“I’m handcuffed to a bed without a stitch of clothing on. How much further down can a man’s guard be?”
Allegra jumped, nearly kneeing Rousseau in the groin. “Careful now.” He shifted on the bed, rattling the cuffs. “I have a feeling you’re going to want use of that particular part of my anatomy. At least, I’m hopeful.”
Hazel eyes. For the moment. “Rousseau?”
His gaze was fixed, unblinking, on her breasts. “Mmm-hmm?”
“I think that’s my cue. Try not to screw this up, buddy.” Ben leaned over and kissed Allegra on the forehead. “Good luck, Legs. And thank you, for everything.” From the look in his eyes she had a feeling he was talking about more than what they’d done together. He was talking about Michelle.
Rousseau snorted. “I’d call you a traitor if you hadn’t left a beautiful naked woman on my lap.”
“You’re welcome, lucky bastard.”
“I’m sorry about earlier.”
“Keep it to yourself. My story is I knocked you out and got you handcuffed to a bed. Who do you think people will believe?”
A surprise chuckle escaped Allegra’s throat. Their easy banter reminded her of the way she was with Michelle. This was the Rousseau Ben had talked about. This was the man she wanted.
Ben’s footsteps faded and she heard the door open, then slowly close behind him. She stared at Rousseau without blinking until he lifted his gaze.
“So why am I tied up again?”
Allegra swallowed at Rousseau’s question. She wasn’t sure herself. She didn’t know if it would work. Bone Daddy was strong, but she was getting to know him. He might be intrigued enough to give her the time she needed. All she was sure of was that if he touched her, she might not be able to go through with her plan. And she needed to. Everything depended on it.
“My chute failed.”
His perfectly arched eyebrows rose. “Excuse me?”
“My accident? It was my own fault. I wasn’t careful, never was. Always jumped first, asked questions later. That particular day, my luck ran out. I got tangled in the ropes, hanging by my arms and legs for eleven hours waiting for the searchers to find me. After I lost all feeling in my limbs, all I had was time to think. I realized I’d been on the move for years, never stopping long enough to find love or make any friends. Michelle doesn’t count; she adopted me. I had no choice in the matter, thank God.”
She rubbed the scars on her arms. “I took chances. Thought I was being brave. But after tonight, I know I was fooling myself.”
Rousseau was listening intently, compassion in his eyes. “Why tonight?”
“Something made me realize that brave isn’t always the mad woman jumping from the plane without double-checking her chute. It’s the person on the ground, watching and ready to catch you. It’s the person who sticks around, even when it’s hard. People like Ben. And you.”
He looked away. “I’m not brave, Allegra. It’s not like I had a lot of choice in the matter.”
She knew better. “Bone Daddy said, ‘He laid his family out like a platter.’ His whole family, not just his son. You offered yourself, didn’t you? To save your family from your father’s mistakes.”
His expression told her everything she wanted to know. She’d been right. Rousseau had taken the Loa into himself willingly. “That’s what courage is, Rousseau.”
His laugh was haggard, bitter. “What an imagination you have. Would you be so quick to canonize me if you knew how many women I’ve had sex with? How many men? The Loa isn’t particular, love. He just wants to fuck. And I’ve never said no. Never tried to fight it. I’m no hero, I’m a dirty bastard.”
She slid her hands up his chest, making him shudder. She tugged lightly on his nipple rings, and he gasped. “And how many of those others ever stopped to wonder if you were satisfied? How many wanted nothing but to make
you
come? To make you happy?”
A flash of gold kindled in his hazel eyes, and Allegra watched as he was taken over by the Loa once more. She sat up straighter. Game time.
Bone Daddy smiled. “Why would you worry about that,
cher
? I am satisfied when you scream out in ecstasy. When your body quakes at the touch of my tongue, my fingers. That is all it takes to make me happy.”
“But none of your lovers have ever given you an orgasm, have they?”
He shrugged lazily. “When you are given a sumptuous buffet after a lifetime of famine, do you wonder if the person in the line behind you is hungry? Or do you feast?”
