by Leah Brooke
“Ian hates parties, and since he was going to stay in the background anyway, it just made sense to use my name. It’s the only one on record anyway.” Frowning, he studied her features. “Why the sudden interest, darling?”
Serena shrugged, turning away again. “I just like learning more about how you worked out the little details of your undercover identity. Did you know that Jonathan was there tonight?”
Alastair stiffened, his eyes narrowing. “Yes, but I didn’t know that you did. How do you know what he looks like?”
“I don’t. I felt him right before we left. He was checking on you.” Turning to look up at him over her shoulder, she met his gaze. “He doesn’t like me and is starting to distrust your judgment.”
“Oh?” His gaze followed her as she moved away and, with a frown, sat to slip on his boots.
“He doesn’t trust me. He thinks I’m interested in your money.”
“With anyone else, I would say you were mistaken, but not with you.” Standing again, he strode to her side, walking out of the room with his arm around her shoulders. “You know that I don’t give a damn what he thinks, don’t you?”
He followed her to the kitchen, but instead of going out like she’d expected, he lifted her onto the counter. “I have a feeling you want to offer Jonathan your services as well.. You’d better not even try it. And don’t worry about what Jonathan thinks. You’re not after our money. You’re after our bodies.” He took her mouth with his, sipping at her lips with a tenderness that made her insides melt.
Wrapping her arms around her neck, she toyed with the ends of his hair and kissed him back, moaning at the feel of his hands sliding upward to cover her breasts. Wiggling against him, she pressed against his cock, delighted at his deep groan.
Lifting his head, he smiled down at her and caressed her breasts, pressing his cock more firmly against her. “No. You’re not interested in our money.” Pushing the neckline of her nightgown aside, he nuzzled her breast, flicking his tongue over her nipple.
Crying out at the pleasure, she gripped his shoulders. “Hmm. I could be. I could be pretending to like this.”
Struggling to control her breathing, she locked her knees and held on to him to keep from falling.
Fire raced through her, each flick of his tongue over her nipple intensifying the pleasure.
His hand clenched on her bottom while he used the other hand to finish untying her robe, tossing the belt aside. Holding her wrists behind her back, he gripped them in one hand, leaving his other free to caress her.
“You’re very good at pretending, darling. Let’s see how long you can pretend that you don’t like this.” His teeth closed lightly over her nipple, the sharp sensation sending jolts of jagged heat to her slit.
“Alastair. Oh God.”
Her spread robe left her wide open to his ministrations, something he took full advantage of.
Giving his attention to her other nipple, he slid a hand down her belly and over her abdomen, and lower. Straightening, he brushed his lips over hers, delving between her folds to caress her clit.
Brushing his lips against hers, he groaned and released her wrists. Sliding a hand to her bottom, he held firm, easily controlling her when she jolted at the pleasure. “It’s not our money that interests you. It’s something else, isn’t it, darling?” The sound of whimpering drew a curse from him. “Go away.”
Caught up in the passion, it took several seconds for his words to register.
When they did, she looked down to see that King, Zeus, and Rip stood behind him.
Smiling, she wrapped her arms around her neck, sighing in regret when he released her. “I love you and Ian for your dogs.”
With a sigh, he turned to glare at the dogs before lifting her from the counter. “You’re hilarious lately.”
With another glare at the dogs, he opened the refrigerator. “Their timing sucks.”
Serena giggled and patted Rip on the head, trying to forget about how close she’d been to coming. “They’re just checking on me.” She put on a pot of coffee while he fixed himself two sandwiches. “They’re sweet.”
While he made the sandwiches, she took a casserole out of the freezer and put it in the oven. “What does Jonathan know about me?”
Alastair glanced up. “He knows that you’re my lover and that you live here. He’s heard about your psychic abilities and doesn’t know whether to believe it or not. He doesn’t know that you know what I do, and he certainly doesn’t know that you’re helping us.”
Searching through the cupboards, she found a thermos. “Will you tell him?”
“Not if I don’t have to.”
Surprised, she glanced at him. “Why not?”
“At first, Ian and I decided not to tell him because you’ll be safer if no one knows about you.”
“And then?”
Alastair grinned and stuffed the sandwiches into the small black bag he carried on his back—a bag just like the one Ian had carried earlier. “And then we decided that keeping you a secret—the same way we keep Ian a secret—would give us an added advantage. It should come in handy.”
Pleased at that, she poured coffee into a thermos. “That’s great. I had fun tonight—well, until Jean Paul stepped on my foot—but you have to stop blocking me so much.” Closing the lid, she eyed him and sighed. “Ian doesn’t like me helping.”
Accepting the thermos, Alastair sighed. “I know. I shouldn’t have opened the gates so completely. He doesn’t want to see you get hurt. We’ll just have to work on your abilities, and on my ability to shield you without going too far.”
“And work on Ian.”
Alastair inclined his head and hooked the thin strap of the bag over his shoulder to rest at his back. “And work on Ian. I have to go. Stay warm and inside with the dogs until Ian gets here.”
She followed him to the living room and reached for the remote. “I’ll find an old movie. The babies and I will be just fine.” She turned on the television, and if by magic, all three dogs appeared.
