“You make me that way,” she told him, panting. Her hips pushed against his hand, as if she was trying to ride it. “I blame you.”
“That so?” He’d give her more to think about, then. He gave her another quick kiss, then put his hands on her shoulders and spun her around. “Bend over that mushroom for me, love.”
She moaned, but did as she was told. It pushed her ass into the air, barely covered by that tiny hint of a skirt, and he saw nothing but smooth back, bare thighs, and long legs. Beautiful.
Loch bent down between her legs and pushed her skirt up. Her round, sweet ass was exposed to him, and he leaned in and nipped at one buttock. “You ever been tongued on a mushroom before, Taylor?”
“Oh, god,” she breathed, and he saw her hands go to the edge of the mushroom cap, white-knuckling in anticipation. “No, I haven’t.”
“Good.” He felt a surge of satisfaction at the thought of claiming her here. He leaned forward and pressed his mouth to her slippery, wet pussy, and she jerked under him, crying out. She was hot and slick, her folds damp with arousal. He held her thighs apart with his hands and licked her slowly, dragging his tongue over every fold, enjoying the taste of her. She was delicious, musky and sweet, and every time his tongue moved over her, he could feel her thighs quiver in response.
He pushed her forward a little more, and the tip of his tongue flicked against her clit. She moaned and cried out. “Loch! Oh, god, how are you so good at that?”
He chuckled and pressed a kiss to her inner thigh. “Enthusiasm?”
“God bless enthusiasm,” she breathed. Her words turned into another moan when he pushed a finger inside her core, testing her readiness. Taylor pushed back against him, trying to ride his hand. “More, Loch. Give me more.”
“Patience,” he murmured, and drove his finger into her again, thrusting like he wanted to with his aching cock. She gave another little squeal, her body jerking, and he added another finger, pumping roughly into her, enjoying the feeling of her tight sheath hugging his fingers, the wet noises her body made when he thrust into her. She was his. All of this was for him, and he was going to take it like the greedy bastard he was.
His cock ached madly, reminding him that he wanted to bury more than just his fingers into her tight pussy. He reluctantly removed his hand from her, caressing her ass one more time before getting to his feet.
She glanced back at him, panting, her hair in her face. “Condom now?”
“Condom now,” he agreed, pulling one out of his wallet and unzipping his trousers. He pulled them down just far enough to free his cock, and then rolled the sheath down his length. He needed to be inside her, needed to be filling her with his length, hearing her scream his name and feeling every twitch of her body.
Loch moved forward, settling his thighs against the backs of hers. She arched on top of the mushroom, pushing her ass into the air, and he took his cock in hand and dragged it through her wet folds, slicking the condom-covered length with her juices.
“You tease,” she breathed, wiggling against him as he did it again.
“So impatient. Don’t worry. I’m going to give you what you want.” He gripped one of her buttocks, pulling her body open for him, and eased the tip of his cock into her.
She gasped and moved under him, trying to get him in deeper.
Impatient little thing. She wanted him hard and fast? He’d give it to her, then. Grinning, Loch thrust deep. She made that soft, choking noise of delight that he loved, and he leaned over her and began to pump into her with hard, regular strokes. She was his, and with each thrust of his cock into her body, he cemented that.
His woman.
His soon-to-be wife.
It was time to stake his claim. Forget all these idiots fawning over her at the convention. He was going to ask her to marry him this weekend, he decided.
She’d be his and then everything would fall into place.
Taylor moaned softly under him, and he felt her body clench around him, felt the hot vise of her pussy grow tighter around his cock as she came. He pushed into her again, thrusting harder, until his own orgasm ratcheted through him with blazing force.
Let them look at her all they wanted; she was his.
Chapter Twelve
Loch was up to something, Taylor decided the next morning. She crossed her legs and ate a bowl of cereal on the hotel’s plush sofa, glancing idly at a program of the day’s events. Loch sat nearby, texting furiously on his phone. When she’d asked him what he was up to? He’d just grunted at her. A few times, he’d gone out to take a call on the balcony.
