A Diamond in the Dark (10 page)

It was while she was drying off that Tia noticed the marks branding her body. The inside of her legs were chafed from his stubble, but the most noticeable was a bite mark on top of her shoulder.

“You’re gonna have to wear your hair down when we get home,” he said, running his fingers over the mark. With his large frame standing behind her, she could see his reflection in the vanity mirror, his eyes trained on the damaged skin. “I like seeing my mark on you.” He followed the statement with a soft kiss over the tender skin.

“Ax, what’s going to happen when we get home?” She’d been worrying about what he truly wanted this thing between them to be. She had loved him for years and didn’t want this to be just a weekend fling. It would break her heart if he didn’t want what was happening between them to continue.

“I was thinking about it this morning before you woke up. When we get home we’re going to start dating. You know that thing you normally do before you sleep with someone? But I would like to keep it quiet for a little longer. I need to figure out a way to tell the family about us.”

Tia had to agree. Telling the family hadn’t been something she’d ever thought about, but thinking about it now scared her. How would Uncle Jack react? If they were going to start
dating
did that mean no sex? Tia friggin’ hoped not, the guy knew what he was doing.

“Ah, Axton, this dating thing...does that mean no sex?” Following him out of the bathroom, she sat on the bed, naked, taking in the view of Axton as he finished drying himself.

“Fuck no. I don’t think I could go a day without being inside of you, now that I have,” he said while putting his jeans on. Tia didn’t want him to cover up; she had been enjoying the view. Her pussy was wet again for want of him. Amazing seeing she was now a little sore. The fucking thing didn’t know when to quit.

“Good to know. So, we’re going to sneak around like teenagers. I guess that could be fun. What’s on the agenda today?”

“I need to pick up a few things I ordered, then we’re heading to the tattoo parlor.”

“Cool! I’ve been thinking about getting one. What are you getting done?” She released a sigh of frustration as he pulled a shirt over his head. Whether it was at him for covering up, or at her own body for being so demanding, she really couldn’t say.

She watched the muscles across his chest flex as he walked closer to the bed. His work-roughened hand teased over her bare thigh.

“After last night I made the decision to get my other nipple pierced,” he said, his minty breath fanning her face as he leaned forward to kiss her. What started out as a peck turned deeper when Tia wrapped her arms around his neck, needing to be closer to him.

He pulled back, pressing his forehead against hers.

“You need to get dressed, or we’re never going to leave this room. We’ll get something to eat at one of the diners.”

His words were saying one thing, but Tia could see his erection tenting the front of his pants. If her poor pussy wasn’t so tender, she’d argue with him about leaving the room.

* * * *

Four hours later, Tia was lying on her side on a tattoo table. Being inked by Bob. When the man had introduced himself she’d looked at Ax and broke into laughter.

The feeling of scraping needles over her tender skin was beginning to make her think she had made a big mistake. It fucking hurt! How the hell had Axton gotten his whole back done?

Ax squeezed her hand. “Almost done, baby.” He must have noticed her discomfort. He kept placing kisses against her palm.

When she had told him what she wanted to get, he had loved it. She was getting a bull, as it was her star sign. Around its neck was the universal medical symbol—seeing as she was now a doctor and all. Hanging off one of the bull’s horns was a whip, spiraled into three circles, which happened to be the brand for the Three Circle Ranch. The tattoo wasn’t big—only about four inches—and was located on the side of her hip.

When Bob was done, he told her to have a look. Climbing off the bed, she wandered over to the mirror. She loved it on sight. “Thanks, Bob. It’s just like I imagined it. He’s beautiful.”

Bob slathered some cream on it, covered it with a tissue type paper, and handed her an aftercare booklet.

Watching Ax pull off his shirt to get his piercing done almost had her groaning out loud. God, the man was a treat to look at. She wanted to run her tongue all over that muscled chest, dipping it into his belly button, then following the small trail of hair leading to better things.
Yum.