Rip jumped on the sofa next to her, placing his head in her lap. King jumped up and stretched out on the other side while Zeus lay at her feet.
Shaking his head, Alastair smiled. “It appears you’re well-guarded.”
* * * *
An hour later Ian hurried through the front door to find Serena in the same position Alastair had told him he’d left her in. The snap of his fingers had the dogs scrambling, but Serena didn’t seemed surprised to see him. He studied her pale features before glancing at her foot, pleased to see that the swelling had gone completely down but furious to see that her toes and halfway up her foot was bruised. “You’re spoiling them.”
Serena shrugged and got to her feet, walking toward the kitchen without any sign of a limp. “So you’ve said. They’d protect you with their lives, you know—even though you hurt their feelings.”
Tired, wet, cold, and hungry, he wasn’t in any mood to fight with her about the dogs. “How the hell do I hurt their feelings?”
Without turning to look at him, she walked slowly into the kitchen and to the stove. “You never pet them.”
He did pet them but not when anyone else was around. “They’re supposed to be trained attack dogs, not pets.”
She still didn’t look at him as she took a bubbling casserole from the oven and placed it on the hot pad already on the table. “They are trained attack dogs, and they’re happy to do their jobs, but they want your approval.”
So do you.
It hit him suddenly.
It was in her eyes.
Stunned, he watched her, irritated that she wouldn’t look directly at him.
His brother had told him that she’d been upset because of his reaction to her being in pain, but if she thought it would change, she could think again.
She was too damned delicate for what they did.
How could she not know how proud he was of her?
How could she not know what she meant to him?
Not giving her any time to object, he gripped her hand and pulled her with him, holding her against his side and taking as much of her weight as possible. Watching her try to hide the pain, he cursed and picked her up, carrying her to the bedroom and straight through to the bathroom.
Instead of arguing with him about carrying her the way he’d expected, she leaned into him and nuzzled his jaw, arousing him instantly. “The casserole’s too hot to eat anyway.”
Lifting his head, he stared down at her, suspicious at her mood change. “I’m cold and wet, and you still arouse me.”
“Good.”
He set her on her feet and stripped out of his wet clothes, his cock already stirring in anticipation. Reaching in to start the shower, he watched her for any sign of anger. Finding none, he took his first step into what could be a field of emotional landmines. “Your headache seems to be gone, and you’re not limping. Feeling better?”
“I’m fine.” Leaning back against the wall, she watched him undress, the gleam in her eyes sending another surge of arousal through him. “I’m sorry that you and Alastair have to feel my pain. Isn’t there a way for the two of you to block something like that?”
Tossing the last of his clothes aside, he stepped into the shower, letting the warm water thaw him out. “We probably could if we wanted to, but there’s a connection between us, one that I have no intention of breaking.”
The walk-in shower had an opening on either side, allowing her to stand outside the shower without getting wet and still be able to see him. Leaning against the marble wall, she eyed him hungrily, making his cock swell even more. “That’s just stupid. Why would you want to be in pain unnecessarily?”
Ian soaped his hair. “I consider it necessary to know when you’re hurting. Besides, it doesn’t hurt us as much as it hurts you.”
Serena didn’t answer him for so long that he rinsed soap from his face and glanced at her to make sure she was still there, hiding a smile when he found her staring at his cock. When she caught him looking at her, she blushed and cleared her throat.
“How would you know that?”
Ian rinsed his hair before he turned to frown at her. “Because I’ve seen you incapacitated from one of your headaches. I get just an ache. I felt it when he hurt your foot, and it startled me, but it must have been agony for you.”
He still found it remarkable that he could feel anything that she felt intensely. Anger. Fear. Pain. Pleasure.
It added an element to their lovemaking that never ceased to amaze him and an intimacy that other lovers couldn’t share.
He had every intention of using it if necessary in order to keep her.
Serena shifted slightly, looking decidedly uncomfortable. “What happened with DuBois? Did he go anywhere?”
Ian grinned at the memory. “Nope. After the party broke up, he went upstairs and made a couple of phone calls and went straight to his safe.” He laughed softly, his body tightening under her violet gaze. “He didn’t look happy. I was standing on the rooftop of a nearby building, watching him through binoculars. I just wish I was better at lip reading, but watching him throw things around his office was very satisfying.”
Serena blinked. “He threw a temper tantrum?”
Ian turned to rinse his hair, needing Serena more by the minute. “A very violent one. He’s a man who’s used to getting his way, and he reacts very badly when he doesn’t.”
It was one of the reasons Ian didn’t want Serena anywhere around him.
Shaking her head, Serena pursed her lips thoughtfully. “That makes sense. I picked up on the anger inside him, but I thought he was just mad at Alastair. It goes deeper than that, though. It’s almost like he thinks he deserves things, and he gets…upset. No, more than that—outraged—when things don’t go the way he thinks they should. He feels…entitled. Yeah, that’s the word. Like he deserves whatever he wants.”
Smiling, she folded her arms across her chest. “He really believed I was playing hard to get. He just can’t fathom the idea that a woman might not want him. That’s one of the reasons he hates Wyn so much. Apparently you and Alastair get the women with a little more ease.”
