Tabitha's lips were soft and compliant, letting me take what I needed from her in sweet kisses while my fingers rubbed the silky ribbons into the gentle curves of her ribcage and across her water-damp belly. I did it in a primal way, instinctive and without thought. Feral. Savage. A warning to keep others from what was mine.

Because Tabitha Catt was mine.

Taking my fill, I shifted my hand to brace my palm on the stone wall. Water rained down, striking us both in a whimsical pattern of warmth. Tipping my head back, I rolled my neck and released a soul-deep sigh. I scrubbed my free hand over my face, wiping away the droplets of water dripping down my forehead and clinging to my eyebrows. The aftershocks of the climax were still crackling along my languid bones. I'd never come so fucking hard in my life. I'd practically seen stars and blacked out.

It had been five months since all those drunken revenge fucks, and even then all they'd been were quick and self-serving before I'd rolled out of bed, slipping away from arms trying to ensnare me to stay, pouting disappointment that said they wanted more from me than just one night.

The more I wanted to give Tabitha.

I wanted to give her everything.

It was then I became aware that it wasn't me still quaking after the explosive climax.

My eyes snapped open.

Alarm, sharp and painful, sliced through my gut.

Tabitha stood in front of me shell-shocked. There was a panicked sheen to her wide eyes, brightened by the flushed cheeks. She was breathless and trembling. "I-I-I-I..."

Hells, what had I done?

I'd gone too far, too fast, showing what it would be like between us.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." I reached for her but before I could curl my fingers around her forearm she spun away to face the smooth wall. My ribs were hammered by fear and guilt. She seemed so much smaller and fragile in her panicked state, her shaking sun-kissed body a stark contrast against the black rock. The water shimmering down the wall parted around her hands to splash at her feet. Her fingertips flexed against the stone and burned white.

I didn't know what the fuck to do. "Tabitha, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..."

The rope of long wet hair loosened when she shook her bowed head and whispered, "No...I liked it. I really liked it."

My knees slightly buckled as relief, a soothing balm, calmed the guilt and fear. I kneaded my throat roughly as the burning sensation in my lungs eased. Then understanding caused tension of another nature to run riot through my body. While I'd gotten my completion Tabitha hadn't. Her gorgeous body was overly coiled like a taut spring desperate for release.

Steam whirled outward as I pressed closer, my chest meeting her back and my mouth finding her temple. "It hurts, right."

She nodded and there was a frantic hitch to her voice when she answered, "Everywhere."

I angled my head to glance downward at her profile. The delicate freckles scattered over her elegant cheekbone disappeared beneath the pink blooming into a deeper shade of red while she focused intently on the wall, too shy to look directly into my eyes and ask for what she wanted. A moment later, her hand inched closer to mine braced on the wall, and she stroked a finger slowly up the back of it all the way to the tip of my forefinger, sending heat sparking down my arm. "I want more... Just for this one night."

All the warmth drained from my body.

A different kind of agony, reality, cruel and unforgiving, impaled my heart.

Just for this one night.

The stone floor suddenly felt like a wintry lake with thin ice threatening to crack beneath my weight. I'd plunge into the oblivion of dark water, alone, without her.

Though I had opened myself up and told Tabitha I only wanted her, she hadn't actually returned the same sentiment. She'd simply pounced and kissed me back.

Exploring one another's bodies was a physical act and one I'd indulged her in. But when I ran back through our experience in the hot pool, Tabitha hadn't expressed she wanted more from me than what I could give through my body for more than one night.

I squeezed my eyes shut and exhaled a tortured breath.

Maybe it was the stiff line of my body pressed against hers, the extended silence with nothing but the rushing of water and the faint chittering of willwips, but it led to Tabitha tilting her head, wondering, I suppose, why I wasn't saying or doing anything.

Perhaps I should have let her go, and maybe if I hadn't gotten to know her, I would have. However, I had. And with one taste, one glimpse behind her sweet mind, like forbidden fruit, I greedily wanted more of Tabitha.

Determination rose ruthlessly to vanquish the wretchedness.

Hells no.

Us only sharing this one night wasn't going to happen.

She was willfully stubborn, still fighting me, fighting us both, but she couldn't deny the intense attraction we had for one another. It wasn't as shallow as simple lust, it was bone deep and she needed to face up to it and take a risk on us.

She softened as she felt my body relax against hers, sighed, closing her eyes as I slid my cheek along the side of her face to press a kiss beside her ear. "Anything you want," I whispered.

Straightening, I took a tiny step back so I had more room to play. I ran the knuckles of my hand beneath my chin as I scanned her turned-away body like a fucking battle zone. I was going to bring her down like a fucking gazelle with my bare hands!

Her supple back was full of graceful curves leading down to hips that flared out with a perfectly peachy ass. Chestnut and cinnamon and honeyed freckles were scattered down her back like falling stars. A shiver raced across her skin as I ran a single fingertip slowly down her spine. "Yes," she breathed. "Like that... More..."

