"Oh, s.h.i.t!" Tessa cursed aloud. Once again, she did a one- eighty and gunned the car up the hill to Venetia .

Casey and the young woman talked for a few more minutes, but still Casey had not turned over the gla.s.s. Disappointment was displayed in her companion's eyes.

"Perhaps I should go," the woman said, rising. Propriety dictated that she stay no longer without Casey offering the drink.

"No, please stay."

The woman sat back down and motioned to the bottle and the gla.s.s."Perhaps." Casey offered a seductive smile, her hand circling the base of the bottle, her fingers tapping on it gently.

The stranger reached out her hand and tenderly stroked the length of Casey's hand all the way to her fingertips. Casey grinned lazily and watched as the woman's touch left a trail of goose b.u.mps on her skin. Casey closed her eyes briefly at the pleasurable sensation, but when she opened them, she was no longer looking into the brown eyes of a stranger, but her mind conjured up an image of blue eyes and dark skin. Casey thought it wasn't likely to get any better than this tonight as she reached for the bottle of ouzo.

She turned the heavy gla.s.s over, and a number of smirks, as well as jealous sighs, rose throughout the bar. She filled the gla.s.s with a shot of the ouzo and sat back, staring into eyes that, disappointingly, turned brown once again. The stranger smiled slightly as she lifted her hand to accept the drink.

Slender fingers scooped the shot gla.s.s up just as the stranger's fingertips grazed the outside of the rim. Casey looked up into Tessa's angry face as she swallowed the liquor in one forceful gulp and slammed the gla.s.s upside down onto the table.

"This bar is closed. Go home, lit le girl," she hissed at the stranger who was now on her feet. "You, come on." Tessa pointed at Casey.

*"Just what in the h.e.l.l do you think you're doing?" Casey yelled, rising to her feet.

"Taking you home," Tessa yelled back.

"It doesn't sound like your woman wants to go home with you, friend," the stranger said evenly.

"I don't give a good G.o.dd.a.m.n what she wants, and she is not my woman," Tessa said fiercely.

"Then she's free to stay if she chooses."

"Over my dead body," Tessa said ominously as she grabbed Casey by the elbow.

"I'd hate for that to be the alternative," the stranger said, pulling a long bladed knife from inside her coat.

Tessa stood still for a moment and released Casey's hand.

She moved away from Casey so she wouldn't be in the middle of anything.

"So you want to play king of the hill, do you?" Tessa smiled a thoroughly evil smile.

The stranger smiled back, the same baneful grin.

Casey was caught up in the electrically charged atmosphere that suddenly swept over the room. Any amount of a buzz she had going disappeared as she stood, stone cold sober, watching as the two women eyed each other warily. The stranger could have been Tessa five or ten years earlier. The same height and build, they sized each other up, waiting to see who would make the first move. They only stood a couple of feet apart, and Casey watched as Tessa's left hand moved so fast that it was almost a blur. Tessa reached to her back, under her leather jacket, and pulled out a Glock pistol, pressing it against the stranger's forehead.

"Guess what this means?" Tessa spat.

The stranger was no novice to the street or having a gun pointed at her head. She tossed the knife onto the table and winked at Casey.

"I think it means you win," the stranger said.

"I think it means you're smarter than you look," Tessa said.

The stranger raised her hands and Tessa lowered the gun, then replaced it in her holster. The two women stood there, trying to decide what would be done.

*Casey watched as the fire still burned just below the surface.

"All right, enough. Tessa, I'm leaving, just...please, both of you, calm down," Casey said quietly.

"You don't have to be afraid of her," the stranger said to Casey.

"I'll be all right. Thank you for a semi-lovely evening," Casey said with a nervous smile.

The stranger gently took Casey's hand, keeping one eye on Tessa, whose lips raised in a menacing sneer as she watched the woman draw Casey closer.

"She may say you're not her woman, but her eyes tell a different story," the stranger whispered in Casey's ear, smiling, then releasing the shocked blonde's hand.

Tessa held out her hand to Casey, but Casey walked abruptly past her and out the front door.

"If she were my woman," the stranger called to Tessa's back, "I wouldn't give her a reason to come looking in a place like this."Tessa never slowed her stride, but the stranger's words struck surprisingly close to her heart.

By the time Tessa reached the parking lot where she knew Casey's BMW was parked, Casey had started the car and was preparing to leave.

"I'll follow you to make sure you get home all right," Tessa said."I said I was leaving. I didn't say I was going home."

