“Your brother? But I’m not ready for an interview. I should change—”
“Not your interview.” Her mind whirled, as unsettled as her stomach. Jesse needed her to be in control, but that’s the last thing she was thinking about right now. I have to get help before I do serious damage to him out of ignorance. “This is for me.”
9
From the moment Jesse walked into the plush offices of VCONN Tower, the power and presence of the company’s CEO bore down on him like a semi-truck barreling down the freeway at top speed. Vicki paused at the trophy case and fondly recounted some of her brother’s great football moments. The pictures revealed a dark-haired man with stark, harsh features. His cheekbones were sharp and unforgiving. His eyes burned with the fierce light of desire to beat any and all competition.
The oppressive weight of the CEO’s power only increased the higher they went toward his office. By the time she chatted briefly with the secretary and asked if her brother was busy, Jesse was lightheaded. The man’s presence was suffocating him. How could he possibly meet him and expect to work here? Especially if Vicki wasn’t here.
I want to be where she is, not here.
The shiny black door swung open and the man himself strode out with a large smile on his face that did little to diminish the rolling wave of power that swept before him.
Jesse fought to keep himself calm and unaffected, but damn, the man was a walking explosion of danger just waiting to happen. He didn’t want to embarrass her by fainting because he was terrified of the Master. Even if she hadn’t told him her brother was a sadist, Jesse would have known. Victor Connagher was a sleek predator, a man who delighted in exploiting his opponent’s defensive weaknesses, whether on or off the field.
Like a predator, he caught a whiff of Jesse’s fear and a threatening growl rumbled from his chest. It was all Jesse could do not to drop to his knees and wrap his arms around Vicki’s legs, pleading for her protection.
“V!” Vicki hugged her brother, oblivious—or immune—to the danger. “Rachel said you were busy. You didn’t have to drop everything to see me.”
“You know I’ll drop everything for you, Little V. You’re always welcome at VCONN, and I’ve been meaning to call you anyway. Shiloh has come up with some great ideas to help launch your fashion line.”
Little V. Jesse shuddered. Yes, she carried the same power as her brother, whether she knew it or not. Maybe she wasn’t a sadist. Maybe she wouldn’t delight in his pain. But she would love to conquer him. If she’d only let herself begin, she’d raze him to the ground in a heartbeat.
I can’t wait.
“Who’s this?”
Jesse didn’t look up to meet the man’s questioning gaze. He was too afraid his knees wouldn’t hold.
She reached toward him, and he seized her fingers, moving closer to her side now that she’d made the first move. “This is my friend, Jesse. Jesse, this is my oldest brother, Victor. Our middle brother, Conn, lives in Missouri.”
Now Jesse dared to lift his head and look into her brother’s face. Victor’s eyebrow shot up, a thousand questions burning in his dark gaze, but he shook Jesse’s hand, a firm grip but not punishing. No, that was for Vicki, if she ever wanted it.
Her brother knew exactly what he was looking at. Victim. Prey. He had to wonder exactly what Jesse was doing with his precious sister. Why she’d stoop to touch a guy like him. Especially when she had a man like Reyes at her beck and call.
Vicki wasn’t one to beat around the bush once she’d made up her mind. “I need your help.”
“So I see.” Victor sat down behind his desk. “Where’d you meet Jesse?”
“It’s a long story.”
Victor kicked back in his chair and propped his ridiculously ostentatious cowboy boots on his desk. “I’m all ears.”
She filled him in on Jesse’s background, how she knew him, and the snowstorm that had brought him into her house. “Honestly, I had no intentions of letting him stay with me for more than the night. I wasn’t thinking about taking him in permanently, not at all. It just…happened. I couldn’t leave him on the streets, and now that he’s safe, I can’t stand the thought of letting him go back.”
“Wait a minute. You said permanently. Are you thinking about keeping him?”
“You make him sound like a pet,” she grumbled. “All I meant to do was get him a job, help him get on his feet and then go on my merry way.”
