by Decadent
“Jack!” Morgan scolded her husband and flushed twenty shades of angry red.
“Oh, hell. I’m sorry.” Jack slapped him on the shoulder, his face contrite. “I feel like such an ass.”
“You are,” he growled. What else could he do? Jack hadn’t known his someone to protect was a female. He hadn’t known Kimber was within earshot when he’d opened his mouth. At the end of the day, none of this shit was Jack’s fault, Deke acknowledged.
It was his own.
Jack reached out a hand to Kimber, steadying her as she stepped onto the little wooden dock. “Welcome, miss. I know you’re going through a tough time, but Deke is one of the best in the personal security business. Here, in the middle of nowhere, with him . . . there’s nowhere safer.”
With a reluctant, wide-eyed nod, Kimber shook Jack’s hand. He reached around to her elbow to guide her up the little platform, illuminated in the humid, hazy evening by a single sixty-watt bulb.
“Thank you,” she said finally.
Jack shook Luc’s hand briefly, then helped Kimber inside. Deke watched the little party head indoors and wondered what the hell would happen next. Now that he had Kimber away from this bomb-building asshole, he had to face reality. One, he cared about her far more than he should. Two, she’d apparently broken off her engagement, which his hungry cock told his easily duped brain made her fair game. Three, he and Luc were going to be confined to this four-room cottage with her for days, perhaps weeks. Four, he wanted Kimber more than he had ever wanted anything or anyone in his life.
This has disaster written all over it.
Wiping a hand across his weary face, Deke reluctantly moved toward the cabin. A soft hand on his forearm held him back. Morgan.
At one time, Deke had wondered if he wasn’t half in love with the vivacious, submissive redhead, even though she was strictly Jack’s and they’d been married nearly three months. In the past, anytime he entered a room Morgan occupied, she’d get a rise out of him, and he’d feel the bite of desire in thirty seconds or less.
Three minutes ago, watching Kimber, despite her wariness and shock, he’d forgotten Morgan was even in the same state.
Again, it spoke volumes—and he absolutely didn’t want to know what those tomes said.
“God, I’m so sorry Jack opened his big mouth. That girl, she’s more than a friend.”
He looked away from Morgan’s searching blue gaze. “It doesn’t matter.”
“The hell it doesn’t. Do you love this girl?”
“I can’t.”
“You don’t want to. But do you?”
Deke cursed, refusing to even think of the answer.
Damn, why did Morgan insist on dredging this up? He’d rather string himself up by the balls with barbed wire.
“You’re turning slightly green, so I’ll take that as a yes,” she said dryly. “Does she know about you and Luc and . . . ?”
“Yeah, she knows.” He swallowed. “And I’ve got to stop thinking about Kimber. It’s just wrong for me to want her.”
“If you recall, I thought the same about Jack not too long ago. As it turned out, he was exactly what I needed.”
True, but happy endings weren’t going to happen for him. He’d been around the block enough to know that fairy tales could turn to nightmares in the blink of an eye.
“I’m not what she needs.” Far from it. He sighed. “It might be hours, or if I’m really strong, days before I can’t resist anymore. But this bastard threatening her has put me in a corner too, and it’s not likely she’ll be a virgin much longer. Once that happens . . . I’ll destroy her.”
Surprise filtered across Morgan’s sweetly freckled face. “Or you might make each other whole. If your heart is drawing you to her, there’s a reason. Maybe you should just see where it leads.”
KIMBER woke after a few hours of sleep in the cabin’s lone bed, cuddled against Luc’s solid warmth. Deke was nowhere in sight. Last night, like the days she’d stayed with the guys in East Texas, he’d slept elsewhere.
He wasn’t detached; he was scared. Something, feminine instinct maybe, told her that. He wasn’t avoiding her as much as he was trying to hold himself at arm’s length.
She wished to hell she knew why and what to do.
But now that the guys had brought her out to the middle of nowhere, she had lots of time to figure it out, she supposed.
As soon as she could find some peace of mind. As soon as she had some news about her dad.
