Page 54 of Forbidden

Taber laughed a full-bellied laugh full of all the humor and joviality she suspected was a vital part of his personality. “I think you mean ‘If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.’”

“Was that not what I just said?” Akahana tried not to smile, but she giggled anyway. She reached out a hand to him. “I want to enjoy our time together, Taber. However long that turns out to be.”

He took her hand without hesitation, pulling it to his smooth, heavily muscled chest. “Does that mean you’re giving me a chance to prove we can be good for each other?”

“No.” She answered as honestly as she could. “It means that I want to experience the pleasure denied me all my adult life. This is not about you being my mate. This is about me taking advantage of what the Universe has decided shall be my fate.”

“Do you honestly look at this as nothing more than fate? Can you not see the potential for happiness like what Khan and Anna have found? Like what Mikkarn, Kiril, and Mara have found? Having a mate doesn’t have to mean endless suffering.”

“It doesn’t mean I have to simply accept what is and hand my life over to someone else because he is my mate, either.”

“I don’t want control of your life, Akahana,” he answered. “I have problems enough managing my own life. All I want is someone to come home to each night. Someone to hold me when I’ve had a bad day. Someone to love me because she wants to, not because she has to.” He pulled her gently into his embrace and kissed her forehead. “I want someone to explore our mutual sexual fantasies with and I want to satisfy her in every way I possibly can.”

“I want to talk about this later.” She wasn’t at all comfortable with what he was telling her. It was dangerously close to what she wanted herself but never dared to hope she’d ever find. “Right now, I want to get to the sexual fantasies part.”

His rumbling chuckle vibrated deep within his chest and tickled her insides, leaving her excited and needy. Funny how that happened. One little expression of mirth combined with an enticingly naked man holding her closely, and her knees became weak and her cunt spasmed. She had never felt this way with Gamin, or any man before him. It was confusing.

Shaking her head slightly, she blamed it on the dream. Nothing was as it seemed when one dreamed. When she awakened, she’d feel differently.

At least, that’s what she tried to convince herself. This man was special. And he’d crawled under her skin before she’d realized it.

She reached for his cock with her free hand and gave him a gentle squeeze. He sucked in a breath, and she could see the pulse at his neck accelerate as his arms closed around her and his mouth descended on hers.

She tried to devour him but he held her back, gently pulling away when she got too hungry. A couple of seconds was all it took for her to settle, and he started kissing her again. Slowly. Languidly. As if he had all the time in the world.

When he broke their kiss yet again it was because she hurried him by nipping his bottom lip and plunging her tongue deeply into his mouth. She realized the scenery had changed.

The city skyline had been replaced by a sky full of twinkling stars and a giant, full moon. She lay on her back on a bed of soft, sweet-smelling flowers with Taber resting beside her, his naked upper body covering hers. He lowered his head again, this time to her neck and the swell of one breast. That was when she realized she was also naked.

When he took a nipple into his mouth, she almost screamed. As it was, the tiniest of whimpers escaped her throat. His grunt of approval spurred her on, and she moaned again when he nipped the other nipple gently, then found her pussy and circled her clit with his fingertip.

He let his hands roamed her body, coaxing sighs and the occasional squeal from her even though she tried her best to hold back. The last thing this man needed was to know how he affected her. Even in a dream.

“I’ve never wanted a woman this much before. All I can think about is burying myself as deeply as I can inside your wet little cunt.” He raised his head and stopped everything he was doing. “But I absolutely will not make love to you until you see it as just that. Making love. I’m not interested in meaningless sex. Not because fucking you senseless doesn’t appeal to me, but because I don’t want my heart broken any more than you want someone else in control of your life and body.”

She blinked, then shoved him away from her and sat up. “I’m not interested in ‘making love.’ Love has nothing to do with sex. All I want from you is physical satisfaction. It’s all I’m capable of.”

He sat up slowly, and though a sexy grin spread across his face, she still felt the hurt inside him. “I think you’re a highly passionate woman, Akahana. I think that you crave the love of another even more than most people because you’ve only known pain and heartache.” His clothes appeared as if they’d been there all along -- dark pants with a white shirt that hugged him like a second skin. “When you’re ready to love me like the mate you claim I am, I’ll be here. However long it takes.”

And he faded into the mists.

But she still felt his bruised feelings as if they were her own.

?* * *

The dream slowly faded… and she woke in her bed. The covers had bunched around her as she’d thrashed about under Taber’s masterful touch. She was surprised to feel a lump in her throat and tears spilling from her eyes. Rubbing a finger under one eye, she stared at the damp pad in amazement. Why did Taber feel so strongly about this? Why couldn’t he be content with a little fun before moving on? She’d go back to Gothe’mar, he’d stay on Earth. She’d keep her newfound independence, and he wouldn’t have to worry about adding another person to his life. She’d always been told that Earth men hated any disruption in their lives.

Then again, maybe that was just something Gamin had told her to ensure she never tried to leave their dwelling on Earth.

This was all so confusing. Everything in her life she’d ever taken for truth had been turned upside down since she woke from healing. It was enough to plunge her into the depression she’d fought against all her life.

Wiping tears from her eyes, she got out of bed, went to the bathroom, and splashed cold water on her face. Patting herself dry with a towel, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her white hair had lost the luster it had once had, and there were dark circles under her eyes as well as a hint of a bruise on her left cheek. Gamin had changed her life in ways that would never truly heal.

Did she owe it to herself to let Taber prove his promises? Was he the only chance she had at a happy life?

She didn’t have a chance to ponder it further, because as she stood there, a very large, solid male figure appeared behind her.

Davin!

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