“Course he is. Bastard.”
“And Caleb, well, he always reminds me of an eagle. Loyal and protective.”
Aleki started muttering under his breath.
“But you, you’re my teddy bear. My best friend. You give the best cuddles. You make me laugh.”
“I don’t hear anything about being the most handsome and the best lover.”
She giggled. “That goes without saying.”
He puffed out his chest. “Damn straight.”
“I was lost without you,” she murmured.
“Me too, baby girl. Me too.”
35
“Wakey, wakey, baby girl,” Aleki sang. “It’s morning time.”
She cracked an eye open. It wasn’t morning. It was still dark. And why’d he have to sound so cheerful?
“Go away. Sleeping.” Like he should be doing.
Yesterday, she’d spent the morning in the playroom, creating more images to torture Caleb with. Poor Caleb. He’d never get the right answer since there was never a right answer.
Then she’d spent the afternoon with Caleb. They had a swimming lesson and then he’d placed her on the edge of the pool, spread her legs, and ate her out as a reward.
After dinner, Aleki had made her one of his special hot chocolates. It was basically chocolate melted with milk and poured into a glass. Then covered with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles.
But the very special part was the two Tim-Tams he’d given her from his secret stash. Wolfe had complained about all that sugar, but she knew he was jealous as he’d watched her do the Tim-Tam slam. Aleki had taught her this years ago. You grabbed a Tim-Tam and took a small nibble at two diagonal corners. You had to eat enough of the cookie to see the chocolate center.
Then you put one end of the cookie in your hot drink, your mouth went around the other end and you sucked the drink up through the cookie.
Chocolatey goodness.
By that time, she’d barely been able to keep her eyes open. Aleki had carried her to bed. She’d been so tired that she’d fallen asleep as soon as he laid her down.
“Come back to bed,” she mumbled.
“Oh yeah? What will you give me if I come back to bed?” he teased.
“Two more hours of sleep and a blow job.”
He let out a shocked gasp. “A blow job as bribery? I’m shocked, young lady.”
She snorted. Yep, she’d won. She rolled onto her tummy, expecting him to climb back in when the covers were suddenly ripped off her.
“Bad girl, trying to bribe me.” A hand was placed on the small of her back and he peppered her ass with light smacks.
“Aleki! No! Stop! Damn it!”
She managed to wriggle her way free, sitting up and brushing her hair off her face as she frowned at him. “What are you doing?”
“Waking you up.” He grinned. “Time to get ready, we’ve got to go.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you . . . you monkey butt!”
He raised his eyebrows. “Do you need another spanking?”
“No!” She put her hand up. As though that would stop him. “Just . . . where are we going?”
“To the market, of course. And we need to get moving. So go pee. Slather on some sunscreen so Wolfe doesn’t lose his shit at me and then get dressed. In a skirt. I’ll go grab you one of those protein drinks you love so much.” Whistling, he left the room.
Urgh, he was insufferable! He was just lucky he had a damn fine ass.
And why did she have to wear a skirt?
She groaned as Aleki ran his tongue along her lower lips then flicked at her clit.
So she’d found out why she needed a skirt. Access.
After she’d gotten dressed and downed a protein drink, he’d led her outside to where a black car had waited. Their driver had silently opened the door for her. The inside was white leather and luxurious as hell. The partition was already up so she couldn’t see or hear the driver.
Once they were out of the palace gates, Aleki had undone his belt then knelt on the floor in front of her. Placing her legs over his shoulders, he’d pushed her panties to one side before eating her out.
Fuck.
He was so good at that.
“Better come soon, baby girl. Think we’re nearly there.”
Oh God. He drove his tongue deep inside her before returning it to her swollen clit. She was slick with her own juices. Suddenly, her orgasm slammed into her, making her gasp as her hips rose up. It rocked her, stole her voice, she was flying.
When she found the ground once more, she was barely aware of Aleki moving. He sat up next to her and reached into a compartment on the door, pulling out a packet of wet wipes. He proceeded to clean her up, while she sat there knowing she doing a great impression of a beetroot. When he was finished, he tucked the wipes away in his pocket.
At least he wasn’t leaving them for the driver to pick up she guessed.
Leaning over, he kissed her cheek gently. “Does that make up for an early wake-up call?”
Oh yeah. He could wake her up early anytime.
The market was huge. There had to be hundreds of outdoor stalls, all under huge umbrellas, set out in an enormous courtyard. They were selling all sorts of things from fruit to baked goods to clothing. She was almost in overload from trying to take everything in.
There was so much noise and color, it was dazzling.
Aleki was holding her hand as he led her past different stalls.
“Come on, let’s look around at a few stalls before we get the food,” he suggested. “There’s a stand over this way that sells jewelry you might like.”
She nodded with a smile. She’d like to look, but she didn’t really need anything. Lots of people called out things to her cheerfully, trying to pull her over to their stalls. Most spoke English, although she heard a lot of people speaking a foreign language she didn’t recognize. She felt bad that she couldn’t stop and buy something from them all.
But Aleki led her to a stall. She stared at the different stones and metals in awe. It was all so beautiful. As Aleki chatted with the stallholder, she looked over the stunning pieces. She picked up a bracelet made with soft, black leather that had a golden cuff that sat around one side of your wrist.
“Do you like it?” Aleki murmured, moving up beside her.
“It’s gorgeous.”
“Please, try it on,” the stallholder said before turning to talk to another customer. Aleki placed the bracelet on her.
“Fits perfectly. I’m going to get it for you.”
She placed her hand over his. “Thank you, but you don’t have to.”
“I want to.”
Leaning in, he kissed her then moved to talk to the stallholder. She wandered over to the next stall, making sure she could still see Aleki.
“Miss! Miss! Come see my sister!”
Her hand was tugged and she glanced down at the little boy, standing there. He was gorgeous with big eyes and scruffy brown hair.
“Miss, my sister needs help! Please!” He tugged urgently at her hand.
“Help? What’s wrong? Just let me get my boyfriend.” She turned back to catch Aleki’s eye.
“Please, miss! Help!”