“Will Garon, Sebastien and Nico be joining us for dinner?” she asked.
Xander shook his head. “They await us in the bedroom. It’s my job to make sure you enjoy your dinner and that you are relaxed and at ease for what comes later.”
“I hate to break this to you, but the fact that such a production has been made of this means I’m just going to be even more nervous,” she admitted.
He put both his fork and knife down, frowning as he stared across the table at her.
“Production?”
She sighed. “I feel like a virgin sacrifice, like I’m going to be led to the altar for the ceremonial deflowering. It feels…well, it doesn’t feel natural. A girl has expectations about the first time. Sometimes they’re unrealistic, but we still imagine how it’s going to be.”
“And how did you picture this first time?”
She chewed absently on a bite of the tender, delicious meat and then sighed as she set her fork down as well. “Maybe not so clinical? It doesn’t really matter, because there’s no possible way for my first time to go anything like I’d imagined because at no time did I ever think that I’d be on an island with four men who all expected to have sex with me. You have to admit, that’s not something that happens every day.”
If possible, he frowned even harder. “How did you imagine it?”
“I guess a little more…romantic. Maybe I just can’t get over the idea that I’ve somehow sold myself—and maybe I have. I can’t really explain to you how I feel because I can’t even sort it out myself.”
“You believe you sold yourself?”
She flinched away from the fury in his voice and then her eyes widened at the look of anger in his eyes. “Sugarcoating it doesn’t change what I’ve done.”
Xander shook his head. “I’ve done this all wrong. Forgive me, Talia. I never meant to make you feel…bought…or bartered. Or cheapened. None of those things.”
He glanced at her plate, his mouth forming a grimace. “Please eat. We’ll continue this conversation after you’ve finished. I don’t want this to ruin the meal.”
He seemed distressed by her evaluation of the situation, but how could he be? He set it up. A pure business arrangement complete with contract and terms.
She picked at her food, appetite mostly gone. Knowing what lay ahead and now Xander’s peculiar reaction to her assessment of their “relationship” had done a number on her nerves.
He didn’t want “this” to ruin the meal but what about the night? She was really starting to dread this whole ritual virginity thing. Sebastien may have been concerned with being too forceful but at least he hadn’t drawn things out. He hadn’t given her time to overthink every aspect of her presence here.
Now he was staring at her, as if waiting for her to finish the last bite. His own food had been left and he sat, tense, his expression pensive.
She sighed and pushed back her plate. “Is there something you want to say, Xander? I’m finished and I can’t possibly eat with you staring at me anyway.”
He rose abruptly and walked around to where she sat. He held his hand out. “Come with me, please. There are things I need to say.”
It didn’t come out as a crisp command. It lacked the authority and confidence that usually accompanied his requests. He sounded…uncertain and that unsettled her even more. What could he possibly have to say that would cause him such distress?
She stood, and he tucked her hand under his arm. He then steered her toward the steps down to the beach. He waited while she kicked off her sandals and then toed his own shoes off.
The sky had lightened to pink and blue pastels and in the distance one star shone, heralding the arrival of dusk. As they strolled down the stretch of beach, he kept them away from the water. After a moment, he stopped and then let her hand fall down his arm until he grasped it and laced her fingers with his.
“Talia…” He sighed and brought her hand up between them so it rested against his chest. “I brought you here with a purpose. Perhaps, looking back, it was the wrong approach. It’s difficult to explain really so I’ll need to provide some back story.”
“O-okay.”
Her voice stuttered out in a whispery rush.
“I’ve been rather preoccupied with you since the first day I saw you in my office and you knocked over the vase. You were all of eighteen years old and I knew my attraction was inappropriate and yet I couldn’t help myself.”
Her eyes widened in shock and she stared back at him, mouth open at his admission. What he was saying was insane. Princes didn’t become preoccupied with girls like her. Definitely not grubbily attired girls who’d been working in the garden.
“I inquired about you and when I learned of your mother’s condition and that you’d foregone university to take odd jobs to pay for your mother’s treatment, I knew I couldn’t allow it to continue. Even if it meant sending you away for a period of time.”
This was becoming more bizarre by the moment but it explained so much because her biggest question had always been why? She’d assumed that he was just a benevolent benefactor, that he’d wanted to do good. And he had. She certainly wouldn’t take that away from him.
“With your mother making so much progress and you graduating from university, I knew that I could very well lose you…to another man.”
He grimaced then and looked abashed.
“I would have done anything to get you to come to me and I used the promise I extracted from you when I saw you last to get you here. The contract was so you’d know what you were getting into. A way out I suppose. I wanted you to have no surprises. I’m not proud of the way I summoned you to the island but I don’t regret having you here. You should also know that I had no intention of limiting this to a six-month period of time together. I didn’t want to overwhelm you from the onset so I put a time frame, hoping you would think six months wouldn’t be too high a price to pay for what I’d done for you.”
“You certainly had that much right,” she murmured. “That was precisely the way I looked at it. Six months of my life, my pride, my honor was nothing compared to the life of my mother and the education I was able to gain.”
