by Lora Leigh
Pleasure was whipping through her senses, heat suffusing her flesh as a heightened sensitivity began building through her body. Every cell she possessed seemed to be demanding this touch.
This kiss. Everywhere.
Dazed, unbidden moans falling from her lips, she tried to follow as he eased back.
Lifting her heavy lashes, Alyssa stared up at him, shocked, her virginal senses pierced to the core.
“My turn.”
Alyssa shuddered, suddenly not certain of the bargain she’d made. But her Cowboy didn’t give her a chance to object. His lips were more demanding but no less gentle. Holding her to him as her Spanish jokester slid one hand from her thigh to her rear, cupped the flesh of her buttock and breathed a kiss against her spine; her Cowboy kissed her with dark, heady hunger.
The pleasure built, whipped through her, around her, spiraling through her senses and leaving her weak, unresisting to whatever they demanded. To whatever they desired.
As that knowledge whispered through her, the kiss was broken and she found herself back on her feet, swaying as powerful hands steadied her and two strangers stared down at her with a carnal hunger she’d never imagined possible.
“Siren, you should go.” His accent thicker than before, the one behind her pressed his forehead to her shoulder. “Before we do something all of us might regret jumping into too quickly.”
Her common sense snapped back into place.
Wrong place, wrong time, wrong … something.
God, she hoped they didn’t expect her to choose one of them from those kisses alone, because it wasn’t happening.
Easing from him, her knees weak, lips tingling, she stared back at them, and she wished things were different.
“Perhaps, one day,” she murmured. “But not tonight. As much as I wish lives and rules were different. Besides, knowing the divorcée’s reputation, she’ll no doubt be awaiting you once you retire tonight.”
She didn’t like the thought of that. Sebastian watched her lashes fall over her incredibly soft gaze to hide the flash of jealousy, but it was there.
“Or perhaps we’ll be awaiting you in your room,” he suggested.
“Not tonight.” She shook her head and stepped from them.
Reaching the entrance to the arbor, she looked back, gave them a long, regretful glance before turning and drifting away as though she were no more than the fantasy they had accused her of being.
She disappeared amid the fall of snow and twinkling lights, the color of her gown hiding her amid the white blanket covering the gardens.
“I believe my heart may be broken,” Shane murmured. “The rejection is devastating.”
“Rejection? I don’t accept rejection, Shane. Not from her.” Moving from the arbor, Sebastian stepped into the snow, moving to follow her.
Shane shook his head. Sebastian was rarely a volatile person, but that young woman had somehow managed to reach inside them into a hunger they hadn’t known they were capable of, he guessed.
“She’s young, ’Bastian,” he commented, sliding his hands into the pockets of his tuxedo slacks as he caught up with his cousin. “Perhaps too young.”
“I’ll find out.” Sebastian shrugged. “I’m betting not. Hell, Shane, have you ever wanted to taste a woman’s flesh as badly as you wanted to taste hers?” The edge of frustration in his voice was as telling as the brisk pace he was setting to catch up with her.
“You’ll frighten her, ’Bastian,” he cautioned. “She’s too young, too innocent.”
“And far too curious,” Sebastian muttered. “You saw it as well as I. Young and innocent, yes. Frightened? Hell no, she wasn’t. There wasn’t an ounce of fear in her.”
As they passed the entrance to the gardens they watched her slip into the ballroom, turning to cast a final glance toward them. There was no fear of the meeting in the garden being revealed, no fear of drawing the ire of the dark queen. But as the light reflected fully on Alyssa’s face Shane reached out and drew his cousin to a halt.
“I know who she is,” he drawled quietly, satisfaction filling him as he stared at the brightly lit ballroom and the guests milling about.
“Who?” Sebastian’s tension was a tangible thing.
Hell, she had both of them off balance, almost uncertain of themselves. A rather odd feeling, Shane admitted.
