Big Dick

by Selena Kitt

  “I’m proud of him, too.” Annalesa reached over to her bedside table and grabbed the pocket tissues next to her wallet, handing them back to Elsa.

  “You’re a lot more than proud of him, sweetheart.”

  Crap.

  Elsa fixed her with a sharp, red-eyed gaze and Annalesa felt her heart drop into her stomach.

  She got off the bed and went over to the window, buying herself some time before replying.

  She wasn’t sure what Elsa knew—if anything at all—and she wasn’t about to confess something before she knew what she was being accused of. It wasn’t just herself she had to think about, but Ric too.

  “He’s really been looking after me,” she said eventually. “It’s hard not to feel close to someone who watches over me like he does.”

  “I’ve seen the way you look at him.”

  Annalesa stared out of the window. Anders was climbing out of his BMW. He’d arrived earlier than planned, and looked very casual and at ease, in a dark sweater, jeans and sports jacket, with a rucksack hooked over one shoulder. He pulled his phone out and laughed at something on the screen as he walked around to the front entrance, a spring in his step.

  She wondered how much longer he’d look so cheerful.

  The press of a light hand on Annalesa’s shoulder made her jump hard enough to bang into the glass. “Mum, Christ! You nearly gave me a bloody heart attack!”

  “You’re very jumpy, darling.”

  “I wasn’t until you made me jump.”

  “Please don’t try to bullshit your mother, dear.” Elsa turned Annalesa around by the shoulders, a lopsided smile flickering at the corner of her mouth. “I’m not going to tell you how you do or don’t feel about Ric, but if you’ve developed feelings for him which are less than... sisterly... you’re going to have to be strong. Fighting them will be the hardest thing you’ll ever have to do, but you’ll be better for it in the long run.”

  Annalesa felt tears sting at the corner of her eyes and looked away from her mother’s searching gaze.

  “Oh, sweetheart, it’s happening already, isn’t it?” Elsa pulled her into a warm hug. “He’s so protective, and it’s so easy to mistake that for something more. And you’ve just spent a weekend with him in a cave, which has to have done some strange and painful things to your heart.”

  Annalesa wanted to snap back, demanding to know why her mother felt that Ric couldn’t possibly feel the same way. But for now, however undignified the lecture, there was incredible relief in knowing her mother had no clue about their relationship.

  “Thanks for the advice. To be honest, I’m a little tired, so...” Annalesa shrugged, wiped her face and pulled away.

  “I know, mother-daughter chat over. I can take a hint.” Elsa pecked her on the cheek. “I’ll see you soon, darling. Get back to Paris safely, won’t you?”

  “Actually, I thought I’d drive through a minefield on the way back. Just to make things exciting.”

  Elsa rolled her eyes and headed for the door. “You’d actually make a very good foil for Ric, if it weren’t so out of the questi—”

  “Night, Mum!”

  “Sleep well.”

  Annalesa savagely undressed and flung her clothes into the corner of the room before getting into bed and turning off the light. She loved her mother very, very much, but sometimes... it was a good thing they lived in different countries.

  Chapter 20

  By the time Annalesa got down to the kitchen, Elsa and Brad were done with breakfast, carrying suitcases over to the Lexus that would take them to the airport. She made herself a coffee with the machine and scraped some jam onto a couple of slices of Ryvita. She didn’t have any appetite for much more, not after the night she’d had.

  The dream that woke her in a sweat had started well. She was in her Parisian apartment in the shower and he’d stepped in after her, pulling her slippery body against his. They’d stroked and touched each other in the hot spray until he finally turned her to face the wall then guided her down onto his thighs, taking her deep with his cock, sliding his hands across her breasts and between her legs, making her moan. And then the shower door had been wrenched open, framing Elsa, her face frozen in a silent scream.

  Annalesa had damn near screamed herself, sitting bolt upright, all her juice on her fingers and suddenly nothing inside.

  She still felt shaky.

  She abandoned her coffee halfway through and decided to just go pack.

  Anders appeared in her peripheral vision just as she was loading the dishwasher. He came to a halt at the corner of the cabinets and cleared his throat to announce his presence.

  “Miss LaFevre, there’s something I need to say.”

  She clicked the dishwasher door shut, realizing it was ridiculous for her and Anders to dance around each other after what he’d tried to do. She met his gaze and was a little surprised to see him looking nervous.

  “You now know your brother and I were overly ambitious in the way we tried to secure the family stake in Ryker Arms.” He tucked his hands behind his back and rocked on his heels “My tactic to force you to sell your stock was... heavy-handed. I had difficulties with my family, and I can only say that it made me paranoid in many aspects of life. I want to apologize.”

  “I know you’ve had a lot to deal with in the last year.” Annalesa was a little touched at the flush of mortification in his cheeks as he looked down at the floor. “I was very sorry to hear about your father, by the way.”

  “You always were a kind girl at heart, Miss LaFevre.” He gave a flicker of a smile as he looked back up.

  “Annalesa.”

  “I can’t call you that until you’ve accepted my apology.” He kept shifting from one foot to the other, like a kid who couldn’t relax until told he was off the hook. “It would be wrong.”