Allegra felt the truth like a punch in the gut. She’d been no better. She’d reveled in her climax, not realizing until it was pointed out to her that Rousseau hadn’t had the same release. How many women left his side the morning after, thinking they had had the best sex of their life, and never wondering about him again?
She sighed. “I’m sorry, Bone Daddy. But I’m on to you now.” She lowered her chest, scraping her hard nipples across the cool metal on his. His smile wavered. “You want to satisfy me?”
His gaze heated to molten gold. “More than I imagined possible,
cher
.”
Her hips pressed against his, her mind already fighting the haze of arousal and remembered pleasure at the feel of his smooth, muscular body against hers. “Good. Then this shouldn’t be too hard.” She smiled. “No pun intended. I won’t be satisfied until I make you come.”
Allegra kissed him, loving his taste, his full, succulent lips. Rousseau’s lips. Everything about the man called to her, always had. She only hoped she had the strength to outlast him. And that he wanted her enough to give her the chance.
Her lips lifted and she shifted on his body, lowering her head to place hot, open-mouthed kisses on his neck, his chest, the tense muscles of his stomach. “
Cher
, come back up here. I want to taste you again. Give me your sweet pussy.”
She chuckled against his hip. “Not now. I’m busy.”
He rattled the handcuffs, his arms bulging as he struggled against the bonds. Allegra ignored him, spreading his powerful thighs with her body. Her mouth watered at the sight of his thick cock. She hadn’t wondered with Ben, but with the revolving door of partners Rousseau had just admitted to, she had to ask. “Have you ever had sex without a condom?”
He snorted. “I’m older than you know,
cher
, and I’m not stupid. Of course I haven’t. If this body got a disease, it would put an end to my fun. Why?”
Allegra didn’t answer his question. Not with words. His surprised moan as she took him in her mouth was gratifying. He didn’t need a coating of honey rum, he tasted sweeter than any liqueur all on his own. Her own personal addiction.
Her lips stretched wide to take more of his thick cock in her mouth, her fist trying to close around the base of his shaft. So big. God, she wanted him inside her.
“Unlock my chains,
cher
. Set me free, and I will give you what you need.”
She licked her finger, slipping it between his thighs until she reached what she was aiming for. Allegra lifted her mouth and licked her lips devilishly. “If I did that, how could I give you what
you
need?” Her finger pushed through the tight muscles of his ass, and she watched as shocked desire widened his eyes.
Her tongue traced the veins on his flushed cock while she studied his reaction to her invasion. He liked it. She knew he would. She pressed deeper, finding the spot that she’d read about, the spot she knew would drive the sexual Loa, and Rousseau, insane.
“
Fuck
. Allegra, please.”
“Please what? Please stop sucking your cock? Please
don’t
make you come?”
He clenched his jaw. “Please don’t make me come like
this
. Ride me,
cher
. If you are going to do this, do it right. Ride the Loa. Let me feel your sweet pussy around my cock.”
There lies the danger,
she thought to herself. Her body heated, thighs tingling at the thought of taking him inside her. It was a big temptation. To please him without giving in to her own need. A lot was at stake. And he knew it, clever man.
She rose, reaching for the condoms beside the bed, her body trembling with excitement. Allegra’s hands shook as she rolled the condom down his long shaft, a spark of feminine fire lighting in her belly at the proof of his desire. She straddled him again, aligning her knees with his hips.
“That’s right,
cher
. I can feel your heat from here. Think of how I’m going to fill you, fuck you. Think of how hard I’m going to make you come.”
She lifted her chin, looking him straight in the eye. “
You
think, Bone Daddy. Think about how tightly I’ll grip you, how good you’ll feel when
I
make
you
come.”
Long lashes shuttered his golden eyes from view. “You talked to the old man. I can see him in your mind. What if he was wrong? What if giving me what I want changes nothing?”
“That’s a chance I’m willing to take.” For love. Allegra laid her hands on his chest, slowly lowering herself onto the tip of his shaft. Her thigh muscles tightened, making her aware once again of what he’d done to her leg, how he’d taken the pain away.
“You’re so wet,
cher
. So ready for me.” He glanced down at her leg. “You know what I can give to you. What I want to give to you. Shall I show you more?”
