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+Kalli Next runs Hell, a bar and cafe on a new colony jungle world. One night she uses her psi talents to stop a bar fight and the next thing she knows, she is staring at three new lawmen that she knows in her bones. Hers. When she is released the next morning, she has only one comment to make to the stunned men who know that she is their fourth---come and get me.
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+Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author's rights is appreciated.
+This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
+Cum and Get Me
+Copyright © 2010 Zenina Masters ISBN: 978-1-55487-676-1
+Cover art by Martine Jardin
+All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
+Published by eXtasy Books
+Look for us online at: www.eXtasybooks.com
+Cum and Get Me
+Four Ever More Book 3
+By
+Zenina Masters
+The moment that Kalli saw Terrance skitter into T her bar, she knew trouble was not far behind.
+"Terrance, what did you do?"
+The madman cackled as he approached the bar where she held court. "It was beautiful, Kalli. All the lights and sounds."
+She groaned and rubbed her eyes with one hand. "You set off your decorative explosives near the base again, didn't you?"
+"It was beautiful." He repeated with awe in his tone.
+Kalli straightened. "Ladies and gentlemen, brace for MP's!"
+With the wilderness of Hakur on all sides, the base was the only flat surface from which to watch the explosions. Terrance's insistence on lighting his creations near the base so he could watch them soar was a constant source of irritation to the military. It didn't do wonders for Kalli's nerves either.
+Shaking her head, she flicked a switch to store the more expensive liquors that she kept on hand.
+No sense losing her inventory.
+The locals loosened up in preparation. They were standing and facing the door when it flew back on its hinges and slammed into the wall. Six angry men in uniform came forward and their captain demanded, "Where is he?"
+"What are you men doing off base? We don't have any of your personnel in here tonight." She spoke in a light tone that managed to cut through the air.
+"One of these men set off explosives near our base. We want him brought to justice."
+Kalli smiled. "You must be new here."
+"Just assigned, ma'am. But he will come with us."
+"You are missing one main point, new man. As you have just said, he set off explosives near your base. Not on it. You have no jurisdiction over the population of the town."
+The captain looked angry and his men squared their shoulders. "There was some ordinance left on our base."
+Closing her eyes and then re-opening them, Kalli looked to Terrance. "Did you leave anything behind?"
+"Not on the base, Kalli. I can't help it that the wind kicked up and blew the embers toward them."
+Raising an eyebrow she asked the captain, "You are here to arrest him for littering?"
+"No, for terrorist actions."
+The crowd in the bar muttered ominously.
+"Turn around and leave now, captain. Your commanding officer can file a complaint with the town and Terrance will be handled by the local constables."
+The man snorted rudely, "Blenders."
+The crowd went wild and both sides collided in a heated battle that threatened Kalli's furniture.
+That was it. Taking a deep breath, she centred herself and sent out a blast to every person in the room. Like dolls that had been dropped, they hit the floor in a tangled pile. She groaned and sorted through the detritus of the bar, searching for the pyro, Terrance.
+She had just grabbed his legs and was hauling him out of the bar when the door opened with a bang and the three newest constables strode through to find her with Terrance's feet under her arms, her back to them.
+"What has happened here?" The low harsh tone sent a tremor through her, waking her hormones in a rush of bad timing.
+"There was a bar fight, this man was the cause and I am trying to get him out of here before the captain and his buddies regain consciousness."
+One of the new constables elbowed her aside and heaved Terrance over his shoulder. "Where does he live?"
+"The house on Nekkar Street with the blue door." She wanted to follow, but was stopped by the hand on her arm.
+"What happened to everyone?"
+"I had to use a pacifier on them." She looked up at the scowling man in the dim light of the bar and fought the shiver that ran through her. Oh hell. He was one of hers. She wasn't ready.
+"Pacifiers are restricted in this portion of space.
+You are under arrest."
+She blinked and before she could say anything else, her hands were cuffed behind her and he was hauling her into the night.
+"What about my customers? The morons from the base?" She didn't struggle. She had dealt with the other set of blenders in town before, they were ridiculously strong.
+"Asher will wake them. You had better hope that none of them suffer ill effects from that restricted tech. Where did you get it by the way?"
+She tried not to snicker and merely managed to smirk. "I came by it honestly. It keeps me from replacing the furniture every few months."
+He didn't think she was funny and hauled her a little faster down the street. A few passing locals called out a greeting and she called back, much to her escort's disgust. "Do you know everyone here?"
+"Almost. They keep replacing the base personnel. Once they get used to the place though, they find their way through my doors."
+"You seem horribly chipper for someone facing jail time."
+"I have a good outlook on life." She grinned up at him and his scarred face twitched in surprise.
+Dark hair, darker eyes, he looked like he had seen a lot of action, most of it bloody. She could have felt pity, but instead she felt pride that her men had made it through hell and out the other side.
+She kept quiet until he placed her in the observation cell that was situated in the front of the constabulary. He uncuffed her and she went without protest into the cell, turning to face him with a chipper grin. "Thanks for the night off. I will see you in the morning."
+Kalli snuggled down on the hard bunk and closed her eyes. She felt the gaze of the new constable on her for long minutes and when he moved away and sat at his desk, she felt the occasional flicks of his attention.
+The man identified as Asher returned, "They are fine, no residual effects from whatever she used. I couldn't find any tech of that nature in there by the way."
+Kalli scooted up against the wall in a semi-reclining position. She smiled beatifically.
+The third man returned from tucking Terrance in.
+He looked over at her, turned away and then looked back in surprise. "You arrested her?"
+"She used forbidden technology. We will discuss it with the day shift." The scarred man was terse.
+The other two kept looking at her as they filled out reports. They were definitely a by-the-book sort of group. This was going to be harder than she thought.
+Kalli kept an eye on them, sizing them up and comparing them to men she had known in the past. She wasn't too free with her affections, but on a developing world, men came and went, some literally. She got lonely.
+Looking at them, she was fairly sure they could handle her physical needs, but were they a good match for her emotionally was the greater issue.
+With her gaze fixed on them one at a time, she let her mind wander. Eventually, she slept.
+The banging on the bars and a familiar face on the other side made her groan. "Greetings of the day to you, Kalli. What did you do last night?"
+"Drank some of Terrance's mop water?" Mop water was a euphemism for the most hostile alcohol she had ever consumed. Of course, she didn't serve it at the bar, but occasionally she had a sip, just to be polite.
+"Seriously, Kal, why would they haul you in here?" The concern on August's face was genuine.
+The first of the Amber Gem set was like a brother to her.
+"She used a pacifier on citizens." The scarred clone was scowling but standing at attention.
+August smiled and gestured for the new constables to gather around the cell. "Gentlemen of the Golden Rose, I would like to introduce you to Kalli Next. Kalli is our local barkeep, makes a mean sandwich and has a psychic talent that stuns her prey in a twenty-five foot radius. She is also a clone and has the tattoo and missing navel to prove it."
+Kalli rose to her feet and bowed gracefully. It hadn't sunk in, she could see it in their faces.
+"She is a psychic? Why didn't she tell us?"
+"Possibly because she was sizing you up and didn't want to shout it in front of everyone. Kalli, show them." August jerked his head to her shirt.
+"Not unless they ask nicely, and introduce themselves, I don't flash to strangers. Well, not when I am sober." She crossed her arms, glared at the one who was looking her like she was some kind of weird alien and smiled at Asher who had a growing interest in his eyes.
+Asher bent and bowed. "Asher Golden, constable of Hakur."
+The curious one bent at the waist. "Ecan Golden, constable of Hakur."
+Mr. Scowling Scarface nodded, "Shen Golden, constable of Hakur."
+"Now, you have to ask nicely."
+Asher's blue eyes were twinkling, "Kalli Next, will you please show us your marking?"
+Ecan caught on. "Please show us."
+It took Asher and Ecan both to elbow Shen and he finally barked out, "Please."
+"I'll take it." She whipped her shirt off and then shook her hair forward to cover her breasts. "So, does your mark look like this?"
+They probably didn't notice her breasts at all, they were focused on the large blooming rose between her breasts, the petals gently caressing the mounds of flesh on either side. "Okay, show is over.
+Let me out of the cell." She pulled her shirt back on and tucked it into her trousers.
+Even with her shirt on they were still staring at her as if she was topless.
+August smiled and nodded, but Shen held up his hand. "She interfered with an ongoing investigation. I have to file a report."
+August looked as if he wanted to comment, but he held his tongue. "She is your collar, but have her gone by lunch or they will come looking for her."
+"They? Who is they?"
+"Everyone who eats at Hell for lunch. She has some of the best food if not the best food in town.
+They will come looking for her and you can either have half the town in here, or you can let her go.
+Don't worry, she won't get far." He laughed at his own joke.
+"Thanks for that, brother." She glared at the man that she had come to think of as a wonderful and caring friend.
+"No problem, sister."
+She looked to Shen, "You don't trust anyone other than your set, do you?"
+He blinked, startled by her insight. In silence, he opened the cell door and let her go.
+She sashayed out with a sway to her hips that taunted them. She knew that they were hers, they just had to come and get her.
+Asher was laughing like a loon. "Let me get this A straight, we look for years for our fourth, finally get to a planet where she happens to be, and you arrest her? Holy hells, Shen. That took nerve."
+Ecan had a worried expression on his face, "Do you think she will reject us?"
+Shen burned with shame. He had been so stunned by the vibrancy of her eyes, the curves of her body in the dim light, that when he caught her looking at his scars, he reverted to keeping to the business of a constable arresting a troublemaker with illegal tech. Frankly, even if she had told him that she was the psychic responsible for the bodies on the floor, he would have found an excuse to take her into the constabulary so he could stare at her sparkling self.
+Knowing as he now did that she was their fourth, he felt marginally better at his attraction to a lawbreaker. He felt even better now that her illegal tech was instead the product of her own talents.
+Asher laughed. "She wants us to go after her.
+August, do you have any tips for us?"
+August lifted his head from his terminal as if he hadn't listened to their every word. "In what regard?"
+"Wooing our woman. You knew for a week that she was ours and you didn't say a word." Shen couldn't stop his growl.
+"Hell and Kalli have a lot of interaction with us.
+There are smaller fights that need our interruption, she also knows everything about everyone here. If you need to question someone, she knows exactly when they are going to stumble across her threshold."
+"And..."
+August laughed. "And, ask her to go for a picnic on her day off. She loves the falls, but few men are willing to hike for an hour through the jungle just to entertain her."
+Shen didn't like the sound of that. "She has had a lot of men?"
+August smiled. "How many women have you had?"
+He blinked and backed up mentally. Women had never been in short supply, even after his face was damaged. "Never mind."
+Rory and Stil entered the constabulary, ready for the day shift. "Would you believe that Kalli is just getting to Hell? She promised to deliver breakfast as soon as it was ready."
+"She was detained by our new brethren last night." An idea came to him and Shen knew he wouldn't like it. "It would be an excellent gesture if you went to Hell and assisted her in preparing for the day so that she can get her business back in line."
+Shen tilted his head, "Does she always make breakfast?"
+The other clones laughed, smiling at the new arrivals. Stil informed him, "Only for us, Shen. We call her sister and she calls us brothers. We can't cook, so she does it for us."
+Ecan called them on that one. "Cooking is part of our basic training, of course you can cook."
+"We can't cook as good as she can, so as far as she is concerned, we can't cook." Rory snickered.
+"Shift change is completed, off you go." August waved them out of the facility.
+Shen smiled slightly. "You heard the man. We have interfered with her business. Let's go put things to rights."
+Asher and Ecan grinned in response. They were going to be near their fourth. Any excuse would do.
+The trip back to the bar in the daylight was different from that in the evening. No one waved or called out to Shen as they walked, a few stopped and whispered. The looks were not unkind, but rather amused, as if they were in on a joke that no one had spoken out loud.
+Shen shook his head ruefully and just hoped the punch line wasn't physical. Kelli looked like she could get mean when provoked.
+Looking at the innocuous bar in the daylight, he smiled at the sign on the side of the building.
+Kalli's was the original title, but some enterprising person mutated the K into and H, the a into an e and struck out the i's. Kalli's was now Hell.
+Asher and Ecan waited for Shen to open the door. If she was going to shoot them, Shen had to take the bullet.
+He glared at them, but pushed into the surprisingly bright interior. Skylight shutters had been rolled back and the interior of the bar now looked like a simple casual restaurant.
+"What do you want, Constable Shen? Am I making too much noise?" Kalli was scrubbing tables clean and they could hear a dishwasher running in the background.
+"We have come to help you get prepped for your day's work for the time I took from you last night." He put himself forward.
+She tilted her head, considering. "Fine, Shen, you to the tables, Asher can work the floors and Ecan will help me in the kitchen." She dropped the cloth and walked away as if she expected her wishes to be carried out.
+Shen watched the sway of her hips until she disappeared around a corner. The pulsing in his cock wasn't his imagination. It was hard to move forward with the pressure being put on the fabric.
+If this was what happened when he just looked at her, he was doomed if he was able to touch her.
+"I guess our fourth has spoken." Asher found the broom and started working on the detritus of the previous evening.
+Shen nodded and took up the rag and got to work.
+She couldn't believe it, but they were helping her.
+Ecan stood near her and she could feel him sniffing at her. "Ecan, have you worked with a lot of food before?"
+"No, just simple meals for three. How did you know I was the cook?"
+"You have that curious look on your face. Come on, I will show you how to get the vegetables ready for this afternoon. While you are doing that, I will put the bread that has risen into the oven."
+She saw his eyebrows rise at that. "I use a master dough that I always keep on hand. It only has to warm up and it is ready to bake."
+He nodded.
+She showed him how to peel the tubers and how to use the slicer that could make the rest of the chopping take seconds instead of minutes. "Leave them in the bowl of water, it takes away the extra starch."
+Now came the salad prep. She prepared salad for nine species on this world, and three of them had different food requirements.
+A knock at her door made her breathe in with relief.
+"Sorn, I was afraid you wouldn't make it this morning."
+"Well, I woke up with Nor's face in my crotch so, it was quite the evening, I am guessing."
+"I had to use the pacifier."
+He shrugged, "That explains the lack of hangover. Anyway, I have some fowl, some cow and nine fish." He lifted a box to her for examination.
+"I will take the fowl and the meat. Those fish ain't fresh." She shook her head and pulled out her selections. "See you at dinner."
+Four large jungle birds would make a fantastic stew for lunch if she started right away. With practiced moves, she gutted the birds, removed leftover feathers and dropped the cleaned and washed carcasses into a vat of water. She darted around Ecan, gathering aromatics and threw them into the vat with the birds and a handful of salt.
+Water on high, she waited for them to boil.
+"What are you making for lunch?"
+"Fresh bread and fowl stew."
+With the fowl started, she took a slab of meat that she had selected and rubbed it down with herbs. A large pan was selected and she placed a rack in the bottom of it before laying down the meat.
+"And that will be?"
+"Tonight's special. Sliced beef sandwiches." She smiled at his hungry look. "You are welcome to call in an order. I will have someone bring it to you."
+"I wasn't thinking about food." He continued to look at her as if he was starving and she quickly put the meat in the oven on low with water just below the rack. She blushed as she realized he had a direct view of her ass.
+"Well, get back to the food. I have to chop the vegetables for the interior of the stew and make the thickening agent." Kalli took a deep breath and focused on her slicing instead of the man in uniform just a few feet away.
+She was halfway done when it was time to remove the bread from the oven and put in the next batch. A small pan was filled with spiced sweet buns and she smiled as she quickly glazed them and put them in a basket.
+"Those smell wonderful."
+"They are for the brothers. They have a fetish for sweets." She grinned at his crestfallen look.
+"There is another batch in the oven for you and your set. I am not that cruel."
+She loaded some bread into the basket and with moves that blurred even to her own eyes, whipped nine eggs into a froth and fried them in a mass on the grill.
+Another container was filled with the scrambled eggs and she topped it off with a small tub of butter before hoisting the basket.
+Asher stood in the doorway, "Can I help?"
+"Sure, I am taking the delivery to my brothers.
+You can carry it."
+Asher raised his brows, but took the basket with a grunt.
+"Don't dawdle, I need to be back here in ten minutes." She grinned at him and hauled him along with her, his free hand clutched in hers.
+"Are you always this intense?"
+"I am when I miss eight hours of prep work."
+"When do you sleep?"
+"After I make the food for lunch, I catch a few hours."
+He nodded. "Do you ever take a day off?"
+"Sure. Restday, like most folks. It's illegal to open the bar on Restday, so I sell cold food to folks the night before. That way they won't go without before I open again."
+"They depend on you that much?"
+"Few members of the town cook. They were brought here for their operational skills and frankly, their unsuitability for any other colony assignments. Hakor is the melting pot of the colonies."
+She sighed as she realized she hadn't answered his question, "No they can't cook."
+He grinned and they nodded to Shen as they moved quickly out the door.
+Kalli waved at the locals who were out and about in the morning. She knew them all, every one of them. When new personnel were assigned, Hell was the first place the locals took them.
+The three hungry officers waited and leapt to their feet when Kalli entered, holding the door open for Asher.
+August grabbed a sweet bun and bit into it with a groan of satisfaction. "What took you so long?"
+"I had to set them to work first, Shen is still trying to scrape the tables clean." She waved and turned her back, leaving the basket in the feeding frenzy. "Come along, Asher. They would bite you if you tried to dive in."
+Laughing, she hauled her companion back to Hell.
+Asher asked, "You feed them every day?"
+Kalli snickered. "I make them work for it just like you will."
+They were all seated around large work table, T sampling the fruits of their labours.
+Shen was eating as if he had never consumed anything before and was just discovering life.
+"Shen, slow down. There is plenty more."
+"This is fantastic." He paused and ripped his way through a freshly baked roll.
+Ecan smiled. "Pardon him. We have been on rations most of our active lives. This food is wonderful. Who taught you to cook?"
+"My father. He and my mother are retired and on the nearest moon, Taf." She finished her own portion and loaded the dishes into the washer, checking on the vats of stew that were gently bubbling away. They had put quite a dent in the first of three pots.
+"When did they leave you?" Asher was cleaning his bowl with chunks of bread.
+"Last year. They are on enforced retirement with the pharmaceutical concern that is doing research here. The amount of begging to have them close almost lost me my voice, but it was worth it.
+In the end, the locals banded behind me and the Next's had a nice new house that I can visit when I have a Restday to myself."
+Shen looked up. "Do you go often?"
+"No, mostly we just talk on the vid screens. I catch them up on my daily work and anything odd that happens in Hell." Kalli smirked. "You three will be featuring prominently in tonight's chat."
+"How long have you known we were out there?" Asher seemed curious.
+"About ten years now. Since I was fifteen and showing a marked interest in boys. Mom was too embarrassed to have the chat so Dad had to do it."
+Ecan laughed. "I can imagine it is bad enough for breeding parents, let alone the parents of a clone."
+"When he got to the three part, he turned purple. I was nineteen when he tried again and we had to go to stick figure drawings."
+Shen laughed, it was enough to startle his set into staring. "What was your opinion?"
+"I told him I wouldn't try it without the appropriate safety measures in place. Possibly some kind of helmet. I was just lucky he didn't break out the sock puppets."
+Their howls of laughter distracted them just long enough for her to whisk away the plates and send them through the washer. Her lunch help was about to arrive and she liked to give them a clean start.
+"All right, I have accepted your penance and the courtship has begun. You lot go home and I have more work to do. You have an evening shift tonight and I expect a request for my culinary services." She shooed them away.
+Shen took the initiative and stood in front of her.
+"We will go on one condition."
+She looked up at him, his fierce dark eyes and the comb of his dark hair. The last time they had been this close he had cuffed her. She crossed her arms over her breasts. "What?"
+"One kiss for each of us."
+Ecan and Asher looked as if they were in on the plan. "You two agree?"
+Ecan laughed. "It would be a nice start."
+Shen leaned down and she leaned up, bracing her hands on his shoulders. Her lips parted an instant before his touched down. For such a rough looking man, his kiss was surprisingly gentle. It was a smooth exploration and nothing more. He drew back with a pleased expression.
+Ecan gestured for her to approach him.
+"I thought I was supposed to give you a kiss.
+Not deliver it."
+"Quit whining and come here, Kalli." He leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms, waiting until she stood in front of him.
+She tried to reach him on tiptoes, but he wouldn't bend. With a sigh, she climbed onto the counter, used his shoulders for balance and leaned around him, bringing his mouth to hers. His kiss was an exercise in control and she smiled, giving him a small kiss as she drew back.
+"Stay on the counter." Asher turned her sideways, laying her back on the counter and he leaned in to receive her kiss. She tangled her hand in his hair and stroked the strands lightly as their kiss went on long enough for a pulse to start low in her belly and throb with the motion of his tongue.
+When he drew back, she was ready for a nap, or a marathon. He was smiling down at her.
+She had only one thing to say, "Wow. That was quite the kiss." She trailed her fingers down his jaw and ran them down his neck to the opening of his shirt, touching the tip of his tattoo.
+The clearing of Shen's throat broke their eye contact.
+Sheepishly, she looked around Asher's shoulder and smiled. "Okay. You have to get your rest.
+Shoo."
+They nodded and one by one, left her alone and aching in the kitchen. She hoped to hell this was a fast courtship because she was desperate for an in depth exploration of their tattoos. If they were anything like hers, they were an amazing erogenous zone.
+She really looked forward to finding out.
+"I can't believe she didn't bust our balls more than she did." Asher was smiling as they rounded the lane that would take them to their assigned home.
+The generic military grade house was suitable for their needs, but if Kalli was to join them as their mate, they would need better accommodations.
+"Do you think she forgives us for Shen's exuberance?"
+"I do. I also think she has looked forward to having us here. She has been just as alone as we have, Ecan."
+Shen scowled, a usual look for him.
+"Relax, Shen. She will be ours, we even have a date for the next Restday. We are joining her on a hike to a waterfall. Try and get into a better mood by then." Asher slapped him on his shoulder.
+Shen grunted and led the way into the dim interior of their home.
+With their time spent on the night shift, arriving at dawn usually provided them with enough light.
+Today they were full, it was midmorning, and there were no messages on their private coms.
+After the wildness of the last few hours, the silence was peculiar.
+Asher had to admit that though he and his set had been friends for years, now that they had experienced the wild whirlwind that was Kalli, they would not be content without her...and she had a truly spectacular set of breasts guarding their marking.
+He grinned as he imagined her face if he informed her of it.
+"What are you smiling about?" Ecan's curiosity was unstoppable.
+"Thinking about our fourth and consequences for honesty."
+Shen's rough voice broke his happy thoughts.
+"We can't bring our woman back here. This is unsuitable for a family home. What do we do?"
+Ecan smiled shyly. "We ask to see her house.
+She was raised here after all. The set completion bonus that we will receive will be more than enough to retrofit a house here on Hakur."
+Shen started to smile, Asher was so stunned that he could only grin in return. "Look up stats for her house online and then we need to get to bed. We have a late shift and she is determined to feed us.
+I think we should oblige."
+Kalli woke from her nap in the back room and shoved herself into the tiny shower. A few minutes of cramped rotation and she was ready to get to work in the kitchen.
+She pulled a clean uniform out from a pack under the bed and dressed in her normal t-shirt and trousers. She slid her feet into her sneakers and was ready to go.
+The muted clangs of pots and pans reassured her. Something was happening in the kitchen and that was a good thing. Kalli took a look around the front of house and when everything was clean and in order, she returned to take possession of her domain.
+"Saf, Metri, thank goodness you are here. I was arrested last night and am a little behind."
+Her assistants looked up and smiled at her.
+"Not to worry, Kalli. You got us off to a good start.
+Go home and get some sleep, you look like hell."
+"Thanks, Saf." She yawned and her jaw cracked.
+"Okay, fine. I am a little sleepy. Send a pulse to my house before dinner service. I think I got enough started for lunch."
+"Go. Sleep off your night in the custody of the new lawmen. If such as they had me confined, I would be tired, too." Metri winked at her, her blue eyes dancing.
+"We didn't...I put them to work. They will have to court me before I fall into bed with them." She grinned and grabbed her personal pouch as well as a light jacket. Her body told her that there was a storm coming. "Well, they will have to court me a little. It has been a long dry spell."
+Her workers laughed and waved her off. They knew she was a blender, a clone. The people here on Hakur banded around her when derision flew toward her from newcomers. They were rapidly informed of Kalli's status and the pride of the community in her accomplishments. Those who remained contemptuous never entered Hell again.
+Hakur was a lonely place with only one good pub, and Hell was it.
+The military types loved to eat there, but they had the good sense to keep their comments about blenders to themselves.
+She groaned. That reminded her. She needed to contact base command about the new captain trying to capture Terrance. They had no rights over the civilians who worked for the pharmaceutical corporation. It seemed the captain needed reminding.
+"Ms. Next. I believe we met last evening."
+Think of the devil and it showed up, her mother used to say. The captain was moving to intercept her path down the street.
+"We did. You incited a riot and I used a pacifier to save my building from wear and tear." She kept her path straight and grimaced when he fell into step with her.
+"I am new here."
+"I noticed."
+"I was wondering if I could take you out on a date some time."
+Kalli froze. "Are you joking?"
+He smiled and tried to look charming. "There are few acceptable women here. You seem polite and well-bred. I have heard of your charity to the blenders and it does you credit."
+Any swelling of a smile froze on her face. "Your use of the term blenders is offensive. The lawmen are respectable men who do a job few want nowadays."
+"They were designed in a lab. They aren't even human."
+She paused near a food stall and held up a hand.
+"Stop right there. I am not a well-bred woman. I am a designed woman. I am a blender the same as the lawmen. You obviously don't want anything to do with one so low, so I will appreciate if you keep yourself and your men from my establishment while on duty. Don't worry, they all know. You won't surprise them with this revelation."
+He looked her up and down, a peculiar expression running across his features. "The blenders are all men."
+She lifted her t-shirt and exposed her lack of navel. "See?" She turned and left him confused and angry on the street. She paused for juice at another food cart.
+"You were hard on him. He just wanted a date."
+"He wanted a date and he hates blenders. Not much of a chance for some nookie there. The new lawmen are from my set, I will soon have more interaction than I can handle."
+The low whistle from her friend of fifteen years made her smile.
+"Don't sound so impressed, Veel. They arrested me last night. Disturbing the peace or something."
+"That sounds like lawmen. Wow, Kalli, are you sure that they are the ones? They are awfully cute."
+"I know. And yes they are the ones. Our markings match and mine get all hot when they are near." Kalli took the blended veg and fruit smoothy Veel handed her. "Thanks. I will see you later?"
+"Are you waiting until your boys get on shift?"
+"I will sleep until Saf and Merki call me. It will be nice to get almost a full night's sleep."
+"A full day's."
+"Whatever. See you later, Veel." She walked off, sipping the juice and heading for her parent's place.
+The house was huge, sprawling, and her occasional visits to it were few and far between.
+She preferred to sleep in the tiny cot near people. It was hard to admit, she was uncomfortable being alone.
+She assessed her home as she approached it.
+There was room for more occupants. Her parents were constantly boarding newbies to Hakor.
+Extra bedrooms were in good shape. They merely needed fresh bedding. She set the bedding to wash and lay down in her bedroom. She left the master bedroom alone, it seemed wrong to use all that space only for her.
+If her luck held, loneliness would not be her problem much longer. She would have three men in her bed, or she would go insane trying.
+Hell was having a good night. Food was flying H and liquor was flowing. The locals were impressed with their dubious triumph over the military police. They woke on the floor and not on the base, and that was enough of a victory to them.
+"To our fearless leader!" Terrance raised his glass and the rest of the occupants followed suit.
+"Our fearless leader!"
+Kalli blushed as she connected the term with herself. It wasn't a natural leap. With a tray full of empties, she curtsied her thanks.
+When the com rang, she answered it, "Welcome to Hell, Kalli speaking."
+"Hello, our fourth. We were ordered to ask you for dinner." Asher's cheer came through the com and made her smile.
+"What can I get for you?"
+"Whatever is hot for dinner that you can carry.
+Enough for three please. Shen has been waxing poetic about breakfast all day, and you can imagine how difficult it is to impress him."
+Kalli's chuckle came to her unbidden. "You will have your meal in less than half an hour or you can take it out of my hide."
+"Delay you. Got it." The rich laugh acted on her like a hand stroking her spine. "See you soon, Kalli."
+She still had a silly smile on her face when she turned and the entire contents of the bar were staring at her in shock. Terrance was the first to come out of it and started to applaud slowly. The rest followed his lead, even Saf and Metri joined in.
+"About time, Kalli."
+"Yeah, yeah. Stow it, all of you."
+Still grinning, she turned and prepared the order for the lawmen. Kalli took the order out through the front door to the hoots and yelps of the audience.
+The streets of the town were empty as she walked with her steady stride. The weight of the basket was heavy, but evening was still in early stages. She paused outside the door to the law offices and checked her chronometer. Two minutes to spare. Too bad.
+She pushed at the door and it wouldn't open.
+Ecan was leaning against the door, she could see him through the window.
+"Open the door, ass hat!"
+He raised his eyebrows at her language, but kept his weight on the door. He kept her waiting for two minutes. At exactly the two minute mark, he lifted his weight from the door and opened it for her.
+"Nice. Charming."
+Ecan took her basket from her and handed it to Asher. "Shen, what is the charge for swearing at a lawman in pursuit of his duty?"
+"Some form of confinement, I would imagine."
+Shen had a serious face, but a distinctly amused glint to his eyes.
+"Excellent."
+Before Kalli could blink, Ecan had her up against the bars of the cell she had been in only that morning. A set of restraint cuffs held one wrist above her head and he gestured to Shen for a second pair. She was now up against the bars with her wrists manacled about two inches above her head.
+"Very funny, guys, I have to be getting back to the bar."
+"Well, you did say that we could take it out of your hide. You are a woman of your word, are you not?"
+She tugged futilely at the cuffs. "I am, but restraints are not necessary."
+Shen smiled. "They will remind us to use it."
+"Use what?"
+He stood and came forward until his body warmed hers. He reached up, gripped the bars above her head and lowered his lips for a kiss.
+"Restraint."
+Kalli went up on her toes to meet him halfway and he ignored her parted lips in favour of a slow exploratory kiss that left her shaking. Her nipples were taut and she wanted to rub against him in the worst way, he carefully held himself away from her.
+When he pulled back, she glared at him,
+"Tease."
+"Oh, I haven't even started."
+Asher and Ecan were dividing the contents of the basket, leaving her and Shen alone for the most part.
+Shen knelt in front of her and pressed his forehead between her breasts. The indirect pressure on her tattoo made her moan softly. His hands worked at her waistband and soon she felt cooler air caressing the flesh of her belly as he raised her shirt.
+He bent and his lips trailed over the curve of her waist, across her ribs and to the underside of her breasts. Her nipples ached and when he took one into his mouth, she hissed and arched into him.
+Fire and light ran through her nerves as his tongue caressed and the graze of his teeth hovered on the edge of pain.
+Shen moved from right to left and back again, her body wound tighter and tighter. He thrust his arm between her knees and gripped the cell bar for leverage. In an instant, she was riding his forearm and she heard the broken cries from her throat as she came, her weight bearing her onto her clit.
+He kept his arm between her thighs, but suddenly her arms were loose. She clutched his shoulders and lowered her head to his for a kiss that was a little on the brutal side. She hoped he would forgive her, but round one always made her crave round two.
+A cleared throat next to her ear made her jump.
+Shen's eyes were glazed with lust and she was quite sure that that same expression was on her own face.
+Ecan was smiling, but there was a strained look in his eyes. "I think that is enough out of your hide for the day. Shen is going to be distracted all night as it is."
+She shook her head and swallowed heavily. Her lips were swollen and it was her own fault for mauling her lawman.
+Asher lifted her away from Shen while Ecan held him back.
+"I have never seen him so rattled." Asher murmured in her ear as he smoothed her shirt back into place. "Creative bugger though. I would never have thought it possible to bring you off like that with all your clothes on, but he said it could be done. I suppose Shen proved it right."
+"Bully for him. I need to get back to the bar now."
+"Well, considering that I have already eaten, I suppose I should escort you back. No telling what Shen would do if I sent you back with him.
+Probably cart you into the jungle before we knew what was what."
+"He would bring me back." She fought back a smile.
+"Yeah, but in exceptionally satisfied condition.
+Where would Ecan and I be then?" Asher smiled and held the door open for her as they walked into the night.
+"Probably waiting for your own turn."
+They laughed together as they walked down the street. They were still half a block from Hell when Asher whirled to face their stalker.
+"Blender. Has she already fucked you, is that why you are laughing?" The captain was back and he was drunk in uniform.
+"Captain Nerothan, I hardly think it is any of your business."
+Asher was trying to be polite, but he was shaking with irritation. Kalli noted that he moved between her and the other man with a move so subtle she doubted the captain noticed. She was braced for the sudden rush that the Captain engaged in, but so was Asher.
+He sidestepped the rush with a graceful move, keeping Kalli behind him. "Return to the base, Captain. I don't want to have to call the other MP's."
+"Of course you don't. They would never believe a blender over one of their own." Nerothan lifted a blade and came forward, slashing. Asher stepped aside, but this time Kalli was in the way. She did what she did best, when the captain came for her, she went up and over.
+The flip surprised both men, but Kalli was now separated from her mate by a span of fifteen feet.
+The captain whirled on the weaker target, and ended up eating pavement. Kalli had acted as her brothers had taught her and brought him down as fast as she could. Asher took care of the rest, knocking him out in time for the other two of their set to come running around the corner.
+"Kalli, are you all right?" Ecan ran his hands over her in an effort to find any sore spots, that or he was just up for a cheap grope.
+"I am fine. Let's get him up and into the bar. I will call the military from there."
+"No, we will take him to our offices." Shen looked as if a little lawman brutality was on his mind.
+"Asher's mind called you?" Kalli should have known.
+"Of course. We have a high level of communication between us. We were an effective battle team because of it." Ecan was glaring down at the captain on the ground. "Men like this make our life fairly awkward."
+"Send the MP's to me for a statement. We have the entire contents of Hell as witnesses to his comments about blenders last night." She crossed her arms and shivered.
+Shen finished cuffing the captain and hauled him to his feet. "This one will not be going anywhere soon. What did you hit him with, Asher?"
+Asher cleared his throat. "A little me, a little talent. He went after Kalli with a knife."
+"You could have torn his head off."
+"I pulled it at the last minute. No harm done."
+He looked down at the smashed and bleeding face of the captain. "Well, nothing that can't be surgically fixed."
+"I am going back to work. Make sure to call the watch when you get him behind bars. I will be notifying them myself in case you decide to vent a little." Kalli walked swiftly away from her men, her body shaking from a combination of their nearness and the short fight.
+It was a relief to be inside the dim expanse of the bar, filled with friends. She nodded grimly to a few faces as she passed until she got to the office in the back. She punched in the code for the command centre at the base and made her request, "General Shoffin, please. Tell him it's Kalli Next."
+The voice on the com went from indifferent to cheerful in a matter of seconds. As late as it was, the General always took her calls.
+"Kalli? What can I do for you?"
+"Well, General, your newest Captain is currently in the custody of the lawmen for attempted murder of two blenders. Myself and Lawman Asher."
+"I don't believe it. Nerothan? He is such a straight arrow."
+"Well, last night he used blender as an epithet when he came in to try and arrest Terrance, and tonight he came after me and Asher with a knife. I don't think he is Hakor material."
+The General's voice grew concerned. "Are you all right?"
+"I am fine, but Nerothan won't be if the locals find out he is gunning for me and the Lawmen.
+You know how protective they can be if provoked."
+He sighed. "I am sorry. There was nothing in his profile that indicated that he would not be a suitable enforcement agent."
+"He probably hasn't worked around many, if any, clones." Kalli rubbed her forehead. "You know how some folks react to them...us."
+"Did he know you were..."
+"Yes. I told him this afternoon when he hit on me. It seemed the best way to dissuade him. He reacted as expected."
+The general swore for a moment. "On a more pleasant note, are they yours?"
+She smiled into the com. "Yes, they are."
+"Congratulations.
+Now
+you
+can
+stop
+decimating my ranks and breaking hearts."
+"Aw, Uncle Mors, you know that I didn't break anything. I just bruised a few when they realized I wasn't going to change my mind about waiting for my men. That, and the stamina problem."
+He cleared his throat. "Be that as it may, they did declare their love for you and you could not reciprocate, Kal. It hasn't done morale much good to have to transfer them out when you bruise them."
+"Well, that is no longer even a remote possibility. No matter what I do to these three, they are going to stick with me, and me with them." She didn't know why she was so sure, but she just knew it.
+"I will start on the transfer orders for Nerothan as soon as I disconnect, now call your mother.
+She's worried."
+The General was literally her uncle, and his defense of his niece and sister always warmed her heart. She had been adopted by a large and extended family. Her father had seven brothers and sisters, her mother, six.
+"I promise to call Mom."
+"Goodnight, and make sure that those men treat you well or I will have to step in to have a word with them." He may be nearing retirement, but General Shoffin was still an impressive specimen of a man.
+"Oh, I will. Night, Uncle." She disconnected the call and smiled for a moment. She took a deep settling breath and started punching in her mother's code. This was going to be one long call.
+Kalli had talked to her mother long into the night K and it was only when Ecan arrived to escort her home that she realized the time. He quizzed her on her accommodations and she answered honestly.
+"Plenty of room for all of us."
+His eyes had gleamed in the dim light as he quickly kissed her goodbye before leaving her in her front room, aching and alone. The urge to jump him had been overwhelming, but he had kept his hands firmly on her shoulders and pushed her away. Bugger.
+The next day was blissfully uneventful. Kalli woke late, made breakfast for the brothers, got the lunch of soup and sandwiches set up, then started work on the take home packs for the evening rush.
+Tomorrow was Restday and she was looking forward to it with an eagerness that brought a blush to her cheeks.
+She set aside her own provisions for Restday and let the rest of the day handle itself.
+Asher came to retrieve the basket with a wink and a slow pat on her ass. It was the highlight of her evening.
+Shen escorted her home after the long evening and gave her a kiss to scorch her toes after he had checked her home for intruders. Kalli had her nails dug into his shoulders, but he wasn't giving an inch. He pulled her hands away, kissed each palm and left her in her home.
+There was no way she was going to get any sleep before they went on their journey through the jungle, so she did the books for the company and placed supply orders for the off world equipment she needed.
+Kalli worked until she started yawning, then crawled to bed and got three hours of sleep before her alarm started its cadence.
+Drums were her favourite way to wake, there was no sleeping through them.
+She stumbled into a brisk shower, towelled off and slipped into a loose jumpsuit. Her damp hair was restrained into a tight ponytail and she was out the door before she could change her mind and hide inside.
+She tripped over Shen's legs on her front steps and went flying into Ecan's arms. She yelped in surprise. "I thought you were still on duty."
+"Your brothers relieved us early so that we could spend a complete day with you. We have already been to your bar and Saf gave us the food you set aside yesterday." Shen stood and nodded to three jungle skimmers in her yard. "Shall we?"
+She shook her head and looked at them with suspicion. "We seem to be missing a skimmer."
+"No, you will ride with one of us out, and one back. You will have to lead since we have no idea where we are going." Asher smiled. "I claim you for the ride out."