“The dark queen is her mother. There’s only one person in that damned ballroom that such a title applies to—”
“Fuck. She’s Margot Hampstead’s daughter.” Sebastian’s tone was a hard grumble. “Alyssa.”
“And shall I tell you what Landra was discussing with Cousin Jeb earlier?” Shane grinned.
Landra often discussed property decisions with her son, since her husband’s death the year before.
“Come on, Shane, get to it,” Sebastian demanded impatiently.
“Our little siren is indeed eighteen as of this past fall. In May she’ll be heading to Barcelona for three months, and Landra offered the Hampsteads use of her seaside apartment for their daughter,” he informed his cousin.
“Barcelona.” Irritation filled Sebastian’s voice now. “And you think I’ll be able to wait until May?”
“She’ll be there for three months. Come on, ’Bastian, it’s going to take us that long to finish the job we’ve taken. If we wait, we’ll have the summer with her. Let’s get this finished and then we’ll meet her there,” Shane assured him.
Like Sebastian, Shane found the thought of waiting was hell, though.
“We’ll be waiting for her,” Sebastian growled. “And if we don’t leave quickly, Shane, all bets are off. It’s all I can do to stay the hell away from her now.”
Shane well understood how he felt.
“We’re losing it.” He chuckled as he clapped Sebastian on the back. “Come on, let’s go break into Landra’s private bar and get a nice, strong drink. We’re overworked, Cousin. Otherwise, a woman wouldn’t have our dicks in a twist like this.”
Shrugging his shoulders, Sebastian turned and followed his cousin along a narrower part of the walk that led around the ballroom to a private entrance into the rear of the main house.
Staying away from the ballroom was imperative. Staying the hell away from one innocent little siren was without question. Whether exhaustion, stress, too many drinks, or too much excess, she’d suddenly began to embody every fantasy they’d ever had individually, or combined, of a woman. And that was very dangerous.
Right now, it was too damned dangerous.
He didn’t want to leave her. For some reason, one Sebastian couldn’t make sense of, he didn’t want to leave the United States without her. He wanted to slip her away, kidnap her pretty ass, and take her with them now.
Hell, what had she done to him?
“I think a little distance at the moment would be a good thing,” Shane suggested. “Perhaps we should meet the divorcée in her room and expend a bit of the lust driving us both crazy.” He blew out a hard breath then. “Fuck that. I can wait.”
There was a complete lack of desire for any other woman now. There was only Alyssa. Far too delicate, too innocent, and hiding a vein of sensuality that would burn them alive once it was ignited, Sebastian sensed.
“I say we head to Spain in the morning then.” If he waited, Sebastian knew there would be no staying away from her.
Even now, he wanted nothing more than to stride into the ballroom and sweep her into his arms. He wouldn’t stop to dance, though. He’d carry her from the mansion and rush her straight to the limo, where he’d order the driver to take them to the airport and the private plane awaiting them.
“I feel mesmerized, Shane,” he admitted with a rueful smile and a hard shake of his head. “Perhaps ‘siren’ isn’t far from the truth.”
“You’re not by yourself, Cousin,” Shane admitted, his tone far too serious. “You are not by yourself.”
Five months? Waiting was going to be hell.
2
FIVE MONTHS LATER
>
BARCELONA, SPAIN
The sea and the sun, a breeze as soft and sensual as a lover’s caress as the waves slid like silk over her skin. The warmth of the sun, the splash of the water, and the touch of a cooling breeze were more than just invigorating; it was like a magical touch of fantasy.
It was so different from home or the Riviera her mother preferred, or the Bahamas. The difference was one Alyssa couldn’t put her finger on, couldn’t describe, but how she wished she could.
Wading through the surf, she waved to a couple who called out to her. They lived in the apartment building Alyssa was staying in. The night before, when she’d arrived, the young man had helped her carry her luggage up. A bit later his girlfriend, Marissa, had walked with her to show her the market and shopping district.
