Decadent (11 page)

folds.

“I’m dying to make you scream,” Luc murmured. “Once you ache so badly you’re ready to beg.”

“Luc, now. Please.” She groaned and clutched her fingers in his hair. “Please!”

“Soon, sweetheart. Let it build.”

Her head thrashed from side to side. “Can’t take more.” Kimber’s pleading clawed at Deke’s gut.

“You can. A little more…”

Luc withdrew his fingers from her wet, swollen pussy to caress her thighs, her abdomen—and ignoring her hips when she thrust them his way. Deke couldn’t Shayla Black Decadent ignore it. Wouldn’t. He took a step into the room, hand pushing at his sweat shorts, shoving them down to his hips, intent, savage with hunger.

Fuck her.
He needed to—had to get inside her and sink deep. Be the first one.

Now.

“Luc…touch me.”

Her throaty cry seared Deke, bringing him out of his daze of desire. She’d asked for his cousin to touch her, not for him to fuck her.
Holy shit.
What was he thinking?

Nothing he should be thinking. In fact, he shouldn’t be here, wanting to be inside her. Claiming her. Worse, hoarding her and taking her from the man whose name she called. Only bad things would happen if he had sex with Kimber. He’d taken a virgin before and knew that for a fact.

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Deke yanked up his shorts, turned, and stalked down the hall, barely holding in an ugly curse. Two weeks with Kimber here… He’d never last without fucking her, without destroying her.

The kitchen tile slapped cool against his bare feet as he entered the room and grabbed the coffee beans from the pantry. He glanced at the bag. Chocolate caramel truffle. Pansy-ass flavored coffee. Whatever happened to just coffee? He slammed the pantry door.

Tossing the bag on the counter next to the coffeemaker, Deke paused.

“Luc!”

Another plea from Kimber.
Hell
. He squeezed his eyes shut and let out a ragged breath.

Shayla Black Decadent A moment later, he flipped open the coffeemaker’s lid; it cracked and popped off, making a plastic crunch sound that couldn’t be good. Then the damn thing tumbled to the floor.

Cursing again, Deke grabbed the edge of the counter. Every muscle in his body was tense, all the way from his brows slashing down over narrowed eyes to his toes curled into the Italian slate beneath them.

Get your shit together
, he castigated himself and fit the lid back on the coffeemaker, filled it with grounds and water, then flipped the on switch.

At the same time, Luc apparently flipped Kimber’s switch.

“Oh, Luc!” she cried out, followed by a long, tortured groan. So she’d come finally—under Luc’s hands, fueled by Luc’s touch. Why the hell did that make Deke want to hit something? Or someone? He’d be better off not examining it too hard.

94

Instead, he watched the coffee drip, doing his best to keep his mind perfectly blank and focused on the task at hand—nice little Special Ops trick he could thank the army for.

A few minutes later, Luc emerged from his room in crisp jeans, shirt in hand, and wandered down the hall, his posture relaxed. And no visible raving hard-on.

“Morning.”

“Did she get you off with her hands or mouth?” The question was out of Deke’s mouth before he could stop it. It wasn’t any of his business. Knowing wouldn’t change Kimber’s moans of pleasure still ringing in his ears or the visible satiation softening his cousin’s face.

Luc propped his hip against the kitchen counter, crossed his arms over his chest, and quirked a dark brow. Before Luc could answer, Deke said, “Never mind. It doesn’t matter.”

Shayla Black Decadent He busied himself grabbing cups in the cupboard above, then retrieving the sugar and cream for Luc. All the while, he felt his cousin’s gaze on him, sizing up the situation, deciding how best to reply. Crafty bastard.

“Neither.”

Something of a nonanswer. And damn it, Luc’s face gave away nothing. All of Kimber’s pleading… Luc hadn’t been working his way inside of Kimber when he’d peeked in on them— but he also hadn’t stayed for the grand finale. Had he…?

“You didn’t fuck her.” Deke stated his question as fact, hoping that could somehow make it true.

“What’s eating you?” Luc asked. “If you want her this morning, she’s all soft and rumpled and wet. And she’s still in bed. Go. I’ll babysit the coffee.” 95

Deke hesitated. Show that he could resist or march down the hall—by himself—

and get as much of Kimber as Luc had? If he could, he’d take even more.

He’d take everything.

