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.”
“Oh, what a small world we live in after all,” she muttered, throwing him a glare. “I didn’t come to Spain for romance. Or sex,” she informed him. “Peace was more my aim.”
“We can be peaceful, darlin’,” Shane promised her, starting up the steps that led to the second-floor balcony outside her apartment. “I promise. You’ll get all kinds of peace.”
She wasn’t going to get any peace at all. But she couldn’t deny the fact that excitement was churning through her at a rate she’d never known before meeting them. All her senses were heightened, her flesh sensitive, needs she was completely unfamiliar with before them amping inside her.
Reckless. Her mother had warned her not to give into her penchant for recklessness and she’d promised she wouldn’t. She just wanted a quiet, relaxing vacation. She’d promised. And that would be so very boring.
She knew she was too innocent for them. Yet they were fun. Exciting. They offered the forbidden and made her feel alive. They terrified her. For a few brief moments in a hidden grotto the world had been so much brighter and so many things were possible, even fantasies. But when she’d forced herself to return to the ball, she’d found the world as she’d left it and she’d realized the brilliance, the excitement and mystery she’d tasted just a moment of, had become a hunger she ached for.
And she couldn’t have that. Her world had no place for fairy tales or dreams. There was no place in it for love until she could find her way out of D.C.
Moving up the steps between them, she could only blink as Shane drew a key from the pocket of his pants and unlocked the French doors.
“And you got that where?” she demanded, one hand moving to prop on a hip as she stared between Shane and Sebastian with a glare, certain she appeared furious rather than simply exasperated.
“We’re rather talented that way.” He was laughing at her. Behind those sunglasses, she could practically feel the amusement she knew was gleaming there.
“You’re rather far too arrogant and confident.” She almost wished she were more like Millicent, able to accept their blatant sexuality without her emotions becoming added to the volatile mix of wicked eroticism and superior male certainty.
The problem was, she couldn’t seem to make herself be seriously angry with them. Their antics were far too charming, dangerously so, and they were totally forbidden, which she feared made them all the more attractive.
As if they needed anything to make them more appealing.
“Come on, siren.” Sebastian was laughing at her again. “Invite us in. We just want to get to you know you.”
“Far more intimately than may be good for my peace of mind,” she muttered.
“Or ours,” Shane assured her as she stepped into the luxurious apartment behind them.
The Collier apartment lacked nothing. Every modern convenience had been added along with many comforts she wouldn’t have thought to include herself.
Placing the beach chair to the side of the stone entryway, Shane stared around the cool, spacious residence with an indefinable expression.
“The apartment belongs to a friend of my parents.…”
“Landra Collier.” Shane nodded. “My parents know her as well. Though she’s never offered us use of her apartment.”
“Your reputation has probably already reached her,” she assured him as she moved into the kitchen. “She seems to be a very down-to-earth person. I rather doubt she’d approve of some of the games you’d become involved in.”
She wasn’t judging them. She was the one finding amusement with them, now.
Opening the fridge, she pulled free the sweet tea she’d made that morning before collecting three glasses from the cabinet.
“My hand itches,” Sebastian muttered.
“I know the feeling,” his cousin agreed.
Removing his sunglasses, Shane turned those deep blue eyes on her, his sense of fun clearly reflected in them.
“Be nice now,” she cautioned them as she filled the glasses with ice. “I make iced tea that would bring shame to the finest southern belle. It would be a terrible thing if I decided not to share.”
Sebastian’s brow lifted as he brought one hand to scratch at his chest thoughtfully. “What if I don’t like tea?”
“Then Shane can have your share.” She shrugged. “A South Texas native? I bet his momma weaned him on sweet tea.”
“No truer words were ever spoken,” Shane agreed with her.
Handing out the glasses, she stood at the side of the counter separating the kitchen from the informal eating area and entryway.
“I kind of had plans tonight,” she told them as they found seats at the glass and metal table across from her. “Shall we make plans for you to begin your seduction next week maybe?”
They looked at each other. Sebastian lowered his head and shook it slowly.
“Love her heart,” Shane murmured. “She’s got no clue.”
“She’s actually rather good with clues.” Alyssa frowned back at them. “And I’m getting a clue that you two are about to seriously irritate me.”
“Irritate you?” Shane leaned back in his seat, stretched his legs out, and crossed his arms over his chest again. “Is that why those hard little nipples of yours are teasing the hell out of me? Or that vein jumping at your neck from the force of your racing heart?”
A flush rushed from her breasts to her hairline.
“It’s time for the two of you to go.” Straightening from the counter, she watched them warily now.
