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No matter what it took.

“Rowdy, you start fooling with her and the bastard is going to come after her stronger,” Natches pointed out. “We can control it if we use it, control him and take him.”

“But only if he thinks Kelly isn’t a ‘good girl’,” Dawg injected. “Good girls can tame the bad boys. Unless he thinks Rowdy is up to his past games with Kelly, it might not push him over the edge in time.”

Rowdy stared back at his friends. He heard the question in Dawg’s voice, the suspicion. He leaned forward, bracing his arms on the gas tank as he watched them. He ignored the tightening, low in his stomach, the vague disquiet he felt at the thought of sharing Kelly. Of allowing his cousins to touch her, to hold her. He had waited for six years, ever since she turned eighteen, for the chance to show her just how much pleasure he could give her when he took her to his bed. He refused to remember the arousal she inspired two years before that. You didn’t lust after babies, and sixteen-year-old, wide-eyed virgins were just that. Babies.

But the minute she turned eighteen, he had known his days of freedom were numbered.

“I haven’t changed.” He stared back at them with an edge of humor, of determination as he ignored the odd, unfamiliar tightening in his chest. “Have you?”

Snorts of wry amusement met his question.

“Yeah right, and pigs started flying over the lake when it happened.”

Natches laughed. “We’ve been waiting on you, Rowdy, you know that.

-53-

Lora Leigh

You think that little girl would have stayed unclaimed if any of us had changed over the years?”

They were unique, maybe. Sexual fulfillment and pleasure wasn’t a game. It was something they took seriously, something they worked at.

They all cared for Kelly, in different degrees. She was Rowdy’s life. But the others, hell, they loved her too, and they always would.

Loving Kelly himself didn’t change that. He’d kill any other man who dared touch her, but he hoped, prayed he wasn’t wrong about Kelly and the fact that her needs would mirror his own.

The need was an enigma, even to the three men. Maybe they were too close, left on their own too much as teenagers, who the hell knew. They didn’t question it, they didn’t fight it. If Kelly didn’t want it, then it was a no-go, but he had a feeling about Kelly. She was a little sex kitten waiting to purr, and they were ready to stroke her.

So why was he suddenly tensing at the thought of Dawg and Natches inspiring that pleasure, that need within her?

He nodded slowly. She was his; there was no contest there. He would fight any man for her, even a friend. But here, there was no need to fight.

Dawg and Natches didn’t own her heart, Rowdy did. And the pleasure he knew the three of them could bring her, outweighed the subtle warning shifting through his chest.

“Will she agree?” Dawg asked the hardest question to answer.

“Before the attack, I would have said yes.” Rowdy sighed roughly.

“Now, who knows?” He shook his head before wiping his hand over his face in a gesture of frustration. “We’ll see. It will have to be her decision.”

They nodded in reply.

“We get her over the attack first, take care of the attacker, then see where we go from there,” Rowdy said. “She’s not ignorant of the rumors,

-54-

NAUTI BUOY

she suspects what’s coming. But…” He swallowed tightly. “She’s going to be scared now. And for that alone, I’ll kill the bastard.”

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Mackay’s Marina was one of the smaller marinas, specializing in rentals and mechanical servicing. Some berths were leased out, and the attached restaurant and convenience store added to the overall “one stop” friendly atmosphere of the landing.

Mackay’s Marina had begun with Rowdy’s grandfather, Joseph Mackay, and then under Ray Mackay’s guidance had turned into a thriving, year-long enterprise. One he wanted to turn over to Rowdy as soon as his son was willing.

The bait shop and sporting goods section of the main buildings were separated from the store and restaurant by the main office. Kelly’s mother had put in the convenience store and additional gas pumps after their marriage on the condition that part of the enterprise go to Kelly once they retired. It was an agreement Ray and Rowdy had accepted easily.

Kelly was ringing up the variety of goods that old man Tanner and his son Ricky had picked up, when she saw Rowdy and Dawg walk into the main room. Natches had just left a few minutes ago after spending nearly an hour flirting and straightening the shelves at the side of the room.

