“Oh, my stars!” Honor gasped, her blue eyes widening as she took in her sister’s precarious position. “Abel?” she questioned, half rising from her seat before Zeke caught her hand and tugged her back into the chair. “What in the world?”
“No worries, Honor,” Abel remarked affably with a lazy grin in Patience’s youngest sister’s direction. “Just need to steal your stubborn sibling away for a long overdue chat. I promise, I’ll return her… eventually,” he added as he caught Ice and Zeke’s matching smirks of approval.
“’Bout damn time,” Patience heard Ice mumble under his breath.
“Amen,” Zeke muttered, reinforcing his brother’s opinion on the situation.
“Excuse me?” Patience snapped, blowing her blonde hair out of her face as she reared up on Abel’s shoulder to glare at the traitors seated at the table. “You are supposed to be my friend,” she accused Ice Monroe with flashing eyes that promised there’d be retribution in the future. “And you are supposed to be an officer of the law, sworn to uphold law and order in this town,” she continued to rant to Zeke. “He’s kidnapping me! What the hell kind of sheriff are you?”
“The off-duty kind,” Zeke noted with a relaxed smile, lifting his own drink and waving it underneath her nose. “Please direct your troubles to your friendly 9-1-1 operator.”
Lifting her head, Patience stared at Honor, her youngest sibling. “Hon,” she whined, “Do something.”
Opening and closing her mouth several times as she met her sister’s eyes, Honor finally shook her head before turning her attention toward Abel. “Don’t defile my walk-in cooler the way your brother did. That’s all I ask,” the woman murmured, sighing with a quiet resignation before offering her older sister a small smile.
“Are you kidding me?” Patience yelped as she slowly comprehended which side her sister was choosing in this battle of the sexes.
A year ago, the four conspirators (Patience, Harmony, Zeke and Abel) had locked the two star-crossed lovers (Abel’s brother, Cain, and Patience’s sister, Faith) in the cooler in a bid to get them to work out their differences after a long estrangement. It had worked. As in, it really worked, and the lovebirds had celebrated their reunion in a state of naked bliss.
All night.
And into the next morning.
When Honor found them.
And damn if her sister wasn’t assuming that she’d fall for Abel’s plan the same way Faith had fallen into theirs.
“I’m not sleepin’ with this dog, Honor! In a cooler or anywhere else!!” she yelled, squirming against Abel’s shoulder. “I might get fleas or catch the Parvo!”
“I have it on good authority that he’s had all his shots,” Cain chuckled as he ambled over to the table with Faith tucked under his arm.
“See there, Sis. You’re one flea dip away from having the perfect pet,” Faith teased, her blue eyes twinkling.
Growling in frustration as she beat against Abel’s back as he continued on his merry way, Patience spared a millisecond to lift one hand and flip her so-called family a one-fingered salute.
Patience’s eyes moved from sister to sister. Honor peeked at her from behind one of Zeke’s broad shoulders, while Faith still stood in the crook of Cain’s arm. And her eldest sibling, Harmony sat cuddled in her future husband, Jake’s, lap, her familiar blue eyes dancing with not-very-well concealed glee. And not a single one of those sisters stepped to her defense. Some help they were! She really needed to find a better family.
“You all suck and you’ve all officially made it to my hit shitlist!” she yelled before Abel carried her through a door and into the kitchen. Lifting her head, her eyes swept the room and she was relieved that at least there were no observers here to see her humiliation or witness the crime she was going to commit once the ass holding her let her down.
Unfortunately, Abel’s steps didn’t even falter in the slightest and he continued carrying her toward the storeroom that led to the back stairwell door that in turn led to her apartment above the cafe. Even fucking better! There were lots of bottles in that tiny storage space just waiting for her to use as a murder weapon. She’d have preferred the satisfaction of using the handy knives the kitchen provided, but she was a gal that prided herself on the fact that she could be versatile. If she hit him hard enough, there’d still be plenty of blood. Of course, it was gonna be a pain in the ass to drag his carcass upstairs to dispose of the body, but she was pretty sure she’d watched enough CourtTV to know how to use acid correctly.
