Chapter 12

What happened that second night had frightened me, but not enough to forbid Richard from my bed. As wrong as what had happened between us seemed to me, somehow I just couldn’t give up the comfort of his arms. From then on when he slept with me, he held me and we talked for hours of the past. Sometimes he reached beneath my shirt and stroked my naked breasts, but we never talked about that, pretending it wasn’t happening even as my breath grew short and I felt him harden against my thigh. Several times I had asked him what he wanted to tell me the first night, but he always put me off, saying that I wasn’t ready to know.

I thought about that in court, packing my things to go, saying goodbye to my colleagues absently. Richard and I never discussed what had happened between us that second night and what was still happening to a certain extent—was that what he wanted to talk to me about? Or was it more about the Amon-kai and the ‘teachings’ he had referred to the first night at my house?

Still debating with myself, I drove home and opened the door of my little purple house with some apprehension. There was a delicious aroma wafting through the front room, and I followed my nose to the bungalow’s tiny kitchen where Richard was stirring something in a frying pan. Today he had on a pair of tight, faded blue jeans that hugged his narrow hips and firm ass lovingly, and a short-sleeved black t-shirt that showed the bulge of his biceps when he stirred. He was making a lot of noise, but he didn’t appear surprised when I came up behind him.

“Mmm, smells delicious,” I said, looking around his shoulder at the contents of the pan.

“You’re just in time. It’s almost done.”

“I can’t wait.” I leaned over to give him a peck on the cheek, but he turned his head so that my kiss landed on his lips instead. I felt a familiar tingle rush through me and drew back quickly, blushing. Why did my heart pound so hard when we touched? I knew I couldn’t blame it on my excitement at seeing him again after so long anymore—after all, he’d been staying with me for nearly two weeks now.

Richard had gone back to cooking, and it was impossible to tell if he had turned his head on purpose or not. I wondered briefly if he felt the same way I did when we touched, but I wasn’t about to ask him.

“How was work?” he asked casually, pouring some soy sauce into the pan and stirring vigorously. Bright green snowpea pods glistened with a light coating of oil. Beside the stove on a china plate were some long thin strips of almost raw meat that had obviously barely touched the pan.

“The usual,” I said, trying to sound casual myself. “Mostly petty stuff. I’m not involved in any really big cases right now.”

“Lucky for me,” he said, smiling at me. “Or I’d never get to see you.”

“How about you?” I asked. “Get much done?”

“I’m almost finished with the bank’s system. A few more days oughta do it.” He gave me a sidelong look. “Then I guess I can get out of your hair, if you want me to.”

“No,” I said at once, putting a hand on his arm. I didn’t understand the sudden wave of anxiety I felt at the thought of Richard leaving me, but it was undeniable. Just the thought of him getting on a plane and going away from me made my stomach clench in knots.

He smiled down at me, stilling his motions at the stove for a minute. “All right, I’ll stay for as long as you want me to.” His dark face became serious. “Only…”

“Only what?” I prompted him, troubled by the doubt I saw in his clear green eyes.

“Only you may not want me to after you hear what I have to say.” He sighed. “Let’s eat first though, okay? Hard to talk on an empty stomach.”

I didn’t think so, but I nodded mutely and began getting plates from the cupboard to set the table. What in the world did Richard have to tell me that was so bad he thought I would want him out of the house when I heard it?

I could scarcely eat for worrying, though the food was delicious. The snow peas were crisp and tender, and the almost raw beef seemed to feed a craving inside me that I’d been suppressing for years. Across my tiny kitchen table, Richard was barely picking at his plate as well. When he looked up and saw me watching him, he gave a rueful laugh.

“I guess maybe we’d better talk now, Rache. Neither one of us seems to be eating much.”

“I’m sorry. It’s really delicious.” I ate a crisp green snow pea to prove my point and tried to smile at him.

“Come on.” He pushed back from the table and extended his hand. “Let’s sit on the couch.”

