Hell, she had been too damned young for the hard-on that filled his pants the first time he saw the heat in her gaze as she watched him.
What kind of pervert lusted after a seventeen-year-old? It was perverted. Depraved. Even worse than what he knew he was. Sharing a lover was a far sight less despicable than getting the hardest erection he had ever experienced in his life, for a child. And had Dane known, he would have castrated him. Courtney was his baby. His precious little jewel. If he even suspected that Ian’s thoughts were less than pure about the girl, then Ian was dead.
“What’s up, Ian?” Jared’s gaze was sharp, suspicious as he stared over Kimberly’s sleeping body.
His dick, that’s what was up. He sat up on the bed, jerking his pants from the floor and pulling them over his legs as he kept his back to his friend.
Where the hell was his shirt? He looked around the room, his lips twisting humorously as he spied it half under the bed. Kimberly had been desperate to get them undressed by time they got her to the bedroom.
He bent, jerking it from the floor and pulling it roughly over his shoulders, buttoning it, leaving the tails hanging free to hide the erection pushing against his jeans.
“Not a damned thing,” he finally answered. “I’m stuck babysitting Dane’s brat for God knows how long, because he doesn’t want his precious baby in America alone. She’s twenty-four years old, for God’s sake. I doubt she needs a chaperone anymore.”
He raked his fingers through his hair, casting Jared a furious look at the thought.
“Where is the man’s common sense? Does he think The Club is some lily-white establishment catering to male virgins? What the hell is he doing sending his daughter to me of all people?”
He had been very careful of Courtney in the past years, visiting her parent’s estate in England rather than having them visit him. Staying for only short visits, and limiting his time in her company. As she grew from the child he had carried from a virtual prison during the darkness of night, to a young woman whose very presence lit up a room, he had realized how dangerous she could be to him.
He turned away, shaking his head at the situation he found himself in. He searched for his socks, finding one in the corner of the bedroom, the other under the bed. Dammit, Kimberly was going to have to pay more attention to where she threw his clothing.
“Dane’s not a stupid man.” Jared yawned again, obviously dismissing the subject. “He knows you’ll take care of her.”
Yeah. Flat on her f**king back with her feet around her ears while his c**k plowed into her. That was how he was going to end up taking care of her if he wasn’t extremely careful.
As far as he was concerned, Dane had lost his f**king mind.
“You would think so,” he grunted at the comment. “You would definitely think so.”
* * * * *
Lord save him!
Ian leaned against the wall of the airport waiting area and watched as Courtney made her way from the escalator and looked around the crowded terminal with a slight frown on her face. She hadn’t caught a glimpse of him yet, for which he was extremely thankful. It gave him a moment to catch his breath.
How could he have forgotten how damned pretty she was? Her long, dark brown hair was left loose to flow down her back, nearly to her hips, her expressive face was currently holding a slight pout as the sight of him continued to elude her, and her tall, slender body was a wet dream walking.
Dressed in below the hip jeans, and a blouse cut too high for comfort, there was enough flesh displayed to make his mouth go dry, not to mention the dirty old men passing by her, sneaking looks at the silken, glistening flesh she had bared.
And winking shamelessly at her navel was an emerald in the shape of a cat’s eye, glistening against the dark flesh of her belly. It was enough to make a grown man whimper. Despite the provocative clothing and the sensual grace with which she moved, innocence still seemed to shroud her. A cheeky smirk curved her lips, chocolate brown eyes gleamed with joy, curiosity, and a love of life. She was like a breath of fresh air blowing through the stale atmosphere of the airport lounge.
A grunt of laughter escaped his throat.
He had been getting hard for her since she was seventeen years old. Who was the dirty old man? He was eleven years older than she was and old enough to know better, now, seven years later. But his c**k had no conscience. It was hard, straining beneath his jeans, and throbbing in hunger.
“Ian…” He watched as a wide smile curved her lips and pleasure lit her dark eyes as she finally spotted him.
Striding quickly across the room, her full br**sts bounced—damn, she was obviously not wearing a bra. The emerald that pierced her belly button winked erotically and had his tongue aching to lick and probe at the little indention it called attention to.
She was the most tempting thing he had seen in his life. A temptation he didn’t need.
“About time you got here, brat.” He opened his arms to her, closing his eyes as she threw herself into his embrace, her arms wrapping around his neck as he lifted her from her feet and hugged her tight, relishing the feel of her in his arms. She was going to be a pain in the neck, but she was one of the few people in the world that he cared anything for. One of the few who truly cared for him.
It had been more than a year since he had seen her last. For just that reason. He didn’t want to hurt her, but more importantly, he hadn’t wanted that caring affection they shared harmed. The joy she showed when he was around lit up the dark places in his soul. Letting that go would be a wound to his heart he knew would never heal.
The hunger growing by the year was becoming uncomfortable enough to stress the control he prided himself on so deeply though. He was now forced to confront the seductive little baggage whether he wanted to or not.
“Ian, you are as handsome as ever,” she exclaimed as he set her back on her feet, staring up at him with those mysterious brown eyes and wicked humor.
“And you’re as pretty as sunrise.” He shook his head at the truth of his own statement. She was as fresh, as innocent as dawn.
She smiled up at him, her hands still gripping his shoulders, her h*ps pressed into his thighs. And that wicked, hungry light in her eyes assured him she had felt the hard-on raging beneath the cloth.
He shook his head mockingly.
“You’re a bad girl, Courtney.” He moved her back. “Your father should have spanked you more when you were a child.”