He flinched. “Is being here with me so abhorrent, Talia? Can you look beyond the way I got you here to why? Can you possibly understand and forgive my deception?”
She swallowed and met his gaze directly, butterflies fluttering madly in her stomach. “You said you had no intention of keeping to the six months, Xander. What did you mean by that?”
He cupped her chin, tilting her face upward. His lips hovered over hers, so close she could feel the brush of his breath across her lips.
“I meant that I have no intention of letting you go. Ever.”
Chapter 13
Talia trembled in Xander’s fingers. As his statement settled over her, she stared up at him, uncomprehending what she’d heard.
“And the others?” she blurted out. “Are they just part of the charade or is this the way you want things?”
His thumb smoothed over her cheek. His expression was serious, his eyes dark and searching. “They are part of who I am, Talia. I didn’t lie or mislead you about that. Everything you were informed of prior to your signing the contract is true and indicative of what being with me will be like.”
“Oh,” she said softly.
“You agreed before. You asked for them to be present when I make love to you the first time. What’s changed?”
She shook her head slowly. “Nothing. It’s just…different now. It’s hard to comprehend. You wanting me. I’m still not sure what it all means.”
“I think what this all means is that I need to be asking you how you feel…about me.”
He kissed her then. Warm and gentle. Almost tentative as if he worried she would pull away. She leaned into him, enjoying the hard strength of his body. The way he seemed to encompass her. He wrapped one arm around her and pulled her in even tighter while his other hand tangled in her hair.
“Xan
der.”
He slowly drew his mouth away, though he still held her tightly.
“I’m ready for you to make love to me,” she whispered.
All the nervousness of earlier, the feelings of awkwardness and the sensation of the entire episode being clinical and cold had evaporated once he’d given his earnest confession.
She was still a little dazzled and unable to articulate her feelings—how could she? What she knew was that she was ready to give herself unreservedly to this man on his terms.
He turned back toward the house, her hand gripped in his. Several times he slowed to adjust his stride to hers as they walked through the sand, but she could sense his impatience. Tension coiled in his body. She could feel the tightness of his muscles, how hard he gripped her hand.
When they reached the steps, he didn’t bother with their shoes but simply whisked her onto the veranda and then inside the doors to the villa.
As soon as they reached the top of the stairs on the second floor, he swept her into his arms and carried her toward his suite. He nudged the door open with his shoulder and went straight toward the bedroom through the sitting area.
He paused just inside the door and turned Talia so she could see.
Garon stood by the window while Nico was sprawled in an armchair in the corner. Sebastien was on Xander’s bed, leaned against the headboard with his feet propped at the end. They all turned their gaze on Talia and she shivered at the raw hunger in their eyes.
Excitement hurtled through her veins. She didn’t fear this. It should terrify her by all rights. What she was doing just wasn’t normal. It wasn’t done.
It was erotic, forbidden and wickedly enticing.
Sebastien scrambled up and Xander strode to the bed where he placed her on the mattress. The simple sundress he’d had her wear for dinner suddenly didn’t seem like much of a barrier when four hungry-looking men loomed over her.
She stared up as they circled the bed, standing, looking down at her with lust in their eyes. The feeling of helplessness was delicious. It sent a shiver of delight straight up her spine. Who knew that it would be such a huge turn-on to have sex with multiple men?
“Undress her,” Xander said in a silky voice that sent a wave of goose bumps chasing over her skin.
Suddenly he was commander again. The authority. Gone was the earnest, almost vulnerable man who’d reluctantly admitted his feelings just moments earlier. In his place was a dominant, self-assured man who was incredibly aroused and ready to stake his claim.
For a moment, Xander was solidly in the background as the other three men descended on the bed. Sebastien was to her right, Garon on the left while Nico crawled up and hovered over her body.
Then Nico leaned down and swept her mouth into a tender kiss. His lips were firm, strong. His kiss was a reminder of all he’d promised.
As he drew away, his eyes flashed and he touched his hand to her cheek.
“We’re here to make this very good for you. Whatever you want, whatever makes you feel good, you only have to say it and we’ll make it happen.”
She inhaled through her nose, her mind about to explode. This couldn’t be happening. It was simply too mind-boggling to compute. This was a fantasy. A dream. It couldn’t be real.
Garon slid his hand beneath her neck and lifted her upward while Sebastien slipped the straps of her sundress down her arms. Nico pulled slowly at the bodice until it pushed over her breasts, freeing them from the slight restraint of the elastic binding.
Nico worked backward, taking the dress down her body as he moved closer to the end of the bed. At any other time she’d be cursing the fact that she had nothing on underneath the dress, but she was far too eager to experience this ultimate fantasy.
Garon’s big hand glided over her belly and then up to cup one breast. She sucked in her breath when he lowered his head and traced a line around her taut nipple with his tongue.
On her other side, Sebastien stroked one hand over her hair before bending down to tease her nipple with his tongue as Garon was doing.
And then Nico kissed the flat of her belly, just over her navel.
