His Naughty Lessons

** Harper **

She inched around the end table, planting herself cautiously next to Eli. For some reason, the loveseat seemed much smaller than it looked — what appeared like the size of a daybed now felt like a tiny bar stool, leaving no wasted room between the two of them. Her skirt brushed against his slacks, and she could already feel the heat of his body teasing her skin.

"Have you seen Bullet to His Heart?" Eli asked, dimming the light in the room. He certainly didn't seem to notice the same intimate atmosphere that his guest was experiencing. "It's a spy romance, came out a few months ago."

Harper shook her head. She had heard of it, but if she recalled correctly, that movie was known for its terrible special effects and received bad reviews all across the internet. It surprised her that Eli had picked something like this to watch, especially given that it wasn't even rated for mature audiences.

Her expression must have betrayed her thoughts, as Eli explained, "It failed at the box office because they over-censored it. They tried to go for a wider market by cutting the romance and focusing more on the crime scenes, but that killed the essence of the story." He lowered his voice as the title screen came on. "Balconies is a member-only theater, so they are free to air whatever version of the movies they can get their hands on. The unabridged one is a whole different deal."

Harper wasn't quite sure how to feel about this whole different deal. Nodding silently, she took another big sip of her drink and turned her attention to the screen.

The story was about a spy woman tasked to approach a widowed enemy general. It began with their meeting: in order to gain the general's trust, she became a tutor for his young daughter, using the connection to create opportunities for him to notice her. Her superb interpersonal skills and professional tricks helped her get close to him quickly, and it wasn't long before he accepted her into his household as a member of his resident staff.

There wasn't much chemistry between them though, Harper thought as she took another casual sip of her drink twenty minutes in. The spy was deadly loyal to her organization, and the general's feelings for his late wife were still too strong to spare any room for a new lover. No wonder the producer decided to cut the romance subplot — if these two really ended up with any sparks, it'd probably feel too forced and unrelatable.

She darted a glance at Eli from the corner of her eye. Maybe she was overthinking it. Going at this pace, this movie couldn't possibly get that wild.

Then the sparks came. As part of a scheme to further strengthen their bond, the spy saved the general from a fake assassination. But the situation went a bit off the planned track. In an attempt to lose the "enemies" chasing closely on their tail, she steered his car off a cliff.

Both of them were injured from the fall. Leaning onto each other, they stumbled through the woods where they crashed through, searching for shelter, only to find themselves caught in torrential rain soon afterward. They were drenched, cold, and in so much pain that they thought they weren't going to make it. That was when they came upon a small cabin, deserted yet safe from the weather.

The euphoria of seeing a second chance at life made them burst into hysterical laughter. They collapsed together onto the hay-covered floor inside, and when they locked eyes with each other, something between them changed.

Harper couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. They still hadn't fallen in love, she was sure of it, but what happened next couldn't feel more natural. Their lips crushed hard together. Fingers dug into wet hair. Hands pulled and clawed at soaked clothes. Teeth grazed and nibbled over damp skin. They held onto each other as if there was something that called for a release. As if there was an instinctive, raw need.

It surprised her how wrong her assumptions were earlier. Nothing felt forced or unrelatable here. Not when the last piece of garment landed in a heap on the floor. Not when they groaned into each other's mouths. Not when the camera moved to … a closeup view of …

Wait, just how detailed was this special unabridged edition??

Harper could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks again. Of course, she had watched steamy movies before, but few were as explicit as this, and none were watched on a huge theater screen with a man sitting next to her. She went tense as the scene in front of her escalated quickly. The two figures on the screen came together, swaying against each other in deep entanglements, skin glistening with a mixture of rain and sweat. The sound of their passionate kisses drowned out the noise of the downpour outside the cabin.

Harper felt a bit hot. The leather beneath her seemed too airtight, heating up her core from inside out. But she thought better of shifting in her seat. The longer those sensual images played in front of her eyes, the more keenly she was aware of Eli's presence next to her … and the last thing she wanted to do was to catch his attention. At least let him focus on the big screen instead of her, she thought as she took another nervous sip of her drink.

Then she realized that the glass had long gone empty.

"Do you need another one?" Being the observant gentleman he was, Eli asked. "They can bring in orders anytime."

Oh great, what was that about not catching his attention?

"No no, I'm fine," she muttered. It was a lie though. She wasn't really fine, not when her small voice was almost swallowed by the moans echoing in surround sound throughout the theater. She felt too awkward to turn to the man who was speaking to her, so she kept her eyes on the screen instead, but the sight of those bodies rising and falling in rhythm with the groans burned her vision even more when she knew that Eli was looking at her, amid all those images and sounds.

Even more when he leaned in closer, keeping his voice low to whisper in her ear.

"Do you see now why this is the type of movie you should be watching for inspiration?" he said. "Emotion and passion can be two completely different things when it comes to intimate scenes. One can exist without the other, and what your readers want is the latter. Try to learn from how that's done here."

Learn? Here, now, with him sitting next to her through these scenes? Harper thought Eli must be mad. She wasn't even able to think straight with this man so close, his presence so overwhelming. His arm that was casually resting over the back of the loveseat seemed precariously near her spine, giving off an illusion that she was cradled in his embrace. The heat of his thigh was edged right against hers. The soft breath of his whisper tickled her ear, sending a light tingle down her neck, just as the man on the screen buried his face in the same fashion into the woman's shoulders, releasing a long, guttural groan at the peak of their fervor.

Harper shuddered at the way that groan echoed within her. She wondered if she could survive this once-in-a-lifetime learning experience without bursting into flames. Just how much longer was this movie going to last?