Feeling like a lost child, I took his hand and allowed him to lead me to the small, lumpy loveseat in my living room. We sat for a minute, and Richard took a deep breath, squeezed my hand, and let go.

“Okay, where to begin?” he mused aloud to himself. He looked at me. “I know Mom didn’t tell you anything about our people or pass down any of our beliefs, so I feel like I’m starting from scratch.”

So he wanted to talk more about the ‘Amon-kai’ thing. “Just begin at the beginning,” I urged him.

“I will, but I want you to keep an open mind. Some of what I tell you may sound, well…a little strange.”

“I’ll try,” I told him honestly. I felt like he was about to try and convert me to another religion, but I loved him, so I’d attempt to keep everything in perspective no matter what he said. I promised myself that.

“Listen then, to the legend that has been passed down for generations—the origins of the Amon-kai—night’s children.” Richard closed his eyes as he spoke, and his deep voice took on an almost orator-like quality. I watched him, fascinated by his change in tone and demeanor.

“Long ago, Anubis, the Egyptian god of death and the afterlife, was lonely and desired a wife. He had the head of a jackal but the heart of a man, and he longed for love and for someone to share his life. He searched throughout this life and the next, but no woman pleased him so well as the goddess, Bast. She had the head of a cat but the heart of a woman, and when Anubis asked her, she agreed to be his wife.”

He opened his eyes and looked at me briefly to see how I was taking this, but I only nodded for him to go on.

“Anubis and Bast loved each other, and from their union were born the Amon-kai—night’s children. From their father, the sons of the Amon-kai inherited their strength and speed, and from their mother, the daughters inherited their clarity of vision and inner wisdom. Both sons and daughters are gifted with Bast’s pale green eyes that pierce the night.”

He looked at me again, and I got the feeling he wanted me to say something. “That’s... I’ve never heard that,” I said at last. “It’s... interesting.” Privately, I thought it sounded like something made up to explain our family’s differences from the outside world. But just because we all had green eyes and really good night vision didn’t make us descendants of an ancient Egyptian god and goddess. Still, I motioned for Richard to go on.

“It gets more interesting,” he said darkly. “You see, to balance their increased abilities, the sons of Anubis were given a curse: that they should bear the true form of their father every full moon and bathe in blood before they regained their own faces again.”

For the first time, I drew back from him, really scared. “Uh...bathe in blood?” I tried to laugh. “That sounds pretty grim, Richard, for a fairy tale.”

“This is no fairy tale.” His gaze was intense, willing me to understand—to believe. “It’s folklore passed down for generations—the story of our origins, Rachel. The origins of the Amon-kai. And the only way the sons of Anubis, the Lanor-zur, can control the curse is with the help of a Lana-zeel—a mate, a true daughter of Bast.”

I shook my head. “I don’t understand. What are you trying to tell me, Richard?”

He closed his eyes briefly, and I saw the muscles in his jaw clench. “This is hard to say, but I can’t wait any longer,” he said at last. “We have barely two weeks before the next full moon. I’m saying I need you, Rachel. Need you in my life, now and forever.”

I felt a surge of relief, although I wondered what in the world the moon had to do with anything. “Well, of ~course~ I’ll stay in your life, silly. Now that we’ve found each other, we’re never going to lose touch again. I thought we already agreed on that.”

“No, Rachel.” He reached over to take one of my hands in both of his. “I mean I ~need~ you.” He lifted my hand and kissed the palm gently, a hot, slow kiss that sent a shower of sparks throughout my body before raising his eyes to mine. “You know what I mean,” he said softly.

“No, I don’t.” I tried to pull my hand away, but he wouldn’t let me. “What are you saying?” I demanded, giving up my futile efforts to be free. “Are you trying to say that you need me...?”

“As a mate,” he said simply.

“Richard, this is bizarre! Are you asking me to marry you or something? Do I need to point out why that’s impossible?”

“We don’t have to get married, just live with me,” he said it as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

“Well...but we ~are~ living together—at least for now,” I clarified, gesturing with my free hand to indicate our semi-domestic situation. “I mean, what more do you want from me, Richard?”