+"Since Ecan already has me, I will ride with him on the way to the pool. Or he will ride with me, since I know where I am going and he doesn't."
+The other two merely shrugged.
+Ecan grinned down at her and set her on her feet. "Lead the way, mistress."
+She settled onto the first skimmer and scooted forward as Ecan took his position behind her.
+When his arms wrapped around her waist, she closed her eyes for a moment before powering up the skimmer. It felt too good for her peace of mind.
+With Asher and Shen on their skimmers and ready to follow, she throttled up and they turned for the jungle. The path was almost invisible, but she found it with the ease of practice. It grew in every time she visited, the green of the jungle healing all divots and scars that her feet or skimmer left behind.
+The green blurred as she accelerated in the growth. It would be a solid forty-five minutes of flying to reach the pool, but with Ecan's arms around her, it felt like an eternity.
+He started to explore her body, shifting his grip so that one hand was on her breast, the other crept over her belly to rest between her thighs, pressing gently. The heat of his hand over her clit warmed her blood and she caught her breath as her focus shifted and she almost treed them.
+"Knock it off, Ecan. We want to arrive alive."
+"I have every confidence in your abilities, Kalli.
+We all do." His fingers curled and pressed against her in a slow beat while the hand on her breast kneaded gently.
+By the time she parked the skimmer on the rocks overlooking the shallow waterfall that led to the deep pool, she was shaking with eagerness.
+The moment that the skimmer went silent, she turned in Ecan's arms, straddled him on the seat of the skimmer and pulled his lips to hers in a savage claiming that left him shaking and her panting and rocking against him. His erection called to her and she wanted to answer in the worst way when hands pulled her from her target.
+"Not just yet, Kalli. There is an order to these things." Asher was pulling her from Ecan, but it was Shen's heated look that snapped her control.
+"Fine. Whichever one of you decides that he wants me," she kicked off her boots and opened her jumpsuit. The jumpsuit hit the ground and she kicked it aside. "Come and get me." With an arcing leap, she flung herself into the water and surfaced to watch them while treading water.
+The feeling of being completely nude outdoors always heightened her senses, but hearing a splash next to her and feeling hands on her ankles pulling her under sparked all kinds of adrenaline.
+Shen's face was clear under the water, and when he took her lips in a kiss, she groaned into his mouth. Her legs wrapped around his and soon she felt the heat of his erection nudging at her for entrance. She needed air and he brought her to the surface in a rush of water and heated skin.
+Kalli gasped for air, Shen's mouth trailed hotly against her throat. He kicked them through the water until he could stand on the bottom of the pool comfortably and then he was pressing into her in earnest.
+She was tight, it had been a while, but he forged through the resistance of her passage and his heat joined her own. His hands under her hips lifted and dropped her in a slow beat, each strike caused a wave to emerge from their coupling until the water was foaming around them.
+Kalli could feel the power coming off Shen and the water was helping to disburse it, but there were still shockwaves starting inside her with every thrust and building her tension to the screaming point. Her body held on through every stroke, her nails digging into his shoulders as she started gasping and groaning with her imminent climax. Shen moved harder, and when he ground his hips against her on the inward slide, she screamed, frightening the birds from the trees.
+Shen groaned, the veins in his neck bulged and she felt a pulse deep within her as he swelled and ejaculated in a harsh jerk that kept her hips tight to his.
+Gasping, he staggered back with a splash and took her with him into the icy coolness of the pond.
+Warm hands pulled her away from him and hauled her to the surface. Ecan waded out of the water and wrapped her in a towel that Asher held out.
+She coughed and swallowed. "I guess Shen is our first?"
+Ecan laughed. "Yes, and I am the second. Asher is our third. He got more personality to make up for his place in the pecking order."
+Kalli blushed, "I think pecker order would be more accurate."
+Asher grinned. "Crude but concise. How long did it take your father to explain that one?"
+"You don't really want to be talking about my father, do you?" She winked and reached up to stroke Ecan's face. "You don't like the water?"
+"Asher and I are willing to share if you are.
+What we want isn't practical under water. We need you wet, and we need to know you want us.
+That is easier seen to on land."
+Shen walked out of the water, a sea god rising from the depths. Water gleamed on his shoulders and Kalli wet her lips, looking up at Ecan with lust that transferred from one of her set to the other.
+She wanted them all, one by one, together, any way they would come to her.
+Asher had laid out a pallet for them, wide enough for three of them to lie side by side.
+Planning had gone into this.
+Ecan positioned her on her knees, upright and facing him. He trailed his mouth from her neck to her shoulders and between her breasts, worshipping her tattoo, licking, sucking and gnawing gently at her flesh. He cupped her breasts in his hands, kneading them until they were taut and her nipples stood out hard and eager.
+Behind her, Asher lifted her hair from her neck and pressed kisses down her spine. One by one, he traced her vertebrae beneath her skin, stroking her back, cupping her hips and ass as he moved.
+The assault on her senses took her higher and higher as they worked tirelessly on her. Kalli heard her voice scale into raised octaves until Ecan slipped two fingers into her channel, and Asher followed suit with two slick fingers in her ass. The penetration gave her nerves conflicting signals that nevertheless sent her spinning over the edge of release.
+A dark whisper in her ear filled her with dread and a searing anticipation. "Now, Kalli, that was foreplay."
+Ecan slid to his back and pulled her over him, his cock arched high and proud with drops of slick dew on its head. He cupped her hips and slid her on him until he was thoroughly wet with her juice and his own had mingled. With a groan that he couldn't disguise, he used his hands to rock her until she was completely on him and the soft curling hairs at the top of her sex brushed his.
+She raised and lowered herself on him, enjoying the slide of his rod inside her. Kalli bit her lip and rocked harder, forgetting Asher until he pushed her forward on Ecan until her face was in his tattoo.
+Asher slid two slick fingers against her until she raised her hips to meet them. When he parted her ass cheeks and replaced his fingers with his cock, she panted, but pushed back.
+She licked softly at Ecan's tattoo as they started to move inside her, taking turns to press and withdraw until she almost blacked out from the rush of sensation they were forcing on her. Her pleasure started to burn, her flesh heated and power started to flow around the pool in rippling waves.
+Her voice gave out when her body bucked and shuddered in their embrace, and Ecan's roar came a moment after. Asher pounded into her with abandon before she felt him swell and pulse inside her.
+A trio of groans occurred when they separated, but Asher lifted her and walked with her into the pool. He simply dropped her into the chilled fluid and she squawked and fought her way to the surface.
+He and Ecan took quick scrubs, then fished her out and brought her to the pallet where Shen was now lounging, his erection renewed and throbbing under Kalli's gaze.
+"Well, that took the edge off, didn't it, mate?"
+He reached out and cuddled her close. The skin that had cooled in the water rapidly heated as Shen and Asher stroked and explored her in a leisurely manner.
+"It did. I think I am worn out."
+"No, I don't think you are." Asher stroked his hand down her chest and lust flared as his fingers caressed the details of the tattoo. "Don't worry, Kalli. We can amuse ourselves."
+Oh boy.
+"That the hell was that?" Kalli groaned as she
+"W sat up after using her mouth on Shen. His orgasm had sent a pulse of talent out that reached Ecan, Asher and Kalli. They were all shaking in the aftermath.
+A slow look at their surroundings showed a clearing that had not been there when they started now expanded in a circle from the point of their pile of limbs. "Wow."
+Shen cleared his throat and spoke after several attempts. "That has never happened before. I am sure I would have remembered a blast wave that removed trees."
+Kalli smiled at his astonishment. "I was referring to the cascading orgasm. We cleared the first stand of trees in the water. I have already figured out that your talents combine into a physical clearing to match my mental one."
+"Oh." Shen blushed. An amazing feat considering their afternoon's activities.
+They had explored each other thoroughly. Each tattoo now showed light bruising from mouths, fingers and teeth. The gold stood proudly on flushed skin, on all of them. The lunch stop had turned Kalli into the table and no hands were allowed once the food was placed.
+Kalli was going to encourage family meals like that at every opportunity.
+"So, that joining hasn't happened before?"
+They looked at each other and shook their heads. Ecan spoke. "No, I mean, when Shen played with you in the law offices, we felt something through our link, but nothing like that ever happened before."
+She smirked. "I am glad I was your first."
+They looked indignant for a moment before Asher reached out to swat her backside. "Very funny, Kalli. We should return to town. Sunset will be here before we know it."
+She nodded and groaned as she got to her feet.
+"One final dip in the pool. I need to work out some of these muscles before they lock up." And she needed to wash off the semen that spotted her at random intervals, but she didn't mention that.
+When her men came, they came hard. Kalli grinned as she waded into the pool, for that matter, so did she. Her body ached and would be sore for days, but she didn't regret one moment.
+The water seemed icy against the heat of her skin, but when she sat under the waterfall and let the pounding on her shoulders loosen her muscles, she let the cold become part of her therapy.
+Under the relentless force of the water, she watched Ecan, Asher and Shen approach her. She sighed happily, they were beautiful and they were hers. Each inch of flesh whether banded by muscle or twisted by scarring was perfect.
+Ecan sat on her left, Asher her right and Shen took up a position on Asher's side. Together, they all shared the feeling of the water against them.
+Kalli felt her mind expand as she began to feel their bodies as her own. It was a bizarre moment.
+Their cocks were not sore, but there was an ache in their balls that echoed the twinge in her channel and ass.
+When they started to look at her, she knew that they were feeling the aches and pains in her body.
+None of them spoke of it. When Kalli felt her lips turn blue, she went under the surface of the pool and swam until she could walk out onto the rocky surround.
+Naked, Kalli wandered up to the point above the waterfall and shook out her suit and boots, making sure that there were no tiny critters in her shucked clothing. The air of the jungle was hot, moist and she simply tugged the suit on over damp skin.
+She carried her boots down to their picnic area and watched her water warriors walk out of the pool one by one. The cold water had had little to no effect. She blushed at the enthusiasm of their erections, a surprising response given their last four hours, but the memory of the feel and taste of them was enough to start a tiny flare of interest in her after no more than a look.
+Kalli's boots went on with a little bit of effort while Ecan folded up their play area and Asher worked on the food hamper. Shen retrieved his own clothing and held out his hand to her.
+With a soft sigh, she looked around at the open spot that was their first date. She imprinted the sights in her memory and then took Shen's hand to allow him to bring her to his skimmer.
+Shen's skimmer took point and she led them back through the jungle in the fading light. As a first date, this one had been a doozy.
+She was yawning by the time she pulled into her yard, parking the skimmer neatly next to the crushed gravel approach. She looked back at Shen,
+"I think I need a nap."
+He grinned and jerked his head so that Ecan and Asher could see it. "Excellent idea. We will meet you inside."
+She opened her mouth to tell him that he wasn't invited, but he immediately gave her a look that her mother as described as puppy dog eyes. Kalli had never seen a puppy, but if they looked anything like Shen, Ecan and Asher when they all took up the look en masse, she wanted a bunch of them in her house.
+"Fine. Bring everything inside, I will wash the bedding that we did such a thorough job of frolicking with."
+"You will not. Today is your rest day. We will take care of everything." Shen gave her a sweet kiss on the forehead. "See you inside."
+Bemused, she walked up the approach to her door and went inside. Ice water, frozen beverages and a small tray of snacks assembled under her hands. It was reflex. People were coming into her home, she had to feed them.
+Her men came in almost silently. Only the earlier contact had attuned her to their presence.
+She felt them more than saw them.
+Kalli finished her snack preparation and then nodded to her guests. "I am off for a nap."
+She didn't need to ask to hear them follow her down the hall to the master bedroom. Studiously ignoring them, she stripped and crawled between the sheets on the large bed. One body slipped in beside her, another on the other side, and the third slept on the floor facing the door.
+It was not the easiest assembly to get used to, but Kalli fell into darkness scented with men that were hers and hers alone.
+Someone was in her kitchen. Kalli sat up, groaned and moved more slowly as she crawled out of bed. She wrapped a sheet around herself and followed her ears. There they were, trying to figure out how to work her antique ovens, muttering quietly and exchanging confused looks.
+She laughed when a spark ignited a gas ball that stunned them. "I'll start it and then get dressed.
+Whatever you intend to create is your own business."
+"We woke you." Shen looked upset.
+"No. It was time for me to wake. There we go. Is that the element you wanted?"
+Ecan stood by with a pot, ready to pounce. "Yes.
+That is fine, now off you go."
+Asher was mixing something in a bowl and he smacked her hand with a spoon when she tried to taste. "No peeking. We are surprising you. Now, go and get dressed."
+Rubbing her hand and scowling, she made her way back to her room. She slipped on some undergarments and a sundress. Her mother's shawl went around her shoulders and she slipped into some sandals for running around the house.
+Content that they had enough time to do whatever it was that they were doing, she slipped back in to the corner of the kitchen to watch their progress. She scooted onto a tall stool in the breakfast nook and watched with curiosity.
+For the life of her, she could not figure out what they were doing. It smelled wonderful, but she had never seen anything like the stack of cakes that were piling up on the side of the oven.
+A caress flowed through her mind and stroked across her breasts. It took all her control not to yelp, but she did jump a little in response. She heard a chuckle and glared toward them, unable to tell which one of them it was.
+When another phantom hand stroked the inside of her thigh, she looked down and then up, trying to find the culprit. This was a game she had never thought to play.
+Concentrating, she imagined caressing Shen's tattoo with her fingers. When he jerked and the arm holding the pan made it clatter, she smiled.
+Ecan and Asher got the same treatment, phantom fingers ran around the roses on their chests and traced every thorn.
+"Stop that, Kalli, or you will ruin your surprise."
+Asher scowled at her playfully. Plates started to appear loaded with stacks of flat cakes covered in a sticky syrup and dotted with fruit.
+She pivoted to the table and waited patiently.
+Dark was firmly established outside, the thick-paned glass of the window muffling all sound. The monstrous serving in front of her made her blink. "I am supposed to eat all of this?"
+Ecan chuckled. "We have all seen you take more than that into your mouth today, Kalli."
+Laughter erupted while she blushed. It may have been true, but it was still crass to mention it.
+"What is this?"
+Shen smiled. "Pancakes, syrup and spiced fruit.
+Hakor doesn't have apples, so we improvised."
+"Where did you learn to do this?" She tried to pick one of the pancakes up, but it was far too large and copied Ecan's manner of cutting off an edible piece. The stickiness was enticing and before she could convince herself that it was a bad idea, she stuffed the first mouthful in.
+Her moan made her men grin. She quickly worked her way through the stack of three with forays into the spiced fruit. Leaning back, she waved off their offer to refill her plate. Licking her fork delicately, she smiled, "Three was just enough. I know some would have considered three too much for the first time, but it is just perfect."
+They blushed, she grinned. "Now, do the dishes and you will be forever perfect in my eyes."
+"So, how was your Restday?" August was
+"S grinning and Kalli wanted to slap him.
+She dropped the breakfast basket on the table.
+"It was fine."
+"Just fine? Your men looked exhausted."
+They had left her as soon as they finished the dishes for their evening shift as Lawmen. One kiss from each of them and she had been alone in her home once again. It had never felt so empty.
+She had tried to sleep, but ended up at Hell after midnight, prepping for her day's work. The labour was a bit of a strain for her muscles, but she had to tidy up after the previous day's leftovers. She did small things like changing out the cash for a smaller float, creating more of the bread starter, prepping salads, scrubbing the floors and whatever else she could think of to distract her from the feeling of being alone.
+Physically, she felt their separation, but mentally, they were there when she reached for them.
+She just missed them.
+She blinked and returned to the conversation,
+"They got as much sleep as I did. It isn't my fault that men weren't built as tough as us ladies."
+He opened and closed his mouth and swallowed. "What's for breakfast?"
+"Big breakfast today, sausage, eggs, bread, fruit, nuts, rolls, anything else I could think of." Kalli shrugged as he hefted it. "Where are Rory and Stil?"
+"Attending a small altercation on the south side.
+Fanith took Revil's fishing spot again. You know how well that goes over." He closed his eyes for a moment. "They are on their way back."
+"Good. I would hate to have them miss their food while it's hot." Kalli yawned and covered her mouth. "Sorry, August. I am a little wiped out."
+"Go back to Hell, attend to morning deliveries and then go home for the day. Your fans will thank you." August gave her a light hug and sent her on her way.
+Yawning, she stumbled out of the Law Offices and was almost to her door when a tingle of foreboding ran through her. Not one to ignore her senses, she hit the deck. Something struck the bricks next to where she had been standing.
+Her mind was screaming an alert, but she couldn't see the attacker. She rolled quickly and a burn ran down her arm.
+Kalli, we are on our way, where is it coming from?
+Shen's voice was clear in her mind 57
+She sent him the image of her guess at the shooter's location.
+Ecan sees him. It is that Captain. Move!
+She rolled again, this time the crease struck her thigh. She hissed in response and got to her feet.
+She ran back to the Law Offices, even though it was a longer distance. The wind was blowing in her face as she ran and she was counting on it to screw up his aim. She slammed into the door to the offices just as a bolt struck her in the shoulder.
+Kalli hissed and stumbled forward. "August, I think I need a medic."
+She saw the floor coming up to greet her and had the perverse urge to say hello.
+"Kalli, how are you feeling?" Dr. Mehar of the Hakor base was looming over her, tentacles waving.
+"Wonderful, Doc. How "bout you?"
+"I am not the one who was shot. Your men are outside and they are frantic. They feared for you as well as the child you started."
+Kalli blinked in surprise. "What?"
+"You are in the earliest stages of pregnancy. You are to be congratulated, many clone sets work at it for months." Dr. Mehar looked over her charts.
+"You seem healthy aside from the healing wounds, but I want to see you in 48 hours and again after that. You have been granted passes at the gate."
+She smiled vaguely, she was sure. Pregnant so soon. Her mother was going to kill her for going all the way on the first date, three times. Her smile turned into a grin as the door opened. She didn't even notice their looks of shock when the doctor spoke to them, but rather kept to the blooming joy in their minds. "Tell me I don't look that bad."
+As one, they rushed and pressed kisses to her hands and forehead. "Kalli, are you all right?"
+"Yes. A little sore and I will have some new scars, but I feel fine. The doctor confirms it." She paused. "I am guessing that the Captain is no longer amongst the living?"
+Shen nodded grimly. "He stepped in the way of Ecan's blast. His sniper rifle was where you supposed it was. He was most upset by both your refusal of him, and of your status as a hated blender."
+"And he tried to kill me for it?"
+"He told Ecan that he would have taken you despite it, but you cleaved to us instead. He could not get to you separately and we always travel in a set. It disrupted his balance to not be able to catch us alone yesterday."
+Kalli shifted. "I can only imagine what would happen if that was the case. He got chatty, did he?"
+"Before he died, yes, he was quite the conversationalist." Ecan was grim.
+A knock on the door announced the General. He looked relieved to see her up and around.
+"Kalli, your mother was frantic."
+She closed her eyes and groaned. "You didn't...tell me you didn't."
+"I am sorry. She requested and received special visitation along with your father. They are on a shuttle as we speak."
+"Oh crap. Gentlemen, prepare for an invasion the likes of which years of battle have not prepared you."
+Asher, Ecan and Shen raised their eyebrows.
+"Prepare for the father and mother-in-law from hell."
+The General cackled. "My sister is indeed a force to be reckoned with."
+Kalli cocked her head, "Uncle, how did the Captain get away?"
+The General scrubbed his face with a hand. "He persuaded his battle companions that he merely wanted to say goodbye to a woman in town. They let him out of the stockade with his promise to return in an hour. Instead, the bastard went to the armoury, injured two guards and stole the sniper's rifle. The rest you know."
+Kalli shifted in the bed and Asher helped her sit up completely, holding her around her uninjured ribs. Her left arm and right leg bore a long stripe, her right shoulder had a hole in it. She grunted as she swung her legs out of the bed. "Take me home.
+I need to get ready for my parent's arrival."
+"The doctor has ordered you off your feet for a few days. You will rest and the General has offered staff to back up the law offices." Shen simply picked her up, his scars looking intimidating while he was laying down the law.
+"That is all he mentioned?"
+You mean the little arrival that has begun in your womb? We will discuss that in private. At length.
+Kalli's mouth twitched. The images that flowed from all three of them into her mind centred on them worshipping her belly at length. She was in no shape for anything else, and she also felt their patience.
+They were all brimming with joy and were having a hard time keeping it from the General's presence.
+"How will you get her home? You are all riding skimmers." The General scowled at them.
+Ecan smiled and gave a short bow. "You will offer to give your niece a ride to her home and we will follow."
+"Cheeky. Very well, put her in my car and I will bring her home. After that it will be a short matter for me to pick up your parents from the port."
+"Thank you, Uncle Mors, it is very kind of you."
+Kalli inclined her head and her uncle braved Shen's proximity to give her a kiss on the cheek.
+"I am glad you are alive and well, it was a near miss that would have caused a riot in the town.
+You are very much loved, Kalli."
+She looked around the room. "I know it, but am only now starting to believe it."
+Being tucked into bed like an infant was an interesting sensation for her as when she was a child, she was being grown in a tank and educated via computer until she was ten. That was when the Nexts took custody of her and adopted her into their expansive clans. Her cousins, aunts and uncles all accepted her as the little lost lamb in their midst, spoiling her on their visits to Hakor.
+She had at least fifteen years out in the worlds learning about friends and family, her men had gone simply from decanting to battle with nothing but minor training in between.
+"We don't regret it." Asher brought her something to drink while Ecan checked her wounds.
+Shen was out of the room doing something that he hadn't bothered sharing.
+"He's working on getting a replacement for our shifts from the General, or the local populace.
+We are not leaving you alone again. From now on, one of us will always be with you."
+"That isn't practical. You are Lawmen here on Hakor. You can't suddenly become barmen."
+Asher smiled and held the cup for her to drink.
+She found she couldn't hold it on her own. "That is true, love. But we can do a shift of two with one on call. You know the regulations pertaining to our kind. We must be treated as one entity, and that includes shift times. We will rise and set with you in our embrace, Kalli."
+She used all of her effort to wipe the tears out of her eyes with her left hand. Her arm burned and Asher grabbed it to gently press it to the bedding.
+"The doctor would not give you anything that may harm the baby, even though it is only a speck.
+A more beloved speck there has never been."
+"Speck. I think we will have to think a little bit on baby names, Asher."
+Ecan snickered.
+"Don't laugh too hard, Ecan. My mother will have a book of names brought the moment that she finds out I am carrying." A sudden worry gripped her. "Do you think I will carry it to term?"
+"The clones have had amazing success, Kalli.
+Each matched quad that is on record has started families with little to no delay."
+Kalli was going to ask how he knew that, but familiar footsteps approached. "Step away from my daughter and introduce yourself, Lawmen."
+Tafina Next stood in the doorway and the rest of Kalli's day went to hell.
+Safina and Bish Next were beloved parents, but their mother drove Kalli up the wall. The men were not allowed near her until they were properly wed. In a desperate effort to move things along, the Goldens had pleaded with the local folk and a wedding was now in the offing.
+"Mom, stop fussing. The gown is fine."
+"Your wound is showing."
+"Let it show. Everyone knows about it. And I am not far enough along for anything else to show either." She chuckled at her mother's scowl.
+Bish merely stood by and watched her dress fitting with an indulgent eye. "You look lovely, my dear. Better than your mother did on our day."
+"Quiet, Bish. It's your fault that we had to rush this. If you hadn't explained the mechanics to her..."
+"Shen, Ecan and Asher would have. Or we would have tangled and they would have informed me of the reasons later." Kalli chuckled and gave her father a wink.
+General Shoffin came in and hissed, "Are you ready? The locals are restless. They will come in after you if this isn't wrapped up soon."
+"Ah. Get on with it. Words every bride wants to hear on her big day. Very well, let's get on with it."
+She straightened her shoulders and stepped forward, taking her father's hand while her mother took her uncle's and preceded them out the door and into the open square of the town.
+Hakor had come to a halt this day. Military, scientist, researcher and support staff alike, everyone was at the wedding.
+She walked with her father, head high, looking for the three in the crowd that she was waiting for.
+At the command of the official, everyone sat and there were her men, standing just off centre, August, Stil and Rory at their side. On her side, Saf, Metri and Veel were her representatives.
+Bish led her to them and sat next to his wife in the first row.
+The official led her through the vows specific to clone bondings including her promise to take her men in the order which would result in offspring.
+This caused a murmur in the crowd that rippled with amusement. The official was bright pink.
+When it came time to join hands, the official was stymied, but with a smile, Kalli fixed it. She gestured for her men to surround her and she placed her hand, palm up in Shen's, placed Ecan's on top of her open palm, and placed Asher's over her wrist.
+"I hereby declare you, the Goldens. May you prosper and enjoy your lives on Hakor." With the official's words, a cheer rose up from the crowd and soon they were receiving presents and good wishes in a landslide of good will.
+When they were finally able to make their way from all of the partying going on, Kalli whispered to her husbands, "Kalli Golden. It sounds nice, doesn't it?"
+Chuckling, they escorted her back to her home, now their home. Her parents were now staying with her uncle until they left the next day.
+Inside her room, they peeled the gown off her by inches, kissing and sucking at the skin they exposed oh-so-slowly.
+"How is this going to work, I don't think I am up for the same kind of interaction as the last time."
+They chuckled. "Since we are not trying to get you pregnant, you may have one of us, or all of us as you will."
+"Hmm. Perhaps I should work my way back through you in reverse order. It would be fair." She paused to give the matter some thought, and they kept going. Her thighs pressed tightly together as heat flowed through her body to produce moisture for their entrance. The gown was barely off her shoulders and she was wet for them.
+Her hands sought their trousers blindly and she massaged them in turn, using her dexterity to free them one after another from their confinement.
+Hot and silky, their skin called to her hands and she stroked and rubbed them until they were groaning along with her moans.
+Kalli's breasts were finally bared to their mouths and she squealed when Asher fell to his knees and tongued her tattoo in a frenzy that buckled her knees. She released Ecan's cock from her grip as a maelstrom of an orgasm spun through her from the attentions to her most sensitive of areas.
+Her gown was shoved off her hips and they sighed happily. She grinned and stepped out of their grips. "I am not going to be the only one naked here, lads." She backed up and knelt on her bed, the new mattress on the wider frame giving them plenty of play room.
+With increasing speed, they stripped off their formal clothing, and with cocks bobbing, they joined her on the expanded bed.
+Giggling, she tackled Asher back to the bedding and straddled him. With a grateful sigh, she pressed him into her channel as she drew her fingers down over his tattoo in a rhythm that caused his hips to arch into hers with every stroke.
+Shen nibbled his way down her spine while Ecan worked at her tattoo as she rode their third.
+When Asher gasped and grabbed at her hips, Shen slid his hand around and rubbed her clit where their bodies met. She screamed as a sudden storm of sensation lit her nerves, her body closing on Asher's to keep him tightly within.
+With a groan, she dismounted and fell toward Ecan. He caught her with a chuckle and lay her on her side. He lifted her thigh and slipped into her before her body had cooled from her climax. Slow and even strokes of his rod inside her as he rocked into her over and over had her shivering and clutching at the bedding.
+Shen settled in front of her as she became lost to sensation, kissing her lips in a savage claiming that acted as a heated counterpoint to Ecan's slow thrusts. Shen's hands cupped her breasts, his thumbs spreading across her tattoo to outline the dark leaves, sending shivers through her and racing into her belly.
+Shen rocked against her, his cock pressing her clit as it folded upward against her lower belly. He moved in a matched time to Ecan, while the second nibbled at her shoulder, neck and spine.
+They started moving faster and Kalli dug her nails into Shen's shoulders. They rode her harder, faster until Shen groaned and she felt the sticky result of his passion on her breasts and belly. Ecan was with him in a second, and when he realised that Kalli had not joined them, Ecan reached under her arm and drew his blunt nails down her tattoo, causing a riot of sensation that had her body shaking and spasming around him in seconds.
+Asher brought water and they all cleaned up and rolled into the great bed together. "Thank you, dear husbands. That was certainly a wedding night to remember."
+Ecan snicker and cuddled close. "Ah, Mrs.
+Golden. The night is yet young."
+Kalli's laughter filled the room until a moan took its place. Throughout the next twelve hours, they proved Ecan right.
+Alyssa Speck Golden, get over here." Kalli was in no mood to chase their daughter. She had her hands full with the new twins. Their three year old was far too fast.
+Ecan smiled. "I'll get her."
+"Before she falls in the pond again, please."
+Shen came forward and took Miksa, Asher took Solon. Kalli was given a moment to straighten her skirts before the family arrived on Hakor for the reunion and retirement party for General Shoffin.
+Her uncle was taking a position as a Lawmen, and Kalli was relieved. Not only would she have more family on Hakor, but it meant that she had a babysitter for the little terrors when the Goldens called a family summit.
+The summits were always held naked and involved heated negotiations, but truces were often declared when the talented tongues of emissaries were found to be persuasive.
+Tafina came up to her daughter and gave her an assessing look. "Why are you smiling?"
+"Just enjoying the joys of family and friends, Mother. Something my kind has no right to." Her smile was genuine, her words calm.
+"You are a member of my family, the children are my grandchildren. I don't ever want you to think you have no right to it. You know what I told you when you were first with us, all shy and big eyes."
+Kalli looked over at her men, each holding a small child. "There are people in these worlds who will tell you that you have no right to happiness, that you aren't even human. You have to push these people aside and claim what is yours. It is up to you to seek happiness. It won't come to you, you have to go and get it. "
+Tafina smiled and put her arm around her taller daughter. "I am glad you paid attention, even if it makes your father change colour."
+Her heart swelled as she looked over all the members of her family arriving on this tiny world with its important population of her husbands and children. Four years and three children later and they just needed to look at her to give her shivers.
+"All I had to do was go and get it."
+About the Author
+Zenina Masters was born in Canada and lives in Canada. She has a regular job and does nothing particularly exciting with her life. She enjoys fishing, silence and the ability to pick and choose friends she can trust. Life is too short to watch your back all the time.
+Her writing life is a teeny bit of escapism, she would probably chicken out if confronted by three naked men and looks forward to one day finding out.
+

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+
+A Total-E-Bound Publication
+www.total-e-bound.com
+Stupendously Yours
+ISBN # 978-1-907280-60-3
+©Copyright Tonya Ramagos 2009
+Cover Art by April Martinez ©Copyright December 2009
+Edited by Jess Bimberg
+Total-E-Bound Publishing
+This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author's imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.
+All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Total-E-Bound Publishing.
+Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Total-E-Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.
+The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.
+Published in 2009 by Total-E-Bound Publishing 1 The Corner, Faldingworth Road, Spridlington, Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, LN8 2DE, UK.
+Warning: This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has been rated Total-e-burning.
+Christmas Crackers
+STUPENDOUSLY YOURS
+Tonya Ramagos
+My heartfelt thanks to the men and women of the U.S. military who sacrifice so much for the people of America.
+Trademarks Acknowledgement
+The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmark mentioned in this work of fiction:
+Prada: Prada
+Christmas prostitution.
+Zoie Qwin knew she had officially seen it all. She stopped in the entrance of Quench, her gaze scanning the hip-hop club as she waited for the line to move. A line, she noted tongue in cheek, consisting solely of women.
+"You're sixty-nine." Dalia Kade handed Zoie a bidding paddle, an amused quirk tilting her siren-painted lips. Slim and blonde with an angelic face, she looked stunning in a red satin dress fitted at the bust and waist with a slit in the skirt that stretched up the better part of her shapely thigh. Four-inch heels of matching colour with overzealous elf-shaped shoe pins completed the look. "We're all signed in and ready to spend. Whew, lucky for us I reserved a table. Would you look at the crowd in this place!"
+"It's hard not to. I'm swimming in estrogen." Zoie followed Dalia to a table at the edge of the dance floor. Thin cardboard Christmas decorations and colourful streamers dangled from the ceiling. Small pots of poinsettias sat in the centre of every table. Sprigs of mistletoe hung low in strategic places throughout the club. The crowd, dressed in their best holiday attire, was nearly shoulder-to-shoulder and the auction wasn't slated to start for another hour.
+"Patience, my friend." Dalia exchanged a couple of bills for two shots of a layered red, green and clear concoction from a passing waitress dressed as a Santa's helper and shoved one into Zoie's hand. "Soon you'll be basking in drool-worthy testosterone."
+"I'd rather be dancing," Zoie grumbled and tossed back the shot.
+"And you will before the night is finished. The dance floor will open as usual as soon as the auction ends. Bet on the right man and you could be dancing the vertical bump and grind and the horizontal mambo before morning. You look great, by the way. I told you that dress wouldn't clash with your hair. It's perfect!"
+Zoie glanced down at the emerald green silk and velvet lined bodice that displayed her moderate breasts quite nicely, if she dared to say so herself. She'd feared she would look like a Christmas tree wearing this shade of green with her head of scarlet hair. "Thanks. Now tell me why I have to be number sixty-nine?" She eyeballed the bidding paddle she placed on the table as she sat down.
+Dalia shrugged and tapped a fingernail on the bold number sixty-eight of her own paddle. "Because that number won't do me any good tonight. I'm here to rescue the bro, not land a hard one in the sack."
+"And I'm only here because you dragged me," Zoie pointed out.
+"Thank you, by the way, for not kicking and screaming and embarrassing us both."
+"And chance scuffing my new Pradas and causing myself a sore throat?" Zoie shook her head. "It's not worth all that."
+"Ah, but it's worth every penny you decide to part with. Donating all the proceeds to the soldiers serving in Afghanistan couldn't be a better cause."
+Zoie whole-heartedly agreed. She'd been donating everything from non-perishable food and reading material to money to various war funds since the fighting began. One particular lieutenant commander with the U.S. Army had been getting some extra special reading material from her for months. Not that he had a clue the racy letters were from her. For the purpose of her invigorating written relationship with Nash Beagan, she'd assumed the alias of Lady Zest. She loved the idea of Nash thinking of her as zesty. She'd even taken to adding 'stupendously yours' to her signature because she was, in fact, stupendously his even if she'd never get the satisfaction of having him. She'd been living a fabulous secret life with him through the letters they exchanged, though. In writing, she didn't hesitate to share her fantasies, to reveal all the wicked things she'd dreamt of doing to him over the years, and the mental pictures he painted for her in return were nothing short of multiple-orgasm-claiming bliss.
+"How much are you prepared to dish to save Travis from this mob of gawking females?" Zoie asked.
+Dalia shrugged. "As much as it takes. It's all his money anyway."
+"He gave his sister money to bid on him?" Zoie barked a laugh. Leave it to Travis to come up with such a harebrained idea. "Are you sure he's not gay?"
+"Step-sister, soon-to-be no sister, and why would that make him gay?"
+"Look around, Dalia. There is more pussy in this crowd than most men have a chance to sample in a lifetime. Yet Travis has made sure none of them get him for the night. Why even bother to be part of the auction?" Zoie sighed and answered her own question simultaneously with Dalia. "Because it's such a good cause. Okay, I got that. I agree, but I'll be donating my cash directly to the fund without a man for a reward."
+Dalia angled her head. "Are you sure you're not gay?"
+"Of course I'm not gay!"
+"Because I can't help but notice how intent you are at not taking advantage of the opportunity given to spend that money on a man who can spin your planet for the night."
+Zoie made a raspberry sound at that. "In this town? It's more likely that I'd get a mediocre tilt on my axis. Besides, I've seen tonight's line-up. Look for yourself. It's right here." She tapped the sheet taped in the centre of the table top. The entire list fell under the heading of same ol', same ol'.
+Which was why she'd rather spend the evening at home with her box of letters from Nash. Zoie shifted in her seat, her panties growing damp from the thought of his last letter. He'd spoken of wanting to watch her undress for him in front of his living room window, then taking her from behind as his neighbours watched. Dear sweet baby Jesus, her mouth hadn't stopped watering since she'd pulled that letter from the envelope. And the one it inspired her to write in return, holy moly, if it had the same effect on him as it had on her, Afghanistan was in store for one hell of a heat wave.
+Much of their correspondence rang with the play of exhibition and Dom/sub play. Nash Beagan was anything but a run-of-the-mill lover. Zoie had known that since middle school. He'd been a sophomore, but the stories of his sexual escapades and hearty appetite had reached her ears easily enough. The man screamed pussy-soaking adventure and G-spot-pleasuring promise. He oozed everything she wanted but had yet to experience outside of their letters. Sex with Nash would be anything but mediocre. It would be adventurous, outrageous, and maybe even a bit dangerous---just like the man. It would be everything she wanted, and it would rip her heart to shreds because, as much as she fantasised about doing him, what she really wanted was a place in his heart.
+"I heard there's one name that wasn't put on the list," Dalia cut into Zoie's thoughts. "A last minute addition they decided to keep as a surprise."
+Zoie flagged down the waitress, simultaneously pulling bills from her pocket to pay for two more shots. Maybe if she drank enough before Mr. Surprise hit the spotlight, she could fool herself into thinking he resembled her favourite hard-bodied soldier.
+Nash Beagan refolded the last letter he'd received from his Lady Zest with a smile on his face and a rapidly stiffening cock. It wasn't the most opportune time to become aroused by his Lady Zest, but he'd been unable to resist reading her wicked words, hearing her imagined sultry voice one more time. Her letters had kept him going for damned near eight months now. It still amused him to think how he'd believed the first to be an April fool's prank from a bud because it arrived on April first. Despite the flush of heat that consumed him as he'd read the short but delectably sinful letter, he'd dismissed it for over a week. Then another one came, and another, and he'd starting writing back until they'd exchanged over thirty blazing infernos of highly pornographic, dick-weeping letters.
+And still counting, he chuckled to himself, wondering if she'd gotten the one he'd mailed just before leaving his post in Afghanistan.
+He wondered about her a lot and figured that was her intention. He knew nothing about her except that she was local. The return address gave nothing else away. It also offered him no hope of finding her now that he was stateside.
+Sighing, Nash reached for a Santa hat on the table laden with Christmas accessories in the centre of the storage room the club owner had appropriated for the auction dressing room. He shoved it on his head, smirking when Travis Moby stepped to his side and grabbed a large red ball on a string.
+"Welcome home, buddy." Travis gave Nash a hard slap on the back of his shoulder and slid the string over his sandy blond head, adjusting the red ball over his slightly crooked nose in a Rudolph fashion.
+"Thanks. I think." He'd been home less than twenty-four hours when Travis snagged him. "Tell me again how you talked me into this shit."
+Travis leant in and lowered his voice conspiratorially. "Pussy, my man. Sopping wet, deliciously tight pussy. That club out there is full of slick lips waiting for action and you've been gone too long not to take advantage of the smorgasbord when it's handed to you on a Christmas buffet."
+Nash didn't bother to tell Travis as an Army commander he could get almost any of that pussy without putting himself on display. He'd thought girls had been quick to spread their legs for him as a high school quarterback. Put him in BDUs and call him a lieutenant commander and the women were willing to spread every orifice of their body.
+He'd wondered for a while if that was why Lady Zest found him appealing, but quickly decided she was different. He couldn't say how he knew, but he was ninety-nine-point-nine-percent certain of it. Then again, perhaps that certainty came from the fact that somewhere around letter three he'd replaced the 'est' with 'oie'. His unrecognisable image of his Lady Zest had taken on the stark, contrasting beauty of Lady Zoie, AKA Zoie Qwin.