They’d just passed exasperation, and charm could only take a man so far.
“Excuse me?” Shane seemed a bit surprised by her announcement and not completely certain why she’d made it.
“There’s a difference between charm and offensive vulgarity Mr. Conner and you’re crossing. I might enjoy the little word games, and the friendly flirting, but I’m no toy, nor am I some trollop you picked up off the streets. And I won’t be spoken to as though I am. The two of you can leave now.” Alyssa had been raised to understand her worth, not just as a person, but as a woman. She was reckless, yes, and she loved to flirt and laugh and enjoyed the experiences of getting to know a wide variety of people. But she’d be damned if she’d let some over-confident male speak to her as though the interest and growing sensual curiosity was something to be ashamed of.
“Well, thank you, Cousin.” Sebastian grimaced as he leaned his elbows on the table and growled at Shane, “You just had to go and offend her, didn’t you?”
Shane didn’t take his eyes off her, though. And as aroused as she was, as curious as she was, she didn’t break his stare. She gave it right back to him, certain if she didn’t do it now, then the respect she knew she deserved would never be gained.
“She’s not as offended as she is frightened,” Shane informed him. “She might be right, though, she’s far too innocent for us, Sebastian.”
Rising from his chair, he finished his tea, tipping the empty glass in her direction before setting it on the table and heading for the door.
Sebastian grinned and winked at her. “Bye, Cousin. I’ll tell you all about candy kisses when I get back tonight. Or in the morning.”
Alyssa had to roll her eyes to keep from laughing at both of them. Again. Damn them. They were completely impossible.
Shane paused at the door, a thoughtful look on his face as she watched him in anticipation, wondering what these two would use to poke at each other with next time. They seemed to enjoy goading each other as much as they enjoyed goading her.
“We could spank him,” Alyssa suggested to Shane with an arch of her brow willing to forgive as long as he didn’t forget. “I don’t think he’d protest nearly as strenuously as I would.”
“The hell I wouldn’t.” Sebastian’s black eyes sparkled with a hint of blue as he leaned back in his chair, watching her with heated anticipation. “Protesting won’t help you, sweets. You’re determined to get that spanking sooner rather than later.”
She probably should be real scared, but she wasn’t. There was something about them that assured a woman that they’d never hurt her in any way but the emotional. The broken heart heading her way would suck, though.
“Your partner’s leaving, though,” she pointed out, unable to keep from teasing back. “You’ll have a hard time doing it alone.”
His crack of laughter had her sliding a look at Shane’s back.
“Wonderful view,” he complimented her with all apparent innocence. “Were you expecting me to leave, sweets? Shame on you.”
“Shame on the two of you,” she accused them lightly before steeling herself to assert her own control. “So tell me, do you actually intend to leave so I can shower and maybe take a nap? There’s a party on the beach tonight I really wanted to attend.”
Parties of the beach variety were strictly forbidden. Here Alyssa intended to experience all she could before returning to the states and the battle to separate herself from her parents’ political lives.
“What sort of party?” The question was asked quite casually, but there was nothing casual in Sebastian’s suddenly flat gaze.
“A beach party,” she said softly. “You know, music, bonfire, laughing, dancing? Fun?”
“Come, Sebastian, we’ll collect the tamales Aunt Tabby made her and bring them to her, then see what we can find to entertain ourselves tonight.” Shane gave all appearances of being jovial and easygoing, but it was his eyes that gave him away. Alyssa had learned at Margot’s knee to always pay attention to the eyes.
Lifting her chin, she stared back at both of the men. “I’m no toy the two of you can decide should be placed on a shelf until you want to play, either. If that was what you had in mind when you followed me here, then it’s best you don’t come back.”
Oh, but she was a fiery little thing.
Shane had to hide the grin and look away from her for a moment. She was a slick one, this little siren they had become far too fascinated with. She didn’t just hear the tone of voice and take in the expression. She was very careful to pay attention to their eyes as well. Not that he didn’t know how to lie with his eyes, but he and Sebastian both knew that for whatever reason, Alyssa was different. For that reason alone they’d made the decision not to lie to her.
“Playing with you wasn’t our intent.” Sebastian rose slowly to his feet; the casual move didn’t have her backing down, but Shane saw the flicker of wariness in her gaze. “At least, not tonight. We thought we’d at least ease you into the debauchery first.”
“Ha-ha.” The mock laugh was indication that his humor in this case was most likely not appreciated.
