by Unknown
Making love?
Yes, that’s exactly what he’d done. It hadn’t been just about sex, not with her. It had been like something out of a dream. He’d never been on such an emotional roller coaster in his life. First high. Then low. Then high again.
A virgin.
A smile flitted about his mouth, then turned into a full-fledged grin. Damn. A virgin. He couldn’t get past that one little fact, the one little very important fact to him.
Why had she chosen to give him her virginity? Why hadn’t she told him?
Not that he wasn’t pleased. He was. But he never dreamed—
Confusion gnawed at him.
Happiness beat through his heart like a summer storm raging out of control.
She was gorgeous.
Soft. Warm. Loving.
He wanted her back. He wanted her love.
He wanted his soul so tightly bound with hers that she knew nothing or no one but him. And damn it, he’d let her slip through his fingers like sand.
“Stupid!” he berated himself.
How could he be so stupid?
How could he spend a night with a woman, make her his own, and not even discover her last name?
Lord knew her name was the furthest thing from his mind last night. Surely someone working in the casino knew her. Perhaps the bartender, at least the man might know if she was a regular or not.
Somehow, he didn’t think she was.
She’d been too nervous, too uptight with her surroundings.
Too unfamiliar with alcohol and the affects it would have on her.
He sighed. She’d given herself to him so sweetly. He couldn’t bring himself to be sorry. Not about that.
But she regretted it.
He knew it, felt it to the rock bottom of his soul. He didn’t want her to have regrets.
Damn it, she’d said, insisted, ‘no regrets.’
And he was holding her to it.
The time for regrets was past and way too late to consider. He hadn’t used protection. He’d thought about it, especially after the first time. He’d started to. Should have—could have. He didn’t.
Not the first time, or the last, or the time in between. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to slide on the thin latex, couldn’t bear a barrier between them. He’d wanted to feel her tight, satiny sheath snug around his cock, wanted to feel his semen jet into her welcoming warmth, and he had. Christ, he had.
God help him, in the beginning, he deliberately set out to seduce her. He had enough experience to realize, once he discovered her innocence, she probably wasn’t protected. He’d been fiercely glad, and then—deliberately careless. He prayed she was carrying his child. He wanted the link of a child, just one more thing that bound them together. Damn it!
He had to find her.
Frustrated, he whipped off his Stetson and gave it a reckless flip. It sailed across the room like a flying saucer and landed brim up on the floor at Duel’s feet, just as his brother opened the door and stepped inside.
Duel gave a good imitation of a juggler, balancing a mug of coffee in one hand, along with a stack of papers in the other. With only a slight pause in his stride, he shuffled the papers to the other hand, bent to retrieve the maltreated Stetson, and flung it back in his direction.
He strolled forward, took a sip of the steaming coffee, and warily eyed him at the same time. “Make yourself at home,” he chided. “Why don’t I just donate my office to you and I’ll find another?”
With a deft movement, Jace caught the hat and dropped it on top of the desk. “Someone piss in your Post Toasties this morning?”
Duel released a deep breath. “Nah. Just tired. I had a splitting headache all night.” He took another sip of coffee. “No sleep makes me cranky.”
“Sounds familiar,” he mumbled, “except for the headache.” He grinned. He’d just bet they hadn’t lost sleep for the same reasons.
Or maybe they had.
“Guess there’s no chance of changing your mind about any of this? You won’t give Kaycee Spencer a job, will you?”
“Nope. Where the hell have you been?”
“Where have I been? It’s only eight o’clock. I’ve been up all night, J.D., and here since five. What were you doing at five this morning?”
“None of your damn business and stop calling me J.D.”
“Hmm.” He circled the desk, and paused, staring pointedly at his boots stretched indolently across the desk. “I’ll stop calling you J.D., if you’ll give Kaycee a job.”
“Go to hell.” There was no anger in his voice.
Duel arched a wary brow.
