“Are you on the pill, then?”

“I was. Until I kept forgetting to take it.” She shrugged unapologetically. “Fortunately, I insisted that the other guys I banged used a condom every single time. Most college guys I know aren’t – uh, very discriminating so there was no way any of them were going to hump me bareback. But since I tend to, ah, get easily distracted, my doctor and I decided that maybe the pill wasn’t the best solution for me. So now I’ve got this implant thingy they stuck in my arm, supposed to last for three years at a time, and I don’t have to worry if I go brain dead and skip a pill or two. And,” she added, tracing her index finger over his lips, “I had to have a bunch of tests done before they put the implant in so I definitely don’t have any nasty social diseases. God, do they still call them that?”

“I think the new term is STDs.” He’d realized by now that expecting a quick, concise reply from Lauren would probably never happen in this lifetime. “And I’m clean, too. Before I traveled to Africa for a freelance assignment over a year ago I had to get some vaccinations and tests done. And, um, there hasn’t been anyone since before I left.”

She practically vaulted to a sitting position, her green eyes wide with astonishment as she socked him – hard – on the upper arm. “Shut – UP!” she exclaimed in mingled disbelief and delight. “You cannot possibly be telling the truth. A guy as hot as you – well, you could have fresh pussy every night of the week if you wanted to.”

“Jesus, Lauren.” His cheeks flushed in embarrassment at her very frank way of speaking. “I, uh, appreciate your vote of confidence there but it’s true. You’re the first woman I’ve been with in over a year.”

“Lucky me, then, hmm?” she purred, crawling back on top of him as though she were in actuality a sleek, seductive cat. “To be the one you break your dry spell with, that is. Because – and this is just a guess now – I figure you’ve got a whole lot of time to make up for. And I,” she murmured, bending forward until her breasts were crushed against his chest, “would be very, very happy to help you out with that. I mean, you’re my house guest, after all, and you know the old saying – mi casa es su casa – my bed is your bed – my body is your body. So you should plan on making yourself feel right at home. But first, why don’t you lie back while I give you a little welcome gift?”

The half-hearted protests he’d been about to make – the ones about needing at least a little more time to recover; that both of them should really wash up or take a shower; that he wanted to give her pleasure, too – were all quickly forgotten as Lauren slithered sinuously down his body, her hand stroking his cock that was somehow miraculously rock hard again. And when she licked him up and down just before sucking him greedily into her mouth, he couldn’t think or speak, could only feel – feel and enjoy and wonder faintly if he’d somehow fallen into another dimension – one that was inhabited by a lusty, voracious sex goddess who seemed intent on having him make up for a year’s worth of abstinence in one afternoon.

***

Lauren propped herself up on her forearms as she took advantage of Ben’s present state of unconsciousness to study him in greater detail. After another rowdy bout of sex – he’d resisted her efforts to finish off the blow job she’d begun so eagerly and made sure both of them got off at the same time – he had fallen asleep just a few minutes ago.

She was still in disbelief that she’d thrown herself at him so brazenly. Oh, not that she hadn’t taken a whole lot of dares in her twenty years, hadn’t acted impulsively and often unwisely on too many occasions to remember. And while she hadn’t been exaggerating earlier when she’d told Ben she could take care of herself very, very capably, she’d also never done anything as potentially risky as inviting a complete stranger to share her home for an undetermined amount of time. She knew that her parents would definitely not approve of her actions, and that she certainly wasn’t planning to ever clue them in. She’d spent an awful lot of her life alternately trying to please her mother and father, and stubbornly insisting on doing things her own way. And, in the case of the gorgeous, hunky man who was sleeping soundly next to her, the latter condition definitely applied.

She’d been something of a late bloomer when it came to having boyfriends – and sex. During high school she had still been a huge tomboy, preferring to compete on the soccer, swim, and cross country teams and take her martial arts classes than enjoy the things her twin sister and most of their friends had been fascinated with – namely, clothes, shoes, makeup, and boys. Though in Julia’s case, it had been boys in the singular case and not the plural, since she’d dated Sam Patterson exclusively for more than five years. Lauren, on the other hand, hadn’t gone on a date until Julia had wheedled, pleaded, and bullied her into attending their senior prom. And that had turned into something of a disaster when her date had gotten stinking drunk at a post-prom party and she’d had to drive him home. She’d parked the car in his driveway, left him passed out cold on the passenger seat, and then pissed off Julia and Sam by interrupting their amorous activities with a phone call pleading for a ride home.

If she was being completely honest – something Lauren always prided herself on being, even if the truth wound up having repercussions at times – she could admit that one of the reasons she’d never dated during high school (and not all that much during college thus far) was because she intimidated the hell out of almost every guy she met. Oh, not with her shorter than average height and slender build – though nearly everyone underestimated just how quick and strong she was, and how skilled at martial arts. And as tempting as it was to demonstrate those skills, she’d learned back in grade school to keep a lid on it. After one too many incidences of being called into the principal’s office following a playground demonstration, her father had laid down the law – threatening to cut off the judo and karate classes that Lauren adored, that were in fact one of her lifelines, if she didn’t stop showing off. And Lauren had come to recognize early in her life that stern, unwavering tone in Robert McKinnon’s voice – the one that she knew no amount of pleading and promising or tantrum-throwing would budge.

So she’d held back – at least until high school where she had eagerly cultivated a reputation as the bad-ass chick, the one you just didn’t mess with. And it hadn’t been just her physical strength and athletic skills that had gained her such a reputation. Rather, it had been her quick wit, smart mouth, utter fearlessness, and the way she never backed down from a confrontation that had scared off the clique of popular girls who normally would have taken great pleasure in making all types of catty comments about her; that had caused all the nerdy kids to quake in their shoes whenever she sauntered past them; and that had even made the jocks keep their distance. And nobody actually wanted to date her – ballsy, tough-talking Lauren who could cut a guy down to size with just one scathing glance. And especially not after the incident junior year where – on a dare, of course, because she could rarely resist taking a dare, no matter how stupid or risky it was – she’d landed a roundhouse kick on Sam Patterson’s head. She’d knocked the popular high school quarterback – her own sister’s longtime boyfriend – to the ground, causing him to black out for a few brief seconds.

She’d been damned lucky that Sam and his buddies had been too mortified by the incident to report it, though of course word had spread like wildfire around campus until it had reached the level of urban legend. Julia had been furious, and it had been one of the very few times in their lives that she’d refused to speak to Lauren for more than a week. They had eventually mended their fences, but word of the incident had made guys stay even further away from Lauren.