"What in the h.e.l.l is that supposed to mean?"

"What part of it didn't you get? Do I need to say it slower?"

Casey shouted back at the woman leaning over the car.

Tessa felt a rising fireball in the pit of her stomach, and she desperately tried to shove the beast down. She was unused to being shouted at or disobeyed, especially by women. She reached in and pulled the keys from the ignition. Casey jumped from the vehicle, slamming the door.

"G.o.dd.a.m.n you, give me back those keys!" Casey screamed.

"Not until you stop acting like a child."

"Oh, fine, just keep the d.a.m.n things, I'm going back inside."

*Casey made a move toward the bar.

"Forget it." Tessa was towering over her in a heartbeat, her hand clamped tightly around Casey's wrist.

"Oh, I see," Casey shouted. "You don't want me, but you don't want anyone else to have me, is that it?"

Tessa grabbed the front of Casey's blouse; her eyes lit up like blue fire, her gaze narrowing.

"So is that all you want now...a good f.u.c.k?"

"Yeah, that's all I want, just one good f.u.c.k," Casey returned hotly."Well, you should have told me that, baby." Tessa pulled Casey closer by her blouse until their faces were inches apart.

"I would have been glad to accommodate, then you wouldn't have had to sneak all the way down here. Come on." Tessa pulled Casey to the BMW.

"Get in," Tessa said, not waiting for a response before shoving Casey through the pa.s.senger side door.

Tessa slid in behind the wheel and adjusted the seat before looking over at Casey.

"What's the matter, baby? You said this is what you want, right, just some uncomplicated s.e.x? Trust me, I'll give you the best you've ever had." Tessa teased and mocked at the same time, undisguised l.u.s.t now apparent in her gaze.

When Tessa started the car and turned onto the one-lane road up into the hills of Ano Mera , Casey had a "deer in the headlights"

look, and Tessa knew who the victor would be this time.

"Don't worry, baby. It'll be better than anything those little girls back at the bar could give you," Tessa purred.

Tessa's amorous intent was clear, and Casey had to make a quick decision. Act like the scared little girl Tessa thought she was or fight back.

Casey steeled herself and leaned against the door so she was facing Tessa.

"I don't know, this sounds like an awful lot of buildup to me.

Are you sure your body is going to be able to keep up with that mouth of yours?" Casey said with a confident air.

Tessa slammed on the brakes so hard that Casey had to use *both hands to keep from crashing into the dash. Tessa grabbed Casey by the back of the head and pulled her body halfway across the gearshift by her hair. Tessa's mouth crushed the stunned Casey's lips. She kissed her long and hard, her tongue forcing itself hungrily into Casey's mouth until she heard a small whimper of surrender escape from Casey's throat. She pulled Casey away from her roughly, her hand still holding her by the hair.

"Now anytime you feel my mouth or any other part of my body isn't keeping up, you just let me know." Tessa put the car back in gear and sped off, not looking across at Casey again until they reached their destination.

Chapter 9.

"Where are we?" Casey asked as Tessa unceremoniously pushed her through the door.

It seemed to be a village farmhouse. It appeared deserted, but it looked as though someone still kept it up. There were fresh logs in the fireplace and blankets on the sofa, and Casey noticed there wasn't any dust on the furniture.

Tessa crossed the darkened room and lit an oil lamp that hung on a high peg near the kitchen area. She seemed to pay no mind to Casey, who stood shivering from the night air in the middle of the cabin. Tessa lit a fire and soon the room was aglow and the leaping flames warmed the area quickly.

"No electricity," Tessa said. "You still cold?" She leaned her backside against a square wooden table.

Casey nodded, but the next words she heard didn't make her any warmer, they made her shiver all the more.

"Come over here...I'll get you warmed up." Tessa leered.

Casey looked up into Tessa's hungry eyes. A thought raced through her head about a fairy tale and the way Little Red Riding Hood felt when she looked into the eyes of the wolf that was about to devour her. Casey couldn't tear her own needful gaze away, so she slowly crossed the room to stand in front of the seated woman.

Tessa quickly reached out and pulled Casey to her. There wasn't any tenderness involved, and if Casey thought it was to be *a gentle seduction, she was very wrong. Tessa grabbed Casey's backside and pulled her between her spread legs, squeezing the woman harder against her and spreading her own legs even wider.

