They once again looked at each other as if they really couldn’t understand the complicated minds of women. One minute they were sobbing together and the next laughing as if all was right in the world.

“Can we help you with anything?” Derek questioned. The girls looked up, as if surprised to see the guys standing there.

“You can get the steak going. The rest of this food will be ready before you know it,” Trinity told them. They grabbed the marinated steaks and made a quick exit. The girls giggled at the guy’s haste.

“I know it’s terrible to play with them but sometimes it’s simply way too much fun not to,” Jasmine said with a giggle.

“Agreed,” Trinity said. Nicole nodded, although she was afraid to play with Ryan. She had a feeling if she tried to play she was going to get seriously burned. She put it out of her mind and simply enjoyed her time of peace in a world, which had been shattered for many years.

They all enjoyed a wonderful meal, then sat by a fire, where Nicole found herself laughing more than she’d ever done in her life. The cousins were certainly entertaining and Nicole forgot, for a small moment in time, how much stress she was under. When it was past midnight, the family headed out she was uncomfortably aware she was alone with Ryan. She didn’t know how to behave, or what to say.

“I’m really tired, so if you could tell me where I’m sleeping I’ll leave you alone,” she mumbled at him.

“You’ll be sleeping in my bed again but this time I won’t lay awake half the night in frustration,” he growled at her.

“I’m not sleeping in your bed, Ryan,” she said with her own rising temper. He couldn’t force her to sleep with him. Ryan glared at her and slowly stood up. He seemed more of a predator than she’d ever seen before. She was somewhat terrified but more aroused than she would ever admit. He was an impressively masculine man and with that look of desire, mixed with fury in his eyes her stomach turned into a quivering mass.

Ryan slowly started stalking towards her and she couldn’t help herself from slowly retreating. She wanted to stand firm but she was too afraid of what would happen if he touched her. She wasn’t convinced of her own will-power.

“Ryan you need to back off, I know we have an agreement but I’m tired and not ready to share your bed yet,” Nicole tried to reason with him, still backing away as he made a steady advance toward her. He said nothing as he continued to stalk her, as if she really was his prey. He didn’t speed up, he didn’t yell. He did nothing but follow her.

She looked behind her and realized he was backing her into a corner. She knew it was the chicken’s way out but she didn’t care. If she didn’t flee the room and really soon, he was going to grab her and she knew if that happened she’d be lost.

She noticed the table to her left and made a dash around it and started running from the room. She could call herself a chicken later. Her only thought was getting into another room, one with a lock where she would in no way be tempted to let him take her to bed.

She made it to the bottom of the stairs, when his fingers locked around her wrist. He whipped her around, jerking her body against his and smiled in triumph, only seconds before his mouth fell on hers. She was panting from her short sprint, leaving her mouth open to his probing tongue. She gasped aloud as his tongue stroked her mouth, causing liquid fire to burn through her veins.

She’d kissed him countless times as a teenager but it had in no way prepared her for the kiss of a man. He was devastating her system in a matter of seconds. She tried to pull out of his arms. She tried to regain her composure but he was touching her in a way that left all thoughts from her mind. Suddenly he picked her up in his arms, while continuing to love her mouth. She was losing all will of saying no to the man.

He carried them quickly up the stairs and before Nicole knew what was happening, he was laying her down on the bed and her clothes were stripped away. Ryan laid alongside her, quickly taking her back in his arms and once again locking his lips down on hers.

She needed to stop him. She needed to let him know she wasn’t ready. She needed to gain the will-power to stop but she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t even think, let alone find the strength to deny him and herself.

Ryan released her mouth, only to trail his lips down her neck and run his tongue along the mounds of her breasts. By the time he finally clasped her aching nipple into his mouth, her entire body jerked off the bed. She was done with any protests she’d thought about issuing. He ran his tongue over her nipples and she could feel the tightening in her stomach and the wetness in her core. Her body was preparing for his entrance and she wanted him more than she wanted anything else.

He was making her feel completely possessed with his domination of her body. She was weak to his every command. He continued circling her chest with his tongue and she could do nothing but moan in pleasure, as her hands rubbed over his body. She could feel the slight sheen of sweat on his skin, which only turned her on more, to witness his loss of ever present control. She’d brought him to a state of arousal with nothing more than her responses to him.

She could feel his impressive erection pressing into her thigh and her body squirmed underneath him, needing to feel him press against her core. She needed him to join them together and she couldn’t wait much longer.

“I’ve wanted to do this since the first kiss we shared,” he confided to her in a ragged voice. His tone made her squirm even more. He was on the edge of control and she didn’t mind being the one to push him over the cliff.

