The Golden Bell (10 page)

Her hand loosened on the rod. He’d done
something to her with his offer of a lab of her own. It wasn’t just
the generosity, it was the thoughtfulness of the gesture. He was so
easy with his affection, so open handed. If she did ever marry
him…

She pulled away, startled by her thoughts.
Breathing raggedly, she looked back at her pole.

He brushed a kiss on her temple and worked
over to her ear. “So pretty,” he murmured. “You make me burn from
the inside out.”

“I think…”

He placed one long finger against her lips.
“If you’re about to make a comment about me and another woman, I
promise you’ll unleash that hidden side you keep wondering
about.”

She shut her mouth.

“Better. Let’s try this again.” This kiss was
longer, more satisfying. Hot and restless.

“I got a bite!” She grabbed for the pole. It
had almost been jerked out of her hands.

“Throw it back,” he suggested.

“Are you nuts? Quick, get the net!”

He sighed, but helped her haul forty-five
pounds of thrashing, slippery fish on board.

“Call it a day?” he asked hopefully after the
fish had been stored in the live well.

“No way! I’m on a roll now.”

Unfortunately for him, she was. He let her
haul in three more monster fish before declaring she’d caught her
legal limit.

She was beginning to think he didn’t have
much use for fishing.

She smiled at the wind in her face as he
steered them back. “We’ll have to do this again soon.”

Fallon grunted.

“You know what we should do? We should build
a fire on the beach and cook the fish over the coals. What leaves
do you have that are edible?”

“We could let my cook do it, too. He does a
great grilled fish.”

She frowned. “I’ll compromise. We’ll set up a
grill in my garden and eat it out there. I’m good at barbeque. I
know you have sweet potatoes here, and we’ll cook a couple of
those, too. You can have your cook do a side dish and dessert.”

He smirked. “I had no idea you were so
domestic.”

“Well, I am letting you contribute something,
even if you have to pay someone else to cook it. After all, I did
catch all the fish.”

“I provided the boat.”

“Doesn’t count.”

“How do you figure?”

“I’ll think of a reason,” she promised.

He laughed.

CHAPTER 7

They set up the picnic in her garden. The
wok-like grill on the tripod slowly baked their dinner as they
lounged on the blanket by the light of the triple moons. Rain
considered them as she sipped her dream flower wine. “Can you ever
see the stars? There’s all this light.”

“Sometimes. They have different cycles, but
we actually have a few days each month with only one moon.”

“Wow. Must be hard to have much of an
observatory. Who named this place the Dark Lands, then?”

“Someone with a taste for drama. Did you know
the elders arrived early? Their party is tomorrow afternoon.”

She was silent. While she didn’t want to go,
it was the best way to get answers.

“Even if you don’t want to celebrate for
their sake, you should go for your own. There will be other women
there, and it would be good for you to get out of your room once in
a while and make friends.”

“I don’t socialize well.”

“Practice helps.”

She waved that off. “You haven’t seen me
discuss the wonders of computer hacking or the thrill of magnetics
with a room full of bored women before. They don’t care about
science and I don’t care about waxing. You see the problem.”

His teeth flashed in a grin. “Discuss men.
That’s always common ground.”

“Not when I agree with the man half the time,
and say so. Don’t look so surprised, I loved my dad. You said he
wasn’t a ‘warrior’, but I thought he was something much better. He
was a good father.”

Fallon grew serious. “I didn’t mean to
disrespect him. I regret I never had a chance to meet him. He must
have been remarkable; after all, he raised you.”

A moody sigh was her answer to that. When he
looked as if he’d pursue the subject, she got up to check on
dinner. “It’s done. Get it while it’s hot.“ Perfectly cooked, moist
and flaky, the fish went well with the lemon rice pudding and crisp
vegetable salad Fallon’s cook had contributed. Finished, she lay
back on the blanket with a sigh of contentment.

A tactical error.

Fallon’s head appeared in less then a minute,
blocking out the moons. “Hello.”

She turned her head aside to avoid his kiss.
It landed on her cheek instead. “Fallon, I’m full.”

