Taber snorted, but by then Roni was bored with their male amusement.

“I need a bath.” She eased herself from the bed, testing the strength of her legs, which really wasn’t so good at the moment. “And food. I need food. Pizza is definitely called for in this situation.”

Taber scooped her up in his arms, his grip fierce as he strode quickly from the room.

“I can walk,” she sighed, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, enjoying the brief respite from her worries that the drugs had provided.

“Of course you can.” He glanced down at her, his lips much too distracting as they curved up into a smile. “But I like carrying you.”

He had always carried her, every chance he had, she remembered. He had carried her when he first found her, huddled in the night, terrified of the sounds of darkness and the men who had run her from her home. Every chance after that, he had carried her whenever the opportunity presented itself.

“Do you have any idea how good you feel in my arms?” he asked her as he strode quickly up the stairs into the suite he claimed as his own.

He kicked the door closed behind him, but didn’t make it to the bedroom. He collapsed on the couch, his arms still firm and hard around her as he lowered his head, his lips covering hers demandingly. Roni wasn’t willing to just be a participant this time. She had faced death earlier. Had faced the knowledge that at any moment, she or Taber could cease to exist. She wasn’t willing to fight the needs clamoring in her body any longer. Or those in her heart.

She rose in his arms, ignoring his little growl of warning until she was straddling him, staring into his surprised gaze.

“Mine!” Her whisper, despite its softness, resonated with the sense of possessiveness and power filling her now.

His eyes flared. The jade-green color darkening, the pupils expanding as her fingers went to the buttons of his bloodstained shirt. The cotton, though she was sure it was soft enough, rasped her palms as she smoothed it across his shoulders then down to the first button. It slipped free easily.

“Roni.” He swallowed tightly, emotion echoing thick and intense through his hoarse voice.

“You marked me,” she told him softly, determined. “But you didn’t mark me the day you placed your mouth on my neck, Taber. You marked me when I was eleven years old and you carried me to safety. When I was sixteen and you arranged my first birthday party. When you placed that little, all too innocent kiss against my lips. You marked me a little more every time I saw you, every time you touched me. Now, I’m going to mark you.”

She smoothed his shirt back from his chest, over his broad shoulders, and laid her mouth at the point where his shoulder and neck met. There, in the thick, pulsing muscle, she bit him. Not enough to draw blood, just enough that his body tightened, his hips arching and grinding his cock into the cradle of her thighs as his hands gripped her hips with bruising strength. She bit down, laved the area she held in her grip with her tongue, suckled it deeply, repeated the erotic, sexually charged caress he had given her so many months ago. The effect on him was no different than it had been for her, it seemed.

He tore the shirt from her back as her attention stayed on the tight flesh she caressed with a force that would vary between pain and pleasure. He shredded the cloth then pulled it from her body before his

fingers moved to her snug jeans.

“Take them off.” His voice was feral, rumbling, as he pushed the material over her hips, midway over the curve of her buttocks.

Roni murmured a soft sound of pleasure as his hands pushed beneath the jeans, cupping her rounded flesh, his fingers flexing against the firm muscle as he moved her roughly against his jeans-covered cock. She wasn’t in a hurry, and she had no intention of allowing him to rush her. She needed to touch him, to taste him, to know he was safe and in her arms and that this wasn’t just another desperate dream.

“You’re killing me.” He was panting for breath now, his head tilted to the side, giving her complete access to the strong line of his throat.

Roni realized she had never felt as confident or strong, sexually, as she did at that moment. He was helpless beneath her touch. Rough groans vibrated from his throat, every muscle tense, his erection grinding desperately against the cloth that shielded her hot, damp pussy. Her nails raked over his chest, the corded planes of his abdomen, then back to his tight, hard male nipples. When she was satisfied she had left at least a small mark on his tough skin, she released the flesh she held, then ran her tongue slowly along his neck. She nipped him lightly under the hard line of his jaw, then licked her way down his throat, feeling the flexing of his skin as he swallowed tightly.

“I love your taste.” She moved back from the erotic, mind-destroying movements of his cock pressing into her sex. “So wild and untamed. Can I tame you, Taber?”

A short, sharp laugh, devoid of humor, was an exclamation of primal lust as he fought to answer her.

“You already have. Years ago.”

“Mmm. My own wildcat. Can I stroke you? Or will you devour me before I can show you all the ways I’ve dreamed of pleasing you?”

His eyes were heavy-lidded, glowing with such a staggering heat it warmed every corner of her soul. For now, this small place in time, nothing or no one existed in Taber’s world but her. She nearly climaxed from the heady knowledge that she held such power over him.

“Show me,” he whispered, though his voice was as tormented as any man’s could be. She gave him a slow, deliberately provocative smile as she gazed at him from beneath lowered lids. Watching him carefully, challengingly, she rose slowly from his lap, ignoring the bestial sound of protest he made.

“Stay there,” she told him softly as he moved to stand as well. Taber leaned back against the couch as she instructed, but she could see his muscles flexing, everything inside him demanding that he take her now.

“Oh, so controlled,” she murmured, pleased. “I wonder how long you can hold onto all that power.”

“Not long.” His fists were clenched at his sides as his gaze followed her hands.