+With long shapely legs, slim waist, perfect breasts, and a face that clashed in so many ways it made her gorgeous beyond measure, Zoie Qwin had been his secret obsession for years. He'd let her image override the mysteriously anonymous Lady Zest and spent the last eight months falling deeper in love with a woman who would never have him.
+"There's enough buffet out there to go around," Nash pointed out, pushing Zoie Qwin from his mind. The sweet, innocent doll would never be privy to the things the true Lady Zest revealed in her letters. "Why aren't you planning to dine?"
+Travis shook his head. "If I told you, I would be putting my manhood at risk."
+"Try me."
+"I haven't been much for the one-night-stand scene lately. Maybe I'm losing it." Travis winced. "I'm here to raise money for the cause."
+"But it's your own money. Why not save yourself the trouble and send a check?"
+"I didn't know how much to make the check out for. I've got to see how much those women out there are willing to pay for me first."
+Nash laughed. He didn't say as much, but he had a sneaking suspicion Travis's real goal tonight was to get under a certain soon-to-no-longer-be-his-step-sister's skin.
+"It'll be interesting to see how much money you rake in too, being the surprise attraction and all."
+Nash rolled his eyes. The money was the only reason he'd agreed to this thing. If even a portion of what was raised helped his fellow brothers-in-arms to make it through this blasted war, putting himself out there for a club of females was worth every second. And if by some miracle Zoie Qwin was out there...
+His cock flexed and his heart skipped a beat. Best to save those fantasies for his letters to his Lady Zo---Lady Zest.
+Zoie curled her fingers around the glass of Merlot she'd ordered and watched in amused fascination as the women around the club went ga-ga over the men parading in Christmas hats, masks, or bows and little else on the dance floor to the beat of well-known Christmas carols. She'd expected the list of names to create a problem, figuring the women would settle their minds on the man they wanted and hold onto their dough until he came out. She'd been wrong. Some of the guys auctioned had received more bids than others and some of the amounts finalised had made her eyes bug out while others went for much smaller sums. Still, no man had been left standing and they were only a little over halfway down the list.
+"Mmm, he is too fine," Dalia gushed as one of the names Zoie hadn't recognised stepped onto the floor. Tall and lanky, he put a good start to the bidding with a waggle of ebony brows and a come-hither grin. She elbowed Zoie. "Bid on him."
+"You bid on him. No one said you can't spend your own money on a guy you want and empty Travis's bank account on saving him."
+Dalia shrugged and shut up.
+Zoie bit back a smile. No one said it, but even if they had, Dalia wouldn't have done it. It was Zoie's guess Dalia would've emptied her own bank account to keep another woman from 'purchasing' Travis tonight.
+The ebony babe sauntered off the dance floor to stand with the other 'bought' men with a gleaming smile on his face. No doubt because his lady was one of the most beautiful women in the club.
+Beauty loves company. Zoie sipped her wine.
+"All right, ladies," the announcer for the auction bellowed over the mic. "How about a surprise to really get this fundraiser pumping? They say we should save the best for last, but I just don't believe in that garbage."
+Cheers and whoops of agreement momentarily drowned out the auctioneer.
+"We all know why we're here tonight," the announcer stated when the noise died. He laughed at a shout about creating a beefcake sleigh from a woman in the back of the club. "I suppose you could do that. Who better to drive that sleigh than a real hero? That's right, ladies, we're here tonight to raise money for our soldiers overseas risking their lives to fight for our country. One of those soldiers has generously donated his first night on leave for you."
+Zoie froze with her glass halfway to her lips. Dear God, could it be?
+"Let's get those crisp bills crackling and those credit cards humming for the soldier of our town we all know and love." The announcer drew it out, building the suspense and nearly causing Zoie to go into cardiac arrest. She felt faint with the possibility. Was the room really beginning to spin?
+"Lieutenant Commander Nash Beagan."
+"Ohmigod." Zoie put down her wine glass, certain she'd had enough alcohol. She'd kidded herself into three shots and was working on her second glass of wine, all with the stupid notion she'd drink enough to fool herself into thinking Mr. Surprise was Nash Beagan. Except, the combat boots, BDUs, shirtless torso, and smug smile walking onto the dance floor was Nash Beagan.
+Everything inside Zoie ignited in sensory overload of desire. Her nipples beaded as her gaze moved over the deeply tanned ridges of Nash's chest. Her hands tingled to glide over the wide expanse of his shoulders. Her teeth ached to nibble on his strong jaw. Her tongue pulsed to lick his full, arrogantly tilted lips. But when her gaze reached his danceable bedroom-blues beneath the fuzzy white rim of the Santa hat, her pussy released a surf of moisture that drenched her panties.
+"You're looking for a change from the ordinary, sister, there you go." Dalia had to yell for Zoie to hear her over the cacophony of ruckus Nash's presence exuded from the club of women.
+Dalia didn't know about the letters Zoie had written to Nash. Rather than share that piece of personal information with her best friend, Zoie decided to embrace it as her own pleasure-filled, erotic secret. Dalia was right about one thing, Nash Beagan was definitely a change from the ordinary. Precisely the change Zoie had been craving, and sanity had abandoned her just enough the minute he'd stepped onto that dance floor for her to feed.
+"Time to boogie," she muttered and held her sixty-nine bidding paddle high in the air. Perhaps the number had been an omen after all. Her rapidly aching channel convulsed at the thought.
+The auctioneer bellowed an amount she didn't hear and Nash's bedroom-blues collided with hers. Zoie drew her bottom lip between her teeth to hold back the whimpering purr that rose in her throat. Not that the sound would've been heard over the outrageous noise Nash's presence on the dance floor had elicited from the crowd of horny women.
+They can stay horny too because he's mine, Zoie thought determinedly and held the paddle higher still. Nash's brow did an erogenous-inspiring climb. Did his lips twitch too? She couldn't quite tell. Something flashed through his expression, a quick race of emotion she couldn't define. Was it hope that she'd be out bid? Surprise that she'd be a part of this goggling, randy, club crowd? Intrigue that she'd have the nerve to try for him after all these years? She couldn't be sure. Maybe he wondered if she knew what she might be getting herself into.
+Whatever the flicker of reaction, all sound, thought and breath left her as their gazes locked and held. Dimly she noted the rising of the bid and the screaming of her bank account. Only when the auctioneer shouted his, "Sold," and pointed at her did she blink and the slow, seemingly satisfied smile that curved Nash's lips nearly made her orgasm on the spot.
+"I can't believe you bought him!" Dalia bubbled more than the glasses of champagne being served a half an hour later as they stood once again in line, this time working their way to the payment table to settle their 'purchases'. "Question is, now that you've got him, what are you going to do with him?"
+Zoie ran her tongue over her teeth and let the grin spread her lips. "Enjoy him."
+"Great answer!" Dalia hooted with laughter. "For the price you're paying, he better give you a hell of a ride."
+Zoie slid her Visa card through the fingers of one hand and drank from the champagne she held in the other. She had to force herself to sip the cool bubbly rather than gulp because, despite her show of confidence, her insides were reaching a quivering boil. Had she lost her mind? She'd maxed out her credit card on Nash Beagan!
+For a good cause, she reminded herself as she stepped up to the table and handed Santa's helper her Visa. She winced at the total on the printed slip as she signed on the dotted line. She'd definitely broken the bank tonight.
+Lady Zest broke the bank.
+Zoie handed over the slip, took her copy and card and shoved both in her tiny handbag. She saw Dalia and Travis first as she moved away from the table and took a step in their direction. Her steps faltered when her gaze slammed into Nash's as he walked up behind Travis.
+What have I done?
+The first slivers of panic leaked from her shuddering stomach to poison her veins. I can't do this. I can't be alone with this man in the flesh. What in the name of Christmas was I thinking?
+Exchanging months of provocative letters with this man she hungered for more than chocolate was one thing. He didn't know she'd written all those heated fantasies. But she couldn't hide her identity when she was face-to-face with him. Well, not quite face-to-face given their height difference. Eye-to-collarbone would be more like it, breasts-to-rigid abdomen, belly-to-groin...
+I'm so screwed.
+She forced herself to take another step and wondered that she didn't teeter on her heels. Or run, she thought frantically. Running would be smart right about now, safe. It would preserve both her dignity and her secret.
+That same slow smile that melted her panties from the dance floor unfolded on Nash's lips as he neared and a trickle of wetness slid down her inner thigh. Dignity was entirely way over rated. As for her secret, perhaps she should reveal all about Lady Zest. What was the worst Nash could do, laugh at her? He'd always been too much of a boy scout for that. It was one of the many things about this amazing man now less than two feet from her that had stolen her heart. He could be almost unbearably kind.
+But even kindness skirts on the edge of adventure sometimes.
+Yes, and it was that adventure she'd just paid a pretty penny for tonight. She wouldn't acknowledge the tightness behind her breastbone telling her she'd paid for more than a little fun. She'd paid for hope, for more. What she got was this moment and any memories she could manage to store before morning.
+She had to get a handle on this nervousness because she didn't have a moment to waste.
+Nash couldn't tear his gaze from her any more than he could believe it was Zoie Qwin staring back at him. She looked positively arresting even with the whole deer-in-the-headlights thing she had going on when she first spotted him coming towards her. Her eyes had returned to their normal slightly larger than average size now, the brown depths melting like chocolate fondue as her gaze moved over his face. She drew her bottom lip between her teeth, the same way she'd done when he'd stared at her from the dance floor, and his cock flexed painfully the same way it had done then, too.
+She was even more striking than he remembered, more amazing than the image he'd painted of her over his Lady Zest fantasies. She shouldn't have been so...hot. With a face shaped somewhere between a square and an oval comprised of clashing features---too large eyes, pencil-thin brows, narrow nose with a noticeable bump in the ridge, high cheekbones---she should've been ugly. But put that face beneath a tumble of fiery waves so silky looking his hands burnt to tangle and the woman was nothing short of a sex kitten he'd been dying to pet for years.
+"We pissed off a lot of women here tonight, bro," Dalia was saying to Travis as Nash stopped beside them.
+Nash shot them a glance, noting the way Travis's arm slipped seemingly brotherly around Dalia's waist.
+Travis shrugged. "They'll get over it. When they consider I'm the one out of that four figure donation rather than themselves, they'll forgive me." He grinned, obviously pleased. "Four figures---hell, go me!"
+Dalia barked a laugh. "You're so conceited."
+"Naw, just convinced," Travis countered.
+"Confused is more like it." Nash got a punch in the shoulder for his comment.
+"We're out of here," Travis said. "Unless you want us to stick around?"
+"Can't say as I do." Nash brushed a kiss to Dalia's cheek and whispered in her ear. "Don't worry about your friend. I promise to take care of her."
+"Make it memorable, soldier." Dalia giggled softly.
+Nash straightened and turned his focus to Zoie as Travis and Dalia bid her a quick goodbye and disappeared into the crowd. Over the cacophony of conversation, the announcement came that the floor was now open for dancing. The last word was hardly out of the DJ's mouth before a hip hop beat blasted through the club.
+Nash closed the distance between himself and Zoie, his hand automatically finding her waist as he leant in to speak in her ear. At least he'd intended to talk to her. That had been before his hand closed around the dip of her side, before his senses became assimilated by her intoxicating scent of herbs and fruits and pure sexual temptation. He closed his eyes, breathing deep, noting her quick intake of breath as his forehead came to rest just above her ear.
+"Did you want to dance?"
+Despite the tantalising softness of her waist, she'd gone stiff as a board the moment he'd touched her. He might have dropped his hand, backed off if he'd been able to move. He felt her shake her head then she turned to look at him, very nearly kissing him, their faces were so close.
+"I'd rather go if it's all right with you."
+Nash swallowed, barely able to contain the party exploding to life inside him. Hell yeah, leaving was all right with him. He nodded and, sliding his hand over her tummy to her other side, gestured with his free hand towards the door. He guided her through the crowd and out of the club. The quiet that greeted them in the parking lot was welcomed.
+"I think I'm getting too old for the club scene," he commented as he used his hold on her waist to steer her towards his truck.
+"Yeah, thirty-four is pretty over the hill for all that hip hop dancing." She winked up at him.
+Nash laughed. "Just you wait, gorgeous. If memory serves, you're only three years behind me."
+"I don't know your mother well, but I'm certain she taught you better than to make reference to a woman's age, Nash Beagan."
+"That she did." His mother also taught him better than to tangle with a woman he knew he'd hurt, and despite his feelings for Zoie Qwin, he had no doubt he'd cause her pain. It was the single most reason he'd never pursued her. Zoie Qwin needed a straight-laced man. She needed a nine-to-fiver who brought her flowers every evening and honoured her with missionary sex behind the sanctity of the closed bedroom door at night.
+While Nash could certainly bring her flowers every evening---when he was stateside, anyway---there wasn't a career in the Army that offered nine-to-five hours---not a job he'd consider taking, at least---missionary sex had proven to be his least favourite position since he lost his virginity at fifteen.
+"Is your car here?"
+"I rode with Dalia." She drew that bottom lip between her teeth again and Nash very nearly whimpered at the electricity that bolted through his shaft this time. "I hope it's okay if I ride with you."
+Honey, you can ride me until I board that plane back to Afghanistan next week. "I hoped you would." Nash led her to the passenger side of his truck, thumbed the keyless entry in his pocket, and opened the door for her. She hesitated and he could've sworn he felt a quick tremble move through her. She was nervous. He knew that despite her valiant attempt to hide it. Hell, he was too. He'd never dreamt in a million years he'd end up in her company tonight. "Where would you like to go?"
+Zoie shrugged in answer.
+Damn it, he didn't want her uneasy, or worse, afraid of him. He chuckled, trying to relieve the sudden tension blanketing the air between them. "You donated a small fortune in there. The least I can do is show mine and my fellow soldiers' appreciation and see you enjoy yourself."
+"I paid for one soldier in there." Zoie finally looked at him and the heat in her gaze nearly knocked him on his ass. "I thought I would consider it, consider you," she corrected herself, her gaze dropping to his mouth for a heart-thudding moment, "an early Christmas present to myself."
+Every ounce of blood in Nash's body headed south, straight to his dick. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, what was she telling him? How did he respond to that? She hopped in the truck before he could unscramble the pieces of his suddenly shattered sanity.
+"Zoie," he managed, but stopped and attempted to regroup when she didn't look at him. She sat ram-rod straight in the bench seat and stared out the windshield. Her cheeks were tinged a lovely shade of pink. She'd embarrassed herself. The realisation touched him in a visceral way. "Are you hungry?" Dinner, a feeble response to what she'd just revealed, perhaps, but the only thing he could come up with at the moment. Christ, when was the last time a woman left him speechless?
+Zoie slowly nodded.
+"How about dinner at Rosetties?" Elegant, off the beaten path, romantic, he'd secretly always wanted to take her there. Dopy as it sounded, even to himself, he'd often thought she'd look amazing in candlelight.
+Zoie heaved an audible sigh and when she turned her head the desire in her expression told him the sigh had been more for courage than out of irritation. "I didn't mean I'm hungry for food. I-I meant I'm hungry for you."
+Dear Penthouse, I'm sorry but I must cancel my subscription to your publication because I've died and gone to heaven.
+Zoie reached for him, trailing one finger lightly along his collarbone. "I'm hungry, Nash," she said in a sultry whisper, "for you. I'm starving for what you can give me, what you can do to me, what you can show me." The vulnerable innocence he'd always seen in her swam into her eyes, blowing everything she'd said clean out of the water. Then she blinked and all bashfulness was replaced by a pleading desire he'd never thought to see in her outside his dreams. "A girl deserves a little adventure, doesn't she, soldier?"
+An image of black ink on white lined paper flashed through Nash's mind. Was it merely coincidence she'd used almost word for word a question his Lady Zest once asked him?
+Of course, it was happenstance. They weren't even the same, not when he thought further on it. Lady Zest had asked, Is it wrong of a girl to crave a little adventure, soldier? Similar, sure, but not exact.
+Nash gave his head a little shake, effectively dislodging Lady Zest from the forefront of his mind. The woman sending his hormones on a sleigh ride through Happyville was Zoie. The real Zoie. Not his superimposed image of her in his Lady Zest fantasies and, damn, what was she telling him? He still couldn't piece together enough of his scruples to figure it out, but he had a feeling he needed to get it together fast.
+"Yeah, a girl deserves all the adventure she can handle."
+She smiled, a slow curve of her lips that put him in mind of a wicked vixen ready to take a bite of his soul. But did she really understand the soul she was offering to taste? Nash knew she'd heard the stories of him through the years. Hell, his sexual preferences weren't a secret through town. They'd even talked about it once when he'd given her a ride home from school on an afternoon when he'd had football practice and she'd stayed to work with the colour guard.
+And hadn't that been a conversation to keep his dick solid for weeks?
+Nash liked sex on the wild side. He didn't fit the profile of a Dom, but he liked to dabble in the sexual art form. Experimentation flat did it for him. He let his gaze glide over her face, down to the rapidly beating pulse in her neck, farther to the slightly ragged rise and fall of her breasts. Apparently tonight, Zoie wanted to see if his preferences did it for her, too.
+Nash shot a glace over his shoulder, his adventurous mind already kicking up an idea to test exactly what Zoie wanted. There were a few people in the parking lot but none close enough to see them. He'd backed into the parking spot, and with the door of the truck open, Zoie would be further shielded from view.
+"Turn towards me." He moved back a half-step so her shapely legs could dangle out of the doorway between his body and the truck. "Scoot forward, to the edge of the seat. That's it. Now, lift that sexy skirt."
+Zoie's gaze was transfixed on his and he didn't miss the spark in them at his order. He half expected her to refuse and nearly choked on his own tongue when she did as he bid to reveal a thin strip of candy cane striped satin.
+Nash felt his stomach growl and wondered she didn't hear the animal suddenly chewing its way through his insides looking to feast. He put his hands on her thighs and eased her legs apart. Smooth, toned flesh made itself visible to his hungry eyes. He couldn't stop his fingers from dancing along that skin, his mouth watering even as his cock released a drop of pre-cum in his boxer-briefs.
+"You're full of surprises tonight. This dress, do you have any idea how incredible you look in it? The colour is perfect for you, an amazing contrast to your hair." He pushed a hand into the hair hanging over her shoulder. It felt as silky soft as he'd always figured it would. He couldn't wait to feel it brushing his thighs as she took his stiff cock in her mouth. Said cock gave another ball-tightening flex and he pushed the idea aside. Perhaps they would get to that later, but for now...
+"And these..." He covered the strip of satin with his palm, delighting in the moisture that soaked the material. "You're soaking wet, baby. Is this your way of telling me you're a candy cane ready to be sucked and tongued?"
+"I---"
+"Did I ever tell you how much I love candy canes?" He closed his hand over her mound, revelling in the responsiveness of this secret part of her as he put the slightest pressure on her cunt.
+She rocked into his touch, her lips parting on a breathy, "No."
+"I should have, but that's okay, because now you've given me the chance to show you."
+"Lay back on the seat."
+Zoie's heart tripped at the husky authority in Nash's voice. Her gaze darted over his shoulder, almost frantically searching the parking lot. They weren't alone. What if someone saw them? She shifted slightly on the bench seat, the leather sticking to the bare flesh of her butt cheeks. "Now? Here?"
+Nash lifted a sexy brow, his face unreadable but for the lightning bolts of desire shooting through his eyes. "You said you want adventure, Zoie. I can't give you that unless you obey me."
+His use of the word obey wasn't lost on her. She knew he liked to dabble in the Dom/sub game. Some of the fantasies he'd written to her---to Lady Zest---had utilised a variety of sex toys and public places in truly creative ways. She knew from both the stories she'd heard and the letters they had exchanged that the possibility of getting caught in the act really got him off.
+A lightning bolt of sizzling heat that mirrored the ones flashing in his eyes sparked through her core. Trepidation twisted in her belly even as excitement sent a heady mix of adrenaline and arousal pumping into her channel. Wetness leaked from her centre as she eased herself back. She rested her upper body on her elbows as not to break the eye contact she held with him.
+His hand covering her mound dipped beneath her panties, his fingers gliding over her sensitised lips and he exhaled an audible breath. "Sweet Christ, this is a hell of a Christmas present you're giving me, Zoie." The sincerity in his eyes nearly stopped her heart. She'd longed for him to look at her that way for years. In her mind's eye, he had. In her dreams, his bedroom blues had haunted her. In his letters, he'd brought her to orgasm again and again describing the things he wanted to do to her.
+Not to you. Lady Zest.
+But it wasn't Lady Zest's pussy lips he was lightly caressing now. She wouldn't allow herself to think Lady Zest might be the woman on his mind at this moment. He had to know it was Zoie. It wasn't Lady Zest he was about to, oh, sweet stars above, suck and tongue like a candy cane in the front seat of his truck with the door open and her legs spread for anyone in the parking lot to see. It was her. All her. He didn't know she was the mysterious woman behind the Lady Zest letters, and in that moment, she couldn't have been more thankful that she hadn't told him.
+"Allow me to return the gift." His head dipped between her legs, his fingers spreading her sodden folds, and his tongue found her hardened bud with a quick flick that had her wobbling on her elbows, her head falling back. He strummed her like a violin, his tongue circling and tapping her burning clit until she writhed and pushed against his face.
+She'd wanted to watch, to snap mental pictures of his handsome face going down on her so she could reminisce on this moment for the rest of her life. She wouldn't kid herself into thinking this would happen more than once. After tonight, he'd finish his leave however he'd planned, and she'd be left with memories to savour and a small part of him Lady Zest had managed to claim in her letters.
+"So sweet. So hot. God, you taste better than any candy cane I've ever eaten."
+He delved a finger into her aching channel, his tongue continuing his torment of her clit and she gave up on watching. She could see nothing beyond the darkness behind her lids and the sporadic explosions of colour that signalled the heightening of her arousal.
+"A liquid, sugary treat," he said as he added a second finger to her opening. He spread them, wiggled them, and manipulated a spot deep inside her she hadn't known was there. His breathy chuckle as her body jerked against his face sent a draft of heated air over her already scalding flesh that charred her very soul. "That's it, baby. Ride my fingers, release more of that sticky-sweet juice. I'm so thirsty, Zoie. I need a drink."
+Zoie's head lolled from side to side as his words penetrated the sexual fog clouding her mind. His erotic words, explicit and sanity-blowing, were so like the man who'd written countless letters to her---to Lady Zest. Those words had driven her wild on paper. They pushed her past the brink of living in reality.
+"Oh, shit." His sudden whispered curse had her head coming up only to fall back to the seat again on a loud moan as he drove three fingers into her channel at the same time lifting her hips off the seat to get a better angle.
+"W-what is it?" Zoie could barely speak, she could hardly breathe with the truly delectable things he was doing to her sensitive flesh. His mouth was no longer on her pussy, but she felt the warmth of his words fan her lips.
+"Nothing, just a couple of old high school friends. I think we gave them an eye full, sweetheart."
+Mortified, Zoie started to shriek and jerk upright, but the sound turned to a scream of pleasure-laced-pain as his lips closed over her clit and clamped down, a pressured bite that had her body jerking, but not as she'd intended.
+Nash chuckled, the demon, as the orgasm tore through her then his tongue took the place of his fingers, lapping at her come as it gushed from her channel. There was no controlling her body's movement. Her hips quivered, her heels dug into the running board of the truck, and her toes curled in her shoes. Slurping sounds permeated the cab of the truck as Nash drank every drop.
+"Well, now, I think at least one of us found that immensely exciting." There was a smile in his husky voice that Zoie didn't want to miss seeing on his face. She forced her eyes to open, purposely narrowing them in a look that probably came off as more spent than evil.
+"Did someone really see that?"
+His pleased smile bloomed into a full-blown grin as he straightened and took her hands. "Nope, but it got you going to think they did. You're surprising me tonight, Zoie. I wouldn't have expected you to get off on kink."
+"You never tried me." She surprised herself by the challenge in her tone as she let him help her sit up on the seat.
+He nodded as their gazes met. "You're right. I didn't." He slipped a hand beneath her hair, cupping her nape and pulling her face closer. "Something else I never tried was this." His lips brushed hers in a kiss so light she thought she might have imagined it, but then he licked his way inside her mouth and she parted her lips fully on a sigh. He tasted sweet, of her juices and his unabated arousal. Perfect. Absolutely perfect. Zoie felt herself melt for the second time in as many minutes against the man she'd wanted for so very long but never thought to have.
+Nash was the one to pull away first. If it had been up to Zoie, she would've sat right here in this truck until the sun came up kissing him. Well, okay, eventually she would've been ripping off his BDUs and begging him to put that impressive package inside her, but she would've managed to kiss him for at least another five or ten seconds before she gave in.
+He rested his forehead to hers and looked her in the eyes. She saw the apology swirling in their blue depths even before he said it. "I'm sorry. I should've done that first." He kissed the tip of her nose and let her go. He made sure she was covered by her soaked panties and wrinkled skirt before he stepped back, waited for her to turn in the seat, and closed the door.
+Heart hammering, mind spinning in an intoxication of pure carnal lust and elated satisfaction, Zoie folded her hands in her lap and waited for him to slip behind the wheel. He cranked the truck, put it in gear, then reached for her. Wordlessly, she curled into his arm, loving the feel of his hard body against hers as he drove them out of the parking lot and hit the streets of town.
+Nash didn't speak again until he pulled into the driveway of his house. He left the truck running and turned his head, brushing his lips over her forehead. "Wait here?"
+Unsure if his words were question or command, Zoie nodded. She watched as he disappeared into the small single-story house only to reappear less than a minute later. He'd tossed on a plain black t-shirt with the BDUs that hugged his chest and biceps like a second skin. Her gaze travelled down one of his muscular arms and saw his hand was fisted around something.
+He climbed back into the truck, his arm immediately winding around her shoulders and pulling her closer for a kiss. Zoie didn't know what to make of this different side of Nash. It was the side she'd yearned for him to show her, but never thought to experience firsthand. Interminably nice, sinfully handsome, and oozing sex from every pore, Nash Beagan had seemed to take all she'd said to him at face value and tossed caution to the wind. A kiss in the parking lot of Quench after he ate her pussy two ways from Sunday, and he was acting like they were...a couple.
+For the night, you are. It's when the sun comes up that everything will change.
+"Are you still up for a little adventure?" he asked against her lips.
+Zoie mentally grabbed hold of Lady Zest, because without the eroticism of her alter ego, she could feel her heart slipping into command, telling her to run before she ended up broken. "What did you have in mind?"
+Nash answered her with action rather than words. His fisted hand dipped beneath her skirt, moving on a decided course straight to her pussy. He pushed the thin strip of material aside and spread her pussy lips with something cool and solid. "You're wet again." His face had fallen to nuzzle at the side of her neck and she felt his lips dance over her sensitised flesh. "I wondered if I would need to prepare you first."
+Prepare her for what? What was that he was slowing moving up and down over her pulsing entrance? "I'm always wet around you." The admission left her lips before she could stop it. She closed her eyes as she felt him lift his head to look at her. Damn it, with those five little words she'd given far too much away. Would he stop this now, fearful she might be expecting more from tonight than the fun she'd told him she wanted?
+When he said nothing, she dared to open her eyes. He stared at her intently, his hand between her legs continuing to graze the now warming object between her pussy lips. Try as she might, she couldn't read his expression. "Nash, I---" she began, but he cut her off by capturing her mouth with his in a stunning kiss that took her breath away.
+"Don't ruin it by saying anything more," he told her as he pulled away. "You can't know what that statement just did to me."
+Needing to lighten the fear rocketing through her, Zoie covered his groin with her hand. "This gives me a pretty big idea," she said, tongue in cheek, to hold back the nervous laugh bubbling in her throat. Big was putting it mildly. Jesus, God, she'd known by the size of the bulge his pants displayed that he wasn't a small man. The deliciously hard, fantastically wide cock she covered with her hand shot that visual observation out of the sky. She thought about having that thick rod of meat impaling her tight wet channel and felt positively light headed with the sudden need to beg.
+A knowing smile titled his lips, almost as if he read her mind. "I want you ready when I put that inside you." His voice was tight with arousal. "I want you hot." He nipped her earlobe. "I want you wet." He grazed his teeth over her jaw. "I want you begging, Zoie." Between her legs, he slid the object inside her slick opening.
+Zoie gasped, her hips involuntarily thrusting forward to meet the toy he pushed deeper in her channel. It wasn't too large, but stretched her walls enough to offer an exotically full feeling. "What is that?"
+"An egg."
+Zoie's head had fallen to rest on the back of the seat and she left it there as his fingers slowly withdrew, leaving the egg inside her. She turned her head to meet his gaze and he laughed at the expression she knew must be on her face tangling somewhere with the pleasure she didn't attempt to mask.
+"Not a real egg, sweetheart. I take it you've never played with this particular toy."
+Zoie shook her head, not wanting to admit the only sex toy she'd ever played with was her dildo she'd lovingly named Nash Jr. After feeling Nash Sr. through the crotch of his BDUs, she made a mental note to start shopping for Nash Jr.'s bigger brother if she wanted to get anything that resembled daddy.
+"It has two distinct advantages. One, it seems to fill that delicious pussy quite nicely." Her sopping lips convulsed as his fingers traced delicate lines over their outer rims. Her channel had closed around the egg, holding it in place and making her feel...wickedly dirty. "Two, it can pleasure you while I'm otherwise occupied."
+Before Zoie could ask what he meant by that, the toy began to vibrate. "Ohmigod," she cooed as the low trimmer in her channel spread the arousal to every erogenous zone in her body.
+"Do you like that, Zoie?" Nash's question sounded of a devilishly heated amusement.
+"Y-yes. Oh, wow."
+"Good." He pulled his hand from between her legs and brought it up to cup her breast. His fingers closed around the orb, gently massaging as he spoke, adding another level to the torment the vibrating had started in her core. "It's going to stay there until I'm ready to take it out. Do you understand?"
+Zoie nodded and moaned as his hand pushed inside the bodice of her dress to pull her breast free. He sucked her breast into his mouth, then drew back to give her throbbing nipple a pressured bite. The pain-laced pleasure shot straight to her pussy and she very nearly came, probably would have if the vibration hadn't stopped at that exact moment.
+"What?" If she'd thought the smile on his lips before had been knowing before, the one he wore now broadcast an IQ off the charts.
+"It's remote controlled. You didn't think I was going to let you come again so soon, did you?"
+"That's not fair!" Zoie protested, but secretly the level of excitement mingling with the heat flaming her insides had just rocketed beyond measure.
+"Adventure, my sweet Zoie." He pushed the button, flicked the switch, or did whatever he had to do to the unseen remote and the vibrations began again, this time slightly faster. Zoie let her head fall back as her entire body surged with rapture. "I suggest you get used to the feeling of it vibrating that tight pussy. Unless, of course, you want everyone to know you have a vibrator shoved in your cunt and I have the control."
+Zoie felt her eyes grow wide. "Everyone? We're going somewhere?" The vibrations stopped again and she took several deep, calming breaths.
+"I thought we would catch a movie." Nash put the truck in reverse and started to back out of the drive. "I hear Scrooged is the late-night matinee at the Centroplex. It's not all that romantic, but Bill Murray's always good for a laugh."
+Nash held off until they were settled into the back row of the theatre before he brushed his thumb over the button on the remote to start the vibrator in Zoie's pussy again. He bit back a smile, delighting in the quick intake of breath she made beside him.
+Her hand closed over his forearm and she leant close, her whisper so soft he barely heard her. "Can't you hear that?"
+This time he stifled a chuckle, meeting her horrified expression with a straight face. "Yes." And damned if hearing it, knowing the pleasure she was getting from it, imagining how her slick pussy looked rocking from the pulsations of the egg wasn't having the same effect as hooking electrically charged clamps to his balls.
+Her gaze darted around the darkened theatre. They weren't alone, though the theatre was nearly deserted. A few rows down sat an elderly couple and a few rows down from them a crowd of what appeared to be teenagers took up several seats. He watched her take all that in before covering her hand with his.
+"The only reason I can hear it is because I'm sitting so close to you." She visibly relaxed. He waited a beat and added, "But if you really want them to know, I can take you down there and make you spread your legs so they can see firsthand."
+Zoie's eyes grew to the size of saucers, but it was the spark of the challenge, the flare of desire in them that Nash latched onto. Who would've thought little Zoie Qwin would get off on the threat of exhibitionism? God, if he'd only known years ago. No wonder he'd secretly been in love with her for so long. Somewhere deep down a part of him must have sensed her to be exactly the woman he wanted.
+"You wouldn't." Her gaze didn't waver from his even when he increased the speed of the egg's vibrations.
+Nash lifted a brow. Was she testing him? Not a good idea, sweetheart. If there was one thing he'd wanted in a woman that he hadn't yet found in anyone but his Lady Zest, it was the willingness to do anything he wanted, even if that meant his fucking her in front of a stadium full of football fans. Not that he would ever expose Zoie that way. The sweet treasures he was slowly finding in her body tonight were his and his alone.
+For tonight, a little voice in his head reminded him.
+For as long as I want, he silently countered.
+"Is that a challenge, Zoie?" The flames in her eyes licked his cock, burning his rock-hard shaft. Damn, had his dick ever throbbed this painfully to be inside a woman?
+Zoie gulped and relented. "No." She settled back in her seat as the movie started, but her hand remained on his forearm just above his wrist, her hold on him somehow both possessive and tender.
+Nash turned off the vibrator and felt her relax once more. The opening credits flashed and it wasn't long before he was lost in laughter at Bill Murray and the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. Zoie's laughter was like music beyond any he'd ever heard. He knew he'd never be able to watch Scrooged again without hearing that sexy, melodic sound. Or the delightful little moans she made each time he flicked on the egg. He'd let her get to the point of losing it, knew she had to be but a hair's breadth from release, and he'd turn the vibrator off. He waited until the movie was about three quarters of the way through before he leant over to whisper in her ear.
+"Are you enjoying the movie?"
+A wide smile lit her face and he felt his heart flip. Beautiful, sexy, and, he was learning, daring Zoie Qwin. What more could a guy want in life?
+"It's great."
+"Too great you don't want to miss a few minutes of it while you suck me off?"
+Zoie blinked, gulped and the smile faded. She licked her lips as if testing their answer and the effect felt like a whip had been laid to his balls. "Here? Now?"
+Nash nodded and started unfastening his BDUs. "Here. Now." He hadn't done anything like this since high school, although right about now, he felt as randy as a school boy. It hadn't been his intention to make her give him a blow job when he brought her here. He'd really just wanted to spend some time with her, enjoy the movie and the knowledge that even as they laughed he was pleasuring her with the egg he'd shoved in her pussy. Sitting next to her and listening to the sultry laugh roll from her tantalising lips, however, had given him a hard-on of a different dimension and planted the idea in his head for another escapade for her. He wondered fleetingly how much trouble he'd get in with his superiors if they got caught. Damn, if the possibility didn't milk a drop of pre-cum from the head of his cock.
+"Okay." Zoie turned in her seat.
+Her eagerness surprised him as much as it delighted him. There was no question in his mind she was ranking second on his list of everything he ever wanted in a woman.
+"Here, let me help."
+She reached over the arm rail between them and pushed her slender hand inside his pants. Her fingers curled around his shaft and she pulled his cock free.
+Nash sucked a breath through clenched teeth. With that single, bold move she'd blown Lady Zest out of the top spot for Woman Most Wanted. She stroked him, her delicate touch gliding up and down his shaft in a way that demonstrated skill and practice. He didn't want to know where she'd developed such talent. When she sank to her knees on the filthy theatre floor and closed her sinful lips over the head of his cock, he no longer cared.
+"Ah, God." The words left him on a gasp as his eyes closed, his head falling back, the picture on screen and the scatter of movie watchers forgotten. Her lips were like bands of silk tightening on the mushroomed head of his dick. She dipped her tongue through the slit in the tip, moaning low as she tasted his pre-cum treat, then tongued the head to the roof of her mouth as she explored the sensitised vein that ran along the underside of his cock.
+Nash knew he'd been blessed with a larger than average cock. Few sex partners had ever been able to take the whole of him. Zoie did it, though. She swallowed his length with such slow finesse that he was gripping the arms of the seat hard enough to snap the wood by the time her lips met with the flesh of his body.
+His balls quaked from the shock, his anus puckering as a riot of rapturous sensations sizzled through his body at the realisation that she'd taken him completely. She worked his cock with her lips, her throat, her teeth, until it was all he could do to hold back the begging pants that collected on his tongue. He gripped the arm rests of his seat so hard his knuckles ached, somehow only adding another level of delicious discomfort to the eroticism of the moment. God, she would drive him mad with her mouth!
+Zoie slipped a hand between his legs and found his sac. She rolled his nuts in her palm like a set of Chinese stress balls. All the while her mouth continued to torment his cock in the most body-shattering ways.
+He didn't try to stop himself from coming, though for an agonising flash, he thought she might sense he was nearing release and stop when he teetered on the brink as he'd done to her all night with the egg. The egg. Christ, he'd meant to show her pleasure while she sucked him off. She moaned again, her head bobbing faster, her tongue swiping along the underside of his cock in a more desperate act of feeding, and he realised she was getting as much pleasure on the giving end as he was receiving.
+Unable to stop himself, he latched onto the silky waves of hair brushing his thigh. He'd wanted to feel that hair on his flesh, but his BDUs prevented that. He felt it in his hand instead, fisting his fingers around the strands and twisting until he gained some minuscule control over her head movement. Or perhaps it was simply an illusion of control that she allowed him because her mouth again picked up pace until she was sucking him with such vigour and abandon that the hot evidence of his release spewed from the tip of his cock.
+Nash jerked with the force of the orgasm, his hand falling from her hair to the arm of the chair as his thighs tensed and quivered and his breaths came so fast he feared hyperventilation. Jesus, when was the last time he'd had a blowjob like that?
+Never. The answer flittered through his mind as Zoie gently put his now sated cock back inside his boxer-briefs and refastened his BDUs before returning to her seat. She hooked a finger under his chin, turning his head so he looked at her and then licked her lips. His spent cock actually gave an exhausted bump in his pants at the sight. "Thank you for that. You taste stupendous."
+Nash stared at her as she turned her focus to what was left of the movie. She'd thanked him for her giving him a blowjob. Hell, he should've been thanking her for the absolute most fantabulous blowjob he'd ever had! But it was what she'd said after that started the alarm bells. You taste stupendous.
+I know we would be stupendous together... I can only imagine how stupendous it would feel to have your big cock shoved inside my aching body... Stupendously yours...
+Lady Zest. Nash's gaze moved over Zoie, the memories of his Lady Zest's frequent use of the word tangling with the image he'd taken to placing on her head, the image he was now staring at. Lady Zest or Lady Zoie? Could it be? A part of him was starting to believe the possibility. An even larger part of him, the one currently recovering in his pants coupled with the one aching in his chest, already decided either way the woman beside him was officially, stupendously his whether she knew it yet or not.
