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"That's it, baby. So fucking sexy," he whispered. "Give me more."

"No," she said weakly.

"You ready to beg?"

She gritted her teeth, anger stirring her up. Or was that more arousal?

"Not in this lifetime."

"See? You still got plenty of spark in that lush body. And I. want it all. I'm going to have you all sweet and docile before we're done."

He worked his way down her body again, mouth trailing soft nibbling kisses down her skin. With no idea what he might do, Nicki tensed. Another orgasm like the last one, and she'd likely lose consciousness.

Still, she wasn't going to let him win. Showing him weakness would be the worst thing possible.

"You want docile," she said between harsh breaths, "get a dog."

"You're pushing me, Nicki," he growled.

Glad to see him fraying around the edges of his control finally, she snapped, "Just like you're pushing me, over and over."

"And I'm not done."

With no warning, he pulled his fingers from her seeping folds, trailed one down. He circled it around the rosette of her ass. Nicki's eyes widened as she saw his mouth hovering over her breast, the feral intent on his face.

Never had. she allowed anyone to touch her there. She'd never even given it much thought. Yet as he inserted the tip of his finger and began to slide the digit fully inside, she couldn't deny that the thought suddenly made her burn.

"Mark," she groaned, her body pushing against him of its own will.

"That's it, baby. God, you're sexy. Feel good?"

He lowered his head and took her aching nipple into his mouth.

Nicki answered with a keening cry.

He inserted another wet finger inside her ass and pumped them in and out. Nicki arched into the stretching, burning sensation he created. So new, so forbidden. Arousal rocketed up, churning in her gut until she clawed at her binds. Her entire body grew taut, trembled, as she held her breath, waiting for the mammoth orgasm to send her over. Instead, he pulled back.

"You win, damn it. I can't wait, not another second," he growled.

It was not a happy admission.

Scrambling across the bed, Mark grabbed a condom and ripped it open. Nicki watched with wide eyes, heart pounding, skin damp. By all rights, she should be spent, have absolutely nothing left to give him. But watching Mark sheath that long, strong cock of his with the angry purple head ... desire swamped her again, fresh and fierce. She felt empty, aching. Only he could cure that.

"We win," she corrected. "Once you're inside me, we both win."

He paused and stared with a look she couldn't decipher. Then he reached back inside her nightstand and grabbed her slimline vibe.

As he placed it on the bed, he smiled.

Oh, what did he have planned?

Then edging back between her legs, he bent her knees up to her shoulders and plunged inside with one deep stroke.

Nicki felt her swollen flesh close around the burning column of his cock, now buried to the hilt inside her, nudging the mouth of her womb. She gasped as he flexed his hips, piercing her with an extra fraction of an inch, touching her someplace that set her aflame.

Then he eased back, slowly, so slowly she bit her lip to keep a cry inside. Her body, with a mind of its own, did its best to suck him back in.

He groaned. "Nicki, baby ..."

In answer, she whimpered. "Oh, yeah. I feel you all around me. Give me everything." His sandpaper voice echoed between them, firing her nerves, as he reached across the bed and grabbed her vibe. Flipping it on, he looked down at her, watched her reaction as he lowered it between them, gliding it over her clit. She tightened around him as the unbearable need in her belly clenched.
Ohmigod, what will he do next?
And still he kept on, rolling the wand lower, where they lay joined, teasing her dripping folds and the base of his cock, until the vibe was slick with her juice.

"Mark..."

"Push down, baby."

Nicki had no idea what he meant until he nudged her anus with the vibe. Pleasure speared her as it pulsed around her nerve-laden entrance.

With a little push, the tip of the vibe entered, stretching her a bit. A new burn seared her, both pain and pleasure.

He withdrew it to tease the seeping opening of her sex with the vibrating toy, until the pleasure pushed her past coherence. She whimpered as he lowered the vibe again.

"Push down," he growled.

