Page 96 of Hot & Heavy

Three, as unpalatable as it might be, she would use sex to gain her noble goal.

Oh, she knew she was changing her mind in midstream. Technically, she was the one who had called off the bedsport. But her body ached for the man, despite all her good resolutions. It was probably because it was several days before her monthly flux, and she was always different at that time… some might even say difficult. Or mayhap it was because the bedsport had been so good with him. Or it might be all that Sex and the City watching that gave her ideas.

Whatever the reason, she was now on a mission. Seduce the man to her way of thinking.

No problem!

On the other hand, there might be a small problem. She had no idea how to go about seducing a man. Perhaps she needed help. She wished there were a woman she could ask. But there was not.

Should she ask Cage for advice? Or Pretty Boy? Or Slick? She was almost afraid of what he would say; he was such a dark and secretive man. But Omar probably knew unusual stuff since he came from both an Arab and Indian background. And Geek, and JAM, and Sly.

Bloody hell! I guess I'll have to ask them all.

You want to do WHAT?…

Slick was the first seal that Madrene was able to corner about her particular problem.

Slick rarely came into the house. Usually he was one of the outside guards, or stayed back at the base.

The man made her a little uncomfortable, he was so quiet, and he had these dark, piercing eyes. When he looked at you, well, you felt as if he saw too much.

But Madrene had never been one to cower when she had something to say. "What can I do to seduce Ian?" she asked as Slick was pouring himself a cup of coffee.

She knew he heard her because he stopped in the middle of pouring. But he didn't say anything. At first.

Then he turned, very slowly, and looked at her. Along time. Then he said, "Breathe."

Hah! A lot of good that advice was. Breathe and the troll would be seduced. I… do… not… think…

so. She walked huffily out of the room.

Next day, she asked Geek. The poor boy just blushed and stammered before saying, "Can't you just ask him to… uh, make love with you?"

"Of course not. I want him to think he is the one doing the seducing."

"Oh, I see," Geek said. But he clearly didn't see.

Next, Sly told her to flash him. She hesitated to ask him what he meant because of the grin on his face, but she did. I should have known better. Then he demonstrated by putting both fists at the center of his tea-shert and jerking his arms outward.

What? He expects me to expose my breasts. "There is no subtlety in that."

"Believe me, men don't need subtlety."

JAM was not subtle, either. He said, "A blow job."

At first she didn't understand what he meant. When she did, her jaw dropped. "A priest recommends such a thing? I am… shocked."

He grinned and said, "An almost-priest. I never took holy orders."

"And that makes a difference. How?"

He laughed and told her, "Even St. Augustine said he wanted to be good… but not yet."

Omar suggested she try belly dancing and actually showed her how. "The trick is to be wearing very little clothing," he said. "Preferably, a few sheer scarves."

"Oh, now I know what you mean. They used to do these dances in the harems."

Omar just rolled his eyes at her. They all did when she mentioned the harems.