It had been going on all morning.
She watched him, curious. Was he planning some sort of surprise getaway again? She felt a little twinge of excitement at that, and then a follow-up twinge of guilt when she thought about how Sigmund would take it. But really? Being offline the last few days? She’d been so utterly relaxed.
Of course, incredible sex last night with Loch had helped.
They’d made love in the Kerru Forest room. She’d gouged the hell out of that plastic mushroom with her nails, but, god, it had been worth it. They’d fumbled to rearrange her clothing long enough to make it back to their hotel room, where they’d continued what they’d started. How many times had they made love last night? She tried to count. At least four—no wait, five. She’d initiated sex in the middle of the night because she’d woken up and his big, yummy thigh was pressed between hers and she’d wanted to jump his bones. He’d been happy to comply.
Normally, Taylor exhausted her boyfriends. Well, maybe exhausted was the wrong word. She just tended to throw herself headlong into everything she loved, and sex was definitely on that list. Her sex drive was normally higher than those she dated, but she was thrilled that Loch seemed willing—and able—to match her. The fact that he was really damn good at sex? Definitely a big, whopping mark in the plus column.
Now if he would just stop being sneaky. He glanced over at Taylor and she thrust her lower lip out in a pout.
“What is it?” he asked, reaching out to caress her knee.
“Are you done talking on the phone?”
“Why, did you want to go down to the convention? We can.”
Well, actually, she’d been considering sex again, but the convention wasn’t a bad idea. He’d spent a lot of money to get them last-minute tickets, so she supposed they should go for a while. Mentally, she cringed at the thought of running into Julian again. God, she hoped not. “Okay with you if I dress up again?”
His brows went up. “Same dress as yesterday? I’m pretty sure we wrecked it.”
Yeah, her skirt hadn’t really survived their fierce play in Kerru Forest . . . Not that she minded. “Nope. I have some more regular stuff. Long skirt and corset. Blouse with puffy sleeves. It’s a tavern wench costume.”
Loch chuckled. “As long as I don’t have to be in costume as well.”
“Oh, I don’t know, I think you’d make an adorable jongleur. They have codpieces in-game, you know.”
He snorted. His phone rang again, and he got to his feet, heading for the balcony. “Let me get this, and then we’ll go.”
She sighed, watching him as he shut the door behind him. What could possibly be going on that was taking so much of his time and mental energy? Even when he was sitting with her, he was distracted. It was like he was . . . waiting for something.
But what?
Mystified, Taylor put her bowl down. She considered heading over to the balcony to listen in on the conversation, just to satisfy her curiosity. Instead, she headed for the bedroom and pulled out another costume. If he wanted to tell her, he’d tell her. She’d just have to learn to be patient.
Patience? Not one of her strong suits.
***
Everything was set.
Loch checked the ring box one more time, just to make sure that it w
as still actually there. The square-cut diamond winked back at him from its spot, nestled in velvet. The band was unique—gold filigreed leaves intermingled with two swords that pointed at the gigantic stone. It had taken some work; the band itself had been for sale by one of the vendors downstairs, and he’d snuck down while Taylor was visiting a few panels on the game and he’d pretended to stay in and take a nap. Loch had had to pay extra to get a jeweler to switch out the big fake blue stone for a real diamond and then deliver the re-jiggered ring back to him. It had involved a lot of phone calls but the end result was rather appealing-looking, and he thought she’d like it.
Now he just needed to find the perfect time to give it to her. He’d considered giving it to her in the privacy of their room—which had appeal in that it would probably lead straight to sex—but he’d decided to go the more public route. Maybe it was that after seeing all these men leer at her, he wanted to stake his claim. Maybe he wanted everyone to realize that sexy, funny Taylor belonged to him and only him.
