Brazen (Brazen 1)

That had his full attention. He reached up to turn the light back on then rolled back over until he faced her. She looked at him with uncertain eyes.

“I remember.”

She licked her lips, and her gaze darted away from his face. He didn’t move, didn’t breathe. Though he and Seth were well aware of what had happened at the bar and the reasons behind it, the events leading up to it were very much a mystery. Jaz had never talked about it, and they’d never pressed her.

“The man who expected me to prostitute myself, to work for him…I didn’t agree at first. I was desperate. I had no place to go. No money. No food. But the idea of selling myself to strangers for sex scared me worse than the thought of living out on the streets. So I told him no.”

Zane studied her face as agony worked its way across her brow, crinkling her eyebrows and locking fear into her eyes. He wanted to reach out and erase it, tell her that nothing would ever threaten her again.

“And what did he do?” Zane prompted.

Her pupils dilated, and her breathing became more erratic. “He shoved me into a hot tub and held me under. Just when I thought I’d surely pass out, he’d pull me out, let me catch my breath, then do it all over again.”

Zane closed his eyes as every single muscle in his body went rigid with anger. Goddamn, mother f**king son of a bitch!

“He wouldn’t stop until I agreed to do what he wanted.” Her voice caught on a quiet sob, and he felt the sound all the way to his soul. “I was such a mess, scared out of my mind, scared that I was going to die. I would have agreed to anything.”

No longer able to keep from touching her, he reached across the space between them and pulled her into his arms. She buried her face in his chest, and he could feel her shudder against him.

“It’s stupid, I know,” she said, her voice muffled by his body.

He let her go just enough that she could breathe and he could hear her more clearly.

“I wouldn’t even take baths after that. Still won’t. If there’s more than a few inches of water, the mere idea of it covering me…”

“You don’t have to explain yourself to me, Jaz.” He rubbed his hands over her back, up and down, wanting to comfort her in any way possible. “Fear is inexplicable, and I don’t blame you for being terrified of the water after going through that.”

“That’s only part of my nightmare,” she admitted.

He tugged at the strands of her hair, moving them from her face and tucking them behind her ear. “What’s the other part?”

She gazed at him, eyes shining with unshed tears. Then one slipped over the rim and trickled down her cheek. He wanted to kiss it away. Wanted to kiss her eyelids. Instead, he gently thumbed the wetness away and waited for her to continue.

“Sometimes I think about what would have happened if I hadn’t met you and Seth in the bar that night. If it had been someone else.”

Her voice broke and the last few words came out in a shaky exhalation. She opened her mouth as if to explain further, but she swallowed and looked away again as another tear slid rapidly down her cheek.

“Oh, baby,” he said around the ache in his throat.

He ignored the voice inside that warned him to keep his distance. Ignored the idea that he should have sent her back to bed as soon as she’d shown up in his room.

He ran his fingertips over her cheeks, swiping at her tears as he leaned his head in. He caught her gasp of surprise as he touched his lips to hers.

Sweet. Exotic. Liquid heat exploded between them. As much as he’d been dying to taste her since she’d kissed him in the airport, nothing had prepared him for the reality.

Her lips moved over his, seeking, opening for him. He swiped over her tongue, and his initial intent of offering comfort flew out the window as her hands crept over his stomach to his chest. This went beyond comfort. He needed, wanted, ached.

Christ.

What the hell was he doing? She trusted him. She depended on him. And all he could think about doing was peeling her shirt off and loving every inch of her delectable body.

He pulled away, sucking in several steadying breaths. He willed his pulse to settle before his heart exploded right out of his chest. He was as hard as a rock, a fact that shamed him. He tugged the covers so that his erection was disguised by the sheets and shifted to try and alleviate his growing discomfort.

“Jaz,” he began, hoping like hell to divert his focus away from her swollen mouth, because it was far too easy to imagine it closed around his cock. “Did you never think about going back home?”

