by HELEN HARDT
* * *
The housekeeper, a Jamaican woman named Marabel, took the two boys to get cleaned up and fed. Daphne saw to their needs herself, convinced they were young Joe and Talon, with a woman who appeared to be her nurse supervising. She clearly wasn’t distraught over a missing young Ryan.
The thought left a lump in my throat.
Now, Talon and I sat in the office—Talon’s office at home—to hear our father’s side of this twisted tale.
“First, your mother,” he said to us.
“Uh…which one?” I hadn’t meant to sound sardonic, but my words came out with an edge to them.
“I’m sorry. Daphne. If I’d had it my way, Ryan, you would never have known Daphne wasn’t your mother.”
“Would that have been fair?” Talon asked.
“Wendy broke a promise to me by telling you,” he said to me. “When I found out, I got your number and tried to call you to explain, but you didn’t say anything.”
“I was speeding across Colorado at about one-sixty when I got your call. A call from my dead father. Then my Porsche went over a cliff. Sorry I couldn’t get back to you. And by ‘sorry,’ I mean fuck you.”
He ignored me and turned to Talon. “None of this is fair.”
“And whose fault is that?” I wasn’t in the mood for niceties. Not only had my father come back from the dead, he’d brought Daphne with him.
“Mine,” he admitted.
“We knew you as a man of honor,” I said. “A man who instilled in us a work ethic like no other, the value of a job well done, the importance of being a good man with integrity. You’re none of that.”
He said nothing.
“You let my mother hurt my brother,” I continued. “How can I ever forgive you for that?”
“I’ll explain everything as well as I can, but I don’t expect your forgiveness. I never did, though I hope you might grant it. I never meant for you to find out I was still alive. But then things went terribly wrong.”
“Then they went terribly wrong?” I clenched my hands together. “Things have been terribly wrong for a while. You’ve had Daphne here since Marj was two. You deprived our little sister of a mother. The rest of us too, for that matter.”
“Daphne was no longer fit to be your mother. As you can easily see, she lives in her own delusional world now. She keeps a doll that she believes is Marjorie, though she uses her original given name, Angela.”
I well remembered the first piece of evidence we’d uncovered in this whole mess—Marj’s original birth certificate that listed her name as Angela Marjorie Steel. Marjorie had never known her real name because her certificate in the database had been altered to read Marjorie Steel, with no middle name.
“Wendy”—I refused to say “my mother”—“told Jade that Daphne named our sister Angela because when she was born prematurely, she knew she’d be an angel soon. Then, when Marj lived, she decided not to call her Angela after all because it would be a bad omen.”
“Your mother—”
“She’s not my mother!”
“I was speaking of Wendy, who is your mother.”
“If it’s okay with you, I’d rather not lay claim to any of my so-called parents, including you.” I gripped the wooden arms of the chair I sat in.
“Ryan,” Talon began.
“Tal, don’t try to stop me from having my say here. My life has been shattered into a million pieces and—” I sighed, feeling like complete crap. “I’m sorry. You’ve had to deal with way worse shit than I ever have. I’m being selfish.”
“That’s big of you, Ryan,” my father said.
“I said it out of respect for Talon, not for you.” I gripped the arms of the chair again, my ire rising. “I lost all respect for you when I found out about my true parentage.”
My father sighed, his eyes glassy. “I’m not sure I can do this now. Let’s all sleep on this.”
“Are you serious?” Talon this time. “I just find out that both my parents, who I thought were dead, are instead alive and well, and you want us to sleep on this?”
“Your mother is far from well. That should be patently obvious.” Bradford Steel rubbed at his forehead. “I swear to both of you that I’ll tell you everything, but not until your brother and sister are with you. I can’t go through this twice.”
“They’re not coming here,” I said. “This place isn’t safe for Marjorie, and Joe’s wife is pregnant. His place is home with her. So get it off your chest now, Dad, or goddamnit, I swear I’ll beat you into tomorrow.”
