Explicitly Sexy II An Erotic, Married Romance Novel M. L. Rinehart Copyright 2016, Delaware Valley Publishing, LLC. Advanced Review Copy (ARC) 2, 20170321. Brought to you by Delaware Valley Publishing, LLC, from the beautiful Delaware Valley, Pennsylvania, USA. A special thank you to Goodreaders Barbara Tsipouras, Dawn and Gretchen without whom I might have thought my first try was good enough. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual people, places or events is purely coincidental. About the Cover Front: Full Sail, the painting, that Maxine made and gave to Louise as a house-warming present, hangs in Louise’s boudoir on the boudoir side of the bedroom/boudoir wall. The cover rose is the heart of that painting. Back: On the other side that wall a print of Titian’s Venus di Urbino smiles at Louise and Tom when they are in bed. Angela del Moro—model, probably Titian’s mistress —has smiled at Titian since 1538. Louise calls her “my friend Angie” and tries to master her smile. Free ES III Click to join the Explicitly Sexy Reviewers' Group. Free! Benefits: • Explicitly Sexy III. Free Advanced Reviewer’s Copy. • Access more Explicitly Sexy outtakes. Reviews wanted. Please! Reviews are like oxygen in today’s book market. A review only takes two or three sentences. Picture a potential reader who just read the back-cover blurb (or the online description). S/he wants to know if the book delivers or if the blurb is BS. You were promised an erotic, married romance. Did Explicitly Sexy II deliver? Amazon is key (even if you buy elsewhere). Goodreads is a close sec- ond. Everywhere is appreciated. Send your author a link. (He’s the one who sends the ARCs.) MartinRinehart at gmail dot com. Explicitly Sexy II 17 Under Three, Over Three 187 18 Trips North 207 19 Her Gigolo 235 20 Satin, Silk Persuasion 263 21 Lust Dust and Good Vibrations 289 22 Opening Night 299 23 Summer Ends 315 24 Plans and Rituals 329 25 Slutty Garments, Wifely Duties 349 26 Plans and Accidents 361 27 Plans and Stories 375 28 Beginning Again 389 29 Going Home 403 30 Moving On 419 31 The Mistress Suite 433 32 Return to Miyamoto 441 33 House Warming 451 17 Under Three, Over Three Summer had arrived much too quickly. Asphalt softened until the streets were sticky. The clouds had taken vacations. Air conditioning, in build- ings or vehicles, felt like a necessity. Farms and gardens were still thriv- ing but the farmers had already started to keep an eye on the western horizon (and on their computers’ weather maps), scanning the future for rain. Tuesday, June 29, 2004, 4:55 P.M. The Rose Café. Acacia seated herself at their usual table. She asked Ricky for water while she waited. She was embarrassed at how little she had to report. Not for the first time, she was angry at the Internet. It returned an amazing amount of irrelevant material when you wanted to find some 187 188 Explicitly Sexy II basic facts. Well, she’d just have to report what little she knew and hope for Louise to share another fairy tale. Louise and Maxine arrived. Acacia waved them in. Ricky suggested the new seasonal special, strawberry daiquiris. They ordered three. “I bicycled to Max’s and we walked from her house,” Louise explained to Acacia. “It’s almost too hot already.” She ran her daiquiri over her forehead, lowering her body temperature. “So tell us about nipples,” Maxine directed Acacia, again steering the conversation toward her favorite subject. “Wait a minute,” Louise interrupted. “Our horny friend may have a gallery showing her paintings, Ace.” She had briefed Maxine on the way to the cafe. Maxine was not sure she wanted her paintings displayed pub- licly. Maybe she was scared, Louise thought. Maxine was not totally enthusiastic about Louise’s success in finding a gallery. “Next they’ll be trying to tell me what to paint,” the reluctant artist said. “I’d rather hear about nipples.” “I have very little to report,” the wee one announced. “The Internet failed me. And your ‘hot’ colleen failed herself, too.” “That wouldn’t be at all like her,” Louise said. “I was looking for- ward to a well-illustrated report.” “Yes,” Maxine added. “With lots of details.” “Sorry, guys. This is what I know. Or maybe I should say, ‘what I don’t know’.” “First, men and women have nipples. You knew that. Women nurse babies. Men don’t. You knew that, too. Men’s nipples are some sort of evolutionary leftover. No real purpose. Sensitive, though. “When you try to find out about non-gentle treatment you quickly leave the sane area of sex behind. Welcome to the murky world of BDSM. How much abuse is safe or damaging I’ve no clue. The BDSM fans say the nips are indestructible. “They talk about how babies are vigorous when they are nursing. I guess that’s true enough, though I’ve never been there. By extension, if women’s nipples are indestructible (which doesn’t follow from the fact that women can nurse babies) then men’s nipples are indestructible (which doesn’t follow from the assumption that women’s nipples are indestructible). 