Jack Cole, the cabin’s owner, had explained last night that getting a cell phone signal in the middle of the swamp was nearly impossible, so she was welcome to use the cabin’s phone.
Rolling away from Luc, who grunted in protest in his sleep, Kimber rose and padded into the kitchen. Predawn filtered dingy gray light through the cabin’s huge picture windows. Deke wasn’t on the couch he’d insisted sleeping on last night. But she spied him out on the patio, looking out over the swamp, coffee in one hand. A frown dominated the sharp angles of his face.
She sighed. Later. She’d have to deal with him—her heart wasn’t going to let her turn her back on the problem, but first things first.
Lifting the receiver, she called Logan’s cell phone. He answered on the first ring.
“Kimber?”
“Hi, Logan.”
“You okay?”
“Fine. How’s Dad?”
“Stable so far, thank God. His injuries would have killed a lesser man, but he’s proven very hardy these first critical hours. They’re cautiously optimistic.”
Kimber let out a huge sigh of relief. “Oh, that’s fabulous news. Wonderful. I worried all night.”
“No need. Deke called me a few hours ago to check status. He didn’t tell you?”
“I . . .” She wasn’t about to admit to her brother that Deke did everything humanly possible to avoid her. “I was asleep.”
“So you’re where? I’m getting no display on my caller ID.”
“Somewhere in Louisiana. In the middle of a swamp. That’s all I know.”
“Deke said something similar when I talked to him. Honey, I know it’s none of my business, and I had no right to treat you like a teenager, but I have to know . . . are you going to be okay with the two of them?”
Who knew? It all depended on how badly Deke broke her heart. Tears stung her eyes, squeezing out the corners. She was tired and overwrought and ached so badly for a man who refused to want her and wouldn’t say why.
“Fine. If anything changes with Dad’s condition, call here.”
“Ten-four. Likewise, call me if you need anything. Anything.”
His offer of counsel was implicit, but impossible. With a murmured thanks, she hung up the phone. Even her sigh shook, she noted wryly. This week had been a killer . . . and it wasn’t over yet.
“Everything okay back home?”
Luc. Kimber whirled to face him. He looked sexy and sleep-tousled, and her heart melted like chocolate in sunshine when she saw him. More tears filled her gritty eyes.
“Fine,” she managed to get out between sniffles.
“Come back to bed, sweetheart. You need more sleep.”
Maybe. But she didn’t think it was that simple. “Would you just hold me?”
His face softened. “Anytime.”
Tucking her hand in his, he led her back to the darkened bedroom, eased her onto the soft, creamy sheets, and cuddled her against his body. This close, chest to chest, legs tangled, she couldn’t miss his erection.
She tensed.
“I’m not going to touch you,” he promised. “Not if you don’t want to be touched.”
Relaxing against him again, Kimber couldn’t deny that she was oddly relieved. It wasn’t Luc. He was sexy, sweet. In bed, compelling. He had this . . . intensity she saw flashes of—so far removed from the nice guy he seemed to be on the surface. There were layers here. Hidden but so obvious. Lord knew he could make her dissolve, set her on fire, make her feel as if she’d crawl out of her ski
n for satisfaction . . . right before he delivered.
But at the moment, Kimber had another man on her mind.
“You’re thinking too hard and not sleeping.” He kissed her temple. “What is it?”
She hesitated. Would talking too much about Deke and her confusion hurt Luc’s feelings?
“Okay, I’ll fill in the blanks,” he said into her silence. “Your dad is going to be okay, based on your phone call. Right?”
“I think so. It’s a big relief.”
“Good. So the next thing screwed up in your life is all this crap with Jesse. But you left him; he didn’t leave you. If you ended the engagement, it’s because you don’t love him. It doesn’t seem like you had a hard time giving up Jesse as a potential life partner.”
“I didn’t. His life . . . I couldn’t live like that. I quickly realized that he didn’t love me; he loved the idea of me. My purity and innocence was somehow supposed to save him from his out-of-control, rock-star existence.”
“And you knew better. Smart girl.” He kissed her mouth gently, almost in praise. “So once the press latches onto the next bit of celebrity gossip, the reporters hounding you won’t be an issue anymore.”
