Part 2 (1/2)
”I hate you!” She screamed out at the scented air. ”d.a.m.n you, Almonzo! I said I hate you!”
He listened to her scream her little lungs out for a few minutes and laughed to himself as she slapped around in the water. He knew he missed one of the most entertaining of shows but somehow resisted the urge to join her. Instead, he waited patiently right outside the door.
By the humming sound of her voice, a half-hour of a luxurious bath and a sedative in fine wine, Tabitha sounded like a woman in better humor. He finally heard the swatting sound of wet clothing as she slapped it against the side of the bathtub. After he was certain she was relaxed and ready for company, he called for Tate. Almonzo was ready to show her just exactly what she would miss if she missed out on him.
Chapter 3
Tate pushed a tea service cart into the room and smiled. ”So, finally, she's willing. If you don't mind my saying so, it certainly took you longer than Orlando. I'm quite surprised.”
Almonzo gritted his teeth. ”Tate, I do mind. My s.e.x life or the bedding of a life partner is not your concern.” Tate made a valid point, something Almonzo decided must have placed him at the b.u.t.t of family jokes.
Orlando and Natasha made their joining look simple. After the last few weeks and what he experienced with Tabitha, he deserved her as a lifetime reward. His little siren was an adventuresome woman and he believed she only wanted to be pursued but G.o.d help her, once he had her where he wanted her, he planned to chase her for a lifetime. His c.o.c.k would stay fisted in his hand as he stalked her out of one century and then f.u.c.ked her right into the next.
The older man's smile only widened. ”Of course it isn't my business and when you finally don't need a supplement for your nourishment, let me know. For now, you are pale and weak. It's there on the tray for you since you obviously need to drink it.” He nodded politely and then excused himself.
Almonzo loathed the plasma gunk. He bypa.s.sed the tall gla.s.s and defiantly left it there. If he couldn't talk Tabitha into a sip of her sweet nectar, he d.a.m.n sure wasn't going for a subst.i.tute, at least not yet.
Almonzo uncovered the fruit and cheese tray. He arranged a plate of a.s.sorted treats with several chocolate-covered strawberries and then he filled a flute with champagne. He moved into the bathroom slowly, cautiously. He entered the room ready to find a willing woman. Instead, he found sleeping beauty. The sedative worked its magic all too well.
Quietly, he placed the champagne and strawberries next to the tub. His eyes drifted over her. The bubbles and rose petals made for difficult visibility. He was certain of the pleasures found underneath them but if he strained to see the beauty found there then his bold maneuver to slip in beside her would've been postponed. He took off the robe, the one he put on for nothing more than appearances, and then slide he did-right into the water without so much as a splash.
It was hard, he decided, to be quiet or still in water. He wanted to just sit close and watch. Take in the sight of heaven before she decided to wake up and stir a little h.e.l.l. And she would. Sweet mercy, would she ever.
While he kept an attending eye on beauty's rebel, he noticed what he had to work with once the opportunity allowed it. Anytime he looked at her, he saw the face of an angel and he also knew, because he'd watched her in his dreams long before meeting her, she'd have a savage body meant for pleasing a man. With one knee showing, tipping the bubbles, he wasn't sure resisting a full flesh visual proved anything significant.
Her round face and b.u.t.ton nose struck him as perfect and the long neck she sported defined pure perfection. He strained his own in hopes of a better view. d.a.m.n Tate for placing the bubbles next to the bath. Even when the man wasn't around, he seemed to screw things up for him.
While it was difficult to leave her body for a second, he wanted to see, was dying to know, what she had on underneath the clothes covering her. His breath caught in his lungs when he saw it. Hot pink panties and a lacy bra to match called out for his fingertips.
He reached out of the tub and touched the silk. d.a.m.nation. The best part wasn't what the garments looked like but what they felt like. He tossed them back to the tile step where she'd left them and laughed when he saw the a.s.s of the panties. Like he needed something else to fuel a blazing fire, she tempted him without as much as a word ever spoken. ”Bite this” was the logo stamped on the b.u.t.t.
”Gladly.” He chuckled again and, on instinct, reached for a leg only inches away from him. After he had her in his palms, the only choice was to ma.s.sage, because Tabitha started to move and wake up.
”d.a.m.n it all!” She moved her leg and quickly stood before she thought and gave him the best bird's-eye view ever.
