She rolled her eyes at the concern in his voice. The overprotectiveness she was inspiring in the men around her was becoming stifling.
“Why is everyone so certain I am unaware of what I’m seeking?” she asked him, growing weary of the warnings.
“Perhaps, because of the innocence that shines so sweetly from those dark brown eyes,” he suggested. “You have the appearance of a precocious schoolgirl. A man’s greatest sexual fantasy, his most frightening reality. Pair that with a woman fully grown and one who appears willing to fulfill every fantasy, and you would terrify even the most perverted hedonist. You, my dear, could bring Ian to his knees. And for a man as dominant, as intent on his freedom as I know Ian is, you are a weakness he can ill afford. You arouse protectiveness, in the same depths that you arouse lust. Be careful that your heart isn’t broken.”
* * * * *
“Marguerita, what the hell has happened to Courtney?” Dane was not at home, which was a damned good thing because Ian was ready to blister his ears. What the hell did the other man think he was doing, sending his daughter here? Here? To the same house where the now infamous Trojans met. To the same house filled with a club of depraved, perverted men who wanted nothing more than to devour her, inch by gorgeous, lovely inch.
“Courtney?” Marguerita’s soft voice held equal amounts confusion and amusement. “Why, Ian, I thought she was with you. Has she left your protection?”
His protection? What protection? He was her daddy’s worst nightmare. Didn’t they know that? Since when had Dane and Marguerita lost their ever-lovin’ minds?
“She’s out of control,” he snapped, pacing the foyer as he glanced at the grandfather clock that tick-tocked the time with an irritating cadence. “She slipped into The Club. She’s driving the members crazy. What happened to the sweet little girl I used to know?”
He raked his fingers through his hair, grimacing as he remembering the seventeen year old with knowing eyes and a glimmer of hunger. No, sweet had never described Courtney. He had just wished it had.
“Did you ever know her, Ian?” Marguerita asked then, taking him aback by the seriousness of her voice. “Courtney, despite Dane’s perception of her, is no longer a child. If you can’t deal with this, then perhaps she should return. At least here, those who know her, accept her for who she is.”
He stilled then, his body tensing at the censure in her voice.
“What do you mean by that?”
She sighed heavily. “I owe you a great debt, Ian. Had it not been for you, those years that Dane and I were separated, then I fear I would have lost him forever.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” he gritted out, remembering those years that he had trailed Dane, wondering if his friend would live to see another day. The reported deaths of his lover and child by her family had nearly destroyed Dane. For close to three years until he had sobered up enough to suspect the truth, he had been a madman.
“Courtney is much like her father,” Marguerita said then, her voice a soft warning. “She is just as dedicated and loyal to those she loves as Dane ever was. But much like Dane, and in many ways like myself, Courtney’s needs are different than others.”
He felt the breath halt in his throat. Marguerita couldn’t be saying what he thought she was, it wasn’t possible.
“She’s twenty-four years old. A virgin…”
“She’s twenty-four years old, but I highly doubt she’s still a virgin. And Dane may like to bury his head in the sand where his daughter is concerned, but I do not. Courtney has spent the last two years trying her wings, slipping easily from her pappa’s sight and learning the ways of the world. The two of you too easily discount the woman my daughter has become. And I would not have expected it of you, Ian.”
“And why’s that?” he snapped. “I’ve known her since she was a child.”
“Because you’ve been getting hard for her since she was a teenager,” Marguerita chuckled knowingly. “If you do not want Courtney, then the best thing you can do is send her home. But be careful of her heart, Ian. She is bold and adventurous. But she is still yet a woman. And one who cares deeply.”
The implicit permission he sensed in taking Courtney to his bed staggered her.
“You’re giving her to me?” He blinked at the wall across from him, shock and surprise filling him.
“Giving her to you?” Marguerita mused with a soft laugh. “I would not say this exactly. It is up to Courtney who she belongs to and who she does not. I am merely attempting to warn you of her intentions. I do not wish to see my daughter hurt. If you have no desire for her, then she is better off not within your care.”
“You know what I am,” he growled.
“As you know whose daughter she is.” He could almost see the delicate shrug of the woman’s slender shoulders. “How many women did you and my husband share during the years I was forced to another’s bed? Dane has been quite honest with me concerning that time in his life. Just as he has told me, quite explicitly, how sexual you can become with your females, either alone, or while sharing them. Just as you know well Dane’s preference. We have had a third in our marriage since the first week of our relationship. It is a pleasure we both greatly enjoy. I doubt sincerely my daughter would be scarred by your hungers, my friend.”
His hand tightened on the receiver. Yes, he knew well the lifestyle Dane and Marguerita enjoyed. He hadn’t participated himself, not with them, but he knew Marguerita, as delicate and small as she was, was married to a man who could accept nothing less than the most intense pleasures he could bring to her.
“Dane would kill me.” He grimaced, knowing it wasn’t going to make a difference.
“Dane is no hypocrite, as you well know. He will accept his daughter’s choices, even if it means accepting she is a woman, rather than a child.”
Ian snorted. Dane wasn’t the only one hiding his head in the sand if she truly believed that.
“Marguerita, you should tell Dane exactly what she’s up to and have him drag her ass home,” he sighed wearily, watching the clock tick away a mere minute.
“It would be much easier to send her home if you do not want her,” Marguerita laughed, a lilting sound that had him grimacing at the knowing tone.
“I don’t have the strength,” he finally whispered. “I’m about to make the most incredible mistake of my life, and I think I’m going to blame you for it. You’re an evil woman.”