“Probably true.”
“You’re not upset about Logan’s reaction to Deke and I being with you at the hospital. You told him that your personal life is none of his business. You’re too smart to take any guilt he might give you.”
“He’s fine with it now. He more or less apologized this morning.”
Luc nodded sagely, soft fingers brushing her hair away from her face. “I doubt the status of your nursing exams would have you near tears.”
“No,” she admitted, trying to hold back even more tears.
“So, you’re not telling me that you love Deke because you’re afraid it would hurt my feelings.”
Kimber bounced a shocked gaze up to Luc’s indulgent smile. Damn, the man was smart.
“It’s fine. You’ve known him longer. It stood to reason that you’d fall for him first. In time, I think you’ll come to love me, too. For now, I take your feelings for Deke as a good sign.”
“It’s bad!” she cried against his chest. “My feelings don’t matter. Once the immediate crisis of the explosion was over, Deke went back to business as usual. He refuses to be in the same room with me, so what does it matter if the man has my heart?”
“You know he wants you. I’m pretty damn sure he loves you, too.”
God, how she wished that was true. But wishing wouldn’t make it reality, and she had to come to grips with the chasm he purposely kept between them. “I think he cares. But he’s not going to act on it. Something . . . some fear, it stands in his way.”
Luc nodded. “Yes, but you can make him face it and get over it.”
Had he suddenly turned stupid? “How? I don’t know what it is.”
“You don’t have to know,” he soothed. “He’ll tell you. Get him to make love to you, and before too long, he’ll tell you everything.”
“But I can’t get him to make love to me.” More tears came, and Kimber shook her head. Damn, she hated this crybaby stuff. It wasn’t her style. But she’d never had such an emotional week. “I laid under the man, nearly naked, and offered—begged—him to make love to me. And he didn’t. His will is stronger than his desire.”
Luc dropped another soft, soothing kiss on her mouth. “Not true. He’s just . . . hung up.”
“Yeah, on my virginity!” She sighed and wiped hot tears off her cheeks. “Maybe . . . if he knew I didn’t have it anymore—Maybe if you took it . . .”
He groaned. “Oh, you’re killing me, sweetheart. Killing me.” As if to prove his point, Luc rolled her to her back and nudged his hard cock against her. “I would love to be your first and be honored . . . You don’t know how much. But I think Deke needs this.”
Kimber opened her mouth to question Luc, but he placed a finger over her lips to silence her. “Again, his story to tell.”
“Then we’re doomed,” she snapped. “Because that man is not going to give in.”
“He will. I think he’s on the edge right now.”
Luc paused and propped himself up on his elbows and looked down at her with a solemn expression. “The minute I told Deke what had happened, he grabbed his car keys and ran out the door. I had to run a footrace to make it to his Hummer before he peeled out of the garage. The entire trip to your dad’s place he made phone calls, cursed, prayed. He drove a hundred miles an hour, at least, and gripped the steering wheel so tightly, I was surprised he had any blood flow left in his fingers. I thought he was going to come undone before we reached you and found out you weren’t seriously hurt.”
What did that mean? Kimber looked up at Luc, lashes fluttering, mind racing. In her book, that indicated that he cared. More than cared. But how much more?
“I’ve never seen him like that,” he added.
Luc was trying to tell her that Deke loved her. Why? Everything seemed hopeless, since Deke himself would never tell her that.
“Let’s pretend for a minute that he . . .”
“Loves you,” Luc supplied, cutting into her hesitation. “Okay.”
“It seems like time and patience is the only way out of this dilemma.”
“Maybe not.” Luc shifted, rubbing her lower lip with his thumb. “I have an idea, but it’s a gamble. A big one,” he admitted. “To agree to it, you’d have to trust me completely.”
“I do. But wouldn’t it just be easier for you to tell me his secret, and I could pretend I didn’t know?”
“You couldn’t pretend your way around this. Besides, that wouldn’t help Deke deal with it, and he needs to.”
Kimber was curious as hell, but point taken. “All right. If I took your gamble, I’d have to trust you. What else?”
