Another couple of days of walking and I couldn’t take it anymore. “Please. There is no way they are still following us. Just one night. I need a bath and a bed and food that neither of us had to kill first.”

“Kiera, it’s dangerous. If word got out—”

“If word got out, we’d be in Deabru territory before they could catch up with us. I’m not meeting your picture perfect ex with greasy hair.” I did my best impression of his sad puppy expression and stuck my bottom lip out for extra manipulation.

He relented. “Fine. We’ll spend the night at an inn.”

We changed course and headed back towards civilization. Max was just being overly cautious. Our journey had taken twice as long due to being on foot and our indirect route, yet there’d been not a single sign that we were being pursued.

When we reached Silver Oaks, I headed straight to the inn. There was a tavern downstairs, which was convenient because the only thing I could use more than a bath and a change of clothes was a drink. My other comb bought us a night’s stay, all we could eat and some riding leathers. That left me with a single pin, so it was a good thing we were close to our destination.

After we got cleaned up, we headed back downstairs for our food and drinks. The innkeeper sat a turkey on the table between us and two cups of mead. The smell was so delicious, I tore off a leg and savoring the juiciness of the meat, the tartness of the cranberries. “Even if we get caught, this dinner makes it all worth it.”

“I doubt you’ll feel that way if we really do get caught.”

At the table across from us several rough-looking men sat at one of the tavern tables playing with dice. I pointed at them with the leg bone. “What’s the game they are playing?”

“It’s kinda like Yahtzee, but with more stabbing when things go wrong,” he explained.

“Let’s see if they’ll let us join them.”

“What happened to keeping a low profile?”

“I can guarantee those guys have never snitched a day in their life.” I headed over to their table pulling out my last hairpin.

“Teach me the rules?” I said in my flirty voice.

One of the guys who looked as though he wanted to eat me for lunch, took my pin and exchanged it for a stack of coin.

Over the next few hours, Max watched as I got smashed and cleaned those guys out. By the time I was stumbling up the stairs to our room, I had more coin than I could carry.

I dropped the coin on the table by the bed and started to get undressed.

“I can’t believe you cheated at a game you learned tonight and they didn’t even notice.” Max said pulling off his shirt.

I cupped my breasts, laughing. “When guys are staring at these they don’t notice much else.”

He shook his head. “You are dangerous.”

I let my pants fall to the floor and walked over to him naked. I wrapped my arms around his neck. “And don’t you forget it.”

I stood on tiptoe to kiss him. The feel of him against me made it hard to breathe. I wanted him so bad I ached with need. “Fuck me,” I whispered against his lips. “It doesn’t have to mean anything, I just want to feel you inside me.”

His expression grew serious. He grabbed me by the arms and held me at a distance, capturing my full attention. “No deal. If we do this, it’s because it means something. Understand?”

Of course he’d be a romantic. Some guys were just like that. They enjoyed sex more with some sort of connection. But those feelings quickly faded in the light of day. But I wanted to feel him inside me and if that was the price, I’d happily pay it. After all, I didn’t have to fake my feelings, I just had to play it cool when he got bored of me and moved on to the next girl. “Sorry, I was just saying what I thought you wanted to hear. Of course this means something to me. I love you, Max.” I hadn’t intended to say that last part. Sometimes I got so swept up in a role that I forgot myself.

That must have satisfied him because he snatched me off my feet and kissed me so hard my lips bruised. He pushed me down on the bed, touching me from head to toe. Licking and nipping at every inch of my body mixing pleasure with just a touch of pain. Just enough to set my sense of fire and make me feel alive.

He thrust a finger in my wetness and then two. I squirmed on the bed begging for something more substantial. He didn’t have to be asked twice. He pushed my thighs apart, spreading me wide. His eyes taking me in as if he was looking at treasure.

He grabbed his rod thrusting the mushroom head inside me. He fed me each inch, stretching me wide around his girth. My back arched as I lifted my hips to take more of him. I was shameless and wanton and I could tell the wilder I got the more he loved it. I dug into his arms leaving scratch marks. I wanted everyone to see them and know that he was mine.

As he thrust inside me, I felt spread open and bare beneath him, like he’d shone a light on all my hiding places. And it was thrilling and terrifying at the same time, just like in the cave.

I pushed him onto his back and climbed on top of him. Lowering myself until his hardness filled me to the brim. I braced my hands on his chest and rode him. His gaze rose and fell as if he couldn’t decide if he wanted to stare into my eyes that looked at him with pure hunger or the part where our bodies met and he disappeared inside me.

When I started to get tired, he lifted me up and placed me down on my hands and knees. He took me from behind, the head of his cock buried so deep inside me he was slamming into parts I didn’t know I had, reaching new depths and making me delirious.

It wasn’t long before I went flying over the edge at full speed, coming so hard I didn’t think I could survive it. The human body wasn’t made for anything so intense. Moments later, Max exploded inside me, filling me with his warmth.

He collapsed on the bed next to me. Both of us glistening with sweat and breathing hard.

“Don’t grow a big head over this, but God, you’re an amazing lay. Though it’s not surprising, four centuries of pussy is a lot of practice,” I said between heavy breaths.

He looked at me incredulously. “How many lovers do you think I’ve had?”

I did the math in my head. “Even if you only slept with three women a year, that’s over a thousand. And come on, you have looks, money, charm, I’m sure it’s way more than three a year.”

“Is three a year your average?” He sat up on his elbow.

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, we’re not even going there.”

He smiled that wicked grin of his that melted panties. “Your past doesn’t matter to me. Only our future.”

“You know who says that? Someone who’s slept with so many women they want to change the topic so they don’t have to cough up a number. So, give it up.”

“Two,” he replied leaving me to guess the number of zeros.

“Two thousand?!” I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I had to wonder if he could remember all their faces.

He shook his head.

“Two hundred?” That wasn’t bad at all. That was less than a woman a year. That almost counted as celibacy.

But he didn’t confirm, which started to make me nervous. Unless we were talking two million, than the only other possible number…

“Two? As in one plus one, two?”

He nodded.

“Wait, are you counting me?”

He nodded again.

“The only people you’ve ever slept with are me and Claudia?”

Concern colored his features. “Does it disappoint you that I’m not as worldly as you imagined?”

“No. I would never be disappointed over something like that. I’m just shocked. You are obviously a very sexual being. How did you hold out for so long?”

He held up his right hand, then he made a fist and moved it up and down.

I could feel the blood rushing to my face. “Oh…”

It floored me that this man who could have any woman that he wanted, several at a time for that matter, chose me. “I’m not that special.” I argued, unable to bear the weight of what he’d just told me.

“You are to me.” His soft smile turned into a frown. “Why are you crying?”

I touched my hand to my cheek and my fingers came away wet. I hadn’t realized I’d been crying, but when I thought about it, it wasn’t hard to figure out why. “I love you. I really, truly love you.”

Attraction was one thing. Sex was one thing. But this bastard had snuck in and made off with my heart, leaving me more vulnerable than I’d ever been in my life. He didn’t say anything, which was the exact right thing to say. He just held me close as I shook with sobs, mourning the girl that I used to be.