My touch trailed lower to just above the dip of her spine and I stilled, waiting with endless patience. "More..." she husked, arching her neck to the side so I could see her long eyelashes glistening with moisture, moonlight grazing the top of her cheek and sparkling at the tip of her straight nose.

Down further I brushed, down, down, down, to the hip line of her panties, and languidly traced its worn edge, back and forth in teasing caresses. "More... More..." she moaned softly, urgently, her fingers bunching into a fist.

I palmed her tight ass, smoothing my fingers over the wet fabric. Her forehead tipped forward to rest on her fist pressed against the stone wall and she groaned, pushing back into my hand. Her ass was fucking gorgeous and I kneaded it before sliding two fingers along the luscious curve of her cheeks. I dipped my fingers between the gap of her thighs to spear slowly along the narrow strip of the dull beige panties.

Tabitha inhaled sharply and the innocent sound had my body tightening.

A deep groan rumbled from my throat at her sex folding around my fingers, the desire soaking the fabric, and the sweet scent of her arousal permeating the air.

Holy hellsgate.

She was so fucking wet.

My cock was still hard after marking her body—an artist's signature on canvas. It flexed and wept, wanting more, wanting everything.

I had seen a faint rosy color and the outline of her nipples through her bra up at the clearing. The material was worn thin from age. The wage she earned as a servant, no doubt, was spent elsewhere on more important things than pretty underwear. I was going to shower her with gifts, and she was going to get used to wearing lace and silk lingerie.

She moaned, moving her hips in tandem with my strokes.

The rope of her hair slithered around my forearm as I gathered it up with a fist. I angled her head gently to the side and she stared back with heavily lidded eyes gone a hazy forest green with pure need.

Her skin was warm and damp with water when I glided my lips along her cheekbone. "I know what you want Tabitha, and I'll give it to you as long as you give me what I want too."

Caution entered her tone. "What do you want?"

"I want tomorrow from you and every day afterward."

The pity shining in her gaze was more agonizing than if she'd cruelly twisted a rusty blade into my chest.

"I want to, gods I want to... But it's impossible, impossible..." she murmured against my lips as I ghosted them along her own.

I steeled myself against the hurt. "Nothing's impossible," I replied, pulling away from her searching mouth and stroking once more against her heat, eliciting from her a sultry hum, before I withdrew my hand from between her thighs.

She groaned, the sound ending on an irritated growl at being denied my touch.

Then she gasped in shock as I grabbed hold of an arm and spun her around to face me.

Tabitha's long hair swung wide to swing back and plastered itself in waves to her chest rising and falling with quickened breath. She didn't blink. Thick lashes darkened to caramel fluttered around eyes that were wide and wary.

Lowering my head so we were at eye level, I cupped her cheek, pushing my fingers through her hair. I imparted it gently and firmly, but the words were threaded with my own iron will. "All you have to do is promise me you'll see me tomorrow... We'll take each day one at a time."

"You're impossible," she accused. "You know how dangerous—"

My thumb swept over her lips, stopping the words from tumbling from her mouth. My skin tingled from the warmth of her breath. "I'll keep you safe," I promised. "No one will ever find out."

She stared unblinkingly back up at me, want and denial warring across her features.

Her torso was paler than her limbs but it still held her natural summer glow. Straightening to my full height, my hand left her cheek to trail down the column of her slender throat, my fingertips drifting along the sunburst of sandy freckles cascading down her side, causing her skin to pebble outward. I marveled at the rose freckles sprinkled across her breast just as she'd claimed in the glassware cupboard.

"I know you want the same as I do." I pressed my hand lightly over her heart pulsing a rapturous beat against my palm. "I know I'm already in here."

She briefly squeezed her eyes shut before opening them. Fire blazed in her gaze but her voice was as thin and weak as the watery drizzle falling over us. "You're so sure about that?"

Yes.

Yes, I fucking was.

I finally was sure about how she felt as the answer flooded through me as bright and balmy as summery rays. The truth settled my unease like nothing else had ever done before. "You wouldn't have given yourself to me if you didn't feel the same way."

Silence greeted me, thickening the air with challenge.

"It's true though isn't it, Tabitha." It wasn't a question.

"What if I said no?" she glared, tilting up her chin, but the blush on her cheeks gave her away.

"Little liar."

She pressed her lips together, refusing to give me what I wanted, but all it did was heat my blood hotter. I fucking loved her spirit. She'd already lost and she knew it. Now all I had to do was get her to surrender.

My battle-scarred hands seemed enormous wrapped around her slender shoulders, brutal against her delicate skin. I smoothed my palms outwards, my thumbs tracing the ridgeline of her collarbone before gliding down to graze the outer swell of her breasts and cup her underneath. Her pupils dilated at the contact and she sucked in a swift breath which only pushed her breasts further into my palms.

