Authors: Loribelle Hunt
He fought his anger, tried to put it where it really belonged. Damn
Alex for marrying her before he and Lawe could make their claim and then making her miserable. But some of it bled over to her. There was no way she’d faked that orgasm, no way she could deny how her body 22
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responded to him. Even now, hard nipples pressed to his chest and her pulse jumped in her neck.
“I did, and why not?”
Her laugh was soft, bitter. “Gee, I don’t know. Maybe because you’re like a brother? Because you’re supposed to be my friend?”
And maybe he’d completely misinterpreted her emotions.
“Do you still love Alex?” he asked quietly. His wolf snarled. Did he really want to know the answer to that?
Snorting, she jerked out of his arms. The loss of her warmth was a
cold, twisting rip in his chest. He shouldn’t have asked. She lifted her hand to her neck and stared with dismay at the drop of blood on her fingertips. She’d grown up pack. She knew what it meant.
“Unbreakable,” she whispered. “What will Lawe think?”
He experienced a mind‐blowing moment of jealousy over his twin.
Did she want Lawe more than him? Did she not want Lawe at all? In the end, did it matter?
“No. I don’t love Alex.” She paused, looking at him with a mixture
of confusion and anger. “Don’t you think this is weird?”
Was it?
“Maybe. A little.” He reached for her hand, slowly drawing her back into the circle of his arms. “We want each other. You can’t fake that.
Don’t fight it, Abby. I’ve claimed you, and you know it can’t be undone.
Go with it. See where it leads.”
She sighed. He knew she was going to say no, and he couldn’t accept that. He wanted her to come to him willingly, but had made it impossible for her to do so. Distracting her would be better than bulldozing over her. Releasing her, he took a step back to remove the rest of his clothes. He held his hand out.
“Let’s get cleaned up. We’ll work everything out as we go.”
She stared at it a long moment before sliding her gaze up to his face. He exhaled a pent up breath when she set her hand on his and nodded. Leading her down the hall, he sent a fast word of thanks heavenward. That he was familiar enough to know where he was going.
That she wasn’t kicking him out yet.
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He walked through her bedroom into the spacious master
bathroom, bypassing the garden tub. It was much smaller than his Jacuzzi, and he’d always wondered if two people would fit in there. Some other time they might give it a try. Tonight, he opened the shower doors and turned on the water, adjusting the knobs until the spray was warm. He backed in, pulling her with him. It was tight, but that suited him fine.
Her silence was starting to freak him out a little, and her eyes were troubled. He wanted to know what was going on in her head but was afraid to ask. She twisted her hair into a knot, securing it in place with a clip she took from a shelf in the wall. She didn’t protest when he picked up the soap and washcloth and began to bathe her. Starting with her feet, he worked up slowly, learning the curves, the dips, the freckles and scars of her body. Sighing, she leaned one shoulder against the wall. It was a long exhalation, contented, relaxed.
The water cooled too soon. He led her out of the stall and dried her off with one of her fluffy white towels. Then he followed her into the bedroom. Her nervousness was back, and she went straight for the closet.
“Don’t,” he ordered, struggling to keep the growl out of his voice
and turning down the quilt on her bed. She faced him, arms crossed over her breasts, surprise clear on her face. “I can’t stay much longer. I have to close the bar. Lie down with me a few minutes.”
He lifted a hand in invitation. A few minutes to hold her before he
had to go. He just needed a little time to savor her body next to his.
“Please, Abby. It’s a simple thing to ask.”
She hesitated so long he was sure she would say no.
“I…okay.” Her reluctance was like a knife in the gut.
He sat on the bed, sliding over so she could join him. She lay down, leaving several inches that felt like feet between them. He pulled the blankets up and reached for her, positioning her next to him under his shoulder. She was left with no choice but to lay her head on his chest. Her breath whispered across him, and his body tightened in response, blood surging once again to his cock. Her hand hovered in the air a moment, as if she was unsure where to put it, and finally settled on his stomach. A few inches down, and she’d send him into orbit. Again. He smiled.
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“This is good, don’t you think?”
She tilted her head back to look at him, a tentative smile on her lips.
For a second, he was struck by a sense of unreality. She was so beautiful, and she was finally in his arms. His mate.
“Yes.” She laughed softly. “But I’m not sure how I got here. What
are we doing, Rule? What are you doing?”
“We’re starting something. A new life.”
She shifted closer, her thigh coming to rest against his. He looked at the bedside clock and groaned. Not enough time to make love to her again. He rolled out from under her, lowering her to the bed.
“I’ve got to get back.”
“Okay.”
“I want to see you tomorrow.”
She shook her head. “I’m working doubles the next two days. By the time I get home, I’ll be dead to the world.”
He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “You’re not trying to avoid me are you? It won’t work. The bond, you know.”
She grinned. “Would you let me? Even if I could resist it?”
“No way.” He leaned over her, bracing his hands next to her head,
and kissed her. It was hard and possessive—and short. Anything more, and he’d never make it back to the bar in time to close.
“I’ll see you soon.”
“All right.”
Rule slipped out of the room, pausing in the hall to pull on his clothes and shoes. He was walking through the living room to the front door when a flash in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Looking for the source, he saw her laptop sitting open on the desk. He knew he shouldn’t, knew he was being too nosy, but the bright screen drew him.
What had she been doing when he arrived? He hadn’t even realized she had a computer. He thought he knew everything about her.
He leaned over the desk and saw a Word document was open. He
smiled. She was writing. He started to stand, but a few words snagged his attention.
Cock? Pussy?