“Oh, hell,” she heard Abel mutter as he yanked open the door to the storage room, “You’ve gotten quiet,” he noted ever so suspiciously. It was a well-known fact to all that knew her that when Patience went quiet, it was most definitely the calm before the storm. “What are you thinkin’ about, Hellion?” he asked as he stepped inside the tiny room and closed the door behind them.
“I’m debatin’ whether I’m gonna use battery or sulfuric acid to get rid of your dead body after I kill you,” she informed him truthfully between her gritted teeth. “I’m leaning toward battery. I don’t think it’ll smell as bad,” she shared as he put her back on her feet with a low grunt and backed her into the wall between two tall shelves of booze. “Tennessee’s still a “no body, no murder” state, right?”
“Sounds unnecessarily messy to me,” Abel returned with a lazy smile as he crowded her against the wall. “Way I see it, you got a whole passel of randy admirers out there that would love the chance to be at your beck and call. You’ve been flaunting them in my face all night. I’m sure one of ‘em would help you dispose of my worthless hide if you asked ‘em.”
“Oh, trust me, Abel, killing you is one chore I’m prepared to handle all on my own,” Patience snapped, sliding her hand between them to push against his chest. “Get off me, you redneck wannabe before I really do hurt you. What the hell were you thinking, carting me out of the party like that? You know what people are gonna think, don’t you?”
“Probably the truth,” Abel informed her with a careless shrug as he bent his head to stare into her eyes. “Are you really surprised that this dog finally broke his chain after being teased for too long with a tasty treat, Hellion? You had to know it was bound to happen sooner or later.”
Blinking, Patience stared at him before her lips finally tilted into a satisfied grin. “Awww, was watching me tonight bothering you, Abel?” she asked sweetly. “You weren’t jealous, were you? Did watching me having a good time get on your nerves? You poor baby,” she cooed, her voice dripping with feigned sympathy.
“Keep it up, Hellion,” Abel challenged, his grey eyes darkening as he looked down at her. “Keep poking that particular bear, Sweet Cheeks, and you’re gonna find out just how sharp his teeth are when he bites.”
Patience snorted, rolling her eyes. “Please. I’ve been mauled by that bear before, Abel. I wasn’t impressed. Then or now. Now, can we please stop referencing animals here and get to the point. I know this family is a zoo, but really…”
Pressing his thumb against her still moving, damp pink lips, Abel shook his head. “Stop talking, Patience.”
“Don’t you tell me to top talkin’,” she growled, her words muffled. Glaring at him, she lifted a hand to knock his fingers away from her mouth. “Don’t you tell me to stop talkin’, Abel Turner. If I’ve got something I wanna say then I’ll damn well open my mouth and – OOMPH.” Patience didn’t get to finish her thought. Instead, she grunted softly as his mouth covered hers, his warm lips effectively cutting her off. Gasping as his tongue plowed between her lips, she caught at his shoulders as his body crushed hers, pushing her into the wall and curling one broad palm underneath the cheek of her ass to hold her up when she would have slid down the wall.
As Abel plundered her mouth, taking what he wanted from her lips and leaving incredible pleasure in his wake, Patience felt her resolve weakening. Dammit, she’d forgotten how well this damn man kissed. Her memory of their shared night of passion three years ago might hav
e left her with some less-than-pleasant memories, but the one nice thing she had been able to say about him (if only to herself) was that the man could K-I-S-S. That’s why she could forgive herself the low moan that escaped when his tongue stroked hers and he moved to suck her lower lip before releasing it and moving to nip the upper one.
Panting when he finally lifted his mouth enough to allow her to tip her head back and stare at him, she barely suppressed a growl when she noted his satisfied smirk.
“Well, it’s nice to finally find the key to shutting you up,” he teased, dipping his head to run his nose along her jawline. “Would have helped to have known about that the past three years. Who knew that all I had to do was kiss you quiet?”
“Don’t get cocky, Abel. You took me by surprise, that’s all. You won’t get that lucky again,” she retorted, her cheeks flushing as he laughed low in his throat. Shoving against his immoveable chest, she glared at him as he continued chuckling. “What’s so damned funny?”