Helpless, with all the resistance of melted butter, she did as he demanded. This time, the slender toy slid all the way inside, throbbing inside her, jangling her nerves, her needs, with something she'd never experienced before. Panting, she molded herself around him, as if he was her life raft in drowning sea of pleasure. And every breath they shared, every heartbeat, gonged inside her body, multiplying her arousal.

Suddenly, Mark pinned her to the bed with a glowing green stare. Teeth clenched, bared, Nicki felt him trembling. He wanted something, and he was fighting it. No, not something, someone.
Her.
Suddenly, she got that. Her heart flipped over in her chest.

That love he'd inadvertently confessed to two weeks ago seemed to swirl along with the rage in his eyes.

To let him know she was safe, that she wouldn't hurt him, she slowly wrapped her legs around him and invited him back inside her.

He hesitated, then with a groan, he accepted, plunging deep. He'd lodged the vibe firmly within her and held it there with a finger, making her passage that much tighter when he tilted her up to him with insistent fingers bracketing her hips and pounded into her. The first stroke scraped her G-spot. The second bumped her clit. The third did both ... and the little vibrator throbbed inside her ass, providing extra fuel for every other sensation tearing through her. Already beyond stimulated and emotionally on the edge. she reached another pinnacle on the fourth thrust, convulsing around him so hard, she screamed.

She arched off the bed, as black spots did a slow waltz in her vision. Mark's arms came around her, under her, clutching her to his massive chest. She could hear the rapid bang,
bang, bang
of his heart, which matched the pace of his wild strokes. Tingles detonated on the sides of her tongue--a first for her. Pinpricks of pleasure suffused her skin, infecting her blood. It was excruciating, exquisite, unlike anything she'd ever felt.

And she knew without a doubt that she could only give that much to a man she truly cared for. She'd lost her battle with herself.

She loved him.

"Nicki." His voice, low and harsh, almost sounded like something out of an alien movie.

But when she forced her eyes to open and focus on him, desperation clawed at his face, along with a need so strong, Nicki sucked in a breath against its power. And love, spinning in a kaleidoscope of emotions in those green eyes drew her under his spell and persuaded her to return everything he felt.

Despite being sore everywhere and her inner thigh muscles screaming for relief, Nicki spread her legs wider and kissed the side of his neck.

"I love you," she whispered into his ear.

Shock dominated his expression as he lifted his head to stare. Then he swelled, hardened, slammed into her with breathtaking force ... and ecstasy took over. With a roar, he came, pumping endlessly into her, as he muttered something muffled against her shoulder. Nicki would have paid her last dollar to hear it.

But he sent her careening over the edge one last time instead, until she swore she saw stars. Lord knew, she was already over the moon for Mark.

A silent moment later, he caught his breath. Quickly, he rose, extracted the vibe, untied her hands, and gathered his clothes. Nicki held her breath, hoping he'd say something--anything. Instead, he disappeared to the bathroom, shooting her a fierce frown.

Nicki knew then that whatever he might feel for her, that thick skull of his would never let her defrost the wall of ice he'd packed his heart in.

Y
ou look like hell." Lucia slid into the diner's red vinyl booth, looking annoyingly well-rested and dewy after a morning walk.

Nicki scowled.
"Damn.
Nothing is supposed to be too matchy-matchy this season. Guess I'll have to change my look. My mood isn't going to improve anytime soon."

"Red-rimmed eyes usually say hangover, lack of sleep, or jagged bouts of tears. Which one?"

"Mostly the second, with a little of the third thrown in."

Lucia shook her head and sighed. "This has to be about Mark Gabriel. Everything else just pisses you off. Only that man can incite you to tears."

"You always were the smarter sister," Nicki said bitterly.

After they both ordered coffee and pancakes from the teenaged waiter, Nicki asked, "Where's Ashley?"

"Sleeping. The time change has thrown her for a loop. It's four hours earlier in Hawaii, remember. But that's not important." Lucia crossed her arms over her chest. "What is important, is Mark Gabriel. I'm forever grateful that he saved you, but why do you keep that man around when he only tears you apart on a regular basis?"

"Because the sex is beyond amazing?"

"I could have done without hearing that."

