Her thighs parted further as his fingers curved, massaging the sensitive flesh through her clothes.
“I want you, not a game,” she cried out, arching to her tiptoes, helpless against him. He liked her helpless against his touch, loved feeling the heat of her against his hand.
“And if the game comes with it?” He watched her intently, his eyes narrowed. “I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe. And this is what it takes. I won’t let him catch us unprepared. I won’t let him touch you again.”
He released her slowly, hating letting her go as she stared back at him miserably.
“Think about that,” he whispered, keeping his voice gentle. “I hate it like hell, and no one wishes I could have seduced you more than I do. I would have loved seducing you, baby. But your safety is more important.”
“My safety?” she asked mockingly. “Or your desires?”
Anger flared inside him. “You know me better than that, Kelly.” He kept his jaw tensed, his tone of voice low. “Nothing matters as much as keeping you safe.”
“But only on your terms,” she pointed out, furious, causing him to pause. “On your terms and by your rules. Well, you know what, Rowdy, your rules suck. Maybe I need to decide if playing your game is worth the risk to my heart and to my safety.”
NINE
He watched as the Nauti Buoy pulled into her berth, fifty feet and gleaming beneath the summer moon, her lights giving the craft a soft, romantic look. How he had dreamed of having such a craft, a place he could use to hide, to take his good girls and fulfill the promises he made to them.
He thought he had chosen so wisely. His perfect girls, pure in heart and in nature, and they loved him. He was their love, but it had taken so long to find the one he wanted for all time. The perfect good girl. So sweet-natured and pure, never dirtying herself or her good name. Despite the brother.
His fists clenched at the thought of the brother. He was depraved, perverted, and he was going to dirty her. Rowdy Mackay was going to shame Kelly, and he knew it. He had seen them today, in the store, his hands on her, his eyes raking over her as though he owned her.
Rowdy Mackay didn’t own her. She belonged to the man who loved her, who respected her. And she was going to love him. Just like the others did. They hadn’t loved anyone else either. He watched them sometimes, making certain they didn’t allow anyone else to touch what belonged to him. Sometimes he called them, reminded them of who they were waiting for. They had promised to wait on him to find his one true love.
Kelly could be his true love. He thought it was possible. Until Rowdy came home.
The Nauti Boys. They were depraved. Perverts. But they had never fooled with the good girls. They left the perfect ones alone, always preferring the tramps, the little whores willing to spread their legs not just for one of them, but sometimes for all three at once. They shared their women all the time, watching and listening to their nasty screams as they begged for more.
His fists clenched, his gut rolling in sick suspicion. Rowdy had taken Kelly away on the houseboat. He had never done that by himself before. In the past, it had always been with her and her friends, never alone.
He shook at the fear that the bastard had dirtied her. He couldn’t let that happen. Kelly was sweet and clean, she had never been dirtied by another man’s seed, by another’s possession of her.
She had screamed for him when he touched her, though. He hadn’t had time to hear her beg for him, or to hear her promise to remain true to him. No sooner had he attempted to possess her than that big dumb hick visiting his whore girlfriend had started yelling outside the door. He couldn’t get caught. His sweet Kelly couldn’t be seen with a man in her bed. It would ruin her reputation and she wouldn’t be clean anymore. Her reputation meant everything.
Bastard Rowdy. Rowdy Mackay thought he was perfect, thought all the girls were his. He was going to hurt sweet Kelly, his sister. She was his sister, he had no business touching her. Sisters shouldn’t be touched, his father had warned him of that.
His eyes narrowed as Kelly moved from the boat and jumped onto the narrow floating dock. She was angry. He could see it in her face, in the stiff set of her body beneath the bright lights of the dock.
She said something as Rowdy locked the doors, causing the man to stiffen, to turn to her slowly. He didn’t like the smile Rowdy gave her. It was carnal. Dirty.
He watched as she stalked ahead of the other man, her loose clothing demure, hiding the body that belonged to him alone. How perfect she was. His good girl. He had to finish his claim on her. He had to make certain she belonged to him. Not Rowdy. Never Rowdy and his perverted friends.
He watched as Rowdy walked her to her car. He was too close to her, even though she was angry. Rowdy was standing too close. He was crowding her.
She unlocked the door and opened it, then Rowdy touched her. Don’t touch her. He clenched his fists, sniffing miserably, fighting the tears that fell from his eyes. Rowdy shouldn’t be touching her.
But he was. The depraved bastard was touching her hair, her cheek, smiling down at her. Rage shattered in his head, filling his vision with a red haze as he watched another move from the shadows of the dock. Dawg. The bastard couldn’t even use his real name—he used the nickname of the animal he was.
Kelly started as the other men called out to them, flashed Rowdy a furious look, then got into her car. The car door closed and within seconds she was pulling from the parking lot. She was going home. But she wouldn’t be going alone. Rowdy would go as well. He lived in the house with her. His bedroom would be close to hers, he could hear her, smell her, maybe touch her as she slept.
Oh God, don’t let him touch her, he prayed. Don’t let him dirty the good girl. She was his good girl. And, she just might be his perfect love.
Kelly forcibly restrained the anger pounding through her bloodstream as she stepped into the house with Rowdy close behind her.
“It’s about time you two found your way home.” Ray and Maria stepped into the entryway.
Kelly breathed in deeply before turning to them, pasting a smile on her face as she met their concerned gazes.
“Rowdy has a habit of poking along on the way back from the docks.” She kept her voice flat and even. “You know how he is.”
They weren’t convinced.
“She’s a lousy liar, isn’t she?” Rowdy drawled, his deep baritone still sending shivers up her spine despite her anger.