Silky skin met my palms as I glided my hands up her thighs. "Spread your legs, Miss Catt."

"I c-can't..."

"Spread them, tabby cat. Now."

A shaky hand stroked through my hairline as she pushed the damp strands back from my forehead. "I've never done this before," she whispered.

Neither had I. Not like this. With such intensity pounding a dark drum within my blood. This was new to me too, how much I wanted her. Craved her. Needed her taste on my tongue. To lap between her thighs until she was rendered boneless and her sweet cries rang through the cavern.

Sliding my hands around her exquisite ass, I squeezed. "Don't make me spank you."

I hadn't forgotten her list.

Her eyes widened and intense curiosity sparkled in their sea green depth.

Obviously, she hadn't forgotten about it either.

Slowly, so slowly she edged her feet apart. A sliver was all she gave, but it was enough for what I wanted to do. It was with great restraint I gently ease her panties off, lifting one foot at a time to discard them with a toss over my shoulder. I wanted to rip them from her and revel in the shredding of fabric.

I splayed my hands around her hips. She was neatly trimmed and her pussy was the same adorable rosy hue as her blushes. Slowly leaning in, I inhaled her scent and my soft exhale was too sensitive, her body attuned to the barest of sensations. Her hips jerked away and she gave a strangled cry. "Holy hells!"

My mouth watered for the first forbidden taste. And maybe that's what made her even more desirous because I shouldn't take a bite out of her. She should be hanging from a bough out of reach, too high for me to steal.

My hands smoothed between her thighs to grip her ass and I gently nudged my shoulders to spread her legs wider. My mouth sank into the inside of each thigh, slowly, deliberately, kissing and gently biting my way upwards. Her hands fell away from my hair and she kneaded her fingers by her sides as if she was unsure of what to do with them.

Tabitha's eyelashes lowered shut.

"Eyes open, tabby cat."

"It's too much," she pleaded. "It's so...so intimate. So intense."

Two people staring into one another's eyes as they stole pleasure from one another, yes it was. The reason why I wasn't into meaningless sex. Why I'd often taken whomever I'd been fucking, from behind. But I hungered for those vulnerable eyes, her soul bared open to mine. I wanted her to share with me how I was making her feel.

"I want to see those pretty eyes of yours, Tabitha." I was fucking desperate to watch her fall apart beneath my touch.

"Okay, okay, okay," she murmured, and pried open her eyes and I was met with hesitancy and excitement and anxiousness, all pitching over one another in their endless ocean depths.

I ran the flat of my tongue along her sex curled inward like a blossom drawn for the night, the petals soft and silky and glistening with dew. She hadn't given herself to anyone but me, and the prowling animalistic side of me roared in the conquest.

Her high-pitched shriek cut through the gloomy cavern, her hips squirming away as she panted through the shock of pleasure.

My thumbs opened her pussy wide and I licked either side of her rosy-pink lips before pressing tiny kisses along her soft ridges right up to her sensitive clit which I left untouched so she'd suffer with the neglect as it swelled and ached in desperation.

Her breath came quicker as she writhed against the wall. Her moans and soft gasps were low and sultry as I teased her with glancing touches and tormented her with grazing teeth, keeping my licks fluttering and shallow.

Every so often I pulled away, relishing her sexual frustration, the flustered cheeks and bewilderment, before she huffed and glared at me, exasperated to be hovering at the precipice of a climax. Then I'd give myself to her in small, whispering touches that only drove her frustration higher.

Pausing once more in my relentless pursuit, I flicked my tongue along my lips savoring the taste of her sweet honeyed desire and fucking moaned. Hells she tasted exquisite. Better than I imagined.

Rallying my dazed mind, I squeezed her ass. "You know what I want." My tone was dark with warning.

Startled understanding flowed across her features and then it thinned her pretty mouth with insubordination. Ire surged through my veins, the little minx knew exactly what I hungered for.

I cocked an eyebrow and my bottom lip jutted out with my demand. "Say it, Tabitha."

Wickedness glittered in her gaze. "Mr. Whiskers."

An incensed snarl ripped from my throat. She knew what I desired, yet she refused to give it to me, like the cruel little cat she was. "Try it again."

"Mr. Crowther."

"Do me better."

"How about you just do me," she hissed.

That earned her a playful slap on her clit.

She gave a shrill squeak that turned into a throaty moan when the heat of the spank washed through her, a husky yelp when I soothed the heat with a gently blown breath. "Now... Oh my gods, now... Please, please, please..." she begged.

Leaning forward, I swiped my tongue over her swollen, throbbing clit.

She bucked against my face with a startled cry, and I slightly tilted her hips forward as I dragged my tongue along her slick folds, pushing into her core and fucking her with my tongue nice and slow.

She rose up on her toes like a ballerina. "Oh...oh, Varen..."

The sound of my name on her lips swelled through my chest with euphoria, spreading outward to consume me wholly like wildfyre.

That's what I'd yearned for. "Again, Tabitha. Again."

Her hands tangled in my hair as she rocked her hips, deepening the thrust of my tongue. She chanted my name, holding my gaze with eyes gone glassy with dark pleasure.