“Ry…” Talon rubbed his palms on the black pants he still wore.
“What? You think just because I’m the most jovial Steel brother I can’t have a fucking temper? I may not be as dark as you and Joe, but Jesus Christ, Tal, this motherfucker owes us an explanation.”
“Yes,” Talon said. “He does.”
Our father cleared his throat. “And you’ll get it. Back home. If Marj and Joe can’t come here, we will go home to them.”
“We’re not going anywhere until you release every woman and child who is being held against their will in that place,” Talon said, his dark eyes glaring. “I can’t believe you ever had a hand in this.”
“I would release them all in a minute,” he said. “But it’s not that simple.”
“Make it simple, then,” I said. “Make it simple and get it done. Or I will kill you where you sit.”
He didn’t bat an eye at my words. “You have every right to. Believe me, I’m working on it.”
“Start talking, Dad,” Talon said.
“In the morning. I’ll tell you what I can. The rest when we’re all together. That’s the best I can do.”
I stood, advancing toward my father behind the desk. I wasn’t the biggest or the strongest of the Steels, but right now I was the maddest. I pulled my father up by his shirt collar. “You’d better thank God Joe didn’t come with us. Talon will keep me in line. But no one keeps Joe in line.” I threw him back in his chair, walked to the door, and left, rage consuming me.
What I needed at the moment was not in that office.
It was somewhere in this house, though, and I was going after it.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ruby
I was back on the deck with Juliet and Marabel when Ryan stalked outside.
His eyes were feral, primal.
The way he looked at me…
Juliet cowered against Marabel.
“It’s okay,” I said to her. “He’s here for me.”
I knew what he wanted, what we both wanted and needed. I expected him to yank me out of my chair, but he pulled me up gently.
“Come with me.”
I looked toward Juliet. I didn’t want to leave her, but my physical needs were bearing down on me. I needed to be with the man I loved, and the look in his eyes told me he needed the same. She was cuddling Beauty, and Marabel gave me a slight nod. I took that as my okay.
The guesthouse sat in the distance—the guesthouse that was Ryan’s home, or at least looked just like it. Would it be furnished the same way? Would it be furnished at all?
As we walked toward it together, I knew I’d soon find out.
“I want to scoop you up in my arms and run to that house,” Ryan said quietly. “But I don’t want to upset Juliet.”
“I appreciate that.” Though part of me longed for the same. I’d felt so helpless since I’d been brought here, so unable to have any control. And now, with Ryan, that’s what I longed for. To submit to his control.
What the hell was wrong with me?
Nothing. I heard Melanie’s soft voice in my mind.
But I couldn’t help but think she was wrong. Here Ryan and I both were, stuck on this island in the Caribbean where so many suffered. And right now, all I could think about was getting to that guesthouse faster and having Ryan fuck me into oblivion.
Oblivion sounded like heaven.
When the door to the house was within a hundred feet, I ran, pulling
Ryan along with me.
I turned the knob, but it was locked. “Damn!”
We tried all the doors. All locked.
“This is fucked up,” he said. Then, “Fuck it. I don’t care.” He put his fist right through the front window.
I gasped, worried. “Are you hurt?”
“Don’t care,” he said again, reaching his long arm through and undoing the window lock. Then he opened the window and crawled through. “Wait here.”
A few seconds later, he’d unlocked the door. “Hurry,” he said.
I entered and gasped again. The place was decorated nothing like Ryan’s at home but was certainly decorated. Probably by a woman, I’d guess, though none of it was to my taste. The living room was done in pure white, including a white lacquer baby grand piano. It was a muted white rather than stark, but still, I almost had to squint to look at it.
Then I remembered Ryan’s hand. “Let me see.”
“Just a few scratches. Forget it. Let’s find a bedroom.” He raked his fingers through his hair, looking around. “Screw it. We’re doing it here.”
“On this white stuff? You’ll get blood on it.”