“It’s what I need from you, Rachel,” he repeated earnestly. “Not just what I want.”

“Okay, so what do you ~need?~” I demanded. I had an idea of what he was going to say, but I just couldn’t believe it. Couldn’t believe that he would actually ask for what I was afraid he was going to ask for until I heard it from his own lips. I kept hoping I was wrong, that he would say something completely different and surprise me.

“Do I really have to spell it out?” His face was anguished.

“Yes, Richard,” I said quietly, through lips that felt numb. “Yes, if you’re going to ask for what I think you’re going to ask for, you have to say it out loud.”

He heaved a sigh and reached out to caress my face, but I flinched away. He looked sad but determined. “I need you sexually, Rachel,” he said at last, meeting my eyes fully. “I need to make love to you. Need to breed you.”

His words unleashed a torrent of emotions within me. Disbelief that he had actually said what I was most afraid of. Horror that he would ask such a thing of me. Shame that his request didn’t disgust me as I knew it should. And under it all was the bright spark of heat that his touch always ignited in me, glowing like a hot coal in the center of my chest, making my breath hitch in my throat and my eyes grow wide.

“Richard...” I shook my head, at a loss for words.

“I know what you’re thinking—that it’s wrong,” he rushed on. “But it’s not for us, Rachel. It’s the way of the Amon-kai. We mate our own and you and I were bonded as children. It doesn’t matter that we were raised as siblings—we’re really not and besides, only a Lana-zeel can help a Lanor-zur control his blood lust.”

I shook my head again. If he hadn’t had me so firmly by the hand, I would have been backing away from him. “Richard, no. I can’t hear this right now. I don’t...we can’t--”

“Our parents did,” he said quietly, cutting my denial short. “They were raised together and bonded as children, just as we were—two halves of the same whole.”

“You’re lying,” I said in a voice that shook.

“No.” He sighed. “Look, why do you think Mom wanted to take you away from me? Why do you think she warned you never to see me again, never to think of me, look for me? She was looking for a way out and she didn’t want you raised in the ways of the Amon-kai. Why else would she take you away?”

“I don’t know why,” I nearly shouted. “But not this—never this. Richard, please...” I was begging him now, all my outrage suddenly evaporated. “Can’t we just forget you ever said these things and go on having a nice visit together? These last two weeks have been so perfect—almost magical.”

“Because we belong together, Rachel. Can’t you see that?” He leaned forward, searching my eyes earnestly. “Even if you don’t believe the legend, you have to feel how right we are together. Every time I hold you, every time I touch you, I feel it.” He raised a hand and brushed his fingertips lightly across my cheek, making me gasp with the sudden heat his touch raised under my skin. “You can’t tell me you don’t feel it too,” he almost whispered.

I shook my head, determined to deny what he was saying at all costs. To agree was to set my feet on the road to ruin and certain damnation. I would be lost forever if I gave, even an inch.

He frowned. “If you don’t feel it, if what there is between us is so wrong, why do you let me touch you at night? Why do you let me cup your breasts and stroke your nipples?”

“I…I…” I shook my head again, feeling betrayed. What had been happening between us at night was something we didn’t discuss, something I didn’t want to discuss. Because as long as we didn’t talk about it, it was almost like a dream. And you can’t help what you do in dreams, can you? And now Richard wanted to bring it out into the open and make me admit that I let him touch me, fondle me. It was too much.

Richard saw the denial in my eyes. “Let me prove it to you,” he said softly. “Let me prove that there’s something between us. Give me one chance, Rachel, that’s all I ask.”

“Prove it?” I drew back from him mistrustfully. “How?”

“With a kiss, Just one real kiss.” He drew me back into the circle of his arms. “How many boyfriends have you had in your life before Charles, Rachel? How many men in your life before I found you?”

I looked at him uncertainly, surprised by the change of topic. “Um, a few,” I hedged. “Not many actually. I was always busy with school or my career, I guess.”

“And did you give yourself to any of them? Have you given yourself to Charles?”

