Behind Closed Doors (The Mccloud Series Book 1)

by Shannon McKenna

  “What happens to the pirate queen and the captured sailor.”

  “Oh.” She laughed, breathless and charmed by his mischievous grin. “I, um, don’t know the rest yet,” she admitted.

  “I do. Sailor stud is so insatiably hot in bed, he fucks the pirate queen senseless. Totally blows her mind. Nobody’s ever given her such good head before. She loses it. She gets swept away. She falls in love.”

  He had never used that word before. The scary word. The L-word.

  Raine clenched her arms and legs around him and licked her lips, tried to remember how to speak. “That’s terribly dangerous,” she said. “She shouldn’t compromise her power like that. It’s sure to be her ruin.”

  “Yeah, I know, but the poor chick can’t help it. She just goes nuts when he touches her like this.” He reached between them and rolled his thumb tenderly around her clitoris, making her gasp and heave against him. “She loves it when he thrusts his cock inside her, all the way, like this, and stirs her around…and around, like a nice, big stick…see? Hitting all her sweet little love buttons, inside and out. She’s just got to have it. He’s too good. She’s hooked….”

  She cried out, losing the thread of the story as the deep thrusting of his shaft within her combined with his clever, skilful fingers to provoke another sensual explosion inside her.

  When she opened her eyes, he was waiting patiently, staring down at her. He folded her legs up and rose up onto his knees for a better view as he withdrew. He slid just the head of his cock up, down, all around her clitoris, in a tender, highly stimulating caress.

  Raine tried to make her trembling lips form words. “She’s sexy and insatiable, yes, but she’s tough, too,” she said shakily. “She wouldn’t let herself be controlled by sex, no matter how amazing it is. She’s more than just an overheated body. She has a brain, you know. Otherwise she wouldn’t be top dog.”

  “Yeah, but don’t forget. She has a heart, too.”

  Raine stared into his eyes, speechless.

  Seth nudged himself inside her body once again. “That’s what gets her, see. Her heart. Sailor stud finds the key to it. He gets past her armor, sees all her secret wounds. He understands why she’s such a scary, bad-ass babe, why she thinks that she needs all that control. He finds the vulnerable woman inside, and for the first time ever…he makes that woman feel safe.”

  “Oh,” she gasped.

  He slid a hand beneath her buttocks, lifting her so he could wedge himself still deeper. “But it goes both ways,” he said. “Sailor stud is in bad trouble. He’s never had it so good, see? He’s almost willing to just surrender. Almost willing to settle for a life of humiliating captivity, just so he can have that red-hot, sex-crazed pirate queen lather him up and ride him into screaming oblivion every night. And before he knows it, crash, bam. He’s in love with her, too.”

  She reached up, gripped his shoulders and hung on for dear life. “A disaster,” she said. “What a dilemma.”

  “Hell, yeah. It’s nightmare for the poor bastard. His heart is being squeezed in a fucking vise.” Seth slid inside her in a slow, heavy lunge.

  Raine squeezed her eyes shut. “What…what does sailor stud decide?” She held her breath. The fate of her whole world might hang upon his answer. Or then again, maybe not. Maybe it was just another game for him. She couldn’t know, or guess. She could only feel.

  She opened her eyes when she felt his hand against her face, and was immediately lost in the intensity of his dark gaze. He pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. His fingers brushed her cheek, soft and reverent. “I don’t know the rest of the story yet. I’m making it up as I go along, too, Raine. Just like you.”

  His shaky, uncertain tone made her heart turn over with terrified joy. “Well, um, the pirate henchmen are getting restless,” she said, trying for an airy tone. “They’re crazed with jealousy for sailor stud—”

  “Because pirate queen wants him all to herself. She won’t let them watch. Not even once.” His eyes dared her to argue with him.

  “Not even once,” she conceded gently. “The door to her cabin is locked, and she covers up all the spy-holes in the wall.”

  “So they know their perfect world is threatened. Their goddess, their whole reason for being, has been seduced away from them.” He scooped the nape of her neck into his big, warm hand, smoothing her hair over the pillow. “They want things the way they were before. They want their goddess back, but she’s changed. You can’t turn back time. You can’t stop a force of nature. You can’t stop love.”

