“I think you need a bigger size.” He caressed her arms as he looked down into her eyes. She parted her lips and seemed to be breathing a little faster.
“I think I’m okay.”
“All right then, get on out to the tube. We’re all set,” Brian said.
“Give her a good ride. Make her fall off,” one of the guys teased.
“Be careful with her.” Apollo pointed at Brian very serious like.
Brian smirked. “She wants to ride, then she has to be able to handle the driving.”
“Let’s see what you got, Brian. I won’t fall off that quickly.” She made her way to the back of the boat and then to the small landing by the engine. Zane held her hand and helped her get down and into the tube.
“Don’t challenge him, Vin. He’s known to be the craziest driver and lives to make the person in the tube fly off,” Ken told her.
“What’s the longest someone has stayed on?” Cena asked them.
“Two minutes tops,” Ned told her.
“I’ll beat that,” Vin called out.
“You be careful, or you could get hurt,” Apollo warned her.
She looked super sexy with her tanned legs hanging over the large tube. As it was, she could fall through the middle. She gripped onto the handles, and he stared at the deep cleavage of her breasts and knew he wasn’t the only man checking out her voluptuous body. His temper flared as Randal reached down and splashed her with water. She gasped because she was wasn’t paying attention and was too busy staring at Zane.
“I’ll get you back, Randal.”
“I’m hoping so,” Randal replied, and Apollo gave him a dirty look. They would need to set Randal straight.
As the boat began to move, they all took positions to watch Vin ride. The engine grow deeper, and the boat picked up speed as they moved out of the cove.
“I think she is still pissed off at you,” Zane said to Apollo.
“You think?” Apollo asked and ran his fingers through his hair.
Zane chuckled. “She thinks you’re a stuck-up snob. Maybe try not to make demands so soon.”
“Demands?”
“Yeah, like making plans and assuming she’s going to make out with you because she made out with us.”
“Nice, Zane. She needs to accept all of us if this is going to work.”
“It’s working for me already.”
The boat jerked to the right and then to the left. They held on as Vin bounced into the air but didn’t fall off on the rough landing. The others shouted and praised her for staying on the tube, and it seemed to get Brian going more. In the distance, a larger boat was going by, and sure enough Brian headed toward the larger wakes from that boat.
“What’s the time?” he called out.
“One minute thirty seconds,” Ned said.
“She’s beating the time,” Randal called out, and Cena cheered.
“Go, Vin!”
“Not for long,” Brian said and then hit the first wakes.
Apollo watched Vin go up in the air and slam back down. The tube flipped, and somehow, she held on to it.
“Holy shit, she’s good,” Zane stated.
“She could get hurt,” Apollo stated.
“It looks like the woman lives for danger. We told you she’s competitive. Sure shot Vin, remember?” Zane said to him.
“Oh, shit, look in the water. Is that driftwood?” Garvan yelled out to Brian and pointed.
“Shit, it is.” He slowed down and turned.
“Will she clear it?” Brian asked, totally slowing down so the tube would stop and not hit the driftwood, but the speed of the turn had her sliding sideways, right into the debris.
“Shit, no!” Apollo yelled out, and she hit a wake from the boat, flipped up and landing on the water hard.
Brian immediately turned the boat around and headed closer. He killed the engine and Garvan jumped into the water. Vin had her head back and was floating in the water.
“Vin!” Apollo and Zane yelled as Garvan swam to her. She turned to look and was laughing.
She screamed out, giving a thumbs-up. “Woo-hoo! That was awesome.”
And Apollo felt as if he could have a heart attack.
“She’s okay,” Cena yelled.
“She’s fucking crazy,” Brian yelled back to them. Apollo watched Garvan grab onto her.
“You’re all right?” he asked her.
She smiled. “Of course I am.”
“We thought you were going to hit the driftwood,” Apollo said from over the side of the boat when they got close enough to help pull her and Garvan out.
