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“Uhhhh Dora,” he moaned, tearing his mouth from hers. “What the hell are you doing to me?”

“It’s pleasurable to delay sometimes, was what you said at the time,” she reminded him. He gave her a tortured look and she began to stroke his shaft again in earnest, before slackening off when he grew too eager.

Clem breathed in a ragged breath. “Dora, sweetheart …”

“I remember it specifically,” she said sweetly, her hand slowing down to the most delicate of flutters.

His eyes narrowed. “You, madam, are becoming quite the tease.”

Dora could not quite hide her smile. “Shall I put you out of your misery, then?”

“Yes please,” he answered frankly, and she gave a breathless laugh as she reached down to palm him.

“Clem,” she murmured. “You will have to tutor me on this next part, as I have not done it before.”

“What do you mean?” Small wonder but he could scarcely think straight by this point.

“Well, my contraceptive veil is in the bedroom, so … we need to use an alternate method.”

Clem’s brows snapped together, and he tried to sit up. Jesus, he’d nearly forgotten all about the damn preventative! She pressed back down on his shoulder. “I think you should just stay where you are and let me take you in my mouth,” she said, making him blink.

“Take me …?”

“I want to try it.”

“Dora …” he groaned again.

“Why should I not? You do it for me.”

Clem’s brain whirred furiously as he struggled with this a moment. “There’s no reason why not,” he admitted after a moment’s pause. “Except I don’t know if you would enjoy it.”

“Well, neither will I, until I’ve tried it.”

“I suppose that is true enough,” he conceded.

“Lil thought you might be prudish about your wife doing such a thing.”

Clem almost choked on his own tongue. “She—er—she did?”

She nodded her head. “Apparently some men would only ask their mistress for such a thing.”

Clem beheld her with a feeling he was starting to feel familiar with. A sort of mingled horror and awe. “Just why was it that you and Lil were even discussing my attitude to such a thing?” he asked in a strangled tone.

“Well, you see I had to ask her to explain the joke. After the kneeling thing when the curtain went up.”

Clem closed his eyes a moment. “I should have explained that to you,” he said ruefully.

“Yes, you really should have,” she agreed. “Then again, Lil and I are very close, so it was not so very awkward.”

Clem found himself wondering for the first time about the topics of private discussion among the fairer sex. Apparently, it was not all embroidery and recipes after all. Making a swift decision, he sat up, tucked himself back in, and gathered her into his arms at the same time.

“Clem?”

“We’re taking it to the bedroom,” he explained, swiftly standing. Seeing her expression, he promised, “We will definitely get around to that … other matter.” He wondered what the hell the polite term was for that particular act. He could think of several vulgar ones but none appropriate for this occasion. His vocabulary was failing him now as well as his judgment. “But not tonight,” he stated firmly. “Tonight, I want … other things.”

*

They took a leisurely bath together afterward and Theo whispered the whole time, lest her brother should hear them splashing about in the tub. Clem seemed to find her attitude amusing, tickling her feet, and teasing her about the likelihood of possible discovery. “Is it so very scandalous to share bathwater then?” he asked, arching a brow and passing her the soap.