+Zoie didn't know what to expect out of Nash next or where he might take her. After the blowjob she'd given him---had she really gone down on him in the middle of a public theatre?---he seemed to have forgotten about the egg still inside her pussy. Strangely enough, the eroticism of simply having an object shoved in her feminine opening kept her on the pentacle of arousal even without the vibrations. Or maybe it was merely sitting next to Nash Beagan, sharing the night with the one man she'd always longed for, that kept her in a constant state of near-orgasm.
+Nash pulled into his driveway again, this time immediately turning off the engine and turning to rest his elbow on the seat behind her head. His thumb grazed her cheek, his expression full of such tenderness her heart somersaulted in her chest. "Come inside?" His tone made it more question than order as if he actually thought she might refuse.
+"Of course." Zoie gave him her hand and he helped her out of the truck. His arm slid around her waist, drawing her close to his side as he led her up the sidewalk to the front door. There were mere steps from the door when the vibrations in her pussy started with such a vigorous force her knees went weak and a cry of pleasured surprised escaped her lips. If he hadn't had such a tight hold on her, she would've melted to the concrete.
+His low chuckle sounded breathy and pleased. "Thought I'd forgotten about it, didn't you?"
+Zoie took several deep breaths, calming her reactions to the insurmountable onslaught of pleasure before she shot him a playful glare. "You're so bad."
+"Yeah, but you're enjoying it."
+To that, she couldn't argue. Instead, she lost herself in the sensations trembling her inner core while he unlocked the front door and motioned for her to proceed inside. He moved in after her, closing the door but not moving away from it, she noted as she stopped and took a cursory look around. She'd stepped directly into his living room. Sparsely furnished with a brown leather sofa, recliner and oak tables, the room screamed male. The Christmas tree standing in the far corner decorated in enough colour to make the ornaments stand out even in the semi darkness yelled something else entirely.
+"You've put up your Christmas tree already?"
+"My mother's work. She wanted it to be up when I got here."
+"Then you knew you were coming home for the holiday. You never mentioned the possibility in any of your letters." Zoie stilled. Shit, shit, triple shit! She hadn't meant to say that. She slowly turned, fighting not to give herself away further, pretending she didn't see the way Nash's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You know, the letters you've sent to Travis and Debby." And Lady Zest. Damnit, had she blow it? The night was going too perfectly to bring Lady Zest into this. Would he believe she'd talked to Travis and Debby? Travis, sure because he was Dalia's step-brother, but she couldn't remember the last time she'd exchanged a hello with Nash's sister-in-law.
+"It was a spur of the moment thing. Sort of a Christmas present to several of the men in my squad." Nash angled his head, one corner of his lips tilting up. "You asked Travis and Debby about me?"
+Zoie nodded. She had, however indirectly and discreetly, questioned Travis about Nash the last time she'd caught Travis away from Dalia. She hadn't wanted her best friend to rag her about her crush on Nash and, though Travis hadn't seen through her calm demeanour, Dalia would've guessed the score in a heartbeat.
+"I like knowing that." Nash's grin came quick and hormone-stumbling. "Take off your clothes for me, Zoie. I want to watch you strip."
+Zoie locked her gaze with his, took a deep breath that shook her insides to her toes, and reached behind her to unzip the bodice of her dress. His eyes grew heavy-lidded, the look in them headier, hungrier as she slipped her arms free of the sleeves and peeled the dress down to her waist. Her body flamed under the intense heat of his scrutiny. Her nipples beaded, throbbing lightly to be fondled, flicked, and pinched. Wetness pooled in her panties. They hadn't had the chance to dry all night! Still, the visible gulp he made as she pushed the material over her hips and let the dress fall in a pool at her feet almost made her laugh even as it gave her the courage to tease a little.
+She hooked her thumbs in the strings of her panties at her hips and urged them down an inch, revelling in the quiet rumble that started low in his throat. She released one string to flatten her hand on the cool satin and glided her palm over her pelvis, letting her fingers dip between her legs to cover her mound through the thong. Inside her fiery channel, the egg continued to vibrate with a reckless abandon more fiercely than it had all night. He must have turned it to full pulsating power this time. If she didn't touch carefully, didn't take heed to avoid her throbbing clit at all costs, she'd send herself sailing into orgasmic bliss. That wasn't how she wanted to come.
+"Take them off, Zoie." His tone left no room for question this time. The gruffness coupled with intense darkening of his bedroom-blues thrilled her as much as the order.
+Zoie stopped teasing and pushed her thong to the floor with her dress. She straightened before him, completely naked and heated to the core. Her pussy shuddered with the egg's manipulations and her nipples had turned to taut peaks jutting out from her breasts as if trying to reach the man they wanted even from several steps away. When Nash reached in his pocket and thumbed off the egg, she nearly whimpered from the loss of stimulation. Then his gaze met hers, his lids fully open, and his next order had all the heat in her body pooling in her cheeks.
+"Remove the egg."
+Zoie swallowed, her belly giving a decidedly mortified lurch. "You want me to take it out?"
+"I do, and I want to watch you do it. I don't want to have to contend with it when I get ready to fuck you."
+Zoie winced at his choice of words. She couldn't say exactly why his using the word 'fuck' made her feel cheap, dirty, but it did. Still, whatever he called it, it was exactly what she wanted. She tamped down the embarrassment that wanted to cause her hand to shake and reached between her legs, slipping her fingers inside her sopping channel to grasp the egg and pull it free. Almost immediately, she felt empty and needier than ever.
+Nash moved to her, one hand reaching for the egg while he cupped her chin with the other. "Look at me, Zoie."
+Zoie met his gaze and the compassion in his expression made her throat tighten with emotion.
+"Know this, my love, when I say I want to fuck you, I don't mean that in any crude form. It's a man's way of describing a need that doesn't sound as girly as the other terms. Okay?"
+Zoie blinked away the tears that welled and gave a watery laugh. "Okay." Even as the smile on his face turned to one of utter sweetness, her mind raced. My love. He'd called her 'my love'. He hadn't used a masculine clichéd endearment like sweetheart, baby, or darlin'. He'd called her his love? But did he really mean it? Did she dare hope?
+As she stood there naked, her body humming from his nearness, her gaze searching his benevolent expression, she knew the answer was yes. She did dare hope with every fibre of her being.
+"Are you cold?" His hand glided down her arm and up again to her shoulder, to dip beneath her hair.
+"No." How could she be when he radiated such heat, when his simple proximity proved scorching enough to her system to liquefy her bones?
+"Good, because I want you to stay naked for me." His hands moved over her body, framing her sides, cupping her breasts, skimming her abdomen and belly, but stopping just short of where she needed to feel them most. "You're so perfect, Zoie, so beautiful."
+His whispered compliment affected her as viscerally as his touch. He thought her beautiful, perfect? The wonder of that shocked her very soul.
+"Why don't you plug in the lights on the Christmas tree for us and wait for me beside it? I'll be right back."
+Nash didn't intend to take so long in the kitchen gathering something for them to munch on. Putting together anything fit for the remainder of the evening he had in mind with Zoie, however, proved to be an impossible task given the emptiness of his cabinets and refrigerator. He settled on a bag of chips, several bite-sized Snickers bars, and a couple of beers. His selections were enough to elicit a throaty laugh from Zoie as he joined her in the living room.
+"Chips, chocolate, and beer." She grinned at him as she took the offered bottle of brew he held out for her. "You do know a way to a woman's heart, soldier."
+God, he hoped so. Was he winning her heart tonight? Nash couldn't believe how important that goal had suddenly become. Sure, he'd loved her for close to forever, but he'd always worried of spoiling her, and not in a good way, of destroying her innocence and transforming her into someone she wasn't. Tonight, she'd proven him wrong on every count he'd ever calculated. She wasn't the woman he'd thought he'd loved for so long. She was better, more, and he loved her all the deeper for it. But how did she feel about him?
+"I haven't had the chance to hit the grocery store for more than the bare essentials. Mom was more concerned with putting up my Christmas tree than seeing I had food in the fridge." He wrinkled his forehead. "Pretty strange, that, don't you think?"
+Zoie chuckled and gestured to the tree with her beer. "It's a beautiful tree."
+"That it is," Nash nodded in agreement. "And even more beautiful with you standing beside it." The flicker of surprise in her eyes baffled him. Did she not realise how unbelievably incredible she was? Sure, each of her contrasting features would've made unflattering alterations to anyone else's appearance, but on her, they were absolutely perfect. He let his attention fall down her delectably naked, cock-teasingly wicked body, and the sight reaffirmed his belief.
+"Bare essentials such as chips, chocolate and beer." She slanted him a look. "Do those essentials include coffee and cream as well?"
+Nash set both his beer and the food tray aside and reached for her, hooking an arm around her waist and pulling her close. He kissed the tip of her nose. "It includes coffee. Promise you'll stay the night with me, and I'll make sure you have cream by sunrise."
+Zoie's gaze danced over his face, an undisguised happiness lighting her expression. "I'll drink it black as long as you don't leave me."
+Never. The word was on the tip of his tongue but Nash swallowed it, knowing he couldn't make such a promise. He would have to leave her New Year's Day. He had one week and two days before his leave ended and he'd be boarding a plane for... Hell, he didn't even know where he'd be sent to next, though he expected it would be back to Afghanistan.
+Instead of making a promise he knew he couldn't keep, he cupped her cheek and stayed in the moment. The lights from the Christmas tree blinked a steady rhythm, the multicoloured lights cascading over her scarlet hair and bare milky flesh like coloured diamonds.
+"I've always dreamt of how you would look in the flickering glow of candlelight," he confessed. She leant into his touch, her eyes slowly closing, her lips parting ever so slightly.
+"You dreamt of me?" There was surprise in the question even through the breathiness of her arousal.
+"More often than you'll ever know," he admitted and, because he wanted all the cards between them on the table, didn't want any more secrets or hidden desires, he went for broke. "Undress me. I can't wait another minute to have your hands on me, Lady Zoie."
+She froze, her eyes flying open and her jaw dropping on an 'O' of shock. He would've laughed, she looked so freaking cute, if his heart hadn't been securely lodged in his throat. He was right. She was his Lady Zest. His Lady Zoie. His Lady everything! When she continued to stare up at him, disbelief and astonishment warring for paramount emotion on her lovely face, he continued to spell out a fantasy she'd once written to him.
+"Peel my shirt up slowly, let your tongue explore with your hands if you want, but don't stop with the shirt over my eyes. I want to watch you as you sink to your knees and take off my pants."
+"Dear God, you know," she whispered.
+Nash nodded, loving the way her body trembled against him in nervous excitement.
+"H-how long have you known?"
+"Officially? Tonight. Though, almost from the start, when I pictured Lady Zest, it was you who played her part."
+"Me? Really?"
+Nash smiled. "Really. It's always been you, Zoie. Now, are you going to do what Lady Zest promised me, or do I have to spank you for lying?"
+The trickle of wetness that slid down Zoie's inner thigh made her shiver. Or maybe it was the look that took over Nash's expression, one of challenge and pure authority. Likely, it was a combination of both. A faint sting began in her rear, anticipation and presumption at how wickedly delightful it would feel to have his large hand slapping her heated flesh. Her body's reaction to his threat must have shown on her face because he chuckled, his hands dropping to cup her ass and squeeze.
+"Damn, who would've thought? You can't know how happy you're making me tonight."
+Oh, but she could. She felt it in his embrace, in the hardness of his erection against her belly, saw it in the warmly contented expression on his face. "I told you I wanted more than anything to make you happy." She had, more than once, if memory served. Oh, she'd written it in a variety of spicy, erotic ways, but her meaning and intent had been clear to them both. Whatever she needed to do, whatever he asked of her, she would do to make him happy.
+"Lady Zest told me that," Nash countered and dipped his head to drag his tongue along the outline of her jaw. "But you never have."
+Zoie's head lolled back on a moan. "I am Lady Zest."
+"Are you now?" He eased back, releasing her completely and letting his hands drop to his sides. His eyes as well as his tone rang with triumph and challenge as he said, "Prove it."
+She didn't need to ask how. He'd already told her what he wanted her to do, just as she'd told him in one of her many letters. She didn't even need to remind her limbs of the motions needed to accomplish the act. Her hands moved of their own volition, reaching for the hem of his t-shirt and slowly dragging it up. She bent her knees enough to put her mouth in line with the flat plane of his stomach and extended her tongue, starting inside the narrow patch of dark curls just above the waistline of his BDUs and licking her way up. She paused at his navel, circling the outline with the tip of her tongue and daring to dip inside before moving on.
+He tasted divine, a heady mix of solid male and sweet arousal, and she refused to leave an inch of his torso un-sampled. Her hands remained a breath ahead of her mouth as she devoured his abdomen, his ribs, his pecs and collarbone. When she reached his jaw, she felt his body tense and knew he waited to see if she would continue her fantasy or do as he'd ordered. In her letter, she'd confessed her desire to turn his t-shirt into a makeshift blindfold. He'd specifically told her tonight his wants didn't mirror hers in that one aspect. As erotic as she knew she'd find it having this man blindfolded and hostage to her bidding, she gave him his way this time. Surely another chance for her to assume control would present itself before morning. There were, after all, still many hours until dawn.
+Nash relaxed once more, his eyes flittering open, his gaze landing intoxicatingly intense on hers when she pulled the shirt off his head and tossed it to the floor. He smiled, a slow curve of his lips that spoke of both approval and desire. "Good girl. Will you continue now?"
+The fact that he asked, that he even felt the need to ask, surprised her. She answered him by dropping to her knees before him for the second time that night, this time her fingers working the buttons free and tugging his pants down with steady precision and speed. Enough of this playing around. She wanted him naked and she wanted it now!
+She hooked her fingers in the elastic band of his boxer-briefs and yanked them down. His cock, rock-hard and enormous, sprang free. No way could she let such a magnificent specimen of her man go unnoticed. She opened her mouth, already preparing her throat to accommodate his length before she swallowed his cock to the base of his body. It had been a struggle at first back at the theatre. There was so much of him! Thick and hard, the girth proved to be as much a challenge as the length. She was delighted to discover taking him down her throat a second time wasn't quite as uncomfortable or difficult.
+"Ah, God, my sweet Lady Zoie," he ground through gritted teeth, his hand gripping the back of her hair almost painfully. His cock jumped in her mouth as a spasm moved through it. Then, to her surprise and disappointment, he used his grip on her hair to pull her dick free of her mouth. "Stand up."
+Zoie came up sulking. She extended her bottom lip and gave him her best pouty puppy glare. He laughed, the devil, and kissed her. "I was having fun," she protested when he finally allowed her to break the kiss.
+"Yeah, so was I. You enjoy doing that, don't you? I mean, to the point where it really gets you off."
+She did. The feel of having a man's most vulnerable part hard in her mouth, under her control as she milked and sucked it soft was an indescribable gift beyond measure. "Is that a problem for you?"
+Nash barked a laugh. "Hell no, though I had a different pleasure in mind next."
+Zoie lifted a brow. "Oh? And that would be?"
+"Turn around." The hard-edged commander tone was back in his voice. The sound of it skittered over Zoie's flesh as she turned her back to him. His hands found her waist and he pushed her gently forward towards the window by the Christmas tree. She said nothing as he reached around her and opened the drapes covering the window. The street outside his house appeared deserted at this wee hour of the morning, until a car drove passed at a slow but steady speed. Zoie gasped and started to turn her head when Nash nuzzled the side of her face with his cheek.
+"There isn't a lot of traffic on this road at this time of night, but there is some. Are you afraid they might see you, Zoie?"
+"Yes," Zoie breathed even as the idea thrilled her.
+"Does it get you hot, wet?" He slipped a hand between her legs from behind and pushed a finger between her drenched lips. Zoie's head fell back to rest on his chest as her pussy lips flexed and attempted to clamp closed on his finger. "I guess that's my answer. Damn, baby, you're soaked." He withdrew his finger, bringing it up and around her body and held it in front of her lips. "Lick your juices for me, for anyone out there who might be watching. Let us see how good you taste."
+Zoie's lips parted on a sigh of half protest and half excitement. He didn't take the opportunity to push his finger into her mouth, but continued to hold it there waiting for her to do as he'd told her, waiting for her to lick her juices from his digit. The sweet remnants of her essence were thickly coated on his finger. Licking at it proved quickly not to be sufficient enough to clean it so she sucked it between her lips and feasted on it as she would his cock.
+"Damn, that's amazing," Nash breathed. "I can feel your mouth doing the same thing to my cock."
+"I tried to do the same thing to your cock," Zoie reminded him. "You wouldn't let me."
+He withdrew his finger from her mouth, his hands moving to her arms to glide down their length until his fingers closed around her wrists. He brought her arms up, guiding her hands to the windowsill. "I want your hands right here. Don't move them unless I tell you too." He released her hands, but hesitated above them as if to be sure she followed his order before moving to her shoulders. His palms splayed over her flesh, grazing down to the small of her back. "Bend forward, Zoie."
+Zoie did, keeping her head up, her eyes focused on the street out front. Her attention shifted to the house across the street, to a window directly in the front where she could've sworn she'd seen a silhouetted figure peering back at her. The possibility only heightened her arousal, beading her nipples and slicking her pussy until her core flamed almost painfully. She even found herself imagining someone was watching as Nash stroked a hand over her bare ass, as her breasts dangled in full view of anyone who could be out there.
+"Say hello to the neighbour across the street." Nash's tone was part pungent desire and part amusement. Was there really someone peering through that window? Had Nash seen that silhouette too? Or was he simply leading her to believe someone watched them to get her off? "Let them see how much you enjoy what I do to you." And with those words, his hand left her flesh only to connect a half second later as he brought it down in a hard slap to her sensitive skin.
+Zoie cried out, wiggling her ass as the stinging sensational pain ripped through her bottom and straight to her pussy. Nash spanked her again, this time a hard blow to her other cheek and her body jerked, writhing from the delicious pain-filled pleasure. He alternated the slaps, hard for gentle, one ass cheek to the other, until she was teetering on the brink of orgasm and begging for release. "Nash, please."
+"You're mine, Zoie." He claimed her with his body as much as his words. He pushed a hand between her quivering legs and thrust his fingers inside her pussy. She couldn't tell how many fingers he put inside her. She knew only that his thick digits stretched her opening and she rocked back against them, needing them deep, wanting more than fingers to fill her aching channel. "Say it. Say you're mine."
+"I'm yours." She gasped the words, obediently and honestly, whimpering when he removed his fingers and used both hands to spread her legs wider.
+"Forever?"
+The word sounded of more question than prompt for her to repeat. Did he know what he was saying? She couldn't help but wonder. Still, she repeated the word because she knew exactly what she was saying and she'd always been his, always would be. "Forever."
+Nash positioned the head of his cock at her entrance but stopped short of pushing inside. He gave her hips a quick squeeze as if making sure he had her attention and said the words that sealed her fate. "I love you, Zoie Qwin."
+Zoie's eyes closed as tears of joy welled. She opened her mouth to tell him she loved him too, but he didn't give her the chance to say the words. He thrust inside her, a single, vicious ramming that shoved her cheek and breasts against the window and drove his cock impossibly deep inside her channel. Then he fucked her. She hadn't cared for the word when he'd used it, winced because it had sounded so impersonal and crude, but she could think of no other description for the furious way he nailed her to the window. His cock slamming her pussy until they were both screaming with pleasure. It was fucking, it was wild, and it was purely magnificent!
+Nash reached around her, finding her hardened clit with his thumb and stroked it as he pounded into her from behind. And she came. Just like that. Without rhyme, warning, or finesse, her orgasm exploded around his cock, her inner muscles convulsing until they milked him of his cum. Sated and spent, he folded himself over her as their heartbeats drummed a frantic rhythm and their breaths mingled in a cacophony of airy sounds.
+"You're mine, Zoie," he said again, his breath fanning an icy trail over her spine that he licked away with a tantalising swipe of his tongue.
+"I'm yours," Zoie affirmed, her eyes closed and cheek still pressed to the window. Between her legs, his hand retreated from her clit, his cock easing out of her channel. Then his hands were gripping her hips again and he urged her to straighten, to turn and face him.
+In that moment, sweat dripping from his brows, his face flushed from the exertion of their love making, his lips curved into a slightly wicked and incredibly sexy smile, he was the most gorgeous creature Zoie had ever seen in her life. She couldn't stop herself from lifting a shaking hand to cup his cheek and revelled in the way he leant into her touch, his eyes drifting closed.
+"I am yours," she told him again, in case he hadn't heard her the first time.
+His eyes opened and his gaze captured hers. "Enough to be mine forever?"
+Heart in her throat, Zoie could only nod.
+"Because that's what I want, Zoie. I want forever. I want you to marry me." He drew her closer still until he held her so tightly against his body even oxygen had trouble slipping between them. "It won't be easy being my wife. I know that, but I promise to do everything within my power to make you as happy as possible for the rest of our lives. I'll give you all I can, Zoie, and then some. I'll love you with everything inside me and probably more I don't know I possess." He kissed the tip of her nose and continued. "I'm gone for months at a time. What I do is as much a part of me as my undying love for you. Can you handle that, my love? Can you deal with our months apart and love me the same? Will you let me have both the woman I crave and the career that drives me?"
+"That's really what you want?" Zoie asked, disbelief tangling with the elation coursing through her veins.
+"It would be the greatest Christmas present you could ever give me."
+Zoie gave him a watery smile and brushed her lips to his nose. "Then my answer is yes. To everything. I'm yours." She laughed and grazed her lips over first one of his cheeks and then the other. "Stupendously yours. And I will marry you Lieutenant Commander Nash Beagan. I'll even make sure Lady Zest writes you on a daily basis when you're gone so you'll know we're both stupendously yours." Her lips found his in a long, lingering kiss that had her hormones rocking and her pussy hungering for more fucking. "Always."
+About the Author
+Tonya Ramagos is a bestselling author of contemporary, fantasy, paranormal and cowboy novels. She spends most of her time in a fictional world, dreaming up hot hungs and headstrong heroines. When she's not writing, she's reading. Anything from legal and military nonfiction to any genre of romance can be found on her bookshelves and flash drives. Her music tastes are just as varied, with artists ranging from country to rock to heaving metal loading her MP3 player. Her idea of relaxing is curled up on the sofa or on her back deck with a book and cup of coffee, glass of wine, or an MGD 64. A wife and mother of two fantastic boys, she enjoys playing games, dancing, and walking the nature trails around her home in Harrison, Tennessee.
+Email: tonyaramagos@aol.com
+Tonya loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and author biography at http://www.total-e-bound.com.
+Total-E-Bound Publishing
+www.total-e-bound.com
+Take a look at our exciting range of literagasmic™
+erotic romance titles and discover pure quality
+at Total-E-Bound.
+

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+
+A TEASE PUBLISHING VALENTINES DAY SHORT
+TEASE PUBLISHING
+www.teasepublishingllc.com
+This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
+A Tease Publishing Book/E book The Innocents
+Copyright© 2008 Cara North ISBN: 978-1-60767-032-2Cover Artist: Stella PriceInterior text design: Stacee Sierra
+All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
+Tease Publishing LLC www.teasepublishingllc.comPO BOX 234Swansboro, North Carolina 28584-0234
+Tease and the T logo is © Tease Publishing LLC. All rights reserved.
+It was two weeks after her nineteenth birthday and Stephanie Young had finished her second year in art school with a specialization in clothing design, with honors. Ethan, her cousin, had let her manage his art gallery for the summer and she still worked there as her school schedule permitted. Now that Ethan was a newlywed he wanted to spend most of his time with his wife Grace.
+She stepped to the mirror and took in the outfit. She had handmade the black top, distressed the hip hugging jeans and added a little embellishment on the pockets. Her favorite pair of black strappy heels and sequined handbag topped the outfit off.
+Stephanie had her long blonde hair pulled up in a twist. She wore the silver hoop earrings her brother Joshua bought her as a birthday present, and the watch that her mother gave her. Looking down at her wrist she winced; she would be late and miss the auction. She had saved three thousand dollars and was going to donate it to the fire department, but she was also going to bid on a man.
+One man in particular.
+This was the best idea anyone had come out with in a long time. The stations were competing to see who could raise the most money for the Muscular Distrophy Association this year. The fire chief's wife decided to auction off the firemen, and a few willing bachelors, for Valentine's Day. A handful of couples would be placed in a drawing and receive a vacation at one of three destinations.
+The auction made such a buzz that all the society women had nominated every eligible bachelor that would fetch a fine donation. How could the men say no to the kids who counted on them? Most hadn't. This was her older brother Joshua's last summer in New York, so Chase and Megan had suckered him into participating. Women were always after the men in her family. Who could blame them? They were tall and brooding. Not so for Stephanie, her brother effectively chased away any man that dared look at his little sister.
+But not tonight.
+Tonight he would be preoccupied and wouldn't even know she was there.
+Once she arrived at the destination donated to the event, Stephanie paid the taxi driver and made special effort to hold her head high and her shoulders back.
+There was no turning around now.
+\*
+Inside the auditorium Chase Young waited for his cousin. Stephanie was here to buy a man, and he intended to make sure she got a decent guy. Only one man on that stage had the kind of character he would let near his cousin, much less the kind of courage to stand up to her brother.
+"Hey!" Chase hugged his favorite cousin and took a good look at her. She was five-nine and nothing short of gorgeous. That gave the three men of her family a lot of chasing and warning to do. They had about a million female cousins, but Stephanie was the only one who lived in New York. She was also the only female cousin on their fathers' side. That made her special. "Happy birthday. Sorry I couldn't make the party."
+"No worries. Do I look all right?" Stephanie was always nervous about her looks. Her mother, Amelia Young, was constantly reminding her of eating habits and etiquette, and how she would never marry a doctor or lawyer if she didn't watch her weight. Since Joshua had rebelled at every opportunity Stephanie became the focus. Thank God her father was a kind and gentle man. He wouldn't divorce their mother, though no one was sure why not.
+"Of course you do. You're beautiful." Chase smiled. His aunt was such a bitch. His mother had told him and Ethan to always compliment Stephanie, even when she was gangly and scrawny and awkward as a little girl. She sure grew into those limbs. Now the compliments were real. Ethan and Chase looked over her like she was their little sister too.
+"You guys always say that." Stephanie was so used to hearing her brother and cousins pump up her ego that she didn't really believe them. They had been telling her she was beautiful since she was born it seemed, but especially when she had braces, her ears were too big and her face was a mess. It wasn't until high school that she finally settled into her body. She graduated early, like her brother, at their mother's insistence.
+"It's always true." Chase laughed. "Your brother is up there grousing and grumbling of course. I told him I would set Megan on him if he didn't behave. Of course Joshua also refuses to go away for the weekend with anyone other than a red-head."
+"He has a type." Stephanie laughed. "I wonder what my type is?"
+"Clean cut. Nice. Respectful." Chase answered seriously for her.
+"You guys chase any guy I like away. I have to resort to buying one and taking him away for a weekend just to have a private date." Stephanie rolled her eyes.
+"It was just a coincidence, Megan and I happened to be at the movie theatre." Chase lied.
+"And a coincidence that Ethan was eating at the restaurant, or worse that Joshua was waiting that one time in his uniform!" Stephanie knew Joshua couldn't always be there, but Ethan and Chase made sure they covered whatever date he couldn't. She loved Grace and Megan, they tried to block their husbands' attempts to interfere, but the three big dogs had been staking her out since she hit puberty.
+"It's a small town." Chase shrugged.
+"It's New York City!" Stephanie laughed and gave up. This was the only way to have privacy. "My only hope is that I get a package that is far from Joshua."
+"There's a package that is already set aside for you. Megan arranged it that way. And no, none of us are going with you." Megan and Chase had chosen the Disney World package specifically because it was not romantic. Since Stephanie had always wanted to go she would spend her time in the parks and not in the hotel room. Brilliant plan if he ever had one.
+"Really?" Stephanie jumped with excitement.
+"Yes. Oh, here he comes." Chase stood next to his cousin to ensure she won this man. He had known Malcolm a while now and he was the only person he trusted to be with his cousin and not pressure her. Grace was in place to bid if Stephanie ran out of money. Everyone but Joshua was in on it. Grace had mentioned that Stephanie had noticed Malcolm at the wedding a month ago. Everyone was in agreement he would do just fine.
+\*
+Malcolm was so tired of the two men behind him he wanted to scream. "Will you two quit it? I can't believe a woman would pay five bucks to spend an hour with either of you. Certainly not if she heard the way you were talking."
+"Oh grow a pair." Harry whacked the kid on the back. Malcolm was a good friend and a smart kid. But he was way too wholesome for the fire house.
+"I can't wait to see what poor unsuspecting woman ends up with you." Edgar joined in the teasing. "She will think she's getting a big bad fireman and instead she's getting Mister Sensitive."
+"There is nothing wrong with respecting women. My mother is a woman, my sister is a woman. If two men were up here debating so blatantly about the positions they would put either of them in I would just loose it. What if your sister was out there right now? Huh? Some guy up here talking about what he was going to do with her..."
+"I would snap his neck in three places." Joshua interrupted the group of firemen. He didn't mind the locker room banter but when the kid stood up for all woman kind he had to help him out. "But she isn't out there."
+"Where's Chase?" Malcolm was anxious and he didn't like being put on display. Worse than that, he didn't like being bought by one of these women. Who knew what they were expecting. Hearing that Joshua's sister Stephanie wouldn't be out there was like a kick in the gut. He knew it was ridiculous, but he had hoped she would be.
+"Good question." Joshua looked down the row of men.
+"Hey you're up there Casanova." Harry nudged Malcolm.
+"Assholes." Malcolm knew they were like most of the men in the world, but he wasn't. He grew up in a strict family with values and morals enforced. His father was a preacher, his grandfather was a preacher. He was the first man in a long line of ministers to take a different path.
+Joshua laughed. Malcolm was a real piece of work. He admired the kid. He had guts, and he stuck to his principles. The other two firemen began arguing over who would fetch the most money as Joshua resigned to leaning on the wall again. He really couldn't wait for school to start. He would be in North Carolina by this time next month. His only worry was his little sister. He didn't want to leave Stephanie behind. He couldn't protect her from society if he wasn't around. His cousins promised to keep up with her but they were both newlyweds and both of their wives were expecting. That didn't leave a lot of room for chasing Stephanie and making sure she stayed out of trouble and away from guys like them!
+\*
+Stephanie waited anxiously as the man she had come to bid for stepped out. No one knew she wanted Malcolm, she wouldn't dare tell anyone other than Megan.
+"Malcolm Murphy ladies, he is one of our firefighters, six foot even, one hundred fifty pounds of raw muscle. Malcolm spends his nights at the firehouse, his days in college and his vacations at the Muscular Dystrophy camp itself." Megan couldn't do justice to his resume even if she tried. He needed a halo and wings on that stage, not a t-shirt and pair of jeans. Unlike the other firemen who made a great display of wearing the uniform, or pieces of it to show parts of the body off, Malcolm came out dressed like a regular guy. Anyone who spent more than ten minutes talking to him knew he was anything but. "I won't even start this bid below one thousand."
+"One thousand." A woman shouted out.
+"Fifteen hundred." Called another.
+Before Stephanie had a chance to bid he was already at twenty-five hundred. "Three thousand."
+"Four." The persistent woman up front shouted.
+"Shit." Stephanie covered her mouth after she said it and felt her face heat.
+"It's okay." Chase smiled then motioned to Grace. They only needed to see who she had come to bid on to know they had made the right decision.
+"Ten thousand!" Grace stood up. Megan looked at the woman in the front row and shook her head no. The woman crossed her arms and raised a brow.
+"Going once, twice..."
+"Fifteen." The woman popped up.
+Stephanie's eyes were as big as saucers. The woman in the business suit was damn determined to buy Malcolm though she was old enough to be his mother.
+"Twenty." Grace giggled. This was a lot of fun for her, before meeting Ethan she wouldn't have known what twenty thousand dollars looked like in a bank account much less be offering it up so easily. Ethan was a millionaire steadily increasing his way toward billions though, so if it took a million bucks, Malcolm was going to Disneyworld with Stephanie!
+"What is Grace doing?" Stephanie looked at Chase who shrugged. "Chase?"
+"I'll be right back okay, wait here." Chase headed down the center aisle toward the woman who cut Grace an evil glare.
+"Twenty five." The woman was now bidding at Grace.
+"Thirty." Grace shrugged.
+Stephanie looked at the man on the stage who now stared at her.
+To her way of thinking he should have been looking at the women who were dropping insane amounts of money over him, but he looked at her. She blushed again.
+Chase made his way toward Malcolm's mother. If she didn't quit Ethan would drop a fortune on the kid and Malcolm's father would strangle his wife for emptying their vacation account on him. Once he explained that Grace was Ethan's wife and they were sending him to Disney for the weekend with his cousin Stephanie she sat down.
+Chase motioned for Stephanie to come forward.
+Stephanie had made it to the end of the aisle where the lights were insanely bright for the press that had front row seats to the event when Malcolm pulled his shirt over his head in a flash and jumped off the stage. She stood frozen as he ran toward her.
+\*
+Malcolm was happily surprised to see Stephanie Young in the audience. She wasn't seated like the other women. She was standing at the back of the rows with Chase. The bidding began and he could barely keep up, but Stephanie raised her paddle and bid for him. Then his mother out bid her. Then Grace started. Then it was out of control and all he could do was regret that Stephanie hadn't won. He didn't want to go away for a weekend with his mother, this was supposed to be a romantic getaway, married women weren't even supposed to be there but they were, and Grace had started bidding. She had only been married to Ethan a hot minute, so what she was doing besides spending too much money was beyond him.
+But she won.
+Stephanie started down the aisle and as soon as the light hit her he got an eyeful.
+Her black top was transparent in the press lights and he wasn't the only one to notice. He stripped off his t-shirt and jumped off the stage pushing it over her head and blocking the reporter before he could reload his camera and shoot the photo.
+Stephanie felt the shirt push over her head and pull down over her shoulders to her waist. Her arms were locked at her sides and Malcolm was ushering her toward the back of the auditorium. She followed his lead because she was in shock. He marched straight out the back doors and onto the sidewalk. The sun stroked over his bare shoulders. She wouldn't let that image keep her sidetracked. Finally regaining her composure she pushed her arms through the sleeves of his t-shirt and shrugged loose from him. "What are you doing?"
+"You can see right through your shirt!" He was furious. He felt protective and possessive and mad that she would wear such a thing all at once.
+"What?" Stephanie's face heated and her heart thumped faster. She tested it against her bedroom light. It wasn't transparent there.
+"You're not wearing a bra." He put his hands on his hips and looked down at her.
+She was only a couple of inches shorter than him, but he looked very imposing at the moment. His blue eyes were intense. "I... I uh."
+"Why would you wear a thing like that?" Malcolm didn't want to start out talking to her like this. He had spoken only pleasantries at Chase and Megan's wedding.
+"I made it." Stephanie frowned and tears welled in her eyes.
+"You made a see through shirt?" Malcolm was biting back anger and trying to get control. The thought of her perky breasts on the cover of a newspaper was still burning him. Luckily only one reporter had taken his eye away from the stage to reload his camera. As soon as he saw Stephanie he smiled. That action alone made Malcolm want to rip the guy into a million pieces.
+"No. I made this shirt." Stephanie felt the tears falling. "I'm so humiliated."
+She turned to run but she was in heels so he caught her in a couple steps. "I'm so sorry. I just... I just freaked out is all."
+"Let me go." It was a weak protest. He drew her in closer.
+"Stephanie I swear I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I thought you looked amazing until you stepped into that light, and the reporter saw, and..."
+"Oh my God! Someone took a picture..."
+"No. I got to you before he could reload." Malcolm let out a long breath. "Hey."
+He tipped up her chin and pouted his own lip. "You're killing me here."
+"Sorry." Stephanie wiped at her cheeks and hoped that the mascara truly was waterproof. "Here."
+Stephanie pulled at his t-shirt. His hands clamped around hers and he shook his head. "Hang on to it."
+"Thanks."
+"I wonder what Grace was doing here bidding." He no sooner got the words out than Grace was there.
+"Buying a birthday gift." Grace smiled as they turned to face her. She handed Malcolm a t-shirt she had fished from his bag the moment she got her hands on it. The poor guy had caused an uprising inside the auditorium. If Megan hadn't called off the bidding he would have hit that million dollar mark. Apparently taking off his shirt and leaping off the stage was worthy of more. Grace had already called Ethan on her cell phone. It was time to get them out of there before Joshua found out what was going on. "Here ya go. All things considered I thought you may just want to head on out."
+"Uh?" Malcolm took the t-shirt and pulled it on. He then accepted the envelope and grabbed the handle of his suitcase she so graciously wheeled behind her. The men were all instructed to bring their bag so they could head out after the celebration. They were supposed to have cake and take pictures.
+"Steph your bag is in the limo. I thought you may want to get out of here before Joshua finds out." Grace winked a conspiratorial wink and waved as her husband Ethan got out of the limo that just pulled up. "Have fun."
+"Grace?" Stephanie was blushing and in shock. It was all happening so fast.
+"Hey kiddo." Ethan hugged Stephanie, stepping between her and Malcolm. "Be nice to this guy all right?"
+Malcolm overheard the conversation and wondered why she was getting the warning and not him. Chase and Ethan were viciously protective of Stephanie, as much as her brother and Joshua had fought over her several times.
+"But..." She started but Ethan turned to look at Malcolm.
+"You know we trust you."
+It was all he said and all he had to say. Malcolm nodded. That was his warning. He had been friends with Chase since they worked on a Habitat for Humanity house. Malcolm was raised to feel a certain level of responsibility for others and he followed through on that. He volunteered when his schedule allowed. Ethan stepped aside and pulled Grace into his arms for a passionate kiss. The man acted like he hadn't seen his wife in years rather than hours. Malcolm smiled. He hoped that love would be the same for him when it happened.
+Grace shooed them with a hand not breaking their kiss. Malcolm laughed and looked at Stephanie. "Well?'
+"Well, I guess we are on our way." Stephanie walked toward the limo and slid in. Once he was beside her she started to fidget, caught herself, then stopped. She drew a fortifying breath and straightened like a proper lady. "Where are we going?"
+Malcolm shrugged then opened the envelope. "No way!"
+Stephanie leaned over and squealed when she saw the agenda, all her properness failing. "Disney?"
+\*
+"This is going to be awesome!"
+"I've never been... I've always wanted to go..." She smiled and leaned closer to see the agenda.
+"This has been a dream of mine since I was a kid." Malcolm sat back and smiled. "I thought I was going one year, but I got a little sister instead."
+Stephanie laughed. "I'm sure my brother felt the same way when I came along. My dad always wanted to take us but my mother was afraid we would get lost in the crowds." Stephanie relaxed back in the seat. It was unusual to be so comfortable. It was like she was hanging out with an old friend not a man she had dreamed of. And she did have dreams about him, vivid, breathtaking, leg shaking dreams. She shook her head hoping to shake those thoughts.
+"I won't lose you." Malcolm shot her a serious glance. Stephanie was the very object of his obsession, had been for months. He met her at Chase's wedding and had thought about her every moment since.
+Stephanie had the man she wanted exactly where she wanted him. Now came the hard part, following through. Right now he was perfect. At any moment he could say or do something stupid and she would be stuck with him. Of course, Chase and Ethan wouldn't have let this happen if he was an idiot. "How old are you?"
+"Twenty-one. How old are you?" Malcolm had never asked.