He wanted to recall the question. It was stupid. But it was the first thing that had popped out in his quest to cover the awkward moment. She’d told him and Seth enough that they knew home hadn’t been a happy place. But surely it would have beat life on the streets?

Sadness shadowed her eyes, dulling them. “I didn’t have a home anymore.”

He nudged her chin upwards, wanting to open the door further into her past. “Why not?”

She sighed and rolled out of his arms onto her back. She stared up at the ceiling, a distant look to her eyes. “I told you my mom died.”

Zane nodded though he doubted she saw.

“Growing up, it was just me, my mom and my older brother. He was ten years older so we weren’t particularly close. I mean he looked out for me when I was a kid, but he joined the Army right out of high school. He and my mom got into a terrible argument over some guy she wanted to marry, and so he never kept in touch.

“After all that, she didn’t even end up with the guy. I didn’t like him either, but I know she was lonely. Then she got sick. Cancer. She died within three months of the diagnosis.”

Zane’s chest tightened at the sadness in Jaz’s voice. “How old were you when she died?” he asked quietly.

“Fifteen.”

He frowned but didn’t interrupt her. She was sixteen when he and Seth had found her in the bar. What had she done in the year between her mother’s death and then?

“I was sent to foster care. I hated them. They hated me. I went through three homes in a matter of weeks. The last family was a real winner. They had a twenty-year-old son, and dad and son thought it would be fun to have their own personal plaything. I left after three days.”

Zane put his hand on her head, tunneling his fingers into her hair. It made him angry. So goddamn angry. What if he and Seth hadn’t been the ones Jaz approached that night? Would she even be alive now? A cold chill crept over his skin at the idea of what might have happened to her.

He continued to stroke through her hair, waiting, not wanting to push her.

“You know the rest,” she said dully. “I was young and stupid. Thought I could make it on my own. No place to go but no place to go back to either.”

Silence settled over them. She still stared up at the ceiling, though he knew she was about as far away from here as one could get. He didn’t want her hurting, didn’t want those painful memories to do so much damage. He wanted to make it better, but he didn’t know how.

Finally, she turned her head until she looked at him. Deep sadness registered in her gaze. “I miss her,” she said simply.

“Your mom?”

She nodded. “We never had much, but she always made sure I had enough.”

“I’m sorry, honey.”

She smiled then and reached up to put her hand on his cheek. “I’m glad I’m home. I missed you and Seth. And Carmen.”

“We missed you too.”

She yawned and took her hand down from his face to stifle the sound. He seized the opportunity with both hands.

“Get some sleep, Jaz. It’s been a long day.”

He leaned over and kissed her forehead as if that simple gesture would replace the fact that he’d devoured her lips just moments earlier. He couldn’t forget it, but he could hope she would.

She stared at him for a long moment then slowly nodded. He reached for the lamp and doused the room in darkness once more. When he turned back to her, she rolled over then promptly scooted into his chest. He nearly groaned in frustration.

“Zane?”

He sighed. “Yes, honey?”

“I love you.”

The words did strange things to him. She’d said it before. She’d always been affectionate with him. But he’d never taken it seriously. He’d never had an issue with returning the words. They’d always rolled effortlessly off his lips, but now they stuck in his throat as if saying them would change the course of their entire relationship.

He curled his arm around her waist as she snuggled deeper into his embrace. She felt…right. And who the hell needed sleep anyway?

Chapter Five

Seth hauled himself out of bed even earlier than usual. It wasn’t quite light yet, and he’d planned a busy day. He was supposed to meet the wildlife biologist for breakfast then take him out over the northeast quadrant to look at areas he’d selected for food plots.

He showered quickly, his mind occupied with Jasmine instead of his coming meeting. He hated what had happened to her yesterday. He didn’t like to see her scared. It reminded him too much of the way he’d first seen her. Big eyes full of fear, looking every bit her sixteen years old instead of the nineteen she’d claimed. If it hadn’t been so important to get her far away from Houston and the man controlling her, he would have tracked the son of a bitch down and beat the ever-loving shit out of him.

