“How about sex and dinner?” she asked, her throaty voice sending tingles to play on the fine hairs on his neck. She rubbed one fine, slender foot on her lengthy leg, to stress her point.

Her audacity caught his breath. They hardly knew each other, having met only a couple of times before. And yet here she was, her naked flesh provoking him into a frenzy. There was no mistaking the hunger in her eyes; the need for his body; her desire for him.

He swallowed and tried to look away, to avoid her burning stare. She snickered at his discomfort as he lowered his eyes to examine trembling fingers. Speak! Say something! His mouth obeyed the mental command, but words failed him. His gaze caressed her nude body to linger once more on trim legs that seemed to go on forever. He bit his lip, his heart skipping a beat. She had him now; he would stop at nothing to slither between her mounds, to experience the ecstasy promised by her inviting, crooked smile; consequences be damned.

His determination slipped fast. With the last remnants of his strength, he made a final, desperate attempt to negotiate. To save himself. “Why not dinner first?” he croaked, a thick bead of sweat trickling down his forehead.

Her raspy laugh made his knees tremble. He leaned against a tree to stop himself from shaking. A delightful, mortified shiver travelled through his body onto the wrinkled bark at her next words.

“Don’t be silly,” she said with a smirk. “Who’s ever heard of a praying mantis eating before sex?” She inched closer, her emerald eyes caressing his smooth skin. He closed his eyes as her lips brushed against his ear, her hot breath tickling him, making his heart race. A long tongue slithered out of her lipless mouth to lick his slender neck. “That would ruin my appetite.”

Nicholas C. Rossis is the author of the epic fantasy series Pearseus. You can read more of his wicked short stories for free on his blog, www.nicholasrossis.me