“Sweetheart, I intend to get a damn sight more cocky before the night is done and luck won’t have anything to do with it,” he promised against her ear, pressing into her again as his hand contracted around the firm globe of her ass.
Turning her face away from him when he would have lowered his mouth to hers again, Patience shook her head. “Like hell, Abel. I’ve already taken a ride on your rusty old tilt-a-whirl; I’m not lookin’ for another. The first one didn’t go so good for me. And I’ve learned that if the ride makes you sick, it’s better to just stay away from the carnival.”
“Did you just imply that my dick was rusty?” Abel growled against Patience’s cheek.
Turning her head toward his, it was Patience’s turn to look pleased with herself. “Did I stutter or are you goin’ deaf?” Patience watched as a muscle in Abel’s jaw jumped and he stiffened against her.
“My hearing is fine, Patience,” Abel returned in a voice that seethed with growing fury. Shaking his head as he stared down at her, he pulled in a long breath as she watched as he visibly tamped down on his anger. “I’m thirty-five years old, woman. Lost my virginity at fifteen. Twenty years, I’ve been fucking. Twenty. In all that time, you wanna know exactly how many women have complained about my skills?”
Patience scoffed as she tried to scoot around him. “Can’t say as though I give two farts in a windstorm, Abel.”
Tightening his fingers in her ass, Abel leaned forward until they were nose to nose. “One. One woman, Patience. Just one. You.”
Oh, she believed him, not that she’d ever share that tidbit with him. For years (before and after their shared night of lukewarm passion), she’d listened to women bragging about bagging Abel Turner. The man was certainly no virgin. Nope, he had a healthy appetite for feminine company and wasn’t afraid to indulge it. Unfortunately for her, she’d shared his bed on an incredibly bad night and hadn’t seen any of his so-called skills. Sucked for her, especially since she’d been in love with him and a virgin to boot (neither of which he’d known at the time.) He’d been half-drunk and coming off a nasty break-up (both of which she’d known at the time). She’d offered herself up as a cure to his sorrow, and he’d taken what she offered. The experience had been slightly painful and highly embarrassing and altogether a clusterfuck of epic proportions.
Especially after the bastard called her by another woman’s name the next morning. Bad sex – she could have forgiven that. Calling her some other woman’s name… hell, no! That was a killin’ offense, and the bastard was lucky she’d let him live. If her older sister hadn’t been in love with his twin brother, she would have happily danced over his dead body. But Faith had loved Cain…and in a roundabout way that made Abel family.
And her youngest sister, Honor, had strict rules about killin’ family. Evidently, it just wasn’t done.
So, Abel had gotten to live his worthless life.
Oh, he’d tried to make amends several times, but her bitterness over the whole incident had only grown with the passage of time. A month after he’d fucked her, he’d stopped apologizing and gone back to his womanizing ways, and they’d fallen into the category of friendly enemies. She’d gone on with her life, too. She went out. She had fun. She casually dated. And every once in a while, she even let a guy get his hands down her pants.
But she never had sex again. She just hadn’t been able to trust any man with her body and honestly, she wasn’t in an all-fired hurry to hand over a piece of herself to anyone else – especially when the first time she’d done it hadn’t worked out so well for her.
No, instead, she had fun. She dated. She kissed lots of boys when she was younger; and indulged just a smidge more when she was older. She invested in an excellent vibrator and, when all else failed, took care of herself. Really, it wasn’t a hardship. She had the benefit of knowing what she liked.
Mostly though, she lived her life. Hell, she devoured it. She’d learned young that living was a temporary condition. Her parents’ untimely death at the hands of a drunk driver had driven home the knowledge that nobody was promised tomorrow – no matter how good a person they were. When other girls had been going to their mothers for advice on boys and boobs, she’d been planning funerals. Yeah, life had thrown her and her sisters a hell of a curveball, but she’d learned some valuable lessons. One was that she’d spend a hell of a lot longer being dead as a doornail than she would walking the Earth. She needed to enjoy the ride while it lasted, right?
Up until now, that had worked out pretty well for her.
