Hearing her speak to him with such pa.s.sion gave him an inner strength like nothing else he'd ever known. His vision cleared and he sat as straight as he could against the ties that bound him against the wooden chair.

He suddenly recognized the room. The Dark Castle of the Desert existed as a mating ground for mortal women and vampires. He was in Nevada, in the home where Natasha and Orlando spent their odd and strained courtship. Reality struck. "Oh, h.e.l.l." He then looked down at his naked body. "Well, then." He seemed only slightly amused when he looked up at her again.

Tabitha blushed. He took his time looking over her perfect body, realizing she'd already granted herself the same opportunity with his nude form. She took his breath away with the first visual sweep but the second one, holy h.e.l.l, the second time d.a.m.n near killed him. "Are you cold?"

Laughter shook her for a second. "Is that all you can ask me?"

He locked his eyes on her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and then glanced up at her beautiful, tear-stained face. Hunger shook him with a power even the universe wouldn't be able to explain or accept. "d.a.m.n you, Tabitha. This wouldn't have happened if you only..." He stopped himself from scolding her. She knew what he wanted to say and by the look in her eyes, she accepted the responsibility.

"Listen to me, Almonzo. We have maybe a couple of hours. They've gone to the casinos. When they come back, Darian has plans."

Almonzo shook his head and closed his eyes. "He hasn't..."

"No. He plans to do it when he comes back and he will make you watch."

"Like h.e.l.l." Almonzo began to work with the ties as his eyes took in the room. He made a joke when he saw the journal on the bedside table. "Your sister found some interesting reading in those pages."

"I'll just bet she did. I've read the same entry over and over again. I'm not sure I like this Dark Castle of the Desert. It sounds too much like..."

"It is too much like." He continued to pull and tug at his bonds. "It sounds like a home fit for our kind because it is one fit for a vampire." He yanked his arms back and called out against the restraints. "d.a.m.n it!"

"Stop! You aren't going to be able to free yourself and if you do, you're far too weak to escape."

Almonzo's eyes turned with his anger. "The h.e.l.l I won't, because as soon as I break free, I plan to dine on your little a.s.s until I am stronger than I've ever been."

Tabitha's jaw twitched. "You aren't going to take me against my will."

"Tabitha, stop this and I mean stop it now. You have two options. You can give me what I know belongs to me or you can wait for Darian, because when he comes back here, he'll waste little time taking it. I'm surprised he left us alone."

"You were supposed to be out until later tonight. His rogues promised you were drugged enough."

"How long have we been here?" His eyes watched her little b.u.t.t move against the chains holding her close to the bedposts.

"I don't know. A couple of hours, maybe."

"You know where we are, right?"

She nodded. "Las Vegas, where Orlando brought Natasha. I was here before with them right after you left."

"You cannot easily walk out of here, you know this too right?"

She nodded. "It's thirty miles or better back into Las Vegas."

"So you have to..." He suddenly lost his nerve. His erection became stout with the declaration he needed to make. "As soon as I break free, I'm marking you, because you cannot go with me by unconventional measures."

Again, she nodded. He didn't know if it was because she understood or because she agreed. He hoped for the latter but he wasn't sure when he saw her shudder before looking away from him.

"I'm not going to hurt you but you played hard to get for so long that I swear I've had enough foreplay to last a lifetime." He shook his head. While his body eagerly prepared for her, his mind wasn't satisfied that his first time with her would be under these circ.u.mstances.

Wild blue eyes dared him to take her without some measure of foreplay. "You aren't going to use this to your advantage!"

Almonzo's feet wiggled free from the bonds at his ankles, the rope securing his arms and chest gave a few inches. Suddenly, his wrists popped out of the bindings and he tore away the last ties holding him back from her. "The h.e.l.l you say." He stormed to the bed without a second to waste.

She shook the cuffs at her wrists. "Get me out of these."

"Not on your life." His hands ran over her hips and thighs with warm strokes, heating his palms.

"Almonzo, please!" She glanced back at him over her shoulder.

"You don't have to worry about pleasing me, darling. I'll take care of everything."

"No! You don't understand. I can't do this now! Please! No, this is like rape. It's like...it's not the way I want my first time."

"Oh, so we're back to being virgins again, hmmm?"

Her breathing was labored. "I am a virgin and I can't...I won't let you take me like this."

Frustrated, Almonzo rose up off the bed and walked to the bedside table in search of keys for the handcuffs. "Tabitha, there's no time for you to resolve this. Either you want me or you don't. You've had three months to decide. You can't have it both ways now! If you don't give yourself to me, he will take you and leave you without a choice!"

He looked around for the keys. Nothing. "Where did he put the keys to the cuffs?" Impatience didn't begin to describe the problems he had at that moment. One hung as a hefty reminder, right between his legs.

"You broke free. Just break me out of these."

He set his jaw and spun around to face her. "d.a.m.n it all! Listen to me. I have time to mate with you. What I don't have is time to move you back into this position. He'll know you broke free and then I won't be able to take him by surprise."

"I don't want to stay here like this. Are you crazy mad or just an idiot?"