So he’d scanned the list of events for the afternoon, looking for one that might suit his purposes. Most of them were nonsense listings that he couldn’t make sense of, since he wasn’t very up on game lingo. There was one event called “Guild Warring,” which sounded intriguing. Apparently it was something like one of the parties she frequented, where people brought their laptops and gamed together in person. Odd, but it sounded like something up Taylor’s alley. And her guild-mates would be there, which meant that everyone would know he’d proposed to her if he did it in front of them.
Which meant someone would tell that arse Sigmund, and he’d get the hint and finally leave Taylor alone.
The more Loch thought about it, the more he liked the idea. It was perfect, really. He’d free Taylor from Sigmund’s harassment, get the girl, and soon be heading back to Bellissime, throne-free and worry-free.
***
“You sure you want to do this?” Taylor asked Loch, clutching her laptop to her bright red corset. “We can do another event if you want, or just go out to dinner if you’d rather do that.”
“This is fine,” Loch told her, his own laptop in hand as they rode the crowded elevator down to the convention center. She was squeezed in between an elf and an orc, and the shoulder pads of the latter kept smacking her in the jaw. “These are your people, so you should hang out with them. I want you to have fun at the convention.”
She nodded absently, scooting closer to him as a few more people piled into the elevator. She didn’t even mind when he put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. Actually, it was rather nice being held by him . . . She hated that they had to keep their flirtation a secret. It would be fun to prance around the convention as his girlfriend, showing off how incredibly hot her man was to all the other girls at the con. Not that she was the type to brag, but . . . well, Loch was exactly the kind of guy you wanted to brag about.
“You like these sorts of parties, I thought?” he murmured into her braided hair. Her costume today was of Asara the Magickal—the guild trainer for the mage guild. She was wearing a mage’s purple robe with a bright red corset over the waist and a low-slung ribbon belt. Still sexy, but not showing nearly as much flesh. And while it did give her a chance to wear her fun costumes and hang out with people she saw online every day . . . she was actually having a lot of fun living in the “real world” with him. As another couple crowded onto the already-packed elevator, she thought wistfully of the beach again. Going there with him would have been just as fun . . . and a lot more private.
But here she was feeling ungrateful when he’d gone to great expense to take her on this awesome trip. She was a jerk, wasn’t she? Taylor leaned against him and decided to make it up to him later that night. Her thighs clenched at the thought of how much fun all that making-up would be, too.
They headed into the main ballroom with a crowd of other laptop-toting gamers, and searched for the section of tables reserved for her server. Once they found it, someone waved at them and she recognized several of her guild-mates—Madrigal the jongleur, PatsySue the mage, WangGus the Cutpurse and OuiBabyShaman, their healer.
“We saved you seats,” PatsySue called out as she and Loch approached. “Glad you could make it!”
“Glad to be here,” Taylor said, grinning. Loch held out her chair for her and she sat, trying not to blush as PatsySue gave her a few nosy looks. PatsySue was the guild gossip, and if she thought there was something going on, she’d make sure everyone knew about it. Taylor would have to be careful and make sure that Loch remained most definitely in the friend-zone when PatsySue was around. Loch pulled up a chair and sat down next to Taylor, and they both opened their laptops. “Loch’s got a baby toon so I’ll partner with him and pull him through any sort of dungeons they toss our way.”
“A baby toon?” one of the men asked. “What do you play?”
Oh, hell. She couldn’t remember if they’d mentioned that he was playing a female toon and pretending to be her roomie instead of her boyfriend. “You know what? I have a second account for when we need a tank. You want to play my Battlemage, Loch? She’s max level.”
“No thanks, I can play my warrior.” He pecked in his password with two fingers. Someone at the table snickered.
“Warlord,” someone corrected. “Warriors are in WoW.”
“WoW?” Loch looked up.
“World of Warcraft,” Taylor murmured. “It’s another game.”