I thought of my fiancé’s endless groping and his clumsy, too-wet kisses. “No,” I said at last. “No, I...I never.”

“Because you couldn’t,” Richard said. “You’ve been saving yourself, you just didn’t know why.”

“Did it ever occur to you that I was saving myself for my wedding night?” I demanded. But the words sounded weak, even to me.

“When Charles touches you, kisses you, does it arouse you?” Richard looked at me intently, as though everything depended on my answer. With him staring at me that way, I somehow couldn’t bring myself to lie.

“No,” I said, looking away. “No, but that’s just because we’re not married yet.”

“Do you really think so?” he demanded. “He’s human, Rachel, and you’re Amon-kai—the two species are not sexually compatible. Do you think a gold ring to match that ridiculous diamond on your finger is really going to make a difference in how you feel when he touches you?”

“I don’t know, all right?” I flared at him suddenly. He was pushing me into a corner, challenging my very belief in myself and I couldn’t take much more of it. “But it doesn’t matter anyway because even if Charles doesn’t turn me on, that doesn’t change a thing. He’s still my fiancé and we’re still going to be married in two weeks.”

“That’s not what you really want.” Richard sounded so sure of himself that I almost believed him.

“What do you know about what I want?” I glared at him angrily, thinking of all the lost and empty years spent apart. How dare he come back into my life now and try to dictate my actions—my very emotions?

“I know what you need,” he said quietly, refusing to fight back. “It’s the same thing I need, Rachel. Give me on chance to prove it to you—just one real kiss.”

So we were back to the kissing again. “What do you think you’re going to prove by kissing me, Richard?” I demanded. “What do you think you’ll gain?”

“Your heart,” he said simply. “Or at least a chance to win it. Please, Rachel, one kiss isn’t so much to ask.”

“Look who you’re asking,” I said, but I could feel myself relenting. If kissing him once would make him abandon this foolish notion, then I supposed I could give it a try. I sighed. “All right—one kiss.”

“One kiss to prove that my touch moves you—that we need each other,” he clarified. “Like the bets we used to make when we were kids.”

I wasn’t sure how he thought one kiss would prove all that but I shrugged anyway. “All right, one real kiss. But what are we betting?”

He smiled, a slow, lazy smile that made my heart bump noisily in my chest. “More kisses of course, if I prove my point. If I don’t, I’ll move out of your life and leave you alone forever.”

“Richard,” I protested. “I don’t want you out of my life. I just want you to forget this nonsense.”

“It’s not nonsense,” he said. “And it’s not a bet I intend to lose. Come here, Rachel. Let me kiss you.”

Trying to still the beating of my heart, I leaned forward and closed my eyes. ~Just one kiss,~ I promised myself. ~Just one and then I’ll put an end to this nonsense.~ Even when he touched my breasts at night he didn’t kiss me—it was going too far, giving too much I always felt. Now I was determined to be calm and cool while I let him kiss me. I decided I wouldn’t react in any way. When it was over he would see how wrong he was and drop all this. Of course I didn’t want him out of my life forever—I loved him too dearly for that. But it would be good to go back to the way things used to be before he’d brought this awkwardness between us.

“Not like this.” Richard’s voice interrupted my train of thought and I opened my eyes to see him frowning at me.

“What do you mean? You asked for a—” That was as far as I got before he picked me up and sat me on his lap.

“Richard!” I protested, pushing against his chest. He had me settled on top of him so that I was straddling his hips. I was still wearing my gray business skirt and my white silk blouse with small pearl buttons although I had kicked off the gray suede pumps I’d had on earlier. My skirt hiked up to somewhere around my hips and I found myself pressed hard against the crotch of his faded blue jeans.

“This is more like it.” He smiled at me and I understood that he wouldn’t let me go until he had gotten his kiss. I tried to settle a little higher up on his thighs but he pulled me back down to him, cupping my ass in his palms. “Come here,” he whispered.

