Chapter 9
The next night, three startled eyes looked up from their picnic, worriedly watching Dharr as he approached their blanket. “Good evening,” he said, looking down on the little party. “What are you eating tonight?” Dharr asked, bending down to take the only available space on the blanket. Victoria tried to move out of his way, but his hands stopped her, keeping her right where she was, which was almost touching him along his leg.
Arina spoke up, seriously telling him about hot dogs and potato salad. It was their first experience tasting the American delicacy and they were excited about the prospect. “Hmm…I had that once,’ he said, looking into Victoria’s eyes, his own on fire with the memory. He dipped a fork into the bowl and nodded his head. “Yep, no celery,” he confirmed.
“How did you...” Victoria started, only to stop when he winked at her.
“I remember, Victoria,” he said softly, grinning at her in a teasing fashion. “I remember a lot of things.”
Victoria stopped staring at him, forcing her eyes to look away.
Throughout the whole meal, Dharr’s hand “accidentally” touched Victoria in one way or another. And each time, she felt the same electric current zip through her system. By the time the meal was over, she was breathing heavily and she could barely control the need to throw herself into Dharr’s arms and beg him to make love to her. She wanted him. Desperately.
No matter how much she told herself that he was a bastard who had killed all the soft, tender feelings she’d had for him five years ago, there was still the sexual chemistry between them. It had always been intense, at least on her part. She’d known he could control his feelings for her but she’d been too new at the sexual games to understand what was happening to her.
And now, even after all these years and all the frank, open talk from others, she still was new to the game. And he was an expert. No matter how much she tried to put herself out of his touching reach that afternoon, he found a way to brush her arm or knee. He never looked at her, but each time it happened, her eyes snapped to his face, trying to determine if it was intentional or not. It seemed innocent enough, but she suspected otherwise.
Victoria almost yelled out a protest when one of the palace servants arrived to get the children ready for bed. She didn’t want to be alone with Dharr. It wasn’t just the chemistry now. Being around him with the children, her heart had melted, seeing his tender care and understanding to the two small human beings that were aching inside for love and security and he just naturally gave it to them. The depths of his personality struck her hard and she wished she hadn’t seen this side of him. It only made the wanting harder.
When they were alone, Victoria reached down to start cleaning up the picnic. “Leave it,” Dharr ordered.
Victoria ignored his command and continued to clean up the food, storing it in the picnic basket.
Dharr grabbed her arm and swung her around. “Are you deliberately trying to rile my temper?” he asked, but she could see the amusement in his eyes as he held her wrists gently in his hands.
“No. But I don’t believe in forcing someone to clean up after me. I can clean my own messes,” she said and tried to pull her wrists out of his grip. But it was useless.
“You really don’t remember anything I taught you all those years ago, do you?”
“What?” she challenged, wishing she could control her heartbeat which was accelerating as he pulled her closer. “That I should ignore common decency and become a selfish bastard like you?”
Dharr didn’t rise to the bait but only chuckled at her anger. “First of all, I’m afraid I’ll have to take away that one epithet from you, my dear. I can give ample evidence of my legitimacy. Don’t despair though. I’m sure there are many other obscenities you can toss at me each time you reach the depths of frustration.” He chuckled as her eyes flared at him. He could see the wheels spinning in her mind as she tried to come up with another name to fling at him. “Second, there were many things I taught you. If you’re saying you’ve forgotten, then perhaps I could refresh your memory,” he said.
“No!” she tried to step away from him but he held her firmly but gently, not giving her and inch of space.
He looked down into her desire filled eyes, knowing that the sexual frustration was tearing her up inside just as it was doing to him. “Ah, Victoria, you’re mouth says no, but your body is saying yes, isn’t it?”
“No,” she claimed and tried again to pull out of his embrace.
“Which is louder?” he asked, pulling her relentlessly closer to him, so close that she could feel his breath on her cheek, feel the beating of his heart under her hands as she tried to push herself away from him. But it was no use. He was stronger and, although he wasn’t hurting her, she couldn’t break away. And her body was already betraying her, sinking in to lean against his hard, male strength, loving the way he felt against her softness and desire pooling in her stomach, then lower.
“Please don’t do this,” she gasped when his hand released her wrist and moved down to her waist, one hand slipping under her shirt to touch the heated, overly sensitized skin underneath.
“Why not?” he asked, his mouth bending to kiss her neck, finding the perfect spot that almost made her knees give out on her.
“Because we don’t like each other,” she said, her voice barely a whisper as he moved his mouth sensuously against her neck and shoulders.
“I like you a lot, Victoria.”
“No you don’t. You think….” She couldn’t finish the sentence and her eyes fluttered shut at the memory.
“I’m not thinking now,” he said softly. “Except about how to please you. How to touch you to give you the most pleasure. What would you like me to do? Where should I touch you?”
