Rafe watched warily as Lani stood before him. It wasn’t in his nature to submit, but he sensed tonight’s “taking” was important to Lani, so he’d suffer through it. Besides, he was delighted with the evening’s sensual turn. She had to trust him to believe he’d hand her the controls. He’d die before he disappointed her, however much his body screamed for release.

When Lani knelt between his open legs, Rafe knew she planned to take him, just as he’d hinted he wanted earlier in the day. However, at the time, he’d been well-sated—his body languorous after their sexual marathon.

Only now, he noted the early evening sun still gleaming through her open windows. Lani had set the stage well for her seduction, knowing the sight of her body limned in light would incite him. Her soft blonde hair was tucked behind her ears. Her body gleamed with a shimmering of gold flecks. The smell of a fresh-scented powder rose to tease his nose. Her lips still bore a faint trace of colored gloss and looked ripe and innocent at the same time.

Christ, those lips! He tried not to think about what they’d do to him. He placed his arms along the top of the sofa and clutched the fabric, determined to withstand whatever sweet torture she meted out.

Her gaze sought his for a moment, and color suffused her face.

“You can change your mind anytime you want,” he said, praying she’d cry “uncle” now.

She tossed back her head. “And miss dessert? I like my sweet after dinner.”

“Well, I don’t know what you’ve been told,” he said, gritting his teeth to keep his tone light, “but it’s a little salty.”

Her lips curved into a feline grin that set his heart pumping faster. “Trying to talk me out of it?”

He took a deep breath and lied, “Oh, no.”

“Nervous?” Her hands rested on his knees, her thumbs circling.

Rafe blew out the breath, unable to form a word. His cock was straining upward, a drop of pre-ejaculate glistened on the tip.

Lani’s gaze dropped from his face, and she licked her lips.

Rafe groaned, conceding the game. “Sweetheart, I can only take so much.”

“Oh? Before doing what?”

“Before I fuck you all the way to oblivion.”

She blinked, and then swallowed. Was her mouth as dry as his? “Maybe I have another idea.”

His entire body was so hard with tension and desire, a throbbing pain had settled in his groin. All he could grind out was an honest, “Tell me quick, I’m dying here.”

Lani licked her lips and held herself perfectly still. “Couldn’t we both have our dessert?”

Rafe didn’t give her a chance to change her mind. He pulled her up and kissed her hard. Then he lay lengthwise on the sofa. “Baby, give me your pussy.”

Lani gave a strained laugh and climbed over him. He “helped” by guiding her hips backward and placing her knees on either side of his shoulders. “Come to me,” he whispered, laying kisses on her open thighs as she scooted until her sex was just above his mouth. “There,” he said, sighing as he pressed his lips to her cunt. She was drenched and fragrant, and for a moment he let the scent of her feed his appetite.

Lani was a fast learner and just as eager to explore. Her face and lips nuzzled his sex for long moments, and then her hands and mouth caressed his shaft.

Rafe pulsed upward to show his appreciation then turned his attention to the sensual treat hovering above his waiting mouth. He licked and sucked her labia, lapping between to taste her honeyed pleasure. Soon her legs trembled, and she sank lower, seeking his caresses in trembling pulses.

Rafe fought hard to pay attention to her need—his own rode him hard. Lani’s clever mouth and hands glided over his sex, squeezing, sucking, stroking. When her lips surrounded his cock and her hot mouth sank to take him inside, his mind and body froze, every bit of his attention flying south to savor the sensations—moist heat, the soft scrape of teeth, strong hands stroking his shaft and delivering a wicked little twist that had his hips rising off the sofa.

Though it killed him, he kept his thrusts shallow. His reward was a strong suctioning that abated when Lani’s mouth slid down his cock and drew hard again when she came up.

She moaned enthusiastically, the sound vibrating along his shaft. Her pussy pulsed on his mouth, and he remembered this was supposed to be a mutual giving. He renewed his assault on her moist, heated flesh, rimming her entrance with his tongue, bringing his hands into play to part her tender folds. Aware she suffered residual soreness from their long hours of lovemaking, he kept his touches gentle and well-lubricated.

