Almonzo smiled and ignored her questioning. "You will." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "So, how are you feeling?"

"Almonzo, don't shrug me off." Her eyes darted around the room before they settled on the more opulent living area. "Nice suite by the way."

"Glad you like it." He took her hand in his and moved toward her again. His lips were hungry and he wanted to savor her after their first time left so much to be desired, if not craved.

"Not so fast." Her voice broke and she stared at the ceiling to keep from crying. He knew why because he saw the expression in her eyes change and the look of pure regret stamped on her face. Tabitha had blacked out when the rumble between Darian and himself broke out. He realized she probably didn't hold a vivid recollection of the final events at the Dark Castle of the Desert.

"Come here." He pulled her close and held her for a long time before he let the words fall from his mouth. "He didn't," he choked out what he understood she needed to know. "He didn't get to you, inside of you, I mean." His hand moved over her back in a loving caress. "I don't think I could've lived if he had his..."

"Stop, Almonzo. I don't want to discuss it." She pushed out of his arms and looked up at him. She searched his eyes and perhaps found the truth in them. The hurt he was going to try and carry all on his own. Yes, Darian penetrated her and he did it right in front of Almonzo. Why he didn't want to admit it was for one reason alone. He knew she didn't find it repulsive or unpleasant but he didn't want to discuss that either, not until he had time to talk to the elders. He did not want Darian in place as her secondary. It was a matter to discuss with the elders before he mentioned anything more to Tabitha.

He brushed the hair out of her eyes. "So, little lady, where would you like to go tonight? My brother seems to think you love this town and tells me you didn't see much of it when you were here last."

"I didn't and, ahem, I don't want to see much of it now." Her sarcasm drifted into the open air with a suggestive flavor.

Almonzo moved closer. "You don't? Well, I certainly won't argue with you. I'm content to stay right here for the rest of the day and night."

A wicked laugh pa.s.sed her lips and with it came a downright deplorable notion. "I want to go home."

He steadied himself with her request. It sounded like a beautiful melody just to hear her say the word. "What do you mean you want to go home?"

Her eyes danced. She looked around the suite with one uninterested sweep until she found something he imagined she found inviting. No, he hoped she found it enticing. She narrowed her eyes on the Italian marble surrounding the two-person Jacuzzi in the bathroom.

"Yours is bigger." She read his mind. "It can all go to waste. I just want to go." She moved closer to him and gently wrapped her arms around his neck. "I want to go back to Edinburgh. I want to go home with you and sleep in our bed and make love to you all night long in the safety of your arms. I don't like it here and I don't want to be here for another second."

"You don't like Las Vegas?" Orlando told him she loved it there. He loved it there.

"No, not anymore."

"When did you..." He knew when she decided she didn't like the town. Everything she experienced provided a sure and sudden change of an opinion. "Forget about it. You don't have to ask me twice. Now, before we go..."

Her hands quickly dropped to her sides and she stood up. "Don't even think about it. Not one kiss, not one inappropriate touch until you take me home to Edinburgh."

"d.a.m.n, you like to push and shove a man until you get your way." Almonzo ran his hand over the length of his face. "Holy h.e.l.l, woman, I think I deserve something for my efforts." He reached out for her and she smacked him away and drew her hair back in a makeshift ponytail. "You've already had enough blood to satisfy your thirst and I promise you, the next time, it won't come easy for you."

She snickered and then walked into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. Almonzo called out to her. "By the way, we can't travel yet. Not until dark." He listened for her reply. "d.a.m.nation, you're going to kill me here."

Hearing his proclamation, Tabitha peered out from behind the door. "You're supposed to be dead already so I imagine you'll survive."

"Why you little wench!" He ran over to the bathroom only to catch the door pushed up against his nose.

She called out to him from the other side. "If we aren't able to travel, then I'll at least enjoy our suite. I'm taking a bath. Go gamble or flirt with showgirls or something. What time are we going to leave for Scotland?"

"Just as soon as I spank some common sense into your little a.s.s." He grinned down at his growing erection and then quickly added, "Then, I'll be ready to fly, baby." His hands settled on the doorframe, one on each side. "Open up."

"No!"

"I can come in there, I hope you know." He would prefer an open invitation.

"You can, I'm sure of it. Even if you do, it won't do you any good."