Victoria couldn’t respond verbally but when his thumb found her nipple and moved gently across, she gasped, her hands gripping his shoulders as she was unable to stand any longer.
She heard him laugh softly but couldn’t respond. Dharr didn’t wait. He lifted her in his arms and carried her down the hallway to her suite. Victoria had a small moment of sanity but by that time, he was already lowering her feet to the floor beside her bed and when she opened her mouth to protest, his own covered hers, ripping away anything she might have said in a maelstrom of feeling and desire.
Victoria whimpered as her shirt came over her head, leaving her with only her bra to cover her breasts. But she didn’t have time to become self-conscious as Dharr’s hands covered where the fabric had been only moments before, massaging the heated, overly sensitive flesh that was swelling to fit into his hands. Her nipples were already hard and pointing so when his hand covered them, his thumb flicking over each one, she cried out with the pleasure that coursed through her system.
“Dharr!” she gasped. He lowered her body to the bed, but stood up to discard his own shirt.
Victoria was thrilled, never having seen him without his shirt on before. She’d seen other men, of course. Scott on a daily basis at times. But no man she’d ever seen could compare to the muscular beauty of Dharr’s chest. The hair was sparing across the top, then headed to a narrow point that disappeared into his pants.
With infinite tenderness, Dharr reached down and pulled her jeans off her legs, his eyes lighting with fire when he saw her long, slender legs revealed to him. She laid there in just her cotton bra and underwear, wishing she had something sexy on instead. But Dharr came down on top of her, his mouth moving to hers again and all her insecurities disappeared with the touch of his tongue against hers.
Victoria’s hands reached out, curious and free at last to touch the man who had so fascinated her that she’d never been interested in anyone else. The muscles bunched under her fingers wherever she touched and she ran her fingers along his arms, his chest, into his hair and then back down to test the crisp hair on his chest, her fingers tangling in it and then moving lower, following the interesting line that disappeared.
She heard Dharr suck in his breath when she stopped at his belt. He suddenly stood up and ripped his belt loose, his pants flying behind him before he came back to the bed, completely naked. Without a word, he pulled her hand down to where it had stopped before. “Please continue,” he said and his voice was hoarse.
Victoria was only too pleased to comply and her hand moved along his flat stomach, impressed with the ridges of muscles along the way. But her hand stopped suddenly. She couldn’t go any lower. Her eyes couldn’t even look to where his erection stood, hard and proud, waiting for her touch. She glanced up at him, worried that she’d been too brazen. But his eyes were closed, his teeth clenched in anticipation.
“Don’t stop, Victoria,” he rasped. “Don’t tease me like this.”
With those words, her hand moved lower, her fingers touching the tip tentatively, worried that she might hurt him. When she touched him, he let out a hiss of air and Victoria pulled her hand back instantly. Only to have his own hand reach out and pull hers back, wrapping her fingers around him firmly. When her fingers moved, Dharr groaned and leaned forward, taking her nipple into his mouth yet again, sucking hard, moving the plain, white cotton away and teasing her nipple more.
With each nip or suckle, Victoria’s fingers clenched harder or relaxed, depending on what he was doing to her. She forgot what she was doing, lost in the desire he was pushing her into. She didn’t realize that her fingers were driving him to distraction and he was losing his much prized control, the control that had been drilled into him from the moment he’d had his first woman at the age of twelve. Here, with Victoria’s clumsy hands touching him, clenching at his flesh, he was no longer the experienced lover he’d prided himself on being. He felt new and raw, overwhelmed with the desire to sink his aching flesh into her and pound until he found his release.
Pulling her hand away, he grabbed both of her hands and lifted them over her head, determined to make her pay for wanting her so desperately. She thought she was in control! Well he would turn the tables. No, he would control this experience and would show her that he was the ultimate lover. He would make her forget all the other men she’d had in the past and he’d teach her what she’d thrown away so callously.
With her hands in one of his, he flicked the front clasp of her bra, releasing her perfect, beautiful breasts from the plain cotton. His indrawn breath showed him that she was still in control and he hated that feeling. Lowering his head, he took her nipple in his mouth, moving his lips gently over the rosy peak, then sucking again, blowing his breath against her puckered skin, then starting over. When she started writhing beneath him, he moved to the other perfect mound, doing the same, smiling when she cried out and tried to pull her hands from his grasp. But he wouldn’t relent. Not yet.
He moved down her body, kissing her stomach, his tongue delving into her belly button and glorying in the cries that came from the simple movement. But he wanted more. His hand moved between her thighs, first on the outside, then moving up the inside and he thrilled that she opened to him. He could smell her arousal and it made him hurt even more. But he wasn’t finished. Not yet.
One hand moved to her core, flicking her nubbin and watching the flush steal across her breasts. He remembered how quickly she had found release the last time and almost gave in with the need to enter her, but he held back, wanting to show her again how good it could be. His finger slipped inside her wet folds and he had to close his eyes to concentrate once he felt how wet she was, how ready for him.
