Never Have I Ever by Alisha Rai

the bad mood. “Enough of that. When you called for the favor, I thought maybe something was wrong with you and Ana. But you two look like you’re having fun.” He winked at Taylor. “And here I thought you were reformed.”
    Taylor glanced down at his hands. He didn’t mean to say anything, but it popped out. “That’s not how we usually are.”
    “Oh? It’s what? Better, longer? ’Cause I don’t know if I could even believe that.”
    “No…it’s normal.”
    Eli’s crack of laughter surprised him into looking up. His friend’s expression was wry and sympathetic. “Tay, there’s no normal for people like us. I don’t know when you’ll accept that, but you’ll be happier when you do.”
    Taylor shook his head, his lips compressed. The hell he’d accept it. He’d successfully not accepted it for over a decade and things were going just fine, thank you very much. “I’m not like you. I’m not…like what I was.”
    “Okay.” Eli’s easy capitulation didn’t fool him, particularly when the other man stood up. “But it didn’t look to me like she was minding what you were…and what you were showing her in that room.”
    Taylor clenched his jaw. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    “Well, whatever. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to my room. No worries, I’ll clear out of here in the morning, ’kay? You can have your romantic weekend.”
    “Thanks, buddy.” As much as he loved the man, perhaps with Eli gone, this hunger wouldn’t be exacerbated. Yeah, it was the sight of the other man that had driven him over the edge.
    You keep telling yourself that. You keep telling yourself that the sex you were having before you saw him standing there wasn’t a far cry from your usual, lights-off, missionary-position, extended-foreplay, once, maybe twice-a-night deal with Ana.
    Self-delusion wasn’t always a bad thing. It had helped keep him firmly in the role he’d held for years, a mild-mannered nine-to-five architect. He had a nice house, an affordable mortgage, health benefits, vacation time.
    The fact that it sounded horribly, tediously boring, even to his own ears, didn’t matter. Those things had scored him his lovely, gentle wife…and he wouldn’t jeopardize that for anything.

Chapter Four
    Ana arose to the scent of cinnamon in the air. Must be Sunday. Sundays were her and Taylor’s day to sleep in and enjoy breakfast foods they normally didn’t indulge in.
    But when she opened her eyes, the room was still dim, and her husband was lying next to her snoring softly, which told her more than anything that it must be early. Taylor was usually up with the birds.
    Was it an air freshener? That smelled like French toast? And only sprayed in the mornings?
    Unlikely.
    Careful not to jostle her man, she slipped out of bed. It was only when she stumbled on unsteady legs that she realized she was completely naked.
    And then she remembered how she got that way.
    A warm blush covered her body as memories of last night flickered through her brain in high def. Their sexual past had officially been eclipsed.
    It had been hot and dirty and sweaty, but more than all of that, for the first time ever, even more so than in their erotic car ride, Ana had felt like she was holding the real person who lurked behind her husband’s calm, quiet exterior.
    Her heart accelerated, and she glanced back at the bed. Generally, Taylor slept as neatly as he did everything else, not taking up any more space than he needed to, considerately keeping his larger frame from shoving her smaller body off the bed. This morning, he was sprawled out on his belly, face turned toward her. He looked utterly relaxed, rested and sated, his mouth ajar as he breathed deeply in and out.
    It made her want to keep him in this state. Or rather, wake him up, wear him out all over again, and put him back in this sexual overdose.
    Ignoring the slight soreness of her sex, she even took a step back to the bed before she