“Do I look like I care?” He grabbed me and crushed his lips to mine.
I opened to him, exploring his soft mouth. I’d missed him so much, but I hadn’t let myself think much about him, at least so far as I could control myself. Thinking about Ryan too much would have overridden any logical part of my brain, and I’d had to concentrate on Juliet and the others. I hadn’t been able to control my dreams, though.
But now…
I finally gave myself the freedom to melt into the man I loved.
He cupped my cheeks with his warm hands, thumbing my skin softly. Then he brushed his hands over my shoulders and around to my breasts. He began unbuttoning the silk pajama top, but then ripped it open down the middle, baring me. The fabric landed in a heap at my feet.
He roughly shoved the silk pants over my hips, and within seconds I was naked, my nipples so hard I swore they could have cut through glass. I inhaled. Already I could smell the musk of my arousal.
He thrust his fingers between my legs. “God. Fuck. Ruby. Ruby.” Single words came out as groans.
“Please, Ryan. Please. Now,” I moaned in whispers.
He set me upon the keyboard of the piano—discordant notes rang out, oddly unsettling yet perfect for the moment—and then pushed the black pants he wore over his hips and thrust into me.
Steadying myself, I hit the keys with my left hand, and more disharmonic chords swirled around us. I let out a long moan, letting him seat himself to the hilt inside me. We hadn’t been separated long, yet this felt like a homecoming. Like a deliverance from evil—which, in some ways, it was.
With my other hand, I touched Ryan’s rough cheek and stared into his dark and fire-filled eyes.
We didn’t speak, but our gazes spoke volumes. He thrust into me again and again, each thrust evoking more obscure notes from the piano.
The position was different somehow, and each thrust rubbed at my clit until soon I was ready to explode into orgasm.
“Yeah,” Ryan grunted. “God, yeah.”
I screamed as the convulsions started deep within me, traveling through my core to my limbs, and then returning at light speed to my pussy, exploding like fireworks.
Ryan thrust into me one last time, groaning, as he emptied inside me.
When he came down, he kissed my forehead gently, sighing.
My hand fell from his cheek to the piano keys, eliciting higher notes this time.
“Baby,” Ryan said. “Let’s find a bedroom. I’m going to lick every drop of my cum out of you, and then I’m going to fuck you again and again.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Ryan
We found a bed in the master suite. Again, all in fucking white. I didn’t give a rat’s ass if we soiled every inch of this house. I wasn’t stopping until I’d had my fill of Ruby…and that wouldn’t be for a while.
I undressed so we were both naked, and I pulled her against me. God, her skin, so soft and supple against my own. How had I never stopped to just feel her? Enjoy the sensation of our skin touching? I hardened again, my cock pushing into her soft belly. Her effect on me hadn’t lessened at all. I closed my eyes and inhaled. The sweetly pungent smell of sex coiled around us. I touched her between her legs. My semen had dripped out of her, wetting the inside of her thighs.
I hardened even further. I pushed her down upon the bed and spread her legs. Licking my lips, I dived in.
Sweet heaven. She tasted of a mixture of us, of our lust. Of our love. I pulled at her clit. She grabbed two fistfuls of the white duvet, moaning my name.
Her moans fueled my desire, and I tugged at her labia, swirled my tongue around her wet lips and then thrust it inside her hot channel. She arched her back, her hips rising, as she ground against my face.
God, she was so hot, and she knew just how to turn me on.
I flipped her over onto her stomach and pushed her thighs forward so her beautiful ass was mounted for my view. Her pale skin shone against the stark white of the comforter. I leaped back into her wet heat, sliding my tongue from her clit all the way up to her pink and puckered asshole. She shuddered beneath me, grasping the covers once more, her hips undulating as she pushed her ass back into my face. I wanted to lick every inch of her, drown in her sweetness.
My cock throbbed, but I hadn’t had enough of tasting her yet. I lay down next to her, positioning my head at the edge of the bed, and then pulled her onto me. “Sit on my face, baby.” Her cream coated my cheeks and chin, and I reveled in it.