  “No,” she whispered, in total agreement. “You can’t.”

  He moved inside her, melting her heart with the powerfully erotic sweetness of their lovemaking. He draped her arms over his neck, sliding his arms beneath her shoulders.

  “Hold on tight,” he said. “Listen carefully. This is how it goes. Pirate henchmen hatch a plot to tie up sailor stud hand and foot and throw him overboard, but pirate queen gets wind of it at the very last moment. She dives into the ocean with her dagger clenched between her teeth, grabs him before he sinks, and cuts his bonds. Even though the crew has mutinied, and she knows that she and sailor stud will be left out there in the drink…shark chow.”

  She tried to smile, but her mouth was trembling “Oh, come on,” she protested. “She would never do that. You’re pushing it, Seth.”

  “He gives truly excellent head,” Seth explained. He pulled out of her and slid down the length of her body, splaying her legs wide, and proceeded to illustrate his point. He took her clitoris delicately between his teeth and flicked his tongue across it, skillfully, without stopping.

  The pleasure went on and on, and finally she seized as much of his short, silky hair as she could grasp and tugged. “OK, OK,” she pleaded. “She’ll jump into the sea, she’ll fight sharks with her dagger, she’ll do anything, I promise. Just come back inside me, please. I need your arms around me.”

  Seth rubbed his face against her thigh and nuzzled her navel, kissing his way slowly up her body with hot, wet, sucking kisses. He got distracted when he reached her breasts, and stayed there, suckling and licking until she was writhing with delirious frustration, struggling to yank him up to where she needed him.

  Finally, he was back on top of her, covering her with his heat. He pushed inside her, panting, and stopped, looking perplexed. “So what happens to them? Do they drown, or get chomped by sharks, or what?”

  Raine jerked beneath him in protest. “God, no! How could you even say such a thing?”

  “Sorry. I’m a cynical realist. So sue me.”

  She thought for a moment, and looked straight into his eyes. “They wash up in a tropical paradise, and live in primeval splendor on coconuts and mangos and barbecued fish,” she said. “They spend the rest of their lives frolicking in the surf, playing on the beach and making passionate love in a ten-room hut made of palm fronds.”

  “Oh, yeah?” There was an anxious frown line between his eyes.

  She pulled his face down to hers and kissed it gently. “Oh, yeah,” she said softly. “He spends his time spearing fish, gathering fruit and making garlands of tropical flowers for her.”

  He looked doubtful. “Garlands of flowers? Come on, Raine.”

  “Keep in mind he’s not the only one who gives excellent head.”

  He grinned. “OK. Garlands of flowers. You want ’em, you got ’em. Big, smelly piles of them.”

  “They sit beneath the swaying palms in the evening, watching the sun set,” Raine said softly. “They leave the violence and ugliness of the world behind. They let go of the pain and betrayal in their past, and give themselves to each other, body, heart and soul. No more power games, no more lies, no more manipulation. Just passion and truth and tenderness. He gives it all to her, and she gives everything to him.”

  Emotion vibrated between them like a taut silver wire.

  “That’s a good ending,” he whispered. “That ending works for me.”

  “It’s not an ending,
Seth.” She covered his face with tiny kisses. “It’s a beginning.”

  They stared into each others’ eyes. Both lost, both terrified. Only he could save her, only she could save him. She was swimming with sharks, a dagger between her teeth. Tears sprang into her eyes.

  His arms tightened. “No,” he pleaded. “Please, sweetheart. Have mercy. I’m too far out to sea tonight. You cry on me, and I’ll lose it.”

  She pressed her face against his neck, burying her tears where he couldn’t see them. “I wouldn’t mind if you lost it,” she whispered. “You’re safe with me, Seth. I’ll hold you together.”

  “Please, don’t.” He hid his face against her hair. “Not here. Not in this house. Not so close to him.”

  Seth was right. There was a loaded gun lying next to their bed. This was not the time or place to make that fearless dive into the infinite.

  “Distract me, then,” she ordered him. “Quick.”