Feeling her gaze, he watched her surreptitiously as he soaped himself, the cold, clammy feeling he’d had when he walked through the door turning to heat due to the hot water and Serena’s hungry gaze.
“You’re the only woman we’ve ever fallen in love with.”
Serena didn’t have the sophistication of the women he’d taken in the past, her honesty and innocence making her irresistible. She didn’t play games and wasn’t shy about expressing her pleasure.
She met every caress, every touch of his lips, every stroke of his cock with an abandon that delighted him, and that made it nearly impossible to resist teasing every ounce of pleasure from her.
He could talk to her the way he’d never talked to another woman.
His cock jumped when she licked her lips, the innocence of the gesture sending another stab of heat through him. With a flick of his wrist, he turned off the water, unable to wait to take her any longer.
Serena’s breath caught at the look in Ian’s eyes, her nipples beading tighter when Ian turned off the shower and started toward her.
Holding her gaze, he grabbed a towel and rubbed it over himself, his movements brisk. “Are you sure you’re feeling better?”
She couldn’t resist reaching out to run a finger down his chest, thrilled with his sharp intake of breath. “I’m sure.” Touched when he took her hand in his and lifted it to his lips, she smiled. “You really want me.”
Ian laughed, tossing the towel aside and gesturing toward his erection. “You don’t have to be psychic to know that.” He reached for her, his hands closing over her upper arms and lifting her to her toes. “Anytime I get near you, I want you.”
* * * *
Serena smiled, her heart pounding at the erotic intent in his eyes. The hunger in them never failed to thrill her.
His touch was firm, but he handled her too carefully, as if it took more effort than normal to protect her from his strength.
That alone excited her.
Smiling up at him, she reached down to caress his cock, her breath catching when it jumped in her hand. “I’ve noticed. I like it.”
“You’d better. Just to make sure you keep on liking it…”
Serena gasped when he picked her up, giggling as he carried her out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. “How are you going to do that?”
Her pussy clenched with anticipation, her clit already throbbing for attention.
Ian lowered her to the bed and reached into the nightstand to retrieve a condom. “I’m gonna make you scream.”
He ripped open the foil packet, his features tight with sexual tension and slightly savage, a look uniquely Ian. He rolled on the condom and, with rougher than normal hands, rid her of her robe and nightgown, the rip of fabric adding to her excitement.
She loved it.
Arching into his caress, she sucked in a breath at the feel of his warm lips closing over her nipple. “God, that feels good.”
Need travelled from her nipples to her slit and back again, her entire body trembling with hunger that grew at an alarming rate.
The demand in his firm touch had her eagerly bending to his will, caught up in a maelstrom of sensation that made her head spin.
Her stomach muscles quivered beneath his mouth as he moved lower, and with a cry of frustration that he didn’t take her, she bucked against him.
Ian chuckled softly and scraped his teeth over her belly before lifting his head to meet her gaze. “It’s gonna get a whole lot better.”
Sliding his arms under her thighs, he used his powerful shoulders to lift her thighs high and wide. Re
aching up, he gripped her hands and threaded his fingers through hers, preventing her from moving much at all. Bending to touch his tongue to her clit, he lifted her hips higher. “Quite a predicament you’ve gotten yourself in, huh, baby?”
Unable to move except to thrash her head from side to side and kick her feet in the air, Serena cried out in frustration. “Damn it, Ian!”
With a decadent smile, he lowered his head and swiped his tongue through her slit, the hunger in his eyes sharpening at her cry. “I like you this way best. Wet. Aroused. Helpless to stop me from doing what I want to do to you.”
Knowing she could stop him, despite his claims to the contrary, she smiled. “What makes you think I want to stop you?”
“When it gets too intense, you’re gonna want to stop me, but I won’t let you. I want you out of control and dependent on me for something to hold on to.” With a groan, he lowered his head and slid his tongue over her clit, watching her as he flicked it over the sensitive bundles of nerves several times in rapid succession.
Serena jolted at the sharp sensation, pressing her thighs against his shoulders in an instinctive attempt to escape. Suddenly finding her hands free, she fisted them in the bedding, her heart pounding furiously when he wrapped his hands around her upper thighs, his fingers sliding lower to part her folds.
“You’re so damned little and so fucking lush. I just want to take a bite out of you.”
With sudden insight, she realized how much he needed this after feeling so helpless when he knew she was in pain. Loving him even more, she choked on laughter. “Don’t you dare bite me! And I’m not little. You’re big.”
“And getting bigger by the second. Those little cries you make drive me nuts. Make some more.” The rapid flicks of his tongue over her exposed clit sent her closer and closer toward the edge, the sharp, tingling sensation growing stronger with every flick of his tongue.
The burning in her clit had her writhing and fighting his hold, but he held strong, not letting her get away.
Such pleasure couldn’t last forever, and between one heartbeat and the next, the pleasure exploded into a ball of heat. “Ian! Oh God. I’m coming. I’m coming. Please! It’s too—oh!” Her body stiffened, bowing so hard that only her shoulders remained on the bed.