“I just feel like he’s holding back, like he keeps such a tight leash on his climax, and I don’t want that. I want him to be as uninhibited as I apparently am.”

Della had always thought maybe Winona’s heroines were a little OTT with their climaxes. Like they’d been embellished for dramatic purposes. But then Tucker had started dishing out orgasms and ooh la freaking la.

“Maybe that’s just him. A lot of guys have trained themselves as teenagers to be quiet while they masturbate, and it can”—she shrugged—“become entrenched.”

“It’s not just his orgasm, though. How he touches me and kisses me is always very controlled. He doesn’t get carried away. It never seems like he just wants to tear my clothes off and do me on the floor. It feels a little like he’s doing sex to me, not having sex with me.”

“I think it’s understandable, given the ordeal you suffered with Todd, that he’d be a little…tentative with you. Have you had a conversation with him about how you feel?”

“Not since our spank bank, starfish conversation just before we went all the way for the first time.”

“Maybe it’s time for another?”

Della grimaced. “I guess.” Or maybe she’d misread his control for disinterest, and how embarrassing would that conversation be?

“I know it’s not always easy to talk about such intimate stuff, but it’s best being up front with what you want.”

“Yeah…you’re right.” But ugh.

“Maybe you could start small. Rather than saying, I want you to rip my clothes off, do me on the floor, and come so loud they can hear you in Texas—” She smiled, and Della gave a half laugh. “Maybe just change up one thing. Suggest moving from the bed to the shower or the kitchen counter. Or tell him you want to go on top? Or…is there something you really want to do?”

“I’d like to…go down on him. I’ve set my mind to it a few times, but then he uses orgasm-distractive therapy to make me forget what I wanted in the first place.”

Selena nodded in what Della had come to know as her right-okay-but expression. “I can see why that would make him hesitant, given your history with the act. Are you sure that’s what you want? Fellatio?”

Della nodded. “I’ve been reading a lot of Winona’s books, and her characters seem to really be into it.”

“Sure, both men and women find oral sex very pleasurable. Giving and accepting.”

Della wanted to ask if Selena did, but she doubted that was an appropriate question to ask her therapist. “He goes down on me almost every night, so why not?”