Everything faded away. It was just my name echoing in my ears and all that filled my vision were those big, expressive eyes of hers. The pupils ate into the sea green irises glistening with sunshine flecks, and I soaked up the vulnerability and raw emotion, and the shyness of sharing how I made her feel as she came apart under my touch.

Tabitha's pouty lips were parted and a much deeper rosy hue as she gasped and breathily moaned. Her head tipped forward and butterscotch strands of hair slithered over the soft swell of her tits, catching across her pinched nipples.

She was wild and beautiful and reckless in her surrender to pleasure.

I pushed her over the edge, licking deep inside, with a swirl of my thumb over her clit in a gentle circle, just once.

A shudder ran through her body. A frantic hitched breath. A garbled cry.

She came in an exquisite rush, her legs quivering as her intimate walls rippled and pulsed and clenched around my tongue. I lapped her arousal greedily down and grew drunk on her summer sweetness.

Tabitha slumped against the stone wall, but I gave her no leniency as I pressed my mouth against her core and demanded more. "Again."

It was my name tripping from her lips that I wanted most, even more than a second orgasm, and I made my point by sucking on her overly sensitive clit. She bucked against my face. Tried to push my head away. To prise my hands from her hips. "I can't, I can't..." she gasped, the words tight and as broken as her breath. "It's too much."

"You can take it, Tabitha. There's always more to give."

I pushed two fingers inside her pussy sliding along hot velvet walls that clenched like a vice.

Holy fuck.

My cock thickened and bobbed. She was so fucking tight, I knew when I did take her it was going to hurt. Curling my fingers, I rubbed just inside the upper wall of her entrance in gentle circles until I found just the right spot when she cried out. Her spine bowed and the flat of her hand slapped the stone wall, splashing arcs of water as she loosened a slew of curses of the likes I'd never, ever heard from her.

With the tip of my tongue, I flicked her clit in the same steady gait as my fingers rubbing her g-spot, and she rose on her toes, stretching and falling apart against my dominant urge. The climax washed through her, rising for a third time just as the second fell away, and my name was whimpered each time more softly than the last until finally, finally, I'd taken my fill from her and I let her ride out the throes of her orgasm with gentle licks and soft kisses.

Boneless, she crumpled and I caught her in my arms.

I cradled her on my lap. Misty light spilled downward with the water dripping from the cavern's ceiling while willwips flitted through the steam that kept us warm. Tabitha shivered in my arms, still caught up in a world of moonlight and pleasure.

Locks of dark blond hair were stuck to her forehead with burnt caramel strands across her dazed eyes. I carefully brushed them away, murmuring soft words, my touch tender as I gently kissed her temple, her eyelids, the tip of her nose, and her lips. She was roused from her dream world by a glancing sweep of my mouth against hers.

Tabitha stirred in small increments, and she stretched her limbs like a cat as awareness slowly filtered in like dawn creeping upon the world. She reached a hand upward, toward my cheek. "That was...that...was..." The words drifted apart as she lazily smacked her lips, her heavy eyelids lowering.

"Was what?" I quietly asked, careful to keep my tone neutral even though I was eager to hear what she thought. Her eyelashes grazed the top of her cheeks and her mouth parted on a purring breath. Her outstretched arm fell away to drape limply in the gentle ripple of water flowing around us and her body slackened in my arms.

I frowned.

What the hells?

For fucks sake she'd fallen asleep.

I jiggled her a little.

Tabitha startled awake. Her body tensed in my arms as she rapidly blinked, getting her bearings. She smacked her lips again before pressing the back of her hand to her mouth as she yawned.

"Was what?" I asked once more.

"Oh?" She blinked rapidly and her nose crinkled. "Um... Eh..." I started getting a horrible sinking feeling when her mouth twisted downward and I had an awful suspicion she was thinking about how to answer me and not hurt my feelings.

I pressed a finger to her parted lips. "If you say it was meh, or a bit blah, I swear to Zrenyth, I'll flip you over my lap and spank you." My fucking ego couldn't take a hit like that.

Her eyes sparkled with mischief. "But think of all the practice I'll make you do."

Throwing back my head, my shuddering laugh echoed through the cavern and hers joined mine. I grinned back at her. "A lot of practice, huh?"

"A lot. A lot of practice... Like a lot. Luckily for you, I'm quite willing to help you out in that respect." She sleepily wiggled her golden eyebrows. "Next time you can spank me if you like, Varen."

Fuck, my name sounded even better the way she said it all drowsy and orgasm-slurred.

Lazily relaxing into my hold with a satisfied smile on her lips, Tabitha made one of her signature sounds, but this time it was dragged out into an uuggghhhh, the complete opposite of annoyed, more like so, so, so good.

"What now?" she asked, peering around. "I expect it's quite late."

I tried to calculate how long we'd been here, a few hours I figured. By the time I got her home, it would be shy of midnight. I rose, assisting her to her feet, and held her by the elbow as she swayed, regaining her balance. "I have some towels in the car. We'll dry off and get dressed."