+"Nineteen." Stephanie half smiled.
+"Yowch." Malcolm thought she was older. She was only two years younger than he was but still the word teen made her sound illegal.
+"What? You're like a minute older than me, so don't even." Stephanie straightened her back and scowled.
+"I just thought you were older. It's no big deal, I mean it's not like we're eloping here, we're going on a little weekend getaway, just two friends going to Disney." Malcolm wanted to make her feel safe and comfortable. Especially since he noticed there was only one room reserved for the both of them. He silently prayed for two beds. As an afterthought he added, "On Valentine's Day."
+Stephanie smiled her winning smile. Of course they were just two friends. He probably wasn't interested in her. Especially now that he knew her age. Malcolm was beautiful in her opinion. Surely he had women of all ages crawling all over his sleek body. What would he want with a nineteen year old virgin?
+"Unless you were bidding on me because you thought I was sexy." Malcolm teased. "I mean, I am a good looking man. Between Grace and my Momma I thought I might get a complex."
+"Who?" Stephanie gulped.
+"My mother. The aggressive black woman in the front row." Malcolm waited. He wasn't sure if she knew he was mixed, his father Irish, his mother African American. He knew that women tended to see what they wanted to see, and his blue eyes and light skin often made them see a real tan white dude with thick hair.
+"That was your mom?" Stephanie smiled. What a relief. "She doesn't look old enough."
+"You be sure and tell her that when you meet her." Malcolm laughed. "She's a lawyer, my dad's a preacher. It makes for an interesting household."
+"I bet." Her brows drew together in great concentration. "Can I ask you something?" "Sure." He shrugged.
+"How did you get those eyes?" Stephanie was mesmerized by his sky blue eyes.
+"My father, he's Irish. And I mean straight from Ireland Irish. He came to America when his mother died to live with his grandparents who had immigrated years before to be with their other daughter. Anyways, long story short he enlisted in the Navy and met my mom." Malcolm returned his attention to the paperwork.
+"I have a feeling that is a real short version of that story." Stephanie laughed.
+"Does it bother you?" Malcolm would rather know right now than to fool himself all weekend. He was so drawn to her it would break his heart, but he had been rejected before.
+"No, I mean if you don't want to tell me your life story I understand..."
+He smiled. "I mean does it bother you that I'm black?"
+"No. Should it? I mean, does it bother you that I'm not?" Stephanie hadn't really considered it. She lived in New York so it wasn't uncommon to see people of all different races in various relationships. Her mother had taught her to be prejudice on a financial level; she would care less about race as long as he was a doctor or a lawyer. Malcolm was a firefighter so that could be a problem.
+"No." No one had asked him that before.
+"Good." She said decidedly. "Let me see that paperwork."
+Malcolm handed her the sheets and waited. She looked up with a bit of trepidation in her eyes. "There's only one room."
+"Yeah, but there has to be two beds. Chase wouldn't send you off with a guy and one bed." Malcolm tried to reassure her. "I'm safe Stephanie. I don't plan on sleeping with you, or touching you at all, for that matter. I mean, we barely know each other."
+"Oh."
+He couldn't tell if she was disappointed or relieved. The limo stopped and he peered out the window. They were already at the airport. "I hate flying."
+Stephanie jerked her head up. Did he just admit a weakness? Being around the men in her family all her life, she didn't know men could do that. She knew they had them, she just wasn't aware that men knew they had weaknesses too. "You do?"
+"Yeah. I have since I was a kid. On the way back from Japan we almost crashed." Malcolm swallowed hard. He was only seven but every time he had to fly the fear threatened to choke him.
+"Oh my. Would you rather drive?" Stephanie placed her hand on his arm. The slight contact was enough to sear her fingertips and set sparks flying in all directions throughout her body.
+"No. I don't let fear rule my life."
+She gulped. Wow. She had pretty much let fear run her life. This was the first break from her mother. The first step away from society life. "Okay. If you're sure."
+"I'm positive." Malcolm opened the door and got out. The driver pulled out their bags and Malcolm tipped the guy. He started into the airport with Stephanie right beside him.
+She tried to grab her luggage but he gave her such a scowl that she drew her hands back and walked beside him instead. Once they had checked in Malcolm took some Dramamine and waited for the flight.
+She tried not to stare at him but it was an effort. "You need more water?"
+"I'm good." He hated looking like a weakling, but he was man enough to accept who he was. Stephanie didn't seem turned off by it. If anything she was more attentive to him.
+By the time they were airborne he was asleep. Stephanie relaxed in the first class seat and pulled the t-shirt she still wore up to her nose. It smelled like him, all spicy and male. He shifted and she pulled her head up, the last thing she needed was to get caught smelling him. He settled again and she was so tempted to touch him. Maybe if she just feigned sleep she could rest on his shoulder a moment.
+A instant later she was sleeping.
+Malcolm awoke when the flight attendant shook them. Actually, she shook Stephanie who was snuggled up to his arm. Her head on his shoulder, fallen strands of her long blonde hair tickled his arm.
+She sat up in a flash.
+"We've landed." The woman smiled warmly.
+"Thank you." Stephanie blinked rapidly and then tried to straighten her hair.
+"We're here." Malcolm smiled. "I am so psyched! I hope our hotel has a restaurant in it, I'm starving."
+"Me too." Stephanie fought the blush and got off the plane. She could feel the crease on her face from sleeping on his shoulder. How had she actually fallen asleep?
+\*
+Opening the door to the room at Disney's Boardwalk Hotel Malcolm's hands shook like he was opening the door to their honeymoon suite. He didn't know why he was nervous. Maybe because he wasn't sure what she was expecting from him. He had tried to convey the message that they were here as friends, though he wanted more, he wouldn't do anything about it this weekend. This weekend he would spend getting to know her. His worry was that she may be like her male cousins, or worse, her brother. If Stephanie was easy it would ruin everything. He had a difficult time finding a woman to match him in values, and one thing he valued was a relationship between a man and woman.
+"See, two beds." He let out the breath he was holding.
+"And a balcony." Stephanie opened the door and let in the night air. "Look we can see the water, and all the people, there's the ESPN restaurant..."
+"They have room service, we could decide on the best plan of action for tomorrow." He put her suitcase on the bed closest to the door and his next to the balcony.
+"I want that bed." Stephanie turned. Why did he put her next to the door? Shouldn't the man be next to the door in case someone tried to get in? Not that anyone would, but still.
+"Okay." He switched the suitcases. He had put her next to the door so she didn't feel trapped. "So what's the verdict on dinner?"
+Malcolm punctuated that question with a stretch. She watched his long arms reach over head and then he pushed up on tiptoe and leaned back a little. His t-shirt rose to reveal his navel. Stephanie fought to keep a coherent thought. "You're tired?"
+"It was a long flight and there is so much to do and only two days to do it in." Malcolm tugged his shirt down and twisted side to side relieving some of the tension in his back.
+"Let's order in then." Stephanie picked up the menu and read the options out loud. How she had been so drawn by a navel was ridiculous. He had promptly covered it, releasing her from the spell. She needed a shower, a cold one to knock some sense into her. Somehow she was hyper aware of him. She had never lusted after anyone in her life. She had made several jokes about the women who lusted after her brother. Now she was the weak one.
+Malcolm ordered a steak and breaking her mothers' number one rule, Stephanie ordered the same. She was on vacation with a man that apparently had no real interest in her, so what the hell? Stephanie decided right then and there to eat whatever she wanted and to relax.
+"I'm going to grab a quick shower while we wait on the food." She gathered her pajamas and cosmetic bag and headed into the bathroom.
+Malcolm set about unpacking his own bag. When Stephanie returned from her shower he decidedly needed to grab one himself. She was pretty all done up, but in heart print pajamas, wet hair and with no make up on she was breathtaking. "Did you plan that?"
+"No. I had no idea. Grace packed the bag for me." Stephanie tugged at the cotton shirt. It covered her, and the soft pajama bottoms were warm for the weather but they covered her too.
+He took another slow look at her from her red toenails to her wet hair. "I'm going to grab a quick shower myself."
+"I hope I didn't use all the hot water." Stephanie had taken her time. Enough time for him to completely unpack and get settled in, and he had the park maps out on the table ready for them to make decisions on.
+"I'll be fine." He didn't plan on using any hot water. He needed to cool off.
+"Okay you have to stop talking now." Malcolm smiled, though in the darkness she couldn't see him. It was odd being in the same room with her. The more time he spent with Stephanie the more he realized she was everything he wanted.
+"I told you to stop talking an hour ago." She giggled and then yawned. "We're supposed to get up in four hours to start our adventure."
+"Okay. No more talking. Sleep." He said definitively though he didn't know how he was going to sleep sound for four hours when he was afraid his dreams may betray his moral intentions.
+"Okay." Stephanie agreed. "Goodnight."
+He waited a few seconds then added, "Goodnight."
+He could hear her giggle but she didn't say another word.
+\*
+Stephanie slapped the alarm clock and found the button to silence the screaming thing. A few moments later she came to her senses. Her eyes opened and he was there, a few feet away in the other bed still asleep. Sitting up in the bed she could get a better look at the sleeping Adonis. Somewhere in the night he had put in earplugs and apparently gotten hot because his shirt was no where to be seen and the blanket was dangerously low on his waist.
+She was both relieved that if she talked in her sleep he obviously didn't hear her, and feeling a little like a peeping Tom since she was ogling a man in his sleep. But since he was sleeping she could stare at him without fear of him catching her. Last night they had talked about all sorts of things. They had a great deal in common which only made her resolve to make him ignore the fact that she is nineteen and fall madly in love with her anyways.
+Right now she had the pleasure of looking at a man in a way she had only dreamed of. His hand shifted to his groin and he made an adjustment in his sleep. The voyeuristic thrill of seeing such a motion set her blood on fire and she knew she had to wake him up and they had to get out the door before she lost her senses and made a fool of herself.
+"Malcolm," Stephanie shook his shoulder and his clear blue eyes opened quickly. "It's time to get up."
+He looked at her confused for a few moments then realization set in. He hadn't dreamed last night. He was in a hotel room in Florida at a theme park with Joshua's sister, Chase and Ethan's cousin. His dreams had led him to believe he had violated many personal agreements he had made to himself, his father, and God. Stephanie's expression reassured him he had done no such thing. "Hey."
+He pulled the earplugs out of his ears and became conscious of his state of undress. He often got too hot when he slept. He also became aware of other natural reactions as Stephanie perused his body at will with her eyes.
+Malcolm rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom.
+\*
+Later that day...
+"We made it!" Stephanie laughed as they entered the hotel right as the rain started.
+"I think we could take a nap before dinner." Malcolm looked at the object of his affection as they rode the elevator back to their room. If he had any doubts about Stephanie, she had erased them this afternoon. She was fun, driven and a virgin. She admitted that it probably had more to do with her brother killing someone than her choice, but she also admitted that she was glad now. He wasn't as honest, but she didn't give him a chance; her assumption was that he had plenty of experience, so he modified it a little bit.
+Unfortunately, thinking he had experience eased her comfort level and apparently made her want to be more experienced because she stood closer to him in lines at rides, slid her hand in his when they walked and gave him looks like the one she was giving him right now.
+"I think that's a good idea. I'm beat." Stephanie bit her bottom lip and hoped that she wasn't being too forward, but in the course of one afternoon she had gone from being in lust to being in love. Malcolm made her feel whole, safe and somehow free. She couldn't get close enough to him. She wanted to crawl under his caramel colored skin and stay there forever.
+As they entered the room they could see the rain was really coming down. Thunder rolled and people were running to get inside everywhere. The storm had crept up out of nowhere.
+"I hate thunderstorms." Stephanie stared out the large balcony doors and watched the people below.
+"Really, I've always kinda liked them." Malcolm couldn't keep his feet from walking him closer to her. A loud crack of thunder shook the building and Stephanie all but leapt into his arms. "I like them even more now."
+"Don't make fun of me." Stephanie looked up at him as he looked down at her. His breath smelled like cotton candy. His blue eyes seemed darker. His arms wrapped around her in a tender but firm embrace. She licked her lips, sure he was about to kiss her.
+"I'm not." His words were breathless, quiet. His head tilted ever so slightly in an effort to be closer to her. She tiptoed up to meet his lips and another crack of thunder punctuated his feelings exactly.
+Stephanie wrapped her arms tighter around him and she didn't let him back out of the kiss. Not that he was trying to, but she knew any minute he would come to his senses, and right now she wanted to lose hers. The closed mouth kiss turned into a gentle open mouth exploration of lips, then tongues.
+They gripped one another tighter, pulled their bodies together and continued to kiss until they absolutely had to breathe again.
+"Stephanie..."
+She didn't let him get another word out; she simple pulled him back into another tongue tangling, mind blowing kiss.
+It was easy to kiss her, it was hard to push her away and regain control. "Stephanie, we have to stop. I mean we have to think about this."
+"You don't really like me do you?" She frowned as she looked up at him. "I haven't been very proper... I..."
+"No it's not that, I mean, I think I may love you... I just... we just..."
+She processed what he was trying to say. "You love me?"
+"I... well I..."
+"You do don't you?" She smiled from ear to ear. It was Valentine's Day and the man she had fallen for so quickly was falling for her too.
+He blushed. His cheeks burned pink and the caramel color of his skin couldn't hide it. He walked away from her, creating distance. As he walked he talked.
+"Yeah, yes, okay, so I'm in love with you. I mean, I've been taken with you since I first saw you, but you're nineteen. I mean, I'm only twenty-one but you, you're... beautiful, and smart, and funny, and you aren't afraid to eat around me, and... and your mother won't approve of me. Your brother is going to kill me, and I don't know if I'm good..."
+"You are." Stephanie walked towards him and took his hands. "You are good enough for me. I'm the one who doesn't measure up."
+He laughed a half hearted laugh. "That's impossible. You're amazing."
+Stephanie tiptoed up to kiss him briefly on the lips then whispered, "I'm in love with you, too."
+He blushed again then said, "That's a relief."
+

911a9c3616ef909fbfb2917830214575.lit.tei.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+
+ROGER MALVIN'S BURIAL
+ONE of the few incidents of Indian warfare naturally susceptible of the moonlight of romance was that expedition undertaken for the defence of the frontiers in the year 1725, which resulted in the well-remembered ``Lovell's Fight.'' Imagination, by casting certain circumstances judicially into the shade, may see much to admire in the heroism of a little band who gave battle to twice their number in the heart of the enemy's country. The open bravery displayed by both parties was in accordance with civilized ideas of valor; and chivalry itself might not blush to record the deeds of one or two individuals. The battle, though so fatal to those who fought, was not unfortunate in its consequences to the country; for it broke the strength of a tribe and conduced to the peace which subsisted during several ensuing years. History and tradition are unusually minute in their memorials of their affair; and the captain of a scouting party of frontier men has acquired as actual a military renown as many a victorious leader of thousands. Some of the incidents contained in the following pages will be recognized, notwithstanding the substitution of fictitious names, by such as have heard, from old men's lips, the fate of the few combatants who were in a condition to retreat after ``Lovell's Fight.''
+. . . . . . . . .
+The early sunbeams hovered cheerfully upon the tree-tops, beneath which two weary and wounded men had stretched their limbs the night before. Their bed of withered oak leaves was strewn upon the small level space, at the foot of a rock, situated near the summit of one of the gentle swells by which the face of the country is there diversified. The mass of granite, rearing its smooth, flat surface fifteen or twenty feet above their heads, was not unlike a gigantic gravestone, upon which the veins seemed to form an inscription in forgotten characters. On a tract of several acres around this rock, oaks and other hard-wood trees had supplied the place of the pines, which were the usual growth of the land; and a young and vigorous sapling stood close beside the travellers.
+The severe wound of the elder man had probably deprived him of sleep; for, so soon as the first ray of sunshine rested on the top of the highest tree, he reared himself painfully from his recumbent posture and sat erect. The deep lines of his countenance and the scattered gray of his hair marked him as past the middle age; but his muscular frame would, but for the effect of his wound, have been as capable of sustaining fatigue as in the early vigor of life. Languor and exhaustion now sat upon his haggard features; and the despairing glance which he sent forward through the depths of the forest proved his own conviction that his pilgrimage was at an end. He next turned his eyes to the companion who reclined by his side. The youth--for he had scarcely attained the years of manhood--lay, with his head upon his arm, in the embrace of an unquiet
+sleep, which a thrill of pain from his wounds seemed each moment on the point of breaking. His right hand grasped a musket; and, to judge from the violent action of his features, his slumbers were bringing back a vision of the conflict of which he was one of the few survivors. A shout--deep and loud in his dreaming fancy--found its way in an imperfect murmur to his lips; and, starting even at the slight sound of his own voice, he suddenly awoke. The first act of reviving recollection was to make anxious inquiries respecting the condition of his wounded fellow-traveller. The latter shook his head.
+``Reuben, my boy,'' said he, ``this rock beneath which we sit will serve for an old hunter's gravestone. There is many and many a long mile of howling wilderness before us yet; nor would it avail me anything if the smoke of my own chimney were but on the other side of that swell of land. The Indian bullet was deadlier than I thought.''
+``You are weary with our three days' travel,'' replied the youth, ``and a little longer rest will recruit you. Sit you here while I search the woods for the herbs and roots that must be our sustenance; and, having eaten, you shall lean on me, and we will turn our faces homeward. I doubt not that, with my help, you can attain to some one of the frontier garrisons.''
+``There is not two days' life in me, Reuben,'' said the other, calmly, ``and I will no longer burden you with my useless body, when you can scarcely support your own. Your wounds are deep and your strength is failing fast; yet, if you hasten onward alone, you may be preserved. For me there is no hope, and I will await death here.''
+``If it must be so, I will remain and watch by you,'' said Reuben, resolutely
+``No, my son, no,'' rejoined his companion. ``Let the wish of a dying man have weight with you; give me one grasp of your hand, and get you hence. Think you that my last moments will be eased by the thought that I leave you to die a more lingering death? I have loved you like a father, Reuben; and at a time like this I should have something of a father's authority. I charge you to be gone that I may die in peace.''
+``And because you have been a father to me, should I therefore leave you to perish and to lie unburied in the wilderness?'' exclaimed the youth. ``No; if your end be in truth approaching, I will watch by you and receive your parting words. I will dig a grave here by the rock, in which, if my weakness overcome me, we will rest together; or, if Heaven gives me strength, I will seek my way home.''
+``In the cities and wherever men dwell,'' replied the other, ``they bury their dead in the earth; they hide them from the sight of the living; but here, where no step may pass perhaps for a hundred years, wherefore should I not rest beneath the open sky, covered only by the oak leaves when the autumn winds shall strew them? And for a monument, here is this gray rock, on which my dying hand shall carve the name of Roger Malvin, and the traveller in days to come will know that here sleeps a hunter and a warrior. Tarry not, then, for a folly like this, but hasten away, if not for your own sake, for hers who will else be desolate.''
+Malvin spoke the last few words in a faltering voice, and their effect upon his companion was strongly visible. They reminded him that there were other and less questionable duties than that of sharing the fate of a man whom his death could not benefit. Nor can it be affirmed that no selfish feeling strove to enter Reuben's heart, though the consciousness made him more earnestly resist his companion's entreaties
+``How terrible to wait the slow approach of death in this solitude!'' exclaimed he. ``A brave man does not shrink in the battle; and, when friends stand round the bed, even women may die composedly; but here''--
+``I shall not shrink even here, Reuben Bourne,'' interrupted Malvin.
+I am a man of no weak heart, and, if I were, there is a surer support than that of earthly friends. You are young, and life is dear to you. Your last moments will need comfort far more than mine; and when you have laid me in the earth, and are alone, and night is settling on the forest, you will feel all the bitterness of the death that may now be escaped. But I will urge no selfish motive to your generous nature. Leave me for my sake, that, having said a prayer for your safety, I may have space to settle my account undisturbed by worldly sorrows.''
+``And your daughter,--how shall I dare to meet her eye?'' exclaimed Reuben. ``She will ask the fate of her father, whose life I vowed to defend with my own. Must I tell her that he travelled three days' march with me from the field of battle and that then I left him to perish in the wilderness? Were it not better to lie down and die by your side than to return safe and say this to Dorcas?''
+``Tell my daughter,'' said Roger Malvin, ``that, though yourself sore wounded, and weak, and weary, you led my tottering footsteps many a mile, and left me only at my earnest entreaty, because I would not have your blood upon my soul. Tell her that through pain and danger you were faithful, and that, if your lifeblood could have saved me, it would have flowed to its last drop; and tell her that you will be something dearer than a father, and that my blessing is with you both, and that my dying eyes can see a long and pleasant path in which you will journey together.''
+As Malvin spoke he almost raised himself from the ground, and the energy of his concluding words seemed to fill the wild and lonely forest with a vision of happiness; but, when he sank exhausted upon his bed of oak leaves, the light which had kindled in Reuben's eye was quenched. He felt as if it were both sin and folly to think of happiness at such a moment. His companion watched his changing countenance, and sought with generous art to wile him to his own good.
+``Perhaps I deceive myself in regard to the time I have to live,'' he resumed. ``It may be that, with speedy assistance, I might recover of my wound. The foremost fugitives must, ere this, have carried tidings of our fatal battle to the frontiers, and parties will be out to succor those in like condition with ourselves. Should you meet one of these and guide them hither, who can tell but that I may sit by my own fireside again?''
+A mournful smile strayed across the features of the dying man as he insinuated that unfounded hope,--which, however, was not without its effect on Reuben. No merely selfish motive, nor even the desolate condition of Dorcas, could have induced him to desert his companion at such a moment--but his wishes seized on the thought that Malvin's life might be preserved, and his sanguine nature heightened almost to certainty the remote possibility of procuring human aid.
+``Surely there is reason, weighty reason, to hope that friends are not far distant,'' he said, half aloud. ``There fled one coward, unwounded, in the beginning of the fight, and most probably he made good speed. Every true man on the frontier would shoulder his musket at the news; and, though no party may range so far into the woods as this, I shall perhaps encounter them in one day's march. Counsel me faithfully,'' he added, turning to Malvin, in distrust of his own motives. ``Were your situation mine, would you desert me while life remained?''
+``It is now twenty years,'' replied Roger Malvin,--sighing, however, as he secretly acknowledged the wide dissimilarity between the two cases,-- ``it is now twenty years since I escaped with one dear friend from Indian captivity near Montreal. We journeyed many days through the woods, till at length overcome with hunger and weariness, my friend lay down and besought me to leave him; for he knew that, if I remained, we both must perish; and, with but little hope of obtaining succor, I heaped a pillow of dry leaves beneath his head and hastened on.''
+``And did you return in time to save him?'' asked Reuben, hanging on Malvin's words as if they were to be prophetic of his own success.
+``I did,'' answered the other. ``I came upon the camp of a hunting party before sunset of the same day. I guided them to the spot where my comrade was expecting death; and he is now a hale and hearty man upon his own farm, far within the frontiers, while I lie wounded here in the depths of the wilderness.''
+This example, powerful in affecting Reuben's decision, was aided, unconsciously to himself, by the hidden strength of many another motive. Roger Malvin perceived that the victory was nearly won.
+``Now, go, my son, and Heaven prosper you!'' he said. ``Turn not back with your friends when you meet them, lest your wounds and weariness overcome you; but send hitherward two or three, that may be spared, to search for me; and believe me, Reuben, my heart will be lighter with every step you take towards home.'' Yet there was, perhaps, a change both in his countenance and voice as he spoke thus; for, after all, it was a ghastly fate to be left expiring in the wilderness.
+Reuben Bourne, but half convinced that he was acting rightly, at length raised himself from the ground and prepared himself for his departure. And first, though contrary to Malvin's wishes, he collected a stock of roots and herbs, which had been their only food during the last two days. This useless supply he placed within reach of the dying man, for whom, also, he swept together a bed of dry oak leaves. Then climbing to the summit of the rock, which on one side was rough and broken, he
+bent the oak sapling downward, and bound his handkerchief to the topmost branch. This precaution was not unnecessary to direct any who might come in search of Malvin; for every part of the rock, except its broad, smooth front, was concealed at a little distance by the dense undergrowth of the forest. The handkerchief had been the bandage of a wound upon Reuben's arm; and, as he bound it to the tree, he vowed by the blood that stained it that he would return, either to save his companion's life or to lay his body in the grave. He then descended, and stood, with downcast eyes, to receive Roger Malvin's parting words.
+The experience of the latter suggested much and minute advice respecting the youth's journey through the trackless forest. Upon this subject he spoke with calm earnestness, as if he were sending Reuben to the battle or the chase while he himself remained secure at home, and not as if the human countenance that was about to leave him were the last he would ever behold. But his firmness was shaken before he concluded.
+``Carry my blessing to Dorcas, and say that my last prayer shall be for her and you. Bid her to have no hard thoughts because you left me here,'' --Reuben's heart smote him,--``for that your life would not have weighed with you if its sacrifice could have done me good. She will marry you after she has mourned a little while for her father; and Heaven grant you long and happy days, and may your children's children stand round your death bed! And, Reuben,'' added he, as the weakness of mortality made its way at last, ``return, when your wounds are healed and your weariness refreshed,--return to this wild rock, and lay my bones in the grave, and say a prayer over them.''
+An almost superstitious regard, arising perhaps from the customs of the Indians, whose war was with the dead as well as the living, was paid by the frontier inhabitants to the rites of sepulture; and there are many instances of the sacrifice of life in the attempt to bury those who had fallen by the ``sword of the wilderness.'' Reuben, therefore, felt the full importance of the promise which he most solemnly made to return and perform Roger Malvin's obsequies. It was remarkable that the latter, speaking his whole heart in his parting words, no longer endeavored to persuade the youth that even the speediest succor might avail to the preservation of his life. Reuben was internally convinced that he should see Malvin's living face no more. His generous nature would fain have delayed him, at whatever risk, till the dying scene were past; but the desire of existence and the hope of happiness had strengthened in his heart, and he was unable to resist them.
+``It is enough,'' said Roger Malvin, having listened to Reuben's promise. ``Go, and God speed you!''
+The youth pressed his hand in silence, turned, and was departing. His slow and faltering steps, however, had borne him but a little way before Malvin's voice recalled him.
+``Reuben, Reuben,'' said he, faintly; and Reuben returned and knelt down by the dying man.
+``Raise me, and let me lean against the rock,'' was his last request. ``My
+face will be turned towards home, and I shall see you a moment longer as you pass among the trees.''
+Reuben, having made the desired alteration in his companion's posture, again began his solitary pilgrimage. He walked more hastily at first than was consistent with his strength; for a sort of guilty feeling, which sometimes torments men in their most justifiable acts, caused him to seek concealment from Malvin's eyes; but after he had trodden far upon the rustling forest leaves he crept back, impelled by a wild and painful curiosity, and, sheltered by the earthy roots of an uptorn tree, gazed earnestly at the desolate man. The morning sun was unclouded, and the trees and shrubs imbibed the sweet air of the month of May; yet there seemed a gloom on Nature's face, as if she sympathized with mortal pain and sorrow Roger Malvin's hands were uplifted in a fervent prayer, some of the words of which stole through the stillness of the woods and entered Reuben's heart, torturing it with an unutterable pang. They were the broken accents of a petition for his own happiness and that of Dorcas; and, as the youth listened, conscience, or something in its similitude, pleaded strongly with him to return and lie down again by the rock. He felt how hard was the doom of the kind and generous being whom he had deserted in his extremity. Death would come like the slow approach of a corpse, stealing gradually towards him through the forest, and showing its ghastly and motionless features from behind a nearer and yet a nearer tree. But such must have been Reuben's own fate had he tarried another sunset; and who shall impute blame to him if he shrink from so useless a sacrifice? As he gave a parting look, a breeze waved the little banner upon the sapling oak and reminded Reuben of his vow.
+. . . . . . . . . . .
+Many circumstances combined to retard the wounded traveller in his way to the frontiers. On the second day the clouds, gathering densely over the sky, precluded the possibility of regulating his course by the position of the sun; and he knew not but that every effort of his almost exhausted strength was removing him farther from the home he sought. His scanty sustenance was supplied by the berries and other spontaneous products of the forest. Herds of deer, it is true, sometimes bounded past him, and partridges frequently whirred up before his footsteps; but his ammunition had been expended in the fight, and he had no means of slaying them. His wounds, irritated by the constant exertion in which lay the only hope of life, wore away his strength and at intervals confused his reason. But, even in the wanderings of intellect, Reuben's young heart clung strongly to existence; and it was only through absolute incapacity of motion that he at last sank down beneath a tree, compelled there to await death.
+In this situation he was discovered by a party who, upon the first intelligence of the fight, had been despatched to the relief of the survivors. They conveyed him to the nearest settlement, which chanced to be that of his own residence.
+Dorcas, in the simplicity of the olden time, watched by the bedside of
+her wounded lover, and administered all those comforts that are in the sole gift of woman's heart and hand. During several days Reuben's recollection strayed drowsily among the perils and hardships through which he had passed, and he was incapable of returning definite answers to the inquiries with which many were eager to harass him. No authentic particulars of the battle had yet been circulated; nor could mothers, wives, and children tell whether their loved ones were detained by captivity or by the stronger chain of death. Dorcas nourished her apprehensions in silence till one afternoon when Reuben awoke from an unquiet sleep, and seemed to recognize her more perfectly than at any previous time. She saw that his intellect had become composed, and she could no longer restrain her filial anxiety.
+``My father, Reuben?'' she began; but the change in her lover's countenance made her pause.
+The youth shrank as if with a bitter pain, and the blood gushed vividly into his wan and hollow cheeks. His first impulse was to cover his face; but, apparently with a desperate effort, he half raised himself and spoke vehemently, defending himself against an imaginary accusation.
+``Your father was sore wounded in the battle, Dorcas; and he bade me not burden myself with him, but only to lead him to the lakeside, that he might quench his thirst and die. But I would not desert the old man in his extremity, and, though bleeding myself, I supported him; I gave him half my strength, and led him away with me. For three days we journeyed on together, and your father was sustained beyond my hopes, but, awaking at sunrise on the fourth day, I found him faint and exhausted; he was unable to proceed; his life had ebbed away fast; and''----
+``He died!'' exclaimed Dorcas, faintly.
+Reuben felt it impossible to acknowledge that his selfish love of life had hurried him away before her father's fate was decided. He spoke not; he only bowed his head; and, between shame and exhaustion, sank back and hid his face in the pillow. Dorcas wept when her fears were thus confirmed; but the shock, as it had been long anticipated. was on that account the less violent.
+``You dug a grave for my poor father in the wilderness, Reuben?'' was the question by which her filial piety manifested itself.
+``My hands were weak; but I did what I could,'' replied the youth in a smothered tone. ``There stands a noble tombstone above his head; and I would to Heaven I slept as soundly as he!''
+Dorcas, perceiving the wildness of his latter words, inquired no further at the time; but her heart found ease in the thought that Roger Malvin had not lacked such funeral rites as it was possible to bestow. The tale of Reuben's courage and fidelity lost nothing when she communicated it to her friends; and the poor youth, tottering from his sick chamber to breathe the sunny air, experienced from every tongue the miserable and humiliating torture of unmerited praise. All acknowledged that he might worthily demand the hand of the fair maiden to whose father he had been ``faithful unto death;'' and, as my tale is not of love, it shall suffice to say
+that in the space of a few months Reuben became the husband of Dorcas Malvin. During the marriage ceremony the bride was covered with blushes, but the bridegroom's face was pale.
+There was now in the breast of Reuben Bourne an incommunicable thought--something which he was to conceal most heedfully from her whom he most loved and trusted. He regretted, deeply and bitterly, the moral cowardice that had restrained his words when he was about to disclose the truth to Dorcas; but pride, the fear of losing her affection, the dread of universal scorn, forbade him to rectify this falsehood. He felt that for leaving Roger Malvin he deserved no censure. His presence, the gratuitous sacrifice of his own life, would have added only another and a needless agony to the last moments of the dying man; but concealment had imparted to a justifiable act much of the secret effect of guilt; and Reuben, while reason told him that he had done right, experienced in no small degree the mental horrors which punish the perpetrator of undiscovered crime. By a certain association of ideas, he at times almost imagined himself a murderer. For years, also, a thought would occasionally recur, which, though he perceived all its folly and extravagance, he had not power to banish from his mind. It was a haunting and torturing fancy that his father-in-law was yet sitting at the foot of the rock, on the withered forest leaves, alive, and awaiting his pledged assistance. These mental deceptions, however, came and went, nor did he ever mistake them for realities: but in the calmest and clearest moods of his mind he was conscious that he had a deep vow unredeemed, and that an unburied corpse was calling to him out of the wilderness. Yet such was the consequence of his prevarication that he could not obey the call. It was now too late to require the assistance of Roger Malvin's friends in performing his long-deferred sepulture; and superstitious fears, of which none were more susceptible than the people of the outward settlements, forbade Reuben to go alone. Neither did he know where in the pathless and illimitable forest to seek that smooth and lettered rock at the base of which the body lay: his remembrance of every portion of his travel thence was indistinct, and the latter part had left no impression upon his mind. There was, however, a continual impulse, a voice audible only to himself, commanding him to go forth and redeem his vow; and he had a strange impression that, were he to make the trial, he would be led straight to Malvin's bones. But year after year that summons, unheard but felt, was disobeyed. His one secret thought became like a chain binding down his spirit and like a serpent gnawing into his heart; and he was transformed into a sad and downcast yet irritable man.
+In the course of a few years after their marriage changes began to be visible in the external prosperity of Reuben and Dorcas. The only riches of the former had been his stout heart and strong arm; but the latter, her father's sole heiress, had made her husband master of a farm, under older cultivation, larger, and better stocked than most of the frontier establishments. Reuben Bourne, however, was a neglectful husbandman; and, while the lands of the other settlers became annually more fruitful, his
+deteriorated in the same proportion. The discouragements to agriculture were greatly lessened by the cessation of Indian war, during which men held the plough in one hand and the musket in the other, and were fortunate if the products of their dangerous labor were not destroyed, either in the field or in the barn, by the savage enemy. But Reuben did not profit by the altered condition of the country; nor can it be denied that his intervals of industrious attention to his affairs were but scantily rewarded with success. The irritability by which he had recently become distinguished was another cause of his declining prosperity, as it occasioned frequent quarrels in his unavoidable intercourse with the neighboring settlers. The results of these were innumerable lawsuits; for the people of New England, in the earliest stages and wildest circumstances of the country, adopted, whenever attainable, the legal mode of deciding their differences. To be brief, the world did not go well with Reuben Bourne; and, though not till many years after his marriage, he was finally a ruined man, with but one remaining expedient against the evil fate that had pursued him. He was to throw sunlight into some deep recess of the forest, and seek subsistence from the virgin bosom of the wilderness.
+The only child of Reuben and Dorcas was a son, now arrived at the age of fifteen years, beautiful in youth, and giving promise of a glorious manhood. He was peculiarly qualified for, and already began to excel in, the wild accomplishments of frontier life. His foot was fleet, his aim true, his apprehension quick, his heart glad and high; and all who anticipated the return of Indian war spoke of Cyrus Bourne as a future leader in the land. The boy was loved by his father with a deep and silent strength, as if whatever was good and happy in his own nature had been transferred to his child, carrying his affections with it. Even Dorcas, though loving and beloved, was far less dear to him; for Reuben's secret thoughts and insulated emotions had gradually made him a selfish man, and he could no longer love deeply except where he saw or imagined some reflection or likeness of his own mind. In Cyrus he recognized what he had himself been in other days; and at intervals he seemed to partake of the boy's spirit, and to be revived with a fresh and happy life. Reuben was accompanied by his son in the expedition, for the purpose of selecting a tract of land and felling and burning the timber, which necessarily preceded the removal of the household gods. Two months of autumn were thus occupied, after which Reuben Bourne and his young hunter returned to spend their last winter in the settlements.
+. . . . . . . . . . .
+It was early in the month of May that the little family snapped asunder whatever tendrils of affections had clung to inanimate objects, and bade farewell to the few who, in the blight of fortune, called themselves their friends. The sadness of the parting moment had, to each of the pilgrims, its peculiar alleviations. Reuben, a moody man, and misanthropic because unhappy, strode onward with his usual stern brow and downcast eye, feeling few regrets and disdaining to acknowledge any. Dorcas, while
+she wept abundantly over the broken ties by which her simple and affectionate nature had bound itself to everything, felt that the inhabitants of her inmost heart moved on with her, and that all else would be supplied wherever she might go. And the boy dashed one tear-drop from his eye, and thought of the adventurous pleasures of the untrodden forest.
+Oh, who, in the enthusiasm of a daydream, has not wished that he were a wanderer in a world of summer wilderness, with one fair and gentle being hanging lightly on his arm? In youth his free and exulting step would know no barrier but the rolling ocean or the snow-topped mountains; calmer manhood would choose a home where Nature had strewn a double wealth in the vale of some transparent stream; and when hoary age, after long, long years of that pure life, stole on and found him there, it would find him the father of a race, the patriarch of a people, the founder of a mighty nation yet to be. When death, like the sweet sleep which we welcome after a day of happiness, came over him, his far descendants would mourn over the venerated dust. Enveloped by tradition in mysterious attributes, the men of future generations would call him godlike; and remote posterity would see him standing, dimly glorious, far up the valley of a hundred centuries.
+The tangled and gloomy forest through which the personages of my tale were wandering differed widely from the dreamer's land of fantasy; yet there was something in their way of life that Nature asserted as her own, and the gnawing cares which went with them from the world were all that now obstructed their happiness. One stout and shaggy steed, the bearer of all their wealth, did not shrink from the added weight of Dorcas; although her hardy breeding sustained her, during the latter part of each day's journey, by her husband's side. Reuben and his son, their muskets on their shoulders and their axes slung behind them, kept an unwearied pace, each watching with a hunter's eye for the game that supplied their food. When hunger bade, they halted and prepared their meal on the bank of some unpolluted forest brook, which, as they knelt down with thirsty lips to drink, murmured a sweet unwillingness, like a maiden at love's first kiss. They slept beneath a hut of branches, and awoke at peep of light refreshed for the toils of another day. Dorcas and the boy went on joyously, and even Reuben's spirit shone at intervals with an outward gladness; but inwardly there was a cold cold sorrow, which he compared to the snowdrifts lying deep in the glens and hollows of the rivulets while the leaves were brightly green above.
+Cyrus Bourne was sufficiently skilled in the travel of the woods to observe that his father did not adhere to the course they had pursued in their expedition of the preceding autumn. They were now keeping farther to the north, striking out more directly from the settlements, and into a region of which savage beasts and savage men were as yet the sole possessors. The boy sometimes hinted his opinions upon the subject, and Reuben listened attentively, and once or twice altered the direction of their march in accordance with his son's counsel; but, having so done, he
+seemed ill at ease. His quick and wandering glances were sent forward apparently in search of enemies lurking behind the tree trunks, and, seeing nothing there, he would cast his eyes backwards as if in fear of some pursuer. Cyrus, perceiving that his father gradually resumed the old direction, forbore to interfere; nor, though something began to weigh upon his heart, did his adventurous nature permit him to regret the increased length and the mystery of their way.
