Quick and dangerous, p.19
Quick & Dangerous, page 19
That wasn’t Rob.
“Hmm?” Tate probed again. “We didn’t hire you to do her talking for her.”
Rob leveled his gaze on the cocky resort owner. “No, you didn’t. But you did hire me to protect her.”
Tate reared back in his seat, his eyes blazing. “And you think she needs protection from us? Her family?”
Rob tipped his beer up and shrugged. “I do.”
“What the fuck, man?” Gavin was about ready to push himself out of his seat, but Heather rested a hand on his arm, making him sit back down.
“You three have no idea what Skyler has been through. And yes, you found her and want to keep her safe. But as I said before, trust is earned, and blood doesn’t beget trust. Your sire is proof of that.”
All three men grumbled, but Rob could see that they were finally coming around.
“Just give her some time.”
He wrapped an arm around Skyler’s shoulders and pulled her tight against him. The brothers’ eyes all flared with heated curiosity.
“You two together?” Warren asked, his eyes bouncing back and forth between his sister and Rob.
“What if they are?” Silver asked, giving her husband a poignant look. “Didn’t you see the naked photos on social media? What did you think they were doing?” She rolled her eyes. “Avoiding tan lines?”
Oh fuck!
Warren’s blue eyes burned, his gaze lasering in on Rob as if Rob were not the man who had just rescued Warren’s little sister from the big, bad drug lords, but instead the man that had been defiling her for the last few days. Which he had been … consensually … repeatedly.
“We thought they were just letting their clothes dry,” Gavin said stupidly.
“How long does it take your board shorts to dry in the tropical heat?” Heather asked her husband. “And you definitely don’t have to take them off to do it.”
“How are you three billionaires?” Parker, Tate’s wife, asked, giving all three men a very curious look. “Titans of industry but dumb as rocks when it comes to the obvious.”
“Call it wishful thinking,” Tate muttered.
“Or the benefit of the doubt,” Warren said through gritted teeth, still glowering at Rob.
Skyler pushed Rob’s arm off her shoulder and sat up in her seat. “Rob has been there when I needed him. We’ve grown close over the last few days.” She zeroed in on Tate. “I am a grown woman. And yeah, those pictures are a bit more revealing than I would like. But whatever. They’re out there, and that’s that.” Her brother blanched under her glare. “I don’t have to answer to any of you. I don’t know you. I don’t trust you. As Rob said, trust is earned. I appreciate you finding me and helping me to safety, but this is all a little overwhelming right now, and I’d just like some time to process.”
There was his little firecracker. His Little Engine That Could.
All three of the brothers seemed to shrink where they sat, their throats bobbing as they swallowed their pride, eventually nodding.
The sisters-in-law all held small smirks of triumph.
“We’re sorry,” Tate said softly. “We didn’t mean to come on so strong. Or accuse you of anything.”
“Yeah,” Gavin said. “We were just so happy to finally find you. The missing piece.”
Warren grabbed Skyler’s hand, as they were sitting next to each other. “Never be afraid to tell us to back the fuck off. We’re your brothers—we’ll always have your back—but we can be a bit intense sometimes.”
That was an understatement.
Skyler squeezed his hand back. “Thank you. That means a lot.”
“Please know, though,” Tate went on, “that we would never do anything to hurt you. You’re our baby sister, and even though we just met you, we love you and we’d protect you with our lives. You’re family, and we protect our family.”
At that, all three brothers rolled back the sleeves of their long-sleeve shirts to reveal matching tattoos on the inside of their forearms.
“It’s a stingray, done in the traditional French Polynesian style.” Warren ran his hand over the ink.
“It means protection. And under it, it says family,” Gavin added.
“That’s right,” Tate agreed. “We may not have grown up together, but now that we have each other, now that we’re building this family, we’re protecting it with everything we have. Everything we are.”
Okay, Rob had to hand it to the brothers. That was pretty cool. He and his brother had talked about getting matching tattoos for years, but Eddie couldn’t commit. They wanted to get something that spoke of not only their family, but also Texas. Rob also wanted something with a Naval influence, but Eddie wasn’t on board, for obvious reasons.
They might be pushy bastards, but he knew deep down that they’d never let their sister get hurt. They’d been looking for her for a while and were just excited to finally have her in their lives.
They just needed to give her some time to realize it all for herself.
“Those are cool.” Skyler’s smile was small but genuine.
“You can get one too if you want,” Warren said with a big grin. His wife cleared her throat. “Or not. I mean, it’s totally up to you. It’s not like we’re going to hold you down and force you to get inked.”
Rob snorted.
Skyler chuckled half-heartedly next to him. “Thanks, I appreciate it.”
Parker, the redhead with a big pregnant belly, pushed herself up and out of her seat with a groan that only a woman in her final trimester could make. “Well, that was a very interesting evening.” She rested her hand on Tate’s shoulder. “We should let Skyler get some rest and process things. Plenty of time to talk money and Randall and everything else.”
“I agree,” Silver said, letting Warren help her to her feet. “No sense thinking about it today. Think about it tomorrow.”
