Exiled (17 page)

“Thank you. That means a lot to me that you’d reassure her. I don’t want her to worry over me.”

Xander reached for the tray and then walked it out of the bedroom and into the sitting area. When he returned, there was a 
determined gleam in his eyes that sent butterflies tumbling through her chest.

“What I want is to make love to you, Talia. I’ve waited long enough. No others. No distractions. Just you. And me.”

Even as he spoke, he put his hands on the bed and leaned toward her, forcing her back with his body. She landed with a soft thump and he hovered over her, hunger burning brightly in his gaze.

He put one hand between her legs and slowly circled her opening with one finger. His voice was full of tenderness as he spoke. “Are you still sore?”

She shook her head. “I’m fine, Xander. I want you to make love to me again. This last week has driven me crazy. I want you inside me.”

He let out a groan. “And I want to be there. More than you can possibly know. This last week may have driven you crazy, but it’s been hell for me. I would do nothing to hurt you, though. I wanted to make sure you could take me without discomfort the second time.”

She reached up to pull him down to meet her lips. She couldn’t and wouldn’t summon any guilt over the fact that not a half hour ago, Garon had kissed her in a manner that was very different from their prior interactions. Xander had all but encouraged this…whatever it could be called…between her and the men he trusted. She was through stressing and letting the worry weigh down on her. From now on, she was going with the flow and just accepting.

Maybe this wasn’t the most traditional arrangement in the world. But she was adored and pampered by men who genuinely seemed to care about her. They treated her with respect and not as the mistress or whore she’d been so prepared to label herself as.

They treated her like a woman they…loved.

“You have too many clothes on,” she whispered when he pulled his mouth from hers.

He chuckled. “There you go with the bossiness again. I’m beginning to think we should amend that contract to submissiveness everywhere but in bed.”

“You don’t want someone who just lays here and takes it, do you?” she teased.

“Hell no,” he muttered.

He got up on his knees to shed his shirt. Then he stepped off the bed long enough to get his pants off. She turned on her side, surveying his nudity with avid appreciation.

He lifted a brow at her close scrutiny. “Like what you see?”

“You’re beautiful,” she said simply.

“You’re the beautiful one,” he murmured as he pushed back onto the bed and over her.

He started at her forehead, kissing every inch of her face. He kissed her eyelids, her nose, each cheek and nibbled down both sides of her jaw in turn. From there, he covered her neck, alternating light nips and longer sucking motions she was sure would leave marks.

“I’m going to taste every inch of your body,” he said. “Worship you like the goddess you said you’ve been treated as.”

“Oh,” she breathed. “No complaints here.”

He laughed softly. “Somehow I didn’t imagine there would be.”

He paid extra attention to her breasts, patiently licking, kissing and sucking until she was nearly frenzied with anticipation.

It was evident he had every intention of drawing things out, and she wasn’t sure she was going to survive it.

He closed his mouth over one nipple, sucked it gently between his teeth and then pulled upward until it was taut. Then he let it go and it puckered to unbearable hardness. He did the same to the other, giving it a little more bite that had her shuddering with delight.

“Xander,” she gasped. “You’re making me crazy. Please. I want you inside me now.”

“Patience, my love,” he said as he lazily rolled his tongue down her midsection to her belly button.

If he so much as touched any part of her below the waist with his mouth, she was going to come before he ever got inside her and she wanted him deep when she came apart.

“Xander, I’m close,” she whispered urgently. “I want you inside me. I want to know how it feels. The other night was so intense. It was uncomfortable at first and I don’t really remember much of the rest. Show me how good it can be. Please.”

“Ah hell,” he groaned. “How can I resist you?”

He slid his hand between them and through her damp folds before sliding one finger inside her. She tightened all over and already she could feel the impending build of her orgasm. She truly wasn’t going to last very long.

“Stop me if this hurts,” he said in a firm voice.

“I will.” Over her dead body. There was no way she was stopping this train.