Almonzo stormed around the room with a ready c.o.c.k losing its determination. "I'm anything but an idiot. You don't seem to understand, I need you in this position so I can return to that chair," he nodded to where he'd been seated earlier, "and surprise Mr. Sabbat when he returns."

"Fine. Have it your way." She agreed with a new defiant gaze in her eyes and a s.e.xy-set chin. She cleared her throat then. "But if I do, then you aren't touching me."

"The h.e.l.l I'm not." He moved to the bed quickly and before she spoke another word, he slid underneath her body in a move so fast that her knees didn't have time to buckle but her sinful little body reacted all the same.

He congratulated himself on a sleek maneuver. He spoke into her belly as he looked up on the best b.r.e.a.s.t.s a woman had a right to claim for her own. "I told myself when I lost you..." He paused as he remembered the pain. "I promised myself once I found you, I would take you. And you are going to enjoy this whether you want to or not." He snickered when he felt her body tremble. "Although, I think you'll find I know how to satisfy a woman, even when time is limited. And, darling, we are very short on time."

"And you like that fact, don't you!" She barked her words at him as she looked down with sudden fear washing over her.

"I do. I promise you." His mouth began to work magic as he left her navel and traveled up toward her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Taking a nipple in his mouth, he licked around the little nub and moaned when he heard her breath catch in her chest. The rise and fall of her breathing hitched every time his teeth played with the hard gem and each sound she released only inspired more teasing nips.

"I wish, oh, darling, how I long for time to savor this moment."

Her moaning made him want to slide down lower. He knew better than to indulge but resisting all temptations proved impossible. He grabbed her knees in his palms and held her in place. With her scent driving him to an erection he wouldn't be able to satisfy if interrupted, he only lingered for a few swipes.

"You taste sweeter than anything I ever imagined." He swiped her nipple once more and after the second time, he lost his senses. He moved forward in a frantic lunge.

"Almonzo!" Her voice was heavy. "This is...wrong!" Her voice caught in her throat and she gasped hard against her words. He knew he'd taken her to the brink of a new experience. What he wouldn't have done to have finished her there, just let her feel the wave of ecstasy a willing man's tongue delivered to the perfect woman.

"If this were wrong, I swear it wouldn't feel this d.a.m.n right." He slid out from under her and cupped her neck. His thumb went straight to work finding a vein that would be enough to empower him and mark her.

Tabitha swallowed hard. "I'm afraid."

"h.e.l.l's fury, woman. You have nothing to fear except life without me and that, my dear, is something anxiety alone will never bring." He moved closer, slanted his lips over hers and took one light kiss.

It took all the strength he retained to move in behind her. His finger ran down the length of her a.s.s and he told her what he wanted to do, planned to do, would eventually make it his mission to accomplish. "Today, I'll take your virginity where it matters most but this a.s.s, this perfect bottom, is all mine when the time is right." He nipped at her b.u.t.t cheek and then moved in behind her with a perfect slant.

"Raise your hips, love."

"It's going to hurt, isn't..."

He was tired of a.s.suring her. h.e.l.l, yeah, it would hurt. He'd make sure he hurt her with a newfound pleasure and when he did, he wanted her screaming, shuddering even, with the pain. He expected to slice through her womanly barriers to the point where she yelled out with a tremendous ache. The first thrust inside proved it because he went in deep. "Oh, sweet mercy!"

She cried out. "Almonzo! Don't!" Her back arched. "Please no!"

"Oh, but d.a.m.nation, I already have. You are all but marked as mine." He cursed himself for refusing to wait. His hips gave some and the slow movement of time began. "That's it, baby. Just relax." His c.o.c.k stroked inside and the tight walls expanded only a bit. Sure, they allowed him in but her body fought against accepting him all the way.

At first, he slid into her with a slow, deliberate beat. His hand moved around her waist and caressed her breast before dropping to cup her p.u.s.s.y.

Circling her c.l.i.t with devious fingers, his lips went to her back. "I need you to come for me. I want you to relax and just let yourself go with me. You tell me all about what you're feeling."

"It hurts! I'm serious, Almonzo. You're quite..."

"Small? Remember, love, you said you expected something rather small." He chuckled as he pumped his hard c.o.c.k into her moist center. "How small does it feel now?"

"I lied!" Her hips pushed upward and her a.s.s only rubbed against him.

"I forgive you." He pushed himself into her again, enjoying every stroke but determined to rush the mating process. "Just as soon as you come for me. I'll make it all better for both of us."

Beads of sweat formed on her back as she tried to work toward a physical acceptance.

"Ah yeah, that's it, Tabitha. Enjoy me." He gave a throaty moan as her heat began to puddle around his shaft. "So good." His pace picked up and his teeth dropped down. He felt his o.r.g.a.s.m looming and his hands moved over her working her into a state of arousal with forbidden stimulation. "Come with me, Tabitha. Come to me, sweetheart. I want to feel you accept me." He moved quicker, harder. Her hips rocked back and forth, harder against his length.

"Almonzo!"

