The words sank in. I can’t go through that again. “Spell that one out for me.”
With two fingers she anxiously toyed with a loose lock of hair that had escaped her braid. “I dated guys who were cocky enough to think they only had to finesse things a little more and I’d miraculously launch into a screaming climax.”
He stiffened. “How many guys are we talking about?”
Defensively, she said, “I was trying to find one that’d work!”
He laughed, but he sure as hell wasn’t amused.
Insulted, Yvette started to push off his lap.
Immediately he regretted his reaction. “I’m sorry.” He held on, and when she continued to shove at him, he said again, “I’m sorry! Swear.”
An inch from his face, she snarled, “It is not funny.”
“No, it’s not.” He ran his hands up and down her arms in apology. “That was more a sound of jealousy than humor anyway.”
“Jealousy? Get real.” Still irked, she poked at his chest. “You’re the one who was with five women earlier.”
His brow went up. “Not with them. Don’t say it like that. I was just talking to them. Don’t confuse me with Armie.”
At that she did a double take. In an appalled whisper, she asked, “Five? Seriously? I mean, I know he’s out there, but—”
“I was exaggerating.”
Somewhat disappointed, she said, “Oh.”
“Back on track now, okay?” He eased her against him, arranged her the way he wanted with her snuggled close. And she went along with it, her head in the curve of his shoulder, her long legs draped over the side of his thigh.
“You tried with these other guys, but it didn’t work out?”
“We had sex. It was...okay. But I didn’t...”
“Come.” He couldn’t imagine what it’d be like to go through the motions but never find release. “Did you tell them about your past?”
“No. I’ve never discussed that with anyone.”
“Not even Heath?”
“He knows only the basics, what was in the news. He knows that you saved me. But that’s it.” She released a sigh. “I’ve never been comfortable talking about it with others.”
Only him. He hugged her for that. “So they thought...what?”
“One guy said I wasn’t trying hard enough.”
What an idiot.
“Another assumed I wasn’t sexually attracted to him. He decided I must be into women instead.” Her hand tightened in his shirt. “A couple didn’t care enough to worry about it.”
Damn, but hearing that felt like another punch. He didn’t resent her for seeking pleasure. She was young, healthy, beautiful. But now that she was back, now that he was with her again, he wanted her only with him, and vice versa. “Even though you don’t come, you enjoy sex overall?”
“To a point. But it does get frustrating.” She tilted back to see him. “Heath said I should at least fake it, pretend for his sake, but I couldn’t do that.”
Jesus. “Heath is a f**king idiot.” No, he didn’t want her faking anything. He wanted the real deal, and he’d get it.
No doubts at all.
“In his defense, he was patient for a very long time. And he tried, far more than the other guys did.” She wrinkled her nose. “It’s just—”
Cannon put his fingers over her mouth. God almighty, the last thing he wanted to hear was sex stories about her and Heath. “Did he—did any guy—know he was on a tryout?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
Time for more plain speaking. “You said you were trying to find a guy that’d make it work.”
She rolled in her lips. “God, that sounds so awful, doesn’t it?”
No, it sounded desperate. “All women are different, honey. Some get off easy, some don’t. Some like things slow, some rough. Maybe you just haven’t found your way yet.”
She listened, her eyes wide, her cheeks warm.
Had anyone bothered to really figure out what Yvette liked? Did she even know? If she immediately assumed she had a problem, maybe she’d focused so much on that, she’d inhibited herself.
“I know you didn’t discuss the past, but did you tell any guy up front that you had difficulty getting to the big finale?”
Her neck stiffened and she ducked back against him, unwilling to meet his gaze. “It wasn’t exactly a conversation starter. When exactly do you think I’d have brought that up?”
“Right after he came and you didn’t.”
Her laugh held no humor. “No. That would have sounded too much like blame.”
Because it would have been, the selfish pricks. A man should always ensure a woman’s pleasure first. Cannon brushed his thumb over her warm cheek, thinking of what he’d do and how he’d do it once he got her under him—
She wrapped her fingers around his wrist and drew his hand down. “Understand, Cannon. Sometimes guys are selfish, but not always. Others have been patient, and they have tried.”
Others were not him, and as Yvette had said, he was her fantasy. That had to count for something.
How she’d viewed him had always counted for a lot with him. When Yvette looked at him with her big green eyes, he felt about twelve feet tall, and invincible, too.
He wondered about foreplay, about o**l s*x, if she’d experimented with different positions.