“And now?”
“He’s only been at my house two nights, and I can’t…” She dropped her gaze to her hands. Her knuckles were white, her fingers turning red from the fierce grip she kept on her emotions.
“You can’t what, Sis?”
Her cheeks burned. “You’re my brother, V. The last thing I want to do is tell you all the things running around in my mind every single time I look at him. You’ll probably beat him up or something.”
“Nah,” he drawled. “That’s Conn’s department, not mine. Mama might horsewhip him though.”
Vicki jerked her head up and glared at him. “Nobody’s going to lay a finger on him, do you hear me?”
“Protective, aren’t we?” He gave her a sardonic smirk that made her grind her teeth. “What do you want me to do, Sis? Give him a job? It’s done.”
She blew out her breath in a loud huff. He knew damned well what was eating her, and he was going to enjoy every minute of it. He was playing games with her, just like he’d done when they were kids. Part of the fun would always be making her ask. “I thought that’s all I wanted you to do, but things have changed. Now that he’s in my house, I want him.” When her brother’s eyebrow shot up higher, she quickly added, “To stay. I want him to be safe.”
“And you want him.” She opened her mouth to deny it, but he put his feet down and leaned forward, all teasing gone. “You came to me for help because I’m a Master, not because I’m your brother.”
Miserably, she nodded. Tears burned her eyes. “It’s so complicated. I didn’t know it would be this hard. Once I saw him, I couldn’t leave him, and now, I don’t want him to leave. I’m afraid I’m going to lose Elias, but I want to take care of Jesse too. Mostly, I’m scared that I’ll end up taking advantage of the situation.”
Victor came around before his desk, sat on the edge, and took her hands. “I suspected for a long time, Sis, but I didn’t know for sure. Is Jesse the first man who made you feel this way?”
She nodded, determined to get all her angst out before she thought too hard about what she was telling her brother. The same person who’d made it impossible for her to date anyone as long as he’d lived at home because all the boys were scared to death of him. “He’s been abused and he’s had a terribly hard life. He came to me for help, and I don’t want to make it worse for him, but I can’t stop touching him. The last thing I want to do is screw him up even more.”
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking Jesse is submissive because of his life on the streets. I’m not a sadist because I was tortured or because Mama and Daddy had a private version of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre at the ranch. That’s a load of crap and it always pisses me off when people assume we must have been abused or ‘ruined’. I was born this way. You were born this way. Jesse is a born, natural submissive, and he proved himself to be a survivor. He can certainly survive you. In fact, he’d like nothing better than to survive whatever you can do to him.”
“Who’ll protect him from me?”
“You will.” Victor gave her hands an encouraging squeeze. “You’ve already protected him by seeking help. I’ve been waiting all these years, afraid to push you, afraid to ask too many questions, but I knew when it was time, you’d know where to go.”
“Did you have this talk with Conn?”
“Sure did. And he had this talk with me when I first met Shiloh.” He hesitated, his eyes narrowing on her face. “I had this talk with Mama too. You really ought to be talking to her and not me.”
But Vicki was already shaking her head. �
��Are you insane? I can’t get Mama to agree with me that the sky is blue. What am I going to do, call her and say, ‘Oh, Mama, by the way, I took in a homeless man and I’m going to keep him.’”
“Sure.”
The thought made her stomach churn. “Never in a million years. I’d rather talk to you. Why not Mal too?”
His producer and friend, Malindra Kannes, had created several risqué shows for VCONN, and as a result, was known as the Mistress of Dallas. “Mal would be glad to help you, especially if you think you might be into punishment.”
Pulling her hands away, Vicki covered her eyes and tried to calm the fire blazing across her cheeks. “I have no idea. I don’t know why it’s happening. Why now and not years ago?”
“Because you found him. All his life, he’s been searching for the place where he’d belong, exactly as he is. He wants to belong to you.”
“You could tell that from meeting him?”
