by Lora Leigh
There was a long silence on the line. Shock and sudden comprehension filled the line.
“Fuck,” Joe finally said. “No matter what you do to me later, Luc, don’t let her out of your sight right now. She’s in more danger than you know…”
Chapter Seventeen
Every time she said no, they hit her again…
She was beaten so badly we didn’t think she would make it…
The doctors doubt she’ll ever conceive due to the internal injuries…
She was tricked, Luc. Maria didn’t spend that week in jail that you demanded, Melina did…
Luc pushed shaking fingers through his hair as the words replayed through his mind. His fault. It had been his fault that an innocent woman had nearly died. The same woman who had called him, apologizing for what had been done to him, her voice whispering in regret and sadness.
The woman he had confronted in her parents’ living room hadn’t been Maria. He remembered his fury when he had faced her, seeing the confusion and fear in her eyes when her parents introduced her as Maria. The memory of the awareness that had sizzled between them that day had haunted him over the years. For some reason, his cock had strained in urgent demand when her soft lips had trembled into a self-conscious smile that day.
He had allowed his rage free. His voice hard, harsh, his words damning as he watched her face drain of color.
You’ll pay for it, Ms. Angeles, he had warned her furiously. By God, I’ll make sure you spend time in jail if it’s the last thing I do in my life.
At the time, he had ignored the bleak pain that filled her expression. Her gaze had dropped, her soft lips pressing together a second after a betraying quiver had shaken them. He had wanted to haul her into his arms and apologize, which only made him madder at the time.
Now he knew why. Some instinct, some primitive part of his mind, had recognized the fact that he was punishing the wrong woman. That he was punishing his woman.
Damn. Where had that thought come from?
Shaking his head, Luc rose to his feet and paced from his office through the darkened house and back upstairs to his bedroom. She was still sleeping in his bed, curled in the middle, her hair tumbling around her head and shoulders like a fall of silk.
She hadn’t been raped. Thank God. Out of all the horror she had faced at least she had been saved the destructive pain of having been raped by her own sex. His fingers clenched as pain threatened to swamp him. He had put her there. Unintentionally perhaps, but he had been to blame all the same.
He sat down in the wingback chair beside his bed and stared at her. He simply watched her sleep, realizing he had never done that before. He had never watched a woman sleep nor would he have thought he would have gained any pleasure from it. But he did. Seeing the steady rise and fall of her full breasts, the way her lips parted just the tiniest bit, the small shadows her light colored, surprisingly lush lashes cast on her cheeks.
She was exquisite. In admitting that she wasn’t the shell of a woman he had thought she was, he was able to look beyond what he thought was there to the woman beneath. There was no longer the conflict that had warred between his head and his heart where she was concerned. Now, if only he could find a way to keep her safe.
Maria was missing and, with her, two of the dangerous drug runners she associated with. According to Joe’s information, she was looking for Melina. There was only one reason for Maria to be searching so hard for her sister. To find a way to ensure that Melina endured the coming prison sentence rather than her.
God, what kind of monsters raised a child to believe her sibling could always stand in front of trouble for her? What hold did Maria have over her parents’ hearts to have allowed something like that to happen? How did a sister—a twin—turn so dark and black against the other? It made no sense to Luc.
He knew twins, the August twins, especially. Men whose battles had left them, for a while, scarred and almost broken. But they had always protected one another, and their older brother, Cade, had protected them all. They were brothers; there were no questions of loyalty or determination to help each other. It was a part of them. How had Maria managed to be born without that innate love for her sister?
And Melina. How had she endured it? To be betrayed, not just by her twin, but by her parents? They had left her in that fucking jail cell while they vacationed in the Bahamas, accepting Maria’s word that her sister had been released. Accepting, without question, the word of a known liar, thief and drug addict.
Melina had nearly died. He stared at her, horror streaking through his system as he noted the almost fragile build of her slender body, the delicacy of her bones. She had been beaten so badly that she had received two broken ribs, suffered internal bleeding and contusions, scarring that might never heal. She had been only minutes from death when Joe had carried her into the emergency room of a local hospital. For days, it had been touch and go.
Hell, what had made her even fight to live? What did she have to hold onto at that time?
One of the inmates heard her scream your name… That had surprised Luc, when Joe told him that. Why would she scream for him? It had been his fault she was there to begin with. But she had screamed his name, cried out for him.
He wiped his hands over his face as fury consumed him. God help him, he prayed he never had a chance to wrap his hands around her father’s neck, or her sister’s. He feared he’d kill them himself for what they had done to Melina.
Rising to his feet, he shed his pajama bottoms and returned to the bed. He pulled her gently into his arms, surrounding her, holding her to him. She moved against him with a murmur of satisfaction, pillowing her head on his chest as he pressed his lips to her hair.
She was where she belonged. In his arms. His bed. His life. He’d be damned if he ever let her go. She might as well get used to being his captive, because she had stolen his heart and there wasn’t a chance he was going to let her leave with it.