He rubbed his erection over her clit and then downward until he was rimming her opening. He tucked the head of his cock just inside her, stretching the entrance.

She held her breath, waiting, her entire body jittery with anticipation.

Then he pushed slowly inward. She let out a long sigh as she stretched to accommodate him. He felt enormous inside her. There was so much friction. It was…wonderful.

She stirred restlessly, the ache inside her only intensifying. She felt itchy, like her skin was alive. She wanted to wrap her legs around him and force him deep. Hard. Fast. She wanted him to lose that tightly held control.

It was as if he always held himself on a leash, never allowing himself to fully let go.

“More,” she said, unable to articulate just exactly what she 
needed. But she knew she needed more. Definitely more. So that would have to do for now.

He seemed to understand because he withdrew and then thrust deep, with more force this time, though it was still evident he was holding himself in check.

“Xander, please. I’m not going to break. I’m not a virgin anymore. For God’s sake, I’ve been waited on hand and foot. I’ve taken more hot baths than any human should ever take in a week’s time. I’m completely and utterly healed from the first time. If you keep dragging this out, I swear to you I’m going to jump you, tie you down and have my wicked way with you.”

He stared at her in astonishment for a moment and then burst out laughing. After a moment, he grew serious again, but there was still a gleam of amusement in his eyes.

“If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure, I’m sure! Just do it already. I need it harder. Faster. I’m dying over here.”

With a growl that sounded eerily predatory, he hunched down over her, his body covering hers. He forced her legs farther apart with his thighs and then he began thrusting hard and fast. Rougher. Deeper. The slap of his hips against her thighs sounded loud in her ears.

Her entire body shook with the force of his possession.

The frenzy in which he took her lit fire to her senses. The orgasm that had quickly built fanned into a full-fledged inferno. Within seconds, she was pulled tighter than a rubber band at full stretch.

Closing her eyes, she gripped his shoulders, digging her fingers deep into his flesh.

“More,” she whimpered.

“I’m giving you every goddamn thing I have,” he rasped out. “Let go, Talia. Let go.”

She needed just a little more…He thrust hard and then lowered his head to nip at the flesh just below her ear.

As soon as his teeth sank into her neck, she was hopelessly over the edge.

Her cry was sharp, almost desperate. She clutched at his shoulders and arched her hips to meet him, wanting more, wanting closer, wanting him as deep as possible.

Ecstasy, sharp and unrelenting, shot through her veins. Her pulse pounded at her temples. She could hear her heart beating, could feel it pounding against her chest.

Finally all the tension left her in one quick explosive force. It was like cutting a taut line and experiencing recoil. Euphoria quickly replaced her earlier desperation and she sank into the bed with a deep, contented sigh.

Xander followed her down, blanketing her with his strong, warm body. Their legs were tangled and he was still deep inside her. A part of her.

He pulled her head close until she was tucked underneath his chin. She cuddled up to him, content to have him remain there, covering her. She felt secure. Safe. Protected. It was a heavenly feeling.

She was so euphoric and in such a postcoital haze that she blinked sleepily, her earlier fatigue she’d experienced at the pool returning with a vengeance.

“Just a little nap,” she murmured.

Xander smiled at how cute she was all cuddled up to him. She was warm and soft in his arms. All he could ever want.

After a long moment he stared down to find her sound asleep. He lowered his mouth to her forehead and pressed a kiss to her brow.

“I love you,” he whispered. “I know I have a hard time saying it. I know I hide behind the others. But I love you, and one day I’ll tell you when I’m no longer hiding behind anything or anyone.”

Chapter 17

Talia was alone in the bed when she woke a mere hour later. She stretched languidly and then smiled. She felt like a very satisfied cat. Stroked, petted until she purred. And Xander had most definitely made her very content.

As she rolled, she found a blossom next to a propped-up note.

Meet me downstairs. Wear nothing. The others will be present.

The simply worded message sent a surge of excitement and quickly shook the comfortable lethargy that had settled over her.

