Bound (Forbidden #1)(23)
Author: Melody Anne

No woman had ever slept in his bed. Ever. He’d never allowed something so intimate. Yet when he laid her down on his massive mattress and watched as she snuggled into the pillow, her smile growing just a little bit bigger, he felt the first stirrings of peace he’d felt in a long time — maybe ever.

Refusing to analyze that, because he knew that if he did, he wouldn’t be able to let this situation continue, Blake crawled into the bed beside her. He pulled her against him and nearly came undone when she sought him out even in sleep, pressing even closer to him.

His body hardened and he thought about flipping her on her back and waking her up by plunging deep inside her heat. That’s why he’d brought her to his bed, wasn’t it? Of course it was. So he should do that without a second thought.

He still didn’t make a move on her. He just continued to hold her, involuntarily caressing her back with his hands. Tomorrow he’d surely be himself again. This out-of-character behavior had to be from the shock of discovering her innocence. That’s all it was. It simply couldn’t be that he actually cared about this woman. He would never care about any woman.

Certainly, he was only holding back from having sex with her again because she was a virgin, and he knew she’d be sore. He didn’t want to make it worse. He needed to give her a few hours to heal so she could be a better lover to him for the rest of the week she owed him.

Even though he was lying to himself again, Blake felt better. He’d expected that sleep would take hours — days even — to come to him, but it wasn’t long before he joined her in an untroubled slumber.

Chapter Fourteen

“How in the hell did I end up with a virgin from a damn escort service?”

Blake had been ranting as he paced back and forth in his brother’s living room. He threw back a burning shot of scotch before moving to the window to look out at the picturesque view of the boats gliding effortlessly across the busy inlet.

“I think it’s funny as hell. You’re the only guy I know who goes to a place like Relinquish Control and picks the most innocent girl there. Whatever gets your rocks off, I guess,” Tyler said as he leaned back lazily on his sofa.

“Shut up! I don’t even know why I went to the stupid place, but I did, and she ended up at my house. Now I have to figure out what the hell to do.”

“Did she please you?” Tyler asked.

Blake turned and crossed over to the chair facing his brother. “The sex was out of this world, and though she has a temper, she listens, which is a must. Of course, if she were a complete doormat, what fun would that be?”

“It’s all about the sex, so who cares what she was before you met her?”

“Yeah, but a virgin? I want nothing to do with that.”

“Well, she isn’t a virgin anymore.”

That made Blake stop. “I guess you’re right. What good would it do me to send her back? It’s not like she didn’t know what she was getting into. She put her body up for sale. You know, though, she’s not as greedy as she might be — or maybe she was just a bit stupid. Had she told McKenzie what she was, the woman could have gotten a lot more for her. Some men get off on that sort of thing.”

“But not you?” Tyler said with a chuckle.

“Go to hell, Tyler. You and I both know we aren’t ever going to settle down, and when we’re with women, we sure as hell want them to know what they’re doing in the sack, because that’s pretty much the only place we waste time with them.”

“So you aren’t really happy with her? Then send her back.”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t happy with her. I just said that I didn’t want the responsibility of a damn virgin,” Blake said, getting more and more frustrated.

“Okay, but it’s too late now, so either suck it up and finish out your week or send her packing, but whichever you choose, please quit acting like a love-struck fool.”

“You’re a freaking pain in the ass!” Blake thundered.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that about fifty thousand times since I was a child,” Tyler said with another chuckle, but the mirth faded from his expression and he looked solemnly at his brother.

Blake didn’t want the conversation to turn. He knew where it was headed, and it terrified him. Not much struck Blake with fear these days, but the topic they were about to embark on was the one thing that could bring him to his knees.

“Sunday is the day,” Tyler said quietly.

“I know. But we have to think of other things. It’s been twenty-five years, Tyler. Don’t you think we’ve allowed that woman to punish us long enough?” Blake said dryly.

“It’s easier for you to hide it, to push it from your mind, but I also know you never would have gone to a place like Relinquish Control if it weren’t the twenty-fifth anniversary of their death.”

“Yeah. I know. This is a tough year, but I think we need to get over it. We’ve suffered enough, and that sadistic bitch can rot in hell for all eternity.”

“I don’t disagree with you, but are we going to do anything to mark the date? The nightmares have come back, and I can’t…I…” Tyler trailed off as a shudder passed through him.

“I haven’t had nightmares for years. I’ve been waiting for them to return, but nothing has happened so far. What does Byron want to do?”

“He said that he wanted to do absolutely nothing, that he doesn’t ever think about them.”

“He’s full of crap. We’ll go to their graves. We’re going to let this go once and for all,” Blake said fiercely.

“How? Yes, you can say that, but years of therapy didn’t come close to erasing it, Blake. We watched our parents get murdered in front of us,” Tyler said, his voice rising.

“And that happened because our mother was such a selfish bitch that she didn’t care if our father’s death traumatized us, her own freaking children. Her game backfired and we got to pay the price!”

Blake couldn’t talk about that time in his life, that long night twenty-five years ago, without overwhelming anger. But he wouldn’t take out his rage on Tyler. They had done that to each other for years. It was over.

“Byron will come. We’ll let this go and never speak of it again.”

Tyler’s eyes narrowed. “Is that an order?”

“Come on, Tyler! You know it’s not that way with us. You’re just itching to fight. Our sanity — yours, mine, and Byron’s — depends on our getting past this.”