+On the afternoon of the fifth day they halted, and made their simple encampment nearly an hour before sunset. The face of the country, for the last few miles, had been diversified by swells of land resembling huge waves of a petrified sea; and in one of the corresponding hollows, a wild and romantic spot, had the family reared their hut and kindled their fire. There is something chilling, and yet heart-warming, in the thought of these three, united by strong bands of love and insulated from all that breathe beside. The dark and gloomy pines looked down upon them, and, as the wind swept through their tops, a pitying sound was heard in the forest; or did those old trees groan in fear that men were come to lay the axe to their roots at last? Reuben and his son, while Dorcas made ready their meal, proposed to wander out in search of game, of which that day's march had afforded no supply. The boy, promising not to quit the vicinity of the encampment, bounded off with a step as light and elastic as that of the deer he hoped to slay; while his father, feeling a transient happiness as he gazed after him, was about to pursue an opposite direction. Dorcas in the meanwhile, had seated herself near their fire of fallen branches upon the mossgrown and mouldering trunk of a tree uprooted years before. Her employment, diversified by an occasional glance at the pot, now beginning to simmer over the blaze, was the perusal of the current year's Massachusetts Almanac, which, with the exception of an old black-letter Bible, comprised all the literary wealth of the family. None pay a greater regard to arbitrary divisions of time than those who are excluded from society; and Dorcas mentioned, as if the information were of importance, that it was now the twelfth of May. Her husband started.
+``The twelfth of May! I should remember it well,'' muttered he, while many thoughts occasioned a momentary confusion in his mind. ``Where am I? Whither am I wandering? Where did I leave him?''
+Dorcas, too well accustomed to her husband's wayward moods to note any peculiarity of demeanor, now laid aside the almanac and addressed him in that mournful tone which the tender hearted appropriate to griefs long cold and dead.
+``It was near this time of the month, eighteen years ago, that my poor father left this world for a better. He had a kind arm to hold his head and a kind voice to cheer him, Reuben, in his last moments; and the thought of the faithful care you took of him has comforted me many a time since. Oh, death would have been awful to a solitary man in a wild place like this!''
+``Pray Heaven, Dorcas,'' said Reuben, in a broken voice,--``pray
+Heaven that neither of us three dies solitary and lies unburied in this howling wilderness!'' And he hastened away, leaving her to watch the fire beneath the gloomy pines.
+Reuben Bourne's rapid pace gradually slackened as the pang, unintentionally inflicted by the words of Dorcas, became less acute. Many strange reflections, however, thronged upon him; and, straying onward rather like a sleep walker than a hunter, it was attributable to no care of his own that his devious course kept him in the vicinity of the encampment. His steps were imperceptibly led almost in a circle; nor did he observe that he was on the verge of a tract of land heavily timbered, but not with pine-trees. The place of the latter was here supplied by oaks and other of the harder woods; and around their roots clustered a dense and bushy undergrowth, leaving, however, barren spaces between the trees, thick strewn with withered leaves. Whenever the rustling of the branches or the creaking of the trunks made a sound, as if the forest were waking from slumber, Reuben instinctively raised the musket that rested on his arm, and cast a quick, sharp glance on every side; but, convinced by a partial observation that no animal was near, he would again give himself up to his thoughts. He was musing on the strange influence that had led him away from his premeditated course, and so far into the depths of the wilderness. Unable to penetrate to the secret place of his soul where his motives lay hidden, he believed that a supernatural voice had called him onward, and that a supernatural power had obstructed his retreat. He trusted that it was Heaven's intent to afford him an opportunity of expiating his sin; he hoped that he might find the bones so long unburied; and that, having laid the earth over them, peace would throw its sunlight into the sepulchre of his heart. From these thoughts he was aroused by a rustling in the forest at some distance from the spot to which he had wandered. Perceiving the motion of some object behind a thick veil of undergrowth, he fired, with the instinct of a hunter and the aim of a practised marksman. A low moan, which told his success, and by which even animals cars express their dying agony, was unheeded by Reuben Bourne. What were the recollections now breaking upon him?
+The thicket into which Reuben had fired was near the summit of a swell of land, and was clustered around the base of a rock, which, in the shape and smoothness of one of its surfaces, was not unlike a gigantic gravestone. As if reflected in a mirror, its likeness was in Reuben's memory. He even recognized the veins which seemed to form an inscription in forgotten characters: everything remained the same, except that a thick covert of bushes shrouded the lowerpart of the rock, and would have hidden Roger Malvin had he still been sitting there. Yet in the next moment Reuben's eye was caught by another change that time had effected since he last stood where he was now standing again behind the earthy roots of the uptorn tree. The sapling to which he had bound the bloodstained symbol of his vow had increased and strengthened into an oak, far indeed from its maturity, but with no mean spread of shadowy branches. There was one singularity observable in this tree which made Reuben tremble.
+The middle and lower branches were in luxuriant life, and an excess of vegetation had fringed the trunk almost to the ground; but a blight had apparently stricken the upper part of the oak, and the very topmost bough was withered, sapless, and utterly dead. Reuben remembered how the little banner had fluttered on that topmost bough, when it was green and lovely, eighteen years before. Whose guilt had blasted it?
+. . . . . . . . . . .
+Dorcas, after the departure of the two hunters, continued her preparations for their evening repast. Her sylvan table was the moss-covered trunk of a large fallen tree, on the broadest part of which she had spread a snow-white cloth and arranged what were left of the bright pewter vessels that had been her pride in the settlements. It had a strange aspect that one little spot of homely comfort in the desolate heart of Nature. The sunshine yet lingered upon the higher branches of the trees that grew on rising ground; but the shadows of evening had deepened into the hollow where the encampment was made, and the firelight began to redden as it gleamed up the tall trunks of the pines or hovered on the dense and obscure mass of foliage that circled round the spot. The heart of Dorcas was not sad; for she felt that it was better to journey in the wilderness with two whom she loved than to be a lonely woman in a crowd that cared not for her. As she busied herself in arranging seats of mouldering wood, covered with leaves, for Reuben and her son, her voice danced through the gloomy forest in the measure of a song that she had learned in youth. The rude melody, the production of a bard who won no name, was descriptive of a winter evening in a frontier cottage, when, secured from savage inroad by the high-piled snowdrifts, the family rejoiced by their own fireside. The whole song possessed the nameless charm peculiar to unborrowed thought, but four continually-recurring lines shone out from the rest like the blaze of the hearth whose joys they celebrated. Into them, working magic with a few simple words, the poet had instilled the very essence of domestic love and household happiness, and they were poetry and picture joined in one. As Dorcas sang, the walls of her forsaken home seemed to encircle her; she no longer saw the gloomy pines, nor heard the wind which still, as she began each verse, sent a heavy breath through the branches, and died away in a hollow moan from the burden of the song. She was aroused by the report of a gun in the vicinity of the encampment; and either the sudden sound, or her loneliness by the glowing fire, caused her to tremble violently. The next moment she laughed in the pride of a mother's heart.
+``My beautiful young hunter! My boy has slain a deer!'' she exclaimed, recollecting that in the direction whence the shot proceeded Cyrus had gone to the chase.
+She waited a reasonable time to hear her son's light step bounding over the rustling leaves to tell of his success. But he did not immediately appear; and she sent her cheerful voice among the trees in search of him.
+``Cyrus! Cyrus!''
+His coming was still delayed; and she determined, as the report had apparently been very near, to seek for him in person. Her assistance, also, might be necessary in bringing home the venison which she flattered herself he had obtained. She therefore set forward, directing her steps by the long-past sound, and singing as she went, in order that the boy might be aware of her approach and run to meet her. From behind the trunk of every tree, and from every hiding-place in the thick foliage of the undergrowth, she hoped to discover the countenance of her son, laughing with the sportive mischief that is born of affection. The sun was now beneath the horizon, and the light that came down among the leaves was sufficiently dim to create many illusions in her expecting fancy. Several times she seemed indistinctly to see his face gazing out from among the leaves; and once she imagined that he stood beckoning to her at the base of a craggy rock. Keeping her eyes on this object, however, it proved to be no more than the trunk of an oak fringed to the very ground with little branches, one of which, thrust out farther than the rest, was shaken by the breeze. Making her way round the foot of the rock, she suddenly found herself close to her husband, who had approached in another direction. Leaning upon the butt of his gun, the muzzle of which rested upon the withered leaves, he was apparently absorbed in the contemplation of some object at his feet.
+``How is this, Reuben? Have you slain the deer and fallen asleep over him?'' exclaimed Dorcas, laughing cheerfully, on her first slight observation of his posture and appearance.
+He stirred not, neither did he turn his eyes towards her; and a cold, shuddering fear, indefinite in its source and object, began to creep into her blood. She now perceived that her husband's face was ghastly pale, and his features were rigid, as if incapable of assuming any other expression than the strong despair which had hardened upon them. He gave not the slightest evidence that he was aware of her approach.
+``For the love of Heaven, Reuben, speak to me!'' cried Dorcas; and the strange sound of her own voice affrighted her even more than the dead silence.
+Her husband started, stared into her face, drew her to the front of the rock, and pointed with his finger.
+Oh, there lay the boy, asleep, but dreamless, upon the fallen forest leaves! His cheek rested upon his arm--his curled locks were thrown back from his brow--his limbs were slightly relaxed. Had a sudden weariness overcome the youthful hunter? Would his mother's voice arouse him? She knew that it was death.
+``This broad rock is the gravestone of your near kindred, Dorcas,'' said her husband. ``Your tears will fall at once over your father and your son.''
+She heard him not. With one wild shriek, that seemed to force its way from the sufferer's inmost soul, she sank insensible by the side of her dead boy. At that moment the withered topmost bough of the oak loosened itself in the stilly air, and fell in soft, light fragments upon the rock, upon the leaves, upon Reuben, upon his wife and child, and upon Roger Malvin's
+bones. Then Reuben's heart was stricken, and the tears gushed out like water from a rock. The vow that the wounded youth had made the blighted man had come to redeem. His sin was expiated,--the curse was gone from him; and in the hour when he had shed blood dearer to him than his own, a prayer, the first for years, went up to Heaven from the lips of Reuben Bourne.
+

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+
+Total-e-bound www.total-e-bound.com
+Copyright ©2008 by Aurora Rose Lynn
+First published in 2008, 2008
+NOTICE: This work is copyrighted. It is licensed only for use by the original purchaser. Making copies of this work or distributing it to any unauthorized person by any means, including without limit email, floppy disk, file transfer, paper print out, or any other method constitutes a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines or imprisonment.
+Vampire's Captive
+ISBN #978-1-906590-75-8
+©Copyright Aurora Rose Lynn
+Cover Art by Lyn Taylor ©Copyright June 2008
+Edited by Michele Paulin
+Total-e-bound books
+This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author's imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.
+All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Total-e-bound eBooks.
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+Published in 2008 by Total-e-bound eBooks 1 The Corner, Faldingworth Road, Spridlington, Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, LN8 2DE, UK.
+Warning: This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has been rated Total-e-burning.
+The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:
+Armani: GA Modefine S.A. Corporation
+The moon bathed the ocean and the dilapidated carnival on the pier with its silvery glow and cast the forlorn woman in her long wedding gown in breathy, expectant shadows. Brett's guilt washed over him for the hundredth time since seeing his ex-wife step out of her fancy, expensive heels and, without giving them a backward glance, stroll dejectedly onto the beach, her shoulders slumped and her back hunched forward. He'd wondered for a year, five months, two days, and five and a half hours---give or take a couple of minutes---if he'd done the right thing in divorcing Sierra.
+He was an eternal vampire and she was a mortal, although a devastatingly lovely mortal with sleek dark hair that swept her waist and an innocent, beguiling expression that lured jaded, hardened men from their complacency about the fair sex. And yet the man she now loved hadn't even bothered to make it to the altar today. He'd left her standing in the annex holding a wilting bouquet of pale pink roses and baby's breath and a heart that had been hurt far too many times. Brett didn't believe in God, but he tossed a short prayer into the air asking that Sierra forgive him for what he was about to do.
+He spoke her name softly, like a dry leaf scudding along the sidewalk. "Sierra."
+She didn't jump as he'd expected. She merely turned to gaze at him over her shoulder, then, without a spark of recognition, returned to her survey of the pounding waves and the invisible horizon darkness had obliterated. He knew he shouldn't have come, should have stayed away from her, but how could he when she felt betrayed, as if her whole world had collapsed? First him and then this man with whom she'd thought she could spend the rest of her life.
+He took a deep breath, seized her wrist, and spun her around to face him. "Look at me."
+She was exquisite in the off-the-shoulder gown. Bare neck, bare shoulders. She blinked several times. "What do you want, Brett?" she asked in resignation.
+He heard the unspoken accusation, wanted to take her in his arms and make her promises of forever, but the tears rolling down her cheeks, one by lonely one, stopped him.
+She frowned. "So? You're not often left speechless. A man who must have a great deal of experience with all types of women. Why did you come?" Under the jewelled bodice, her breasts rose and fell. Anger simmered near the surface, waiting with eager tentacles for the wrong words to leap into life.
+Brett didn't want her to be alone. Or ashamed at being left at the altar, which was partly his fault. If he hadn't divorced her, would she be happier with him? "I wanted to see if you're okay." Lame, but it was the best he could do.
+"Really?" She would have turned away, but he grabbed her other wrist and held her at a distance in case she decided to fight him and perhaps knee him in the groin. He didn't want the night to end before it began.
+How could he tell her he'd made a mistake? She was in the throes of rejection, and this wasn't a good time to mention his deepest regrets. "I want to be your friend."
+"Why? So you can jilt me like Ade did? Or better yet, divorce me after you promised me the moon?" Sierra laughed at that, a high-pitched nervous laugh. "Promise the moon and you know what I end up with? Broken promises and a hurt that sinks so deep, you can never get rid of it." She kicked sand towards him with her bare foot attached to a slim, shapely ankle that got his heartbeat racing with desire.
+He'd come partly to console her, partly to get her back into his bed. He missed her warm presence, the laughter of delight and the sensuous woman usually hidden under clothes that didn't do her perfection justice. Her breasts were small and firm beneath his palms, her waist tiny, and her thighs were as soft as spun silk but as strong as steel during their passionate encounters. "If I admit I'm a sleazeball, will you forgive me and give me another chance?"
+Her nostrils flared. She squinted her eyes shut as if thinking, flashed them open and asked, "For what?" Bitterness enveloped the words. Her eyes met his, questioning, determined not to be hurt again and yet hurting at a fathomless depth he could only imagine.
+Then the truth kicked him in the nuts with a woomph. She still loved him, had never stopped loving him. The gaping chasm of loneliness tore at him. She was the only women he'd ever loved and he'd pushed her away, alienating her, perhaps forever. He could try to persuade her with every method he knew, but once her mind was made up, he knew from experience, it was almost impossible to change it. Almost.
+He released her hands and let his own fall to his sides, although he yearned to take her into his arms and make love to her until the sun rose to create glittering diamonds of the morning dew on the grass by the carnival.
+He gave a nonchalant shrug. "Forgive me for letting you go."
+She toyed with the pendant at the base of her throat. Two hearts intertwined. A forefinger caressing the cold, lifeless diamonds. Listlessly, she gave him a brash head to toe appraisal. He'd dressed the way she liked. Black two piece Armani suit with spotless white, long-sleeved shirt and polished shoes she could see herself in. And not a stitch underneath the costly clothes. "Is that why you came tonight?"
+Brett realised he'd somehow missed a vital connection point with her. "I made a mistake. The biggest one of my life---"
+"And how long has that been?" She already knew the answer.
+"Four hundred years, give or take a few seconds or so."
+She harrumphed, still disbelieving that anyone could live that long.
+"Let me make love to you, Sier. To show you how I feel." He held his breath in anticipation of her reply. Would she tell him to shove off or would she fall into his arms and allow him to fully undress her, to make love to every single inch of her gorgeous body?
+The waves crashed onto the beach in an otherwise still world illuminated by the moon's bright orb. Behind him, the carnival rides, long ago having fallen into disuse, stood like grim, watching ghosts of a time gone by. A stiff breeze surged to life, played with the fine hairs on the back of his neck. He shivered.
+She swallowed. Her skin was pale under the moonlight.
+How he forced himself to stand still and keep his hands to himself, he didn't know. He was rapidly losing control of his urge to have her. And she liked her lovemaking rough the first time and tender after. Sudden inspiration came, quite probably brought to life from his heavily aroused state. "If I make my intentions known and ravish you, then will you make love to me?" he asked.
+Her eyes narrowed speculatively. Brett had his answer from the tiny huff she gave and the slight panting from parted lips. His grin was broad and non-threatening as he pushed up his sleeve to take a disinterested look at his watch. "There are all those old rides there. I'll give you five minutes to hide, then I'll come searching for you. And then you're mine tonight."
+Sierra didn't immediately launch into playing the lust game, as they'd called their foreplay before sex. "What makes you think I want to play with you? Or anyone else?"
+So she wasn't going to give in without a fight. "For one, you find me irresistible. Two, I'm trying my damnedest to take your mind off the day's events. Third---"
+She put her hand up with her palm up to stop him. "I get it. But don't you think it's too soon to hop into bed with you? Can't you let me grieve over what might have been?"
+He took hold of her fingers and raised them to his face. He felt her pulse trip over itself. "Don't you think you've had plenty of time for that? Like the whole afternoon?" He licked her forefinger. Liquid fire raced up his spine. His cock was harder than a rock, and he thought he might explode. She wouldn't say "no", would she? If she did, he'd end up in a whole heap of trouble.
+"You've never been very patient, so why start now?" she murmured. Her eyelashes fluttered over her eyes, veiling them.
+"No." Brett knew then he had her hooked. When she bestowed her heated gaze on him, he sensed the afternoon's tumultuous happenings dissolve into the comfort of relief.
+She threw herself at him, pressed her length against his body. He smelled the faint trace of fragrant roses and the summery scent of hairspray.
+"You never stopped loving me, did you?" she exclaimed, the hurt still in her eyes, but there was something else there now. A playfulness he hadn't seen in a long, long time. Not since before the divorce.
+He shook his head and drew her face to his, demanding a furtive kiss before her pleasure, and his, began.
+She laughed, a pretty sound filled with naughty suggestions. "Look at you, Brett. You're really hard up, aren't you?"
+The vixen ran her palm over his rigid dick, giving it a tight squeeze before she lifted her skirts and sprinted off towards the carnival. Glancing over her left shoulder, she shouted, "You'll have to earn that kiss!"
+Reluctantly, he tore his gaze from her and loosened his black silk tie in an attempt to alleviate the pressure at his throat. He dug in his pocket for a cigarette and sank to his ass to sit cross-legged on the sand. Unlit, he shoved the cigarette between his lips and told himself five minutes of waiting in his condition would be far worse than an eternity in hell.
+Patience wasn't part of his mental makeup. Brett sweated and toiled to remain calm even though his heartbeat did the cha-cha and his erection pulsed with a fierce ache. What stupidity had led him to divorce Sierra in the first place?
+Fear, he admitted. Fear that he'd lose her to the one thing that eluded him with its finality. Death, the enemy of all mortals who lived. But divorce hadn't been the right solution. He'd realised that as soon as the finalised divorce papers had arrived. Sitting at his desk in his opulent Southern Californian home by the ocean, a haunting emptiness, so reminiscent of being in a damp and cold room made of stone, overtook him in its tenacious grip. His pride had deflated when he'd learned of Sierra's upcoming wedding, but he'd wished her happiness from the very depths of his being.
+Hidden from her sight, he'd watched her stroll into the church and out of his reach forever. She'd walked in a blaze of glory, the sun shining around her like a golden halo, and even with sunglasses the white of her gown had blinded him as he stood under the shade of a towering oak. Intermittently, gems from her bodice had twinkled at him, teasing him. Look at what you've done, you moron. You've lost the only woman you've ever loved.
+Seeing her in the voluminous gown had brought back memories of his own wedding night. He fell to his knees in the middle of the penthouse bedroom, an area he couldn't now describe although they'd spent four days and three nights there erotically wrapped around each other. His intention had been to worship her with his hands, to show her how much he loved her with every part of his body, including his hungering erection. In some respects, he was a lout, he admitted. He would have hastened to rip off another woman's clothes and thrust into her welcoming sheath as if the very devil was provoking him. But with Sierra it was different. She needed---no demanded---slow, tender lovemaking that made his head spin and his fragile control almost snap.
+Slipping his hand under the taffeta of her wedding gown and trailing his hot palm along her trembling outer thigh had made Sierra quiver with need under his experienced touch. She'd openly admitted she'd not had many lovers but he had discovered to his delight, that although she was old-fashioned, she was no prude. When he'd begun to tug the flimsy, lace garter down her thigh, she'd shattered into a blissful orgasm. Her fingers had dug into the fabric of his tuxedo and into his shoulders. Kneeling at her feet, he'd looked up to find her head tipped back, and her lips open in a silent cry of pleasure.
+He'd sighed and unsteadily gotten to his feet, putting aside his body's demands for the moment. One by one, repressing his impatience at the frivolities women indulged in on their wedding day, he'd unfastened each button at her back, pulling aside the whispering fabric and pressing tiny kisses against her spine.
+She'd moaned and tried to pull her arms out from the sleeves. "Wait, mon petite," he'd exclaimed. "I haven't unbuttoned these infernal pearls yet."
+"Can't you just rip them off? I won't be getting married again, so I won't need it."
+A moment's apprehensiveness had filled Brett. Would she want to have children? She knew he was fine in the sex department but not when it came to creating babies. Would she miss that part of her life and accuse him as she got older and the time she was fertile withered away leaving her with nothing but regrets, and perhaps hate for the man she'd once loved? He couldn't let himself think of those things---not on their wedding night. Maybe later he could make amends and they could adopt children, but that in itself would open a whole can of proverbial worms. What child would want an undead for a father?
+"Brett?" Sierra had intruded on his morbid conjecture.
+He must have frozen, taken away deep in thought to places he should never have touched. "I love you," he'd murmured, quickly unbuttoning the remainder of the fasteners.
+She'd spun around even as the bodice fell down over the tips of her breasts and he'd caught a glimpse of his version of heaven, no saints or angels welcome. "Why did you freeze?" she'd asked, exposing her vulnerability that was usually so close to the surface but which she managed to cleverly hide. Her cheeks had flushed a delicate pink and her lips had parted erotically. A man, even though he wasn't part of the wholly living, had only to gaze at her to be tempted beyond what he could reasonably bear.
+"I was thinking how much I love you," he'd replied in a husky voice unlike his usual careful tone.
+"I thought," she'd paused, obviously grasping for the right words, "that you'd changed your mind."
+"About us?" he'd asked much too curtly as he'd cursed himself for being a stupid, bumbling oaf. Why couldn't he let worry about the future sink into oblivion on their wedding night?
+She'd nodded and played her moist tongue over her lower lip glossed with pearl pink lipstick. "I want you forever and forever." Sierra had thrown her arms around his neck and held him close.
+Her heartbeat had hammered against his chest. How could he have been so stupid to think he could get married and live beyond the confines of perplexing future scenarios? He'd run his palm over the back of her head, catching the calloused skin on diamond-encrusted hairpins and cursed inwardly. "I love you, Sierra. Forever. You know that. No woman has ever snared me with her beautiful golden brown eyes and looked at me quite the way you do."
+She'd smiled with a poignancy that cut him right to his heart. "I don't know who you are, Brett Wolfe, but you make my life a good place to be."
+The image of her saddened eyes and the sensuous feeling of her breasts against his chest faded away at the repeated, "Brett? Brett? I'm ready. Where are you?"
+He opened his eyes and found his cheeks stained with tears. He'd started in on the regrets again. Even though he'd not smoked his cigarette, filthy habit as it was, he edged it into the sand as if he was putting it out and the flame still burned at the end. Hadn't he learned anything the first time around with Sierra? If he screwed up this time, there was no turning back the clocks. She rarely forgave anyone, preferring to number them with countless felons. He should be glad she'd given him a second chance.
+Brett vowed that this time he wouldn't screw up. He'd do everything in his power to win Sierra back. Even if it killed him.
+"Brett? Brett? I'm ready. Where are you?" Sierra called out again. Brett couldn't decide whether it was his guilt colouring her words or whether she really did sound lost. And vulnerable. As if she wasn't sure whether he'd abandon her or not. Again.
+"Ready or not! I'm coming!" he called out above the crashing waves to make certain she heard him. He should have paid attention to the passing of time instead of sitting in the sand and brooding, wondering how he could make amends. He loved her. Wasn't that enough rather than the continual soul searching?
+With his extraordinary hearing, courtesy of being undead, he knew exactly where she was hiding, but he made out as if he didn't and searched for her for several excruciating minutes. All he could think of was holding her in his arms and never, ever letting her go.
+When he found her, she was hunkered down against one battered structural beam in what had once housed gaily coloured carousel horses. Not many were left. Most had been pilfered as keepsakes, leaving gaping holes and a haunted empty space echoing with remembered laughter from days gone by that nothing short of bulldozing would erase.
+Sierra had slipped out of her wedding dress, which was draped artlessly over one of the remaining horses whose wide open, garish eyes were faded and its teeth rotted against the once festive bridle. She wore nothing more than a strapless bra and white panties that rode low on her sleek hips. He gave a soft whistle and watched her expression closely for any signs of reluctance or fear. If he saw the slightest trace, he'd tell her he couldn't continue to play. The heat still played havoc with the air, and to his chagrin, he realised he was perspiring.
+"Ah," he said, stepping onto the carousel. "A pretty lady ripe for the taking."
+"What took you so long?" Her eyes twinkled mischievously.
+"I was reminiscing. About our wedding night." Brett tugged at his tie, wishing the breeze that blew in from the ocean was cooler and would fan his heated skin to a more bearable temperature. It was what it was, he conceded, only too glad to see Sierra's light-hearted playfulness. He could only imagine the heartache she'd felt when Ade hadn't shown up.
+"That was a long time ago," she chided gently, jiggling her hips erotically. The woman was one fluid line of graceful femininity, grasping the pillar with both hands and giving him a tantalising view of firm, bare arms, a hint of uplifted breast, and smooth skin along her thighs and shapely lower leg. Even the red polish on her toenails made his dick harder. Painfully harder.
+"Now that I've found you," he began with their game, "I'm going to tie you up and have my way with you." He kept his voice husky but carefully non-threatening. It had been a while since they'd played together.
+Her eyes widened in mock terror. "You can't do that! I won't let you!"
+He chuckled. He had nothing to fear as far as Sierra's willingness to play. She may not have married Ade, but she still deserved Brett Wolfe giving her a real good time. Brett remembered she liked it when he used dirty words during foreplay. "You want me to fuck you, don't you?"
+She nodded. Her wrists were warm as he encircled them and tied them together on the far side of the pillar with his tie---very loose so she could free herself if she desired. With a sensual energy he hadn't felt in a long while, he ripped her bra away. Barely two scraps of insubstantial material. She looked up at him with a vulnerable expression that almost did him in right there on the spot.
+"I want to see all of you," he ground out in a hoarse voice. He'd missed her so much. He tore at her panties and threw them to the floor. She was completely and tantalisingly nude now. Bare ass, bare breasts and sheer sexual appeal.
+"The only thing missing," Brett told her quietly, "are the high heels you used to wear for our games." The image of spiked heels protruding from behind her rounded ass turned the heat up in his body.
+He knelt down beside her, cupped her face between his large hands. She was so small and fragile compared to his huge size.
+She worried her lower lip with her upper teeth and gave him a coy look, pretending to be the distressed maiden about to have her body plundered by a man from the darkness.
+"Are you sure about this?" He kissed her lips with a feather light touch.
+"Yes." She trembled under his hold, blinked then nodded again.
+"It's just that I want you to be happy, and with what happened today, you might be pushing yourself too fast." And far. "There's no going back after this."
+She grimaced. "I know. Ade's history."
+She'd misunderstood him. He'd meant there was no going back after he'd started to make love to her. Before he could correct the misinterpretation, she whispered, "I want you." An odd pause. "For old time's sake."
+Brett hardly heard her. She was his for the rest of the night, and he'd deal with forever later. "I love you," he murmured, still holding her chin in his hands. His tears mingled with the salt air and her warm breath.
+"I want you to fuck me like you never have before."
+His nostalgia-filled regret changed with her request. "You want me to plunge my cock into your cunt?" His mouth curled in a contented smile.
+"I want your fingers in my hole, too," she added, somewhat shyly and endearingly.
+Brett's chest almost burst with tender affection. This woman wanted him in every way a man could please a woman, and he'd almost allowed another man to take her? Shit.
+He rose and unbuckled his belt. "Before I do you, my lady captive, I want you to suck my dick and make me come in your mouth."
+She licked her lips in anticipation. "Bring it on, my rampaging lord." Her lips curled into a lazy smile. "You're not wearing a strip of underwear, are you?"
+"I came prepared," was all he could manage as her tongue darted out and caught the tip of his burning cock. He groaned. She flicked her tongue over the mushroom-shaped cap. "Oh Sier. Oh Sier," he moaned, barely able to control himself.
+Her tongue continued its urgent but tormenting path down the side of his shaft with tiny, shivering licks, then back up again. He settled his hands on the top of her head against the hairpins projecting from her hair.
+She gave him a brash look of appraisal and giggled. "My hot vampire wants more?"
+"Not like this." Without taking the time to deliberate, he untied her wrists, yanked them together and fastened them in front of her, then pulled her to the ground on top of him. "I want you to ride me because if you keep licking me, I'll come outside of you, and I don't want anything else but to feel you wrapped around me."
+She rolled her eyes. "I thought I was the captive, ready to be plundered and pillaged by a hunk." She gave a little sigh. "I see I'm deluding myself into thinking I'm the real captive."
+From between clenched teeth, Brett muttered, "Get on with it, woman. I order you to ride!"
+With the crook of her elbow, she brushed stray strands of hair away from her face. "Your wish is my command, my captor."
+"You're an absolutely rebellious captive. I'll have to whip your fine ass into submission." As if that would ever happen. Sierra had always done exactly what she wanted. Except for once, when he'd forced her to sign divorce papers.
+"Words, lord captor. Words that mean nothing when you're in this state."
+So aroused he thought he'd go mad, he grumbled good-naturedly, although his patience was quickly wearing thinner than a spider's silk web. "Ride, woman!"
+She grabbed hold of his erection with her bound hands and began to tug on the muscled flesh without an inch of mercy. "Like this?" she asked oh so sweetly.
+"Merciless woman! Mark my words. I will not only whip you but I will make you more helpless than the day you were born."
+A quick, daring smile. "Like I'm not that already when around you." She lifted herself up slightly, rubbed her moist clit against the tip of his cock and bestowed him with a sexy pout. "I look forward to my punishment."
+Brett focused his gaze on her breasts as she sat down on him and shifted, fitting his shaft merely halfway.
+"Woman!" He wrapped his fingers on either side of her waist. "Take more of my cock inside you."
+Another inch.
+"Like this?" She flashed a naughty smile with full, white teeth.
+"No!" His fingers dug into her waist. "Down! All the way!"
+She relented, slid over his long length until he was fully nestled in her pussy. Every single, luxurious velvet inch.
+Within seconds, they'd ride the pinnacles of high mountains topped by multiple shimmering rainbows. Some things didn't change---like Sierra's wet pussy encasing his cock in comfortable softness.
+Her hips rode him urgently as his cock plunged in and out, in and out. Her juices mingled erotically with his, creating a slippery lubricant. This was all he desired. Sierra's love and her passion.
+And that she'd be his until the end of his life or forever. Whichever came first.
+Brett caressed Sierra's bare ass as she pumped her hips. She'd freed herself of her bonds, thrown the tie to one side and now he edged his fingers towards her enticing hole. At her request, he'd done her a few times like that, inserting one finger, then two past each ring in her anus.
+The tension in his already wired body began to crescendo like a symphony orchestra playing a loud and fast-paced piece of music. The cymbals began to clang in his head with ear-splitting accuracy and then they went off amid the sound of thunder and flashing lightning. His semen spurted into Sierra's pussy just as her allegro rose to a height where it split into shimmering rolls of molten heat.
+He pressed his fingers hard against her ass, not caring that come morning, she'd have nail marks on her tender skin. Through blurry eyes, he observed her as she threw her head back and screamed her finale into the air.
+She collapsed against his chest, her rapid heartbeat racing his own. His shirt was soaked with perspiration and he exhaled several times in an attempt to steady his erratic breathing. Brett raked his fingers through her hair, combing through the silky strands, simply enjoying her presence. Sex had never been like this. Not with any woman. Sierra made him feel whole again.
+"Are you okay?" he asked, noting the blotch of pink on the cheek nearest him.
+She nodded, but her pulse continued to gallop. "Brett?" Sierra lifted her face slightly to gaze into his eyes.
+If only she could tell him that she loved him, that they could be a couple once again. Then he'd feel even more complete. "Yes?"
+Deliberately, she lifted her hips off his spent and half-flaccid cock. The loss of contact left him oddly bereft and empty.
+"You know this was a one-time event, don't you?"
+Her words burned into his sated mind. Then he remembered what she'd said earlier. "For old time's sake."
+He lifted himself up on one elbow, his heart twisting with pain. "I'll take you home," he said quietly, but he didn't dare take a quick look at her face. He was afraid of what he'd find there.
+The dawn arrived with a vengeance in a spray of muted purple and vibrant pinks. In his lonely house, Brett stripped out of his clothes and sat on the edge of the king-sized bed, his elbows on his knees and his forehead resting on his palms. He'd taken Sierra home. She hadn't spoken one more word to him on the drive. She'd played with him, for old time's sake, but he had to accept the fact there would never again be anything between them. Just sex. She deserved more than he could give her. Much more.
+Like a stable family life. Children. A marriage that wasn't buried in furtive secrecy where they could go out together during daylight hours and let all her friends and family know they were a couple. The obstacles seemed to mount as he considered them one by one. He'd lived four hundred years, long enough to know that women wanted one-hundred-percent commitment. He'd given the best he could. Until Sierra found out what he was. Her horror and the loathing in her eyes had pained him to his very core. They'd fought bitterly and the next day, he'd filed for divorce.
+"My beautiful Sierra," he moaned. "What have I done?" He'd made love to her, played their game as if nothing had come between them to separate them, then she'd told him this had been a one-time event. A mistake, in other words.
+He couldn't face the rest of his life without her. How would he survive the solitary nights in a bed made for two? There wasn't another woman in the whole universe quite like Sierra. Sure, he'd had sex with quite a few women in the last four hundred years, but there was a difference between sex and making love.
+His feet seemed to be made of stone on the tan plush carpet under his feet. Vampires were cursed to live for an eternity, weaving in and out of the short lives they merely touched with their dark presence. People came and went. The relentless ages passed by and a vampire could honestly say he'd seen history made hundreds of years earlier. However, history was dead and lifeless, a sort of fiction without living embodiment. So unlike a soft, warm body nestled against his, like the real, breathing, filled-with-life woman he'd had but carelessly lost.
+As he stared at the carpet and the hunter green triangles interwoven with rigid squares, a plan formed in his beleaguered mind. If Sierra thought she'd never see him again, she was quite mistaken. Brett Wolfe didn't easily take no for an answer. Never had, never would.
+Two evenings later, he drove by Sierra's apartment, calculating how best to kidnap her. Brett had considered a number of options, from chloroform, to slipping a sleeping pill into her wine glass to throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her off to the wild blue yonder.
+He grinned in the dark. Okay. To his house. He'd take her there and ravish her over and over again until she finally saw sense and agreed to marry him again. First, he'd utilise the commonsense approach. Ring her doorbell and ask her out to dinner. If that didn't work, then things could get iffy, but it wasn't like he didn't have Backup Plan A in place. And Backup Plan B. And Backup Plan C, too. None would work worth a damn if Sierra was with another man.
+Brett picked up his cell phone and dialled her number. If the answering machine picked up, all plans were on hold. If she answered, she was his.
+On the other end, the phone rang once. Twice. A third time and on the fourth ring, Sierra picked up. "Hello?"
+"I'm coming over in five minutes to kidnap and ravish you," he blurted. So much for calculated plans.
+A slight pause but she didn't hang up. Which was a good sign. "Who is this?"
+Brett made a heavy bet with himself that she knew perfectly well who it was. "Wanna come play?" he asked, already in trouble. The sound of her evocative voice was enough to give him a hard-on and press images of erotic scenes on his starving mind. Her long legs entangled with his. Her hair falling over her shoulders and barely covering one rosy nipple. His lips sucking, tugging on that nipple. Sierra crying out as an orgasm gripped her. Lying spent on silk sheets, her head nestled against his shoulder. The scent of musky sex lingering on his tongue and in the air. Man, he was in a bad way.
+"What will you do if I don't?" Sierra's curiosity had come out to play too.
+"I'll break down the door with my hands and bleed all over your clean floor." So much for any backup plans. They'd all gone up in smoke.
+"How many backup plans did you have in place?" A tinkle of laughter came through the phone line.
+"You caught me there. I lost count," he said sheepishly, keeping an eye on the second floor apartment window. The lace curtains rippled. She was observing him. Or trying to in the darkness.
+"You're too funny. What else do you have up your sleeve?"
+"I want to make love to you." The clean, honest truth. Couldn't go wrong with that.
+"I'm wondering if I should hang up on you, but I don't think you're going to go away that easy. Right?"
+The curtains moved aside. Her bedroom was lit by the overhead light and created a shadow of her at the window. A shapely shadow as she turned in profile.
+"No, not that easy."
+She had turned on purpose. She wasn't wearing a thing. He swallowed hard. Her nipples jutted out from round globes and she tossed her hair back over her shoulders coquettishly. Wild, wild woman.
+"That's good, because I've been waiting for you."
+The blood in his veins seemed to pump harder at her husky, come-and-get me invitation. He climbed out of the car, unable to speak, the cell phone to his ear and only able to stare at her nudity in shadow.
+He finally found his voice. "You mean I don't have to bust down the door?"
+He saw her shake her head as she said, "No. I don't think the landlord would be too happy about that. I'll buzz you in."
+After the short beep opened the main door, Brett made short work of the three flights of stairs. His breathing even, but his heart racing at the erotic images of Sierra flooding his mind's eyes, he stood at the door. She'd already cracked it open a few inches.
+He pushed it open, but she wasn't in the living room or small kitchen. "You're going to make it hard for me to find you?" he queried, enjoying the chase, even if it wouldn't be much of one.
+He stuck his head in the bathroom door even though the room was dark. Nope, no Sierra. He found her in the bedroom, wrapped like a Christmas present in white satin. Around her slender throat, she wore the pearls he'd given her for their first anniversary. She'd rolled over on one hip, one long leg out over the sheet which was tucked up over the swell of her breasts.
+"Wowza, lady," was all he could say.
+"What was this about kidnapping and ravishing me? Or are you too tongue-tied to tell me?" With her forefinger, she traced an invisible line across the top of her left breast.
+He stood still in helpless admiration. "Not tongue-tied. You can have anything you want."
+She laughed with delight. "I want you to strip for me. With attitude."
+Did he dare hope she'd realise he'd made a gigantic mistake and wanted her to marry him again? "I might need some help though."
+She nodded and patted the bed beside her. "Come closer."
+His knees wobbled. No matter how many times he'd made love to her, it was always like the very first time with her, fresh, exciting, and invigorating. He took two strides across the room. "Aren't you supposed to be my captive, instead of me being yours?"