He brought his lips back to hers and kissed her so tenderly, she was washed away with emotions. How could he be so cold and calculating one moment and kiss her as if she was the most precious thing in the universe the next. If she hadn’t already been past the point of no return that kiss would’ve done it.

He pressed the head of his erection against her slick opening and she could feel the heat burning in her aching core. “Please,” she begged him, when he still wouldn’t thrust inside her.

“I can’t wait any longer,” he growled at her. He wanted to make it good for her, he wanted to make sure she was ready for him but he’d wanted her for so long and hadn’t been with any other in months and there was no way he could drag out their lovemaking.

He lifted her leg, pushing it behind his back, opening her up fully for him. He could feel her heat against his head and it was making his entire body break out in a sweat, trying to maintain his control. He’d never before lost control over his body with any other woman.

She gasped aloud at the intense pleasure washing through her and jerked her hips, trying to get him to enter her.

He didn’t need any more prompting. With one quick thrust, he buried himself fully in her. She tensed as his entire girth filled her fully, causing a brief moment of pain.

Ryan groaned at the tightness of her body gripping him. He couldn’t believe how hard she was holding onto him. It sent him over the rest of the edge of sanity and after a small pause, he pulled out of her and thrust back in, faster with each move. He was out of control as he gripped her hips, raising her higher so he could sink even further inside.

After the initial shock of him filling her up, Nicole felt nothing but pleasure and soon lifted her hips up to meet his thrusts. She could feel her body tightening more and more with each thrust inside of her.

Suddenly a pleasure unlike anything she’d ever felt before was gripping her body. She cried out as the lightening shot through her core, up through her stomach and down each limb. She was shaking from head to toe, as the orgasm kept rippling through her in spasm after spasm.

Her clenching heat was all it took to send Ryan over the edge and within seconds he was buried deep inside her, shooting his pleasure deep within her core. He pumped into her for longer than he’d ever done before, then collapsed against her body, not having the energy to move a limb. She’d completely drained him.

He realized he must be crushing her and managed to turn them both on their sides with their bodies still connected. They slid along one another since they both had a sheen of sweat all over their bodies. They were both panting as if they’d run a marathon. Nicole couldn’t believe how amazing an experience that had been and was almost regretful she’d waited so long. She had a feeling it wouldn’t have been the same with any other man except Ryan. She’d never felt such intense emotions for any other man but him, which was most likely how she’d managed to remain a virgin well into her twenties.

Ryan finally pulled out of her body and she felt as if she lost a piece of herself. She grumbled at him, which caused a chuckle to escape his throat. She tensed at his laughter but she was so tired, she couldn’t manage to pull away or even open her eyes to glare at him.

She would allow herself to lie there for a few more moments before she got up and found another bed. She may have caved into the sex but she wouldn’t give him her heart or soul. If she slept with him nightly she was afraid he would get both of those things. She fell asleep with those frightening thoughts on her mind.

Ryan woke up and found himself alone in the bed and wasn’t happy about it. He’d left the bed of many clingy women but found he didn’t like being the one left. He threw the covers off him, getting ready to track Nicole down and bring her back. He got up and twisted around and then his heartbeat stopped.

He looked closer at the bed and saw the blood. Had he hurt her without knowing? The thought was incomprehensible. He thought about their lovemaking. He’d taken her a bit roughly and noticed her tensing but assumed it may have been a while for her, so he’d given her a few moments to adjust to him. He knew she was unbelievably tight but she couldn’t possibly have been a virgin. There was no way a woman could reach her age without losing her innocence but the evidence was staring him straight in the face.

His legs wouldn’t support him so he sunk down on the bed in shock. He’d thought she’d dumped him as a teenager to explore her options and date guys she thought were better than him and he’d been filled with rage. As he thought back he realized he hadn’t seen her with one other guy after him. He’d been so angry with her he’d never thought much about it.

There had to be another explanation for the blood because there was no way she’d been innocent. He threw it from his mind because the other option made him far too much of a jerk. He couldn’t face that. She’d been the one to dump him without ever looking back and she deserved to suffer a bit. It wasn’t like she wasn’t getting to live in the lap of luxury, so she was getting something out of the arrangement as well. He went to hunt her down, so she would be perfectly aware of where she belonged. She could leave his bed when he was ready for her to do so.

Chapter Four

Nicole was abruptly awakened by a very angry looking Ryan. She’d woken up after the second time he’d taken her in the middle of the night and had waited for him to fall asleep, before she’d snuck from his bed, to find another room. It hadn’t been hard, as the place seemed to have an endless supply of spare rooms.