“No worries, love,” Shane assured her. “Perhaps your memories of us weren’t as fond as ours of you. A winter siren is a rare and wonderful sight. Rather like unicorns.” He winked teasingly. “We looked forward to seeing you again. Nothing more, I promise.”
It was normally Sebastian soothing a female’s anger at them, not Shane. Hell, he was usually the one causing the anger.
“I didn’t say that.” She shifted a bit nervously, the hem of the shirt riding a bit to reveal the extremely low band of the bikini and a flash of creamy, barely sun-kissed flesh.
Hell, the beachwear they’d chosen before leaving the De Loren hacienda wasn’t nearly enough to hide the full erection he was going to be sporting if he kept sneaking peeks.
Lifting his gaze to her face again, he had to grin at the little glare she directed his way.
“I won’t apologize for looking,” he teased her. “You’re far too pretty a sight to pretend otherwise.”
The little roll of her eyes assured him the compliment wasn’t taken seriously.
“We’ll find other amusements tonight,” Sebastian spoke up then, the tone of his voice causing Shane to glance at him warningly.
It was rare for Sebastian to become out of sorts over a woman if she’d made other plans. Though, to be honest, Alyssa wasn’t just another woman.
Her lips thinned for a moment. After she glanced toward the ceiling as though debating something far too seriously, it took her only seconds to direct those soft gray eyes at them once more.
“You’re aware I’m only eighteen, right?” The question was a bit defensive. “And not exactly experienced. I had the impression the two of you much preferred women with a bit more sexual expertise than I possess.”
Sebastian was riding a line he found discomforting, especially after that little declaration. His cock was hardening despite his best efforts to keep it from doing so. The thought of touching her, seeing her wonder with each new pleasure, was like an aphrodisiac. Instantly he was hungrier for her, the sexual need rising with such strength he was wary of it himself.
Son of a bitch. She was right; she was too young for them, too inexperienced. And it was the same thing he’d been telling himself for five months. Still, she was under his skin in a way he couldn’t seem to help.
“We just want to get to know you, Alyssa,” he told her, shoving his hands into his pockets as he stood staring back at her. “We didn’t intend to frighten you. Perhaps in this enchantment you’ve cast over us we’ve neglected to consider the fact that perhaps the fascination doesn’t go both ways.”
He knew better, just as Shane did. She was so aroused it was all she could do to make herself stand still. Her nipples were like little pebbles beneath that shirt and bikini top, a light, telltale flush tinted her flesh, and the slight additional fullness to her lips assured him she was more than just interested.
They were experienced enough to know the signs, while her inexperience ensured she couldn’t hide them.
“I didn’t say I wasn’t attracted.” A frown flirted with her brow as she fought the wariness of her response to them. “I’m not willing to be steamrolled out of the holiday I came here to enjoy, though. I didn’t come looking for a summer romance or a broken heart. And that’s exactly what will happen if I’m not very, very careful.”
“Then be careful, love.” Pulling his hands from his pockets, he moved to her, bent his head, and brushed a kiss against her forehead. “We’ll return. And if you need us…”
Her cell phone lay on the counter. Picking it up, he keyed in both his and Shane’s numbers.
“Or if you get lonely,” he suggested as flirtatiously as such overwhelming hunger allowed, “you’ve only to call us.”
Staring back at him, Alyssa drew her lower lip between her teeth and worried it uncertainly as he turned and joined his cousin at the French doors. As she watched them leave, it was all she could do not to call them back.
A frustrated groan spilled from her lips before she moved to the doors to lock them, only to find them locked. Damn it, she’d forgotten to make him give her the key.
Stalking to her bedroom, she stripped the shirt and bikini off before pulling on the loose white sundress she wore around the house. This situation was going to make her crazy, she decided. Having those two here was going to ruin all her plans for the summer.
Okay, the plans were boring to begin with, but she wouldn’t leave Spain with more baggage than she arrived with if she stuck to her plan. And now that plan was burned to cinders, the ashes scattered. Because if they came back, and she had a feeling they would, then she wouldn’t be able to continue resisting them.
She actually expected them to show up before she left for the beach party. As she showered and dressed in the long, tan chiffon skirt and white cami-tank, she listened for them. Securing a leather bracelet around her ankle, she then pushed her feet into a pair of leather sandals and left the apartment.
As darkness settled around the beach the soft strains of Spanish love songs could be heard from the small band set up not far from the apartment building.
Alyssa stared out over the beach and the small crowd gathered around the bonfire. There were quite a few partygoers milling around, chatting, laughing. There was no sign of Shane and Sebastian, though. And Alyssa admitted her excitement at the thought of attending the party had waned.