“Ah.” He peered at his screen, concentrating as he logged on. “I’m not familiar with these games.”
“No kidding,” PatsySue said dryly, watching him hunt and peck at the keyboard.
“Warlord’s easy,” Madrigal said. “You just hit the Attack button and face-roll on through.”
“Face-roll?”
“I’ll explain later,” replied Taylor, giving the others a warning look. Were they deliberately trying to intimidate him? She felt protective of Loch for some reason. He was an adult and could take care of himself, but she hated the way the others sniggered as they watched him type. He played polo and rugby, damn it. He didn’t spend his time behind a screen pretending to live life. He actually lived it.
In that moment, Taylor wanted to get up and drag Loch out of the room and go somewhere—anywhere—but there.
“I’ll meet you in Cityport,” Madrigal offered, and Taylor shot him a grateful look. At least someone in her guild wasn’t being a douche.
Taylor logged in to her Dragon Rider, quickly scanning through the Message of the Day and the emails in her guild leader inbox. Sigmund started sending her messages right away, and she quickly got buried in the minutiae of Excelsior life. She was so absorbed in what she was doing that she’d forgotten about Loch.
“What’s that you just did?”
She glanced up and looked over at him, but he wasn’t speaking to her. Instead, he was looking over at Madrigal.
“I had my character bow to yours,” Madrigal said. “There’s an entire list of commands available that will let you do actions.”
“Where?”
“Click over here,” Madrigal said, pointing at Loch’s screen.
She really was going to have to promote Madrigal in-guild. He was always so helpful, and the time he was taking with Loch just confirmed what a genuinely nice guy he was. “I’ll run over to Cityport and meet you both,” she told them. She launched her character onto the back of her dragon and aimed it toward the city. “Be there in a jiffy.”
“Mmm,” Loch said, clicking away and peering at his screen. “I think I just danced at you, Mad.”
“You did,” Madrigal said with a chuckle.
Taylor glanced up and saw PatsySue smirking again. Ugh. Why was she being such a jerk? Everyone started out new at some point. Her dragon zoomed through a portal and appeared over Cityport, so she peeked at Loch’s screen to see where they were. Both his character and M
adrigal’s were dancing in the courtyards. Smiling, she turned her dragon in that direction and landed. “I’m here.”
She piloted her character toward the two dancers. One was Madrigal’s short little gnomeling. The other dancer was Loch’s female Warlord, dressed in a few cast-off pieces of newbie armor. To share in the emote fun, she parked her character in front of them and waved in-game.
Loch’s Warlord waved back. Then, he/she dropped to a knee in-game and spoke:
TAYLOR, WILL YOU MARRY ME?
“Psst, you have the caps-lock key on, buddy,” Madrigal whispered to Loch.
“Shit. Right. Sorry.” He began to retype slowly, while Taylor stared at her computer screen, jaw hanging open.
The words eventually crawled onto her screen:
Taylor, will you marry me?
She looked over at Loch. “Like . . . in-game?”
He frowned at her, and shook his head. “I suppose I need to do this right.” He got out of his chair and went to one knee.
The breath left her.
Loch pulled a small box out of his pocket and held it out to her. “Taylor,” he said in that lovely, accented voice of his that made her knees weak. “Will you marry me?”
“Oh my god,” squealed someone at a nearby table. “Look! He’s proposing!”
Taylor looked up and it seemed like the entire room had gone utterly silent. Every face was turned to them. Her heart was racing, and everything felt very surreal. She looked over at Loch—gorgeous, sexy, athletic Loch, who didn’t play video games and was totally out of her league. “Why?” she whispered.
He tilted his head, curious. “Why what?”
She leaned in so only he would hear her. “Why do you want to marry me?”
He gave her a sexy grin. “I think we mesh rather well, don’t you? Or do I need to find another mushroom around here to convince you?”
Oh dear lord, now she was blushing. “Meshing’s great. But . . . marriage?”