Alyssa had expected Giana “Gia” Bennett, the daughter of one of her mother’s friends, to have already arrived. Landra had kept the summer rental across from Alyssa for the other girl. She and Gia had known each other for ages. They weren’t close, but Alyssa liked her.
“Alyssa, be certain to come down to the water tonight,” Roberto Santiago, her downstairs neighbor’s brother, called out. “The wine is free, the music is hot, and we will dance.”
Oh, she didn’t think so. She’d met Roberto the night before and she hadn’t been impressed by him in the least. She intended to be there for the music, though.
Throwing him a smile, she gave a quick shake of her head before laughing at his pout. Turning her gaze back to the beach, she came to a stop before ever fully stepping from the surf. A wave caught her just behind her knees, nearly throwing her off balance.
Not that she wasn’t already off balance.
At the waves’ farthermost edge they stood, like twin gods, one dark haired, one lighter. Shirtless, shoeless, dressed only in loose white pants, the cuffs rolled above their ankles, arms crossed over their chests.
Tall, leanly muscled, natural muscle. The kind that made a woman want to watch the sweat roll off their flesh as they did whatever manual labor had built their exceptional physiques. Then run hell-for-leather because they were guaranteed heartbreakers.
There was no escaping that risk if a woman made the mistake of spending even a small amount of time being charmed by their arrogant sensuality.
Her Goof and her Cowboy, she’d named them. Her fantasy. The men she’d dreamed about and ached for every night for the past five months.
And they’d found her.
She’d somehow known they would. Some part of her far-too-romantic heart had watched for them since the moment she’d met them that first night.
As the next wave hit harder behind her knees she drew in a deep breath, her heart racing, excitement rising inside her no matter her attempts to force it back. Moving to them, she gave them a knowing look, aware they were taking in every inch of pale flesh she was revealing in the incredibly brief two-piece bathing suit she wore.
When she drew abreast of them the lighter-haired sex god lowered his glasses just enough to peer at her over the top of the frame. “Hello, little siren. We’ve missed you.”
Oh, she just bet they had.
“What, Milly suddenly developed a few morals?” she asked pityingly. “How sad for you.” She almost laughed at the darker one’s mock glare. “So, what brings you to Barcelona?”
The sensual smile and sexual heat in Blondie’s black eyes sent a heat wave crashing over her. “We heard a siren was spotted in this very location,” he informed her, his expression failing at serious as his eyes twinkled with a gleam of laughter. “We couldn’t resist coming out to see this phenomenon ourselves.”
“Goof,” she accused him with a little spurt of laughter, “someone played a horrid trick on you. You should discuss it with them, because I haven’t seen a single siren in the area all day.”
Pushing her damp hair back from her face as the breeze pushed it playfully over her shoulder, she moved quickly around them and headed to the beach chair she’d secured into the sand earlier.
“If she doesn’t stop running from us we may have to spank her,” the faint Spanish accent sounded behind her.
Tossing her head, Alyssa turned, walking backward as she flashed them a teasing grin. “I never allow men whose names I don’t know to spank me. It’s completely against my personal code of ethics, you understand.”
Turning quickly, she closed the distance to the chair, snagged the thin, long shirt she’d worn over the bikini earlier, and shrugged it on.
She felt naked in front of them, her pale skin too sensitive beneath the looks she knew she was getting despite the dark glasses they wore.
“Allow us to rectify that.” Smooth, mesmerizing, his dark voice was like heady wine. “I am Sebastian De Loren.” Laying his hand against the middle of his chest, he gave her a slight bow. “And this ugly little man is my cousin Shane Connor.”
Ugly little man?
Shane scowled at him for a moment before shaking his head and turning the power of that little hint of a grin on her. “We only let him out of the facility every other week. Next week, I’ll have you to myself.”
Alyssa forced back what she knew would be a far too girlish giggle.
“Alyssa.” She inclined her head regally. “And I ask again, why are you here?”