”Holy sweet mercy.” His voice caught in his lungs. ”Quite impressive for a woman who supposedly does not want a man to see what she's hiding.” His b.a.l.l.s tightened with an unfathomable heat las.h.i.+ng at them.
d.a.m.n, did they hurt. He was rock hard with solid strength and dying to show her his best a.s.sets, since she was kind enough to show hers first.
She sat back down fast and covered her b.r.e.a.s.t.s with her hands. ”What are you doing in here?”
”Now there's the sweetest question you've ever asked and I'll just bet you have an idea or two.”
”When h.e.l.l freezes over, then I'll thaw out some tempting ideas.” She glared at him. ”I feel violated.”
”Do you, now?” He rubbed his palm over the length of his face.
”Yes, I do.” The color flooded over her in patches.
”Well, explain to me how in the h.e.l.l you can feel violated, as you so eloquently put it, when I'm sitting here in my f.u.c.king swim trunks?” He stood up to display a pair of long swim shorts. They still revealed too much, something he never stopped to consider when he stood up to prove he was an honorable man.
Making a splash, she released her arms and then covered her mounds completely from view by sliding further into the water. ”You underestimated your abilities to hide obvious admiration! Your swim shorts, I don't care about! It's the swimming trunk I'm worried about!” She leaned her head back and closed her eyes tightly. ”Please! Get out of my bath!”
Almonzo sat back down fast and a spray of water splattered to the floor. ”Okay, enough.” He didn't say anything else, nothing at all. He felt like they should either make plans to move forward or she should just get the f.u.c.k out. He didn't have the stamina for anymore games. Not now. He released a long overdue sigh. He was going forward with a seduction ready or not. It was a must. He saw what he'd been missing. As far as he was concerned, it was a true shame, if not an unpardonable sin that he waited in the first place.
”What do you mean?” It took her about five seconds to comment.
He moved closer to her. He had the champagne flute between steady fingers and the chocolate-covered strawberries were close enough to grab one. He dipped the seedy fruit carefully over the rim of the gla.s.s and then smoothly, and he congratulated himself on his effectiveness, moved it to her lips. ”Open.”
Her mouth formed a tighter line with just a slight movement.
He set the champagne down, held the berry to her lips and pressed once more. ”Open, please.”
Still nothing.
”Now, sweetheart,” his sarcasm carried, ”or else, I may find another place for this luscious berry.” His other hand dipped under the water and her eyes gave everything away. He moved closer and positioned his hand right above the only womanly cave he ever wanted to visit again. He didn't touch her there, only allowed her to realize when he wanted his way, he generally took extreme measures to get it.
”Lay one hand on me and I scream.” Her eyes darkened with the l.u.s.t she tried to deny, the wanton need she tried to avoid. The obvious infatuation covered her forehead with sweat beads and drove her body to s.h.i.+ft to where her legs were only closer. Everything her lips told him she didn't desire, her body only trumped with a different truth.
”Then I'll scream, too.” He smirked. ”No one will come but you.” He swatted her inner thigh with a quick clasp. ”I promise. Now bite.” He shoved the berry into her mouth and then he carefully placed the gla.s.s in her hand. ”Drink.”
”I see what Natasha meant. Do this. Do that. It's what you Spensers want in a woman, huh?”
”I've never heard a complaint. Maybe there's a first time for everything.” He pushed himself out of the warm heat that surrounded them in the tub. It was only because the tepid water combined with his personal male heat made his head swim.
”What's that supposed to mean?” Her eyes darted back to the berries.
”Like those, do you?” He reached for another one, dipped it again in her gla.s.s and fed it to her.
”What did you mean by a 'first time for everything' remark?”
She was going to wish she'd let it ride, he thought, before saying, ”I know you're a virgin.”
Swallowing hard, she looked past him again at the plate of berries. Her mouth fell open slightly and once more, he found she didn't know what to say.
He took a bite of the berry and moved it to her mouth. She caught it between her lips and sucked slowly. His hand stayed in place until he felt her wicked little tongue on his thumb, forefinger and middle finger. He was completely pa.s.sion-driven after the fact. It was the unleas.h.i.+ng of the male vampire.
She chewed, then she swallowed hard. ”I can't discuss this with you.”