“You want to try common sense and honesty? Okay. Tell me why you didn’t return Alyssa Devereaux’s phone call. She clearly wants to talk to you, and you avoided her so you didn’t have to face the fact you lost your precious self-control.”“Alyssa isn’t the subject of this conversation,” Luc bit out.“It’s a comparison. Work with me. Why won’t you explain to Alyssa the reason you went all caveman on her for six hours?”“I’ll be honest with Alyssa as soon as you’re honest with Kimber.”“Stay out of my business.”“Stay out of mine.” Luc returned. “You want to make love to Kimber all by yourself?”That was a low blow. Bastard.“I can get in the little boat outside right now and go home, leave you here alone with her for hours. Days…”And leave Deke fully responsible.“Stop.” Restraining a new urge to pound Luc’s face, Deke swallowed. “Just stop.I’m not ready to say anything to her.”“Don’t expect her to have unlimited patience. She’s given to you, stripped herself bare for you. If you don
“I may not have been an Army Ranger, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t learned a few tricks over the years,” Luc warned her. “You’re not getting away.” Satisfied she was in good hands, Deke fished a set of keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door to Jack’s secret room at the end of the hall. He wound his way past the computer and desk, to the door at the back of the room, and flung it open.A dominant’s paradise with every manner of toy, paddle, dildo—and, of course, restraint—known to man.He grabbed a pair of velvet cuffs and some silken ties to wrap around Kimber’s dainty ankles. He paused to contemplate a pair of nipple clamps.Focus, he told himself. Keep her safe. Right now, she’s going to be too pissed to fuck you.Putting the toys in his pocket and in the later category, he rushed back down the hall to see that little had changed. Kimber was questioning Luc’s parentage and masculinity with insults she’d probably heard from her brothers over the years.Luc looked unfazed.“I’
Despite teetering on the edge of madness himself, Luc watched her hold her breath, tremble. Just as she started to shudder, he unclamped her nipples.She screamed.Then her pussy undulated around him like nothing he’d ever felt, not just encouraging him to come, but demanding it. Deke surrendered—sweat, need, love.Somewhere in the middle, he heard Luc’s shout of satisfaction, and Deke found himself desperate, determined to get deeper inside her. He thrust up against her womb as the last of his seed spilled.And he gave his very soul to her.Two hours later, Kimber was sulking in the bedroom. Not the most mature behavior she realized. Screw maturity though; she was worried about her dad and pissed that Luc and Deke weren’t driving her to the hospital.Okay, so those make-her-panties-melt men were right—rushing off to the hospital might be dangerous. But now that they’d finished distracting her, reality rushed back, and she was scared; this was her dad. After talking to Logan, she was
“Yes,” Jack and Deke said in unison in voices that indicated they weren’t backing down.Kimber sighed. She hated being coddled and hidden away, but doing it kept Logan, and now Hunter, free to watch over Dad, rather than standing guard over her…just in case.“Fine. You win.”After dropping another kiss on her dad’s cheek and getting a stiff half hug from Hunter, Kimber allowed Deke to escort her out the door.On the way out, they crept through the hospital, taking a different route. It whipped them past the hotel’s gift shop, complete with current magazines and newspapers. And there on the front was a picture of her and Jesse the night he’d announced their engagement onstage in Houston. The headline screamed “Is the Wedding Off?”Before Deke could drag her away, she slipped into the store and grabbed the magazine and started skimming. The pictures themselves showed him smiling—almost frantically so—and denying the breakup, insisting she was “the one.” There was a brief news item abou
Kimber’s heart all but stopped. “Ohmigod. Is he in custody now?”“Absolutely. Hunter is down with the police. At the moment, he’s denying the bomb, but he’s been made. I think it’s just a matter of time before he ‘fesses up.What else can he do?”“Yeah,” she murmured. And all sorts of implications raced through her brain.Someone had tried to kill her dad. He was not only alive, but conscious and out of danger. She was out of danger. They could leave the swamp. Today! No more hiding or worrying or…Staying under one roof with Deke 24/7. He loved her, he claimed, but he wasn’t ready to be with her. Just her. She either had to decide to leave him or stay and hope that things between them—the three of them—changed. But she couldn’t think about that now. Today had to be about Dad.“This is great news, all of it! It’s like someone poured miracle juice on us.” Her voice cracked; she couldn’t keep it together.“You okay, sis?” She could hear the frown in Logan’s voice. “It’s not like you to
He wasn’t close enough, deep enough. He had to envelop her, fill her. Easing his arms over her shoulders, between her back and the mattress, he lifted her chest against his and pressed in. Panting, frantic, fucking on fire, he fused their mouths together and surged deep into her once more. She responded again with a jerk and a groan. And still, it wasn’t enough. It never would be.Hard, fast, the slick slide of his flesh over—into—hers was both heaven and hell.Exquisite torture. Every rasp of her clasping cunt sent him careening closer to oblivion. She was everything he’d ever wanted, never believed existed or that he deserved. And he wasn’t leaving this bed until she exploded in orgasm and shouted a hoarse cry in his name.“Deke,” Luc’s voice broke into the wild rhythm of his shuttling in and out of her.“Deke!”“What?” he snarled.“Be gentle.”Gentle? Shit!Deke thundered a heavy stare down at Kimber. His gaze met her dilated hazel eyes and an arc of electricity zinged right up his
“I need to grab a few things at the store. Can I borrow your car keys?” With a frown, he agreed. “Could you be back by six? I need to put in an appearance at a restaurant downtown tonight.”With a nod and a gutful of relief, Kimber escaped the quiet house—too packed with memories for comfort—and drove.It didn’t take her long to pick up some supplies. Picking out the get well/I miss you card for her dad was easy. Securing a new cell phone didn’t take long, either.She called Logan and Hunter to check in, and they said Dad would be released day after tomorrow.She even had the opportunity to talk to him for a few short minutes.Ecstatic about his quickly recovering health, Kimber picked up the rest of the items on her mental list, trying to push away the reality of it all.Kimber returned to Luc’s house a little after five.Looking sinfully sexy with his long hair loose, charcoal slacks, and a long white linen shirt, he pressed a lingering kiss to her cheek. “I won’t be gone long. Can
“At least this makes so many things clear. You took up ménages after Heather’s death, didn’t you? Then if any woman got pregnant, you always had another man to blame.”She’d figured him out fast. Exactly. She was exactly—Wait!His gaze snapped over to Luc. “Maybe you’re the baby’s father. Maybe—”“I’d love to take responsibility for this.” Luc dropped to his knees in front of Kimber, lifted her T-shirt, and placed a gossamer kiss on her still-flat belly. Deke waited for the relief. And waited. But watching Luc’s reverence as he stroked a soft hand over Kimber’s stomach, he could only feel sick at the thought of his cousin creating life inside his woman. The possibility made him want to retch and break something at the same time.Then Luc stood and looked at him with not just sadness, but tragedy in his dark eyes. “But I can’t take responsibility, Deke. The baby can’t be mine.”“You fucked her, too. Both of us did.”“True.” Luc crossed the room and sat beside him, clapped a hand across