She arched back against the pleasure of his mouth to gasp: 'I'm not your slave.'

His teeth closed around her nipple and she shuddered. 'Please, Robyn, or I'll slide right inside you and leave all my hot come right where I want it to be.'

'All right.' She flung out a hand, found the condoms and grabbed one.

He knelt back, hands on his knees and nodded. 'Put it on me.'

Robyn stared at his erection, the condom ready in her hand. She leant forward and licked the swollen crown. Dakota sucked in a breath and his hand clenched on her shoulder.

'G.o.d, woman, you're so hot. I want to come into your mouth and your p.u.s.s.y at the same time.'

He really did want her. She could hear it in his words and the gruffness of his voice. Emboldened, she licked him again, sucked on the first couple of inches of his shaft until he groaned.

'Yeah, that's good, do it again, make me even bigger for you.'

She moved closer and took more of him, her hands gripping his thighs for balance as he surged into her. She'd always avoided sucking Damien's c.o.c.k because he'd forced himself down her throat, making her feel as if she would choke. Even though Dakota was bigger, he let her set her own pace, let her lead, let her slide him slowly down the back of her throat until she'd swallowed him all.

His hands reached to fondle her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, drawing her nipples tighter. She tried to look up at him, could only see his chest and his glorious six-pack abs. His hand tightened in her hair and she stopped sucking.

'Let me finish inside you. This was meant to be for you, honey, not me.'

She released his c.o.c.k and helped him cover himself with a condom. With a grin, he brought her to sit on his lap, his shaft sandwiched between their bellies. She sighed as his mouth met hers in a gentle kiss. He lifted her up and settled her down over his c.o.c.k.

'So why did you want to do laundry?'

Robyn opened her eyes. 'Are you still thinking about that?'

'Yeah.' He rotated his hips, made her gasp. 'Yeah, I am. If I didn't hurt or disgust you, why did you want to get out of my bed so fast?'

'It's not your bed.'

She smoothed her hands down over his shoulders, mentally testing his strength, enjoying the heat blazing from his sweat-soaked skin. It was hard to concentrate when inside her his c.o.c.k throbbed, sending millions of little nerve endings into a frenzy of need. Reluctantly she cleared her throat.

'The guy I was with before . . .'

'The same guy who couldn't handle you having more than one o.r.g.a.s.m?'

'Yeah, that one. He said I was s.h.i.t in bed.'

Robyn stole a look at Dakota. Would she see the truth on his face? Would she be able to detect the lie she knew was coming?

'f.u.c.k that.'

His hands closed around her waist and he rolled her beneath him. She gasped as he started to move hard and fast inside her. She tightened her grip on his shoulders as another climax approached. He stopped moving.

She opened her eyes to find him staring down at her, his expression fierce.

'You are not s.h.i.t in bed.'

Robyn swallowed hard and tried to shake her head.

He framed her face with his big hands. 'Robyn, you are the most fantastic f.u.c.k I've ever had. I want to stay inside you for ever.' He kissed her swollen lips. 'The man is an idiot but I'm glad he's an idiot because I've got you under me instead.'

'You're so conceited.'

He smiled. 'I know, but then I've got good reason to be. I'm almost as good in bed as you are.'

She started to laugh as he pushed his c.o.c.k back inside her and set her off again, turning her laughter into a scream of pure pleasure. His answering groan of completion showed how she affected him, made her feel powerful for the first time in a long while.

He nuzzled her neck, whispered nonsense into her ear and gathered her close in his arms. This time Robyn made no effort to move away. She didn't think she had the ability but she sure wasn't going to tell Dakota that and inflate his ego even more.

Dakota smiled as they approached the laundromat, relieved to see it was still open. Inside, the driers had all stopped and the s.p.a.ce was silent apart from the gentle snores of the a.s.sistant in her back room. He got a couple of baskets and handed one to Robyn.

'Put the stufffrom the drier in there and bring it to the folding table.'

'G.o.d, you sound just like my mother.'

Despite Robyn's tone, Dakota continued to smile at her. He'd just had the best s.e.x of his life and nothing, not even Ms Grouchy Pants, was going to spoil it. He emptied the contents of the drier into his basket and headed for the table. His body still hummed with satisfaction and his mind was already antic.i.p.ating their next f.u.c.k.

'So what am I supposed to do with this stuff?'

'Fold it.' He gave her a reproving glance as she pouted at him. 'Jeez, Robyn, it's not difficult.'

He started on a T-shirt, folding it as quickly as he could. Robyn watched him work, a sock dangling in her hand.

'You're good at this. How come? Didn't your mom do it for you?'

'My mom was sick a lot. I learnt to help out.'

'Too sick to do laundry?'

'Too sick to do much at all. And after my mom remarried, I had two half-sisters to help take care of as well.'

His hand tightened on the shirt, making the creases worse. He tried to smooth them out, refolded the whole thing with painstaking care.

'Did she drink?'

His head snapped up to meet her gaze. 'h.e.l.l, no.'

Robyn shrugged. 'My mom did. I just wondered if that was what all moms do.'