Rob’s mouth twitched.
“After all, tomorrow is another day,” Skyler finished.
Rob’s eyes fell on Skyler, who was finally sporting her first real, Skyler-size smile of the day.
“You like Gone with the Wind?” Silver asked.
Skyler nodded, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Me too. We’ll have to do a girls’ movie night soon.” She rested her hand on Skyler’s shoulder. “That is, if you’re up to it.”
Skyler swallowed. “I’d like that.”
The brothers had all grown rather quiet and seemed to be almost hiding behind their wives. Rob had to stop himself from chuckling. For a bunch of alpha billionaires, they really didn’t run a damn thing.
“We’ll see you tomorrow,” said Heather, Gavin’s wife. “Good night, you two.” Then the three women led their husbands off through the Tiki Lounge toward the back of the property.
“Nightcap at my place?” Rob asked, looping his arm around Skyler’s shoulder again and leading her down the path to their villas.
She let out a loud, long sigh, her shoulders slumping beneath his arm. “Hell yeah.”
“Here you go.” Rob handed Skyler a crystal lowball of the scotch he’d found in the minibar. The shit was top shelf. And if he was getting comped the room, he was going to take full advantage. He also needed something to erase the taste of the foul luke-warm Bintang beer from his memory. And what better way than expensive scotch on someone else’s dime?
She took the glass from him. “Thanks.” She tossed it back, only making a face once the entire two ounces were down the hatch.
“Whoa. Slow down.”
She shook her head and stuck her tongue out. “Gah, water, please.”
With a chuckle, he handed her a bottle from the fridge. “You okay? That was some pretty intense shit back there.”
She exhaled through her nose. “Yeah, I’ll survive.”
“You always do,” he said softly, coming to sit next to her.
She snorted. “Yeah. I guess I do.”
“Don’t think about it today,” he said, leaning forward to open the minibar again in search of something not so strong. He came up with a mini bottle of white wine. He shook it at her, and she nodded. “Think about it tomorrow.” He screwed off the cap and poured it into her crystal glass. “After all … ”
“Tomorrow is another day.” She sighed, accepting the wine. “Thank you. I needed this.”
“This as in wine?”
“No, this as in … you. As in space and familiarity. They’re wonderful people, they’re just … ”
“A bit much.”
“Yeah.” She collapsed back against the dark blue bedspread, her hair spreading out above her like spun gold on a stormy sea. “Do you think I’ll fit in here?”
“I think so.” He joined her on the bed, their heads less than a foot apart.
She glanced at him. “You think? What will I do here?”
“Whatever you want, querida. The sky’s the limit.”
“I miss my mom.”
Rob’s chest tightened. Her pain must still be so raw. Even though it’d been a few years, the lack of closure would be devastating.
He reached for her hand and linked their fingers. “I know you do.”
She pulled her fingers free and sat up, draining her wine before putting the glass down on the nightstand.
“You want another?” he asked, sitting up as well.
She shook her head, sliding the strap of her dress over her tanned, toned shoulders. “I want something else.” The spaghetti straps slipped down her arms. She pulled off her dress, tossing it to the floor, leaving her in nothing more than a pale pink bra and white cotton panties.
Rob swallowed hard, his pants tightened and his mouth watered.
He would never grow tired of this woman. Never grow tired of her sensuality, her passion, her strength. She was the whole damn package.
Emotion snagged in his chest. She was the whole damn package for someone else.
But not for him.
This was only temporary. They agreed to that.
She unhooked her bra behind her and let the satiny garment join her dress on the floor. “Remind me of our island,” she said, stepping toward him. “We may have been stranded, but there was also something so freeing about being there. No one to answer to. No one to care about but each other. In a lot of ways, it had been perfect.”
It had been perfect. If they ignored all the bad things like lack of food, water, shelter and medical supplies, being on that island alone with Skyler for two days had been amazing.
She knelt up on the bed and straddled him, pressing her perky breasts and those puckered points in his face.
“It’s my favorite mission gone wrong,” he said gruffly.
She hummed. “Am I a mission?” Her arms draped over his shoulders, and her fingers twisted and toyed with the hair at the nape of his neck.
“You were.”
“Were?” Her vixen smile caused his balls to pull up. She shoved a nipple directly in front of his mouth and he willingly latched on, suckling and laving at her sensitive nub.
He shut his eyes so he could savor her. She tasted just like fucking raspberries. “Now you’re a perk for a job well done.”
When he didn’t hear her hum in response, he lifted his eyelids and glanced up at her just in time to see her smile fall. But when she caught him looking at her, she tossed on another one. Though anybody could see that it was fake.
Shit.
Her hands went to work on the buttons of his one good dress shirt. He normally just tossed a handful of T-shirts into his bag. But his mother had caught him packing this last time and insisted he pack something a “bit more formal.” He swore she still thought he was like James Bond, running around shooting people while wearing a tuxedo.
Skyler relieved him of his shirt in no time. Her fingers traced the lines of his biceps, his collarbone, his shoulder blades. Her feather-light touch stirred the flames of arousal deep inside him.