If it hadn’t been for her fears, for her certainty that there wasn’t a chance in hell of handling them, then she could have been with them tonight.
“Alyssa, coming down?” Gia Bennett, the daughter of one of Davis Hampstead’s backers, waved up at her. “The band’s warming up and the wine’s going fast.”
Taller than Alyssa, though most people were, lanky in a tomboyish way, with dark brown hair and hazel eyes, Gia could have been a model. Instead, she’d told Alyssa, when she returned home she intended to apply for an apprenticeship program with the FBI.
She’d make a hell of an agent too.
Moving down the wide steps, sandals in hand, Alyssa met the other woman at the bottom of the stairs.
“Dish, girl, what were De Loren and his cousin doing waiting for you at the beach?” Gia asked with teasing inquisitiveness. “I bet every woman there was watching them as they waited for you.”
“You know them?” she asked.
“I know of them,” Gia stressed. “What do you know about them?”
“I met them at the Collier party in December,” she admitted. “Why?”
“I’d keep those cute asses a secret if they were visiting me.” Gia turned and headed into the sand, glancing back as Alyssa followed her. “A real close kind of secret, if you get my drift.” Her warning wasn’t lost on Alyssa. “One you might get away with, but both of the De Loren get coming to call? Honey, you’re playing hardball there. You know they share their lovers, right?”
“I rather got that idea in December when I came upon them in the garden with one of the guests. She wasn’t happy at the thought of being caught, either.” Millicent had watched her closely after Alyssa returned to the party, obviously worried.
“Just watch your heart, girlfriend,” Gia warned. “I’m not so worried about tales reaching D.C. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? Well, what happens in Barcelona didn’t happen, ya know?”
Yeah, she pretty much got that idea.
“Sebastian and Shane are pretty rough around the edges. The women love them. But they never stick with one for more than a few nights. Don’t go pinning dreams on them, girlfriend.”
“I understand,” Alyssa assured her with a confidence she didn’t feel.
Thankfully, Gia dropped the subject as they neared the crowd. Collecting a glass of wine, Alyssa moved to the outskirts of the slowly growing throng, the number increasing as the night wore on and the wine loosened inhibitions. The beach party was becoming a bit wilder than she’d expected. So much so that she found herself retreating farther into the shadows as the night wore on.
No doubt she would have not been hiding in the dark had Shane and Sebastian been there. Of course, if they had been there, she’d be having more fun either way.
A little more than an hour or two into the party Alyssa began slipping away. Things were becoming just a little too wild to suit her. The flagrant sexual exhibitionism already beginning was enough to make her uncomfortable. Damn, sometimes being that good girl virgin could be a hell of a drawback.
“Hey, leaving?” The swarthy Mediterranean suddenly blocking her way as she began to step onto the sidewalk from the beach had her heart jumping in her throat.
Where the hell had he come from?
“Excuse me, my friends are waiting—”
“What friends?” He snickered, staying in the shadows but continuing to keep her from passing as she tried to get to her apartment. “Baby, there’s no one here but me and you.”
“You’re wrong.” She was normally quite good at bluffing. “And you don’t want to make them angry. Trust me.”
“Stuck-up bitch.” Grabbing her arm, he jerked her to him, despite her instinctive attempt to jerk back. “Too good for me, are you?”
As the words left his lips she found herself suddenly free.
“Actually, she is.” The icy threat in Shane’s voice sent a chill down her spine. “Now, do you want us to prove to you how much better she is than the likes of you?”
“You’re giving him an option?” If Shane’s voice was lethal, then Sebastian’s was pure, black vengeance.
Before Alyssa could fully comprehend everything that was going on Sebastian had one hand wrapped around the thick neck of the younger man and he was slowly wilting, trying to claw at Sebastian’s hands, fighting for air.
“Stop. Stop this now.” Rushing for Sebastian, she gripped his arm, glaring up at him “I won’t have it.”
The man dropped, gasping, freed from a grip guaranteed to choke the life from him.
Scrambling while spewing curses, he scuttled back, made it to his feet, and raced around the apartment building. Not that Alyssa had a chance to make certain he left. In the next breath she was thrown over Sebastian’s shoulder as he walked rather calmly up the steps.
“What are you doing?” Bracing her arms against his lower back, she struggled to lift herself enough to gain some leverage to break his hold. “Let me go!”
A swift little slap to her rear had her freezing in outrage a second before he stepped into the apartment, bent, and deposited her on her feet.