“Okay. No pressure on your stomach, I
promise.” He moved her hand up to nibble her fingers.

“I don’t think…hey…” He’d popped her pinky
into his mouth and was sucking on it. Maybe she’d had too much
wine, or was too relaxed, but she didn’t feel motivated to put up a
serious protest.

He slowly released her finger and started on
the next. By the time he was done, she was in a very receptive
frame of mind.

“I want to pamper you tonight,” he said,
reaching for a little box she hadn’t noticed before. He opened the
top, then set it so she couldn’t see inside. When she sat up to
look, he kissed her, distracting her with slow, persuasive heat.
While she was still dazed, he lifted her tunic off, baring her to
the waist. Except for her necklace, of course, but that wasn’t
hiding anything.

Automatically, her hands rose to hide her
breasts.

“No, no. That’s not how this game is played.
Lie back.” He eased her down to the blanket and put her hands by
her side, holding them there for a moment. “Keep them there.” His
gaze was appraising, frankly appreciative, and she had to close her
eyes in embarrassment. Why was she letting him do this?

“Now, then.” Her eyes popped open as he moved
closer, a small brush in his hand.

“Close your eyes again. This is eye
shadow.”

“You’re doing my makeup?” she asked in
puzzlement. “Why do I have to be naked for that?”

“Just close them,” he said patiently.

He might be calm, but she was ready to jump
with sizzling awareness. “Y-you know, I haven’t done this before.
How ‘bout you give me back my shirt?”

“The sensual tension is part of the
pleasure,” he murmured, stroking her cheek with a soft brush.

“How can you even see what you’re doing in
the moonlight?”

“I can see. Make a kiss with your lips. Mm. I
do love deep red lipstick on you. Such full, sweet lips.” He put
away the lipstick and got out a nail file. “Give me your hand.”

She was beginning to understand this was
going to be a slow torture session. Instinct made her keep her
newly polished fingers flat on the ground, even though she
desperately wanted to curl them, or use them to shield her breasts.
Her nipples were stiff with tension, desperately hoping for his
attention. It was all she could do to keep her hips still.

He glanced at them and smiled. “Ready for a
little nipple rouge? It will stain them a deep red to match your
lips for several days. Hold still, we don’t want to stain your
pretty white skin.” Over her uncertain murmurings, he painted her
nipples, taking his time.

By the time he got to the second one, she
liked the way he thought.

“Glitter cream,” he said, rubbing a new form
of torment between his palms. “We need to spread this all over.” He
started at her neck, thoroughly massaged her breasts and rubbed her
belly. By the time he removed her pants, she was ready for them to
go. When he filled his hands with her butt and lifted and kneaded
it, she felt sure she knew what was coming, and she was ready for
that, too.

Instead, he massaged his way down her legs,
taking his time with her feet and toes. Then he got out the polish
again.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” she muttered,
leaning back and closing her eyes. The man would kill her.

A perfectionist, he took his time, then
deliberately closed the bottle and put it away.

Here it comes, she thought.

Instead, he took what she thought was a
necklace out of the box. “This is a virgin’s belt,” he said,
showing it to her. It had smooth gold links and a string of
dangling pearls hanging from it. The first few pearls were medium
sized, but there was a large one hanging at the end. “Plant your
feet and lift your hips for me.”

She obeyed, shuddering with the feel of the
night air on her hot, wet center. She was so damp she was dripping,
and had been for some time. That had never happened to her
before.

First her fastened the links around her
waist. While her legs were spread and open, he dangled the pearls
between her legs, then popped the big one inside her.

She collapsed on her back in shock and
reached for it.

“Leave it!” he ordered her, and she’d never
heard that tone from him before. Shocked, she stared at him.
“But…”

“Leave it,” he said more calmly. “It’s
getting you ready for me. Close your legs and squeeze. Feel what it
does to you? Go ahead and squirm. Feel how the strands tighten
against your peak? Feel how they rub? It’s pressing against the
special spot inside you, is going to make you climax at any
minute.”

As if to prove his words, she came right
then, lifting off the blanket.