"Is this what you wanted to feel tonight?" Tessa's hands found their way under Casey's blouse, her hands kneading her b.r.e.a.s.t.s roughly.

Casey gasped at the first touch, and Tessa grinned that grin that didn't seem to belong to her. Tessa snaked one arm around Casey's waist and aggressively kissed her, one hand still fondling Casey's breast over the material of her bra. Casey moaned into Tessa's consuming kisses, pressing her small body closer. When Casey wrapped her arms around Tessa's neck, Tessa pulled back.

"Ah, ah, ah." Tessa pried Casey's hands away and pulled them behind Casey's back. She held her wrists in her firm grasp at the small of Casey's back, pushing up slightly until Casey gasped in pain.

"Nikki, why are you doing this?" Casey asked, wincing.

Tessa put on a look of genuine surprise. "It's what you wanted, isn't it, baby? Tell me the truth." Tessa sucked and bit at the sensitive flesh along Casey's throat. "When that girl in the bar took you upstairs and asked you how you wanted it, you were going to give her complete control, weren't you? You were going to let her do anything she wanted to...tender, hard, it didn't matter as long as you got off, did it? You wanted to be up there in the dark giving it all to her, didn't you...didn't you?" Tessa jerked up on Casey's wrists, demanding an answer.

"Yes, I-I did."

Tessa released Casey's wrists, and Casey rubbed the area to get her circulation going again. Tessa slipped her arm around Casey's waist again, and her hand found its way under the blouse, this time gently teasing her nipples through the silken material of her bra, stroking them into tightened nubs.

"You didn't have to go all the way to the bar, baby," Tessa said, her voice turning deceptively soft.

Tessa kissed Casey's lips, teasing with her tongue until Casey opened her mouth and accepted Tessa's probing muscle.

*"I would have given you that anytime. You could have come over to the guesthouse, and I could have given you what you needed. You could have spread your legs or bent over and I would have given you anything you fantasized about."

All the while Tessa talked, she kissed Casey, nibbling gently on her lower lip. Her fingers under Casey's blouse squeezed and pinched the erect nipples until Casey was trying to hold back the rocking motion of her hips.

"Did you think her fingers and her tongue were more talented than mine?" Tessa continued. "Hmm? Oh, no, that's right, you didn't want to have to see her face, did you? We can handle that, too, baby."

Tessa released Casey and stood, towering over her. She grabbed Casey's shoulders and spun her around. Slipping an arm around Casey's waist, Tessa crushed Casey's body against her chest.

"Now you don't have to see my face. It can be as anonymous as you want," Tessa purred into Casey's ear as she reached around and unb.u.t.toned Casey's blouse. "Now I want you to tell me what you were going to let her do to you upstairs in that bar."

Tessa easily released the front clasp on Casey's bra. When her hands took possession of the firm mounds of flesh, Tessa moaned against Casey's neck, grasping smooth skin between her teeth and biting down sharply. Her hands lingered over the tightly pebbled flesh, and she rolled the aching points between her fingers, grinding herself against the smaller body in front of her.

She slid her hands lower, unzipped Casey's slacks, and breached the barrier of her panties, stroking the silky patch of hair. Casey's whimpers were constant as Tessa held her and teased her body.

"Were you going to let her touch you like this?" Tessa asked, her voice hoa.r.s.e with desire. She could feel her own wetness growing as she touched Casey.

Strong, slender fingers slipped lower and Casey's hips bucked against the pleasure. Casey was close to tears. She had never been this aroused yet hurt at the same time. She couldn't begin to explain to Tessa that she wanted s.e.x from those other women, but she wanted so much more from the woman who was now setting her body on fire.

*"Oh, G.o.d, baby, you're so wet." Tessa groaned as she slipped her fingers into Casey's silky folds.

"Oh, G.o.d!" Casey exclaimed as Tessa's long fingers stroked her swollen c.l.i.toris.

"Like that, do you? Nice and slow just like this? Are you going to come for me, little one?"

That was the remark that woke Casey out of her libidinous haze- little one. Yes, this was exactly what she wanted from the stranger in the bar, but she loved Tessa too much to experience this casual contact with her.

"Nikki, please stop."

"Oh, no, I want to feel you come for me first."

Casey pushed against Tessa; she grabbed onto Tessa's wrist, but Tessa was much stronger. Suddenly, Casey couldn't hold the tears in any longer, and her body shook with sobs. She cried out of pain and frustration and a hurt that clutched at her chest tightly.