His chain. Wrapped around her neck. A sharp jolt of possession slid down his spine and produced a throbbing heat in his jeans. He was staring at the curve of her lips when he heard Damian's arrival through the front door. Nick clearly saw the color bleed from Courtney's face when she noticed his brother's arrival, but then it came flooding back and her features were suddenly transformed by a radiant smile.
What the fuck?
Twisting his head toward where she watched the front entrance, he immediately realized what had caused her enjoyment. Damian had brought a woman.
Nick couldn't help it; pleasure and wicked satisfaction shot through him at his brother's rebellion against their interfering mother.
He watched as Courtney followed in his mother's wake to where Damian stood with the woman he'd brought, waiting her turn to greet the couple. After Damian made the introductions and his mother welcomed them, Courtney received them with a smile and a kiss on the cheek for Damian.
As Nick continued to loiter in the background, with some surprise he checked out the girl who Damian held plastered to his side in a death grip. The woman didn't fit his brother's usual conservative mode at all, her style of dress definitely leaning toward gothic. She was pretty, no question, and there was also no question that Damian had her trapped against him with a territorial hand clenched around her waist.
Nick had never seen that exact look on his brother's face before, and he doubted Damian could fake it that well just for their mother's sake.
Interesting. Very fucking interesting.
Nick was just about to relax a degree when his mother went to work and began doing her thing. Son-of-a-bitch. Before any time had elapsed at all, the manipulating woman had somehow separated Damian from his date and now had the poor girl cornered, interrogating her, or so it seemed to Nick from his vantage point.
Several businessmen waylaid Damian, and somehow, Courtney ended up standing in the same circle of guests, right beside his brother.
From where he stood, Nick could see the slender lines of her body as she stood infinitely still within the circle of men. He could see the required smile that was plastered on her face, saw the feminine curve of her waist and his penis twitched and engorged in his pants. He tried fighting his arousal, but it was no use. His cock throbbed with primitive need.
When he happened to glance across the ring of guests and saw a pair of masculine eyes glued to the front of Courtney's dress, all bets were off. Scalding fury lit his insides but at the exact moment when Nick was about to come out of hiding and make a scene, Damian asked the fucker a pointed question and the asshole's gaze was forced to leave Courtney as he was pulled into the conversation by Damian.
Nick relaxed just a bit, but feeling the need to be within touching distance of his target, he used the opportunity to slip back to the hallway and then come in through a side door that opened directly behind Courtney. He prowled up behind her on silent feet. Not wanting to be seen by anyone, he slid behind a large potted palm and a Chinese screen, using them for cover as he came within inches of her delicate spine. Surreptitiously, he leaned in and scented her hair and neck and as the essence of her being sank into his bloodstream, he felt the subtle tension that invaded her body and he knew that she realized someone stood behind her.
Not about to join the party and wanting Courtney all to himself, he wasted no time, and wrapping his fingers around her wrist, he leaned down to her ear and said under his breath for her ears and hers alone, "Not one sound."
She stiffened, but remained frozen in place. He glanced up and saw that all eyes were on his brother as Damian commanded the conversation. Nick saw his opportunity and took it. Grasping Courtney's wrist in a firm hold, he manipulated her backwards a couple of steps and then turned and pulled her from the room entirely.
****
As Courtney stood in the circle of men, she tried to stay focused on the conversation, but derivatives absolutely bored her to tears. She'd detested that particular business class, and to this day, it was hard to even pretend she was interested.
She listened with half an ear as Damian controlled the conversation, while she stood next to him and wondered how in the hell she'd ended up beside him.
Justine again. The woman was tenacious when she wanted something for one of her children and suspicion formed a knot in Courtney's belly. What exactly did the other woman want and who was she plotting against now? Unable to contain her suspicion, her gaze travelled across the room and saw Justine smiling at Damian's date, a woman who'd been introduced as Angie Ross. If Justine had truly wanted Courtney and Damian to get together tonight, then the older woman certainly didn't show any remorse that it wasn't happening. Mrs. Rule was speaking animatedly to Damian's date, as if sincerely pleased that her oldest son had brought the woman.