Feeling like I was drowning, I relaxed and leaned towards him. ~One kiss, just one…~ It became like a mantra in my mind—at least until his lips touched mine. Then the heat that flowed between us wiped out every other thought in my head.

One real kiss, Richard had said, and I knew what he meant—I would have to give him the access to explore me that I had refused him that first night. What I hadn’t counted on was how easy it would be to do just that. His soft, sensual exploration of my lips drew a groan from me and before I knew it, I had opened my mouth to him with no urging at all.

He tasted salty—like the soy sauce we had both been eating, but under that was a sweet, spicy taste I couldn’t name. Maybe it was just his natural flavor, the taste of the Amon-kai, but I found it completely delicious and utterly addicting. Before I knew it I was writhing on his lap, the unfamiliar heat raging through my body like a wildfire, out of control. I could feel my nipples hardening into tight, aching points at the tips of my breasts and between my thighs, my sex felt slippery and swollen—begging for something I had never had but wanted desperately now.

Richard reached behind me and pulled the clip out of my hair, releasing it from the tight twist I wore it in at court and letting it cascade around my shoulders like a curtain made of silk. He ran his hands through the loosened strands, his lips never leaving my mouth as he kissed me senseless. I could feel the rigid lump of his cock against my inner thighs and I ground myself against him shamelessly, loving the sensation of his thickness parting my damp folds, even through the layers of our clothing.

All thought of the wrongness of what we were doing was wiped from my mind by the desire that was building in me relentlessly. The only thing I could think of was that I needed more... more of his mouth on mine, more of his hands on my body, and most especially, more of the feel of his hard cock grinding against the soft, slippery heat of my sex. I forgot that the man I was kissing had been raised with me as my brother for the first seven years of my life. I even managed to forget that I was supposed to be married to another man entirely in the next two weeks. There was no room in my thought process at all except for the lust Richard was building in me with his hungry, passionate kisses.

Richard ended the kiss abruptly, pulling away from me and breaking the contact between us.

“What...why...?” I floundered, still unable to think. I had completely lost myself in the kiss, and losing the sweet feeling of his lips against mine was almost as jarring as though he had dragged me out of a warm bed and poured a bucket of ice water over my head.

“Tell me that didn’t arouse you.” Richard was staring at me intently, still breathing hard from the kiss himself. There was a challenge in his pale green eyes, so exactly like my own, that brought me back to myself.

What was I doing here, sitting on his lap and kissing him? Never mind the obvious taboo I was breaking, or at least, felt I was breaking despite the lack of actual blood ties between us, there was also the fact that I was engaged to Charles. The vulgar diamond ring on my left hand sparkled at me reproachfully, reminding me of promises I had made, vows I didn’t intend to break. And then there was the fact that my mother had warned me so strenuously against ever seeing Richard again—there must be something he wasn’t telling me. Something about the Amon-kai that I couldn’t remember. But it was hard to focus on any of these things—hard to focus on anything but the needs of my newly-awakened body.

“Well?” He was still looking at me expectantly.

“I...no,” I said at last, knowing it was a complete lie, but unable to tell the truth. “No, kissing you didn’t, um, didn’t arouse me, Richard.” I tried to crawl off his lap but he wouldn’t let me, keeping us pressed together. I was uncomfortably aware that he was still intensely aroused himself—the evidence of it was pressing against the sensitive vee between my legs.

“You’re lying.” His black eyebrows drew together, but his expression was more one of gentle amusement than anger.

“I am not,” I denied with quiet intensity. This was something I had learned in the courtroom from observing the defendants I was prosecuting. No matter how blatantly obvious it is that you’re lying, doing it softly and vehemently makes your lie seem at least marginally more credible.

Richard didn’t bother getting into a verbal ‘are not, am too,’ sparring match, of the kind we’d used to have on the rare occasion we fought when we were children. Instead he laughed softly, a low warm chuckle that seemed to pour through me like melted butter. Reaching up, he began unbuttoning my white silk blouse.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I demanded.