She would have been a fool not to notice that the careful restraint in his demeanor toward her had changed. He watched her now with a subtle interest, a promise unique to the Mackay boys. She knew their moves, and knew the instant he walked in the room that he was no longer simply watching over her as he and Dawg had done in the past year. The additional element of desire was no longer hidden from her.

-55-

Lora Leigh

There was no pressure, no touching, nothing that could send her pulse jumping with fear. But the invitation to be bad glittered in his eyes.

It was an invitation she had believed she’d been waiting for. Until now.

Now, it sent her nerves on overload, and had her questioning the fantasies that haunted her for years. Had the attack really affected her to this point, she wondered? To the point that what she believed she wanted now seemed cold, almost dirty?

“Kelly girl, you need to put these fishing rods on sale.” Ken Tanner’s scowl was fierce, his brown eyes eagle-bright. Wisps of gray hair stood on end over his head, and his lined face was normally fierce, though he had a heart of gold.

“I’ll tell Ray, Ken. But you know how he is. That will be $14.62.”

She took the money from him, ignoring his son. Ricky was a shifty-eyed little prick who took pleasure in poking at others’ weaknesses.

Thankfully, he reined it in while his father was around.

As she counted out his change, she caught sight of Rowdy moving behind the counter while Dawg started straightening some of the higher shelves across the room. Dawg had spent his summers working the marina before he left high school. For him, Rowdy and Natches, it was almost automatic to work when they were hanging around.

“Hey, babe.” She stiffened as Rowdy moved behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder as he leaned down to kiss the top of her head.

“Tired yet?”

She felt the flush that suffused her face as Ricky’s gaze became frankly assessing and old man Tanner grinned in delight.

“Rowdy Mackay. Boy, it’s about time you came home. You just visiting or staying?” Ken’s raspy voice boomed through the store.

“Hello, Ken. Ricky.” He moved to the counter, shaking the gnarled hand reaching out to him. “I’m home to stay this time.”

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NAUTI BUOY

“Well, it’s about time.” He nodded firmly, his knowing gaze shifting to Kelly for a long second, a hint of compassion entering his eyes. “You going to take care of our girl here?”

“Ken.” Her face flamed hotter at the question as she chastised him.

“Like all of us ain’t watched you twitching around him since you were too young to know what a twitch was.” He snorted, frowning back at her.

“Don’t you be playing dumb, girl. Just ‘cause I’m old don’t make me blind.”

She ignored Rowdy’s chuckle as she quickly bagged the items Ken had bought and handed them across the counter.

“I hope you catch lots of fish, Ken,” she gritted out between her clenched teeth, pasting a facsimile of a smile on her face.

She was as fond as she could be of the old man, but he wasn’t one to mince words.

His snicker was amused, kindly. “It’s all in the bait, girl. It’s all in the bait.” He nodded to Rowdy with one of the few smiles Kelly had ever seen out of him. “Let’s go, Ricky.” He nudged at his son, heading toward the lake-side door. “See you later, Rowdy.”

“Later, Ken.” As he spoke, Kelly felt his hand settle in the small of her back, his fingers rubbing in tiny circles over the loose cotton shirt she wore.

“Stop that,” she hissed, turning on him as Ken and Ricky left the building, the glass door whishing shut behind them.

She pushed his hand away, propped her hands on her hips and glared up at his smiling face as he crossed his arms over his chest and smiled wickedly back at her.

“You’re just going to make me pout if you start refusing my pitiful advances, Kelly,” he sighed. “And here I stayed awake all night last night with a numb arm just so you could sleep comfortable.”

-57-

Lora Leigh

Dawg’s snicker was clearly heard.

“Dumb and dumber,” she muttered, though she couldn’t keep the smile from her face as he reached out to run the backs of his fingers over the side of her neck. Shivers raced through her at the small caress. And it wasn’t fear. She could feel the pleasure suffusing her body, dampening the flesh between her thighs.

It was disconcerting. She had spent months with the fear that she would never be able to enjoy Rowdy’s touch again. That the desires he had filled her with, the needs and fantasies would be swamped with the fear. The knowledge that they were coming back, perhaps stronger than ever was at once nerve-racking and comforting.