“Oh, I did hit it I think. I felt something as I landed in the water.” When she lifted up and twisted her arm, Apollo saw the blood. His eyes widened.
“You’re bleeding,” Garvan said, and she looked as if it didn’t even faze her.
“Yup, looks like a good one,” she said as Zane helped get her out of the water and then Garvan got out. When she went to climb over the back, Apollo lifted her up and brought her to the bench.
“Jesus, you scared the crap out of me. You’re hurt,” he said to her with his hands on her thighs. She looked past him.
“What was my time?” she asked Brian.
“Three minutes fifty-six seconds,” Ned said to her.
“You owe me, Brian, and next time, don’t cheat and send me into driftwood.”
They started laughing.
“I didn’t send you into driftwood on purpose. Jesus, Vin, Cena would have my ass,” Brian said, and Cena laughed.
“Looks like there’s a new record to break,” Ned stated.
“Let’s get her back to our boat. We have a first aid kit, and you guys can continue to go tubing,” Zane said to Brian.
They pulled in the tube and headed to the other boat.
“I know first aid,” Randal said to her.
“We got her, Randal. Understand me?” Garvan said very seriously.
“Got it,” Randal said. “I’m next. I have a time to beat.”
Apollo got the life preserver off of Vin and then helped her to climb onto their boat. Zane and Garvan got off, too, and now all six of them were with her on their boat.
“What the hell happened?” Titan asked, taking her hand and bringing her closer. He caressed her cheek as Ace looked at her arm.
“First aid kit.” Roman approached with the large box.
She squeezed her hair out with one hand as Titan held her arm and Ace wiped away the blood.
“It’s a nice one, Venetia,” he told her.
“I’ll be fine.”
Apollo placed his hand against her cheek and turned her face toward him. Water dripped from her hair over her lips. Her green eyes sparkled, and tiny droplets of water sat on her long thick eyelashes. “You scared the heck out of me. You’re reckless and wild and willing to do whatever, even break your damn neck, to beat a time? What in God’s name were you thinking? You could have been killed.”
She parted her lips, and then sealed them and narrowed her eyes at Apollo. He tried to calm down and stroked his thumb over her lips.
“I was fine, Apollo.”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry that you’re still angry with me over the Clarette thing.”
“It was the spying, too. You don’t own me just because I worked for you.”
He licked his lower lip. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I wanted to be sure that you were safe at all times. I was jealous of other men wanting you and looking at you. The majority of the male staff were checking you out and flirting.”
“Apollo, they weren’t.” She went to turn, but he wouldn’t let her.
Instead, he pressed closer. “Goddamn it, you’re the most frustrating woman I have ever met.” He kissed her.
She tightened up, but he deepened the kiss and then felt her hand on his thigh. He savored the taste of her and pressed closer, moving his palm over her belly and up her ribs, but before he could cup those sexy breasts of hers, she pulled away.
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“Apollo, please.” She pressed her palm to his chest. He leaned back, and she sat up straight.
“I couldn’t resist, Venetia. I’ve been wanting to kiss you, to be close to you.”
She just stared at him and then turned to look at Ace and Titan cleaning her cut out.
“Thank you,” she whispered, and both men smiled.
“No problem. We’re glad that we’re here to help instead of Randal,” Ace said to her.
She chuckled. “He’s harmless.”
“He wants you,” Apollo told her.
“He’s just flirting.”
“No, the man totally wants you,” Zane stated.
“He can’t have her, so it doesn’t matter,” Roman added.
Garvan reached down and placed his hand on her shoulder. “You said you weren’t interested in dating anyone. Why lie to us? What did we do to turn you away?”
She looked at him then Roman and Apollo. “I don’t like to be ordered around. You guys are wealthy, and you can get any woman you want, hell, anything you want, and I don’t think I could get involved with men like you.”
Garvan sat down next to her, and she looked at him. “Are you attracted to us like you are to Titan, Zane, and Ace?”