“Proving my point.” He pulled the blouse apart and I watched, feeling somehow helpless to stop him as he unfastened the front-hook bra I wore and pulled it apart, baring my breasts to him. I had never watched as he did this, never acknowledged it when his hands slipped under my nightshirt and stroked my nipples but now he was forcing me to watch. Forcing me to look while he cupped my naked breasts in his large, warm hands, making me gasp.

“What about these?” he asked, flicking my hardened nipples lightly with his thumbs. “Why are your nipples hard if you’re not aroused?”

“I...you...” His touch sent fire shooting through my veins, bright sparks of pleasure that seemed to burst inside my chest, making it almost impossible to refute him. But somehow, I knew I had to try.

“Well?” Richard laughed at me again. He pinched my nipples lightly, his touch on my inflamed flesh making it terribly hard to think.

“I...I’m cold,” I stuttered, though I felt I was burning up. I wanted to pull away from his touch but I was powerless to do so–as powerless as I had been to stop kissing him.

“Rachel,” he said softly. “You’re still lying. Don’t make me prove it beyond the shadow of a doubt.

“I... I don’t know what you mean.” He was twisting my nipples gently, sending sparks of pleasure straight down to my slippery sex. I knew I ought to stop him, but somehow I just couldn’t. Touching Charles had never made me feel like this—my fiancé’s hands on my body had never made me feel like I couldn’t get a deep enough breath, like my heart was going to pound out of my body. It was a completely new sensation and one I was helpless against.

“I mean ~this~.” His hands left my breasts and slid down my trembling abdomen to the sensitive vee between my legs. I gasped and bit my lip as Richard ripped a hole in the crotch of my pantyhose, exposing my white silk panties.

“What...?” I couldn’t even form the question.

“Are you wet for me, Rachel?” he whispered softly, cupping my pussy through the thin, silky material in one warm palm. “I’m only going to ask you one more time. Did your body respond when I kissed you?”

The panties I had on were unlined, and I gasped as he pressed one large finger against them, rubbing the slippery material into the hot, wet folds of my cunt. I had never allowed him to go so far while we lay in bed together, but now I couldn’t seem to stop him. I could feel my body opening for him spontaneously, my pussy lips so swollen and hot that they were spreading of their own volition, welcoming his invasion despite the thin silk barrier between us. But still, I couldn’t bring myself to tell the truth.

“N... no,” I whispered, biting my lip as the lie escaped me.

Richard sighed. “You leave me no choice, Rachel,” he said. With one swift, violent motion, he gripped the crotch of my panties and ripped them away, baring me completely. I gasped when I felt the thin sides of the panties give way and the cool air of the room hit my unprotected sex. Then Richard’s big hand was there again, cupping me, spreading me so that his blunt fingertips could explore my naked cunt with nothing between us.

“Richard... ~please~,” I begged, but I didn’t know if I was begging him to stop or to never stop. I had never felt so helpless or so completely out of control of my body. Here I was, straddling his lap, my breasts exposed completely, and my legs spread wide while he explored my naked, wet pussy with gentle but insistent fingers, and yet I couldn’t stop—didn’t ~want~ to stop.

“If my kiss didn’t arouse you, then why are you so wet?” he whispered roughly, in answer to my plea. “Why are you spread out on my lap, letting me touch you like this if you don’t like it? Who have you been saving yourself all these years, if not for me, your Lanor-zur?” he demanded.

I shivered and bit my lip as he pressed one long finger gently into me, feeling my virgin barrier. No one had ever touched me there before, not even Charles. But I could feel my body wanting more, wanting Richard to breach that barrier and claim me as his own, even as my mind was insisting that it was completely, utterly wrong. It was difficult to understand how something that felt so ~wrong~ mentally could feel so ~right~ physically.

“Please,” I gasped again, then bit my lip to keep the rest of my plea from coming out.

“Do you want me to stop?” Richard’s eyes were half-lidded, an almost lazy expression of lust in his pale green eyes. He seemed to enjoy watching me writhe against his exploring fingers, watching the needs of my body war with the conflict in my mind.