No one had touched her before. No one but me.

Anticipation thundered in my chest.

Her tits were magnificent. My hands framed them, measuring and feeling their weight. A sweep of my calloused thumbs over her tight nipples, back and forth. Rough then soft. A pinch to earn a sharp gasp. A gentle circle to earn a breathy moan.

"Say you'll give me tomorrow." I had no fucking idea how I was going to make this work. But I needed to hear from her that she was looking ahead, that we still could have something solid together despite our ranks and circumstances.

"I want to...want to..." And yet that fucking hesitation still lingered in her tone.

Bending lower, I pressed my lips to the cluster of strawberry-red freckles near her nipple and for a split second I expected them to taste of nothing but the water clinging to her body. But they tasted of her, roses and salty-sweet skin. "Tomorrow, I'm taking you out after work."

She stiffened beneath my hands.

When I glanced up I met a reluctant yet inquisitive gleam in her gaze. "Where would you take me?" she asked breathlessly.

Caught you, Miss Cat!

A glance of my tongue against her nipple, so soft and featherlight she almost wouldn't feel it. But her entire body jolted. "Oh my gods..."

My teeth captured a nipple—gentle, gentle, gentle—I wanted to bite and show her how a burst of pain sweetened pleasure. But she didn't want an animal falling upon her and that's what I was. The illicit need to dominate her stormed through my veins. A burning desire to notch my cock against her pussy and thrust my way into her scorching heat. I was desperate to drive the sounds of her unraveling from her delicate throat with the snapping of my hips. I hungered for her fingernails to dig into my shoulders, breaking skin as she pulled me closer and pushed me away.

There was no pattern for her to hold onto nor anticipate and brace herself against. A leisurely circle around her areola, once, twice. A flick of her nipple, swiping fast then slow. Before I flattened my tongue and swept over the pinched bud to suck it into my mouth.

"A place no one knows about." Anything else would scare her away. "There's this bar in the middle of nowhere that makes the best mojitos and tamales, and a Cuban band plays while everyone dances on the dirt floor."

"Oh my...it sounds so good..." Her voice was broken and hoarse, her long hair swaying from side to side as she writhed under my relentless touch.

"Say yes," I demanded, my mouth on her nipple getting rougher, firmer.

"I can't."

"You can."

Her willful hesitation sliced through my gut, but it only drove my determination harder. I licked and nipped, laved and sucked at her nipples, while my palm kneaded her plump breast until those husky moans of hers spooled through the moonlit cavern and her spine bowed away from the stone wall. Her hips moved in a timeless rhythm seeking my attention.

"Just say yes," I pressed once more. Her body trembled as I pushed her to the brink of a climax.

"Yes, yes, yes," she chanted, and her hands threaded through my hair, holding me closer.

Fuck, finally.

Elation poured through my body like liquid happiness, making me lightheaded with the victory. I couldn't stop the blissful grin that was pressed against her pillowy flesh.

"I felt that smile," I heard a moment before she playfully tugged at my hair. "And that one too," she whisper-hissed when I grinned again. "It's the mojito that won me over. I've never had one before."

"Sure, Miss Catt." Nothing at all to do with sitting across from me under candlelight, indulging in tamales, tostones, and mojitos, and then spinning her lithe body into a salsa beneath paper lanterns while I kissed the hells out her every chance I got.

Working my way down her flat stomach, her muscles spasmed beneath my open-mouthed kisses. I couldn't resist licking into her navel and her belly jiggled against my lips with her surprised laugh, quickly followed by a choked gasp when I nipped her hip bone.

Water surged around my knees when I lowered myself to the gritty stone floor in subjugation, ready to serve my queen. My hands flowed over her skin as I peppered tiny kisses across her pelvis, tasting fresh water on my lips and her sweetness too. A faint undertone of my salty cum on her rose-tainted skin.

Appreciation moved through me as I glanced upward at her slender figure bathed in soft pastel hues from the moonlight and willwips drifting in iridescent swirls. She looked ethereal and innocent with her heart-shaped face framed sweetly by strands of darkened gold, her sunny features glistening with beads of water, and a touch of shyness in the exploration of new sensations.

"What are you doing?" she whispered, as confusion swept through her gaze.

I arched an eyebrow, wasn't it obvious?

Maybe she expected me to have stood behind her and pushed my hand beneath her panties. Instead, I pressed a chaste kiss to her panty-clad pussy. "Reciprocation."

Her gorgeous mouth pursed into an astonished O.

"I'm not going to fuck you on our first date," I said, my fingers tightening around her hips. She couldn't stop the shy bite at her bottom lip on our first date. And neither could I because there were going to be plenty more glorious dates. "But I will make you come." Spectacularly.

There was one more thing I yearned for.

It fired my blood like dipping a naked flame into an unlit furnace.

I was going to extract it from her in the form of torturous touches until she gave me what I hungered for.