And then… Oh God… Her tongue was slithering over my cockhead, invading my tiny slit, and then her mouth was upon me until I nudged the back of her throat.
Good God! That was the farthest she’d ever taken me, and I concentrated all my willpower on not unloading again right there.
I couldn’t hold out much longer, so as much as it pained me, I pushed her off my face. “Take my cock, Ruby. Ride me.”
She turned to face me, her cheeks rosy, her blue eyes afire, and grasped my cock with her fist. Slowly she nudged it against her swollen pussy and sank down on me inch by excruciating inch.
She gloved me like no other ever had. So tight, so perfect around me, hugging me, clasping me with her ridged walls. I reached up to her breasts, which I hadn’t paid any attention to yet. How could I have neglected such perfection? I smoothed my hands over her silky skin, but I couldn’t keep my hands off her nipples for long. I thumbed them, loving how they hardened further at my touch. I tugged at them, and she moaned.
“Ryan, God. That feels so good!”
I twisted them harder, and she began riding me faster. I jerked my own hips up and down with her rhythm, and when my balls tightened against my perineum and the tiny convulsions began, I yelled at the top of my lungs.
“Ruby. God, Ruby! I love you!”
I erupted into her, pulsating wildly, exploding into her willing body. When she followed me into ecstasy, clamping around me, I pulled her down to me and took her lips with mine, kissing her deeply.
I couldn’t kiss her hard enough, fast enough, and through our orgasms we remained kissing, our mouths fused together as were our bodies.
Finally, I broke the kiss and inhaled harshly. She collapsed on top of me, and rather than roll her over to her side, I welcomed her weight, her body against mine. Our skin stuck together with perspiration. After a few moments, she slid off me and sighed.
“Wow,” she said.
“Wow times a hundred,” I replied.
She sniffled against my arm.
I pulled her close. “Anything wrong?”
“Are you kidding? Everything is wrong. Everything except the two of us. Here. Together.”
I knew what she meant. “We’ll fix this, baby. I promise. Somehow.”
“What did your father say?”
I rolled my eyes. “He refused to tell us much until the
morning. Even then, he said we have to wait until Joe and Marj are with us. He can’t tell us until we’re all together.”
“I suppose I can see his point.”
I stiffened. “I can’t.”
“I know. I haven’t gotten much information out of my own father either. Only that he wants out. That he has regrets. Too little too late as far as I’m concerned.”
“Me too. I’ll never forgive him for what he did to Talon. I’ll never forgive any of them, my mother especially.”
“What did he say about…” She hedged. “Daphne being alive?”
“Not much, except that she became unfit to be our mother. Why she’s here, and why she carries a doll around thinking it’s Marj—”
Ruby sat up. “She thinks the doll is Marj? She calls it Angela.”
“I know. Remember when we told you about the birth certificate we found?” I quickly told her the story of Marjorie’s original name.
“Oh. Wow.” She shook her head. “I feel incredibly stupid. It never even dawned on me that she could be Daphne.”
“There’s no reason why it should have.”
“Of course there is. I’m a detective. I—” She looked down at my hand. “We need to get you cleaned up. You’re pretty scratched up.” She moved toward the edge of the bed.
“It can wait.” I pulled her back and kissed her.
She responded, but after a few beautiful minutes, she pulled away again. “I’m taking care of you. I hope this house has first aid supplies.” She stood and held up her torn pajama top. “What am I going to wear out of here?”
I smiled. “Don’t care.”
She shook her head. “You’re incorrigible. I guess I’ll go walking around this strange place naked, then.”
“You won’t get any complaints from me.”
A few minutes later, Ruby returned with some washcloths, antibacterial ointment, and Band-Aids.
“Ow!”
She rubbed at my scratches with the warm cloth. “Sorry. But some of these gashes are pretty deep. You’re a good clotter, though.”
