Bound Hearts 01-12

by Lora Leigh

  Not that she really wanted Conover, she assured herself firmly, ignoring the pulsing heat between her thighs. Arrogant, snide, self-important ass that he was, she could definitely do much better. Couldn’t she?

  “Tally, I need the Charter file.” Lucian stepped from his office, a scowl on his face as he stared over at her.

  She lifted a brow with cool inquiry. “The Charter contract was dropped last week.” She turned back to the computer and saved the data information before picking up the file she had been working on and placing it on the side of her desk with a dozen others. She could practically hear Lucian grinding his teeth.

  “Did I ask you when it was dropped?” he questioned her softly. “I don’t believe I did.” Now that voice… Tally tensed to control the shiver that wanted to work up her spine. It took all her control, but she kept her movements smooth, languid, as she exited the program then sat back in her chair before swiveling around to meet his gaze once again.

  She crossed her legs lazily, ignoring the thrill of excitement as his gaze flickered to the silk-covered flesh and heated up with a flare of lust. And if she wasn’t mistaken, he was definitely aroused.

  Keeping her expression calm in the face of the sudden fire flickering in his green eyes wasn’t easy. His hard features were almost savagely outlined, the full curve of his lower lip tightening as his gaze rose to hers once again.

  She lifted a brow slowly, more than aware that the perfect arch of the wing-tipped brow would make him furious. If he was angry, he was off balance. An out-of-control Lucian she could handle. The calm, determined Lucian had sent trepidation skittering through her system.

  His brows snapped into a frown as his green eyes darkened for long seconds. Then, like the calm before a storm, his expression cleared. This could be interesting. She forced herself to remain relaxed as his face hardened.

  “The Charter file,” he said carefully. “Now.”

  She sighed with exaggerated forbearance. “Very well. Though I don’t understand why you need to go over a contract that was obviously dropped a week ago. Besides, the owner is a maggot. You wouldn’t like him.”

  She rose to her feet and walked slowly over to the file cabinet as she restrained her own anger. Whereas Jesse had most likely understood her reluctance to deal with the tall, imposing metal cabinets, Lucian merely stood negligently against the doorframe and watched her with narrowed eyes.

  He would want a file that was stored in the upper drawer. The cabinet was over five and a half feet tall; Tally was barely five two. Pulling the drawer out, she stood on her tiptoes and began riffling through the files until she found the one he wanted. Lifting it out, she pushed the drawer in and walked sedately over to him.

  His gaze was hot, but not from anger now.

  “Your file, Mr. Conover.” She handed it to him, fighting the flush she could feel gathering on her cheeks as his gaze dropped to her breasts. She couldn’t keep her breasts from tingling, though, or her nipples from heating beneath his gaze. She breathed slow and evenly, but her heart was racing out of control.

  “Your shirt…” He ignored the file, his hand reaching out as his finger slid beneath the parted fabric.

  Tally dropped her gaze, almost flinching as his finger slid beneath the edge of her lacy, low-cut bra. The two buttons had somehow slid free on the white silk shirt, leaving her all but bare to his gaze. The sight of his flesh, dark, yet not as dark as her own, sent vibrant trails of awareness blazing through her body.

  Suddenly, the memory of him naked, his cock working between Terrie’s thighs, sent anger pouring through her system. Unaccountable, uncharacteristic anger. She shouldn’t care who he fucked or how often he did it. It shouldn’t matter.

  She lifted her hand, casting him a look from beneath her lashes as she ran her finger up one side of the parted fabric.

  “Do you want this file?” she asked him, her voice low, seductive at first. A second later she raised her gaze, and allowed the ice beneath the surface free rein. “Or the one I’ll present later for sexual harassment if you don’t move your hand?”

  His gaze rose slowly back to hers and the heat in his eyes nearly seared her. She could feel her pussy swelling, her clit aching in response to that look. She lifted her brow in haughty inquiry.

  “Would you?” he asked her. “I never figured you for a hypocrite, Tally. But if that’s the way you want to play…”

  He pulled his hand back reluctantly as he took the file from her hand. A small smile edged the corner of his sensual lips.

