do together, Jess could see why Katy liked it so much. Their own sex life had always been good, from that first night in fact. But good sex could still be pretty normal. Max was a professional guy; he liked things to be just-so. And he was the same in the bedroom. Plus the longer you were with someone, the more predictable things became. Everyone knew that.
For them, sex almost always happened in bed. Max usually took the lead and Jess had always been happy for him to take charge. Wet patches were cleaned up and she usually showered afterwards. Maybe she was more vanilla than she originally thought.
‘So how come you ended up offering to talk about this stuff with me?’
‘Saw the call for help on Twitter.’ Katy shrugged. ‘I love your magazine and I love sex. I’m not shy to talk about it. Plus I guess the more open people are about sex, the less of a worry it becomes for everyone else. How come you get to write about sex? Are you the magazine expert, or the nympho?’
Jess shook her head and sipped her coffee to hide her grin. She was definitely not a nymphomaniac. Sex was good and necessary and she loved it, but if she had to live without it she probably could. ‘Not at all. I’m just a blogger and the only one mug enough to say yes.’
‘I think it’s great. I always read sex advice in magazines. I like knowing I’m not the only one worrying about something.’
‘Yeah, I guess that’s one of the reasons they’ve asked me to do it. Plus the whole “mommy porn” palaver.’
Katy raised her coffee cup. ‘Yes. Some of that I’ve enjoyed too.’
‘So role-play is your go-to thing, if you want to pep things up?’
‘Yeah. It’s free and easy. The only limits are your imagination.’
They talked a little more about life and sex while they finished their coffee and cake. Then Jess thanked Katy for her time and headed home, even feeling the first tremors of excitement herself. She reckoned she could come up with a good scenario by the time Max got in from work.
Jess spent the day writing about her meeting with Katy for her blog and then planned her role-play for the night.
Max had sent a text to say he’d be home at six. She replied with the scenario and the persona he had to take on from the time he walked in. She felt a bit daft, sending him instructions, but it was worth it for the article’s authenticity. The arrangements might even be half the pleasure. The readers were accustomed to getting edgy up-to-date advice, so if she had to lie on her back for them to get it, then that was a sacrifice she could make.
She had dressed with care too. Removed her makeup so as to look fresh and innocent, because she’d decided her character was going to be eighteen. She wore a long skirt and a high-collared blouse, with her plainest underwear underneath, and tied her long hair in a bun. Becoming a curious, impulsive but reticent younger woman even began to make her feel sexy. What Katy had told her began to make a lot of sense.
At six o’clock exactly, the doorbell rang.
She waited a beat and then answered it.
Max was standing there. Not in his work suit, but in clothes she didn’t recognise. She wondered if he’d borrowed them from his brother. He had greased his slightly tousled hair back and was wearing round, dark-framed glasses. He had on a tight black T-shirt and tight jeans. He carried a camera bag.
Jess smiled at him, but, keeping her role in mind, lowered her eyes.
‘Hi, Jessie. My name is Maxwell. The photographer.’
Max walked into the house. Jess closed the door.
‘Do you have a room in mind?’ Max asked. He was pitching his voice lower. Jess pitched hers slightly higher. ‘Maybe the lounge.’ She walked ahead of Max, aware of his eyes on her.
Inside the lounge she had made some adjustments, hiding pictures of the two of them and adding some magazines that a girl in her late teens might read.
Max spotted them on the table. ‘Bet you’d love to be a model in one of these?’ he asked.
Jess looked up at him and nodded, trying to make her expression seem bright with the prospect of stardom.
Max nodded to the curtains. ‘Can I close the curtains? I need it a little darker in here.’
Jess nodded.
Max closed the curtains, then opened his bag. He pulled out a dark silk sheet and laid it across the sofa.
Jess stood with her arms folded across her chest, watching him.
‘Take a seat, Jessie. We’ll start with face shots.’
Jess perched on the edge of the sofa. Max took the camera out of his bag. He turned on a lamp and then stepped in front of her. ‘You’re so pretty.’ He leaned close and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears.
Jess swallowed and lowered her eyes. He seemed so sexy and in control. She couldn’t look at him.
Max stood back and picked up the camera. ‘Smile for me, Jessie.’ After a few clicks, he put the camera down. ‘You’re looking pale, sweetie. I think you need a little makeup. Can you get me some?’
Jess nodded. She couldn’t speak. She was anticipating the end of this role-play already. She got her makeup bag and passed it to Max.
She sat still, on the silk, as he moved closer to her. With a delicate hand he brushed powder over her face. He found blusher and swept it across her cheeks. He was so close to her that she could feel his breath on her face. The touch of his hand doing something so intimate but non-sexual was arousing her. When he touched her lips she quivered and had to stifle a moan. Having to restrain herself from just reaching out to him was making her ache.
‘You need colour.’
Jess only nodded because her mouth was too dry.
Max brushed a dark-pink gloss across her lips. She immediately licked them, desperate for him to kiss her.
‘Better.’ He nodded approval and, stepping back, took some more snaps. ‘You have beautiful skin.’
Jess smiled at him and then lowered her eyes. She was blushing.
‘I need to do whole-body shots now,’ Max said. ‘Can you lie across the sheet? Lie back on the sofa?’
Jess nodded and sat on the sofa and then lay back slightly. She felt stiff and unsure.
‘Let me help you.’ Max straightened her legs so they looked longer. He pulled at her hair, loosened her bun and fanned the hair across the silk. That slight touch of his fingers brushing her neck was like a jolt of electricity.
Max picked up his camera and took a few more shots. ‘I need to sort your hair.’ He leaned in close enough for her to feel his breath on her face and smell his aftershave. ‘I need to see more of you,’ Max said. ‘How’d you feel about taking your clothes off, or wearing your underwear, like a bikini?’
Jess shook her head. ‘I don’t know.’
Max grinned and traced his finger across her cheek. ‘You’d look like one of those models in your magazines.’
‘I don’t know if I … fill a bikini.’ Jess’s voice was an embarrassed whisper.
Max smiled and stood in front of her. He held out a hand. ‘Let me be the judge of that.’ Jess stood and Max started unbuttoning her blouse. This is so sexy, she thought.
Max took a deep breath as he looked at Jess in her bra, then stepped back, though she was sure he was desperate to touch her. As he fiddled with his glasses she looked at his groin and could see his erection straining through his jeans. The feeling of power, of making him stiff, was delightful.
‘Take