  She wondered how much of a severe talking-to Brad had given him last night, and whether he’d been forced to apologize. He didn’t seem like the kind of man who could be made to do anything though, and his discomfort seemed very real as he waited for her to respond with something more than evasive condolences.

  On impulse, she crossed the kitchen and gave him a light peck on the cheek.

  “Apology accepted.”

  He blinked, startled, but then a huge smile came over his face that made it clear he’d probably been an extremely handsome man at Ric’s age, before all the anxieties and responsibilities of life etched lines into his face.

  “It is a weight off my shoulders, Annalesa. Thank you.” He gave a happy little laugh of disbelief and kissed her right back. “I can go to Maine a happy, focused man and do my job for the family.”

  She watched him march off to the back door to help Brad load up the car, feeling unexpectedly lighter for having seen the more human side of him for the first time. So, the iceberg really did have feelings.

  No wonder Ric had been so reticent about hurting him with a major change of plans. After all those years coaching and encouraging Ric, having his right to buy a bigger share of Ryker Arms snatched away from him must have been like a slap in the face, at least at first. Ric must have handled the delicate conversation more smoothly than she—or anyone—could’ve imagined.

  She glanced over at the clock and found it was already nine, giving her almost no time to see Ric before she went back to Paris. She almost jogged across the house to his room, expecting to have to say goodbye while he was in the shower. She knocked and heard a groan. She knocked again but let herself in this time with a discreet glance down each end of the hallway.

  She pressed the door shut silently behind her and turned to find that he hadn’t actually gotten up yet. Wearing only boxers, he was sprawled out on his bed like an ill starfish. His eyes were squeezed shut and he was making small death-like noises. She almost laughed as she walked over and climbed up onto the side of the mattress.

  “Rough night?”

  “I never learn,” he croaked. “I’ve got four inches and forty pounds on Anders, bu
t Jesus, that man can drink.”

  “How did it go? Really?”

  “Better than I thought.” Ric pushed himself up onto his elbows. “Things didn’t get ugly, I’ll say that much, but Dad didn’t really help with his whole spiel about overstepping the line. In the end, I had to send Dad out to the deck with a cigar while I spoke to Anders in private. After that, things got a little better.”

  “He seemed quite happy this morning. I was surprised.”

  “He made a very good point that he’s been in the business a long time and been a confidante to both of us for even longer, so he’d expected more autonomy in the way he chose to handle things, even if he didn’t make the right decision to co-sign your share papers. Dad totally got that, and I think he worried about Anders feeling under-appreciated and threatening to walk. So... he made him Chairman of the Board.”

  “That’s a lot of trust.” Annalesa blinked.

  “But it’s trust well-earned.” Ric looked serious. “He’s had a bad year and apologized for mishandling things in terms of the family. When it comes to the business, he’s at the top of his game. We’re lucky to have him.”

  “He apologized to me this morning,” she conceded, but didn’t want to talk about the ubiquitous Norseman anymore. Not when she only had a few more minutes with Ric. “I thought you’d be on a jet back to Bergen by now.”

  “Not without saying goodbye.” Ric got up with a grunt and pulled her against him, roasting her face with his warm, bare skin. “And thank you. You really went to bat for me last night.”

  She slid her arms around his back, stroking down the deep, curved dip of his spine with her fingertips. “I’m going to miss you so much.”

  “Me too. Hell. I’ll be thinking of you all the time. Hopefully not during tomorrow’s video-conference with the board though. I don’t think they’ll take me so seriously if I make my case while I’ve got a boner.”

  She grinned and kissed the Fenrir tattoo on his chest. Hopefully, he’d change his mind about having Fenrir’s hand lasered off now that he was no longer so consumed with vengeance over his past.

  She felt a great rush of love for him and squeezed him hard, trying to imprint the feel of him against her body before they parted. In some ways, it was good she wouldn’t see him again for a little while. As Elsa had proven, she was terrible at hiding her feelings for him.

  “I’m going to ask you something difficult.” Ric tilted her face up, his fingertips gentle beneath her jaw. “But I promise I won’t do or say anything unless we agree.”

  Annalesa felt something tighten inside, but the ball of anxiety that always appeared in her gut when Ric was about to ‘talk serious’ didn’t appear.

  She really trusted him now. “What is it?”

  “How would you feel about telling Mom and Dad about us?”

  “Terrified.” She was thinking about Elsa’s disparaging comments the night before.

  “Me too... God. The thought of it makes me feel woozy. But... you saw how Mom and Dad were last night, right? They’re not just business partners again, are they?”

  “I doubt it.” She shook her head. “And if they’re not already back together, I don’t think that time is far away.”

  “You know what really made me nearly pass out last night?”

  “Other than having to tell Brad about your dodgy deeds with my papers?”

  “With Elsa back in the business for good, I thought we’d never be able to be open. Ever.” Ric threaded his fingers through her hair and sighed. “If I had to keep it a secret, every time I touch you or hold you... Last night was hell.”

  Annalesa took a deep breath. She wasn’t going to tell him about her talk with her mother until the crisis with the board was over, but there was no way she could keep this to herself now. “Mum’s already seen through me.”