Of course, that all changed when her ex-brother-in-law had seen fit to shoot her and she’d been forced back into Abel’s company on a regular basis. That dictatorial pain in her ass had done his best to micromanage every aspect of her life for weeks.
But all that was over. Tanner Suarez’s reign of terror was over. The bastard was dead. D-E-A-D!!! Life should have gone back to normal, damn it.
Except, it hadn’t.
And that was a problem.
“Did you hear me?” she heard Abel bite out, his lips against her ear as he held her pinned to the wall.
Shrugging, Patience smiled. “Oh, I heard,” she replied. “I don’t know what to tell you, Abel. Maybe you’ve just been fucking a kinder, gentler woman than I am. Maybe they were all just nicer than me and kept their complaints to themselves. I, however, don’t feel the need to soothe your masculine ruffled feathers. Sex with you sucked.”
And it had, she thought to herself. She remembered it clearly. It had been fast, uncomfortable, and entirely unfulfilling. What she couldn’t comprehend was why, with all that being the case, was her body humming with sexual tension? Why the hell did she want him to climb her body and mount her like a stallion? Why the hell did every second he continued to touch her feel like freaking heaven?
Maybe she’d been Roofied. That could explain it. She’d love to blame drugs for her traitorous body’s reaction to his. Unfortunately, she’d watched the bartender pour every shot she’d downed during the evening. She knew nobody had spiked her drink.
Nope, the sad fact was that Abel Turner still turned her on in a way no other man could.
And that really sucked.
“I want a do-over,” he growled, his body somehow getting impossibly closer as he held her against the wall.
“A what-what?” Patience snapped. She couldn’t have heard him right. No way.
“A do-over,” he repeated, sliding his free hand around her waist to stroke the curve of her lower back. “I told you I wanted one the night you got shot… you know, when you were announcing to the entire staff of Paradise General Hospital that I had a defective decorated dick and couldn’t last more than the three pumps it took to achieve satisfaction. You were stoned, and might not remember it, but I told you then that I wanted one night to do it over again with you.”
Oh, she wouldn’t admit it, but she remembered it fine. Other details might be a little fuzzy from that night, but feeling Abel’s hot breath fanning her face as he’d told her
all the things he intended to do to her was not a memory she’d lost. His words had been a promise that she had no intention of helping him keep.
Hell, no.
Even if she’d satisfied herself every night since remembering all those darkly erotic vows he’d made to her.
She’d just never thought he’d have the balls to actually make a move. Especially not when she’d laughed in his face. Loudly.
Once again, it appeared she was wrong.
“We’re not having a do-over, Abel,” Patience denied, trying to wriggle away from him and only succeeding in rubbing against his body like a cat in heat. “We did it once, and you failed miserably, Big Boy. Once would be enough for anybody that knows what I know. Unlike your other conquests, your penis holds no powers of persuasion for me. Your penis is just a penis – bedazzled though it might be.”
Abel dropped his head, nuzzling her neck as he chuckled. “You are hell on a man’s ego, Baby Girl, but I’m not giving up. I want you. You want me…”
“I want you?” Patience gaped as Abel’s head came back up to look at her. “Have you been smoking Bobby McCallister’s weed tonight or are you really that deluded? I know that your Great Aunt Bessie went senile early in life, but I really figured you’d have a few more years before you lost your mind.”
“Sweetheart,” Abel murmured quietly, his eyes soft on her face, “Your mouth might still be able to lie, but your body can’t. You want me, too. The truth is in those swollen lips and flushed cheeks. And if those little tells weren’t enough to convince me, those hard little nipples of yours would,” he added as his eyes drifted from her face to her breasts.
Patience shifted against him as she felt his eyes hone in on her tightened peaks. Damn it, she’d known she should have worn a padded bra tonight, she silently chastised herself.
“And I’m betting,” Abel drawled slowly, dropping his hand on her ass to the hem of her short dress, “that if I move my hand up just a few inches to your panties, I’m gonna find ‘em drenched.”
Ready, Willing and Abel (Passion in Paradise: The Men of the McKinnon Sisters Book 3) Page 3