His efforts earned a quiver that began in her thighs and rippled through her sex. He carefully inserted two fingers into her vagina and kept on licking, while he pumped in and out.

Her hips pulsed in time to the rhythm of his stroking fingers. His free hand gripped a buttock to steady her. Lani’s moans grew louder, and her head bobbed faster on his cock.

Together, they writhed against each other’s mouths, and the sounds of their coupling filled the room—groans, wet slides, and kisses.

Just when he thought he might last long enough to see to her pleasure first, one soft hand closed around his taut sac and gently kneaded his balls. Urgency tightened his thighs, and he bucked. His balls and cock clenched, and his release spurted into Lani’s hot mouth.

As he shuddered in the throes of a powerful orgasm, Rafe kept only enough awareness about him to suction hard on Lani’s rigid, little clitoris.

Fueled by her desire to please Rafe, as well as a niggling concern for her suede sofa, Lani drank his come. She slid down his cock, opening her throat to receive the hot liquid gushing into her mouth. His powerful thrusts lifted her whole body, and she clung to his hips as he glided his cock in and out of her mouth. Taking great pride in the fact she’d driven him past arrogance and control, she reveled in his masculine vulnerability.

Then his wicked lips closed around her clit and sucked. All self-congratulatory thoughts of Rafe’s orgasm flew as she jerked and spasmed against his mouth.

Her legs trembled while her body delivered fevered rolls of her hips. Still he drew hard until her whole consciousness centered on the bud of bundled nerves, sparking shocks that exploded through her core.

When she drifted back to awareness, Rafe lapped lazily at her pussy. He drew his fingers from her vagina and gave her ass a squeeze. “Come back around here. I want to kiss your mouth.”

“I can’t. I’m dead.” She rested her head wearily on his hard thigh.

“Come here, and I’ll revive you.”

“A little mouth-to-mouth?”

“How about a lot of tender loving? I promise nothing’s gonna poke around your pretty pussy.”

Galvanized by the recollection her pussy was what he was looking at, Lani scrambled to turn around. His arms opened, and she slumped against his chest.

“That’s better,” he said, hugging her close.

It was nice. His heart was just beneath her ear, pounding a comforting beat. The heat of his skin lulled her, nearly to sleep.

“Wake up, baby.”

Lani opened her eyes and realized she really must have dozed off. “I thought you guys always slept afterwards,” she said, feeling grumpy.

“We were going to talk,” he said softly.

Lani froze. That had been part of her plan. But she’d chickened out just before he got to the door and decided to go for “dessert” first. She rose, her forearms supported on his broad chest, and met his gaze. “I’m only going to say this once.”

“Does it hurt that much, baby?”

She nodded and blinked at the tears that pooled with his tender expression. God, where to start? “I’m not from around here.”

“I know.” He arched one eyebrow. “I remember when you arrived.”

Lani gave him a little, strained smile. “You didn’t so much as give me a glance when I stopped at the sheriff’s office for directions,” she scoffed.

Rafe let her have her tangent, knowing she was still screwing up her courage to say what needed said. “I followed your sweet ass sashaying all the way back to your truck.”

“I don’t sashay.”

“You did that day.” Her blush delighted him.

“I knew you were watching me,” she admitted.

Her honesty pleased him more. “Couldn’t help myself,” he said. “Knew I had to have you then and there.”

“So, you’re into butts?” she quipped, then groaned and hid her face against his chest.

Rafe laughed softly, knowing he needed to keep a little lightness in their conversation to help her get through this. “You know I am,” he growled. His heart ached for her. And if he could, he would take all her pain for his own.

Her cheeks pink, but expression solemn, she said, “You know I come from Uvalde.”

“You mentioned it once.”

“It’s not very big. Everybody knows everybody else.”

Rafe pushed back a lock of her hair from her cheek. “Sounds like here.”

“Well, my daddy was the town drunk.”

He held his questions, wanting her to offer her story.

She sighed and laid her head on his chest. “He was mean after he polished off a case, and the house always smelled of booze and his sweat.”

He fought the flare of anger that had his arms tightening around her. He kissed the top of her head to reassure her. “Where was your mother?”

“At work. He couldn’t hold a job. Most days, he couldn’t get out of bed before noon.”