Victor ticked the signs off one by one. “He couldn’t meet my gaze until you took his hand.”
“He was nervous—”
“He stepped as close to you as he dared.” Victor ignored her interruption. “He silently begged for your protection while also sending a message to me that he was taken. You told him to wait for you, and he sat where indicated without a single hesitation, eyes only for you, his body tuned to you. I bet that when you touch him, however innocently, he sinks immediately into submissive invitation. Eyes down, shoulders and body relaxed, eager and willing to do whatever you tell him, and I mean anything.”
“How did you know?” Her voice sounded hoarse to her ears. “Is it that obvious?”
He laughed softly. “Yes, to me, to anyone who knows how to read the signals. What does Elias have to say about this?”
“He’s tolerant, but also jealous. I don’t know how we’re going to work things out. We’d sort of broken up, but he’s back in my life now that Jesse is with me. I called him to run a background check the first night, and he went ballistic.”
“I imagine so. Look, Sis, I’m the last person who’ll ever judge you. If you want to keep both of them, you’ll figure out a way. You said yourself that bringing Jesse home brought Elias back. Maybe it’s meant to be.”
Mentally, she had to pick her jaw up off the floor. “I never thought you’d tell me to… I mean, it’s two men, V. Two. I can’t get my own mind around the logistics. Elias and I talked every once in a while about marriage, but he’s a cop. You know how dangerous his job is and the shitty hours he puts in. He’s already been through one divorce. I know he loves me, and I love him, but I don’t know that we could actually get married and not kill each other, even if the drug dealers don’t shoot him down on the street.”
“I will never say a word against Elias or Jesse or both. However, I will admit that I was worried about you each time I saw you and Elias together. You’re both so hard and fierce, so Dominant, whether you play any sort of games in the bedroom or not. You’re too much alike, and neither one of you will back down from the challenge or argument. I suppose that’s why you two broke up?”
She nodded, trying to swallow the lump in her throat. “You don’t think I’ll ever be able to work out a long-term relationship with him?”
“I never said that. In fact, you may have the answer sitting outside in my waiting room, if you can get Elias to accept him. First, though, you need to take care of Jesse. In his mind, he’s already given himself to you. It’s up to you to protect him, even from Elias, and especially from yourself.”
“That’s what scares me to death.” She blew out a shaky breath. “I don’t want him to feel like he has to get a job and leave, but I don’t want him to feel beholden to me, either. I don’t want him to stay and put up with me and Elias’s shit because I helped him.”
“I can recommend a therapist who specializes in complicated BDSM relationships. You should both see her, immediately, before you get involved in an intimate relationship. Elias too. If he’s serious and committed to working out a life with you, then he’ll go.”
“Definitely. I’ll do whatever I need to do to make sure I don’t mess this up. Elias…” She shrugged. “I don’t know. When I feel better myself, I’ll have a talk with him and we’ll go from there.”
Smiling, her brother leaned down and hugged her. “You’re quite a woman, Beulah Virginia Connagher.”
“Why’d you have to go and call me that? I thought you were going to help me!”
Victor laughed. “You can always call me, Sis. You can call Conn too, although his advice usually involves a poetry quotation. I hope you paid more attention in English than I did.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t use any football metaphors.”
“Ah, I’ve been remiss. Let’s see, Jesse is on your team. You have to call the plays and lead the team. He depends on you to tell him exactly what to do, but he’ll run anywhere on the field, just because you told him to go. Your whole season is on the line, and if you call the wrong play, somebody might get hurt. Jesse will run for you until he drops, and if you can get the ball to him, he’ll sacrifice his own body to the defenders in order to catch it. He’d rather die than let you down.”
She groaned. “Is Elias on the field too?”
“Of course. He’s the linebacker trying to sack you for a safety.”
“I’ve been tackled once—even though we were playing flag football—and it wasn’t pretty. I don’t think I like this game, V.”
