“What is this place?” I gave the small cabin a quick onceover and grabbed a few bags from the back of the sleek SUV. I didn’t care how big or tricked out it was, as long as it was clean. When we arrived it was the middle of the day and blazing hot, though luckily the area had plenty of shade thanks to thickly leafed trees. I sat bags and boxes filled with food and other supplies on what passed for a porch with just a few slats of wood that had been sanded, weatherproofed and nailed down. We unloaded it all in silence and I figured Keane wouldn’t answer my question. Why would he when no one else did? Not that it mattered. This place would be home for a few days, maybe a few weeks. Then I could resume life as usual.

“It’s a safe house. No one knows about it but me and Seamus.” His look said he thought I’d broadcast it to the world and I wanted to smack him.

“Then I’ll make sure to Tweet out GPS coordinates,” I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes in annoyance. More at myself than Keane though because, dammit, why did it matter what he thought of me? Why did I care what some gorgeous ginger gangster thought of me? I sighed when he pushed the door open because I did care. I was bothered that he thought I didn’t care about Dad’s business. I gave up nights, weekends and pretty much all of my free time to Cerulean Shipping. They had no idea how much I did. Not even Dad.

Rather than stick around for more tension and quibbling, I went to check out the rest of the cabin. It was as small as it looked from the outside, with three doors down the right, a large living area to the left. The first door revealed the bathroom with a small shower, sink and toilet. Bare bones to the max. Next to the bathroom was…an empty room. Okay. The other room must be the master since it took up the other side fully. Pushing open the last door, my heart plummeted.

“You have got to be kidding me!” The room had a dresser, a desk and an empty closet against one wall. And a bed that wouldn’t even fit a hobbit.

“What?” Keane called out from the kitchen, annoyance dripping from the drawn-out word.

“Have either of you actually been up to this place before?”

“No Fiona, it’s for safety not luxury.”

Sometimes I asked myself how I could be attracted to such an asshole. “Great then you can have the room.” I heard his footsteps before I felt him, smelled that purely male scent that made my body react instantly.

“Shit.”

I turned to him with my best smile. “Looks safe enough, right? You’re welcome.” Walking back down the hall and away from Keane, I found the bag I needed for a quick shower and change. “I have no problem sleeping on the couch,” I told him when his shadow fell over me.

“We’ll share the sofa. It rolls out to a full-sized bed.”

I stood and took a step back when I realized how close he was. “No need. You have the bed.”

With a roll of those green eyes that seemed to change with his mood, he raked a hand over his well-maintained beard. “Don’t worry Fi, I’m sure I can control myself.”

I winced at his words, feeling them as sharp as he’d meant them to be. Like I needed a reminder of just how little he thought of me. “Yeah Keane you’ve made it pretty clear what you think of me. Thanks.” Bag in hand, I locked myself in the bathroom, hoping the water would be hot enough to erase this day from memory. And if I were lucky, there would be no hot water left for him.

After showering, I put on a pair of cottons shorts and a sleeveless BU t-shirt and took my books out to the deck at the back of the cabin. The cabin overlooked a small greenish-blue lake that was probably manmade, this would be a nice place to spend the summer. If it had a human-sized bed it would have been perfect. Still though, the place was quiet, serene and beautiful. The perfect setting to get some reading done for my Business Solutions course. Everyone hated attending school during the summer, but by taking this summer session I would be finished more than a year ahead of my friends.

Then I could start my life. My real life, that may or may not include Cerulean Shipping. I’d built that company to what it was, felt possessive of it too. But as long as it was linked to the Cearul crime organization, it was a bad long term bet. I turned that thought over and over in my head as the sun slowly sank behind the trees, cooling everything down.

Thinking about school and the future was a fine distraction from the man who was a constant presence in my mind. My heart. As I prepared dinner though, I couldn’t stop thoughts from straying to Keane, his image had provided the backdrop for my teenage self-exploration. I wanted him and I hated myself for it since he looked at me and saw a little girl playing at being grown, and one he didn’t like all that much at that.

No point dwelling on the things I couldn’t change when there were plenty of things I could.