“What about you?”

“Mostly, I just stayed out of his way. If he fell asleep in the living room, I’d play in my bedroom or go play at the neighbors. I just tried to make sure I was…scarce.”

Rafe glided a hand up and down her back, while imagining a blonde-haired little girl who had to keep beyond her father’s reach. “You said he was a mean drunk. Did he hit you?”

“Not much, but I knew to stay out of his way. Mom never figured that trick out. She’d come home, see beer cans littering the living room, and light into him. Then he’d be yelling back.” She gave a cynical snort. “It was a very loud house.”

“He hit your mom?”

Lani rubbed her cheek up and down on his chest. “Not often. But sometimes she just wouldn’t shut up. She never learned to be quiet, like me. Never learned to hide.”

Rafe took a deep breath, tamping down the sadness and anger that had him wishing her worthless father was in striking range.

“My favorite place was the coat closet,” she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. “I’d crawl in between the coats where it was dark, and the sounds of their fighting were muffled. I didn’t care that the air was stale or that it got hot after a while. I liked disappearing inside there. I could stay a long, long time. Sometimes, I’d daydream and pretend I had a friend inside the closet with me. Someone I could really talk to.”

“Didn’t you have a real friend you could talk to about what frightened you?”

“Mom always said the neighbors didn’t need to see our trash.”

Rafe’s anger washed over him all over again. Another person had a lot to answer for. “Sounds like your mom wasn’t there for you, either.”

“She had her own problems to sort through.”

Upset, he combed through her hair with his fingers, trying to calm himself. “Do you think that’s an adequate excuse?”

“Not really. Looking back now, I can’t figure out why the hell she didn’t leave him.” Her voice sounded raw. “She didn’t need him. But at the time, I just thought that was the way it was supposed to be.”

“What I want to know…” Rafe stopped to clear the lump in his throat, “…is how you turned out so strong.”

“Strong?” Lani’s brow furrowed. “I never thought of me like that. I was just surviving.”

“Lani, you’re the strongest woman I’ve ever known. Physically, mentally.” He squeezed her again. “Hell, you withstood me for months.”

Her laughter was husky. “Well, I guess I am. Look at me now.” She stretched and slid her knee between his legs. “I have you just where I want you.”

Rafe tightened as her thigh nudged his sex. “Witch! You trying to change the subject?”

“Spoilsport.” She settled back on his chest. “When I was in high school, it got better. I stayed away from home more. And I discovered caves. One of the guys’ parents was into caving, so he asked if he could bring some friends along, sometime. His parents gave us classes, took us out to low bridges and had us learn to rappel and work with the ropes and rigging. Then one day, they took us to a cave they were very familiar with for us to practice what we’d learned.

“Most of the kids got a little freaked out the deeper we went. They didn’t like the darkness and the smells. They were afraid of the bats clinging to the ceiling. But I loved it. It was like crawling into my closet, but so much bigger. I felt free, and I was good at it. I couldn’t wait to go back.” Lani leaned away and looked into his eyes. “So, now you know.”

He nodded and threaded his fingers through the soft hair at her nape. “You came here. Why?”

“I couldn’t change the way things were between my parents, so I decided to take charge of my own life. I liked rope work, and I’m not afraid of heights. The thought of rescuing others appealed to me. I became a firefighter and took EMT training. When the chance came to be a full-timer training a crew of volunteers, I saw my opportunity to cut ties.”

He kissed her shoulder. “Get your own life.”

“Yeah. See whether I could do it any better.” Lani’s gaze was steady, but the raw vulnerability she rarely allowed to show was there in her face. Her eyes were moist, her mouth trembling. “I didn’t want this, you know. Didn’t plan to start any relationship with a man.”

“I know. You don’t need one.”

She shook her head. “I didn’t need any man—but I need you.”

“Are you afraid?”

The corners of her mouth turned down, and her lips trembled. “I hate it. I feel like a coward, but sometimes I think if I let my guard down and let myself love you, you’ll change.”

“Become a monster? Like your father?”

Her next indrawn breath sounded like a ragged sob. She nodded. “I know intellectually you aren’t him—you’re as far from him as any man can be. But it’s still there.” A tear welled in the corner of her eye and rolled down her cheek.