What the hell was this? He read more and had to squeeze his eyes shut a minute before going on. A threesome. It wasn’t 25
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like any porn he’d ever read. There was way too much story, too much emotional depth to it. He’d never read any books with such explicit sex, either. It was hot. That it was Abby’s made it hotter.
He switched the view to print, noted the title and a name in the header. She must be using a pen name. He had to agree with that. As sexy as it was, some idiots would no doubt confuse her with what she wrote.
Hearing shuffling behind him he spun around. She’d put the robe
back on. Her arms hung at her sides, hands clenched into fists. Glaring, she moved around him to snap the lid closed on the computer.
“I didn’t hear you leave.”
“I was going.” He smiled. “Your work caught my attention.”
“That’s private. And none of your business.”
“None of my business?” He didn’t even try to keep the anger out of
his voice, and she winced. Guilt stabbed him. She was his mate.
Don’t act
like Alex, you jackass.
“I’ve waited a long time for you, Abby,” he whispered, cupping her
face in his palms. “There aren’t going to be any secrets between us.”
“Is that right?” she asked, her voice arctic cold. Breaking free of him, she walked to the door holding it open. “I think I’ll be deciding the course of my future. Not you. Not Lawe or Alex. Not anyone else. And right now? I want you to leave.”
His gaze zeroed on her face. She was good and pissed. He thought
there was more to it than his snooping on her computer, too, but she obviously wasn’t going to listen to him now. Maybe in a couple of days—after two exhausting days at the restaurant and fighting the bond—she’d be more willing to talk.
“Fine.” He stepped close to her and was rewarded by a hitch of her
breathing, a hot flare in her eyes. Not as unaffected as she’d like to be.
“But this is not over, Abby. This is just a reprieve.”
He stepped into the hall, and she slammed the door behind him.
He couldn’t help but grin. There was no way she would have done that to her ex. Clearly, the beaten down woman of a few years ago was gone.
Frigid didn’t come close to describing that temper. He wasn’t leaving with what he wanted—her heart—but had a feeling the chase was going to be 26
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amazing.
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Chapter Three
Abby was so angry, she shook, and when the knock came on the door, she flung it open without pause, without thinking. Ready to lay into Rule, to cuss loud and long about him invading her privacy.
But it wasn’t Rule outside her door. It was Lawe. And instead of waiting for an invitation he sauntered in, swinging the door shut behind him. He lifted his head and sniffed the air. She knew he smelled sex, smelled her and Rule, and a part of her cringed afraid of his reaction. But he smiled, a slow, sultry curve of his lips that made her stomach drop.
Dangerous. More than his brother, probably.
“About damned time,” he muttered, and before she could ask what
the hell he meant by that, he grabbed her, pulling her into his arms and crushing her lips under his.
She whimpered. While Rule was the sweet Southern Comfort that
cocooned her in gentle, sexy warmth, Lawe was an Absolut firestorm that dared her to jump over the edge. She’d been crazy to imagine she could ever handle a man like this.
He let her come up for air, and she clung to his shoulders, her fingers digging deep in an effort to hold herself upright. Did he sense her distress or share it? He swept her up in his arms and marched down the hall, familiar with it for the same reason Rule was. They’d helped her move in, dealt with the little problems that plagued renters. Clogged drains, dripping faucets. Except now his intent was obviously not to deal with one of the little annoyances in her life.
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He entered her bedroom and let her slide down his body. Slowly,
so that every inch of her brushed against him before her feet touched the floor. His erection dragged over her thighs and pelvis to rest against her belly. Startled, she looked up to meet his gaze, found it hot and possessive. If she’d doubted his interest before, his intention was sure as hell clear now.
He bent his head to her neck while pulling the tie on her robe apart.
It fell open, and though he didn’t look up, his hands explored, claimed.
His fingers closed over her nipple, and she stopped breathing, sagged into his embrace. He held her up with one arm wrapped around her waist and one around her breast. Then the light, gentle kiss on her neck turned to something more, something carnal and erotic. He tugged the sensitive skin between his teeth, sucking, biting. The combination of his hard cock pressing against her, the sharp pinch on her nipple, and the lips against her throat that she knew meant he intended to claim her, pushed her over the edge.
Her body shook, trembled with an orgasm it hadn’t earned, and his
teeth sank deep into the skin on the opposite side of her neck that his brother had marked. Before her mind could come back together, he was turning her around, pushing her over so her hands braced against the mattress and her ass stuck up in the air. Then he thrust into her. She barely registered the rasp of his jeans against her upper thighs, the grip of his fingers around her hips, before she was coming again. Flying apart at the seams and afraid she’d never come back together again.
His pace was fast and steady, his arms bracketing hers while his teeth bit down on her nape and held her in place. Her body trembled under the submissive position. She’d fantasized, but never really believed she’d like it. Oh hell. She liked it so much she felt herself spinning apart, coming again. She gulped a sob, not sure how much she could take, and considered begging.
“Lawe. I don’t think I can take much more.”
He plunged deep, stopped, and lifted his head to whisper in her ear. “I think you can take it, baby. I think you can take me.”
This time the sob was audible, a loud gulp as she shook her head. It 29
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was too much. He was too overwhelming. His intensity directed at her shook her to the bone. Even knowing that, his withdrawal made her want to cry and protest. Bur he only moved her, his strong arms repositioning her on the bed so she lay flat on her back in the middle. Then his long length was pressing against her, his thighs forcing hers apart. Right. Like he really had to try? He entered her more slowly this time, holding her gaze the whole time.