17 Under Three, Over Three 189 “I’ve exactly zero medical opinions.” And she paused to take a swal- low of daiquiri. Her frown was not pretty. Louise looked at Maxine. “Our attorney does not look like a happy camper, Max.” “Alright, alright,” the attorney interjected. “Medical opinion. You should definitely breastfeed your babies. Not a single opinion to the con- trary. No opinions concerning possible danger to the nipples.” She took another swallow of cold, rum-soaked strawberries. “This is good,” Acacia said, noticing the drink for the first time. “Remember Roemer’s fields where I interrupted you and Tom?” Maxine asked Louise. Louise remembered. “He’s got a big strawberry patch. I bet that’s what we’re drinking.” Acacia resumed. “I have one bit of good news from the BDSM front.” Acacia knew how to grab a jury’s attention. She was urged to go on. “If you look in the online toy stores, you see all kinds of nipple clamps. Some look like they’d pinch and some look downright vicious.” She let that thought attract the inevitable question. Louise obliged. “Why,” she asked, “is that good news?” “Because,” the attorney explained, “it seems that the nipples are commonly used as a source of pain. If they fell off or something, I’d expect nipple clamps to be a lot less popular.” “Ah, I see.” Maxine nodded her head. “So the occasional vigorous squeeze shouldn’t be an issue?” “Perhaps not,” the attorney confirmed. “Hardly definitive, but cer- tainly suggestive evidence.” “Well,” Maxine was hopeful, “you have conducted personal investi- gations along these lines?” “I’m worse than the Internet,” their investigator confessed. “Remem- ber how I teased him?” Yes, Louise and Maxine remembered how she had threatened him but not followed through. “I just kept threatening. It’s worked so far, but if I don’t carry it through soon, he’ll figure out that I’m a total wimp.” Acacia went back to her drink. Louise and Maxine looked at each other. Louise pointed a finger at Acacia and mouthed one word to Max- ine. “Wimp?” 190 Explicitly Sexy II “Nah,” Maxine rejected the thought. “Bitch Goddess. Couldn’t be a wimp. Not a chance. She’ll pull it together.” Acacia smiled at the compliment but shook her head at herself. “I hope you’re right, Max. While you’re waiting for me, you can pinch your vibrator and tell us what it says.” “Good idea. I’ll try it.” Maxine was giving up, at least temporarily, on male nipples. Would Frank like having his nipples pinched? What would she do if he did like it? “Anyway, Lou, got another story?” Louise made a wait-a-minute gesture with her finger as she took another swallow of strawberry daiquiri. Then she began. “Yes. It sort of concerns your paintings, Max. I bought some new clothes Friday.” “Louise, you are definitely the queen of the non sequitur,” Maxine said. Then she added, “Wasn’t Friday the first day of the heat wave?” “Yes,” the queen of the non sequitur agreed. “I guess that inspired me. I bought some beach clothes that I really can’t wear to the beach.” Responding to the questions her introduction invited, backed up. “I had bought some business attire that I wore into the city and when I came home. I gave him a little fashion show. I had traded my usual pantyhose for a garter belt and stockings. They made me feel sexier. Looking at him I was quite sure he felt the same way. “Then I modeled my new bikini. The top’s really just two little trian- gles and some string. Less than I’d ever worn. The bottom’s even less. Just one triangle and some string.” “A thong?” Acacia asked, wondering if she’d have the courage to wear one. “A thong,” Louise agreed. “It took so much self discipline.” “What do you mean? To wear it?” Maxine wanted to know. “Well, after the business clothes I started with a complete beach ensemble. Top, skirt, sandals, even a beach bag. Removed one piece at a time until I stood facing him in nothing but the bikini. It was so hard.” “What was hard? He was hard?” Maxine dug for details. “Well, I suppose he was, though he was sitting with his legs crossed, so I couldn’t really see.