  No, she wasn’t a hypocrite, but she would use whatever edge she could get.

  “If that’s all you need then, I’ll be going to lunch.” Without looking she casually re-buttoned her shirt before turning away from him.

  “It’s a half hour before lunch, Tally,” he reminded her smoothly. “I’ll have to dock your pay.” Tally shrugged in unconcern. It would be worth it.

  “I’ll survive.” She collected her purse and headed for the door.

  “I didn’t take you for a coward. Maybe I was wrong.” His voice had her stopping, anger seething through her body as she turned back to him.

  “A coward?” She lifted her brow as she assumed an expression of haughty disdain. “And you came to this conclusion how?”

  She crossed her arms beneath her breasts as she stared back at him. Damn him for the arrogant ass he was.

  “Because you want me. You know it and I know it, yet you fight it.” His voice was low, dark and husky.

  She hated it when he used that voice. Hated the way it made her pussy pulse and tingle, made her yearn for his touch. Unfortunately, she was also well aware of the fact that there wasn’t a chance in hell it could work.

  “My dear Mr. Conover.” She sighed mockingly. “I’m old enough that I understand I can’t have everything I want in this life. Perhaps this is a lesson you should learn as well.” It was one she took to heart. Some things, men like Lucian topping the list, just weren’t good for the emotions or the general stability of life. Tally prided herself on her stability. If she had thought for one moment that she could go to bed with him, enjoy a few hours of wild sex and have it done with, then it would be a different matter. Something warned her that this would not be the case, though.

  She stood still, in control, as he paced over to her slowly. He was tall, broad, and if the bulge in those slacks was any indication, he was fully aroused and just as large as he had looked while fucking Terrie.

  He stopped directly in front of her, staring down at her, forcing her to raise her head to stare back at him in unconcern.

  “Funny,” he said with apparent gentleness. She wasn’t fooled in the least. “This suddenly antagonistic attitude didn’t show up until you walked into that office while I was fucking Terrie. Jealous, Tally?” Her breath caught in her throat and she knew he caught the tightening of her eyes at his shocking question.

  “Oh yeah, I saw you come in.” He dropped the file on a nearby shelf as she backed away from him.

  He was too close; she felt too overwhelmed, too weak when he towered over her like that.

  Unfortunately, there was no place to retreat. Her back came against the door as his arms bracketed her, holding her firmly in place.

  “Your nipples are hard, Tally,” he growled. “And that cold little expression can’t hide the fact that you’re fucking hot as hell right now. You want me, and you’re damned scared to take it.”

  “Scared? Of you?” She only barely managed the disdain she was trying for. “Not hardly, Lucian. You’re letting your imagination run away with you. You’re not the first man to make me respond sexually and you won’t be the last. Never doubt that. But I decide who I fuck and who I don’t. And I won’t fuck you.”

  “Because you’re scared.” She watched as his gaze softened, the brilliant green color warming drastically.

  “You’re small, baby, but you can take me.”

  His outrageous words had flames of a
nger—or was that violent lust—shooting through her.

  “Oh, get away.” Sarcastic amusement filled her voice; her hands flattened on his chest as she pushed him back forcefully. “You think your dick’s so big I’m afraid of it?” She straightened the shoulders of her silk shirt, smoothed the crease at the top of her skirt before staring back up at him, allowing her lips to curve with seductive knowledge.

  “Dream on, Conover. It’s not your cock I reject, or even your hedonistic lifestyle, such as it is. Quite frankly, you couldn’t handle me, and I’ll be damned if I’ll deal with the complications of your bruised pride when you realize that. It’s not fear; it’s fact. Now touch me again and I’ll resign. I don’t have to deal with your advances as well as your snappish attitude. I’ll quit first.” She gripped the doorknob and jerked the door open as she rushed to leave, only to be stopped abruptly

  as she ran into the dark, devil’s version of the wicked apparition behind her.

