I could feel his heated breath tingling my back as he continued his kisses. My heart was pounding, and my body felt faint at the touch of his soft lip... against my skin.‘I was starting to think you weren’t coming’, Richard said softly.‘I almost didn’t,’ I replied, my voice breaking from a nervous desire.‘But you did, and I’m happy you did.’ he whispered confidently into my ear as he kissed it and then proceeded kissing my cheek and down my neck. I felt flattered and helpless in his arms.“I could. Tim looked at her a moment longer before Maggie gave him a light push towards the bar."Yeah, yeah. You forgot the part where these women were thirsty. Please be a gentleman and get us a drink, will ya?"Tim grinned and pushed up to the bar, nodding to the bartender and capturing his attention. He ordered them the house Cabernet Sauvignon, which was quite good. He handed a glass to each of the women and the three of them drifted away from the bar to chat while they waited for Mick to arrive. A. "She looked up, scared. I could see her trembling.Good. Scared should make this easier."Meri, you have a few choices. Since the women here will not take you in, your fate is left up to me. Choice one; I can hang you from the nearest tree and let the women bury you after I leave." I heard a chorus of gasps from behind me and the girl in front of me started crying. I slammed my hand down on the table, making the crockery jump."Quit your crying, Meri. You have other choices. Two; I will give you. Though it’s appeared and disappeared over the years this current version was formed in the early nineteen hundreds when a levee holding back the Colorado River gave way. It flooded most of Imperial Valley farming area, and by the time the break was fixed, this lake was formed. I think I read they expected the lake / sea to evaporate within twenty years, but local rainfall and irrigation runoff has pretty much maintained its level ever since. It’s slightly saltier than the Pacific, and generally.