"I'm here. I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere." He moved into her with agonizing thrusts timed to bring on exactly what they both needed even if they were up against a clock. Her movements were in rhythm with his strokes and when they increased, the sudden shift only drove him faster.

His teeth were sharp with the recognition. He moved his hand up her spine slowly. He felt the first ripple come and linger, tempt and claim. Yanking her head back to his shoulder, he pounded, oh, holy h.e.l.l, how he f.u.c.ked her, letting loose his own release. His lips were moist and her vein truly called out for him as it pulsed with her new life. He bit down. Sipped and sucked.

"Oh G.o.d! Almonzo! Stop!"

No, he wouldn't stop. He would drink and enjoy. Lick her clean and drink her in. He would drive into her with his d.i.c.k while his fangs latched onto the place he wanted her to know he'd visited.

She bucked against him. Moaning and crying, she believed she wanted to escape his c.o.c.k and his mouth but it didn't matter. It wasn't happening today.

"Almonzo. Please, Almonzo. Finish this." She shook under him and writhed with the o.r.g.a.s.m that shook them both. "Oh, heaven help me."

He withdrew his teeth from her neck and then moved into her with the rest of his spill still seeping into her body. He wanted to bite again just as soon as he left her but he didn't allow himself the pleasure. "Dear Tabitha. You're so f.u.c.king tight."

"Please..."

"Please, what my lover...please, what?" He grabbed her hips and moved into her with three more hard strokes, thrusting in with a loud hungry growl, and back out into the air with the force of a c.o.c.ksure male behind him encouraging him to revisit again and again. "h.e.l.l's fury, Tabitha! You're so f.u.c.king tight and now, you're completely mine." He fell over her back and kissed her skin just so he could taste her sweetness one last time. "I can't wait to show you all the ways I can love you." He kissed a trail up her neck and moved her hair over to the side. "We've managed to do this perfectly."

Chapter 7

"You more or less raped me." Tabitha's eyes pierced through him where he sat in the hard wooden chair, the useless bindings arranged to make it look like they still held him. An expression of worn pleasure still stained her cheeks. The sa.s.s in her mouth didn't just disappear with her first o.r.g.a.s.m.

"You have heard the old saying haven't you? I'm sure you have. It goes something like 'You cannot rape a woman begging for it.' Yeah, the damp crotch kind of gave you away, love." Almonzo screwed the little wench fast and hard. He understood why it might have left her feeling a little resentful but harping about rape wasn't something he would entertain in thought or conversation. h.e.l.l, he'd managed to take her under the worst circ.u.mstances and it didn't matter that they had little choice about it. Did he take advantage of their situation? He didn't think so.

His eyes drifted over her, lingering at strategic points. "You left us no other choice."

"You left me without them! You did this when you decided you couldn't live without me!" She shouted across the room at him and the growing fury in her eyes nearly cut his skin to shreds.

Almonzo stared back at her long and hard. She didn't know the battle ahead would be well fought. She didn't know he had fears of his own survival and really, she had very few reasons to worry about it now. He planned to protect her. She belonged to him. She had to realize he would jump fires or even lay his life down to save her, if he needed to do it. He swallowed hard and worked against the pain growing inside of him.

"I know you think I forced you, Tabitha. Let me explain something to you. Both you and Natasha were fated to become vampire brides. What you don't know, what you didn't realize is that only a select few could take you as their own. As much as my family has powers of its own, you and your sister were among several chosen few."

Her eyes narrowed and the sweat beads on her forehead seemed to stay in one place as the heat of their pa.s.sion began to slowly diminish. "What are you talking about?"

"Your father."

"What does he have to do with any of this? You leave him out of this!" Madwoman rage took her to an anger he only witnessed once before.

"I would if it were remotely possible. It isn't and you should know about this. Your father made a deal, a pact if you will, with the elders many years ago."

"My father wouldn't dare. My mother would leave him and never forgive him. Shut your mouth, Almonzo! I won't listen! I won't!" Tears began to run down her cheeks again and she fought against the cuffs still holding her to the bedpost, trying to bring her hands up to guard against hearing only painful revelations.

"If that's so, where are they now?" He hated telling her here, like this, but somehow he didn't think Darian planned to keep it to himself and Darian understood the circ.u.mstances surrounding all of the potential brides. He would love to tell her all about it because the Sabbats, like the Spensers, were well aware of the women lost in the games of the vampire-owned casinos.

"Your father lost you and Natasha in a poker game in this very city." He looked down at his own nudity and his wide, spent c.o.c.k, nestled closer to his body now.

"You are a liar!" She pierced him with her tone and her eyes shot bullets at his heart.

"I'm a lot of things, Tabitha. Lying isn't my cup of tea. I have a great memory. Second to none, but I don't have time or the recollection to make up lies as I go. And I'll promise you, I will never lie to you. I love you too much." He swallowed as he said the words. He didn't regret saying them and in an act of defiance, he quickly moved his head to the side so his hair fell away from his face. "I said I love you."

"You don't love and hurt in the same sitting!" She spat the words in his direction and as she did, the door flew open and Darian Sabbat stepped inside.