Even though he kept a straight face as Bob shoved the large needle through his nipple, Tia could see his teeth clench together. He had been so supportive as she’d gotten her tattoo. She wanted to do the same for him, without making him aware that she had noticed his discomfort.

“My big, brave man,” she said, smiling at him. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the heavily pierced Bob raise his eyebrows at Axton and Ax slightly shaking his head at the other man.

“Nothing to it, baby.”

“Okay, all done, man. Seeing as you have the other one done, you know the drill.” Bob turned to Tia. “You, little lady, are not allowed to play with this one for at least a week.”

Tia could feel the blush filling her face while Axton tried to cover his laugh.

* * * *

They spent the rest of the day wandering around Houston, holding hands, and talking about everything and nothing. Axton even took her to a few boutiques, picking out a couple of dresses to take home with her.

Stopping off at the rodeo, they’d gotten there just in time to watch Alex ride again. Something that Tia loved doing. Alex was a sight to see. He made it look so easy. Tia had been bucked off a few times in her life, and she couldn’t understand why someone would willingly sit on the back of a horse that wanted to throw them off. But she could appreciate the beauty of it, how strong they had to be to stay on for as long as possible.

Alex caught up with them after his ride, inviting them to dinner. Ax turned the invitation down, claiming that Tia was tired.

Tia’s cousin gave her a questioning look. He must have sensed a change between the two of them. Ax was standing a little closer than what would be considered normal for just friends or family. Not wanting Ax to know that Alex was already aware of her feelings for him, she gave Alex a slight shake of her head before he could say anything.

When Tia had mentioned that her muscles were a little sore and she was going to have a nice hot bath, Ax reminded her that she couldn’t soak her new tattoo in water. Yes, she had known that, and as soon as Ax had said something the aftercare pamphlet was reread by her mind. After arriving back at the hotel Axton had given her something better than a bath—he had called down to reception and ordered a massage for her.

Lying on a massage table in their room would have been a more pleasant experience had Axton not spent the whole time grinding his teeth in her ear as a rather nice-looking man rubbed oil into her aching muscles. Did the idiot not know that even if the masseur was pretty spectacular on the eye and had hands of a god, he was nothing when compared to Axton? Even with Ax’s rigid form sitting close beside her, Tia managed to lose herself in the pleasure of having each one of her knotted muscles loosened.

As the masseur left, Ax told her to get dressed in something nice. She was grateful they had gone shopping earlier, because ‘nice’ wasn’t something she had packed for this weekend. Apart from the outfit she had worn for her presentation, her suitcase consisted of jeans, jean-skirts, and shorts. Tia picked the little black dress that would go with the only pair of heels she’d packed, getting everything ready before jumping into the shower to wash the oil from her body.

Tia walked out of the bathroom to see Axton fully dressed in dark blue wranglers and a white dress shirt. Mentally wiping the drool from her chin, she strode up to him, adding a little extra sway to her hips. Even in her heels, he had to bend so she could kiss his lips.

“You look mighty handsome there, cowboy.”

“And you look awfully pretty, ma’am,” he replied, wrapping his arms around her. “We have reservations at the hotel restaurant in about twenty minutes. We better head down.” He gave her a final kiss, this one a little deeper than the last, making her a tiny bit light-headed.

* * * *

It was the first time Tia had been on a proper date. That being a five-star restaurant, and not a steakhouse. Not that she didn’t like steakhouses, but this was a totally new experience for her. A weekend of firsts, she thought as she took a sip of water.

They ate delicious food, drank wine, and learned things about each other. Things that they hadn’t already known. Like the fact that Axton loved karaoke, although he reckoned he couldn’t hold a tune. He said that whenever he and his buddies headed into Sommerset, a town about two and a half hours north of Lewisville, they’d all get roaring drunk and do karaoke. It had started as a dare one night and became a regular thing every time they caught up in Sommerset.

Tia told him about her passion for sketching, which was a fact she hadn’t even shared with Mara and Shelley. It was something she remembered doing with her mama, who had been a brilliant artist and had tried to teach Tia, even at the young age of three, to do.

