Sam laughed softly. “No. We both have things to do.”
“Our things can wait.”
Was he serious? Sam knew she didn’t have a lot of experience with men, but wasn’t there a limit to a man’s daily performance when it came to sex? Her thoughts took a turn toward reality. Leo wasn’t just a man. He was a lycan male, and if the last few days were any indication, she realised lycan males possessed a great deal of virility.
“I’m afraid I won’t have any energy left for the rest of the day if we make love again now,” she said.
“I fear you will always drive me mad with desire.” He paused, his arms tightening around her. “I cannot believe you have known my sister for one year and we only met two weeks ago. Remind me to thank her next time I see her for forcing you into this vacation.”
“I will and it was your fault you haven’t kept in touch with Toni. You’re the one who refused to come to her wedding.”
He held her close. “That is all in the past now.”
He was right. It was in the past and it didn’t do anyone good to rehash what had already happened. The antique grandfather clock in the corner of the room began to chime the hour and Sam frowned as she looked at the time. “Didn’t you tell me this morning you had a meeting at four?”
“Yes.”
“You’re going to be late.”
“My accountant can wait.”
She rose on her elbow and stared at his face. His eyes were closed and he appeared very relaxed. His chest was rising and falling slowly. “Leo, are you falling asleep?”
“No.”
“You look like you’re falling asleep.”
“I am merely closing my eyes for a minute.”
She frowned, glancing at the clock. “It’s three o’clock. You’ll just postpone our time together if your meeting runs late.”
His eyes snapped open. “You are right.”
She smiled, rising to collect her clothes scattered on the floor. “I’m going to run upstairs and take a quick shower.”
“Go on up. I will join you in a minute,” he said.
A tiny thrill ran up her spine. It would be the first time they showered together.
Ten minutes later, they were both standing in Leo’s spacious shower. The stall had two sprays on each end with a tiled bench on the side. All along the stall there were shelves with a wide variety of shampoos, conditioners, body gels, and bars of soap.
Sam welcomed the warm water on her skin as she watched Leo step under his spray. He flung his head back and ran his hands over his head and face. She watched his muscles bunch on his arms and she smiled as her gaze continued to roam over his strong and sexy physique, his skin glistening under the spray.
He opened his eyes, returned her smile, and she stepped back into her shower and thoroughly wet her hair.
“Mm, this is so relaxing,” she murmured, as she closed her eyes and ran her hands over her hair.
“Refreshing would not be the word I would use,” he commented dryly.
She opened her eyes and caught him staring at her breasts with a familiar glint in his eyes. Her gaze automatically went down and she gasped at his powerful erection. She snapped her gaze back up to his strong, sexy face, but he wasn’t looking at her. He was reaching for a wash cloth and body gel from one of the shelves. She watched him pour a liberal amount of gel on the wash cloth and placed the bottle back on the shelf.
“Come here, my lovely,” he said.
Something in his tone thrilled her and she took a step toward him.
“I will bathe you before I bathe myself,” he said. “Then I will go to my damn meeting so I may return to you and have you all to myself for the rest of the evening. With no interruptions,” he added deeply.
Sam liked this plan. “You’re on, but I warn you. I have a strict regimen when it comes to conditioning my hair.”
His mouth quirked. “Then you will have to tell me, step by step, what to do.”
She smiled and he began to wash her.
“How will you spend your day?” He asked while he ran the soapy wash cloth over her arms.
His touch was therapeutic, reducing her week’s stress. “Hm? Oh, I was going to call your sister and follow up on the shop’s renovations. Toni has been such a great help. She missed her calling. She should run her own business.” She closed her eyes and moaned with pleasure as he washed her breasts. “Mm, this is nice.”
“Yes,” he replied, his voice sounding strained.
She opened her eyes and watched him clench and unclench his jaw. He was staring at her breasts as he continued to wash them, his thumb deliberately grazing over one erect nipple. Sam gasped.
“Turn around,” he said, his face tense.
He was controlling himself, she thought. He wanted to make love to her again, but he was stopping himself. Why? Slowly, she turned around, her gaze catching sight of his erection and her limbs weakened. She was starting to think his lust was insatiable. The thought excited her. In the last few days, she’d discovered Leo was a passionate, ardent lover who always made sure she reached her climax before he did.
She reached out and placed her palm flat on the tiled wall beneath the spray to hold herself upright. She didn’t trust her legs at this moment. She felt the wash cloth over her back and sighed.
“What will you do after your call?” He asked.
“I was thinking of helping Maria with the laundry. She said she was going to wash the sheets and towels today.”
His hand stopped on her lower back. “Sam, you do not have to do that. Maria is very capable. I know this is a big house and it may seem like a lot of work for one woman, but I do hire outside help once a week to catch up on everything.” He continued to wash her, his attention now on her bottom. Sam bit her lip as he rubbed the wash cloth over her cheeks. She heard him release a strangled breath and the wash cloth was gone. Now it was his hand squeezing and rubbing her bottom. An ache at the juncture of her legs grew. She gasped as both of his hands gently gripped her inner thighs and spread her legs. Her ache grew to a throbbing pain. He removed his hands and she waited, her eyes squeezed as heady anticipation made her heart flutter.