He heard the door click into a locked positioned. "Such a smart lady."

"Almonzo?"

"Yes." He leaned his head against the wall.

"Do you want me? I mean, do you really want me?"

Her playful tone only drew another inch, two if he wanted to be c.o.c.ky. "More than you know."

"Is it because the elders handed down a rule for marriage?"

"No. I think I would've loved you regardless."

"Do you really love me?" Uncertainty made her vulnerable and he recognized her despair. After what they'd been through together, they both developed a personal relationship with uneasiness.

"I love you more than you will ever have a need for love." He gently rea.s.sured her and then added a bit of saucy temptation. "If you'll open up, I'll show you how much."

He waited. Resting his cheek against the flat surface, he resigned himself to the fact she wasn't going to open the door. Tabitha really wanted to go home and he accepted it. He reluctantly backed away from the temporary separation.

He sat down on the bed and tossed some pillows against the headboard. He heard the door unlock. Immediately, his senses came alive with just the simple click of sound.

She wanted him and she wasn't sure she could wait until they reached Scotland to have him. Her need felt like a slow burn even as she sank into the tub of water. Desire flooded her. What if he didn't come for her? She smiled. He'll come. Oh, heaven help me, will he come.

Her heart fluttered and skipped a few beats as she patiently waited. She sank lower into the water and turned on the jets. Her aching bones throbbed and the water swirled around her, relaxing muscles she didn't know she owned. She watched the bubbles rise as the beating pressure of fast sprays. .h.i.t just the right spots.

She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. "Ah, this is heaven."

"It's mighty close."

Her eyes slowly opened to Almonzo. He took his own sweet time stepping into the water, proud of his obvious endowment, no doubt. He wanted her to see him. He wanted her eyes to focus on the frontal view and she didn't mind staring with approval and acceptance. She almost reached out to touch him before deciding she liked it like this. She didn't mind looking. A woman didn't necessarily have to touch a man to feel him on her skin.

"I said no hanky-panky until we get to Scotland." She teased.

"You said one thing and then left me to believe another when you unlocked the door." His tongue moved back and forth over his bottom lip. Soon, the pad of his thumb moved there too. s.e.xy-h.e.l.l, he knew how to tempt her.

d.a.m.n it, he drove her insane. He did it deliberately. She didn't surrender or admit it but it was true. Her nipples were pierced with pain as she waited for his first touch. "I knew you would take it off the hinges if you wanted in here bad enough so I saved you the trouble."

"It appears extreme measures weren't necessary."

She inched closer. "Actually, they are. In fact, I think you'll find an extremely slow penetration is in order to avoid drastic measures altogether."

"Sweet, sweet woman. I thought you didn't know how to ask." He moved her arms around his neck and at the same time, she used his shoulders and strong biceps to slide up on him in one motion meant to move mountains, the most intimate of which, she pressed into his chest. She giggled as her nipples peaked with the rise and fall of his labored breathing against them.

Her legs locked behind his back and his mouth accommodated and accepted a lavish appraisal. He didn't want to rush and she planned on enjoying everything he had to give.

They shared similar sentiments. They'd waited long enough. This time, they didn't have outer forces working against them. Now, he didn't have to worry about making her completely his. She already belonged to him and he could show her everything she wanted to learn. He would ruin her for all others and she antic.i.p.ated the physical breakdown. Her body craved it.

Almonzo's hands grabbed her waist and pushed her from the water. Standing in front of his face, she antic.i.p.ated what came next and stilled against the tongue moving over her hip. "I can't stand here while you touch me."

She took a deep breath and before she released it, his tongue dipped for the first taste and then he withdrew long enough to instruct. "Put your hands on my shoulders. I have you and you're not going anywhere. I promise." He moved into her again with a sweet swipe. His tongue circled the outside of her p.u.s.s.y and his mouth covered her c.l.i.t. He fully intended to rob her of any possible self-control. The initial gentle suckling proved it.

Beyond the first, the others were the undoing of a woman. Heaven help her, she wanted to come after only feeling him cross over inside. She felt every invasion, reacted to each lick and moved with him every single time he curled his tongue inside of her. "Almonzo..." Breathless, how to define the experience left her only to marvel at another one. He gave several at various speeds.