Yeah. No point at all.

* * *

How is it so hot in here? It had been on the chilly side when I curled up on one corner of the oversized sectional and dozed off, but now the heat was welcoming but almost oppressive. Popping one eye open I did a sweep of the room just to make sure we were still at the cabin and the past few days hadn’t been a nightmare. Wait…we?

It all became clear. The hard wall of heat pressed against my back, the hard bar of melted steel around my midsection. Keane. I tried to move, to slowly wiggle out of his grasp without waking him. But his grip only tightened, my breasts now resting on his sinewy forearm. Dammit.

“Be still,” he murmured in a sleep-heavy voice and pulled me closer.

I wanted to stay right where I was and savor the chance to be in his strong arms, but it would be foolish to do it. Having him pressed up against me only made me wish for things I shouldn’t, and I vowed when I turned eighteen that I couldn’t survive Dad’s world if I acted foolishly and hoped for the moon. So I tried to pull away again, but he gripped me tighter and slowly ground his hips against me. He forced his truly spectacular hard-on between my ass cheeks. Shocked by the sensations rocketing through my body before settling on my clit, I released a strangled plea, “Keane.”

“Shhh,” he whispered in my ear and drew a shiver from me. “Stay here,” he growled and pressed an open-mouthed kiss to that spot right behind my ear. He wasn’t the first man to kiss me there, but none had turned me on this way before.

I groaned when he did it again. And again when his thumb grazed my already hard nipple, igniting a fire within me. When his thumb came back across my nipple I whimpered loud and turned to look up at him. Big mistake.

Simmering green eyes seared into me before he lowered his mouth to capture my mouth in a kiss that showed me I knew shit about kissing. Every tentative press of the lips I’d experienced in the past, every makeout session before this moment had been nothing but child’s play compared to the way his mouth incinerated my body. He licked at my mouth, in my mouth. Sucked at my tongue, all while his hand massaged and squeezed my breasts. On and on the kiss went while my body slowly began to smoke from the fire building between us and his cock throbbed against me.

“Why,” I asked breathlessly. Why was he doing this? “You don’t even like me.”

He chuckled but his hand never stopped, pinching the tight bud of my nipple between his thumb and forefinger then sliding down my belly. “Does this feel like I don’t like you Fi?” His hands gripped my hips tight and I could feel every glorious inch of him surrounding me.

It certainly didn’t feel like he didn’t like me, but this was just a physical thing. It had to be. Dad always said a man didn’t need to like a woman to fuck her. Was I going to let Keane fuck me here on this sofa? “Oh,” I let out a surprised gasp when I felt his hand slide beneath my shorts and tangle with the moisture between my thighs.

“And this doesn’t feel like you don’t like me.”

His fingers felt delicious down there, much better than my own ever did, and my hips began to ride his hand. “Who said I don’t like you?” I don’t know how he managed to get that many word out of me, because I was pretty sure my brain diminished cell by cell as he circled my clit and one finger dipped inside me. “Oh hell. Yes,” I moaned unintelligibly and he only laughed low and deep in my ear, rubbing his beard against my sensitive skin, further enflaming me.

“You’re so fucking wet Fiona. Is this dripping pussy for me?” I couldn’t speak, could only feel the hot sensations pinging through my body, releasing a whimper when he stopped. “Are you wet for me Fiona?”

“I don’t see anyone else,” I said grumpily and the bastard still wouldn’t move his hand. “Yes Keane, all this is for you.” Only you. That must have satisfied him, because he kept up a slow and steady pressure circling my clit while one finger slid in and out of my pussy. Soon my body tensed and that welcome tension coiled through me like a whip. He swallowed the cries of my orgasm with his mouth on mine.

“You’re like a fucking wet dream, Fiona.” His growl didn’t make that sound like a good thing and suddenly I felt vulnerable. Exposed. “I shouldn’t want you Fi.”

I froze for a moment at his words, and then I flew off the sofa. “Don’t do me any fucking favors Keane!” Feeling hurt and humiliated I escaped to the bathroom and another hot shower to wash away the desire still making my body buzz.

Damn him.