Rafe framed her face with his hands and held her gaze. “Lani, I won’t change. I won’t ever hurt you.”

“I know.” She sniffed. “I’ve tested your patience and acted like a flake. Please, have patience.”

“Baby, I’m not going anywhere.”

Her smile, tremulous though it was, lifted the shadows. He pulled her down for a kiss, telling her with his mouth and body he was in for the long run. No way, would he ever let Lani push him away again. She needed him. She needed to learn that a man could keep his promises.

“Off belay!” Lani directed her shout upward, but the sound hung in the air next to her.

Lani opened her jaws wide, trying to pop her ears. Stepping into the limestone wonderland was enough to take her breath away, but while God had formed a visual marvel with a hundred thousand years of mineral-soaked water drops, the muzzy acoustics inside McKelvey’s cave left a lot to be desired.

Yesterday, she’d been eager to return to the cave. But, at the moment, she couldn’t remember why. She hadn’t felt the sense of homecoming she normally did when she’d stepped into the darkness beyond a cave’s entrance. Perhaps, she no longer needed her haven. Rafe’s love and acceptance had given her that. After last night, she’d awoken feeling like she’d shed a lifetime of sadness and guilt.

Lani stepped away from the rope as Randy glided down the last few feet to the cave floor then waited patiently while he unclipped the carabiner on his harness.

“So, what are we looking for?” he asked, his eagerness apparent in his expression. The younger man had definitely caught the caving bug.

“Let’s try to find where Matt Costello fell,” she said, not mentioning that she was also looking for signs the mountain lion had been this deep in the cave.

They trained their flashlights on the cave floor and worked their way in an ever-widening circle away from the rope.

“Found it,” Randy shouted.

Lani hurried to his side. A large, dark stain and the dented, lens-less remains of small flashlight lay on the cave floor. She trained her light in the direction of the wall with the angled ledges. His body had been found on one about twenty feet above the floor.

“I don’t get it,” Randy said. “There’s blood here, and on that ledge where we found him, but not a drop in between. but how the hell did he make it up there?”

“I don’t know. He was a hundred-forty pounds. Can a mountain lion even carry that weight?”

Randy grimaced. “I’m glad I’m packin’ a weapon today. That had to be one big, hairy moth—monster.”

“Yeah, it was.” Lani sighed. She’d hoped for answers. Now, she just had more questions.

“This is kind of a creepy place. Feels smaller down here. Kind of closed in.”

She’d noted the anomalies before. The way sound didn’t carry, how light seemed to be swallowed over a distance. Even she felt a little claustrophobic. “Want to take a look around before we head back up?”

Less enthusiastic this time, Randy merely nodded.

The lower level of the cave was as long as a banquet hall and bordered on one side by a rock formation that resembled a giant pipe organ and the other side by more of the calcified drapery. Further inside the chamber, the floor was littered with a dark layer of bat droppings and desiccated insect bodies contrasting with the pale walls.

In the distance, Lani heard a faint murmur. She cocked her head to the side. “Hear that?”

Randy’s eyes widened. “Sounds like a creek.”

“I think there’s another level beneath us,” she said, excitement stirring again. “I’ll bet another room is being carved out of the rock right below our feet.”

“Are we gonna try to find a way to get down there?” By his expression, he was game for the attempt.

“No.” She lifted her eyebrows. “Maybe another time. We better head back, or Cale will send out a search party. He didn’t like us coming down here by ourselves in the first place.”

As they neared the rope, Lani’s light glanced on something bright. “What’s this?” She squatted beside a pile of white, fragmented objects.

“Shit!” Randy whispered from behind her, and she glanced back. His light illuminated a rounded shape. “It’s a skull!”

She stood up and backed away. Splintered bones, some long—and human, by the shape of the few still intact—lay in a pile. And beside them, a complete skeleton. A mountain lion’s if she had to hazard a guess.

“How long do you think this has been down here?” Randy asked, an edge of nervousness in his voice.

She lifted a flattened piece of fabric from among the fragments. “My guess would be quite a while. This is a moccasin.”