Her arms and legs began to burn and tingle. She looked down and gasped. The scars on her arms and legs were gone. Not a trace remained. It was as if the accident had never happened. She met his gaze, unable to stop the instinctive tears welling in her eyes.
“Let me go, Allegra Jarrod. Let me go, and I will give you more pleasure than you ever imagined. I want to take my time with you. Days and nights of nothing but paradise. And when you finally leave my bed, you will never have to hurt again. Never have to hear the whispers of pity from your family, from strangers. You’ll be free.”
She hovered over the head of his cock, her body frozen, her mind in chaos. He’d just offered her everything she’d wanted every day since the accident. A second chance with a whole body. Freedom from pain.
But the cost was too high.
“I’ll be free. But Rousseau won’t.”
His expression grew dark. “What do you care? You barely know the boy. You lust for him. Is that enough to refuse what I’m offering?”
“It’s more than lust, and if you can read my mind then you know it.” She didn’t look over her body again, not even when she felt the tingling, knowing he’d returned her scars. She wanted Rousseau, scars or no scars. She lowered herself onto his cock, moaning at the impossible fullness, her body struggling to accept all of him despite her arousal.
She set a slow, teasing rhythm, while her internal muscles massaged him. She loved his sensual growls, the helpless jerk of his hips as he tried to quicken her pace. His cheeks flushed a deep bronze, his full lips tight with need. He was irresistible. She bit the inside of her cheek, determined to fight the desire to give in, the desire to release him and let him take her.
Allegra lifted her hand and cupped her breasts, teasing her nipples while he watched.
“You’re playing with fire,
cher
.” Her sex tightened around him once more, and he moaned. “Do that again.”
She did, her own sound of pleasure mingling with his. She quickened her pace, watching as he closed his eyes, his head tossing on the pillow, lost to the moment. “Yes, that’s it,
cher
. Fuck me. Make me come. Take what you want.”
Allegra couldn’t hold back. She arched her spine, dropping her hands to grip his thighs as she took them both closer to the edge. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could last. It felt too good. But she needed him to come. Everything depended on it.
She twisted her hips, rocking against him, faster and faster, his groans guiding her movements. “
Yes
. Oh,
cher
. Allegra. I feel . . . it’s been . . .
yes.
” His eyes flashed, joy and wonder overtaking his expression as his cock pulsed inside her.
They came together as thunder crashed overhead, shaking the small loft and covering their shouts of pleasure. Allegra collapsed against him, shuddering and crying with the power of her climax.
“Are you okay,
bebe
?”
Bebe
? She sniffled, lifting her head to look into his eyes. Would he still be there? Bone Daddy? Glowing behind Rousseau’s eyes?
His smile was gentle, happy. And his eyes were a sparkling hazel. Not a trace of gold. “You did it, Allegra. He’s gone.”
Was it true? She studied his face, looking for any trace that he might be deceiving her. His grin grew. “I swear to you, love. He’s gone for good. You gave him something no one has since I met him. I think he decided you’d more than paid what was left of my father’s debt.”
Allegra dove on him, covering his face with joyful kisses. “Thank heavens. I wasn’t sure I could do it, or if it would even work.”
“Well, it did. And I’d be happy to pay you back if you let me out of these handcuffs.”
She pulled away from him with a frown. “You don’t owe me anything, Rousseau.” She hopped off the bed, grabbing the keys and unlocking his hands without looking at him. She didn’t want gratitude. Not from him. Not for this. “Anyone would have done the same. I don’t expect any kind of payback.”
He sat up and grabbed her waist, pulling her onto his lap. “Allegra, I didn’t mean it like that. Don’t you know how much I wanted you? From the first moment I saw you, I knew you were mine. But I couldn’t approach you, I didn’t want what I was going through to scare you away.”
He pressed his forehead against hers. “He knew you were someone I could . . . care for. More than care for. He let me feel what you were feeling. More than sex and desire. Love, Allegra. Your love, not for him, but for
me
. I think the real reason he decided to let you win was because of that. I do believe that libidinous Loa was actually matchmaking.”
She grinned. “With a little assist from Ben. And Mambo Toussaint. And—”