“It’s almost closing time. I thought we’d help you close up. Then we take all that Chinese food I have out in the cycle’s saddlebag and have dinner before we head out on the lake.” He pushed her hair back from her shoulder as he spoke, his fingers lingering on the shell of her ear for long seconds after he finished.

From the corner of her eye she saw Dawg locking the lake-side doors and hanging up the “closed” sign.

“Ray will skin you alive.” She shook her head, though she couldn’t still the smile on her lips. “Summer hours are longer now, Rowdy. I still have an hour.”

“I asked Dad first.” He moved back, his expression intent, sexy.

“Better yet, Dawg can finish up for you. Come on, Kelly, sneak away with me.”

Sneak away with him? How many times had she dreamed of hearing him say those words? She would have snuck out with him, anytime, any place.

“Go on, Kelly.” Dawg lent his approval to the idea. “I’ll close up shop here and help Ray and your mom outside before I leave.”

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NAUTI BUOY

As Rowdy’s first cousin, and the oldest by several months, Dawg had usually led the pranks the Nauti Boys had gotten into. The three men had been hell on wheels through their high school years.

She breathed in deeply, her hands sliding from her hips to her jeans pockets as she glanced up at Rowdy again.

“You know you want to,” he whispered with a wink. “Come on, I even spent the day airing out the boat and getting her ready.”

The
Nauti Buoy
was his pride and joy, not to mention his weekend home. He and his friends spent their summers on the water, normally in the houseboats they had acquired over the years. Their title, the Nauti Boys, had come as much from the names of their boats as it had their sexual practices.

“Okay.” She gripped her courage with both hands and gave him a short nod. “I haven’t had Chinese in a while.”

She hadn’t eaten out much period, preferring to stay in the house when she was home rather than forcing herself to pretend a security she didn’t feel. It terrified her, not knowing who her attacker was. If he was a friend or a stranger, someone she trusted or would have trusted.

“Good,” he said, his voice warm, approving as she moved past him, tugging at the hem of her big shirt before one of his big hands caught one of hers.

Warmth surrounded her fingers, fed into her bloodstream and sent a surge of heat spiking through her system. Adrenaline spiked the wave of warmth, fed it into her tightening nipples, her swollen clit.

“We’ll catch you on the lake later, Dawg.”

“I’ll give you a call before I head out.” Dawg nodded as they moved past him, his eyes narrowed, the brilliant blue glittering behind the spiked lashes surrounding them. They held the same teasing warmth and sensual promise that Natches’ had earlier.

-59-

Lora Leigh

“Come on.”

She followed Rowdy as he moved through the main marina office, waving to her mother as he opened the door and escorted her through it.

She wondered if she looked as confused as she felt.

Stilling her emotions and her equilibrium after waking up with him that morning had been hard enough. She had been nervous, her fingers shaking, her stomach clenching each time she thought of waking up beside him, feeling him surrounding her, his erection pressing into her rear. That had been the most disconcerting part. She should have been frightened. The psychologist had told her she would likely be frightened the first time she tried intimate relations after the near-rape. That the intimacy of allowing a man to touch her, to hold her, might be difficult to get through.

It hadn’t been. Not that Rowdy had touched her much. He had made her more aroused than frightened. And in ways, that was more frightening than the fear of his touch. Everyone had told her for months that being touched would be difficult for her, but being touched by Rowdy had been a dream come true.

“You think too much sometimes,” Rowdy announced as he collected the bags of Chinese food from the steel saddlebags mounted to the side of the motorcycle.

“I can walk and chew gum at the same time too.” She rolled her eyes at him, feeling his hand at the small of her back again.

In the past twenty-four hours he had touched her more than he had in the last ten years. Of course he hadn’t been home for the better part of those ten years, but it wasn’t as though the opportunity hadn’t been there.

“Why didn’t you go on to college?” he asked as they moved onto the docks. “I expected you to head off right after high school.”

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NAUTI BUOY

She shrugged at the question. “I took business classes at the tech school. You might get the marina when Ray and Mom retire, but the store and fuel supply are mine,” she reminded him. “They’ll only grow as the traffic on the lake increases and I wanted to be prepared for it.”