'Your mom drank so much she couldn't take care of you?'

'Sometimes. Or she took too many pills and we couldn't wake her up.' Her smile was unconvincing. 'I gave up asking her for stuffwhen I was about ten. I asked one of the housekeepers instead.'

A pang of sympathy shot through him. What a way to grow up. At least his mom had tried to be there for him; at least she'd gotten him away from his biological father. He studied the shirt he'd just folded, found himself speaking before he knew it.

'My mom tried to kill herself when she lived with my real dad. She'd found out she had multiple sclerosis and she knew Beau wouldn't take that too well. He didn't like imperfections in his women. When she told him, he slapped her around a bit until I tried to pull him away from her.' He swallowed hard. 'Then he went for me too.'

'Holy s.h.i.t! What did she do then?'

'She got me away from him and locked us in the bathroom.' It was his turn to shrug. 'Then she slit her wrists in the bathtub. Made one h.e.l.l of a mess.'

'That's awful. Who found her?'

'I was right there with her, remember? I had a front-row seat. Luckily I knew how to call 911.'

's.h.i.t, Dakota . . .'

He managed a smile. 'Yeah, I was seven at the time so it's kind of stayed with me. The best thing about it was that it finally made her decide to leave the b.a.s.t.a.r.d and take me with her.'

'And she's OK now?'

With a sense of shock he refocused on her concerned face. He'd just told a woman he hardly knew more about himself than his half-brothers had probably figured out. 'She's great. Her MS is in remission at the moment, so she's doing fine.'

He returned to folding the laundry as if his life depended on it. After his mom's suicide attempt, he'd spent years worrying she'd do it again, that it was his fault and that he didn't even know what he'd done to make her so desperate to leave him. Of course, he'd tried to make it up to her by being the most perfect kid in America, not that she'd seemed to notice.

'What the f.u.c.k?' Robyn hissed.

He looked up, focused on the doll-sized cardigan she thrust right in front of his face. 'What is it? Did we get someone else's laundry?'

'No, it's my cashmere cardigan!'

He stared at the shrunken garment, felt the corner of his mouth kick up as he fought a smile. That was life for you: one moment full of pain, the next, laughter.

'I think it shrunk.'

'You think?'

'Or you grew. Take your pick.'

'You are so not funny, Dakota Scott.'

He smiled into her eyes, wondered if she'd picked a fight just to make him feel better. It was the kind of thing he suspected she did to get out of anything too close to the bone.

'I know, honey, it's all part of my charm.'

Chapter Nine.

'What do you mean, no TV?'

Robyn stood over Dakota, hands on her hips, as he settled into the narrow couch and put his feet on the crate that subst.i.tuted for a coffee table.

'No TV until after you help me with my homework.'

'Homework? What kind of homework does a cowboy do?'

He grinned up at her, inviting her to share the joke, to relax and go along with whatever he wanted. Robyn stiffened her spine. Dakota was far too used to flashing that winning smile and getting his own way. Just because he happened to answer all her s.e.xual prayers didn't mean he got to push her around. She edged closer to the miniature TV set.

'And, by the way, I'm not a kid. I don't need your permission to put the TV on.'

He tilted his head back to look up at her properly. She clenched her fists to resist the urge to stroke the smooth line of his jaw. d.a.m.n, she had it bad and he knew it. The living quarters inside the horse trailer were probably OK for one person. With two of them occupying the s.p.a.ce, it got a bit claustrophobic. Robyn could understand why Dakota usually preferred a motel room.

But at least they were moving toward California. With a rig this big, Dakota said it would take at least a couple of days. Robyn didn't care. She still wasn't sure exactly what she would do when she returned home and she wasn't anxious to face her future, whatever it was.

'You've forgotten your promise to me.' Dakota wagged a finger at her. 'You said you'd do anything if I gave you a ride to California.'

'And I am, aren't I?' Robyn jutted out one hip. 'Aren't you getting the best s.e.x of your life?'

His gaze heated up. 'That's a bonus. You promised to help me as well.'

'Did I? I don't remember saying that.'

'Now there's a surprise. Luckily I do.'

She raised her eyebrows at him. 'Do you remember everything I say to you? How sweet.'

'I remember the important bits, now sit down and listen.' He grabbed her wrist and pulled her down on to the couch beside him. 'I've got some notes to go over. Do you think you could test me on them?'

'As I said, what the h.e.l.l for?'

'I'm working on a master's.'

'A master's in what?'

Dakota shifted uncomfortably in his seat. 'Nothing much. Just rangeland ecology and watershed management.'

It took at least a minute before Robyn stopped laughing and realized Dakota hadn't joined in. She bit down on her lip. 'Are you telling me you already have a bachelor's degree?'

'Yeah, in animal science, from Arizona State.'

She studied him for a long time. 'I hate to repeat myself, but why would you do that when you already have a successful rodeo career and appear in ads?'

'Because I want something to do when I'm older, something that uses my brain.'

She poked his ribs. 'You don't need brains, you're way too pretty.'

He hunched a shoulder. 'How do you feel when people say that about you?'

'It sucks.'