A Little Dare (41 page)

He
chuckled.
“Thanks,
Shell.”
His
face
then
grew
serious.
“And
I
ditto
what
Thorn
said.
Don’t
leave
again.”
His
gaze
momentarily
left
hers
and
shifted
to
where
Dare
was

standing.
He
glared
at
his
brother
before
returning
his
gaze
to
hers
and
added,
“No
matter
what
the
reason.”

She
nodded.
“All
right.”

Then
came
the
twins,
who
were
a
year
younger
than
she.

She
remembered
them
getting
into
all
sorts
of
mischief,

and
from
the
gleams
in
their
eyes,
it
was
evident
they
were
still
up
to
no
good.
After
they
both
placed
chaste
pecks
on
her
lips,
Storm
said,
smiling.
“We
told
Dare
that
he
blew
his
chance
with
you,
which
means
you’re
now
available
for
us.”

Shelly
grinned.
“Oh,
am
I?”

“Yeah,
if
you
want
to
be,”
Chase
said,
teasingly,
giving
her
another
hug.

When
Chase
released
her
she
drew
a
deep
breath.
Next
came
Dare.

“Dare,”
she
acknowledged
softly,
nervously.

She
figured
since
she’d
already
been
in
his
company
a
few
times,
not
to
mention
what
they
had
done
together
last

night,
that
he
would
not
make
a
big
production
of
seeing

her.
She
soon
discovered
just
how
wrong
that
assumption
was
when
he
gently
pulled
her
into
his
arms
and
captured

her
lips,
nearly
taking
her
breath
in
the
process.
There
was
nothing
chaste
about
the
kiss
he
gave
her
and
she
knew
it
had
intentionally
lasted
long
enough
to
cause
his
brothers
to
speculate
and
to
give
anyone
who
saw
them
kiss

something
to
talk
about.

When
he
released
her
mouth,
it
was
Stone
who
decided
to
make
light
of
what
Dare
had
done
by
saying.
“What
was

that
about,
Dare?
Were
you
trying
to
prove
to
Shelly
that

you
could
still
kiss?”

Dare
answered
as
his
gaze
held
hers.
He
smiled
at

Stone’s
comment
and
said.
“Yeah,
something
like
that.”

Shelly
never
had
problems
getting
through
a
meal
before.
But
then
she’d
never
had
the
likes
of
Dare
Westmoreland
on
a
mission
to
seduce
her.
And
it
didn’t
matter
that
she

was
sitting
at
a
table
in
a
restaurant
next
to
him,
surrounded
by
his
brothers,
or
that
the
place
was
filled
to
lunch-crowd

capacity.

She
took
several
deep
breaths
to
calm
her
racing
heart,
but
it
did
nothing
to
soothe
the
ache
throbbing
through
her.
It
all
started
when
she
caught
herself
staring
at
his
hand
as
he

lifted
a
water
goblet
to
his
lips.
Seeing
his
fingers
had

reminded
her
how
she
had
whimpered
her
way
into
ecstasy
as
those
same
fingers
had
stroked
away
ten
years
of

sexual
frustration.

She
had
caught
his
eyes
dark
with
desire,
over
the
water

glass,
and
had
realized
he
had
read
her
thoughts.
And,
as
smooth
as
silk,
when
he
placed
the
glass
down
he
took
that
same
hand
and
without
calling
attention
to
what
he
was

doing,
placed
it
under
the
table
on
her
thigh.

At
first
she’d
almost
jerked
at
the
cool
feel
of
his
hand,
then
she’d
relaxed
when
his
hand
just
rested
on
her
thigh
without
moving.
But
then,
moments
later,
she
had
almost
gasped
when
his
hand
moved
to
settle
firmly
between
her
legs.
And
amidst
all
conversations
going
on
around
them,
as
the

brothers
tried
to
bring
her
up
to
date
on
what
had
been

going
on
in
their
lives
over
the
past
ten
years,
no
one

seemed
to
have
noticed
that
one
of
Dare’s
hands
was

missing
from
the
table
while
he
gently
stroked
her
slowly

back
and
forth
through
the
material
of
her
shorts.
He’d
tried
getting
her
zipper
down,
a
zipper
that,
thanks
to
the
way

she
was
sitting,
wouldn’t
budge.

Thinking
that
she
had
to
do
something,
anything
to
stop
this
madness,
she
leaned
forward
and
placed
her
elbows
on

the
table
and
cupped
her
face
in
her
hands
as
she
tried
to
ignore
the
multitude
of
sensations
flowing
through
her.
She
glanced
around
wondering
if
any
of
the
brothers
had
any

idea
what
Dare
was
up
to,
but
from
the
way
they
were

talking
and
eating,
it
seemed
they
had
more
on
their
minds
than
Dare
not
keeping
his
hands
to
himself.