  “Easy, sweetheart.” Devril Conover’s voice was rough sex, whisky at midnight and depraved desires all rolled into one. The same as Lucian’s. She was trapped between the two men now as Devril gripped her hips and eased her backward as he came fully into the room, pushing her flush against Lucian.

  “Everything okay?” Dev asked her when she didn’t speak. She couldn’t speak. Lucian enclosed her from behind as Devril pressed against her breasts. Heat enveloped her. Like bands of invisible steel it held her motionless, curiously shocked by the sudden impression of protectiveness and strength that emanated from the two men. She was surrounded by their warmth. Wrapped in it.

  She stared up at him in surprise. He was the devil’s image of the man behind her, watching her heatedly, reminding her of exactly what she was passing up by walking out that door. It was bad enough to have Lucian tempting her, but to have Dev, the dark-haired vision of the sin twin helping him? That was completely unfair as far as she was concerned. Fate had it in for her, that’s all she could say.

  “Just what I need.” She sighed with mockingly false patience as she stared up at Devril and batted her eyes seductively. “Tweedle Dee to join Tweedle Dum. Do you boys ever do anything solo?”

  “Where would the fun be in that?” Lucian asked her as his lips settled against her ear, his hands on her shoulders as she felt the hard length of his cock against the small of her back, Devril’s against her lower stomach. “Or the challenge? I’ll make you beg me to touch you again, Tally.” The sexual tension thickened as she realized the implication behind his words. The breath locked in her chest and lust sizzled through her veins. Both of them? Brothers? The temptation was damned near impossible to deny. She couldn’t have thought of any sexual experience that would have possibly been better. Or one that came closer to her fantasies.

  Except.

  Lucian was her boss. Her position as assistant to the vice president of Delacourte-Conover could become extremely precarious and even if she did quit, resign or walk out, the gossip that would abound could destroy her career. They could destroy her heart.

  “Ohhh, so confident,” she mocked him waspishly, well aware that she had lost her appearance of calm disinterest as she pushed her way past Devril and made it to the door again. “I could make you beg.” She rolled her eyes with forced patience. “Not hardly.” She turned back to them. They were like night and day. Devril watched her with blatant lust while Lucian watched her with a mix of predatory interest and a flare of anger.

  “We’ll forget this episode ever happened,” she drawled coolly as they watched her with their ever-present amusement. Fighting back the knowledge that she was walking away from the ultimate sexual fantasy, she bit back her sigh of regret and informed them instead, “I’m going shopping. I’ll be back when I get back.” Her gaze hardened on Lucian. “And if you dock my pay then you better make certain you bring your own coffee to work. Because anything you get here won’t be safe to drink.” She turned and walked sedately from the room, though she closed the door a bit harder than she intended. The blood was rushing through her body, heat and lust curling through her womb as her cunt trickled with her juices. Had anything ever been so intensely carnal? Not that she knew of. Which was terrifying. They were a weakness she could ill afford.

  She had turned them down. She drew in a hard breath and gave herself a mental pat on the back even as the darker part of her desires mentally kicked her. Could there be anything more seductive than the thought of being mastered by the two fallen angels of Delacourte-Conover? Not to her mind there wasn’t. But, she reminded herself, was there anything more dangerous?

  Chapter Three

  Okay, so she had choices to make. Tally sat alone in the small gazebo in the center of the park, staring out at the placid blue of the pond, on whose banks it had been built. The wooden bench was hard but not uncomfortable. The slight breeze that flowed through the branches of the trees above her was soothing, even if it did little to cool the fires raging in her body.

  She was out of control. Or at least as out of control as she felt it was possible for her to get. She was nothing if not well aware of the fact that she had run from that office and from Lucian and Dev like a scared little virgin. She was anything but a virgin. And just because they may not be aware of it, she was honest enough with herself to admit the truth.

  She was scared.