A small smile. Another soft kiss. “You’d have to be totally committed. And willing to deal with the consequences if he doesn’t take the bait.”
The gravity of Luc’s words grabbed at Kimber’s stomach and pulled hard. He was deadly serious.
She let loose a shaky breath. “Could it backfire?”
His expression said that he didn’t want to admit the truth, but he wasn’t going to lie. “Yes.”
“But you think it will convince him to overcome his fear of being with me?”
For a long moment, he fell silent. “No guarantees, but I think it’s our best chance.”
Luc wasn’t pushing, but Kimber could tell he was definitely hoping she’d agree to his grand plan. “If I do this, what’s in it for you? Deke said once you were hoping I’d stick around for marriage and babies.”
“Guilty.” He had the good grace to flash her a sheepish smile. “I’d love those things, and I think you’d be perfect in our lives. But ultimately, if you disagree, I think you can at least help make Deke whole. Besides being my cousin, he’s also my best friend.”
And he didn’t have to say that he loved Deke as both a family member and a friend. Concern and caring softened his dark gaze. Kimber didn’t need to think twice. “Then fill me in on the details. Let’s go for it.”
Chapter Thirteen
THE summer afternoon baked inside Jack’s swamp hideaway. Deke’s shirt clung to his skin. It was humid, hot. Very hot.
And not just the weather.
In deference to the heat—or just to drive him insane—Kimber drifted around the kitchen dressed in a little white robe, so thin it was damn near see-through. Auburn hair streamed down her back in soft waves that begged his fingers to tease them. The air of no-nonsense, afraid-of-nothing challenge that she wore like comfortable clothes turned Deke on. That same quality infused her gaze now. Half of him respected the hell out of her for it; the other half wanted to show her exactly why she should lose the bravado and be very afraid.
Unfortunately, Kimber wasn’t just unique, daring, or smart. She was downright mouthwatering, too. Her peaches and cinnamon scent lingered every time he got near her. It made him hungry, hard.
And he was getting damn weak.
Blowing out a shaky breath, he walked into the attached den to escape Kimber’s come-hither stare and the temptation she represented. It was going to be a long few days or weeks until Jack and Logan could get to the bottom of this situation with the Colonel’s bomb-setting freak. And until then, for her protection, Deke knew that he, Kimber, and Luc weren’t leaving this place.
Her sudden, sweet laugh carried across the room and snagged his attention again, latched onto his cock. Resisting the urge to watch her was impossible.
With a curse, Deke turned back. She talked to Luc, who, shirtless and smiling, chopped something Deke assumed would be part of dinner eventually. And Kimber was lapping up his every word, flirting, her gaze licking at the bulge of his shoulders, the solid slabs of his pecs.
In return, Luc nuzzled her neck, whispered something in her ear. Kimber shivered and curled against his cousin.
Goddamn it—he didn’t need this!
But he was lying. He did need this—sex—her. The reality was, she didn’t need it. It was up to him to be the grown-up and exercise control. Save her from herself and what she only half understood.
Deke turned away and flipped on the TV, determined to distract himself and the erection screaming for her. Whatever Kimber and Luc did, they could do alone. It was no big deal to him. If they wanted to make googly eyes at each other, fine.
Brave words. But all through Seinfeld, Deke kept glancing over his shoulder. Luc and Kimber together . . . it wasn’t fine. It was twisting his stomach, whipping up fury. The same old lies he’d been telling himself weren’t working anymore.
Luc finished chopping whatever green stuff he’d been making into edible pieces and set it in a bowl. He stored it in the fridge, then closed the door with a sway of his hips and a salacious smile for Kimber.
If that wasn’t enough to make Deke want to break something, Luc drew her into his arms, his fingers making their way down her narrow back to the soft curve of her hips. Then he kissed her, a sexy linger of lips on her neck, a slow layering of his mouth over hers. Kimber melted, molding against him, arching her head back into his waiting hand and baring more of her graceful neck. Luc took full advantage of her tempting skin under his lips and nibbled at her. She moaned in his arms.