“The attraction is not the problem.”
“Wait, you don’t want to get involved with us because we’re wealthy?” Apollo asked. He was shocked. Women threw themselves at him and his brothers because they had money.
“Yes.”
“That makes no sense at all.” Roman crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Titan and Ace released her arm, and she scooted back and crossed her legs. She was a goddess in a white bikini. Holy crap.
“It doesn’t make sense to you, but to me it does. Listen, I dated a wealthy guy. He had a bad attitude, expected total control, and it went south fast. I wasn’t enough, and eventually he cheated on me, okay? It left a bad taste in my mouth, and I’m more cautious now. Besides, like I said to Ace, Titan, and Zane, I’m not interested in dating anyone right now.”
“You fooled around with them last night,” Apollo said to her.
“We had some fun and enjoyed one another’s company. I didn’t have sex with them.”
“But you wanted to,” Ace said and stroked her thigh.
“Yes, I did.”
“Then what’s the damn problem?” Apollo asked.
“There are six of you, first of all. Secondly, like I said, I dated a wealthy man, and I know the type. I don’t want to go backward.”
“It isn’t fair that you’d lump all wealthy guys into one. We’re loyal, honorable men, Vin. Can’t you take a chance on us?” Ace asked her.
She sealed her lips and looked down at her hands. She then covered Ace’s with hers. When she looked up, she locked gazes with him, but Apollo could see the tears in her eyes.
“It was bad, Ace.” She swallowed hard, and instantly Apollo was pissed off.
“So bad that I haven’t been with anyone in two years. I shouldn’t admit this, but because of the attraction and the fact that you’re all here right now, I think you need to know that I’m not playing some game. Two whole years of trying to overcome fear, distrust, betrayal, and gain back my self-confidence. No kissing, no touching, nothing since last night with you, Titan, and Zane. As I tried to process that, and even blamed my weakness on the alcohol, I realized that I liked all three of you but also had feelings for Apollo, Roman, and Garvan, and I hardly know them. I’m not ready for this. I don’t trust my judgment because of the past. This is crazy.”
Ace cupped her cheek and gave her a reassuring smile. “How about starting with a clean slate?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, forget about the past, about even meeting any of us and start new and just see what happens. We can be friends first, Vin. I’m more than willing to offer that.”
She nibbled her bottom lip, and Titan reached out his hand. “Titan Corbias, and your name is?”
She hesitated and snorted before she took his hand and shook it. “Venetia Lockatelli, my friends call me Vin, and it’s nice to meet you.”
Ace smiled, and when Titan released her hand, he offered his next, and then each of them introduced themselves. Apollo went last, his mind asking a thousand questions and wondering what man in his right mind would cheat on Venetia and hurt her, and how much more was there to the story that she hadn’t shared?
“Okay, now how about a nice cold drink and some sunbathing until it’s barbecue time?” Roman asked her.
“Sounds perfect.” She stood up.
Apollo watched her walk with Roman over to the cooler as Zane and Garvan placed the tanning rafts into the water so they could hang out and sunbathe. This was definitely not the type of courting he was used to, yet somehow it seemed he was willing to lower his need to control and command and just let it happen. Maybe meeting someone special like Vin erased all the previous rules? Maybe they’d found the perfect woman for all of them.
* * * *
“It’s not going to work.”
“What the hell do you mean it’s not going to work? All you need to do, Clarette, is get him into a hotel room. Surely you’re capable of that,” Conan said over the cell phone.
“Under normal circumstances he would be in my bed by now, but there’s this woman who recently did work for his company.”
“Competition? You’re supposed to be good at seduction. There shouldn’t be any damn woman better or one that could give you competition.”
“I think otherwise, Conan. She’s gorgeous, young, and Apollo had people watching her every move the entire time she was photographing the grounds at the hotel. I confronted her and tried to intimidate her. I told her to stay away from my boyfriend, but she denied she was involved with him. She said she only worked for him and his brothers and for this job only.”