I couldn’t say a word, but I found myself shaking my head, very slowly. If he stopped now, I’d die. I needed his touch on my body the way the parched land of the desert needs the cooling rain.

“Didn’t think so.” One blunt fingertip began to stroke relentlessly along the sensitized side of my clit, building incredible sensations in the tight little bundle of nerves even as I moaned and cried, writhing against his hand. I found that my own hands were on his broad shoulders, my fingernails digging into his back as the pleasure built inside me.

“I want you to do something for me, Rachel,” he whispered, never stopping the steady motion of his fingers inside the wet folds of my cunt. “I want you to come for me, right here and right now. I want to watch you come as I claim you—watch you come as I finger your hot wet cunt and prove to you that we belong together.”

Even as he spoke, I felt the waves of pleasure beginning to crest inside me. The orgasm he was building in me was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. No hand but my own had ever touched me where Richard was exploring with such expert care. No one had ever spread open the lips of my pussy and pressed his fingers inside me to test my depth, or caressed my clit so knowledgeably with just the right amount of pressure to make me come...

“Oh, God!” I moaned. I was coming so ~hard~. I threw back my head, giving in completely to the sensation as I pressed myself against him, feeling my inner muscles contract around his fingers which were suddenly inside me again, fucking me as deeply as he dared without breaching my barrier.

“God, Rachel, I can feel you coming.” Richard’s deep voice was ragged, as though he was at the very edge of his control. “That’s right, baby, come for me. Come hard,” he murmured, still stroking in and out of my wet sex. “My sweet one, my Lana-zeel.”

“Richard....~Richard!~” I dug my fingernails into his shoulders and closed my eyes, my orgasm so intense I actually saw stars behind my tightly closed eyelids.

No one had ever made me come like this before, no one had touched me as he touched me, no one had made me feel so alive, so perfectly aligned with the needs of my body. How could he do this to me—make me react like this? ~He can do it because he’s right—you’re both of the Amon-kai and you belong together,~ whispered a little voice in my head.

But as the intensity of my pleasure ebbed, I pushed the certainty away. This was wrong! Richard was my brother in all but blood and besides, I had a fiancé whom I was going to marry in less than two weeks. It was as though the orgasm had cleared my head, broken his hold on me, and I found myself finally able to pull away from Richard’s addictive touch.

“Richard,” I said in a shaky voice, putting my hand to his wrist and pushing him away from my unprotected sex. “We can’t do this, it’s wrong.”

“Then why does it feel so right?” he countered, grabbing my arms when I would have slipped off his lap.

“I...I don’t know. But you can’t always allow yourself to be led by how you feel,” I said, trying to make myself believe it. “We can’t do this, Richard, so let me go.”

He frowned, and his hands tightened on my arms, obviously unwilling to comply. I was sure for a fleeting second that he would unzip his jeans and force me to spread my legs once more, this time to receive his hard cock into my pussy instead of his fingers. I felt my heart rate double at the thought, and my naked cunt felt even hotter and more slippery than when he had been touching me. Would he do that to me? Would he take what he wanted by force?

“No.” His voice was a growl, and then he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, as though forcing himself to get control. “No,” he said again, and his grip on my arms loosened, allowing me to scramble off his lap and pull down my skirt. Richard looked up at me as I buttoned my blouse with shaking fingers. There was a mixture of despair and determination in his pale green eyes. “I won’t take you against your will, Rachel,” he said at last. “When you give yourself to me, I want it to be voluntary and with all your heart. I won’t claim you completely until you can do that for me.”

“Then you’ll never claim me,” I whispered through trembling lips. “I’m sorry, Richard, but I can’t do this with you. Never again.”

He stood up from the couch suddenly, looming over me like an ominous dark mountain. “Never is a long time, Rachel. And don’t forget, I won our bet. I’ll come back to collect when you’re ready to be reasonable.”

With those words, he was gone, leaving me alone in my little purple house to cry in bewilderment and need on the small, lumpy loveseat where he had touched me so gently.