His moist mouth lapped at her. Her body supplied enough evidence of her desire and provided only more with the appropriate, never mind skillful, stimulation.

Her back arched and he moved his hand to cradle her a.s.s while the fingers of his other hand trailed up her torso. He reached for her nipple. Between his thumb and forefinger, he rolled it back and forth and back and forth and her hips soon rotated with the moves only he inspired.

"Almonzo, no." Her breathing stopped. She moved her fingers through his hair. "No. Not...yet."

He moved closer to her, his arch evident, his desire certain and his intent unmatched. "Don't tell me no. You never say no to me, sweetheart." He seemed to speak into her center and her body opened up to listen.

Licking in an upward motion, he held her hard against his tongue and soaked up each spill she gave him. "That's it, baby. Let me taste you. Let me sip every flavor of your pleasure. Move it against my tongue." He whispered soft words and the vibration he sent into her cave only echoed and chimed deeper into her soul.

If his moves weren't enough encouragement for a woman who had waited far too long for this moment then the world came to an abrupt halt once he spoke to her with purpose. "That's it, love. I want you to come with me." He bit down on her c.l.i.t and the verbal coaxing continued, more or less, through forced vibrations. His moans and growls fell into a slow pace with an o.r.g.a.s.m meant to rock Las Vegas.

Her hands moved up against the marbled wall behind them. She scratched and clawed at it with every clenching sensation. "Almonzo! Don't stop now. You can't stop now." Her body begged for more. Her inner walls clenched tighter, holding him and his tongue in one spot with pulsating pleasure closing in around a truly perfect delivery of oral s.e.x.

He licked faster and then slower. Deeper and then wider, he moved his tongue into her with precision and skill and then withdrew just enough of it to make her body long for more.

She moved with him. Her p.u.s.s.y seemed to chase down the intimate affection of oral pampering, something she would forever enjoy with her mating partner.

His fingers dipped and his teeth secured the hard little nub driving her spasms. Licking, biting, sucking, ah yeah, he worked her over until she simply soared with more gratification than she ever experienced.

Hot spurts of pleasure forced her to grate forward against the wall. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s mashed into the cool texture as her legs parted only more. "Oh G.o.d, Almonzo!" Her hips gyrated forward and his hands clamped her securely against his hips.

After the first o.r.g.a.s.m took her, she started to slide back down in the water. He wouldn't allow it. "Oh no you don't." He looked up at her while his tongue moved slowly around his own lips before he sipped, truly indulged, one final time. "You taste like hot cinnamon b.u.t.ter."

Tabitha's eyes nearly crossed. "I'm so dizzy." Her breath, where did it go? She needed to catch it. She wanted to know what it felt like to breathe again. "I'm crazy. I'm so..." she paused, leaned her forehead on her forearm and looked down on him, "I'm so crazy for you."

A snicker of carnal acceptance left his lips. "If you think you love me now, wait until I tie you up and f.u.c.k that pretty little a.s.s of yours. Then you'll know what it's like to see a room spin."

She began to protest. "Almonzo, I'm not into kink."

"You are now." His handsome face spread into an expression that would have a mortal man locked up without the possibility of parole. Criminal intent, oh h.e.l.l yeah, he had it.

And oh f.u.c.k, no, she saw where they were headed once he stood up to carry her there.

Chapter 9

Almonzo wanted her to know him. Really grasp the context of who he was as a s.e.xual man. He needed her to feel him in a way no other woman was every permitted to enjoy him. He wanted her complete understanding and in order to have it, she needed to realize wherever she went now, he would shadow her. When they joined, an enduring desire drove him to be more than her lover or even her life mate. He wanted to exist as her alter ego.

Moving Tabitha to the bed, he stroked her hair as he carried her. He placed a light kiss on her forehead before he released her. He stood there before her, expectant. His tongue darted out in antic.i.p.ation as he watched her handle his provocative cue with extreme charm.

A gentle and knowing smile curved her lips and she inched closer to the bedside. Her soft hands moved around his hips and she made a confession. "I almost did this once."

"You what?" The moment all but ruined, Almonzo thought he was about to hear an inappropriate confession. If his ears didn't deceive him, he would kill the son-of-a-b.i.t.c.h who parted his woman's lips with his c.o.c.k.

Tabitha giggled. "You jealous man, you! I almost asked you if..." she stared up into his face. "Never mind."