The bar of soap in between her legs was cold and slippery as he slid it forward and backward, stopping ever so slightly over her sweet spot, applying pressure. Her breathing turned shallow, and she bit the inside of her lips. She loved and enjoyed Leo’s foreplay, but he was driving her crazy. Sam heard the bar of soap hit the floor with a resounding thud as he rubbed the wet and soapy spot between her legs, his fingers spreading her folds. Suddenly he inserted a finger deep into her sheath and she convulsed, crying out. Thankfully she still had her palm up against the wall otherwise she would have collapsed due to sheer bliss.
She clamped tightly over his finger as he inserted and withdrew it, his rhythmic thrusts sending shivers of delight in her loins. The mounting tension was building in her limbs and she moaned against the rising heat of his finger. Sam couldn’t take anymore of this sweet seduction. She turned around, breaking their intimate connection between her legs, and looked up at him, his expression dark and predatory, desire leaping like flames behind his eyes.
“Now it’s your turn,” she said huskily.
She grabbed the wash cloth and applied gel over it. She washed his chest, his arms, his taut abdomen, and asked him to turn around. He did, and she scrubbed his back. She placed the wash cloth back on the rack and took his arm, guiding him back around to face her.
With an uncharacteristic spurt of wickedness, she saw the bar of soap next to her feet and slowly knelt down, her gaze holding his. He released a strangled breath. He knew what she was going to do.
Well, if he could torture her, why couldn’t she torture him? She grabbed the bar of soap, and stared at his erect penis directly in front of her. She took his penis in one hand, while she glided the bar of soap over it with the other. She heard him inhale harshly as she glided the bar of soap over the tip of his penis. Sam placed the soap on the she
She waited while the shower’s spray washed away the suds. When the soap was gone, she circled her hand at the base of his shaft as she leaned forward, her mouth opening. She slid her mouth over and around the top part of his penis. Sam couldn’t take all of him in her mouth, so she used her hand already holding him to make up for part of the length of his shaft her mouth couldn’t reach. Leo groaned and then shuddered as she gently cupped his testicles while she slid her mouth forward and backward, her tongue gliding over the tip of his penis.
She started to taste him and before she could continue, he grasped her under her arms and drew her up.
His eyes were ablaze with lust. “If you continue, this will be over before it starts,” he growled.
With grim determination on his face, he turned and sat on the tiled bench, taking her with him, lifting her on his lap as her knees slid alongside him. He clasped her waist and lifted her slightly over him. He reached between them and positioned his penis directly beneath her opening. His expression hardened as he brought his hand back to her waist and he pulled her down, his movement rough and hard, his hands biting into her waist. Her sheath closed over his erection in one searing, fluid move and Sam arched her neck and cried out. He was so deep, she thought, as pleasure and pain swept through her limbs. She was dizzy with delight.
His gaze held hers as he lifted and lowered her in quick successions, her body quivering as spasms overcame her. She gripped his shoulders tightly, crying out as his mouth clamped down hard over one breast and she splintered into a thousand pieces. His release followed hers as he held her down over his penis after one powerful thrust, holding her there as she quivered and shook. Leo groaned thickly.
Sam collapsed over his shoulder and closed her eyes. Leo slid his arms around her as the shower sprays continued to run water over them.
“I am sorry, but I do not have time to wash your hair,” he said, his tone suspiciously innocent. “I am running late as it is for my meeting.”
A fit of giggles erupted from her and she kissed his shoulder. She pulled back and stared into his amused face. “That’s funny. You’re a funny, guy, you know that?”
His smile stilled and his expression slowly turned serious. “I love you, Sam,” he said quietly under the steady drum of the water.
“I love you, too, Leo.”
They rose from the bench and he shut the water sprays. Sam left the stall first and grabbed two oversized white towels from a rack, handing him one as he joined her. They began drying themselves off.
“Leo, I thought I’d explore this beautiful house,” she said as she wrapped the towel over her breasts. “I still haven’t seen all the rooms.”
“Consider this your home, Sam. Feel free to do whatever you wish while I am gone.”
She followed him into his adjoining bedroom. “I also wanted to know if I could use your computer in your office. I want to video conference Elizabeth. You do have a webcam, right?”
“Yes and I have Skype as a shortcut on my desktop.”
She smiled. “Great.” She grabbed a pair of underwear from her suitcase and a white knee-length dress. Quickly, she slipped them on as Leo dressed in jeans and a black polo.
“Toni’s visiting Elizabeth this afternoon. She told me Elizabeth is so excited we’ll be able to see each other while we chat on the computer.”
“The little one loves you a great deal.”
“It’s mutual.” She worried her lower lip. “Even though I know it’s selfish, I can’t help being scared someone is going to adopt her and I’ll never see her again. I’ve gotten attached to enough children at the orphanage and had my heart broken when they left.” She sighed. “My mother always warned me, though. She told me volunteering there would be the most rewarding thing I would ever do and the most painful. She was right.”