She was to wear nothing, but it didn’t mean she was simply going to roll out of bed and go down 
looking
 like she’d just rolled out of bed.

Hurrying to the bathroom, she swept her hair up into a bun so it wouldn’t get wet and then took a quick shower. Afterward, she rubbed scented lotion over her body, applied a light spritzing of her favorite perfume and then did her face moisturizing and makeup prep.

She took her hair down, brushing it in waves down her shoulders. Though nothing had ever been said beyond that first instruction for the day she arrived, she knew they preferred her hair down. They rarely missed an opportunity to stroke it or run their fingers through it.

Pleasing them made her happy. She glowed under their praise and approval. And they did everything in their power to make sure she was happy and provided for.

For the first time in so very long, she was free of the worries and stress that had plagued her since her mother’s diagnosis four years prior. All she had to worry about was following whatever directive was laid out to her and they’d been so undemanding when it came to her.

In a lot of ways it was freeing to be under the authority of someone else instead of being the primary decision maker in her life and the life of her mother.

She was…free.

Finished with university. Her mother was doing amazingly well. She was truly free to make her own decisions, live her own life.

A giddy thrill soared through her veins as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

What had begun as what she viewed as a six-month period “delay” in starting her new life in order to repay a debt had in a lot of ways been the impetus for a new lease on life.

No matter what happened from this point forward, in the short time she’d been here, she felt renewed. Reinvigorated and optimistic about her future.

After applying the bare minimum of foundation, she did a quick brush of mascara to her lashes and then chose a shiny lip gloss she knew likely wouldn’t remain on for long.

She smiled at that thought, remembering what the note had said. The others would be there. Maybe, finally they would stop treating her like she would break at the slightest touch.

Not wanting to keep them waiting, she did one last check of her hair and appearance and hurried toward the stairs. Midway down, she slowed and forced herself to be casual as she stepped into the sprawling living room.

Her pulse quickened because as soon as she entered the room, four sets of eyes immediately turned her way. All four men were in various stages of lounging. The television was on a sports channel that was giving updates on football scores, but the moment they realized she was there, someone hit the off button on the remote.

She walked boldly to the middle of the cluster of sofas and armchairs. She’d gotten over her self-consciousness when it came to being nude in front of these men.

“What do you wish me to do?” she asked in a quiet, sweet voice she knew pleased them.

Xander leaned forward in the armchair where he sat. He was adorned in khaki shorts and a simple polo shit. He was barefooted and looked completely comfortable. Sebastien was similarly dressed but he remained sprawled in his chair, drink in hand as he lazily surveyed Talia.

Garon and Nico were on the couch but both sat forward, eagerness lighting their eyes.

“Come to me,” Xander said.

She walked to where he sat and he placed his hands on her legs just below her hips and then slid them upward and then around to cup her behind. He pulled her toward him until she was forced to straddle his lap.

His hands immediately went to cup her breasts. He palmed them, squeezed lightly just enough to force her nipples forward and then he put his mouth to one, sucking hard at the puckered point.

She loved it when he got all silent and commanding. She loved that, even though the others often participated in their erotic 
endeavors, Xander was always in control, even if it was simple as ceding control to the others. He was always there. Watching. And she found it incredibly arousing.

He pulled away, slid a hand behind her neck and hauled her down into a forceful, passionate kiss that took her breath away. He devoured her mouth as if he were starving for her, like he hadn’t just made love to her an hour ago.

By the time he broke contact, she was sucking in mouthfuls of air, her chest burning from the prolonged ravaging of her mouth.

His hands stroked up and down her body as he stared into her eyes.

“Nico and Garon will prepare you for what’s to come.”

Her brow furrowed in confusion. He put a finger over her mouth. “They’ll take care of you. That’s all you need to know.”

He kissed her again and then nodded in Nico’s direction. And then Nico was behind her, touching her shoulder so she’d turn around. He held out a hand to her and she reached without hesitation.