The coffeemaker beeped, and Luc extracted the fresh pot off the burner and poured a cup, wearing a faint smile, as he knew exactly the options Deke was weighing.

This game playing was bullshit, and he didn’t want to be on either team.

“Fuck! This isn’t going to work. Kimber has to go.”

“Keep your voice down or she’ll hear you,” Luc grated.

That would be for the best. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings, just make her go away.

Shayla Black Decadent

“Why do you think she has to go?” Luc asked in low tones. “You can’t think she’s unable to learn what we have to teach her.”

Deke rolled his eyes. “Don’t play stupid. She can learn. Obviously. I know she’s not scared. She should be, but for some crazy reason, she isn’t. But that isn’t the issue.”

“Hmm. I think I know what the issue is, but why don’t you explain it to me in your words.”

“Remember? She’s a virgin.”

“Whose name isn’t Heather.”

“She has nothing to do with Kimber. We’re not rehashing the past again.” Luc cocked his head and slid him a considering stare. “We never hashed it in the 96

first place, which is part of the problem. But fine, you don’t want to discuss Heather. Tell me what other reason you have for avoiding Kimber?” Deke hesitated, then realized he wouldn’t be telling anything Luc didn’t already know. “Nothing I didn’t warn you about before. She’s blowing past my self-control.

If she stays, I’m going to disrespect her wishes. Sooner or later, she’ll beg, and I won’t have the will to say no. I will fuck her.”

“If Kimber begs, we’ll reevaluate the situation. Maybe it would be in everyone’s interest if we gave her exactly what she asks for.” The idea of Luc being the one to take Kimber’s virginity made him feel as if his guts had been churned in a blender then spit back out. But he could never take her, especially not alone. Ever.

“You think she’s ours.”

Shayla Black Decadent Luc responded slowly. “Anything is possible. I’m hardpressed to believe that a woman would respond so perfectly the very first time if, in her heart, she belonged to someone else.”

“Has it escaped your memory that she’s here to have us train her to accept the touch of two other men, one of whom she thinks she’s in love with?”

“No. I merely think she’s trying to find her future and hoping that Jesse McCall is the right path. I also don’t think it will take her long to sort it all out for herself.”

“Which is Luc-speak for you think that Kimber belongs with us and she’ll come to that conclusion quickly.”
Freakin’
amazing
. Deke shook his head. “You’re delusional, you know that? At best, Kimber is really applying herself to learning all about
ménage
so she can live it with someone else. At worst, she’s just horny. But you’ve got to get rid of this idea that there’s some perfect woman out there who wants to play house with us until death do us part.” 97

“She’s out there.” He sounded confident. “But that somewhere may be miles away or just down the hall. We don’t know yet.”

Deke shook his head, poured himself a cup of coffee, and counted to ten. Which did absolutely no good. The frustration still boiled up inside him, rising, drowning good sense and restraint.

“I don’t want a wife. I don’t want anything but a good fuck, and she isn’t it.” Luc said nothing for a full ten seconds. “Then you have nothing to worry about except keeping your word. She’s overcome her anxiety about being here and forgiven you for the terrible way you treated her when she first arrived.”
Shit
. Luc didn’t just state that they couldn’t go back on their promise to teach her all about
ménage
. But he implied it in every syllable.

Shayla Black Decadent

“Besides,” Luc added. “It’s not as if we’re her only options. Have you forgotten the Catrell brothers?”

No. The sight of Adam and Burke with their hands on her was burned into his brain.

“I don’t think she wants them.”

“But she may be determined enough to learn to go with them, anyway.” True. Deke sighed. Kimber had him by the balls—in more ways than one.

“Think of it as keeping her occupied so we can protect her from the Catrell brothers, whom we know far too much about to kid ourselves,” Luc said.

Yeah. They were hard on their women. The tag team that never quit. They’d use her, grind her into little pieces, and spit her out when she couldn’t keep up.

98

Basically, he was screwed if he let her stay and screwed if he let her go.

“Fine. She’s here for the next thirteen days. Not a minute more.” Luc smiled as he shrugged on his shirt, took another swig of his coffee, and shuffled over to the sandals he kept by the back door. “I have to run to a local radio interview. We’ll have this chat again in thirteen days. In the meantime…Kimber is all sleep-soft and very sweet this morning”—he licked his lips—“help yourself.” As Deke watched his cousin grab his car keys and head out the door, he restrained the urge to hit walls, blocks of wood—Luc’s head—and cursed.