"You encouraged me, if you'll recall, suggesting that I practically offer myself."

"When I thought what you were feeling was mutual, it made sense. Besides, that's not the issue. Even if you had great sex with Jack the Ripper, you wouldn't keep him around if you didn't care about him."

"You're right." Nicki felt every instant of the eight hours of sleep she hadn't gotten last night. "Somehow, somewhere along the way, I fell in love. I even told him that, and I've never said those words to any man except Dad."

"What was his reaction?"

"After he came? He got up, disappeared into the bathroom, dressed, and left. All without a word."

And that hurt the most. He had nothing to say to her after she'd admitted she loved him.

Lucia reached across the table and squeezed her hand. "You know I can't offer you much advice, since I don't have any real experience with men, but I'm here for you."

"I appreciate it. I really have no one to blame but myself. The timing is lousy. Sometimes Mark is so secretive. He'll never stay in Vegas. And he's never going to admit he loves me, even though I think he does."

"Too macho?"

Nicki shook her head, almost wishing it was that simple. He'd be easy to write off, then. "Too broken, I think. There's a woman in his past."

"What did she do?"

"I have no idea. Mark has made it very clear that's not a topic open for discussion."

The waiter set down their pancakes, and Nicki sighed, halfheartedly buttering her breakfast. "Whatever it was went deep. He's scarred. You know I'm not a quitter, but I think banging my head against a wall actually has more purpose than trying to reach his heart."

Lucia winced at her words. Then she took a bite of pancakes, chewed. Suddenly, her expression smoothed. An idea lit her face.

"What?" Nicki demanded. "I see you're cooking up something. Spill it."

"You know, I realize that nearly five hundred years isn't irrelevant, but I'm not sure that the dynamics of male-female stuff has changed all that much, not deep down. Granted, knights weren't hooking up or making friends with benefits for a booty call ... but maybe you ought to take a page from Anne Boleyn's book."

"Anne Boleyn?" Nicki poured syrup and took a bite. Lucia nodded. "Henry the eighth's second wife. The daughter of a mere knight, though her uncle was a duke. Anyway, King Henry fancied Anne and wanted to make her his mistress. He even sent away Anne's main suitor. Anne refused Henry. Her sister had already been his mistress, and it had gotten her nothing but discarded. Anne was smarter. She refused Henry time and again, insisting that he marry her before she gave him any. Eventually, she prevailed. He not only married her, he split from the Catholic church and created a church of his own so he could do it."

"The vagina is mightier than the sword?"

Lucia laughed. "Something like that."

"After advising me to sleep with him, now you think I'm giving Mark too much sex?"

"Let him miss you a bit. If he doesn't have his every desire granted every time he snaps his fingers, he might talk to you, listen to you, find out that you're not the kind of woman who will break his heart. Hard to come to that conclusion when you're only focused on orgasm."

Nicki frowned. "You can't possibly have read that in a book!"

"You'd be surprised what history can teach you."

"Okay, so Anne and Henry got married and lived happily ever after because they knew each other so well and were ga-ga in love?"

"No," Lucia sipped her coffee, then admitted with obvious reluctance. "Henry beheaded Anne three years later."

Nicki gaped. "Pass! I'll take being brokenhearted."

"Stop. Mark isn't likely to off you because he demands to have a male heir you're not providing."

"True." She popped another bit of pancake into her mouth.

"Think about it. My mother always said 'why should a farmer buy a cow if she's giving away the milk for free?' "

"Are you calling me a cow?"

"It's an analogy. Work with me, here."

She sighed. "I'll try."

An electronic chiming had Nicki diving for her purse. She dug through all her junk, then snatched out her cell phone. Caller ID flashed the number for the club. Damn!

"Yeah?" she answered.

"Nicki, honey," Zack started "Your uncle is here, demanding to see you pronto."

"Before ten in the morning?"

"Yes, ma'am. And none too happy that you aren't here."

"I'm eating."

"Fork it down fast. He's got all the charm of a six-headed snake, and I'm not in the mood to pet sit."