Tabitha braced a hand on her hip, squinting up at me, and said flatly, "You certainly came prepared."

Grinning, I bit down on my bottom lip. "I'd hoped," I corrected her. Turning away, I searched for my boxers and found them floating nearby. "I'll take you home. By now my brother will have your car fixed and parked near the Deniauds estate." With new spark plug cables since the ones I'd stolen were in my Bugatti. "And we'll enter separately. Then tomorrow we'll, you know," I said, trying for casual, even though my heart was racing, hoping she wouldn't deny me. "Go out for dinner and dancing."

She grinned with that sexy dimple and for a moment I became dizzy and stupid.

Gods, she was glorious.

And so fucking hot.

My smile slowly rose to match hers—vibrant and broad and slightly intoxicated by the thrill of finally giving in to what was meant to be. No more fighting us. No more worrying about our differences in ranks. We were going to make this work.

Her hand framed my stubbled cheek and I turned my face into her touch to kiss her soft palm. She arched an eyebrow. "You can salsa?" she asked while caressing my scalp with her fingers.

"I'm a fucking awesome dancer."

Amusement twitched at her mouth. "Let me be the judge of that."

Tabitha had no idea what a whirlwind of dates she was going to go on. And I was rock solid with my dancing. I'd grown up with Mamãe's love for the samba and bachata and from an early age she'd taught us all.

And then worryingly, Tabitha's smile slipped away as she rose up on her toes to press a hand to my chest, the anxious words spilling from her mouth with urgency. "No one can find out about us."

"No one's going to. Don't worry," I reassured her. She still looked dubious, so I pulled her closer to kiss the crown of her head. "We'll figure out a way. Don't stress about it."

Her bra and panties were snagged on a rock, I scooped them up and handed them to her. Bending over, I stepped into my boxer briefs, tugging them up and snapping them around my hips.

Tabitha had already slipped on her panties and was now hooking the back fastenings of her bra. She glanced around the cavern, a notch forming between her eyebrows. "How are we getting out of here?"

I raised a hand and pointed upward to the yawning mouth in the ceiling high above. "There's a series of rocks we climb to get out."

She looked up at the silvery light pouring through the gap in the cavern, and her eyes went as round as the time we first met at the Deniauds. She blanched, stepping backward. "I-I'm not good with heights."

Internally, I cursed, remembering back to the hair-cutting heist. How could I have forgotten? She'd had a panic attack and fainted with fright when I'd pushed her to the bedroom window, trying to get her to climb out and grab hold of the drainpipe.

Tabitha twisted around, her hair flailing as she splashed through the shallow water, frantically looking for another option. "Isn't there some other way out of here?"

River water sprayed in arcs as I surged after her, grabbing her arm to stop her panicked search. Spinning her around, I steadied her balance as she stumbled. Her arms beneath my hands shook, and her eyes pooled with unshed tears. "There's no other way out." I took her trembling hands in mine, sweeping my thumbs over the backs of her hands in soothing strokes. "It's going to be alright. Trust me."

"I do, I do," she whispered. But her big eyes shone with terror and dominated her ashen features.

Letting go of her hands, I wiped away the tears as they fell. "I'll carry you out. It's really easy. I've climbed up there my whole life." It wasn't particularly hard, just not particularly safe either. Normally I'd barrel my way up there in a streak of speed but I'd take it slow and cautious with her.

Tabitha's teeth worried the corner of her mouth as she scanned the glistening black rocks acting as a narrow staircase to the surface. I cupped her chin and angled her face back to mine. "I'll keep you safe, I promise." Dropping my hand away, I knelt down before her. "Climb on."

Tabitha hesitated a moment before she clambered onto my back, wrapping her arms around my neck and shoulders, her legs around my hips. I rose, hooking my forearms beneath her thighs, noting how her whole body shook and briefly wondering what the hells had happened to her to warrant such a deep fear.

Her cheek slid beside mine and her quick, shallow breath warmed my skin.

"Close your eyes," I told her, striding through the shallow water to the series of rocks spiraling up around the walls like a snake.

"Okay, okay, okay..." she chanted in a weak voice, her grip strangling my body when I began the ascension up the boulders.

I unhooked an arm and pressed a hand against the gritty wet stone to help keep our balance. "Tell me about your job," I urged softly. Maybe if I could get her talking she'd forget about what we were doing, climbing up a ridiculously slippery slope of rock with nothing to stop us from tumbling over the side but my skills.

"My job?" she asked, a note of surprise running through her tone.

"Yeah." I placed my foot carefully on the next slick stone jutting out from the cavern's wall. "You were telling me earlier about some kind of shammy cloth."

"Oh my gods," she puffed out, excitement raising her voice to a shrill squeak. "It's the best invention ever. Like ever, Varen!"

While I climbed up the tall chimney-like chasm, gripping stone with my toes and grappling slender clefts in the pitted walls with my fingers, I heard all about this amazing blue cloth that polished and soaked up spills and collected dust. And my girlfriend didn't stop talking about it until we reached the surface where the night air prickled our skin and teased our damp hair, and the colorful willwips danced above like starlight seen through stained glass.