+Her gaze up at him was filled with lust. She caught her glossy peach-coloured lower lip between her teeth and waved an imperious hand. "Off."
+His chest constricted with possessiveness. How could he have thought to let her marry another man? He stripped off his Armani jacket and threw it over the arm of a nearby chair. "I was jealous, you know."
+Silently, she drummed her fingers on the sheets. "Of?"
+"You marrying another man." The words tumbled out. The tie followed the jacket.
+"Oh that." A ghost of a smile hovered at the corners of her mouth. "No worries."
+"Are you over him?"
+"Should I be?"
+"I don't know. Should you?" Playing with words instead of her naked body.
+She shrugged. "It was a divorce in the making."
+Brett harrumphed, reminded again about his great error in judgment.
+"This isn't about him, Brett. It's about us."
+"Is this a one-time event too?" The words came out much more bitter than he'd intended and gained him an inquisitive look.
+"If you want it to be." She traced a sexy polished fingernail along her upper lip. "But it seems to me you came knocking on my door."
+That took the responsibility and blame away from her shoulders and placed them on his. He could handle that. Outwardly, he didn't acknowledge her statement.
+"Take the rest off," Sierra told him.
+"You're getting some amusement out of this?" He unbuckled the belt and shimmied out of his pants, which fell around his ankles with a soft shush. His cock immediately bobbed upwards.
+"My poor baby," she whispered, her pupils narrowing. "You always take my breath away when I see you naked."
+He laughed self-derisively. "May I approach my lady captive's bed?"
+"Will you bite my neck?"
+He shook his head. "Never. I wouldn't will this life on my worst enemy."
+It was interesting she'd raised the question of creating another vampire. Of her. She'd never cared for bite marks. Not that he'd have bitten her. She knew he came from a solitary background, didn't have many friends. They'd agreed when they first got married that he'd be careful not to bite her. He'd told her he couldn't stand it if she was as lonely as he was through eternity. And she could be if vampire hunters caught up with him, then ended his life.
+"Not even if we're together?"
+"Sier, don't talk like this. We agreed when we got married---"
+She cut him off. "We're not married anymore, so the old rules don't apply."
+His dick throbbed painfully. He continued as if he hadn't heard, but her words cut at his heart like sharp swords. "---that I wouldn't create another monster." The hell with what she wanted. He closed the gap between them, got onto the bed and trapped her hips under her thighs.
+"Be happy with who you are, Sier. There's not another woman like you in the whole universe. I love you for that. And a whole lot more."
+She twisted her hips under him as if she'd slide out. He caught her wrists, encircled them in one hand and thrust them over her head. The sheet stayed between them. "Listen. It's not going to happen. Not now, not ever."
+"Make love to me," she whispered.
+She didn't meet his frank gaze. Before he had a chance to wonder why, he tore the sheet from between them. They were both nude, flesh to flesh, yearning to yearning. Driven by a need to satisfy himself and with a vengeance that pained him, he spread her legs apart and plunged deep into her sheath.
+"No," she exclaimed in a tormented whisper. "I don't want you this way."
+Was she playing their game or being honest with him? When had been the last time she'd told him the hardcore truth? He couldn't remember. Didn't try to recall. "Isn't it too late for that?" he growled, anger and the old hurt rising from deep within. "You tempt me into seducing you, and then you tell me you don't want me?"
+Unmoving, his cock rested in her pussy as he examined her face, her cheeks blotched with rose highlights. He lowered his lips to her mouth and gave her a bruising kiss filled with passion, lust and fury. Unwittingly, he freed her wrists. Her arms curled around his neck, drawing his upper body closer to hers.
+The kiss did something to his emotions. Softened them, took the edge off the desperation. He broke the kiss, noting Sierra hadn't struggled except at the very beginning. Now she laid under him, compliant, her lips kiss-swollen and her eyes questioning.
+"I didn't want to do that," he muttered in self-loathing for his caveman behaviour. He'd never wanted to hurt her. Not ever. Instead of bringing her closer, he was driving her away. "I didn't mean to do that," he told her, pulling his still hard cock from her sheath.
+She stopped him with a sharp, "No!"
+He froze with indecision. She couldn't still desire him after his bullish conduct.
+"Can you finish making love to me?" she asked, her voice low, seductive. "I need you."
+Such a simple statement that wrung his heart and messed with his mind. He didn't dare ask if she loved him, if she'd marry him again. "I need you too," he murmured, gently driving into her welcoming cunt. Her thighs were supple as she opened them wider to better accommodate his large size.
+He canted his head to one side and took one nipple in his questing mouth and toyed with the other, stretching it into a high peak. Underneath him, she moaned and began pumping her hips in time with his thrusting. Beads of perspiration dotted her forehead, mirroring his own sexual intensity.
+Her back arched. She took his shaft deeper to that spot of heaven he never wanted to leave. It took every bit of his willpower to prevent himself from surging to a toppling crest as she bit back a cry of sheer, undiluted ecstasy. One after the other, shudders rippled through her body and sent him over the intoxicating side of the highest mountain in the universe. He arched his neck, shut his eyes tight and groaned as he spurted into her channel. Every muscle in his heated body melted away, leaving him shaky and breathless.
+Sierra said nothing as he pulled his shaft from her and rolled over on his back, the back of his hand clasped against his clammy forehead. He was grateful when she faced him, scooted closer and sank her head against his chest. With gentle fingers, she toyed with the fine hairs on his chest. "Brett?"
+He tried to take a deep breath but everything was stuck in his lungs still he managed, "Yeah?" He kept his eyes closed, replaying over and over the sensual images of her lush body covered with flimsy sheets.
+"That was remarkable."
+"Yeah." He wondered if his heartbeat and rapid breathing would ever return to normal.
+"About that whipping?"
+His eyes flashed open. "Woman! I'm near death after what you do to me and now you want a whipping?"
+She nodded, her hair tumbled around her shoulders in a ravishingly artless way. She'd lost one diamond earring but the other dangled with her head's movement.
+"Let me gain my bearings first." And to think, he mused, but his dick was responding to her idea by getting hard. Again.
+He must have dozed off. When he blinked his eyes open, Sierra wasn't beside him on the bed as she usually was after lovemaking. Naked, still unsteady on his feet, he searched her apartment. She was nowhere. And he noted with a touch of dismayed sadness as he searched the closet for clues to where she'd run that her suitcase was gone.
+Brett sank onto a chair in the dining room and wept unashamedly. What had gone wrong? Why had Sierra left? He recalled what she'd said about a whipping. Why would she mention such a thing if she was planning to leave? Funny, but he'd been looking forward to tanning her lovely ass while she begged for more. Now she was gone.
+If he found her, what alternative did he have but to consign her to eternity so she would stay with him? How could he face his whole life, a bleak forever life, without her at his side?
+In his gut, he knew it was wrong. He could never compel Sierra to be what he was. A man without value in the human race he lived amongst, a man without a permanent home and a man without Sierra's love. Life, he suspected, would become complicated if she was what he was. There were always those who, in their petty mindedness, misjudged him and for no reason that he knew of retaliated against him by trying to kill him. Which was next to impossible. There was only one way.
+This life, if Brett could call it that, wasn't for his beloved Sierra. He'd rather end his own than inflict the torment and self-loathing on her. Because that's what her life would come to. Then she'd hate him. He was sure of that.
+The apartment was empty without her. The humidity had ramped up without the air conditioner running. He didn't bother to turn it on. Drying his eyes and his face with the back of his hand, he got to his feet, determined to return to his house and erase the night's memories of making love to a woman he would never stop loving no matter how long he lived.
+He dressed without paying much attention to what he was doing. He buttoned his shirt, then realising the buttons didn't match the buttonholes, had to start all over again. Some of the dresser drawers were left open, probably in Sierra's haste to get away from him and in an attempt not to wake him. Out of curiosity, Brett strolled over and pulled the uppermost one open. A framed photograph lay on the top of a pile of panties and bras. He stared at the photo of a beaming man in black and his joy-filled bride. Sierra and himself.
+His blood drummed in his ears. Why had she hung onto the picture when she'd clearly intended to marry another man? Something didn't sit right. If a woman loved a man, wouldn't she rid herself of any reminders of other, failed relationships?
+He remembered her adamancy about not marrying him in a church but being married by a justice of the peace in a civil ceremony. Yet, this time with Adrian, she'd opted for a church wedding. Brett shook himself, trying to clear his muddled thoughts. Something was definitely not right. He had to find Sierra and ask her some questions. And, for his peace of mind, he hoped to hell she answered them.
+After several days, countless phone calls to hotels all over the country, and despairing over whether he would find her, Brett heard news of her. Or rather, she left a message on his answering machine. All Sierra said, in a low, mysterious tone, was, "Come and get me. You know where I am."
+Brett ground his teeth in frustration, replaying the message several times to see if he could detect any background noise but hearing nothing but traffic whizzing by and the occasional blaring horn.
+He had to know the answer. Outside the bank of living room windows, night had fallen. The pregnant moon from nights before had slimmed to a dainty crescent hovering above a milieu of silvery clouds. Why was Sierra always making a move during the dark night hours?
+The answer to where she waited came as he sipped a cold cup of coffee. He didn't bother to throw on any additional clothes other than a pair of navy blue shorts and a white t-shirt. He was at the Carnival Pier within ten minutes.
+He was already calling out, "Sierra! Sierra!" as he jumped out of the car. "Where are you?" He ran through the sun-warmed sand to the carnival, continuing to shout her name. Time and experience had shown him that nothing was ever as it seemed. Even though he hurried, he maintained a cautious demeanour, looking for anything that seemed somewhat out of place. Outside of the waves crashing against the beach, he heard nothing. The crescent moon kept him company, silently watching over him with its faint glow.
+The carousel with its battered horses came to mind first. He rushed there, stepping carefully around broken glass and yellowed sheets of newspaper from days gone by. He found Sierra, her wrists bound to a pillar that had once supported one of the prancing horses.
+Her wary gaze tore at his heart.
+"I don't want to play this stupid bondage game anymore, Sier!" he shouted, rushing up to her, desperate to untie her.
+She was so beautiful. Her long hair hung down her back in soft tresses. She was absolutely naked except for a pair of white six inch high heels with silk ties that wound their way around her ankles. "Oh, don't be such a prude," she admonished him. "Why don't you consider it a reward for all the searching you've done for me?" She turned her head to look behind the pillar. "I even brought some toys for you to play with. If you want."
+The surprised anger drained away, replaced by intense curiosity. And his dick was playing with him, too. "What kind of toys?" He swallowed hard, unable to believe that once again Sierra was in control with her captive routine.
+"A bottle of champagne. Nipple clamps. A dildo. That kind of thing." She tugged on her bound wrists. "If you let me go, I'll show you."
+Brett shook his head in amazement. "You don't give up, do you?"
+Her eyebrows knit together in a frown. "What do you mean?"
+Even though his cock was hard and thick with longing, he blew up. "Who are you playing to, Sierra?" he shouted. His words echoed into the thin night air. "Is it for me, yourself or are you practicing for the next poor fool you meet?" That had to be it. He was so besotted with her that he hadn't seen she was using him for her own perverted ends and didn't give a rat's ass about him.
+She looked away and when she turned her gaze on him, her eyes were filled with tears. Her voice trembled when she spoke. "I thought you liked playing with me." She moistened her lips with a flick of her tongue. "I thought you loved me."
+He was madder than a disturbed hornet's nest. He tried to ignore the fierce arousal relentlessly pounding at him---an arousal that could so easily make mush out of him and force him to give in to her. "Don't you see what you're doing? You're not playing with me! You're playing with some kind of mystery man, someone you made up in your head. Someone who can satisfy you better than I can, apparently!" He had to walk away before he lost his sanity or did something to her he might regret, then had to forever live with the guilt. And forever was a very long time.
+To his surprise, tears rolled down her face. Her lips trembled and her whole body quivered. "This was never about me, Brett Wolfe. It was for you. Always for you." She easily freed her hands, got to her feet in one graceful move of long limbs and satin skin and strode towards him, the tears glistening on her cheeks in the dim light. She was so erotic, so sexy in those high heels that had most likely been designed to drive a man wild with lust.
+She poked a finger at his chest, keeping time with each unhurried word. "Everything I did during our marriage, I did for you. Every minute I spend with you is for you. Do you know why?" She kept punctuating each word with a sharp finger. "Because you're a stubborn jackass. Because you don't see a good thing when you've got it. Because you've got yourself so wrapped up in Brett Wolfe, you can't see anything but yourself. Because I love you, you idiot!"
+He stood his ground although her finger hurt the middle of his chest where she kept hitting him. He let her vent, while she turned his world upside down in the process. "What did you say?" he asked stupidly.
+Her eyes flashed fire. "Which part? The part about---"
+With ill grace, he interrupted. "The last part. The part about how you love me."
+She did her own thing, as always. "This whole charade about marrying Ade was just that. A charade. To make you jealous. To make you see the light!" Her annoying finger fell to her side.
+"Forget that. Although I should have known. What did you say about loving me?" He held his breath, trying to assimilate everything she'd told him.
+"I'm not getting through to you, am I?"
+"No, I don't think so," he admitted, hoping he wasn't making too much of an ass of himself. First, accusing her of not being her real self when what was he doing in that respect? And second, hinting he didn't like playing with her sexually. How far was that from the truth?
+Sierra's finger lifted up again, intent on prodding him with a vengeance again. He seized her and squeezed lightly even as she tried to twist away. "Are you saying you love me the way I am?" he demanded.
+"Why? So you could throw my love away like an old dishrag just like so many other men have?" Her chin quivered, and the tears began to shimmer down her cheeks again.
+Brett would have whooped and hollered, but he knew in her state of mind, she'd see him as conceited. But he didn't blame her. He watched as she seemed to shrink and draw into herself.
+Tenderly, he wiped away her tears with the pad of his thumb. "I'm sorry," he said simply. "I thought you'd be happier without me. With someone else who could give you everything you wanted."
+"And what if all I wanted was you?" She sniffled. "Here I am naked in the middle of a carnival, begging you to love me."
+Using his wet thumb, he tipped her face up. "You never had to beg, Sierra. Never. I love you more than life itself."
+Her eyes, once again twinkling with mischievousness, met his. "You'd say that, wouldn't you?"
+Brett chuckled. "Because I'm vampire?"
+"Because you're a conceited fool."
+"I 'fess up. I'm that too." He kissed the tip of her nose. "I'm not going to ask for your permission," he said. "I'm going to throw you in my car and take you home to have my way with you."
+"What about what I brought?" She indicated the toys on the ground with a nod in their direction.
+"Oh," he humoured her, "I think we can make use of them. Especially the dildo."
+To his satisfaction, her eyes widened with pleasure.
+"First, I have to tie you up, say dirty words to get your juices flowing---"
+She shook her head. Her hair whistled softly around her. "I don't think you have to do that." She took hold of his right hand and nestled it between her warm thighs. "Why not cop a feel?"
+He burst out laughing but spread her thighs wider apart. She was so wet, so ready for him. Her clit was hard. He sank to his knees. "Let me worship you before I kidnap you."
+He spread her legs wider yet, spread her moist folds and licked her nub. She tasted of honey and sexy female. She writhed and moaned as he laved and savoured her, slipping his tongue deep inside her pussy. She lowered herself over his face several inches. The muscles in her inner thighs tightened like bowstrings. He heard her cry out his name once before silence fell.
+He'd satisfied her for a minute or two, he reflected, but he was inclined to mete out some punishment for his ex-wife. Some fun, sensual punishment.
+Brett tied up her wrists with a leather strap, settled her in the back seat of his car, threw a light wool blanket over her nudity, retrieved the toys she'd bought and drove off like a madman in search of lunatics. When he reached his house, he pulled Sierra out of the car, blanket and all, carried her into the house and up the stairs into his bedroom, determined to never let her go again.
+"What are going to do to me?" she asked meekly.
+"I make the rules," he said with a curtness he hadn't intended.
+"Oh, I see." Sierra blushed as he laid her on the bed, quickly untied her wrists and then bound them to the headboard. Her wrists hung well above her head, several inches apart.
+"There is no getting away from me this time," he managed in a choked voice. He threw off the blanket. She was so beautiful, with smooth pink skin. A tiny smile of pleasure hovered on her lips.
+"Are you going to use the toys I got?" she asked as he slipped off the bed and pulled off his shorts and t-shirt.
+"I have my very own toys to play with," he growled into her ear.
+Her eyes narrowed speculatively. "What kind?" Her voice was breathy. Erotic.
+He rose and stood close to the bed. "Let me see. I have my very own dildo." She giggled, but her eyes lit up with appreciation. "I have my own nipple clamps." He leaned over and lightly pinched both nipples at once. "And let me see. I have any kind of champagne my captive would care for."
+He knew she didn't know a great deal about champagne. "Later, I'll pour a delicate white over your breasts, onto your stomach and into your pubic curls so the bubbly flows down to your pussy." His cock pulsed harder at the sensual thought.
+She wet her lips. "Why not now?"
+He shrugged. "You shouldn't be asking any questions. Captives of vampires usually don't."
+She persisted. "Why not now?"
+"Because I'm really hard up."
+She laughed with delight again. "That bad, huh?"
+"Very." He straddled her, enjoying the sensation of control, enjoying his rough skin against her petal soft skin. Lowering his head, he sucked her nipples, each in turn while he played his right hand between her legs and into the soft spot that waited for him. He'd hardly touched her clit and slid three fingers into her vagina when her hips bucked. She twisted her neck from side to side and moaned.
+"Take your fingers out now. Put your cock in my pussy," she demanded breathlessly.
+"I'm the boss."
+"Oh, if you say so." Her lips formed a pout.
+Brett removed his fingers and settled the tip of his cock at the entrance of her pussy. "Do you want me?"
+She nodded.
+"Tell me what I want to hear."
+She sucked in a breath and batted her eyelids. "Oh, I don't know---"
+He entered her roughly, pressed against her G-spot until she cried out again and again. "Now tell me."
+She gazed straight into his eyes. "I love you?"
+"Again." He thrust in and out now, ruthless, sure of her reaction.
+"I love you."
+"Again."
+"Brett---"
+"Again, Sierra. I never want you to think I'm going to desert you like all those other men did."
+"I love you."
+"Good." Her breasts, soft globes under the dim light, shook with each plunge into her, withdrawing and repeating until she begged him to stop.
+"No. I'm the boss. Can you handle that, Sier?"
+"Can you handle me loving you for all eternity?"
+He stopped his mad race to a finish line that would never come. Not as long as he had her in his life. "What do you mean?" Fear gripped his heart. "What did you do?"
+A tense hush fell over the bedroom. Brett heard the crickets chirping outside. And his heart drummed far too loud. "How can you love me for all eternity?" he demanded.
+"You always assumed I was unlike you."
+Her pulse raced under his body. He couldn't believe his ears. "You're ... like me?"
+Time stood still. The crescent moon hung over the edge of the mountain ready to slip away as the dawn ushered in a new day.
+She nodded. "Not until a few days ago. I---" She seemed reluctant to tell him. Took a deep breath and began again. "I can't live without you. The other night I knew I had to do something. I didn't want to lose you."
+Relief, coloured with apprehension, flooded him. "This isn't one of your games, is it?" he questioned.
+She shook her head. "Not this time. You didn't know, but one day after we were married, your friend, Jimmy, dropped by while you were out. He told me about how he'd fallen in love with a mortal woman, and when he lost her, forever, he determined he wouldn't let it happen to others who wanted to be like us. I refused." She hesitated. "At the time. But he'd left his number of a friend who could reach him, if needed. I called the friend. I asked to be made like this."
+Brett breathed in deep, although his mind couldn't quite grasp what Sierra had so unwillingly told him. Furious with himself, and with her for hiding who she was, he continued his mad thrusting, until his anger shattered, drawn taut by his frenzied lovemaking. He howled into the night as his orgasm tore through him. He had never wanted Sierra to be what he was, but now that the deed was irrevocably done, he had no choice but to accept her action. And love her.
+He rolled over on his back and stared at the ceiling. "Why didn't you tell me?"
+She shrugged, snapped her hands free of the straps. "I had a choice to make. Do I spend this life without you or do I become what you are? I decided to be much like you."
+He drew her to him. She straddled his hips. "Do you know what kind of recriminations I went through because I wanted to give you only the best and I didn't know how to do that if you were human?"
+"If I lived a shorter period of time than you?"
+"That too." Why hadn't he fit the pieces of Sierra together before this?
+"Can we move on with our lives now?"
+"Towards eternity?"
+Sierra kissed his lips and there was no need to say more. Eternity was a long time but with the woman who would soon be his wife again, he had no doubt that eternity wouldn't be long enough for all the love they had for each other.
+Aurora Rose Lynn, a bestselling erotica author, lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and conure. She enjoys writing romance with a sensual twist but first and foremost, her stories must be about love. When she isn't writing romance, she writes young adult and fantasy stories under a pen name.
+Email: auroraroselynn@yahoo.com
+Aurora loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and author biography at www.total-e-bound.com.
+Visit www.total-e-bound.com for information on additional titles by this and other authors.
+

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+
+6470A Glenway Avenue, #109
+Cincinnati, OH 45211-5222
+This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
+eBook ISBN 1-59426-552-6
+Fearfully Delicious © 2005 by Adrianna Dane
+All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
+Cover art © 2005 by Stacey L. King
+Phaze is an imprint of Mundania Press, LLC.
+www.Phaze.com
+"What do you think?"
+The house in Kearney Hollow was a find. It was exactly the kind of place Sevra would love. An old farmhouse, abandoned long ago, located on a lonely, dirt road---dense woods on one side and the family cemetery on the other. Robert had searched a long time to find the perfect spot.
+He watched her out of the corner of his eye as she gazed out the passenger-side window at the passing desolate countryside. It was almost midnight. He reached out and lifted her hand from her lap and brought it to his lips, felt the accelerated beat of her pulse against his mouth. It told him what he wanted to know.
+"How did you find out about this place?"
+He smiled. "That would be telling. You trust me, right?"
+Glancing at her, he saw her lips tremble, the muscles in her throat tightened as she swallowed. His cock hardened in anticipation at the thought of her lovely red lips wrapped around his stiff prick, taking him deep, swallowing his seed. Damn, she was so good at that, her mouth so warm and moist.
+And her silky, shoulder-length blonde hair. He enjoyed feeling it whisk across his skin, stroking his balls. He glanced quickly out at the landscape, thankful they were close to their destination, because he was ready to have her go down on him right here, as they passed through the shadowy twilight.
+She turned her large, liquid brown gaze on him. He loved her eyes, the color of aged whiskey rimmed in velvet night, expressive echoes of her intense emotions. "Of course, I trust you. I was just curious."
+He could smell her arousal. And her fear. Sevra loved the edge. And it was Robert's job to find that edge, keep her there, poised at the precipice, begging for release, yet protecting her from harm. In the year and a half they'd dated, and the last six months of living together, he'd come to understand Sevra very well. It gave him as much pleasure to be able to give her what she wanted---no, needed---to set the stage so to speak, as in the actual act of making love.
+When he found the right recipe, her reactions were so passionate and all-consuming, he found himself totally enthralled with her sensual abandon. In every way she pleased him more than he'd ever thought it possible to be content with one woman. She was passionate, adventurous, intelligent, and loving. Sexually, there was very little she would not willingly do with him---for him. She satisfied him in ways he'd never imagined. And she continually challenged him.
+Professionally, they worked for the same investment company as investment advisors. It's how they'd first met. And as they'd gotten to know each other better, they'd found they had a lot in common, particularly in movies.
+Their first date had been on Halloween and they'd gone to a special showing of Dracula starring Bela Lugosi. Between the two of them, they had a large collection of the vintage horror films on DVD, but they enjoyed seeing them on the large movie theater screens.
+It was also when he began to surmise something else, something, Sevra later told him, none of her other lovers had figured out.
+Sevra liked being scared. Oh, not all the time, just on certain occasions. And she particularly liked watching the old movies just before making love. It sent the adrenaline racing through her, releasing the endorphins, making her more aware of everything around, she said. What Robert also discovered was that Sevra ran hotter than molten lava if the fear factor was involved.
+It became a game they played, and a challenge to him, to find other ways to send her endorphins into overload. Tonight was an example of the lengths he'd go to give her what she needed. And already it was having an effect.
+She always left it in his hands to set the stage and provide the props. It heightened the edge. The fact that she trusted him to protect her through these scenes sent a surge of adrenalin soaring through him. Different from what she needed, but just as potent.
+It was always a planned activity. He didn't do this fear-play because he wanted to scare her silly. He wanted her happy, to give her pleasure, and this was the way she wanted it. Her state of mind accentuated her desire, and her responses.
+He saw the faint outline of the house against the dense night sky. They were almost there.
+Turning into the driveway, he turned off the engine. He watched her as they sat silently in the car, staring at the old house. It reminded him of the house in that 1963 haunted house movie starring Julie Harris. That movie still gave him chills every time he watched it.
+He unfastened his seatbelt and opened his door. "Wait here," he instructed her.
+"Alone?" He heard the wobble in her voice.
+"I need to get things ready." He opened the back door and pulled out a small duffle bag. "I'll be right back."
+A jerky nod was her only response. He hesitated. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
+She turned to look at him, her light hair shimmered in the darkness. "I know you'll take care of me. But if you don't hurry, I'm liable to fuck you right here before you go near that house." Her lids lowered. "I'm wet for you, Robert. Very wet. You've got me where you want me already."
+He chuckled and slung the bag across his shoulder. "Baby, we've only started. And don't you dare touch yourself while I'm gone."
+"Then hurry up, dammit." She turned back to look at the house. "Do you think it's haunted?" she whispered.
+"Might be." He turned away and strode toward the front door. Damn, she was already steaming, and his cock throbbed painfully against the zipper of his jeans. But this was a special night and they were going to take it slow.
+\*
+Damn, I love that man. How could she not? Out of all the men she'd dated over the years, he was the only one who'd discovered her secret fetish. And he didn't think she was a nut case because of it. In fact, he did everything he could to accommodate her, to thrill her.
+And it wasn't only the fear factor thing; he was the most romantic man. Instead of making her feel like he was simply humoring her with these adrenaline rush scenes, he made her feel he did it for them both, that he was as involved as she was. And she loved him all the more for doing that.
+In the office they were equals, and he always listened to her ideas, and consulted her about new clients and emerging investment possibilities. Even at home, they were partners in all ways. It was only sexually, in the bedroom so to speak, that he maintained the dominant role, and she loved it.
+She trusted him to take care of her when she was fully engaged and the endorphins seized control of her body. Watching the movies always enhanced her desire and turned her blood up to boiling, but Robert somehow made it all come alive by choreographing scenes that they actually became a part of. He made her fantasies live. No one had ever done that for her before.
+She squirmed in her seat. Where was he? She wanted to touch him. Undress him. Fuck him. Suck him. Her door was yanked open and she gasped. Her stomach balled and swirled. Shifting in her seat, she looked up quickly and breathed a sigh of relief. How had he managed to reach the car without her seeing him? He was so good at the element of surprise, sending her blood pumping fast and hot through her veins.
+"Ready?" he asked as he reached for her hand to help her out.
+As she stood, she rubbed against him like a kitten seeking attention, her nipples already tightly beaded, aching to feel his hands on them. She wound herself around him.
+Standing on tiptoes, she reached up to nip at his ear. "We could do it right here." Snaking her tongue out, she tickled the rim.
+"Not yet." With a firm grip, he gently untangled her arms from around his neck.
+"Why?" she pouted.
+He shook his head. "Because I said so. Now, do you want to see the cemetery first or go inside and see if there are any ghosts?"
+"A cemetery? Where?" She turned away to look around, an eager fear enveloping her. It was too dark to make out anything. Then a beam of yellow light cornered a white picket fence. A flash of unearthly zombies moving toward her like the old cult classic rushed through her imagination. She shivered in delicious anticipation. What did Robert have planned?
+Looking over her shoulder at him, she found he was holding a large flashlight. She returned her gaze back to the fence surrounding the cemetery, intrigued, even as her pulse quickened. Cemeteries could be fascinating. So much history there. A tingling awareness took over, her pussy gushing with expectation, as excitement overran dread.
+The night was so silent, and the wind had picked up speed. She looked up at the sky to see the shadow of a fluffy cloud pass before the face of the moon. It was an Ichabod Crane kind of night, and again, she shook with morbid anticipation. What sort of little goblins awaited?
+"Well?" he inquired again.
+"The cemetery," she responded, feeling as though she were caught in twilight, moving into an otherworldly sort of trance as she walked toward the open gate highlighted by Robert's flashlight.
+He took her arm and guided her between the posts as they stepped across the uneven ground of the overgrown cemetery. Shadows of gravestones hovered around them. Again she shivered as a frigid breeze glanced across her skin, like a ghost passing through her.
+It was as though they were the only people left in the whole world. She remembered all those campfire ghost stories she and her friends told each other on sleepover nights such as this. Hanging corpses, blood dripping on cars, ghostly hitchhikers. Is that when all this had started for her, back with those adolescent horror stories? Those nights of trembling anticipation?
+She whirled toward Robert, snaking her hands along his hard chest. "Robert---" she whimpered. Her pussy pulsed with the need to have him inside her, shaking with its intensity. "Please, Robert, I need you."
+Leaning over, he set the flashlight down on the head of a wide headstone. His warmth enveloped her, his arms encircled her. "Are you cold, baby?"
+"No," she whispered. The ice-cold air surrounded her, but she was so blazing hot, it actually felt good.
+His hands slid beneath her cropped sweater and cupped her unbound breasts. He kneaded and stroked, teased and pulled. She arched into him. The fear acted like an aphrodisiac, and her pussy continued to weep, begging for attention, her panties soaked through. She ground her hips against him, could feel the hard bulge of his cock, knew he was ready.
+"Your skin's on fire, honey. You're hot enough to burn us both up."
+She could no longer think coherently. The fire inside her burned her alive. She felt him lift her arms and pull the sweater over her head. The cold air blasted over her, her nipples tightening, her body throbbing. Instinctively, she reached down to press the heel of her hand against her mound, but before she could reach it, Robert pulled her hand away.
+"I---I need---" she moaned.
+"I know you do, baby. I'll take care of you."
+"Now---"
+"When I say so." He unsnapped her jeans and tugged the zipper down. Then he stepped back and the cold air rushed over her, yet the heat radiated from her skin. It was a cool caress. He picked up the flashlight and beamed it on her.
+"What are you doing?" Holding a hand up, she squinted against the harsh glare.
+"I want to see you. Take your shoes and jeans off. Do it slowly."
+"Here?"
+"Do you want to come?"
+"You know I do. And from the size of that bulge in your pants, so do you," was her cheeky response.
+"I can wait. Can you?"
+He knew she couldn't. The throb had become an ache, a burning wash of pain spiraling, growing larger. "What if someone sees us?"
+She heard him laugh. "Here? I don't think so. The longer you hesitate---"
+She yanked off her sneakers, and then pushed the jeans over her hips and down her legs. She still retained her white thong panties. The damp air caressed her almost naked body.
+"Turn around."
+She did as he asked, feeling the brittle leaves and cold pebbles pressing into the soles of her bare feet. The ground was damp, moist with the nighttime dew. Her thighs were the same, covered with her desire. She turned back to face him.
+"Now the thong."
+She hooked her thumbs in the narrow elastic and pulled them down her legs, flicking them away. Then straightened back up.
+The beam of the flashlight roved over her body, like the stroking of his hands. The trees rustled, the scent of pine threaded through her senses. It was as though the night spoke to them, urging them on. An owl hooted in the distance. Then a scream, like a child's cry, echoing through the trees.
+"What was that?" she said as gooseflesh erupted along her arms.
+"Probably a cat on the prowl."
+"It sounded like a child."
+He stepped closer to her. "Just ghosts, honey."
+Her pussy spasmed. She was already so close to coming she doubted he'd be inside her more than a few seconds before she climaxed.
+He came closer. She felt his heat mingling with her own as he stepped near enough for his clothing to whisper against her skin. "Robert, I ache."
+He reached out and traced a path with his index finger along the flesh of her arm. "Almost there. You're beautiful. Your skin glows out here in the night. But it's not ghostly, you're warm, you radiate life. Do you know how much I love you?"
+She felt the tears begin to converge in her eyes. "I love you, too," she whispered.
+"Sometimes I wonder how I managed to find you after looking for so long." He placed a finger beneath her chin, briefly, then let his hand trail down between her breasts and over her stomach. "I know you, Sevra. I want you, just as you are. Do you believe me?"
+The tears spilled down her face and he wiped at them with the pad of his thumb. "I don't know how or why, but, yes, I believe you," she sniffed.
+She gasped, forgetting all about the tears as two of his fingers pierced her heat, driving deep. He captured her mouth, plunging his tongue inside, sucking, possessing.
+She heard the thump of the flashlight as it hit the ground and felt his other arm curve around her waist, nailing her to the spot. He pulled free of her mouth and nipped at her earlobe.
+All she could do was feel, to experience, to bend. She pushed her hips against his thrusting fingers. She felt them curl and catch her sensitive spot deep inside and she whimpered in rising frenzy. His thumb began to circle around her engorged clit, yet he didn't touch it. Round and round he teased; she thrust her hips, reaching for his touch, needing it. He kept her there at the very edge as he began to plunge his fingers in and out, adding a third.
+She sobbed, her body urgent, hot, aching. His tongue teased her ear.
+"Do you feel them watching?" his voice was a rasp of fine sandpaper again smooth wood.
+"Who?" she gasped, groaning with want.
+"The spirits...the ghosts in the trees, in the house. Do you feel their eyes on you? Watching you fuck my fingers."
+"Robert, please let me come," she begged. His words inflamed her, the desire splintered with fear, penetrating through her.
+He angled her against him. "They can see us," he whispered. "Dance for them, baby. Show them how hot you cook. How sweet and sexy you move. How much you love knowing they're out there, watching."
+She heard another vague screech in the night and she stiffened, fighting for her release, her body sheened in perspiration.
+"Only a cat, baby, probably chasing dinner." His thumb finally found her clit. "Now. Come for me now."
+And come she did, fast and hard, her body shattering against him, unable to control herself. He caught her scream with his lips, drinking it, swallowing it, possessing it as her body pulsed, her juices flowing over his hand and down her thighs. He milked her body gently until she calmed.
+Removing his hand, he wrapped both arms around her, soothing her, petting her. At last, her trembling lessened and she sighed deeply.
+His hand stroked her hair. "That was beautiful, honey. So beautiful. Now we go inside."
+"There's more?" she murmured.
+She heard him chuckle. "That was foreplay, sweetheart." He leaned down and picked up the flashlight, handing it to her.
+Her feet left the ground as he lifted her into his arms and strode from the cemetery to the house.
+"What about my clothes?"
+"Later. You won't need them for a while. A long while."
+She felt the passion begin to surge again at the thought of what else he might have planned. Feeling sated after her powerful climax, she felt like she floated in a haze as they ventured toward the porch. He set her on her feet and she stared at the door, trying to focus. She felt nothing but a distant kind of euphoria.
+Taking the flashlight from her, he then reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. He unlocked the door and urged her forward. "They're waiting, Sevra. Who do you think lived here? What happened to them? Maybe a poltergeist or two inside? Shall we go in and see what's in store for us?"
+And there it was. The fear factor. It had receded in the cemetery. During her orgasm, her mind totally focused on him and her response to him. But it only took a few words from Robert and the powerful surge began to build again.
+She turned to him and curled her fingers into the front of his shirt. "Why?"
+He stroked her hair. "I don't know, honey. But if that's what you need to hear, you know I'll give it to you. Do you want to take the time to analyze it now?"
+She shook her head and allowed him to lead her inside. He knew her mind so well---knew exactly what she was asking. The fear factor---she hated it, and yet, anticipated it, needed it. It was like a powerful drug, a button when pushed that sent her flying into the vortex of powerful sensations---addictive in their intensity.
+When she stepped inside she could smell the dank mustiness of disuse and she shivered. But, surprisingly, she also could smell new vinyl. She looked down at the floor beneath her feet, noting that a length of runner ran along the old wooden plank flooring. Robert squeezed her arm.
+"You didn't think I'd take a chance on your getting injured here, did you?"
+She should have known. Even as she spiraled through the adrenalin rush, he protected her. Beaming the flashlight toward the left, he guided her to what had probably once been a front sitting room. The only thing left in the room were pieces of broken furniture. The wallpaper peeled free in places, revealing clapboard beneath. Again, she was surprised when her feet encountered soft, plush carpeting and she looked down to discover an area carpet, oriental in pattern, but she couldn't quite make out the exact colors. The newness was in sharp contrast to the neglected walls.
+"You did this?"
+"Of course. Earlier today I was here to take care of several things."
+At one time this house had been someone's home and it had probably contained a rug very similar to the one she now stood on. A long time ago. She felt the shadows of past lives.
+"Wait here," he said as he walked across the room and bent down. He struck a match and lit a kerosene lamp that flickered in the vacant room. It offered a very soft flame of illumination. Robert shut the flashlight off; their shadows ran long against the walls.
+"Come here to me."
+She walked across the soft carpeting to meet him at the far side of the room and stand before him. He reached out and stroked her jaw, then cupped her cheek. She leaned her head into his caress.
+She was close enough to see the passion in his eyes. "Now, Sevra. Release my cock and let me feel your mouth sucking me."
+Sucking him would lead to him fucking her. She knelt, unsnapped and then unzipped his pants, and his shaft sprang free, hard already, as she knew he would be. Using one hand she gripped him at the base, felt his heat, rock hard, velvet smooth. She stroked along the steely length. How she loved touching him this way. Tracing her fingers over the ridged head, along the wet slit and back down.
+Lowering her head she teased the slit with her tongue, tasting his salty pre-cum, then engulfed the head in her mouth, rimming beneath the hood, sucking him deep inside.
+She felt his fingers thread through her hair, heard his moan of pleasure. She savored his taste, his scent, leisurely stroking him with her tongue one minute, taunting and teasing him the next. With her other hand she cupped his heavy sacs, kneading gently, then sliding her fingers beneath and stroking his sensitive secret place.
+His hips jerked and she swallowed him deeper, his rod now wet and shiny from her saliva. She found a rhythm, her throat relaxed, she moved her hands around to cup his firm ass cheeks, separating, kneading. Straightening momentarily, she released him from her mouth, continuing to stroke him with her hand. Bringing her fingers to her mouth she wet them thoroughly with her saliva, then bent to suck him once more.
+She returned her hand to his ass, gliding along the crack between his cheeks, found his small puckered anus and began to tease with her now damp fingers. She loved how she could make him this hot. He thrust harder against her mouth, and she knew he was close, so close. The head of his cock connected with the back of her throat.
+Knowing the signs, understanding him so well, she sank her finger past the tight ring of muscle and deep into his anal canal. With a shout he erupted into her mouth and she swallowed as he spasmed again and again with his own powerful climax. Slowly, she removed her hand from his ass, caressing his muscled buttocks.
+He pulled his softening prick from her mouth, sank to his knees and captured her mouth with his lips, drinking deeply of their mingled sensual flavor. He sucked at her lips as he cupped her face, then raised his head to blaze a heated glance over her.