Roni slid the straps of her bra carefully over her shoulders, fighting back any fear and modesty that would have held her back from the enjoyment of this moment. He had seen her naked more than once, and evidently the sight didn’t displease him.

He licked his lips, the movement slow, hungry, as she reached back, unclipped the lacy fabric and drew it away from her swollen breasts.

Her nipples were erect and hard, pleading for his touch. Roni touched them instead. Watching him, she gripped them between her thumbs and forefingers, tugging at them, massaging them as she watched his gaze darken further, his expression becoming heavy with the intensity of his arousal.

“I can do that.” He swallowed tightly.

“I know you can,” she agreed, her breath catching as a bolt of sensation shot from her nipples to her cunt. “Take your jeans off, Taber. Let me see if I arouse you.” He began to rise. “No. Don’t stand up. Remove them while you watch me.”

He hesitated, obviously fighting for breath, for control. Roni lowered her hands from her nipples, smoothing her palms down her stomach until they came to the loosened front of her jeans. Quickly, Taber loosened his own. She smiled back at him, loving the game they were playing, wondering who would lose control first. She pushed at the material, allowing them to slide leisurely from her thighs, then down her legs. She kicked the material from her feet, her mouth drying out as she watched Taber do the same.

She had made an error in judgment. Each time they had come together she hadn’t had time to truly look at the amazing organ that brought her to such pinnacles of pleasure. But now she did. It rose to his navel, nearly as thick as her wrist, as bronzed as the rest of his body and throbbing with a life of its own. The mushroom-shaped head was tapered for maximum penetration, flowing to a wider base and heavily veined shaft. No wonder he drove her crazy with the edge of pain that followed the rapturous pleasure. His cock, like his body, was built for endurance, and right now, she wanted nothing more than to endure its presence within her steamy cunt.

But she was going to wait. Taber stared at her with a challenge glowing in his eyes as his fingers wrapped around the erect stalk. Roni licked her lips as he massaged himself, his fingers stroking from the heavy hood to the base of the shaft.

“Come here,” he whispered, his voice dark, rich with sexual demand.

“No,” she drawled softly as she went to her knees before him. “I told you, Taber. I want to stroke you.”

“Damn.” He jerked in reaction as she leaned forward, her tongue licking over the hot head of his erection.

His hips flexed, driving it against her lips as a strangled groan ripped from his chest.

“Roni. God. Baby.” His chest was rising and falling violently with the force of his breathing. Perspiration gleamed on the powerful muscles, making his skin look satiny, warm and vibrant. She licked the head of his cock again, slowly, easily, watching his eyes, his expression as he grimaced in

rising need. The sharp canines at the sides of his mouth gleamed wickedly, giving him a decidedly sexy, dangerous appearance.

“Roni, I won’t make it,” he panted, his voice tight, regretful, tortured. “I’m going to lose my control, baby. I can’t stand it.”

“Can’t you?” She brushed his fingers out of the way, her own hand attempting to surround the burgeoning flesh of his cock. “Poor baby. Then how will you handle this?” Her mouth covered the thick head, stretching over it, sucking him inside as her tongue began to rub, stroke and tease the ultra-sensitive, hard throb of flesh just beneath the hooded crown. The throttled, animalistic growl that tore from his throat had her womb clenching, her sex flooding with moisture and heat. The man within had always stayed in control, had always maintained a delicate balance in their sexual encounters. Roni knew she was tempting, daring the animal to break free. And she couldn’t wait to show him he had met his match in her.

Chapter Nineteen

She was beautiful. There were no other words to describe the soft glow of passion in Roni’s blue eyes, the flush of need on her cheeks, her reddened lips stretching around his erection. Too beautiful. Too damned innocent and too hot for what she was tempting. But there was no way in hell he was going to push her away.

He kept his hands bunched into the cushions of the couch, his eyes narrowed as she watched him with a siren’s gaze, his body tortured as her tongue continued to tempt the primal barb hidden just under the skin into revealing itself.

He could feel the presence of the unnatural extension. It throbbed, pulsed, fought to be free even as he fought to hold it back. God, he wanted it to last forever. From the seductive, lingering caresses of her mouth, it appeared she did as well. There was no frantic suckling, no indication that she wasn’t enjoying every second of touching him, as he did touching her.

“Oh yeah,” he moaned as her tongue rimmed beneath the flared head, stroking and probing, learning every curve and rise of his straining flesh. “Good, baby, so good.”

He flexed his hips, pushing his flesh farther into her mouth. Her moan vibrated around it, her fingers tightening as her tongue flattened and stroked what she could of his turgid cock. Heat surrounded him. Moist, slick heat. Her tongue was like a silken demon running rampant, her lips a snug, gripping pleasure. Heaven, because nothing had ever felt so good. Hell, because the fight to restrain the explosion building in his scrotum was nearly more than he could bear.

“Damn, Roni.” He could feel the sweat building on his skin as snaking fingers of pleasure wrapped around his cock and the tightened sac beneath it. Tingles of sensation chased up his spine, enclosing his scalp with static sensitivity.

He groaned weakly as her lips dragged back up the small amount of flesh she held in her mouth, caressing over the head then leaving it entirely as her tongue swirled over the tip. Taber pushed up to her mouth, groaning with the need to have her envelop him again.