She closed her eyes, reveling in the sinful decadence of having three men worship her with their mouths. Nico kissed a path down to her pelvis and then pressed his mouth to her mound, just above where her slit began and her clit already throbbed.
But he didn’t touch her more intimately. Instead he carefully parted her legs and bent her knees so she was completely open and spread wide. Then he backed off the bed and walked around on Garon’s side, but he went higher, climbing on the pillows next to her head.
He kissed her forehead and smoothed his hands through her hair while Garon and Sebastien continued to lavish attention on her breasts.
Xander stared at the erotic site of Talia being pleasured by the men he called friends. When Nico left her parted legs, Xander’s gaze drank in the sight of her spread out. For him. His to claim and possess.
He had to remind himself that she was a virgin. She needed gentleness and patience from him. She didn’t need him to be a raging sex fiend who fucked her into unconsciousness even if it was what he was dying to do.
He shrugged out of his clothing, his gaze still riveted to Garon and Sebastien as they sucked and toyed with her nipples. Their hands were splayed out across her body, possessive, a stark contract against her pale, fragile skin.
He wanted her like he wanted his next breath. He was afraid to touch her for fear of losing control. For a moment he stood transfixed by the sight before him, drinking in the sheer eroticism of hearing her soft sighs of pleasure.
As if sensing that Xander would stand back no longer, Garon and Sebastien pulled away and Talia lifted her head, her gaze meeting Xander’s.
There was magic in that moment. It was like a fist to his gut. Trust. Shining in her eyes. Answering desire. But most importantly, trust. That he wouldn’t hurt her. That he would bring her pleasure.
He put a knee onto the bed and pushed himself up and then crawled between her wide-spread knees. Planting his hands on either side of her body, he moved upward and then lowered himself down so that their mouths met in a heated rush.
Her breasts pressed into his chest. Her tongue met his, eager and impatient. Her legs closed around him, soft and silky against his skin.
She rubbed feverishly against him and made a purring sound deep in her throat that nearly sent him over the edge.
He closed his eyes and then slid his mouth down the side of her jaw to her ear where he licked and nibbled at the lobe. Just below it, he nipped and then sucked at the soft flesh.
She tightened immediately, her body convulsing against him. He smiled. He’d found a weakness. One of her sweet spots.
He grazed his teeth over the area again, and she moaned. He did his own amount of shivering when she slid her hands up his arms and then dug her fingers into his shoulders, holding on as he continued his relentless assault on her neck.
Methodically he worked his way down her body, tasting every inch of her flesh on his way to her breasts. The plump swells were delectable. Firm but plush and so satiny to the touch.
Her nipples were hard and puckered, dark against the paleness of the flesh that had obviously never seen the sun. His Talia didn’t sunbathe in the nude or self-tan as many women did. If the area of paler skin was any indicator, her bathing suits were extremely modest.
It made him a flaming hypocrite that he found satisfaction in the fact that other men hadn’t been able to look upon her curves when he himself kept her naked at every opportunity and on display for him and the men he’d trusted to pleasure her.
He already knew he would be a possessive lover. Jealously guarding her from other men, or rather Garon, Sebastien and Nico would be charged with protecting her from all others.
All he had to do was look at her and he was seized by the insane urge to lock her in his bedroom and keep her naked and at his beck and call every moment of the day.
He sucked gent
ly at her breasts, alternating between the two. He was hot and incredibly hard. His erection was painful, and it was difficult not to thrust himself into her body to seek relief.
Forcing himself to hold back and calm the roaring in his ears, the voice that told him to take her over and over, he instead continued to lick a path over her belly and lower to her sweet, feminine flesh.
He’d already seen the evidence of her virginity when he’d used his mouth on her before. He’d been careful then, not to breach the opening or cause her pain. But now he was ready to push inside her with a cock that was much bigger than the small opening made much smaller by the thin flap of flesh that signaled her innocence.
Sliding back until his knees were dug into the very edge of the bed, he nuzzled the velvety folds and then used his fingers to spread her farther apart so he could trace her sweetness with his tongue.
With the tip of his finger, he traced the nearly transparent flap of skin that covered part of her vaginal opening. He tested the strength, sliding his finger inside and pushing gently.
She immediately went tense and her head came up, her eyes flashing in alarm.
“It’s okay, Talia,” he soothed. “I’m going to be gentle, my love.”
Sebastien moved close again and caressed her breast, his palm smoothing over her body in a comforting gesture. Garon also resumed his position and leaned down to suckle again as Xander continued his gentle exploration of her pussy.
He wanted her eager, aroused, nearly desperate for his possession. It was inevitable that he would cause her hurt. Her opening was small and he would have to break through the flesh to gain full entry into her body.
He lowered his mouth and licked sensuously over the sensitive flesh and working upward to tease her clit. She quivered beneath his mouth and he smiled, enjoying her reaction.
His men were doing their best to offer her comfort, support and pleasure. He wanted her to feel secure, never afraid. He wanted her full trust and he wanted her to know who owned her.
He sucked lightly at the tiny bundle of nerves until she writhed and moaned a desperate, needy sound.