“A photographer?” Conan asked, sitting forward in his seat.
“Yes.”
“What’s her name? What does she look like?”
“I can send along a picture. I heard the manager at the hotel call her Vin or something.”
“What?” He raised his voice. This couldn’t be happening. Not his Vin. Not Venetia. Why would she be working for the Corbias brothers? How did she even know them? Was she fucking them? He slammed his fist down on the desk.
“I want fucking answers. Hell, forget that. I’ll send in my people. I’ve been working to take those fucks down since they screwed over my father. This could work. Of course if they’re fucking her, then they may have to get badly hurt if not killed.”
“You didn’t say anything about murder. I want no part of this, Conan. You understand me? No part,” Clarette said, sounding shocked.
“You won’t get your hands dirty. Just keep trying to get Apollo alone in a hotel room, and I’ll handle the rest. First, I need more information about their relationship with Vin. Don’t back down, and if you have to, you make sure Vin believes that those men aren’t faithful. You know what to do.”
“Yes, Conan, I do.”
He smirked. “I’ll be in touch.”
He disconnected the call and leaned back in his chair. At first, he was so damn angry and jealous that Venetia could be sleeping with the Cobias brothers. Any of them, hell, all of them. What were the fucking chances that this call today would confirm a location on Vin that he’d been unable to find for the past seven months and that she was the reason why Clarette couldn’t frame Apollo? Those fucking guys were going to get the shit kicked out of them. Hell, maybe even get themselves killed if they were fucking his woman. They couldn’t be. She hadn’t been with any other man than him ever. He still had a hold on her. He’d seen it in her eyes in New York before those detectives showed up and fucked it all up.
He needed to be so careful. The feds were keeping on him, and he was trying to run his illegal operations without them knowing a thing. He was stressed out and angry, and he sure could use his sweet, sexy redhead Vin to soothe his a
nxiety. The Corbias men were going down. Their companies, hotels, and spas were going to belong to him. Blackmail was a very dirty game, but he was up for it. He had the ability and the balls to fuck them over big time. Now that they were interested in his woman, they were all going down, even the three brothers who worked for the military. Maybe planting some military guns and ammo in one of their cars might do the trick and send them away for quite some time. They would get dishonorable discharges, and they would serve time in federal prison.
He smirked. Bargaining tools. All bargaining tools to take over their hotels, to get Vin to run to him for help, and to finally seek the revenge he had been waiting for.
* * * *
Venetia lay on her belly on the large raft and watched Ace, Roman, and Zane swimming around playing football in the water. A bunch of guys were out there, but her eyes kept landing on Ace, Roman, and Zane. Garvan swam up to her as Apollo and Titan lay on either side of her on the large raft.
As Garvan came up, he dripped water on her. She lifted up and felt the cool water slide between her breasts.
“Come on in. You look hot,” he said to her, and she chuckled.
A palm caressed along her lower back right above her ass and along her spine.
“She sure does,” Titan said to her as she looked at him. He licked his lower lip and inched closer. “Want to cool off?”
She nodded. She didn’t dare open her mouth to speak. She was sexually aroused, and having these men who were so sexy and attractive this close to her made her feel like an idiot. She worried about drooling or saying or doing something embarrassing. She felt young, almost inadequate around them. It was foolish to feel this way.
“Grab onto my shoulders and I’ll pull you in nice and slow,” Garvan suggested.
She placed her hands on his shoulders, and as he moved back, she slid from the raft, all the while feeling Titan’s very large, warm hand glide down her body, over the crack of her ass and the cheeks. His hand was so big, and then it moved down her thighs and calves.
Holy shit was she turned on.
Garvan held her against him as he swam in place.
“I’ll take you under. You can let me go.”
“No, just hold on to my shoulders and back, and I’ll swim to where I can stand.”
A Six-Pack & a Shot at Love [Love on the Rocks 1] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) Page 8