He toweled off and dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. He didn’t have to leave for another half hour, but he wanted to check in on Jasmine. So far her homecoming hadn’t exactly been smooth.

Her door was partway open, but then she’d never slept with it closed. He nudged it and stepped inside, his gaze seeking her bed. He frowned when he found it empty. Her bathroom light was on, but he couldn’t hear any sound from inside. He walked over and hesitated outside the open door.

“Jasmine?”

When he received no answer, he peered around the door but she wasn’t there either. Maybe she was downstairs in the kitchen with Carmen.

He walked out of her room and started down the hall to the stairs. When he passed Zane’s room, he stopped, not sure why. His brother’s door was open a few inches, so Seth put his hand out and pushed lightly. His fingers curled around the knob as he stepped inside the frame.

Jasmine lay in Zane’s arms, sound asleep. Her back was curled into his chest, and Zane had a protective arm around her waist. An angry buzz began in Seth’s ears. He clenched his jaw until he damn near cracked his teeth. What the f**k was Zane thinking, and more importantly, just what the hell had happened last night?

They looked like two lovers curled tight around each other. It didn’t matter that Jasmine was dressed. All Seth saw was the intimacy between the two of them.

As if feeling Seth’s heated glare and the rage billowing off his shoulders, Zane stirred and opened his eyes. The two brothers stared at each other, Zane’s head visible over Jasmine’s shoulder.

Seth jerked his thumb over his own shoulder in the direction of the door. “I want to talk to you. Now,” he said in a low enough voice not to wake Jasmine.

Zane’s eyes narrowed, but he carefully extricated himself from the bed and gently tucked the covers around Jasmine’s sleeping form. She stirred for a moment, but sighed and snuggled back into her pillow.

Zane padded across the room toward Seth, not bothering to snag a T-shirt. Seth turned and walked out into the hallway, leaving Zane to follow.

As soon as they reached the stairs, Seth rounded on Zane. “What the f**k do you think you’re doing?” he demanded through clenched teeth.

Zane’s expression darkened, and he didn’t back down an inch. “You can shove the big brother lecture right up your ass, Seth. I don’t need a f**king babysitter, and I damn sure don’t need you hanging out posing as my goddamn conscience.”

Carmen stomped up the stairs, hands on her hips. She pinned both men with a don’t-fuck-with-me stare just before she took them both to task.

“Jasmine is trying to sleep, and you boys are just outside the bedroom arguing like two-year-olds. If you must continue, then take it downstairs. Preferably outside!”

Seth sucked in an annoyed breath. “Sorry, Carmen,” he said shortly. Then he pointed at Zane. “Outside. We’re not finished.”

“You know what? We are. I don’t have a damn thing to say to you. I don’t know what the f**k your problem is. I suspect I do, but that’s your deal, not mine.”

He turned and stalked back to his bedroom.

Seth glanced at Carmen who stared at him, a disapproving frown marring her usually warm features.

“You boys are going to drive her away,” she chided. “Now is not the time to be pushing her. She’s very fragile right now. She needs you both. You are both important to her.”

Guilt flushed like a damn toilet through him. “You’re right,” he said quietly. “She doesn’t need this.”

Carmen nodded approvingly then turned and walked back down the stairs. Seth watched her go, helpless confusion wracking his mind.

He wasn’t entirely sure why the sight of Jasmine in Zane’s bed, in his arms, set him off. It wasn’t as if it was something new. Jasmine had spent a lot of time in Zane’s bed. If Seth was honest, he’d admit he resented Jasmine and Zane’s closeness. Zane was who she turned to when she was scared and alone.

But now, that resentment was something more. It felt an awful lot like jealousy, and he did not want to go down that road. His hands trembled and he balled his fingers into fists to control the shaking.

Had last night been more than Jasmine needing comfort? Something he knew Zane had given her in the past. He knew Zane was attracted to her, but had he crossed the line?