“How dare you!” Shaking, glaring up at him, she adjusted the snug top she felt like stomping her feet in anger.
“How dare I?” His head lowered, eyes as black as coal and glittering with fury suddenly only inches from hers. “Let me tell you how I dare, Alyssa. I dare because that son of a cocksucker thought he could put his damned hands on you. That he could take what you most likely would refuse to allow him to touch. That is how I dare. And if he makes the attempt again, don’t even bother demanding I let him go. You won’t have time. I’ll break his fucking neck.”
Shock exploded through her. This wasn’t the goof he pretended to be. He was stone cold. Hard. Vengeful.
Alyssa stepped back from him slowly.
“’Bastian, easy,” Shane murmured, coming to stand next to Alyssa. “She’s scared enough.”
“Easy, my ass.” Straightening, he shot Shane a fulminating glare. “She could influence me to many things, Shane. God knows I’m so fucking enchanted with her I let that bastard go before I realized I was obeying her,” he snarled, obviously quite put out. “But some things are better understood from the beginning. I’ll kill anyone stupid enough to attempt to hurt her. And God help them if they actually succeed.”
Alyssa stared up at him with wide eyes.
All this fury for her? Because someone had frightened her in the dark? Okay, so maybe he’d terrified her. But all this protectiveness, even as arrogant and irritating as it was, was something so new, such an alien concept to her, that she could only stare up at Sebastian, fascinated and confused.
“Why?” she asked.
Sebastian stilled, a brooding frown crossing his face as he pushed his fingers restlessly through his hair.
“Why what?” He finally shook his head as though he didn’t understand the question.
“Why would you kill someone for hurting me? You don’t know me—”
“Well, by God let me show you why.”
He lifted her to him. His head lowered, but when his lips came over hers there was no violence, no fury, expended into the kiss.
The results were devastating all the same.
Senses spinning, focused entirely upon the kiss, her lips parting beneath his and a moan escaping her throat, she knew she’d never be the same.
Firm, calculatingly masterful, and filled with a dark, rich hunger she could never have expected as he kissed her, Shane’s lips brushed over her shoulder, against the side of her neck. As he tenderly gathered her hair from her shoulder and held it out of his way, his teeth suddenly raked against nerve endings in her neck that shattered her concepts of pleasure.
Her cry came with the jolt of fiery, shocking sensation racing from her neck to between her thighs. Sebastian’s kiss became hungrier, steadily building each erotic sensation until she could barely breathe, until she was shaking, shuddering.
This was pleasure? Fiery bolts of sensation that threatened to obliterate reality? The need for something closer, something she’d never had before and had no idea how to ask for.
“Easy, Alyssa. Shhh, just this kiss,” Shane promised. “Nothing more. Nothing taken. When you want to be released you’ll be free.”
Did she want to be released?
What did she want?
Her fingers dug into the material of the shirt covering Sebastian’s shoulders, fisting into it as she tried and failed to still the erratic storm she sensed gathering inside her. Needs and hungers never known before. Sensations she had no idea how to ease, which only gathered and grew until she was suddenly struggling against them, desperate to be free.
Just that quickly, they released her.
She wasn’t left to try to stand alone, though. Sebastian did no more than release her lips and allow her to rest her weight on her own feet as she leaned against him for support.
What had they done to her?
Shane stood behind her, his forehead resting against her outside shoulder, his body so tense, so wired, she was terrified to move.
“That’s why,” Shane said then. “That’s why he’ll kill, why I’ll kill, if anyone tries to harm you. Because the pleasure you’re so confused by you’ve obviously never felt before. Because it’s ours. We brought it to life—”
“And now, it’s ours,” Sebastian finished for him. “We may not deserve it, but I promise you this: we claim it.”
He didn’t say she belonged to him. She would have fought that immediately. Instead, he said he was claiming her response to them. That was okay, she decided hazily. That would work. Because Shane was right: they had brought it to life.
“Let’s just hope you figure out what to do with it,” she stated unsteadily as she moved away from them. “Excuse me, I think I need to go have my nervous breakdown. I’ll be back in a few days, ’kay?” Lifting one finger rather facetiously, she turned and all but raced to the bedroom.
She needed just a few years to figure out what the hell was wrong with her body and how to control that storm she’d felt rising inside her. The flesh between her thighs was swollen, so slick and wet she had no idea how to handle it. She’d never been that wet.
She’d never felt what she was feeling now. The overwhelming need to demand his kisses and his touch in places other than her lips.
Along with it was the sudden, fierce demand for the right to claim them as well.
Yep, it was nervous breakdown time.