Jace shrugged. “Call me what you like, I’m not hiring your little bimbo and that’s the end of it.” He slowly untangled his legs, his lips twisting into a smile. His ire rose when Duel flicked imaginary dirt from the desktop. “Oh, for Pete’s sake, knock it off!”
“I thought I was.”
“You have no reason to be so snarly. I didn’t keep you up all night.”
“Huh!” Duel set the mug in front of him. “Here. You look as if you need this worse than I do. You look like shit. Have a rough night?” He waggled his brows. “Get laid, by any chance?” He paused, eyed him thoughtfully. “Of course, you didn’t. Silly me. What are you doing here this morning, so bright—uh—red-eyed? You lose sleep last night, too?”
Jace strangled back a cough. “You sound like you don’t want me visiting you.”
“You’re not visiting me.” He grimaced. “You’re searching for office space. I can tell, because you’ve practically moved into mine.” Duel narrowed his eye suspicious. “And as I recall, the last time you left my office, you were pissed. Why is your face red?”
Jace glared at Duel. Determinedly, he ignored his brother’s question.
“Damn it, Jace. Why do you have to be so stubborn? Why can’t you just give Kaycee a job?”
“Why can’t you?” he shot back. “Just because you’re tired of playing trixie with your lady horse trainer, doesn’t mean I want to take up where you left off.”
“Trixie!” Duel snorted, nearly strangling on the swallow of coffee he just pilfered. Silent laughter shook his shoulders. “Well, that’s certainly a new word for it.” He wiped tears from his eyes and shook his head. “Ah, brother, I think a little trixie, would do you some good. How long has it been for you? Obviously you didn’t get any last night or you would be in a better mood this morning, a hiring mood.”
“My mood is just fine. My sex life is none of your concern.”
“What sex life? You don’t have a sex life.”
“For Christ’s sake, you don’t know anything about it. You just think you do!”
Seeing Jace’s discomfort, Duel shrugged. He didn’t want to fight with his brother again. Those bitter scenes usually took place between him and Wild. He thrust his hands into his pockets. “All right, J.D., you win. I give up. So what are you doing here this morning?”
“Take a look at these. Tell me what you think.”
Duel reached for the combs Jace thrust toward him. Turning them over, he shrugged. “They’re…uh…a set of ladies’ hair combs, interesting, but not real damn interesting. Have you lost your mind asking me to look at combs? Is there a point to this?”
“Take a closer look.”
“Looking. Uh…okay…I see hair combs…very old hair combs…gemstones…oh…shit! Are those diamonds? Where did you get these?”
“Diamonds? Yes. I think they might be very superb diamonds. Flawless,” Jace added. “Can’t be certain without an appraisal, but they just have a certain look to them.”
“So where did you get them?” Duel asked again. “You think they’re quite valuable?”
“A lady, and…yes…I think they might be extremely valuable. If the diamonds are genuine…and I believe they are…I think those gems are several carats each, at a guess…worth thousands, maybe more.”
“A lady?” Duel snorted. “So what else did she take off and give you?”
When Jace didn’t reply, he searched his face for answers. “Sonofabitch! You met someone.” Duel held up a hand, shaking his head when Jace started to speak. “Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. Ah, damn! Yes, I do. Who is she? What’s her name?”
“You wouldn’t know her.”
“You sure? This is my city. I know a lot of babes.”
“You wouldn’t know this one.”
“You can’t know that, J.D.” A thread of impatience filtered through his words.
“What makes you so sure I wouldn’t know this babe?”
“She’s not your type.”
“Oh, but she’s perfect for you, huh?”
“Yes. She is. Perfect.”
He narrowed his eyes, curiosity getting the better of him at the sated contentment he saw on Jace’s face. “Who is she? When did you meet her?”
“I met her last night in the lounge, and to coin a phrase, she’s drop-dead gorgeous.”
He barely smothered a groan. “Tell me you didn’t sleep with her. Damn it, J.D., you’ll ruin everything. Good Lord, I have plans that—”
“I married her.”
