Lucas couldn’t argue with that. It was, after all, exactly how he liked it.
“Oh, stuff it.” Ruby jammed a finger into her brother’s chest. “I’m a big girl and can take care of myself.”
She whirled on the ball of her foot and turned to face Lucas. The glint in her eye screamed out trouble, but before he could do anything, she’d raised herself up on her tiptoes, cupped his face in her hands, and planted her lips on his. The kiss was like a triple shot of akvavit on the first day of winter. It burned in the best way and blasted the rest of the world to smithereens. It was total madness—the kind he’d always sworn off—but ignoring her sweet tongue as it begged for entrance into his hungry mouth wasn’t an option. The moment he opened his mouth and invited her in, the tone of the kiss changed. Shock and awe melted away in the face of such heated need on both their parts. Then, as fast as it began, it ended with her hand moving down to his chest and pushing him away and turning back toward her brother.
“Now get out of here before the Sparrow realizes you’re wandering around after-hours,” she said, her chin high and gray eyes gleaming.
“Too
late,” her brother snipped. “I already told him I was giving Talia the grand tour.”
“At three in the morning?” Lucas asked, still trying to get his bearings back.
Jasper shrugged. “I sold it.”
“He pretended to be drunk,” Clausen said, her hand on the bedroom doorknob.
“Then be sure to sell it on the way back to your wing,” Ruby said.
Jasper stalked over to the door, stopping right as Clausen opened it. He turned back to stare down Lucas. “Remember what I said.”
Hating that her brother was right to warn Ruby off him, Lucas fell back on the best defense mechanism any kid from a fucked-up background had: exaggerated sarcasm. “Don’t worry, if I was wearing shoes right now I’d be shaking in them.”
Taking the initiative, Clausen stepped outside the door and let out a simpering, tipsy giggle. “Nighty night then, lovebirds,” she said in a singsong voice and then tugged Jasper out into the hall with her before closing the door behind them.
The silence after all of the noise of the last twenty minutes bore down on him. Ruby’s shoulders slumped, and she lifted a palm to the back of her neck and rubbed. The urge to replace her touch with his own and comfort her was as overwhelming as it was misplaced. He couldn’t give in, but he wasn’t a total monster. What had happened between them before her brother barged in hadn’t been just for their cover, but it couldn’t happen again.
“Ruby—”
She held up a hand and shook her head. “Just don’t, okay? Let’s chalk it up to strange circumstances and forget about it so we can concentrate on getting the information you need, so I can get the hell off this island and away from every lying, manipulating one of you.”
That should be all he wanted. It was all he wanted. So why did her dismissal sting so much? After doing an awkward shuffle scoot to get back onto the bed and under the covers, he laid his head down on the pillow that still smelled of her lust, knowing that would be the one question he really didn’t trust himself to find the answer to.
Chapter Eight
Ruby refused to open her eyes. The sunlight stabbed at her closed eyelids, making its presence known no matter how desperately she tried to cling to the last echo of her dream—one that involved Lucas and his big cock. There hadn’t been even a hint of her brother going all battering ram on the door in the hazy non-reality of her subconscious. It had been a very good dream.
For at least a little bit longer she could deny the sun warming her cheeks, but there was no ignoring the sinewy arm curled around her waist or the hard, thick length of her dreams pressing against her ass. She was tucked firmly against Lucas, both of them on their sides. Judging by the cool morning air against her skin, the silk robe she’d tied toga style because of her chained arm had shifted up. The material had inched its way up to her hips, and the tie had loosened so the front hung open. Torn between adjusting the material and the lure of this peaceful moment, she inhaled a shallow breath to keep from waking up Lucas.
“I know you’re awake,” he said, his voice low and rough with sleep.
Keeping her eyes closed, she snuggled down deeper into her pillow. “No, I’m not.”
“Okay, then you go ahead and keep making that little moan sound you were doing a little while ago.” He tightened his hold, pulling her more firmly against him. “Good dream?”
Her cheeks burned with a prickly heat. She didn’t need a mirror to know how red she’d flushed. “Nightmare. All of the men in the world had teeny, tiny dicks.”
He chuckled, blowing a few strands of her hair forward so they landed across her cheek. “That must have been horrible.”
Blocking out the tickling of her hair, Ruby kept her eyes closed. Opening them would mean she’d have to acknowledge his closeness. She’d have to roll out from underneath his arm and relinquish that unnamable something keeping her warm that had nothing to do with the heat his strong body generated under the covers. Jasper was an ass, but he was right about Lucas. He wasn’t the man for her, no matter how good he felt curled around her. She was the crime boss’s daughter that he was blackmailing for access to Fare Island. He was the leader of the Silver Knights, devoted only to Elskov, who lied, cheated, manipulated, and killed to protect it. Growing up surrounded by thieves and murders, she’d had enough of that whatever-it-takes-to-win mindset to last a billion lifetimes. All she wanted was a little slice of truth, somewhere peaceful to lay her head, and the knowledge that the people she loved were safe from Rolf’s vindictive reach.
Of course, knowing that didn’t lessen her reluctance to crack open her lids and let reality come streaming through.
“Someone delivered the special hand-binding shirts half an hour ago,” he said.
Her heartbeat picked up. “Who?”
“The Sparrow.”