"

I flushed at his crude question but found myself nodding quickly. "Yes, I like it."

He groaned and dipped his head again, licking my other nipple now. I'd had no idea my breasts were that sensitive. As he continued to suck and tease and torment me, I felt the coil of tension tighten in my lower belly.

"Nate-" I was panting hard, clutching his head in my hands as he circled his tongue around my areola. "I can't . . . I don't . . ."

Suddenly he was moving, sliding down my body, his hands cupping and shaping my breasts as he descended, his lips trailing wet kisses down my stomach. I shivered at the touch of his tongue across my navel and then tensed when I realized his destination was the apex of my thighs.

Nate caressed my stomach reassuringly, and looked into my eyes. "Open up, sweetheart."

Biting my lip, I gazed down at him half in wonder and half in anxiety as I let my thighs fall open. Nate settled between my legs. His hand glided along the inside of my thigh and he asked, "You've never done this?"

I shook my head, too excited to speak.

A spark of mischief entered his expression. "I'm looking forward to this reaction."

He kissed me there.

I shivered. It was nice.

And then I felt his fingers slide inside me and a mew of delicious surprise escaped my lips, bringing Nate's eyes up to my face. They were intense, the mischief gone and replaced by sexual intent. His fingers slipped out of me and then back in. My hips pushed against them, trying to catch his rhythm.

"You're drenched, Liv," he groaned. "You're so wet and ready for me."

"Yes," I choked out, tilting my hips up. "God, yes."

With a growl of satisfaction, Nate dipped his head again. His fingers slipped out of me, but before I could mourn the loss, he parted my labia and I nearly came off the bed at the feel of his tongue on me.

He circled my clit, teasing it, pressing it . . . and then he sucked it.

I cried out, feeling my orgasm building quicker than I'd ever experienced before as he continued to lap at me, pushing me back up toward climax.

When he pressed his fingers inside me, I burst apart, crying out his name like a prayer as my eyes fluttered shut. I writhed against his talented mouth, my fingers curled into the bedding beneath me. The orgasm rolled through me in waves and I pulsed and pulsed against his mouth, until finally I was a limp rag doll.

I felt him move up my body and when I eventually pried my eyes open he had his hands braced on either side of my head again, his lower body pressed to mine. He was wearing this pleased, cocky smile on his face. He brushed his fingers across my cheekbone affectionately, his eyes searching. "I take it that was good."

That was an understatement.

The first and only time I'd had sex, I didn't come. However, I had been supplying my own orgasms since I was eighteen and I won a vibrator in a student raffle. Those orgasms had been good. A few had even been great.

None of them had been sensational.

Until now.

Lazily, I lifted my hands and clasped them around Nate's neck, my thumbs brushing along his jaw tenderly. "I'm going to let you keep that smug look on your face. You earned it."

Nate chuckled and kissed me, letting me feel his laughter tremble against my lips in a way that was incredibly hot. I smiled beneath it, but as it grew heated, as I tasted myself on his tongue, the smiles and laughter disappeared and I curled my fingers tighter into his hair.

I broke the kiss before he did and said breathlessly, "Your turn."

There was a flash of something in his eyes, something I didn't completely understand, but what I did know was that he was hungry. He shifted, moving off me to lie on his back, his arms crossed casually behind his head. "I'm all yours."

The butterflies returned to my belly, not as many as before, but they were there, cheering me on as I prepared to go down on a guy for the first time.

"I've never . . ."

Nate's countenance gentled and he reached out to smooth my hair behind my ear as he replied, "I know, Liv. And you don't have to. Ever. You only do what you're comfortable with."

My gaze flickered to his lap and his hard cock. "I want to at least try."

"Then I'll talk you through it," he answered. Quicker than a few blinks, he had shoved his boxers down his legs and kicked them off.

I stared openmouthed at him.

When I lost my virginity I didn't really get time to study my chosen asshat of a partner's penis. He'd just pulled down his zipper and pushed inside of me.

Nate's strained toward his belly. It was long and thick and it was throbbing. I was guessing it was impressive. The thought of it inside of me set off a new wave of arousal, but as I imagined wrapping my mouth around it, I began to feel apprehensive.

"How . . ." I looked back at him wide-eyed. "I . . ."

"Liv?" His brows creased. "Just say it."

It rushed out in a burst of geek. "Its size is a little problematic because despite my tendency to ramble, my mouth is pretty small and it won't all fit in it and I have a gag reflex that might be a problem so I don't know how-"

"Liv-" Nate was choking on laughter. "Take a deep breath." He closed his eyes and shook his head, keeping his inner thoughts to himself. I worried for a moment that my inexperience was suddenly a turn-off. But when his lids lifted he smiled, so I took that and his still raging hard-on as good signs. "Take me into your mouth and while you suck me off, pump the root with your fist. The key is to fist it hard but not too hard. Suck hard. Teeth sheathed."

I nodded, hoping I could do this.

"Liv, we seriously don't have to do th-ahh," he hissed as I cut him off by wrapping my mouth around him.

At first I was frozen by the foreignness of having him in my mouth, tasting him, feeling him as if he were all around me, as if there was nothing else in the world but him. It felt odd. It felt alien. And I was afraid I just wasn't cut out for this part of sexual intimacy.

Until I looked up at his face from under my lashes.

This was Nate.

I gathered my courage.

I began to do everything that he asked, and as I did I watched him-watched the color rise in his cheeks; watched the way his chest rose and fell in rapid breaths; watched his fists curl in the sheets around him; watched his mouth open on pants; watched the sheen of sweat build across his skin; watched his abs ripple. And I got off on it. I didn't expect to like going down on a guy, but I loved the sensual power that rushed through me at knowing I could make Nate feel so turned on that he huffed out my name in pleasured tones.

"I'm coming," he panted, sliding his hand into my hair, and I jerked back just in time to watch him shudder through a climax.

As his body relaxed, he dragged his hands over his face and into his hair, his eyes closed to me and thus his reaction closed to me.

I waited, unsure.

Slowly Nate opened his eyes and stared up at me.

Well?

"Did you enjoy that?" he asked roughly.

"Yes," I whispered back.

"Good, because I'd certainly like a repeat performance sometime." He blew air out between his lips and shook his head, grinning, before his bright eyes came back to me. "Fuck, girl."

Laughing softly in relief, I lay back on my bed and stared at the ceiling. "I take it I got a high score on my first lesson in seduction."

"Like I said before . . . you're an overachiever."

The bed moved and I turned my head to watch Nate sit up and slide his legs off it.

"Where are you going?"