Chapter Eighteen
Melina slipped out of bed the next morning, aware of Luc’s stormy eyes opening, his silence as she gathered up her clothes and headed for the shower. He didn’t speak and she was thankful for that. She wasn’t entirely certain she could handle a conversation with him right now.
Never in her life had she experienced a pleasure as astounding as what she had felt in his arms the night before. Sex had never been one of her favorite pastimes, even before she met Luc. Her few experiments into it had left her disappointed, left her wondering why she bothered. Last night had shown her why she should bother with Luc.
She shivered beneath the pounding force of the hot shower, her eyes closing as she fought the sensitivity of her own body. She ached in places that she didn’t know could ache. Her breasts were tender, the snowy globes marked here and there with the reddened proof of his passion. Even her hips carried one of the rosy brands from his mouth.
Her thighs clenched as she felt her pussy ripple in remembered pleasure. His mouth had lingered there, kissing her so intimately she had thought she would die from the sensations. If she wasn’t extremely careful, she could become addicted to his touch, his kiss.
She shook her head, attempting to dispel the memory of his touch, and quickly finished her shower. She had to figure out what to do now. She hadn’t expected things to progress to this point. She had never imagined she would be so weak as to allow Luc to actually take her while he still believed she was Maria. Yet, she had.
Rinsing quickly, she turned off the shower and dried her body roughly, wondering if there was any way to erase the feel of him from her flesh. The heat and hardness, strong thighs parting hers, his cock, so hard and thick, working inside her.
Melina sighed before dressing in one of the soft cotton summer dresses Luc had packed and dried her hair. She was so screwed, and she knew it. She was falling helplessly, hopelessly in love with a man who thought she was her sister. Who believed to the very core of his being that she was a thief, a drug addict, a woman who would stand by and
allow murder to be committed.
Her fists clenched at the thought as she stared back at the image reflected in the mirror. She didn’t even look that much like her sister anymore. The basic coloring was the same, but Maria’s lifestyle had hardened her, had shaped her face, tightened her mouth until there was little left of the woman she could have been.
The little enforced stay on Luc’s ranch had been nice. It had given Melina a chance to think, to find her bearings after her parents disowned her. It had given her precious days to find a balance between the child she had been and the woman she was. Time to figure out the chaos that had existed in her heart and in her mind.
She loved Luc Jardin. She had known, two years ago, that she could love him. When she had first stared into the dangerous depths of his stormy eyes, saw the flicker of pain and rage that chased across his expression, she had known she could love him. Had known he could become the most important person in her life. If she wasn’t who she was. If Maria hadn’t gotten to him first.
But she wouldn’t let her love turn her into something or someone she wasn’t.
Taking a deep breath she opened the door, stepping into the bedroom with every intention of confronting Luc. Instead, she drew stock-still. He was still in the bed, the sheet pulled to his hips, and on his chest sat Mason.
“This black mouse chaser of yours is holding me prisoner.” She saw his banked smile, heard the amusement in his voice as his fingers ruffled the cat just under his wide chin.
Could any man look sexier than he did at that moment?
“Thought you didn’t like cats, Mr. Hardass,” she grunted as she walked over to the bed and lifted Mason into her arms.
The animal purred in contentment, settling into her hold as he stared back at Luc with a hint of feline arrogance.
“I don’t.” There was that controlled quirk to his lips again. “I hate the little beasts.”
He stared up at her, his gaze becoming drowsy, suggestive. “Put him down and come here. You can make it up to me for being nice to him.”
She couldn’t help the flicker of her gaze to where the sheet began to tent at his thighs. Melina swallowed tightly at the knowledge that he was becoming aroused right before her eyes.
“Don’t you have work to do?” she finally asked, backing away from the bed and the temptation he represented. “I thought you had horses to train or something.”
He sighed heavily, though the amusement in his eyes only grew. “Or something,” he agreed, though she had a feeling he wasn’t talking about the horses.
“Then maybe you better get to it.” She turned away from him, trembling; wanting to lie back in that big bed with him so badly she couldn’t stand it.
She took a step away from the bed, desperate to escape him and the carnal hunger rising inside her. She wasn’t expecting him to move so quickly. His arm wrapped around her waist and before she could do more than squeak and release a startled Mason she was flat on her back on the mattress staring up at him.
Just that fast the blood was racing through her body, excitement and exhilaration thundering through her system as he stared down at her with a lazy sexuality that had her toes practically curling.
“Maybe I should get to it then,” he agreed, his husky voice washing over her nerve endings and sensitizing them further.
With her hands braced against his bare chest, she could do little about the bare expanse of her thighs that his hand revealed as he smoothed the soft material of her skirt further above her legs.
“That wasn’t exactly what I meant, Luc.” Her fingertips curled against the hard pad of muscle beneath them as she felt his other hand move beneath her head.
“Do you know how good you felt last night, Cat?” he asked her, stilling the objections rising to her lips. “I wasn’t even able to protect you, you stole my control so quickly.”
Melina stared up at him, seeing a softening in his eyes that hadn’t been there before last night. As though he had eliminated some barrier that had been there previously. He watched her in a way she had thought he never would. There was no hint of accusation, no shadows of suspicion. There was amusement, arousal, and a heat that blazed between them like an inferno rushing quickly out of control.
