“Oh.”

“Put me on speakerphone, darling. You’re going to want to free up your hands.”

She struggled to figure out the function with her shaking hands, like she’d never handled a smartphone in her life. “Okay.”

“Can you hear me okay?”

“Yes,” she said in a halted voice. “I can.”

“Good, turn out the light and lay back in bed, I’m going to send you to sleep, darling.”

Victoria did as he said and grinned in the darkness. For some reason, the darkness helped her slip into the mood. His voice lay beside her, calming and warm against her ear. “How are you going to do that?” she teased.

John ignored her. “I should have pinned you from behind tonight.”

“I don’t think that’s very practical,” she said.

“Nonetheless, can you imagine what would have happened if we weren’t careful?”

“Yes,” she breathed. “I did.”

“What did you imagine, Victoria?”

She remembered the thoughts that had flown through her as she was attached to his body. “I thought you were going to get hard.”

“It almost happened,” John admitted. “Do you know what I was imagining?”

“What?”

“I wanted to flip you over and slip those tight leggings down the curve of your ass. You were sweaty, but I was hoping your panties would be wet too.”

They probably were. Victoria reached down to touch herself for confirmation. The dampness between her thighs wet her fingertips. “Was I?”

“Yes, I reached around the front of your body and cupped you there. You jumped a little and moaned. I think you were surprised. Can you feel me pressed against your back, Victoria? I’m hard and I want to be inside of you.”

On her side, she nodded her head, forgetting that he wasn’t there to see her.

“You let out this low groan and push against me. You think you’re ready, but you’re not. You think you’re warmed up, but you’re not there yet, honey.”

Victoria’s lips curled at the corner as she slipped her panties down her legs and kicked them off the bed. “No?”

“Not yet,” John said. “I make you wait because I love to see the blush creep up from your breasts, up your neck, until it hits your cheeks. It’s a very soft pink against your brown skin, did you know that? You’re like a tea kettle that’s heating up and I want to make you blow.”

There was already a change in her breathing, as she ran her hands over her belly and hips. John said all the things she needed to hear in that moment. His voice was a low rumble from his chest and he spoke with a deliberate slowness that made her ache all over.