+Releasing her, he turned to the side. Following his movements, she saw an ice-filled silver bucket. He pulled the bottle from it, unstoppered it, and filled two flutes that sat on the floor next to it. Turning back, he handed her one of the glasses.
+"To us. Happy anniversary, darling."
+She smiled and sipped at the liquid in the glass, noting it was champagne. "You think of everything, don't you? I can't think of anyone else who could take an old rundown farmhouse and make it into the scene of a romantic interlude."
+He swallowed the remainder of the champagne in his glass. Picking up the bottle, he added a small amount to his glass. "Only for us." Tipping his glass, he drizzled the champagne over her breasts.
+The cool liquid was in sharp contrast to her heated skin and she sucked in a gasp of air.
+Setting the glass aside, he leaned forward and took one of her nipples into his mouth, circling it with his tongue. "Tasty and delicious," he whispered, then returned to his task.
+His hands pulled at her hips, forcing them forward, as he nudged her back, to lie down.
+Quickly she set her own glass aside and obliged. When she was prone, he spread her thighs and lay between them. She could feel his again-hard cock pressed against her wet pussy lips. He lifted her feet and placed them flat on the floor.
+"Robert," she moaned, grinding her mound against him. He lifted his mouth from her sensitive nipple. She glanced down to see it glistening from his perusal, dusky against the rest of her pale skin. He moved up her body until his lips brushed her ear.
+"Do you think there are any undead running around outside? A few of Dracula's progeny?" He tongued her lobe. "Maybe waiting for us? How do you think it would feel to have one of them pierce your skin to drink your blood?"
+She felt his teeth graze against the pulse at her neck. A dark desire swirled inside her, growing larger, seeking to consume her. She felt the head of cock pressing at the entrance to her center and she lifted her hips to meet him.
+But he stopped, teasingly, instead lowering his head and nibbling her nipple. "Who would you prefer as your Dracula, Sevra? Lugosi, maybe? How about Langella?" He swirled his cock at her entrance.
+She twisted beneath him, seeking. "I don't know. Either, maybe both."
+Lifting his head, his dark eyes pierced her. "What do you want, Sevra?"
+She wiggled her hips. "What do you think I want?" His hard hands at her hips stopped her movements.
+"Tell me," he ordered her.
+Thrashing her head back and forth. "Fuck me, damn you."
+"Is that kind of talk going to get you what you want?"
+She stopped moving and looked up at him. Tried to think coherently. "Please, Robert, make me come. I'm so hot it hurts. Fuck me. Please."
+He smiled and leaned down to trail lingering kisses along her neck and down between the valley of her breasts. Then he mercifully pressed himself inside and began to stroke slowly into her. "Is this what you want?"
+"Yesss." Oh, what he was doing to her as he circled inside her, ground deeply against her, retreated, penetrated. She closed her eyes, focused only on the sensations he created. His mouth, his hands, his cock. Her body radiated sensual heat, and with each movement, each touch he turned the dial higher and higher, until she was writhing beneath him at the edge, needing to plunge over.
+"And who do you want fucking you? Dracula or me? Who do you fantasize about?"
+"You, Robert," she shouted, "only you."
+He kept her at the pinnacle, the ache tinged with pleasure waiting to explode. She reared her head and gasped...
+...then suddenly he stopped moving, buried inside her. Opening her eyes she tried to focus. "What is it?"
+He brought his hand in front of her gaze. What looked like a black scarf of some kind dangled from his fingers. "Lift your head."
+Still caught in the vortex of passion, she found it difficult to comprehend what he needed. "Wh---what?"
+"Lift your head." He ground against her to punctuate his request. "Now."
+Slowly, she lifted her head as he asked. The world turned even darker as he blindfolded her with the soft material. "Why?"
+He resumed a steady rhythm of fucking her. "I want your concentration. I want you to feel, to hear the sounds of the night, the house, me."
+She felt his fingers at her stiffened, engorged clit, teasing, and then she was falling headlong into the abyss that awaited her, shattering into tiny pieces, yet she reached out and clung to the rock that was Robert, her only lifeline to solid ground.
+He pulled from her still-spasming pussy, turned on his side and held her against him. She felt his hands stroking along her spine, cupping her ass, kneading.
+Placing a kiss on her damp neck, she felt his breath near her ear. She still trembled in the aftermath of her second powerful orgasm. "Listen to the house, concentrate on the sounds."
+Unbelievably, her body responded again to his voice, to his words. "Robert, I don't think---"
+She felt a finger placed against her lips. "Listen," he commanded.
+She attuned her senses to the sounds around her. She could hear Robert's even breathing. The wind had gathered momentum and the house seemed to creak and groan beneath its heavy-handed embrace.
+Her breaths halted in her chest as she listened closer. Footsteps. Above her. Instinctively, she glanced upwards, concentrating on the sound. The pounding of her heart seemed to send her blood rushing through her veins.
+"Robert," she whispered urgently, "is there someone else in the house?"
+"I was here earlier. It's vacant."
+"Then what's that sound. I hear footsteps." The fear pulled at her and she felt her body responding as the blood rushed into her labia and impossibly more of her desire bled free along her thighs.
+"Your imagination---or the spirits have awakened." He lifted her to her knees, feathered caresses across her breasts, tested her sensitive entrance. "You're wet and ready again, babe."
+"It's too much," she moaned, as she felt him move behind her.
+His hands smoothed and kneaded her cheeks. "You've got such a perfect ass, sweetheart. I'm going to get you ready," his finger dipped down to her pussy and then back to the tight little carnal opening, teasing at the puckered entrance. "And then I'm going to fuck you here."
+God, how could she get any hotter without bursting into an inferno? Pain, fear, desire, sensations all mingling and she couldn't distinguish one from another. All she knew was that she wanted him to do it. "Yes, Robert, I want you to."
+He gently guided her to rest forward on her arms with her ass in the air. "Widen your legs honey, and arch your back." She did as he asked and then felt cold lubricant against her opening as he prepared her to take him. His finger penetrated, and she gasped at the intrusive feeling. His other hand rubbed her back in soothing circles as he pierced deeper. "Relax your muscles, honey. You know I'm not going to hurt you. If you want me to stop, say so."
+"I know," she whispered as she tried to consciously assist in allowing his entry.
+She felt him slide past the outer ring, and lodge inside. He waited, while she accustomed herself to his presence. "We'll do this slow."
+Her muscles began to ease, making room for him and slowly he began to thrust. She felt herself relax, felt a dark lust begin to rise.
+"I'm going to give you more, babe. I think you're ready."
+He added a second finger to the first. She felt the pressure, but quickly her muscles eased in acceptance, and the fiery ball in her abdomen grew larger. Her pussy felt empty, abandoned and neglected, yet there was a wild hum beginning to build and she pushed her hips against his invading digits, building into a rhythm of compelling want.
+She felt him slide his fingers out and the tip of his penis teased at the entrance. "You're ready for me. I'm going to fuck you slow. Don't tense, sweetie."
+Her small opening eased beneath the pressure he exerted. Slow and steady, she felt him pass the tight muscle, opening her to him, allowing his thick cock to pass freely and lodge inside her. God, she felt so full.
+He groaned behind her. "So tight and hot." He sank deeper and stopped. He lifted her to her knees and pulled her back against him. "Are you all right?"
+"Yes," she gasped. "Oh, god, it feels so---so---" She couldn't complete the thought as swirling sensations overpowered her reasoning abilities. He began to thrust, long, slow pressure and retreat, until she began moving against him in languid counter-rhythm, the heat swirling and stroking her.
+But she needed something else. Apparently, he knew because his hand covered her mound and his fingers pressed inside her pussy. She leaned back, arching against him, basking in the sensations of pleasure stoking her body, wave upon wave of sensation moving through her.
+She opened her mouth to release a sigh of pleasure and her eyes widened behind the blindfold as something was pushed into her mouth, and another pair of hands cupped her breasts. She stiffened as she realized it was a sheathed cock pressing home to her throat.
+A hand pressed at her abdomen. "Take it all, babe. Just relax." It was Robert. They'd talked about doing a threesome, but---
+The sensations began to overwhelm her. So many hands on her, in her, stroking, pleasuring, teasing. At first the fear of the unknown took hold, but as the haze of lust shrouded her from reality she abandoned her body totally to the bliss of overwhelming sensual domination.
+She relaxed into Robert's hard body behind her, knowing he would keep her safe. Allowed herself to submerge her being into the most decadent sensations she'd ever experienced.
+Sucking the cock in her mouth deeper she gave herself over to pleasuring him with enthusiasm. As Robert pressed inward, the presence in her mouth retreated. As Robert withdrew, the cock pressed home to the back of her throat. Her moans were muffled, yet she made it obvious to them all she enjoyed the attentions she was receiving.
+She could feel both of them closing in on completion as the momentum changed. Robert's fingers in her pussy increased their friction and in a supreme moment of unimaginable release, first she felt Robert's release inside her anus, then she felt the cock in her mouth spasming with pulse after pulse of his seed, and finally, her own release pulled hard, driving her beyond them all, to the black void of a climax that propelled her beyond reality into a sensual oblivion.
+\*
+As Robert watched, Sevra's eyelashes fluttered. Good, she's waking up. He poured out a glass of water and held it to her lips.
+That was something that had never happened before. She'd never fainted. He guessed it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Obviously, her emotions and sensations had been so overwhelmed, she'd just shut down completely. He'd heard of it happening. Thankfully she was only out for a few minutes.
+She opened her eyes and looked at him. With shaky hands she reached for the cup he held to her lips and downed the whole thing. He helped her to sit up.
+"Are you all right?"
+"I'm fine. My god, what happened to me? I don't think I've ever done that before."
+He set the glass down and then picked up a sponge lying in a bowl of water and began to wash away the evidence of their combined passion. "That's what I would call sensory overload."
+"I guess it was. Who was that?"
+He paused for a moment. "Who?"
+"The man whose cock I just swallowed, while you were fucking me."
+He continued to glance the sponge across her body. "Maybe it was one of the spirits in this house who wanted to join us."
+"That cock was too rock hard to be anyone's spirit, Robert."
+"So you've had quite a few sexual encounters with ghosts?"
+"Well, no---"
+"Then how do you know it wasn't a ghost?" He threw the sponge back into the bowl.
+"I don't, but---"
+"But what?" He looked at her. "Did you enjoy what happened?"
+"Well, yes. We've talked about a threesome before. You know I wasn't adverse to trying it."
+"And you leave it to me to arrange these adventures, right? Because you need it---and you need to be surprised by what's coming."
+"Yes."
+He sat down and pulled her onto his lap. "You enjoyed it." He leaned down and kissed her. "I planned every bit of this for your pleasure." He teased her earlobe with his teeth. "There's nothing more to know." He turned her so she straddled his lap, cupped her face, and pinned her with a hard, penetrating look. "Is there?"
+He saw her desire to pull away and then suddenly she relented, and he felt the tension ease from her. "No. You're right. I guess it just took me by surprise."
+He smiled. "Doesn't it always?"
+She leaned forward and snuggled against him. "I love you, Robert," she whispered. "Sometimes it scares me how much."
+He threaded his fingers through her hair, loving the silky texture. "Marry me."
+Her head popped up from his shoulder, eyes wide with disbelief. "What did you say?"
+Smiling, he repeated it. "Marry me."
+Her eyes glittered in the dim light. "You're serious?"
+"Can you doubt it? I love you, too. I want to spend the rest of my life with you." He reached out and pulled a small velvet jeweler's box from behind the ice bucket. He flipped up the lid and held it in front of her. He pulled the ring from the case and held it out to her, waiting. Would she agree?
+"Oh, god, yes, Robert." She threw her arms around him. "Yes. Yes. Yes."
+His laughter was tinged with relief. Picking up her left hand, he slid the platinum ring on her finger. It fit perfectly.
+She turned her head to look down at her hand. The fire of the diamond glittered in the natural moonlight. "This is a dream," she whispered. "I'm sure I'll wake up in a moment.
+"Most people might call it a nightmare, but who am I to argue with a beautiful woman?" he responded, pulling her close. "You're all mine now."
+"I have been for a long time. We fit, and it amazes me every time I think about it."
+He moved her from his lap and rose to his feet. "It's time to get you home." He helped her to rise.
+"Ow," she said as she got up. "Wow."
+"Are you all right? What hurts?" He never wanted to hurt her with the games they played. They were for her enjoyment. True, his as well, but he planned them specifically to heighten her desire.
+"It's nothing. A hot bath and I'll be good as new."
+"Are you sure?"
+"Robert, it's okay." She leaned up to cup his jaw. "Really. This was the most memorable night of my life. And you planned it for me. It was wonderful."
+Breathing a sigh of relief, he leaned down to the duffel bag he'd brought in earlier, and pulled out a pair of jeans and a sweater and handed them to her.
+She laughed. "You came prepared, I see."
+"Of course. I wasn't about to let you put on those damp clothes you took off earlier. I had a feeling you'd want to visit the cemetery first. We'll retrieve them on the way back to the car."
+He watched her as she got dressed. He loved watching her, whatever she did. She carried everything off with such grace and charm. Even when they cleaned the apartment or did the laundry. In her most scruffy clothes she still looked beautiful to him. Whether she was submissive, like tonight, or in complete control at work, just watching her aroused him every time. Not a whit of it had lessened over the two years they'd been together. It had merely increased.
+Tonight he'd take her home and they'd have a long, hot bath, followed by some soft loving and some smooth music.
+Once he had settled her into the car, he walked back to the cemetery and retrieved her clothing and shoes. He looked up at the house and a small smile curved his lips. What was she going to say when she found out he'd closed on a deal for this house three days ago? Although it would take a lot of work before it was liveable again, the foundation was solid. It was perfect for them.
+His gaze rose to the second story window as the flare of a match being struck caught his eye. Of course, there was a randy ghost or two that might need exorcizing. But the rest could stay.
+THE END
+Adrianna Dane (who also writes as Tess Maynard) has been writing since the age of ten. She currently resides in the state of Washington and is a member of RWA, Olympia Chapter of RWA, Kiss of Death Chapter, and EPIC.
+Adding sensual heat to romance with a dusting of suspense is Adrianna's motto. "Esmerelda's Secret" released by Amber Quill Press in June of 2004 was Adrianna's first book, and with that story and her subsequent books has firmly established herself as a voice in the sensual/erotic romance genre.
+Adrianna may be contacted at Find out more about her current releases as well as planned future releases and appearances at
+

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+Jake drove toward Wiley's the next day rubbing his hand over gritty tired eyes. He hadn't slept much last night. He'd stayed outside the car lot well into the darkest hours of the evening, keeping the place under surveillance in case DeLito showed, but if the salesman had conducted business, he'd met his contacts elsewhere. Of course, DeLito could have gotten wind of Jake's undercover gig and moved the operation to another site. So far, Wiley had seven spin-off used-car lots located in seven different cities. Although police were investigating each of them, they'd all believed the main thrust of the thefts had originated right here in the outskirts of Atlanta---at Wiley's home base.
+But the job wasn't the only thing that had kept Jake awake. When they'd been decorating, he'd seen Wiley pull Hannah into his office before she'd left. Through the glass window, he'd watched them speak in hushed voices. Wiley had slipped Hannah a folder which she had tucked under her arm and taken home. What had been in the folder? Records for her to doctor to hide Wiley's illegal deals?
+When he'd left the lot, he'd found himself driving by Hannah's house to see if she'd gone home. Worse, he'd contemplated stopping by her place, trusting her with the truth about his job at Wiley's, actually asking her about the files. Trust and truth---two terms missing from his vocabulary.
+Of course, he'd reined in his insanity, knowing he couldn't blow his cover, and sternly reminded himself that he and Hannah were way too different to ever have anything together---except steamy kisses. And great sex.
+A relationship---never.
+Later, when he'd finally succumbed to fatigue and climbed into bed, sleep had overcome him, scattering all thoughts of the case into oblivion. Fantasies of Hannah had taken over and wreaked havoc with his subconscious. He couldn't allow himself to care about anyone, not with his job, not with his moving around, not with his own family history....
+She needed someone respectable, settled, someone who'd know how to socialize with her doctor friends, someone who'd fit in.
+All the things he could never be or do.
+Damn, the woman was messing up his head. His thoughts had been bouncing back and forth like a boomerang.
+Refusing to fool himself into believing any differently, he didn't understand why he still found himself driving by her house on the way to Wiley's Thanksgiving dinner. Hoping to find another man there so he could stop fantasizing about how perfect and innocent she was? Hoping that she might be at home wishing he were there in her bed and arms, loving her and imprinting his own stamp of ownership on her body?
+Furious at his wandering thoughts, he slowed the El Camino as he neared her street, scanning the drive for vehicles. Hannah's dependable Volvo sat parked in her drive, the only car in sight. So...Hannah was home.
+Working on the files? Or making those damned homemade rolls her father had been bragging about?
+He shut out the little voice nagging at him and pulled into traffic, deciding he'd drive slowly so he wouldn't arrive at Wiley's too early. After all, it would be a long day and he needed to plan his strategy. Today he'd have all three Hartwell sisters together---the golden opportunity to glean as much information as he could about their father. Maybe today Hannah would reveal something concrete that would point to her innocence. Or to her guilt.
+HANNAH RACED through the Piggly Wiggly, disgusted with herself for being late and roll-less. Regardless of last night's decision to buy rolls, she'd tried again this morning to bake some and failed miserably. When the thirteenth batch had flopped, she'd decided that although she wasn't superstitious and still didn't believe in the lore associated with the pearl ring, she did not have time to try to bake another pan of bread, so she'd dressed for the day, stopped by the bakery and would try to pawn off some of the grocery-store rolls as her own.
+Apparently, a lot of other people had the same idea.
+There wasn't a single package of rolls left at any of the stores in town. She'd considered calling Mimi, but her sister had her hands full with desserts. The Piggly Wiggly, her last stop, had a loaf of wheat bread and two cans of bake-at-home biscuit dough. She grabbed the cans and headed toward Wiley's, chastising herself for acting so irrationally. She certainly didn't want to pretend to be something she wasn't---Hannah hated phonies---and she had baked homemade rolls, they simply had turned out to be black craters or lumpy clumps of inedible dough.
+Still, she hated admitting failure, so she was opting for a half truth.
+Slowly pulling into her father's drive, she took a deep breath, bracing herself for the sexy used-car salesman/patient/drifter her dad had invited, and heard Alison's words echoing in her head. Don't be afraid to have fun.
+No, she wasn't. She simply refused to waste time with a man so obviously ill-suited for her. The rock Grammy Rose had put in her hope chest and the note---don't let the man you marry weigh you down---confirmed her decision. Wouldn't a man like Jake eventually hurt her?
+Extricating herself from the car, she stuffed the paper bag beneath her arm, adjusted the pale blue blouse she'd tucked inside slinky black pants and strolled up the sidewalk. Seconds later, Mimi ushered her inside with a hug. The warm scents of chocolate cake, turkey, dressing and sweet potatoes filled the small house. Alison danced through the doorway, wearing a Braves jersey and juggling a tray of iced tea. The TV blared from the den, the Thanksgiving Day parade filling the screen.
+"Grammy Rose!" Hannah exclaimed when she saw her dear grandmother sitting on the sofa. "What a nice surprise. I didn't know you were going to be here."
+"Hey, honey, come on in! Alison picked me up." Grammy was sitting next to Jake, her small frame dwarfed by his huge size. Jake's long legs were stretched out on a gray ottoman, his thick black hair spiked haphazardly as if he'd just run his fingers through it.
+The room suddenly shrank in size.
+Hannah hurried to hug her grandmother. "Don't get up, Grammy." She bent to give her a kiss. "I'm so glad you made it. Are you feeling better? No signs of pneumonia?"
+"No, I'm fine, honey." Grammy patted Jake's knee. "This young man has been keeping me entertained."
+Jake turned, awkwardly lifting himself to stand.
+"You don't have to get up," Hannah said, knowing his injury still made him stiff.
+He stood anyway. "Hello, Hannah."
+"Hey, sis." Alison sailed into the room with the tray of drinks.
+"I have to check on the sweet potato soufflé," Mimi chirped. She winked at Alison and disappeared into the kitchen. Alison handed Jake and Grammy Rose glasses of tea, flipped her hand up and waved. "I have to help Mimi."
+"Let me help, too," Hannah said, panicking at the matchmaking twinkle in Grammy Rose's eyes.
+"Oh, no, Hannah." Alison pointed a finger at the sofa. "It's way too crowded in there. Sit down and entertain Jake and talk to Grammy. Tell her all about the pearl ring."
+"I've already talked to Grammy about the ring." Hannah shot her sister a murderous look and indicated the package in her hands. "And I need to heat these."
+Alison snatched the bag. "I'll take care of them." With a mischievous giggle, she flitted away before Hannah could argue.
+Grammy Rose chortled at the lively animated characters performing in the Thanksgiving Day parade on the TV screen, as she moved to the rocking chair. "Here, Hannah, you sit by your young man now."
+Hannah stifled a gasp. "Grammy, he's not my---"
+"Come on, sit down, doc," Jake said, a smile tugging at his lips. "Did you bring those homemade rolls that melt in your mouth?"
+Hannah smiled weakly, tapping her fingers up and down her arm. "Actually, they're not. I...I've been at the hospital on an emergency all morning and didn't have time to bake. I had to pick up some store-bought ones. I hope you don't mind."
+His jaw seemed to tighten, his eyes darken. "You had to go in this morning?"
+Hannah nodded, her pulse racing. She was a terrible liar. Why didn't she just confess the truth about her poor culinary skills?
+"I hope it wasn't anything serious," Jake said in a gruff voice.
+"No, I mean, there was a small...child..." Hannah struggled for something believable, aware the lies were growing. The very reason she hated them---once you told one lie, you triggered a domino effect and soon things spiraled out of control.
+JAKE WATCHED Hannah squirm and tap those fingers up and down in that nervous gesture he'd come to recognize. He knew she'd been home all morning because he'd driven by there twice, then actually waited at the end of the street until he'd seen her pull away from her house---why was she lying? And why did he feel so disappointed when he'd begun to trust her.
+"He...uh, was choking on a chicken leg," Hannah said.
+"Mercy me," her grandmother exclaimed.
+Jake jerked himself back to her lies. "The kid's okay?"
+"Oh, yes," Hannah said, averting her gaze away from his questioning one. "But once I arrived, three other emergencies came in so I stayed. I barely had time to run home and change."
+Jake nodded, deciding Hannah Hartwell was one of the worst liars he'd ever met. Put her in an interrogation room and the woman would fall apart.
+Put her in his arms and...
+Wiley suddenly bounced into the room wearing a bright orange shirt and a handpainted tie with turkeys on the front. "While we're waiting on dinner, I thought we'd watch some videos."
+Hannah groaned. "Not those old videos of us when we were kids, Dad?"
+"Oh, let's!" Grammy Rose squealed, winking at Jake. "These girls were such precious little things when they were little. Why, Hannah used to read fairy tales and play dress up---"
+"Grammy, I'm sure Jake's not interested---"
+"Of course I am," Jake said, grinning at her grandmother. "Your grandmother's a fascinating storyteller. She's already been regaling me with tales about your mischievous toddler escapades. Something about mustard handprints on the walls."
+Hannah rolled her eyes, and Jake wondered if she was simply embarrassed or trying to hide family secrets.
+Ignoring Hannah's protests, her father popped in a tape. "I still say I should have sent some of these movies to that 'Funniest Home Videos' show."
+"But Dad---"
+"It's okay, Hannah," Jake said, his mouth twitching. "I don't mind."
+Hannah folded her arms across her middle, obviously bracing herself for the mortifying recounting of her childhood. Mimi and Alison bustled in and sat cross-legged on the floor, eager and enthusiastic.
+"Where's Joey?" Hannah asked.
+Mimi shrugged, looking disappointed. "I don't know. He said he'd be here."
+"Shh." Wiley pointed to the TV where a two-year-old Hannah raced across the yard to the kiddy swimming pool, buck naked.
+"That was you, Hannah. My, you were a pretty baby," Grammy said. "You never did like to wear clothes."
+Hannah sank lower into the sofa, and Jake couldn't fight a chuckle.
+"Turn it to the Christmas ones, Dad, or we'll never get to eat," Hannah pleaded.
+Wiley fast-forwarded to the Christmas when Hannah was five, Mimi three and Alison a baby. Decorations filled the tiny house, holiday music blared in the background and her father sauntered in dressed as Santa, a huge burlap sack slung over his shoulder. Hannah sat on the floor in the midst of freshly opened packages, toys surrounding her.
+"Hannah collects dolls," Alison explained.
+"That was a long time ago," Hannah said, her shoulders stiff as she watched.
+"You used to line them up and tell them stories," Grammy said. "You told me you'd always want a doll for Christmas, no matter how old you got."
+"Well, I grew up, and I don't ask for dolls anymore," Hannah said in a low tone.
+"Don't you ever get too old to dream, child," Grammy chided in a loving voice. "Oh, look, there's Cousin Elroy." She clucked her tongue. "You know that was right before he had to go to prison. Best thing that ever happened to the man. He's been honest ever since the state released him. Learned how to bake in the pen. Now he's a fancy chef at one of them swanky places downtown."
+"Is that a fact?" Jake asked. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Hannah shudder.
+Grammy slapped a bony hand on her thigh. "Yep. We've had a lot of jailbirds in this family. He wasn't the first of the Hartwells to find himself in trouble with the law. Uncle Roy did a stint back in '89, and Aunt Martha got arrested for burning the flag in the seventies. Of course, she was burning her bra, too. One of them hippies." Grammy laughed, obviously thrilled to have Jake's undivided attention. "She's a saleslady at Victoria's Secret now. Sells bras instead of burning them."
+Jake chuckled.
+"Grammy, do you have to tell Jake about all the Hartwell black sheep?" Hannah asked.
+Grammy laughed. "Honey, every family's got 'em. Why hide the fact?"
+Exactly, Jake wondered, unless she didn't want to raise suspicion.
+"Oh, look, Grammy, there's you and Gramps," Alison said.
+They sat through the next four years, Wiley boasting about each of the girls and how much they'd grown, recounting stories about the gifts they'd begged for and the adventures he'd had trying to locate the more difficult-to-find toys. Hannah finally relaxed enough to laugh as Mimi danced across the screen, wearing her Little Red Hen costume. One year, she'd received a dress-up box with dozens of costumes and they'd put on an impromptu version of Cinderella. Alison had painted the set with her fingerpaint kit while Hannah had added props.
+Hannah had been the princess.
+Jake's gut tightened at the sweet innocence in her childhood expression; the kind of joy that was missing from her face now.
+"You used to love fairy tales, Hannah," her father said wistfully. "You'd climb in that maple tree outside and pretend you were trapped like Rapunzel, waiting on a knight to storm in and rescue you."
+"I was only a kid," Hannah said, her cheeks turning pink. "Thank goodness I grew up and stopped living in fantasy land."
+"Oh, look, there's the Sleeping Beauty doll you got for your birthday one year." Mimi turned her head, her brow furrowed. "Whatever happened to your doll collection?"
+"It's in the attic where it belongs," Hannah said. "Why don't we turn it back to the parade? Jake must be bored out of his mind."
+"Not at all," Jake said, enjoying himself. "This is very entertaining."
+The next clip featured one of Wiley's famous ads.
+"That first ad aired on your birthday, didn't it Hannah?"
+Hannah nodded. Jake watched her face cloud over as if she was suddenly lost in memories. Judging from her expression, they weren't all happy.
+HANNAH REMEMBERED the day the ad had aired in painful clarity. The Christmas-in-July ad had first been shown on Hannah's ninth birthday---the day her mother had deserted them.
+Wiley was dressed like Santa, his big belly shaking with laughter as he rang bells above all the specials for the month. Her mother had stormed out, her suitcase in hand, just as he'd shouted "Ho, ho, ho" on the screen. Hannah's excitement over the commercial had quickly faded as she'd listened to her mother's tirade. She'd accused Wiley of embarrassing her with his stunts, claiming that if Wiley loved her, he'd end the foolishness and get a respectable job. Maybe even work for her father.
+Wiley had balked, saying he'd never be bought by her dad or stuck in a boring office from nine to five pushing papers around a desk, wearing a tie that her father picked out for him. Then Hannah had overheard the reason her mother and her father had married in the first place---the unwanted pregnancy. Her.
+When Hannah emerged from her memory, she heard Mimi relating the story about their mother leaving that day. Another clip started, taken on the next holiday. The doll collection was suspiciously missing. So was the joy in Hannah's eyes.
+A warm hand covered hers, and Hannah realized Jake had slipped her hand under his own. The warm contact sent her nerves skittering in a thousand directions. She stared at their joined hands for several seconds, then lifted her gaze to see him studying her intently.
+Thank goodness, her sisters were unaware. They were laughing at Mimi, who had received a toy guitar that day and was dancing across the screen performing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
+Wiley suddenly jumped up. "I think something's burning."
+"Oh, no! It's probably the rolls!" Mimi pushed to her feet and raced toward the kitchen. Hannah saw Alison staring at her hand intertwined with Jake's and quickly jerked it away.
+Mimi appeared in the doorway, holding a pan of charred biscuits. Hannah laughed. So much for her contribution to dinner---although the ones Mimi held still looked more tasty than her homemade ones.
+"DINNER'S SERVED," Wiley announced a few minutes later.
+Alison helped Grammy Rose from the rocking chair, and Hannah automatically reached for Jake's arm to help him. He frowned and pulled away. "I can manage."
+"Did you bring your doughnut to sit on?"
+"I don't need it," Jake muttered through clenched teeth.
+"But, Jake---"
+A muscle ticked in his jaw. "Drop it, doc. Don't humiliate a man any more than he already has been."
+Hannah nodded. "I'm sorry, I simply wanted you to be comfortable."
+Jake shrugged. "I didn't mean to snap, but I'm not accustomed to people hovering over me."
+"Sorry, I'll try not to hover. But you need to take it easy. Oh, and come in next week and I'll remove the stitches."
+His jaw tightened again. "I'll find another doctor if you don't mind."
+"Of course not," she said, stiffening. "Now come on, let's eat."
+"Lead the way. I'm starved."
+Hannah guided him to the maple dining table. Everyone had seated themselves, conveniently leaving two empty places side by side for him and Hannah. Grammy and Alison both giggled. From Hannah's frown, Jake sensed her displeasure over the devilish two who had conspired to play matchmakers. He'd simply have to suffer through the women's devious meddling.
+Jake settled himself in the chair a little awkwardly, but the rest of the crew continued chatting about the food and hardly noticed his stiff movements.
+"Let's say grace," Wiley said.
+The family instantly extended hands. Jake shifted, uncomfortable with the family tradition, but Hannah and her grandmother each took one of his hands to include him.
+Wiley began by giving thanks for the food. "And thank you for allowing our family to be together today. We're glad Grammy Rose can be with us. And bless our new friend, Jake Tippins, who risked his neck to protect my business."
+Everyone muttered "Amen" while Jake struggled with guilt. He'd never had anyone pray for him and thank him, especially one of his own suspects.
+"When did you come to work for Wiley?" Grammy Rose asked.
+"A few weeks ago." Jake scooped mashed potatoes onto his plate and tried to make room for Wiley's oyster dressing. "So, how long have you been in the used-car business, Wiley?"
+"Let's see, about thirty years now."
+"The business has been good to you?" Jake noticed Hannah's wary look, and wondered if his question had hit too close to home.
+"We get by," Wiley said with a laugh.
+Mimi's gold loop earrings dangled as she turned her head toward the door for the hundredth time. "I wonder where Joey is."
+Jake wondered the same thing---was DeLito doing business on Thanksgiving?
+"He'll probably show," Hannah said, patting Mimi's hand. "Maybe he overslept or something."
+Jake's gaze shot to the bright wall clock shaped like an orange. Apparently Wiley's taste in flamboyant clothes extended to his tastes in furnishings. Was DeLito really sleeping at two o'clock?
+"He had to take care of a few things for me this morning," Wiley said, raising Jake's suspicions. "But I imagine he'll be along soon." Wiley gave Mimi an affectionate look. "He wouldn't miss one of your desserts, would he, sweetheart?"
+Mimi giggled. "He'd better not, or I'm going to cut him off."
+"Mimi!" Hannah's cheeks turned pink.
+"From chocolate," Mimi said with a devilish grin.
+"How long have you two been going out now?" Grammy asked, her lips pursed.
+"Just a couple of months," Mimi said. "I met him at Dad's place."
+Alison laughed. "How do you like working at the car lot, Jake?"
+Jake's jaw tightened, but he took a sip of tea, trying to disguise the movement. "It's fine. Your dad certainly has a knack for advertising."
+"Those early-bird specials are really working," Wiley agreed. "I think we're going to make a killing this year."
+Jake thought so too, only he didn't think the profit would be due to the early-bird specials. "Erma Jean's such a sweetheart. Does she take care of all the books?" Jake asked.
+Wiley and Hannah exchanged odd looks. Finally, Wiley cleared his throat and replied, "Yeah, I don't know what I'd do without her. You sure do ask a lot of questions, son."
+"Sounds to me like the boy wants to get ahead in the business," Grammy winked, as if giving her stamp of approval. "You don't learn things if you don't ask, do you, son?"
+"No, ma'am, you don't," Jake said.
+"Have you decided to stay here in Sugar Hill?" Alison asked.
+Hannah coughed. "Alison---"
+"I was just curious." She flipped a strand of her dark hair over her shoulders, her young face full of innocence.
+"I don't know how long I'll be here," Jake said truthfully.
+"But you're considering staying?"
+"I don't know."
+"Don't you want to settle down some day?" Grammy Rose asked.
+Hannah cleared her throat. "Grammy..."
+"I'm afraid I'm not the settle-down type, ma'am. I don't even have a dog, too much to take care of."
+"Everyone needs a pet," Mimi said. "I take in strays all the time. Maybe you should think about adopting a dog. They're great company."
+"I'm not home enough to take care of an animal," Jake said.
+Grammy lifted a forkful of mashed potatoes to her mouth. "So you don't want children of your own some day?"
+"I don't know the first thing about kids," Jake said, shifting uncomfortably.
+"Neither did I when we had Hannah," Wiley said with a chuckle. "But a man learns. And these girls have been the light of my life."
+"Oh, Daddy," Mimi gushed.
+"You're the best," Alison said.
+Hannah stared at her plate, her cheeks flushing.
+"There aren't any hard and fast rules for parenting," Grammy said. "You learn as you go along."
+A knock interrupted the conversation and Mimi sprang from her seat. "It's probably Joey."
+Seconds later, Mimi returned with the tall man on her arm. Joey DeLito had thick black hair, combed away from his face, a dark complexion and a jagged scar running along his jawbone. Although DeLito didn't have a record, Jake imagined he was so slick he hadn't yet been caught, or he could be operating under an alias. He turned on his charm with the women customers, flirting with them as if he'd do whatever it took to win their business. He doubted Mimi knew that side of him. He didn't understand why Wiley allowed his daughter to see the man. Jake had taken an immediate disliking to DeLito, and DeLito reciprocated the feeling. Jake would love to bring him down.
+DeLito greeted the family, nodding curtly at Jake. "Where have you been, Joey?" Mimi asked, ushering him into a seat. "You missed the home videos."
+Joey shrugged. "Sorry. Maybe next time."
+"We could show some more after lunch," Mimi suggested.
+"No," Hannah replied quickly.
+Jake watched quietly as the girls bickered good-naturedly. Grammy Rose frowned at Joey, though, and he wondered if the elderly woman detected DeLito's devious nature.
+"Let's have dessert in the den with coffee," Wiley suggested. "I have a surprise for everyone."
+The girls emitted a collective groan. "What now, Dad?" Hannah asked.
+"I'll show you when we're all settled."
+Clearing the table quickly became a group effort, everyone bustling around to carry dishes into the big homey kitchen, bumping into each other and laughing. "Here, let me take your plate, Jake. You go sit down," Hannah said as they turned sideways in the doorway to pass.
+"I'm not an invalid," Jake said tightly.
+"Look, you're under the mistletoe," Alison squealed. "You have to kiss her, Jake."
+Jake looked down into Hannah's face and read panic.
+"Go ahead," Grammy Rose said. "It's tradition."
+"It's silly---"
+"Hannah!" Alison chided. "Kiss the man!"
+Jake didn't give her a chance to fight him. He swept his arms around her, lowered his head and claimed her mouth, gently pressing his lips around hers so she had to kiss him back. When they finally pulled apart, Hannah's eyes seemed slightly glazed, stunned. His own breathing sounded erratic.
+Alison clapped gleefully.
+Hannah darted away from Jake. "Um, let's get dessert."
+"Mercy me." Grammy Rose fanned her face with a gnarled hand.
+Minutes later, they all sat with coffee and chocolate pecan pie in the den. Grammy Rose perched in the rocking chair, knitting needles and yarn in her hand. Alison stretched out on the floor on her stomach, Joey and Mimi took the sofa, leaving Jake to squeeze onto the love seat by Hannah. He was still thinking about that kiss, remembering the sweet heaven in Hannah's lips, the blazing heat in her body.
+But Hannah did not look happy. Her frown grew when Wiley reached for another tape.
+"No, Dad, not another one!" Hannah groaned.
+Alison waved for her to be quiet.
+DeLito slung an arm around Mimi, remaining suspiciously quiet. Wiley punched the remote control button and the screen flashed with images of the group decorating the car lot. Music blared in the background, the camera zoomed across the lot at the lights, recapturing the fun-filled evening. The camera focused on Jake for a moment, and Hannah squirmed. Jake prayed no one else noticed the raw look of hunger between them as they'd conversed.
+"I'm thinking of using this as an ad for family specials for the holidays," Wiley explained.
+"No, Dad, you can't," Hannah said.
+Wiley scratched his head, his eyes narrowing. "Why not, honey? I'm already working on a slogan. Would you sign a waver, Tippins? DeLito?"
+Jake opened his mouth to mutter a reply, but Joey protested first. "I'm not sure I want to be featured in an ad."
+"Trust me, Dad. It's just not a good idea," Hannah said. "You have to come up with something else."
+Jake remained silent, hoping Hannah would save him a reply by convincing her father not to use the clip. He didn't want his face plastered across the southeast on a car ad. It might blow his cover. And if Joey had been using an alias and was masterminding the illegal theft ring, he certainly wouldn't want to be exposed.
+But why was Hannah so against the ad?
+Wiley walked over and massaged Hannah's shoulder. "Okay, honey, we'll talk about it later. I simply thought a family angle would be nice, and it would tie in with the holidays."
+Jake had never been at a family gathering per se, and an odd feeling stirred in the pit of his stomach. Maybe it was the indigestion, he thought, refusing to acknowledge that his sudden bout of emotion might be related to this family and their obvious love for one another.
+Like Hannah, he'd stopped believing in fairy tales as a kid. That was something they had in common. It was the very reason he'd reached for her hand---because he'd felt some silent connection.
+Only now, he didn't like that connection. He didn't want to like Hannah Hartwell or any of her family. Liking them would only make it harder to turn them in. And he would turn them in if he had to. Because that was his job, and Jake Tippins lived and breathed for his work.
+Hannah Hartwell seemed to be open and trusting and caring and he...well, he plain out wasn't and never would be.
+
+