  He cradled her face and kissed her. “OK. Ah, sunsets on the beach. Garlands of flowers. I give it all to you, you give it all to me.” His hand trembled as he stroked her hair. “No more games.”

  She kissed him back, holding him as close as she could. “All right. Give it all to me, Seth,” she whispered. “I want all of you.”

  They pulled away from the perilous brink of the unknown. They gave themselves up to wild, soaring pleasure instead. And it was enough for now, surging and melting together into the swirling red heart of their own private tropical sunset.

  Chapter 18

  The monitor that should have shown four different camera angles of the tower room was blank and dark.

  Victor turned away with a chuckle. He wasn’t disappointed that he would not witness the intimacy between his niece and her lover. It would have been inappropriate anyway, though the thought made him laugh at himself. Such scruples, all of a sudden. How odd.

  On the contrary, he was quietly pleased that the young man was astute enough to protect his privacy, and Katya’s. He could not think of the girl as Lorraine, or even Raine, no matter what she preferred. Wretched name. Alix must have chosen it. It smacked of her taste.

  Yes, intelligence and territorial instincts were exactly what he wanted in a self-appointed and highly motivated bodyguard for his niece, now that Novak had been so bold as to indicate an unhealthy interest in her. All Victor needed was to find some way to ratchet up Mackey’s protective instincts to a higher pitch without compromising his own all-important security. A challenging puzzle, but he was confident that the solution would present itself soon.

  Mackey was not a bad match for Katya, he reflected. He was seething with repressed anger, of course, but most men were if you scratched their surfaces. He was smart, successful and aggressive. Careful background research had revealed that his childhood had been of the squalid urban variety, but he had pulled himself out of the tar somehow. He was a self-made man, which Victor respected. Rather like Victor himself. Rough around the edges, but what he lacked in polish he made up for in sheer ruthlessness. And Katya was more than strong enough to handle him, whether she knew it yet or not. All she needed was a whip and a chair, and a little bit of practice.

  The intercom made a melodious ding. He clicked the line open.

  “Mr. Lazar, it’s Riggs again.” Mara’s husky alto voice was as soft as the brush of costly sable across his skin. “I told him several times that you didn’t wish to be disturbed, but he’s at the Severin Bay Marina, asking to be brought over to the island.”

  A glimmer of an idea began to take form in his mind, chasing away his irritation at Riggs’s presumption. “Wake up Charlie. Tell him to go pick Riggs up. Then bring him here, to me.”

  “To the control room?” Mara sounded discreetly astonished.

  “Yes. And Mara?”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “You have a lovely speaking voice,” he told her.

  There was a long, startled silence. “Ah…thank you, sir.”

  He lit a cigarette and settled himself to wait, letting his mind clear to examine possible solutions to his dilemma. All too soon, he heard the heavy clump of the man’s boots outside the door. Then the subtler click of Mara’s heels. The door opened, and the stink of bourbon that exuded from Riggs’s pores reached across the room. The man was much reduced, and failing fast. His usefulness was drawing to a close.

  Mara’s heels clicked delicately into the distance. Victor did not even bother to turn from his view of the video monitors. “It is uncharacteristically stupid, even for you, to come here,” he said.

  “You ignore my messages.” Riggs’s voice vibrated with tension. “I didn’t know what else to do.”

  Victor snorted.

  “You don’t seem to understand how dangerous the situation is. She saw me today! Peter’s daughter was at the Cave, talking to Haley, asking questions! She has to be taken care of, Victor. I should have done it seventeen years ago, but Alix…God, I’m sorry, but it just has to be done. I know she’s your niece, but you have to admit—”

  “I do not have to do anything.” Victor’s tone cut off Riggs’s monologue, and he panted, waiting like the whipped dog he was for permission to continue speaking. Victor took a leisurely drag on his cigarette. “Perhaps what happened seventeen years ago has given you a mistaken impression of me, Edward. The truth is, I really do prefer not to kill members of my own family, if I can possibly avoid it.”

  “You didn’t mind throwing my team into Novak’s trap, though,” Riggs snarled. “Didn’t lose any sleep over that decision, did you?”