Relief swarmed over him as her hands brought his tip into the moisture waiting for him. Her mouth parted and the tongue darting out of puckered lips swiped the prec.u.m off the tip.

"Mmm." She liked the taste and he loved the expression confirming it.

Heaven help him, he wanted to move in fast. He congratulated himself for the measure of respect he showed her and the restraint he proved he still exercised. He fought the urge to laugh at the way he patted himself on the back for showing her 'respect' because after all, a man doesn't think about respecting a woman when he has his c.o.c.k backed up against her throat. No matter who the woman is, he isn't weighing in with his reverence. Almonzo shrugged away his thoughts and his hips gave in to his man-needs as he moved closer to her sweet tongue, her obvious adoration.

Tabitha's small fingers wrapped around the base of his c.o.c.k and she directed the tip with her sucking lips. Her longing gaze challenged him before her mouth agreed to join in the ultimate consumption.

As soon as his d.i.c.k met her tongue again, her hot ready mouth closed around him and she immediately moaned with a pleasure so understood that he shivered. Knowing she liked his d.i.c.k swollen between her jaws only drove his moves. His a.s.s clenched as her hands moved to his b.u.t.t cheeks and she began the glide with a profound obvious skill. Maybe it wasn't a learned or practiced ability but her cleverness for maneuvering c.o.c.k didn't leave a lot to be desired. He wasn't afraid of hurting her now. No, she enjoyed it, and she liked it so much that her moans were only part of the proof because he knew where to find more evidence.

Her legs naturally fell apart in sudden invitation. Once or twice he glided back and forth into her mouth before he moved his fingers down to be sure she was happy to welcome him. Holy h.e.l.l, she wanted it. Ah yeah, she liked his d.i.c.k swelling between her cheeks almost as much as he liked sliding in and out of them, tempting them both with more.

Her fingers moved around him and kneaded the skin of his c.o.c.k. Claws dug into his backside and she swallowed. Oh, holy h.e.l.l, did she want him to come in her mouth? He had to ask her. He wanted her to expect it and, yes, oh h.e.l.l yeah, look forward to it. The way she worked after his release, she recognized the building desire.

Long fingers weaved through the top of her soft blonde hair. "Sweetheart, I'm going to come if you keep this up."

She gave him permission by sucking harder and now with it granted, she'd get what she pleaded for, perhaps even waited for with the twinkle of l.u.s.t he saw again in her eyes. He read it in her sultry expression and then her lips only tightened around his shaft more.

"d.a.m.nation, Tabitha. That's it, baby." His hips moved faster and she sucked him in more and more. His hand went to her damp center again and two fingers dipped and twirled, slowly they went for her core, for the pleasure control, the b.u.t.ton with the ability to expose a woman.

Velvet waited for him there, slick heat, and it guaranteed them of a finest hour. But first, oh h.e.l.l, that's it, right now he had silk to bypa.s.s and a tunnel of pleasure inviting him to sink on back into the lap of luxury. He had her now. Oh yeah, he had her where he wanted her.

"Oh G.o.d! Don't stop sucking, baby. Never stop." His hips moved in a short, fast pace. His c.o.c.k throbbed and pulsed against her mouth and his pleasure oozed on down her sleek little throat.

She swallowed once before he realized she tasted him completely. His c.u.m began to spray the back of her throat and he couldn't stop himself now. He drove beyond her sharp little teeth and past where he meant to go with just a simple stroke of tongue. He had to have her. He wanted her to know him, feel him. d.a.m.nation, she had to love him and in order to love him, she had to experience him, the flavor of this impeccable season-the mating of their new love. He wanted her to take the release and enjoy the taste. He gave it all to her and so help him, he didn't know if he would or could stop himself from coming all the more.

After he came, he didn't waste time in pleasing her because he'd already played in her readiness. His fingers f.u.c.ked her long enough to prepare her and if she wanted to come fast, and she did, he'd make it easy for her or so she thought.

"Come here, you." He started to pull her up. She shook her head and remained on the bed.

"No, I think you need to come on down here and love on me for a minute."

"d.a.m.n, you're mischievous." He bit his lower lip and grinned. "And mighty d.a.m.n tempting, but h.e.l.l no, you're going to have your little a.s.s teased first."