They laughed, enjoying one another in a way Tia had never done with anyone else. On a little rise in the middle of the dimly lit restaurant, was a man playing the piano and crooning softly. Axton stood, asking for her hand, then led her to the small dance floor.

They danced as close together as two people could get with their clothes on, their bodies flowing to the melodic sounds of the music. With her black and white, five-inch heels on, she could rest her head just below his collarbone. Unable to help herself, Tia licked the exposed skin of his chest, savoring the taste of his slightly salty flesh.

It was amazing how fast she could move in those shoes. One minute she was swaying slowly across the dance floor, the next she was running, or more accurately being dragged, after Ax to their room.

With a speed that had her head spinning, Axton had the door open then shut. Her back was firmly pressed against it before he ripped her panties off and rammed into her, saying something about her testing his limits on the dance floor. Thank Christ she had already been wet, because he hadn’t even taken the time to check.

After the quickie against the door, they managed to get their clothes fully off and into bed. Where he proceeded to make slow, passionate love to her, waking her several times during the night.

Chapter 7

“What’s up, baby?” Ax asked. “You’ve been real quiet since we left Houston.”

“I could say the same about you.”

They were about halfway home. Tia had been absently running her hand up and down his thigh. The silence of the trip hadn’t bothered her, there was a feeling of peace coursing within her.

“Nothing’s wrong. I’m just tired. Someone kept waking me up last night!” she said, squeezing his leg.

Quite honestly, she was horny. She was sitting there with no panties on, because he’d ripped off her last clean pair that morning. Just as she had finished getting dressed, he’d spun her around, bending her over the little dining table in their room, and ripped her panties off. He then proceeded to bring her to orgasm twice before he found his own release deep inside of her. He was currently rubbing the tips of his fingers up and down her bare thigh, never going further than the edge of her skirt. The teasing action made goose flesh break out across her arms and legs. Driving or not, if he didn’t stop touching her, she was going to jump him.

“Sorry about that, baby. I just can’t get enough of you.” He took his hand off her leg, placing it back on the steering wheel.
Bastard.
With nowhere to stop on the freeway she had no chance of getting him to pull over and diminish the desire he had rekindled.

When they were about an hour from the ranch Axton pulled off the road at a little-used cattle run, parking the car under a big oak tree. He jumped out of the truck, almost running around the hood to get to the passenger side door. She was please to see he was as eager as her. She had barely opened the door when he slammed his lips down on hers. Digging her fingers into his shoulders, she clung to him as his tongue made love to her mouth.

When he let her up for air, the words “About fuckin’ time” were all she could manage. A huge, cheeky smile was his answer.

Tia wanted him with a desperation that was almost insane. She hurt a little—her poor pussy had a serious workout the night before—but just thinking about the fact that he wouldn’t be in her bed tonight hurt worse. She needed him now, and she didn’t want this feeling to ever end.

“I’m glad you stopped. I don’t think I could wait another minute,” she said as she started to pull his shirt from his jeans. She wasn’t making any headway, because he kept trying to push her shirt up at the same time, trying to get to her nipples.

Giving up on his, she pulled her own shirt over her head and reached back to release her bra. Ax had a nipple between his teeth before the lacy material even hit the floorboard of his truck. She tugged at his hair, wanting him to release her so she could get his shirt off. She was relieved when he finally let go of her nipple and allowed her to pull the soft cotton from his body, exposing his beautiful chest to her vision and touch.

He had a bandage over his new piercing, protecting it from rubbing against his clothing. Leaning forward, she gave it a small kiss then moved on to play with the other one while he tackled his belt. When his cock was free she pumped it through her fist, the warm flesh a contrast of texture, hard pulsing muscle covered in silky soft skin.

Ax was not an overly hairy man. Apart from his little snail-trail, his skin was nice and smooth. She rolled his balls in her palm, only able to hold one at a time, so she alternated from one to the other while running her other hand up and down his shaft. Letting go of his balls, she slowly pulled her skirt up around her waist and started to massage her own clit, Ax’s eyes following the path of her fingers.