  “Ah.” Victor blew out a perfect smoke ring, watched it disintegrate. “Still sulking about that, are you?”

  “Cahill died in that fuck-up. Badly. McCloud was in a coma for two months. He’s still gimping around like a cripple. Two of my best agents, damn it. That whole thing really sucked for me, Victor. Yeah, you could say that I’m still sulking.”

  “We’ve been through this, Edward. I didn’t hurt those men. Novak did. Besides, you should have controlled your men better. You shouldn’t have let them get so close,” he chided. “You inconvenienced an extremely important client of mine. Take responsibility for your part in that fiasco, my friend.”

  “I am not your friend,” Riggs rasped.

  Victor spun in his chair and smiled at him. “Are you my enemy, then? Think before you answer, Edward. I make a very bad enemy.”

  Riggs’s throat worked. His bloodshot eyes were desperate and haunted. “Victor, you don’t understand. She saw me. And she reacted.”

  Victor’s smile was pitiless. “Your problem.”

  “It’s your problem, too!”

  “Not at all. I have nothing to lose, really,” Victor reminded him. “But you have so much. Your career, your reputation, your standing in the community. And let’s not forget your lovely wife, your daughters—”

  “Are you threatening me?”

  Victor clucked his tongue. “Threatening? Is it threatening to take a friendly interest in a colleague’s personal life? It’s been such a pleasure, following the progress of your charming girls. I was so happy for you and Barbara when Erin graduated from the University of Washington. Lovely girl, with that long dark hair, and such graceful bone structure. She takes after your attractive wife. So intelligent, too. Highest honors in art history and archaeology, if memory serves. Magnificent young woman. I congratulate you.”

  “Stay the fuck away from my family.” Riggs’s face was purple with impotent fury.

  “And the little one, Cindy. More lively than Erin. I confess, she’s my personal favorite. She’s given you some sleepless nights, hasn’t she? Oh, I’m sorry, Edward…I forgot. All your nights are sleepless now.”

  “Goddamn you,” Riggs muttered.

  “Pretty little Cindy, just starting her sophomore year at Endicott Falls Christian College, and on a full band scholarship, too. I hear she’s quite the talented saxophonist. Three-zero grade point average, they tell me. In my opinion, she could apply herself a bit more. B
ut she’s such a party girl. Youthful high spirits, and all. Girls will be girls.”

  Riggs dropped into a chair and turned away, but Victor was relentless. “And Barbara seems to be burying herself in community service lately. Or is all this philanthropic activity just her way of compensating for the fact that she’s married to a whoring, murdering drunk? She must sense the truth, even if she doesn’t know it consciously. Women always do.”

  “No,” Riggs moaned, putting his head in his hands. “No.”

  “I’m sure that even after sixteen years, Barbara would be very much interested in the content of certain high-resolution video footage that I possess. Hours of you fucking my ex-sister-in-law, and in the most imaginative ways, too. Bizarre positions—oral, anal, what have you. And you, a law enforcement agent with a perfect family.” Victor shook his head sadly. “Come to think of it, your daughters might be startled by that video footage as well,” he added.

  “You fucked her, too, you hypocritical bastard,” Riggs hissed.

  “Certainly. Who didn’t? But I tired of her in about ten minutes. She was empty, Edward. Knock, knock, but there was nobody home, eh? Not like Barbara. Now there is a woman of substance. Worth the trouble. Wasted on you, if you ask me.”

  “Do not speak my wife’s name.” Riggs sounded defeated.

  “Ah, Alix.” Victor clucked his tongue. “She may have been an avaricious slut with no scruples, but she served her purpose well.”

  Riggs sat down heavily in front of the video bank, took off his glasses and rubbed his reddened eyes. Victor concluded that he had pushed far enough. Time for a new tactic. He got up and poured a glass of scotch from the decanter on the sideboard. Riggs’s head rose at the sound of liquor gurgling into the glass, like a dog coming to point.

  “What do you want from me this time?” he asked dully.

  Pathetic. Yes, Riggs’s usefulness was definitely near the end.

  Victor handed Riggs the glass. “To start with, you can relax. Don’t take it all so seriously. Life is to be enjoyed, not agonized over.”