He straightened from putting on his shoes. In three strides, he stood before her, gently taking her by the shoulders as he stared down at her with dark, intent eyes. His mouth softened. “I meant what I told you a couple of days ago. We can adopt Elizabeth, Sam.”
“You’re very serious about this, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Sam, I will do whatever it takes to make you happy.” He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “I should be going. My lawyer will be wondering where I am. I will be back in a couple of hours,” he said as he pulled away.
Sam went cold. “Lawyer? You told me you were meeting your accountant.”
A cold thread of doubt ran up her back. She suspected her connection to him as his one had a lot to do with it. If he had felt her four blocks away when she had saved the little boy, surely part of their connection could make her sense his deceit a foot away? Sam was despondent. Trust was one of the most important traits in a relationship for her and she was disappointed he didn’t feel the same way.
“I am meeting them both,” Leo said. “My lawyer will be joining us.”
Sam didn’t believe him and she didn’t want to confront him about his lie just yet. She was too hurt and disappointed Leo wasn’t being honest. Avoiding his gaze, she slipped into her flat sandals and made her way for the door.
“Okay, well, have a good meeting. I’ll see you later,” she said, turning around to give him one final look.
He narrowed his eyes, clamping down on his jaw, and Sam wondered if he knew she was aware he had just lied. Sam left before he could say a word. She was almost at the landing, ready to go downstairs, when she stopped. Why was she running away? If Leo wanted to marry her, he had to know now their relationship had to be built on trust. She marched back to his room and was about to enter when she caught sight of him and stopped dead in her tracks.
Leo was pulling a gun out of one of his drawers.
Chapter Three
Sam stood frozen in the hallway, just outside his doorway. She watched him open the gun’s chamber, inspect it, and flick it back into place before he tugged the back of his polo and shoved the gun in his jeans, the handle on the small of his back. With quick, precise moves, he tucked his polo back over his gun into his jeans.
He turned around and she stifled a gasp. His expression was grim, ruthless. His dark gaze snapped to the doorway and she jerked out of his line of vision. Did he know she was there? Sam didn’t want to find out. She made a silent run to the end of the hall and darted into a guest bedroom. She opened the door just a crack and watched him shut his door and stride toward the stairwell. He stopped before going downstairs. Her hand shot up to her mouth and she held her breath as she watched him slowly turn around and cast a dark, cursory glance down the hallway. This one business was really starting to annoy her, she thought. Did he sense her hiding from him?
She watched him go downstairs and she released the breath she’d been holding. Frowning, she glanced at the window in the room and scurried to it. She drew the curtains aside just as he was getting into his car. She waited until he drove away before she left the room.
Sam didn’t know what to make of the last few minutes other than Leo was withholding a lot of information from her. She knew there could have been any number of valid explanations for the gun, and when he returned she would ask him.
Sam tried convincing herself she wasn’t afraid, but she was. There had been something on his face when he’d tucked that gun into the back of his jeans she’d never seen before. He’d looked cruel. Dangerous.
Sam knew she would make herself sick with worry if she kept thinking about this until he returned, so she forced herself to get on with her afternoon. She marched to the stairs and went downstairs into his office.
As were all the rooms in his summer home, his office was big, beautifully furnished with impeccable taste, and spotless. She went to his massive oak desk by the big, bay windows and sat in his chair. She picked up the phone and dialled Toni’s cell.
It was a relief chatting with Leo’s sister for a few minutes. Toni’s lively, friendly manner always had a way of engaging Sam and she started to feel better.
“How are you coping?” Toni finally asked.
Sam knew exactly what Toni meant and she wondered when the subject of her turning was going to come up. “The initial shock has started to wear off, but it isn’t any easier.” She sighed wearily. “I just wish your bother wouldn’t keep me in the dark. He thinks by withholding information from me he’s protecting me, but he’s not. All he’s doing is making me feel powerless.”
“Have you spoken to him about this?”
“Yes, and he said if I knew everything all at once, it would be too much for me to handle.” There was a pause on the other end of the line.
“Sam, he’s right. You have to trust his judgement. He may seem controlling and overbearing at times, but he really means well. I’m sure he’s afraid if he hit you with everything, you would run the other way.”
“Leo, afraid? That man is fearless.”
“Before he met you, yes, but now there’s a bigger stake in his life. You’re his one. It isn’t something lycans take easily, Sam.”
“I know.”
“As for him protecting you, well…” Toni laughed. “Get used to it. He’s always been the over protective brother and I’m guessing he’ll be the over protective husband. Look how he reacted when I got engaged to your brother? God, that was a mess, wasn’t it?”
“It wasn’t Leo’s fault. He thought John and I were after your money. Leo believes the private investigator’s file he received was altered by Catherine.” Just saying her name filled Sam with trepidation.
“Yes, Leo and I spoke about that yesterday when I called him. So you know about her?” She asked.
“Very little, I’m afraid. I know she cast a love spell on Leo two hundred years ago and they got engaged. The spell wore off and he ended the relationship. Toni, why would this woman alter a file on John and me two hundred years after Leo broke off their engagement? Don’t you think that’s a tad extreme in the obsession department?”
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