Once she’d done as bidden, Josh ripped off a few pieces of tape from the roll with his teeth and handed them over. “Mark little Xs by each of our feet.”
She leaned toward his toes in acquiescence and felt her skirt travel with her. “Are you sure ladies like this?”
“Yes.” Josh’s voice had gone rough. “It’s a similar concept to reverse cowgirl. You’re in control of the depth, the speed, the angle.” He shifted his hips. “Let’s, uh, get into the next position.”
She hesitated. “I don’t want to hurt you again.”
He waved dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. My dick’s insured.”
Clara flung her hand to her heart. “Are you serious?”
“No. Of course not.” Josh brought the weight of his upper body onto his elbows. “But I really like that face you just made. The next position is girl on top. So if you can—”
“I know what girl on top is.” Clara tried to retain a ladylike demeanor as she adjusted her straddle. She purposefully perched on Josh’s lower stomach, rather than risk entering the danger zone below his belt, and fluffed out her skirt so she wasn’t flashing an exorbitant amount of thigh.
She pushed her hair behind her ears. “Is this right?”
“Almost.” Josh pressed his hand gently against the middle of her back.
“What are you doing?” Her voice came out sounding more like a squawk. She’d managed to get this far without encountering his erection. Not that he necessarily had one. He probably didn’t. Considering she’d almost unmanned him. Also, he did this stuff for a living, minus the layers of fabric. She schooled herself into a professional expression.
The heat of Josh’s fingertips through the silk of her blouse sent pleasant tingles up and down her spine. He guided her until their chests came into contact. “We’re going for this angle.”
“I see,” she said, trying not to notice the way her nipples rubbed against his chest each time she breathed. “I always thought I should sit up straight. You know, for leverage. This is much more intimate.” She inhaled through her nose as she studied the hard line of his jaw. “But I don’t have as much room to . . . bounce.” Surely steam poured from her ears.
Josh dimpled at her. “You don’t actually need to bounce. I mean you can, the view would be nice.” He dropped his gaze for only a moment. “But in the tutorial, we’re suggesting more of a rocking motion to get your clit in contact with my pubic bone.” To his professional credit, Josh delivered the titillating description with a straight face.
“How would that work?” She could barely get the words out. His scent, a heady mixture of skin and soap, had caused a fog of lust to roll in and cover half her brain.
“I could show you, but I’d . . . uh . . . have to put my hands on your ass.”
“That would be all right,” Clara said with as much dignity as she could muster. What had happened to her willpower?
Josh cupped her behind, bunching the delicate fabric of her skirt until the tips of his fingers seared her bare skin. His eyes fluttered closed as, from that point of leverage, he ground her against his pelvis in a fluid figure eight.
Holy shit. She bit her lip to keep from moaning. Riding the rough denim of his jeans through only the thin cloth of her underwear created an exquisite friction. “Oh my God.”
“Are you okay?” Josh froze, clenching his jaw so hard a muscle twitched in his cheek.
Clara murmured confirmation and squeezed her eyes shut. If she opened her mouth she’d say something desperate. Something filthy. She knew she could come like this if he repeated that motion.
Josh shifted his grip to her hips. “We still have to place the tape.” His breathing had gone ragged.
Clara couldn’t believe she’d ever wasted a second of her sex life on any position but this one. She pressed her palms to the floor on either side of his face, rocking over him as her breasts dragged across his chest.
When she opened her eyes he was gazing back at her.
She bit her bottom lip hard enough to taste blood. Dry-humping was tragically underrated.
“Damn it, Clara. You’re driving me crazy.”
He brought his hands back to her ass and opened the span of his fingers so he could knead her overheated skin.
Clara wantonly rubbed herself against him as her pleasure built. “Oh God. I’m close.”
His grip grew rough enough that she imagined she’d wake up tomorrow to imprints of his fingertips. The idea made her shiver against him. “Don’t stop.”
“Whatever you say.” Josh grunted as he dragged her lower this time, across his unmistakable erection.
“You know, it works even better if you take off your clothes,” Naomi said in a dry voice from inside the room.
Josh and Clara both scrambled to their feet, or at least they tried to. Her feet slipped on the shiny laminate flooring and she waved her arms wildly, trying to regain her balance.
“Fuck,” Josh said as Clara’s elbow slammed into his solar plexus.
“Not quite.” Naomi examined her manicure. “But I’m sure if I’d shown up ten minutes later . . .”
Clara opened her mouth to apologize or explain. Whichever came out first.
“I’m a patient woman, but if you utter the words this isn’t what it looks like, I am going to lose my shit.”
Josh’s low voice contained traces of both weariness and warning as he said, “Stu—”
“Clara, would you please give us a moment?” Naomi bared her teeth like a rabid panther.
Indecision locked Clara’s feet to the floor. On the one hand, she probably shouldn’t abandon Josh. After all, it took two to drop down and gyrate. On the other hand, Naomi was his ex. An ex that he still hoped to reconcile with, last she’d heard. Perhaps he wanted the opportunity to explain the problem with the tape directly? Clara hardly wanted to stand around and listen to Josh write off her amateur response to what the two professionals probably considered an everyday ask.
She gathered her things slowly, giving Josh plenty of time to signal if he needed moral support. She even bent to retie her shoelaces.
“Clara, it’s okay.” He kept his eyes locked on Naomi. “I’ll meet you in the car.”
As she fled, a thousand scenarios for what was going on back in the studio ran in Technicolor through her mind. Each one more incendiary than the last. She started the engine and turned on the radio. Because the two most likely outcomes of a disagreement between Josh and Naomi were yelling and screwing, and in either case, she didn’t want to hear it.