“Yeah, I remember when that punk slammed you to the ground, even though the ball wasn’t anywhere near you. What happened to him on the next play, Sis?”
“You and Conn both smoked his ass.”
Victor smiled and goose bumps raced down her arms. She suddenly wondered if that was the toothy smile that Elias saw on her face. “If you ever need help tackling Elias, call me. I’ll leave Jesse up to you.”
10
As soon as she stepped outside into the waiting room, Jesse shot to his feet. He rushed toward her, hovering close but hesitating. As though I might rebuke him. She wrapped her arm around his waist, and he collapsed against her, his shoulders shaking.
She rubbed his back in gentle circles. “What’s wrong?”
“Please don’t send me away!”
“Of course not. That’s why we’re here. Victor’s going to help me so I can take better care of you.”
“He didn’t tell you to get rid of me?”
Victor let out a low, rumbling chuckle. “I expected you to know Vicki better than that, Jesse. If you tell her to do something she doesn’t want to do, you’d better have a good head start on her.”
Clutching her tighter, Jesse didn’t laugh. Throat aching, Vicki pressed her cheek to his. “Nobody’s going to take you away from me unless you want to go.”
He drew tighter, vibrating with tension, pressing his body against hers desperately, because Victor had stepped closer. Victor reached out and gripped Jesse’s chin, forcing his head up to met his gaze. She had to bite her lip to keep from jerking Jesse away protectively. Victor knew exactly what he was doing, not fumbling around in the dark like a scared novice.
“My family is the most important thing in the world to me. If you’re hers, then that makes you mine too.” Smiling at the stunned look on Jesse’s face, Victor released him. “She’ll protect you, and I’ll protect her. There’s no reason to be afraid of me, because she’ll tack my hide to the side of VCONN if I even think about hurting you. Welcome to the Connagher family, Jesse.”
He straightened, his eyes flaring with surprise. “What?”
“She told you to call her if you needed help. So now you can call me too.” Victor offered a business card. Hesitantly, Jesse reached out to take it, as though he thought her brother might snap his head off. “That’s my personal number. Tomorrow, we’ll sit down and talk about what kind of job you may want, although…”
Dark eyes gleaming, Victor turned to Vicki and she groaned out loud. “I know that look, V. What are you thinking?”
“Let’s go upstairs and talk to Shiloh. I think we might be able to do something very interesting indeed to launch your line.”
“I don’t even know what I’m going to call it yet.” She kept her arm around Jesse’s waist as they walked out of Victor’s office and headed for the elevator. Nobody looked at her strangely, least of all her brother. It simply felt so good to touch Jesse, to feel him against her side and see the light in his eyes every time he looked at her. “I still need to design the signature gown. I had a new idea for Jesse today, but I never planned to include men’s wear.”
Victor opened the door to his penthouse suite and waved them inside. “That actually fits into what we’ve been talking about.”
“What have we been talking about?” Shiloh Holmes—soon to be Connagher—rose as they entered the main living room.
It was impossible not to smile when Shiloh entered a room. She brightened the area around her and lightened everyone’s spirits, but most of all, Victor’s. The hard edge of gloom in his eyes that had made Vicki worry for him so much had softened into the same kind of glow that came into Mama’s eyes anytime she talked about Daddy, even though he’d been gone for years.
“Your idea for building interest in Vicki’s line.”
Victor took his fiancée in his arms and kissed her with so much passion that Vicki had to turn away for a moment. Unfortunately, she turned toward Jesse. As though he felt the power of her gaze, he whipped his head around. His eyes gleamed, deep, inviting pools of blue-green. She started to drown in conflicting emotions. Desire. Worry. Fear. Her heartbeat thudded in her ears and she swayed, unconsciously pulling him closer.
At Mal’s booming hello from the hallway, Vicki jerked back, her cheeks heating. She couldn’t even seem to control herself in front of other people. Meanwhile, Jesse took one look at the statuesque black woman and darted behind Vicki. His palm burned through her shirt, heating her back.
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