Her cashmere sweater went next. It wasn’t until she was standing in her matching silver lace bra and panties that she realized which dress she’d grabbed. The Silver Knight agent who’d packed her clothes while she’d been locked up at Moad Manor obviously didn’t realize the amount of under rigging the silver dress required. With the deep V back, a bra was out of the question since she didn’t have the backless bustier she normally wore with it.
She grabbed the front clasp of her bra, but hesitated. She could swap out dresses. There were other options in the armoire. Switching was tempting, but she couldn’t do it. Maybe it was immature, but he’d seen her take this one, and she wasn’t about to change because the thought of being without a bra around him sent a wave of warm desire flooding her core. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
Her gaze flicked over to Lucas who stood with his back to her, his broad shoulders so tense it looked like they were about to snap. He was probably pissy because she’d gotten the drop on him with Jasper.
Taking comfort in that, she unsnapped her bra’s front clasp. Lucas’s shoulders went impossibly taut. That’s when she noticed him watching her in the small vanity mirror’s reflection. The one-foot-high oval looking glass wasn’t enough to let him see all of her, but obviously it was enough. Averting her gaze as if she didn’t know he was watching, she slipped off the bra, slower than necessary, and took her time getting the dress down from where it hung and sliding it on.
Temporary insanity? Most definitely. Amazingly hot? Without a fucking doubt. If he was any other man, she’d have him naked and between her legs by now—as it was, she’d be fantasizing about Lucas with his face pressed to her slick folds for years to come.
Knowing there was nothing she could do about her pebbled nipples pushing against the silver material, she smoothed her hands over her hips to stop from reaching out for him. “You can turn around now.”
He did, moving his hands as he rotated so they were clasped in front of his upper thighs and groin. If there was a reason for that, it didn’t show on his face. His expression was as hard as the stiff cock he couldn’t quite hide.
The vein in his temple throbbed. “I need to make a call.”
“It’s okay, I still need to do my hair.” Not trusting herself not to reach out to him, she gave him a wide berth as she crossed to the vanity.
“I need to make this call in private.”
“I see.” Trying her best to keep her hands steady, she opened the vanity’s top drawer, pulled out a hair clip, twisted her hair into a quick chignon, and fastened it. “Well then, I’ll see you in the dining room.”
Without waiting for his answer, she hustled out of the room before she gave in to the arousal making it hard to remember exactly who Lucas was and exactly what they were doing on Fare Island.
…
Lucas unfurled his fists and let out a deep breath that did nothing to alleviate the stiffness in his cock. He didn’t mean to look at Ruby while she changed. He shouldn’t have looked, but he couldn’t have stopped if there’d been a gun to his head. Ruby Macintosh screwed with his head—both of them. And worst of all, she was right.
Bringing in Jasper would be a show of might and ease whatever doubts lingering in the old man’s mind. Of course it also came with a huge downside. What would Jasper say when he got to Fare Island? For the past forty-eight hours he’d been holed up in a safe house with a team of agents. Jasper was a shit human being—except for his devotion to his sister. Just as they’d dangled his incarceration in front of Ruby, they’d done the same to Jasper. Now he had to weigh the benefits of increasing his value to his target against the total crapshoot of having Ruby and Jasper in the same airspace while forcing them both to keep their mouths shut about what was going on.
It was a brilliantly insane move, and it would work.
He punched in his clean contact number, one that was routed through several call stations and wouldn’t link him back to the Silver Knights, and slipped his Bluetooth into his ear so he could talk while changing into one of his suits already hanging in the closet.
“Hello.” Sgt. Talia Clausen answered on the first ring.
His shoulders relaxed an inch or two at the absence of the word “sir” from her greeting. To anyone listening in, either to him in the room or via devices that picked up both sides of the transmission on his cell phone, it was just a greeting, but it meant that there hadn’t been any trouble at the safe house.
“You wouldn’t believe how much turbulence there was on the flight over. It reminded me of that time going over the Alps. Also, I need you to look into something for me on the quiet. I’m doing a favor for Rolf Macintosh and need you to put the word out that I’d like the location of his son, Jasper. Seems the boy hasn’t made an appearance in a while.”
He paused in the act of buttoning his shirt hoping the sergeant would be able to quickly translate the code for her to accompany Jasper to Fare Island right away. She’d have to make clear to him the consequences of letting out any information about his recent circumstances.
“Consider it done. Does the jet need to be checked out before you go up again?”
Relieved at her quick understanding, he resumed buttoning and considered her suggestion to bring in backup. They had a team an hour away by jet. It could be done—but not yet.
“It’s probably not a big deal. I hope the next time I take my bride up in it she’ll have a better experience.”
“Are congratulations in order already?”
“Yes, Ruby’s father had the great idea for us to have the ceremony here.” And with that, he delivered the update that the sergeant would translate and report to the queen.
“Will you be needing anything for the ceremony that I can send along?”
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He knotted his dark blue tie. “No, I have it covered.”
There was already a small armory hidden in the smuggler cargo bays on the plane he’d flown to Fare Island.