He smiled savagely and stripped off his
clothes. “Leave it!” he ordered her again when she tried to stop
the special torture. He took her hands in his and flattened her
body to the ground, holding her legs together with his own. “Do you
want me yet?” he snarled in her ear.

This was the side of him she hadn’t seen
before, the one she’d feared…and wanted. He wasn’t playing games
now, wasn’t blowing smoke.

She knew what it would mean for him to take
her virginity. Her father had explained that once Haunt couples
joined flesh, it was forever. Fallon really was going to take her
to wife…and he had the means to make her desire him. No court would
annul a marriage consummated in mutual passion.

The pearl between her legs pressed again on
that special spot, making her lift off the blanket with a hot
scream.

Fallon muttered something jealous sounding
and pulled it out.

She whimpered at its loss.

“I have something better,” he growled, and
spread her legs. Suddenly there was fullness, a sweet hardness.

She decided she liked it. “More.” Her bright
red nails flexed on his back.

She felt him smile against her neck.
“Anything for the lady.”

It burned, it hurt…but there was just enough
pleasure to make her want his invasion. He was big and hard, and at
the moment, everything she wanted in the world.

So she let him ride her, let him fill the
tight hollow between her legs as he tortured her mouth with kisses.
He was sweetly savage, controlled yet dominate until the end, when
the control slipped completely and he rode her fiercely, throwing
his head back as he roared his own climax.

She lay in bed later that night, tucked in
the hollow of Fallon’s arm. He’d carried her limp body inside and
bathed her, then taken her again in the tub after crushing the
pearl. It was symbolic, he said. Nobody was ever going to enter her
body again but him.

She very nearly let him have her a third
time, just for that.

Promising to get to it after her body had a
chance to heal, he’d kissed her and carried her to the bed. Now she
lay there, wondering how she’d ever gotten to this place.

She’d always known the man was dangerous.
Exhausted, she slid into sleep. Tomorrow would take care of
itself.

Rain awoke to wine and flower petals.
Brushing a petal from her cheek, she surveyed the bed strewn with
pink and white botanical confetti with sleepy surprise. “Are we
having a party?”

Fallon sat on the edge of the bed, clad only
in his black pants. “I felt a celebration was in order.” When she
blushed, he added mischievously, “Are you very sore?”

Avoiding his eyes as her face got hotter, she
brushed the petals from her lap. “If you’re looking for an encore,
then yes, I’m pretty sore.”

He smiled. “Good thing I filled the tub,
then. I also put some healing herbs in it.”

Risking a glance, she asked dryly, “In a
hurry, are you?”

“With you, always.” He held a white silk robe
out to her and helped her into it. “Unfortunately, we do have a
party to attend later, and I have to introduce you to my mother.”
He said it offhand, like an afterthought.

Her eyes snapped to his. “Your mother? I
didn’t even know you had one!”

They’d stopped at the tub, and he whisked off
her robe with quick efficiency. “Didn’t want to jinx the deal.”

Loathe to stand around naked in front of him,
she slid into the water. “Yeah, but you could have dropped a clue!
How am I supposed to face the woman, knowing that I just found out
about her hours before I met her?” Knowing what she’d just spent
the night doing with the woman’s son. Yikes!

“I wouldn’t worry about it. She’s been
nagging me for years to marry, so she’ll be delighted about you.
Oh, she’ll scold me, but she’ll take to you like a duck to water.”
He sat on the edge of the tub and trailed his fingers in the water.
“She’ll probably start in about grandchildren right away.”

Rain opened her mouth, then closed it,
thinking before she spoke. “We talked about that.”

“We did, and I still feel the same. I’m an
expert at circumventing her schemes, so just follow my lead. Direct
opposition just strengthens her, I warn you.”

“Great. A controlling mother-in-law,” Rain
muttered, sinking further into the water. Whatever herbs he’d put
in the bath were invigorating, just the thing for what was sounding
like a tough day.

“It’s not that bad. Like I said, she’ll love
you. I’ll the one who will suffer if you two ever join forces
against me. I don’t get any sleep as it is.” He sent a smug look
her way, and his eyes slid to the clear water.