  “What?”

  “Don’t worry, she’s only seen through me. She gave me this talk about how I have to fight my feelings for you and not read too much into you being protective.”

  “So she assumes you’ve got some kind of crush on me now that I’m not a fat slob?” Ric’s face looked pained.

  “Stop.” She put her fingers to his lips, frowning. “I’ve let her think it’s a little crush for now.”

  “I’m sorry. That’s really harsh.” He stooped down and kissed her. It was the lightest brush of his lips over hers but it made her whole head tingle. He folded her back into his arms and murmured into her hair. “I don’t deserve you.”

  “Don’t you even start that.”

  They held onto each other for a while before he finally pulled himself away and grabbed his towel. “I could hold you all day, but I’ve gotta get moving. Got a hell of a lot to organize just to have all the European board members around the table in Trondheim. But you and I... we’re going to talk. Soon. Figure out what we want to do and how we’re going to do it.”

  “Okay. Call me when the meeting’s done, okay? I’ll be worrying about it.”

  “I will.”

  She was pleased when he went straight into the shower without looking back, but saying goodbye to him was getting harder to do each time.

  As Brad promised, it took less than forty-eight hours for the paperwork to get to her by email. She’d sent David out on landlord duties late morning, and wasted the next hour of her life trying to use her mouse to draw something resembling her signature for the sale permission documents.

  In the end, she settled for an infantile scrawl, clicking the button to ‘sign’ the papers that would give Brad and Elsa access to her entire stock. Her screen refreshed, showing the send confirmation. She was just shutting her laptop down when the bell for her apartment rang, making her jump.

  It kept ringing as she got up and fumbled for the keys for the internal deadbolt she’d fitted. “All right, all right!”

  The ringing continued like someone was actually leaning on the bell.

  She abandoned her fight with the keys and lunged for the intercom to make the noise stop. “I’m here! I’m here!”

  “Please let me up. Now.”

  “David?” Annalesa buzzed the outer door open and it seemed like it took him less than ten seconds to sprint up three flights of stairs. She just had the deadbolt drawn back when he banged on the door, and had to dive backwards out of the way as he lunged into her apartment, spraying drops of coffee from the takeout cups in the little cardboard tray. “David, what’s wrong?”

  “I’m being stalked.”

  “What?” She shut the door and locked it. “How long’s this been going on?”

  “For the last hour. I saw him when I left to meet the glazier and just saw him pop up again as I was approaching the door.”

  She strode over, took the coffee from him and put it on the kitchen table.

  “Is this the first time you’ve noticed this?” She gripped his shoulders.

  “Y-y-es.”

  “Breathe!”

  “Sod breathing—I’m being followed!” David tore himself away and darted across her apartment to the far window. He peered down into the road and waved an arm back, beckoning her over. “Down there, at the corner! He’s the stern-looking blond giant buying a copy of Le Monde.”

  Annalesa joined him at the window and followed his line of sight.

  She saw Henrik dwarfing the paper-seller.

  Henrik? Here?

  David jumped back from the window as Henrik glanced up. “I don’t know what he wants with me, but I don’t want to find out.”

  Goosebumps travelled her body at express speed, leaving her shaking.

  Calm down, woman. Maybe it’s just Ric being overprotective.

  She straightened her shoulders. “David, could you do me a favor and grab my phone?”

  “I think it’s too early to call the Gendarmes. They’ll just laugh at us.”

  “I’m calling Ric.”

  “Your brother? What can he do from another coun—ohhhh! It’s you being stalked!” He clapped his hand on his chest an
d exhaled hard, falling back against the wall. “Thank God!”

  “You’re so brave.” Annalesa glared at him and went to get her phone.

  “Cowardice is golden.” David now had a grip on himself, his face remorseful as he sat her down with her coffee and took his back to the window, where he glared three stories down to street level. “I’ll stand guard over here.”

  “You do that.” Annalesa rolled her eyes and speed-dialed Ric, who picked up after just a couple of rings. “Hey, are you alone?”

  “Yep. You okay, Leese? You sound freaked.”

  “I’ve just seen Henrik outside. Is he on secret guard duty?”

  “What? I thought he’d be in Maine with Elsa, Dad and Anders.”

  “That’s a no, then.” She felt sick all of a sudden, thinking of the number of times Henrik had been nearby when she and Ric had stolen a moment. Then she remembered... when the helicopter came to pick them up from the cave, Henrik was already walking towards them. How long had he been nearby? Had he seen them in the pool while they were watching the northern lights? She nearly dropped the phone in horror. She and Ric had fucked in that pool!

  “Leesa! You still there?”

  “Yeah, yeah... scared to death, but here.”

  “Sit tight and don’t go out, okay? I’ll make some calls. Oh, wait—is there a friend who can stay with you? Maybe your buddy, David?”

  “I’ve got it covered, thanks.” She smiled inwardly as she glanced over to the theta male by the window who was checking his reflection in between snatching glances down at the street.

  Ric hung up and she put her phone to one side, strongly inclined to go to the liquor cabinet and pour something stronger into her coffee. David pulled away from the window and came to join her on the couch, looping his arm across her shoulders.