Hot Blooded

knew her name, but she only smiled back at him and slid
out of her chair. Samuel came around the table, slid a hand around her waist and
let it rest on her hip as he walked close beside her, out to the Jeep.
    "You don't believe in lingering over dinner, do you, Samuel?"
    He looked down at her. "I hope you didn't feel rushed. It's just—I'm eager to
show you around the plantation, and we don't have all that much time."
    "It's fine. I'm eager to see it. I've been staying there several days, and I
really haven't had a free second to explore the grounds. What I have seen is
breathtaking, though." Somehow, she thought it would be even more so in this
man's company. "How is it you're so familiar with the place?"
    "I've lived here all my life," he told her matter-of-factly. "And… it once
belonged to my family."
    She turned toward him, surprised. "I didn't know that."
    He nodded. "A hundred years ago. My great-grandfather lost it. It had been in
the family since the eighteenth century."
    "How? What happened?"
    He shrugged, sending her a sidelong glance. "Gossip, rumors. He was driven
out of town for his alleged crimes. Had he returned he'd have faced a hangman's
noose. The place was deemed abandoned and confiscated by the state, then sold at
auction."
    "That's terrible." She tipped her head to one side. "What was he accused of
doing?"
    He paused, not answering right away.
    "I'm sorry. Was that a rude question?"
    "No. Not at all. I just… prefer not to sully our time together with talk of
past tragedies."
    She nodded slowly. "I doubt anything could spoil this evening for me,
Samuel." She could hardly believe the words came from her mouth, almost bit her
tongue. But then again, why be coy about it? She enjoyed being with him.
    He reached across the car to stroke a slow path down her cheek with the backs
of his fingers. "Don't be so sure," he whispered. And before she could ask what
he meant by that, he said, "Here we are."
    She looked out her window, but saw only rolling fields lined by woods. "This
isn't the plantation."
    "It's the southernmost border. And the most interesting spot." He got out,
came around to open her door and took her hand. She hesitated. "What's wrong,
Jenny? You think I've brought you out here to hurt you?"
    "Of course I don't think that." She got out of the car, rubbed her arms.
"It's just… kind of creepy out here."
    "Alone, with a man you barely know, a man who has been wanting to take you
since the moment he laid eyes on you."
    She met his eyes. "I'm not the kind of woman who has sex with strangers."
    "I never thought you were." He moved a step closer. "But I'm no stranger, am
I Jenny? Something inside you knows something inside me. Something inside you
craves me, just the way I crave you."
    She lowered her head. He moved closer, lifted her chin, stared into her eyes.
"You do, don't you?"
    She nodded mutely.
    "Good," he said. "That's good." And then he pulled her hard against him and
kissed her. His mouth covered hers, pushed hers open. He closed his hands on her
backside and held her tight to his groin, so she could feel how hard he was, how
badly he wanted her.
    She couldn't resist the heat flooding her—God, he set her on fire. She twined
her arms around his neck and wriggled her hips against him. She opened her
mouth, and let his tongue probe and taste and lick all it wanted. This was
madness—sweet, hot, delicious madness.
    Finally, with a deep growl, he lifted his mouth from hers, dragged his gaze
from her eyes to look past her, at the sky. "It's dark. The stars will be coming
out soon."
    "I've changed my mind. I don't have to work tonight, I—"
    "Ssshh." He stroked her hair, her face. "Of course you do. You have a
commitment to keep, and so do I. And that leaves us no time to do what we both
want to do. But there will be another time. I promise you that."
    She wasn't sure she would live that long.
    "Besides, I haven't shown you what I promised. One of the secrets of this
place. Come."
    He turned, taking her by the hand and leading her across the field, through a
patch of woods.
    "Listen," he said.
    She stopped walking, listened. At first, she thought she was hearing a
heartbeat, a deep, pulsing heartbeat as if of the earth itself. But then it came
more clearly, and she frowned up at him. "Is that… a drum?"
    He nodded, tugging her forward. Soon they were walking along the banks of a
river, wide and deep, and