Help himself? Deke would love to. But it wasn’t going to happen. There was way more at stake than Kimber’s virginity and sophomoric crush on Jesse McCall. Way more than petty jealousy. And damn if Luc didn’t know it and plotted to tempt him.

Shayla Black Decadent He might as well start counting the days, probably on one hand, before he wound up breaking through Kimber’s barriers—mental and physical. It was inevitable.

And when it happened, everyone was going to suffer, Kimber most of all.

#

She woke for the second time that morning alone in Luc’s cozy, downy bed, tossed on someone’s discarded shirt—Luc’s?—and padded down the hall. Heavy-limbed and flushed, Kimber made her way toward the smell of fresh coffee. But she couldn’t pretend anxiety didn’t claw her.

When she reached the kitchen, the sight of Deke hunched over a cup of coffee, lost in his thoughts, brought her to a stop. Especially since they didn’t look like happy thoughts. Of course they weren’t. She was underfoot, and he didn’t want her here. She hadn’t heard any other part of his argument with Luc, but that sentiment 99

had come through loud and crystal clear.

Which explained why she’d fallen asleep last night with Deke by her side, only to awaken twenty minutes later to find him gone. And why each time she’d awakened during the restless night, she’d found only Luc beside her. Not only had Deke chosen to sleep elsewhere, but he’d refused to come within five feet of her this morning when Luc had devoured her. The why behind that pressed sadness and shame down into her chest with crushing intensity.

Despite Deke’s seeming eagerness last night, after the orgasm, he’d apparently lost interest in her. Because he still saw her as a teenager? Because he liked and respected her dad too much? Maybe. But those hang-ups would be easy. A little nudge from her would get him past either. He wouldn’t be staring morosely into his coffee about those issues. The real problem would be harder to get past, especially if it was the one she’d had her entire dating life.

Shayla Black Decadent

“Hi,” she murmured.

His head snapped up, and he drilled her with a stare that seemed at once hot and accusing. He drew in a deep breath. Bracing himself?

“Coffee?” he asked finally.

“Sure. I’ll get it.”

“Cups are in the cupboard above the coffeemaker.” Kimber nodded and retrieved her cup…and wondered what to say next. What was there to say? Should she apologize for the fact her tomboy ways seemed to turn him off? Once the skirt and lacy underthings had come off and he’d seen the real her, maybe it had been too…masculine. He wouldn’t be the first guy in her life to think that—just ask her prom date.

100

Cursing reality wouldn’t do a bit of good. She couldn’t escape the fact that after being raised motherless by military men, the Colonel and her two Navy SEAL

brothers had been her role models. She liked fatigues, enjoyed a good five mile run at o-fivehundred, hated panty hose, lace, and makeup. Most guys swore she had testosterone running through her veins. But the fun of flipping one over her shoulder and straight onto his back or drinking him under the table had lost appeal long ago. She wanted men to see her as a real female, not one of the guys who happened to have breasts. With Deke and Luc, she’d been as girly as she knew how.

By all appearances it hadn’t been enough. All that want Deke said he he’d been harboring for her for years… More than likely, she’d cured him of it last night.

Changing wasn’t an option. She liked herself. Screw anyone who didn’t, Deke included. Yes, he turned her on. A lot. A hell of a lot. Even when she’d been seventeen, he’d fueled some dark fantasies in her adolescent brain. But in two weeks, she’d be with Jesse. He accepted her tomboy ways, even told her he found it Shayla Black Decadent adorable. This…fear eating at her hardly mattered. So why couldn’t she shake it now?

“Sleep good?” she asked into the thick silence.

“No.”

She noticed he didn’t ask her in turn. Probably didn’t care.

“Me, either.”

Deke grunted and sipped his coffee. He avoided looking at her.

Damn, she had to get this off her chest. Stewing in selfdoubt wasn’t her style.

Taking a fortifying sip of her own coffee, she sank into the chair across from him.

“You didn’t sleep with us last night.”

101

“So?”

“Why?”

“We covered why last night.” A muscle in his jaw ticced.

“And your insomnia is the only reason?”

He paused, and those deep blue eyes flashed with something—anger?—but he dropped his gaze to his half-full coffee cup before she could be sure.