“Luc, this isn’t going to work.” She was not going to arch closer to him. She fought the need to rub against him in a sensual imitation of Mason begging for attention. But it was so hard not to. His body was sleek and hard as he lay against her, holding her to the bed.
His hand rested on her lower thigh, fingertips smoothing an intricate design into the flesh above her knee and slowly upward. Her thighs parted, though she was certain she meant to keep them tightly clenched.
“Sure it’s going to work, baby.” His head lowered, his teeth catching her lower lip gently as he stared back at her, the hunger in his gaze growing.
When he released her, his tongue smoothed over the curves. Melina parted her lips for him. She wanted his kiss, wanted his touch. What was the point in lying to herself or to him? She was weak and he was so damned tempting. Her time here would come to an end soon enough, surely there was no harm…
“No, Luc.” She shook her head, pulling back. There was more harm awaiting her if she gave into him. He already held her heart, soon he would hold her soul.
“Hmm. Captives aren’t allowed to say no,” he told her, his voice rumbling playfully in his throat as he moved closer to her.
His hard chest raked over her cloth-covered breasts. The cotton did nothing to stop her nipples from peaking, growing hard and tight as they pressed demandingly against the bodice of her dress.
“Aren’t you taking this too far?” She tried to still the weakening desire that flooded her pussy. God, she needed him.
“Nope.” His fingers clenched in her hair as his lips moved to her neck, smoothing over the sensitive flesh just beneath her ear. The shudder that rocked her body would have been embarrassing if Luc hadn’t groaned so roughly. “Taking it too far is tying you to the bed and listening to you beg while I paddle that sweet ass until it’s rosy.” Her thighs clenched. That should not be turning her on. “Then, parting the pretty little red curves and watching as I work my cock inside your tight little ass.”
She could feel her pussy creaming, her anus clenching. This was perverted, she told her traitorous body. Not that it cared. She was fighting to breathe now, panting beneath the fingers that had moved to unbutton the bodice of her dress.
“Maybe that wouldn’t be going too far, though,” he mused as he folded back the material and bared her swollen breasts. “Do you know how hot, how hard, the thought of that makes me, Cat?”
No one had ever talked to her so explicitly. Especially not while they watched her face, hands going over her body, gauging the depth of her arousal.
“Would you beg me?” he asked her as his fingers gripped a hard nipple, working it between them, tightening to the point that pleasure and pain blurred and sent her body rioting into a plane of sensation that she had never known existed.
“You’re killing me.” Melina was well aware she didn’t have the experience to combat the sexuality he was turning on her. “You know you are, Luc.”
His smile was sensual, tight, a grimace of extreme lust and hunger.
“Tell me what you want,” he whispered, his fingers tightening on her nipple again as she gasped and arched to him. “You like it, baby. See how much you like it.”
He repeated the move and Melina swore she was going to orgasm from that sensation alone.
“Yes,” she moaned brokenly. “You know I like it.”
“What else do you like?” His head lowered, his tongue curling around the reddened peak of her breast. “Tell me, baby. What else do you like?”
He didn’t give her time to answer. His mouth covered the tip of her breast, drawing it deep inside his mouth and suckling at it with sensual abandon. His teeth rasped the delicate point; his tongue licked until Melina dug her fingers into his hair, holding him to her, arching cl
oser as he insinuated himself between her legs.
Traitorous body. She whimpered as her thighs parted for him, her hips rising, a keening cry of need echoing around her as his cock pressed full length against her pussy.
“This isn’t fair,” she panted, but she arched her neck as his lips moved around to her throat, then her collarbone, moving inexorably closer to her swollen breasts. “You’re supposed to hate me. You can’t hate me and want to fuck me.”
He stopped then. His entire body stilled for several long seconds before his head raised, his eyes blazing into hers.
“Oh baby, hatred is the last thing I feel for you,” he said, the dark cadence of his voice throbbing with lust and something more. That something more, undefined and yet hidden, had her senses reeling.
How could he do this to her? Was it fair that love should weaken her even as it made her feel stronger, taller, able to face whatever she must to hold his heart? Even when she knew his heart would never be hers.
“You’re dangerous,” she whispered, her hand moving to touch the swollen pad of his lips as she stared back at him, knowing she couldn’t turn him away, knowing she couldn’t do anymore than love him while she could.
His tongue swiped along her fingers an instant before he gripped them with his teeth.
“Let’s see how dangerous we can get together then.”
His hand reached down, gripped the side of her panties and ripped them from her body. Melina’s eyes widened but before she could snap out a derogatory comment about cowboys and manners he was sliding his cock inside her.
Melina stilled, her eyes closing as she fought to breathe and to concentrate on the slow, sensuous glide of his flesh. Inch by inch he pressed his cock inside her, stretching the sensitive tissue, searing her with a heat and hunger that stole her sanity. It was a pleasure unlike any she had ever known before. A pleasure she couldn’t deny.
“You’re killing me.” She was fighting to breathe, to survive the white-hot lash of pleasure streaking through her.