  She hadn’t anticipated that when she had first been moved to Conover’s. She knew she lusted after Lucian, knew she wanted a chance to experience his touch, to fuck him until she knew at least some small relief from the desires tormenting her. When Dev had been added to the equation, she had been positively gleeful. Two men at her beck and call, she had thought. Amazingly virile, able to provide her with her every carnal desire. She hadn’t expected the dominance as well. Nor had she expected the growth of her desires. Her needs were almost consuming her now. Needs she had no business seeking.

  She watched a small flock of ducks waddle across the grassy bank and slip into the cool water. Their lazy quacks and playful antics in the water brought a smile to her face. Once, a long time ago, she would have followed them. She would have splashed in the water and dared anyone to deny her the pleasure of it.

  Now, she hid her pleasures, kept them in the dark and allowed them out only under the strictest circumstances. She could tell Lucian and Dev were not going to allow her to decide where and when those desires came out. Or how they would be played.

  “Still pouting?” Dev’s dark voice had her jerking in response, her head swinging around as he stepped into the sheltered gazebo and took a seat across from her. His legs took up most of the space; his big body seemed to fill the small open building to capacity.

  “I never pout,” she informed him with a patient little smile. She wished she felt as patient as she forced herself to appear. “I was merely enjoying the peace.” A peace she was certain was gone for good now. Dev Conover looked like your typical bad boy. From his overly long jet-black hair to his intense green eyes and hard body, he was every woman’s ideal of carnal pleasure. He was the dark to Lucian’s light, as different physically from his brother as you could get. But she had a feeling that inside, where it counted, they were too damned much alike.

  He watched her intently, leaning back against the bench, his arms stretched out along the back of it as amusement tilted the corners of his lips.

  “I had you pegged as the Dragon Lady,” he finally mused quietly. “I expected you to come out with claws drawn, not to see you run away as though afraid of the two of us.” She lifted her brow mockingly, despite the fact he had described exactly what she had done.

  “Devril, really,” she said, shaking her head. “Some things are worth drawing claws over. Others aren’t really worth the time. Perhaps you and Lucian fall into that latter category.”

  “Perhaps?” That demonically sexy quirk of his lips made her mouth water.

  She breathed in deeply, refraining from rolling her eyes, though resisting the urge was a test of her pa
tience. No matter how sexy he was, he was infuriating as hell.

  “Fishing for compliments, Dev?” She fought to keep her voice calm, modulated. It wouldn’t do to let him sense any weakness. Like Lucian, he would pounce on it immediately. “You’ll need to bring better bait next time.” She lifted her brow in mocking amusement as she glanced at his lap insultingly before looking away. No way in hell would she admit that bulge was more than outstanding.

  He was silent for long moments. Just long enough for her to grow comfortable with the sounds of summer that filled the hidden spot. Soothing, relaxing, she found comfort here more than any other place she knew of.

  “Have you ever had sex in public?” he finally asked her with devilish amusement.

  She glanced at him mockingly. “Of course I have. I’ve grown out of the urge to tempt a charge of public indecency, though. As you should have.”

  His eyes were assessing and filled with an outright challenge.

  “Hmm. Maybe.” His lips tilted into a sexually knowing grin. “But isn’t that all a part of the fun?” He lowered his arms from the bench and braced his elbows on his knees. Leaning forward as he was now, he was much too close to her; the small gazebo seemed filled with him, the sexual tension heightening unbearably.

  Hard, calloused hands settled on the sides of her knees, his thumbs smoothing over the sensitive, silk-covered flesh. Tally’s gaze fell to those large, competent hands. It was much too easy to imagine them on her skin.

  “I want to fuck you, Tally. So bad it’s like a hunger. You’ve flitted around and teased us for a year, determined to control every step of this little dance we’ve been involved in. Haven’t you learned yet?

  There’s no control here.”

  Tally narrowed her eyes at the challenge. Drawing in a slow, deep breath, she leaned forward, noticing rather smugly the small flare of surprise in his gaze as her hands ran up his arms, her nails dragging over the hard, muscular flesh of his biceps. She felt him tighten, his knees shifting as he moved forward, enclosing her legs within his as she stared back at him.