Dead silence filled the room. His throat closed up. His breath crashed to a dead stop in his lungs. He couldn’t speak. His lips worked silently in stunned surprise, before he finally managed to croak, “Did you say…I thought…you said—”
“I married her,” he repeated, nodding. “You heard correctly.”
“What? No you didn’t! Tell me you didn’t! You can’t up and marry someone you just met and had brief sex with. You don’t marry the first piece you get. This is entirely my fault. I can’t believe it. It’s impossible for you to get married so quickly.”
Jace rocked back on his heels. Smug satisfaction glinted in his eyes. “This is Reno. You of all people should know getting married is a whole lot easier than hitting a winning jackpot. And she wasn’t the first piece I’ve ever had, you idiot. And I married her before I touched her. It was the right thing to do. And no, it isn’t your fault. It had nothing to do with you.”
“Okay…the first…best…piece. You didn’t have to marry it. Did you? Shit…you did. You really did.” He rubbed a hand down his face. “When?”
Jace glanced at his watch and counted the hours off on his fingers. “Hmm, about six hours ago.”
“Jesus H. Christ! I can’t let you out of my sight for a minute.”
“I wasn’t aware you made it a priority to keep up with my where ‘bouts.”
Duel raked his fingers through his hair with short, agitated strokes and paced the floor back and forth like a caged tiger. He paused and whirled round. “Where?”
Jace shook his head in confusion. “Where…what?”
“Where? Where did you get married? We’ll get it annulled.”
“In my suite, here in the hotel and fuck no, we won’t. An annulment isn’t possible. And I don’t want one, even if it is.”
“But–but, you didn’t…you haven’t actually…haven’t really…consummated…the…have you?”
“I have. We have. Close your mouth before you swallow a fly.”
Duel snapped his mouth shut, but couldn’t shake the sickening shock plowing through his gut. He had such glorious plans for Jace. His brother, who as far as he knew, had never done one idiotic thing in his life, had picked up a total stranger in the lounge last night, and not only slept with her, but married her.
“You’re crazy! You know that?” he shouted. “Were you drunk? Of course, you were. That’s the only way she could have tricked you into marrying her.” He raked agitated fingers through his hair. “Who is this woman? She probably knows who you are and married you for your money.”
“Thanks,” Jace said dryly. “That makes me feel better. And no, I wasn’t drunk. She was. I took—”
“You need a good attorney, J.D. You should have made her sign a pre-nup.” He snapped his fingers. “I have a friend who can handle a divorce for you…what, do you mean…she was?” He whirled to glare at Jace. “Drunk? You mean drunk? She—”
He broke off his words when Jace started shaking his head.
“No divorce, Duel. No annulment. Now or ever. You might as well know now, you’ll likely be an uncle in nine months.”
His mouth worked before he finally choked out the words, “You said you knew about protection.”
“There’s just no pleasing you.” Jace laughed. “I thought you wanted me to marry and make babies. I believe that is what you said…only yesterday.” His dark eyes glittered with silent laughter. “Yes, you said exactly something along those lines.”
“But…not with a perfect stranger.”
“Yeah. She is perfect.”
“But—”
“Deal with it,” Jace snapped and strolled over to the window. He looked down to the streets far below. “I took advantage of her, total and full advantage. She was innocent, in every way.” He turned back to face Duel. “Understand?”
“In…every…way?” Duel thrust his hands in his back pockets. “By every way…do you mean…every way?”
“Jesus. Why do you have to pick everything I say to death? Yes. In every way, damn it!”
“I hate misunderstandings. So you’re telling me she’s a virgin?”
“Was.”
“Shit.”
Jace grinned, turned back, and stared out the window. “I’ll interview this Kat woman for you…stop grinning,” he said, swinging back to face him. “I’m not making any promises, but I’ll talk to her.” He leaned against the window seal and once again watched the traffic below.
Ribbons of moisture slid down the clear panes of glass, holding his attention. The sky hovered above like a dingy gray blanket. Charcoal colored clouds boiled in from the west, swollen with the promise of more rain. A fine, sleek mist darkened the streets. In the distance, thunder rumbled like a wounded beast. A hell of a storm was brewing, he thought absently.