“What do you want, Victoria,” he asked and his voice was rough, demanding. “Tell me. Does this feel good?” he asked.
“Yes,” she gasped. “Please,” she whimpered, still pulling at her hands that were in his grasp but settled on her stomach now.
“Not yet,” he said. Dharr needed more. He didn’t just want to feel, he wanted to watch, to taste it when she had her first orgasm tonight. It had happened too fast the last time. This time, he’d take her slowly into the pleasure. His tongue flicked over her folds and his hands released her wrists. He moved between her legs, loving the feeling of her hands in his hair, pulling and pushing at the same time.
And just like the last time, her orgasm was upon her before he could slow it down. Dharr watched, more aroused than he’d ever been in his life as he watched and tasted her orgasm. When her cries died down, he moved up her body, kissing her stomach, moving upwards to caress her breasts with his hands, his thumbs, his mouth and tongue. There was no peace for her, he thought, winding her up for the next level. And when her eyes opened in surprise, he laughed. “Yes, Victoria. We’ve only just begun,” he said, pulling on a condom, and held her hands over her head again as his body slid up against hers, his erection finding her softness and pressing inside.
He looked at her eyes, widening in shock and then in pleasure as he slid in deeper, filling her up. There was a small restriction and Dharr looked down at her, his throat constricting as he understood what it was. But by then it was too late. He broke through her barrier, noting the small twinge in her eyes and stiffening of her body before she relaxed again. Her legs moved up and wrapped around his waist and her hands pulled free of his, resting on his shoulders as he buried himself to the hilt.
Victoria was a virgin? It was madness surely. Impossible! But the evidence was incontrovertible. And now he was fully inside her, the only man to ever be in this position with this incredible beauty. The responsibility he felt at that moment was awesome. It had to be perfect. Dharr started moving, slowly, sweat breaking out on his forehead as he moved, requiring only to give her the most incredible experience of her life. He ignored his body’s own need for release and simply moved to help her.
Just as it had moments ago, her body responded, and within moments, her second orgasm was consuming her. He felt her muscles tighten a moment before she screamed out, her nails biting into his skin on the shoulders and back. He held back for only another moment, his pleasure increasing as he watched her mouth open and her body arch as the orgasm carried her off. And then he could hold back no more. He pounded into her silken flesh, finding his release a few minutes later. It was as if all the tension of his life drained out as his body poured itself into hers. It was the longest orgasm he’d ever experienced and he held Victoria close.
When it was all over, he rolled onto his back, taking her with him, still intimately connected. His hands dove into her hair and he stared up at the ceiling, his breathing still ragged as he considered all the ramifications of the past few minutes.
“Dharr?” Victoria asked, her head resting against his chest and her hand laying against his rapidly beating heart. “Is it always….” She couldn’t find the words to describe what had just happened.
“No,” he replied harshly. Just thinking about her response had him growing hard again. Her head came up and he rolled back over. “No. It isn’t like this normally,” he grated out.
A moment later, the whirlwind started again. This time, it was more intense, and Victoria pushed her head back and forth against the sheets, the pleasure almost reaching the painful stage before she tumbled over the edge, once again crying out and holding onto Dharr as the waves of her orgasm crashed over the two of them.
Victoria slept, unable to do anything else since her body was so replete. Dharr’s love making was so thorough and complete, she had nothing left in her afterwards.
Dharr watched her, noting the dark circles under her eyes and the perfect rose tinge to her cheeks. She curled up against him, laying her head on his shoulder while her hands wrapped around his arm. It was as if she felt in sleep what he was currently feeling wide awake. He didn’t want to lose her.
With complete honesty, he knew that this was the reason he’d come to her for help with his niece and nephew. There were probably hundreds of childhood experts he could have employed but he’d gone back to her. He’d never gotten her out of his mind after all these years. And he’d wanted to finish what he’d started with her, even if it meant he wouldn’t be her first. After five years, he had acknowledged that he hadn’t cared.
But now, seeing the evidence of her virginity on the sheets, he’d obviously made a huge mistake five years ago. She’d been pure and honest with him and he’d tried to destroy her. He remembered the confused and hurt look in her face when he’d stood up, callously straightening his tie as if he was completely impartial to what had just happened. Walking out of her bedroom that morning had been one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do in his life. And now, seeing her beautiful face relaxed in sleep, a sleep caused by her first experience with sex, he regretted it even more.
Dharr waited until he was sure she was asleep before slipping out of the bed. He left her sleeping, unable to endure the incredible pleasure of her sweet, warm body curled up next to his. He wanted desperately to kiss her awake, to make love to her once again. But he knew he needed to think, to come up with a plan to make it up to her for what he’d done to her before. He also needed to put into motion what he’d started before.
He would never let her go again, he promised. He’d show her all that he could offer her and somehow, he vowed, he’d find a way to keep her in his life forever.