His querida. His Skye.
“Rob … ” she breathed, tilting her head up and letting her hair cascade down her back. He ran his hands up over her hips and back, cupping her ribcage in the span of his palms.
She was so small and yet so fierce.
She’d worried him earlier when it seemed like she was shutting down with her brothers. Thankfully, her spark had reignited and she’d found her spine. She stood up to them, let them know she wasn’t about to be bullied or walked on. She was as strong as they came. Like one of the tall palms on their island, she would weather any storm. She’d bend, but she’d never break.
“Take me back to our island, Rob. Take me back to the beach, the sand, the water … the coconuts. Take me back to when it was just you and me.”
He slipped his hand between them where she was rocking against him. Sliding two fingers past the damp fabric of her panties, he found her wet and swollen. She bucked into him, forcing his fingers inside her.
He grinned against her neck as he raked his teeth down that sensitive tendon. She wasn’t afraid of asking for exactly what she wanted. He loved that about her.
No head games.
She contracted around his fingers, moaning as his thumb rubbed rough circles against her silky clit.
“Querida, you’re so wet for me.”
“Just for you,” she murmured.
“Come on, baby. Come sit on my face. Let’s go back to the island.”
He pulled himself free from her body and slowly lowered his head to the bed, helping her clamber up over his torso. She pulled her panties off and lowered her pussy down over his waiting mouth.
He sucked her clit into his mouth and flicked it with his tongue. Her thighs trembled on either side of his head as she pressed herself harder down on him. She was getting slicker by the second. Her sweet honey poured in his mouth as his tongue slipped in and out of her.
Her breathing became ragged as he continued to bring her closer to the edge. Her whole body quivered as he brought his hand around and pressed his thumb to her clit. God, if he could stay like this forever, he’d be the luckiest man in the world.
Whimpering, she threaded her fingers through the short strands of his hair, tugging on the ends. He wasn’t sure if it was to thank him or because he was slowly turning her to jelly and she needed to hang on to something. Either way, it made him groan into her cleft and cup her buttocks harder with his free hand.
“Rob,” she panted, “I’m going to … ”
A sweet, warm gush filled his mouth as she let go on top of him, her entire body tensing and then releasing, tensing and then releasing as the orgasm rolled through her. He never let up, never stopped what he was doing until he felt her relax in his hands and her body slumped to the side.
He helped her roll over onto the bed and reached for the blanket draped across the foot, pulling it up and over her naked body.
Her eyelids fluttered open, and she smiled the smile that made him wish he wasn’t so broken, made him wish that he could be more for her, made him wish he could offer her a future. A future with a man who hadn’t lost his soul and faith in humanity ages ago. Whose dreams didn’t haunt him day and night, not allowing him to sleep peacefully or enjoy life the way he used to.
“Wow.”
He cupped her cheek. “Yeah?”
Her hand covered his. “Yeah.”
“You should sleep. The jet lag has to be killing you.”
“It’s not. You know what is killing me?”
He rolled over on to his side. “What is killing you, querida?” He cupped her chin, and she leaned into his touch.
“Not having you inside me,” she whispered. “Save me, won’t you? Don’t let me die.”
With a growl and a heartache he felt all the way down to his toes, he covered her body and settled between her thighs. “Querida, no matter what, I’ll always save you.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his mouth down to hers. “My hero.”
Chapter 20
Skyler
It was dinner the next night, and Skyler was finally getting to meet the entire McAllister clan. One thing that her new family had done right was introduce her to everyone in tiers. She met her brothers first, then their wives and then finally all the children.
They’d given her space all that day, not bothering her or Rob at all, but instead just sending food to their villa accompanied by messages apologizing for the previous night and inviting them to dinner with the entire family.
And that’s precisely where they were now. She and Rob wandered into the private dining room Tate had reserved for their dinner only to see children running around and babies squawking.
Holy crap, that was a lot of family.
She felt Rob tense up next to her immediately at the intensity of it all. Even though it was all family, there were a lot of people. Two babies were crying, one as his mother struggled to change his diaper off in the corner, and another more toddler-size one appeared to have bumped her head and was being consoled by Gavin.
“It’s okay,” she said, grabbing Rob’s hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. “You can go back to your villa if you want. Nobody will judge you harshly. Least of all me.”
She noticed him swallow hard out of the corner of her eye, but he didn’t move. “I can do this,” he said quietly. She wasn’t sure if he was speaking to her or giving himself the pep-talk.
“You sure?”
He tightened his grip on her hand. “Just skirt around them.”
She pulled him along toward some empty chairs around the big round table. “Don’t make eye contact.”
He made a surly noise in his throat. “Don’t joke.
“I’m not. Apparently babies can smell fear.”
He growled, but his grasp on her hand lessened just a touch. “You’re an ass.”
She smiled as he pulled her chair out for her. “But I’m your ass.”
He pinched it just as she was sitting down. “Damn straight.”
“So, your mother,” Tate asked a short while later, cutting into his steak but pausing before he took a bite. “What did she do for work? We couldn’t really find any information on her.”