Unease crept over him. Somewhere out there, his wife was alone. The very notion she might be defenseless and in peril caused his stomach to tighten in knots. The thought of her on her own, frightened of a man who was dangerous and deadly as a viper sent a shaft of horror straight through his heart.
Smitt Davis was a damned scary individual. He always had been. There was something not quite right about the man.
Damn it to hell and back.
He had to find her. He couldn’t bear the thought of that fucking rodent getting his hands on her. Hurting her. He turned back to face Duel, his face wiped of the anxiety he felt, the worry temporarily on hold.
“Jillian’s waiting at the ranch. I’ll try to get her out of our lives for good, but I have no idea what she’ll want to permanently disappear.”
Duel snorted. “You know what she’ll want. What she’s always wanted. What you’ve always given her.”
“Don’t—”
“You have a wife now, J.D. What are you going to do about Jillian? What are you going to do about keeping her out of your bed?”
“The best I can. I have to get back to the ranch soon. With her there and no one to control her…you know what she’s capable of doing. She’s a destructive bitch.”
Duel scowled. “You should know. Jesus. I can’t believe you were crazy enough to marry some damn stranger.”
“Hey, don’t take my marriage so hard. I’m happy. Or I will be. I want you, Dianna, and Wild at the ranch for the Fourth. We’ll celebrate my marriage then. By then, I should know if I’m going to be a daddy or not.”
“Jesus, J.D., you have Jillian crawling in and out of your bed like a fucking snake.She isn’t going away just because you bring home a bride. She’s going to be trouble and you know it.”
“She’ll have to deal with it, and I don’t want to talk about my marriage.”
“You think this discussion is over? Wait until your bride discovers a woman you’ve slept with for years is living in what will be her new home.”
“I’ll deal with it. There’s nothing more to disc
uss. Guess who I saw in the casino last night?”
Duel blew out a deep breath, knowing from his brother’s tone he wasn’t going to like this subject either. He was still reeling from the news Jace was a married man and possibly to be a father. And his brother was damned pleased about it! He was also an idiot if he thought he could handle Jillian. The woman was a viper!
“Smitt Davis,” Jace continued. “He was getting rough with…uh…a lady in the lounge. Since when is he allowed back in your place?”
“He isn’t. The cameras went down for a while last night, or I would have known immediately he was in the casino. Some of the security men are new at the doors and wouldn’t recognize him. I’ll let them know about him. Who was the woman?”
“I wish to hell I knew. I’d never seen her before, but I didn’t like the way Smitt treated her. He threatened her, tried to take money from her. Christ, he pawed her right there in the lounge. I think he would have hurt her if they’d been alone.”
“You know how he abuses the women that work for him.”
“She doesn’t work for him.”
“You can’t know that, J.D. She’s probably a hooker who owes him money and tried to cheat him. Look how she’s hooked you. He wouldn’t allow—”
“She didn’t hook me. I hooked her. She’s wasn’t a hooker. Not then and certainly not now.”
“Forget her, Jace. Smitt is a dangerous man to cross.”
“I’m meaner.”
“No. You’re not. Did you have trouble with him?”
“Nothing I couldn’t handle.”
“Was there a fight?” Duel skimmed his gaze over Jace’s face searching for bruises.
“Close. He made threats I didn’t like, and I let him get by with it. He said some filthy things to the lady. I took exception to what he said.” He scowled. “She’s scared of him. I’ll kill him if he ever touches her again.”
Duel eyed him thoughtfully. “And…you don’t know who she is? Is this the same dolly you…married?” Please God, let him say no.
Jace nodded.
“Christ. You married one of Smitt Davis’ hookers?”
“I’ll warn you just this once. Once. Don’t say that again. My wife isn’t one of his hookers. Never was, never will be. She’s scared to death of him and with good reason. All his dogs aren’t barking.”