She had a feeling she knew and the thought of them coming there for—
“Why, for you, siren.” That South Texas accent was just as potent as the Spanish one was. “Didn’t you believe Sebastian a moment ago? The moment we heard you’d be in Barcelona we rushed to make certain our schedules were clear for the summer to allow us to devote our time to you.”
Her heart was racing so fast it restricted her breathing for a moment. Men like this should simply be outlawed rather than running around loose and playing havoc with a woman’s self-control.
She tilted her head to the side. “And you found out I’d be here, how?”
“We have our ways, sweets.” Sebastian smiled down at her. “Did you think we wouldn’t do all we could to join you in this land where others’ rules need not apply?”
Where they could be with her, together. She finished the sentence for him as her breath caught in her lungs and her knees weakened in response to the rougher sound of his voice.
“I see,” she said softly, regretfully. “And how I wish I had the experience to play the games the two of you are so obviously very good at. Since I don’t, though, perhaps you should find another toy to play with.”
And she had no doubt that was all they would see her as. Another toy. She might not have sought to find out who they were, wanting to keep the fantasy as it was, but she wasn’t so innocent that she believed such experienced men would want more than a summer fling.
Gathering her towel and collapsing the chair, she pulled it from the sand and turned to head for the apartment. Before she realized what he was about, Shane had snagged the chair from her hand and Sebastian stared down at her woefully.
“Now, siren,” he chided her gently, “we came all this way simply to observe the phenomenon that is you. The least you could do is give us a kind word or two before sending us on our way.”
“I thought that was what I just did,” she pointed out, hiding her smile.
The chill she’d felt at the thought of walking away eased beneath the warmth in his gaze.
“Come on, darlin’.” Shane began walking slowly toward the apartment building just above the beach. “We brought wine, and Sebastian’s mother sent homemade tamales. They’re not to be missed.”
She gave Sebastian a narrow-eyed look. “Just came to see me, huh?”
He shrugged. “We are here, are we not? Why else would we come to such a crowded little beach when our family’s property holds several that are quite private?” He glanced around before giving her a considering look. “You could sunbathe nude on them if you wish.”
“Incorrigible,” she accused him before turning and rushing to catch up with Shane.
If she wasn’t very
damned careful these two were going to steal her heart before the night was out. She was turning out to be way too easy. And they were just the sort her mother had warned her about. The ones Margot had promised to have her institutionalized over if she dared bring one home.
She had a feeling Margot hadn’t been joking, either.
She had a feeling denying them was going to be far harder than her mother assured her it would be.
One winter night, for just a few minutes, the powerful effect they had on her had followed her into her dreams and her fantasies.
She had dreamed of them, wondered about them; now here they were. But just because she was fascinated with them and the forbidden pleasures they represented didn’t mean she had to be a pushover. Nor did it mean she was willing to become involved with what was guaranteed to result in a broken heart. She had a hard enough time dealing with Margot. She didn’t need more aggravation in her life. Not at a time when her struggle against her mother’s plans for her would take on a whole new meaning once she returned home after the summer. Alyssa had no intention of remaining in D.C. and playing the good little political daughter. She had her own life, her own dreams. And they didn’t include marrying for her father’s dream of the Oval Office, rather than her own dream of love, a home filled with children’s laughter and the quiet contentment she hadn’t known in so long.
“I imagine the two of you wouldn’t consider going away for just a few years,” she sighed. “We could pick this up somewhere after my twenty-fourth birthday.”
She imagined that would give her a few years away from Margot and time to figure out who she was and what she wanted. So far, she simply wasn’t certain.
“She’s cute, isn’t she?” Sebastian asked his cousin. “A bit unrealistic at moments, but really quite cute.”
“And you’re far too arrogant and superior,” she informed him as they crossed the remaining distance to the back of the apartment building. “And how do you know where I’m staying?”
“Sweets, it’s been five months,” Sebastian reminded her. “And you’re playing in my backyard so to speak. I knew where you’d be staying months before you arrived.”