In Blood and Worth Loving (7 page)

He stared coolly at Conner. “How many times did what take before I knew what?”

“How many times did you fuck her before you decided she wasn’t your type?”

He bared his incisors. “Are you implying I used her? If you are, let me remind you that she willingly agreed to meet me for a weekend of unprotected sex.”

“I know that, but as you said, she’s human. She sounded so vulnerable on the phone.”

“And how the hell is that my fault?”

Conner shrugged. “I don’t recall saying it was your fault.”

“But you implied it.”

“Did I?” Conner tilted his head. “Or are you feeling a little sensitive and/or guilty?”

“I have no reason to feel either! Where is Rayna?”

“I drove her to the airport tonight to spend a few weeks soaking up the Hawaiian sunshine.”

Adrian
compressed his lips. He didn’t like the idea of her being so far away from home without one of them close by to protect her. “Why did you let her go?”

“She’s forty-nine, Adrian, and as you know she nearly always gets her way thanks to her pampered life. We can’t coddle her forever. She wanted to go so she went.”

“Without help from you? She spends her paycheck before she earns it and I know her credit cards are maxed out. There’s no way she had the means to pay for a plane ticket.”

“So? I paid for the ticket and paid off the balance on one of her cards. So sue me.”

Damn Conner for not grounding her ass. He shook his head. “A few weeks? What about her job?”

“Having achieved her goal, she resigned.”

“What goal is that, Conner?”

“Setting you up with her friend.” He grinned. “Having done that, she got out of Dodge to give you time to cool off until she’s ready to come home and pull the wool over your eyes again.”

“Well, it’s not going to work.” He pointed at his twin. “I’m warning you, Conner. Rayna’s ass is mine when she returns. Don’t try and get between us.”

A hint of fury briefly flared in his twin’s eyes. “We’ll see. In the meantime, tell me about her friend.”

“What’s to tell except that her family has a lot for which to answer?”

“Why? Did her table manners leave something to be desired?”

Conner was clearly enjoying his discomfort. “What the hell can they be thinking to allow her to go off spending the weekend fucking strange men?”

“There’s no family to object.”

“None?”

“She’s an only child. Her parents overdosed when she was just six.”

Damn. He frowned. “Aunts and uncles?”

“Both her parents were only kids.”

“Who raised her?”

“Her grandparents raised her to be as unlike her parents as possible. They were in their sixties when her parents overdosed. Imagine what Brandi’s life must have been like trying to be a good enough girl to please them.”

Imagining the picture Conner painted gave him no pleasure. “And now?”

“Her grandparents died in a plane crash a year ago.”

“So she’s totally alone?”

Conner nodded.

She was alone in the world with no male to protect her. He caught himself. Why should he care? “Why would she agree to spend the weekend with me?”

“She likes to fuck and I’m thinking she didn’t get to do it nearly as much as she wanted when her grandparents were alive. They certainly wouldn’t have approved of her planned weekend to fuck you senseless.”

And damn if that wasn’t exactly what she’d done. Even now, he wanted her again…wanted to palm her large, lovely ass, and slide balls deep into the sweetest pussy he’d ever had the pleasure to fuck.

The sudden and unwelcome thought that she might have lied about the number of lovers she’d had annoyed him. He didn’t even want to think about the lovers yet to slide between her lovely, silken thighs. “What about her man?”

“She’s between them at the moment.”

“How do you know so much about her, Conner?”

“Rayna told me—when she was trying to sucker me into spending a weekend with her.”

So Rayna had tried to set her up with Conner. Thank God she hadn’t succeeded with Conner or
Adrian
would have missed the most incredible fuck of his life.
 

“Say what you want about my being overprotective of Rayna, Adrian, but I wasn’t enough of a sap to be tricked into bedding her friend.”

Adrian
gave Conner a cool look. He wouldn’t be so damn smug if he knew what a fantastic lover Brandi was.

Conner glanced at his watch. “Still, I think I’ll take a run up to the cabin. See you on Monday.” Conner turned away.

Adrian
gripped his shoulder and swung him around. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you going to the cabin?”

“If you’ll recall you left the charming and weepy Ms. Knight stranded there.”

“So?”

“Was she so disappointing in bed you feel she deserves to have to walk back to Philly?”

He ignored the censure he heard in Conner’s voice. “The ride there and back is only about four hours. Why the hell won’t I see you before Monday?”

Conner arched a brow. “I like the scent of her pussy I smell on you. And even close to tears she has a sexy voice.”

“What the hell does she have to cry about?”

“You’re asking me? I should be asking you that question. You’re the one who fucked and ran and left her in tears. You must be a little rusty. Maybe you need to work on your technique.”

Adrian
compressed his lips. “My technique is fine!”

“I wonder if she’d agree after the way you walked out on her.”

Any male who dared treat Rayna as he’d treated Brandi would be beaten to within an inch of his miserable life. But hell would freeze over before he admitted that to Conner.

“I think I’ll spend the next two days deciding if Rayna’s right that full-figured black women make the best lovers. And what man can resist the allure of a human woman with enough self-confidence to admit she loves to fuck? Lord knows I can’t, even if you can.” He turned away.

Adrian
felt his temper rising. He jerked Conner around. “You keep your cock in your pants. I’ll go back and take the teasing little bitch home myself.”

Conner arched a brow. “If she’s such a teasing bitch why bother?”

He wasn’t about to admit that the idea of her beautiful brown eyes filled with tears bothered him. “Rayna would expect me to see her safely back to Philly.” He quickly left Rayna’s suite before Conner could protest. He ran down the staircase to the foyer.

Conner laughed. “Nice try, but don’t think I’m buying that explanation,
Adrian
.”

Sometimes having an identical twin who knew what he thought and felt before he did was damned annoying. He turned to stare up at Conner who stood at the top of the staircase. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That you don’t want to admit the obvious—you found her pussy’s too good to share. You’re okay with stranding her there but you’re not okay with the thought of my sampling her delights.”

“You’re getting delusional in your old age.”

Conner’s smile vanished. “Don’t I wish that were true? Stand firm,
Adrian
, or we’ll all be doomed to the same fate.”

“What the hell are you ranting about, Conner?”

“If you succumb to Brandi that spoiled rotten, match-making niece of yours won’t rest until she’d suckered all three of us into alliances with her no doubt charming, but plain as hell, full-figured friends. As you go, so will Jay and I. So don’t fall or we’ll be close behind you.”

“If you think I’m going to fall for Brandi Knight, you really are delusional.”

“Really?” Conner looked pointedly at
Adrian
’s groin. “Then why the hell is your cock hardening? Does just the thought of her get you hot and bothered? She that good of a lay?”

“Fuck off!”

“Jay and I have learned our lesson. We won’t make the mistake of admitting to Rayna that we’re ready to settle down.”

“I’m not settling down with Brandi Knight.”

“Sure you’re not.”

Ignoring Conner, he jerked the mansion door open and went back out to his car, parked in the oval in front of the mansion.

Inside his car, he sat brooding. A picture of Brandi alone and in tears haunted him. What must she think of him now? Was he still her fantasy male? Unnerved that he even cared, he made several calls before he drove off.

Chapter Five

After a long hot soak in the sunken tub equipped with pulsing jets in the master bathroom, Brandi wandered back into the bedroom, nude. She’d change the linen on the bed and go to sleep. She’d worry about how she’d get back to Philly in the morning after breakfast.

Noting the pink stains on the sheet, she stiffened. The first minutes of sex with
Adrian
had been painful, but she hadn’t realized he’d made her bleed. She glanced across the room. The light cream carpet bore numerous pink stains.