“I should get going. You are about ready to eat and look like you have company coming.”
Jace stepped in front of her and let his eyes roam over her chest and then her lips. “What makes you think we have company coming?” he asked her. She stepped back and there was no place else to go.
“I just assumed so. You’re all dressed nicely and cooking up a good dinner and sitting at the table.”
He reached out and played with a strand of her hair. She inhaled his cologne, felt the intensity of his gaze, the heat of his body and the pure, magnificent size of him caging her in.
“What? You think we eat with dirty hands and farm-soiled clothes? Maybe with our hands like animals, instead of men with manners?”
“No.” She shook her head.
Jace released her hair and brushed his thumb along her lip. He placed his hand on her waist, shocking her and singing her skin with a force of desire so bold that she parted her lips.
“I do have a voracious appetite for delicious things, and I hear from my brothers that you’re really delicious.”
She went to turn, and then he hesitated. She looked back at him and he snickered right before he kissed her lips. The man had tricked her, but she couldn’t focus on that. All she could do was hold on as Jace explored her mouth with his tongue and lips. He had her moaning into his mouth as he gripped her hips with hard, warm hands that lifted her up onto the counter so he could be more thorough.
When Valentina felt his hands move from her hips to her thighs and then under her skirt, she knew she needed to stop him. This was too much, too wild.
“Jace,” she said, pulling from his lips and gripping his hands
“My brothers were off. Way off. You’re incredible.” He reached up under her hair and head, gripping her fully then covering her mouth again. They battled for control of the kiss and she felt him cup her breast and moan into her mouth. She felt her blouse open wider, and she couldn’t believe how turned on she was. Then she felt his hand move from under her hair and back to her thigh again.
“Brothers share, Jace,” Sparrow told him. Jace released her lips and Sparrow was there. His dark blue eyes held her gaze before he gave her a wink and leaned forward to kiss her. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Two men, brothers, were kissing her, touching her, while their other two brothers watched, and maybe waited for a turn to kiss her, too. She panicked and Sparrow pulled back. “Easy, baby. This was bound to happen.”
“What the hell is that?” She was stunned, under some spell a moment, when Sparrow spoke to her and then Jace raised his voice and pressed her blouse open wider. Reality came crashing down quickly. They saw the bullet wound. She pressed Jace’s hands away, only for him to press between her legs so she couldn’t move. He pushed her blouse off her shoulder. Sparrow looked angry and shocked, then Ridge and Beck were looking over their shoulders. “Fucking bullet wound?” Beck asked.
“A new one, too. What the fuck happened? Was this why you mo
ved from New York? You were shot?” Ridge asked her.
She was going to try and make something up, deny it, minimize it. But the looks in their eyes warned her not to be dishonest.
“Let me down.”
“You’re not leaving,” Jace said to her firmly.
She nodded and he let her down. She unbuttoned her shirt the rest of the way. They saw her bra and her breasts anyway and kissed her like that to boot, so she didn’t think standing here in only her bra to show them the scars was a big deal.
“I was shot twice. Here and here,” she said, showing them her side under the ribcage. Jace ran his fingers along the raised skin that was still tender looking.
“How long ago?” Sparrow asked.
“Months ago. After I recovered, we decided to move out here from Helena’s advice.”
“Are you in some kind of trouble? Someone after you?” Ridge asked her. She shook her head.
Jace clutched her chin and jaw with his hand and held her gaze. “Don’t lie to us. Is anyone coming after you?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?” Sparrow asked.
“I don’t believe in ghosts, so yes, I’m sure.”
Jace shocked her when he pulled her into an embrace and hugged her tight. They surrounded her and she couldn’t believe the emotions she felt, and then the guilt again. Lois and Kenny needed to come first.
* * * *