Moonlight Mirage: Bandicoot Cove 2 (8 page)

“That’s my cue to get back to the group—best man duties and all that.” Luke took one last look at Mitch. “Sure you’re okay?”

“Oh, sure. Feel like a million bucks.”

Despite Mitch’s obvious sarcasm, Luke knew when to leave a man be. Alone once more, Mitch went back to the very important task of emptying his glass.

He managed it so well he decided to tackle another—and another. His vision had gone from fuzzy to blurry by the time he bothered to swivel on his stool and glance at the scene laid out on the dance floor of the Oasis Bar. Persephone had moved on from twisting her lithe body in front of a blushing Aidan and was now working her way through the crowd, wiggling before each man in attendance in the hope of increasing her haul of tips. She bent her body backward over one seated guy, displaying her taut abdomen and lush sequin-encased breasts to his view. As Mitch watched, someone poured some clear liquid from a bottle and into the dancer’s navel. Raucous chanting for him to “Drink, drink, drink!” started up. With a laugh, the man bent his head and slurped the alcohol out of the woman’s bellybutton.

In the murky light, Mitch could just make out the shaggy cut of the man’s light brown hair.

Ty Butler.

Ty. Friggin’. Butler.

Who the hell had invited him? He was the last person Mitch wanted to see. The sight of him alone was enough to make fury course through his veins, a hotter burn than the strong alcohol. Watching him run his tongue all over some strange woman’s stomach when Hayley was off by herself, perhaps wondering at loverboy’s whereabouts…

Mitch’s rage was like fire.
Bastard.
The man had Hayley, and he was here doing shots out of a stripper’s navel. His anger mounted when the dancer sat up and proceeded to jiggle her breasts in Ty’s face. Clearly enjoying the attention, Ty smiled like the cat that caught the canary and stuffed a bill into the woman’s cleavage.

Unbe-friggin’-lievable.

He could have been sprinting, but it felt like he was walking through mud as Mitch headed over there. By the time he got to Ty, the stripper had moved on to someone else, freeing Mitch to grab the other man by the shoulder and haul him out of his chair. He’d never hit another human being in his life, but the instinct to swing came out of nowhere, unstoppable. His clenched fist and Ty’s jaw connected with a satisfying
thwack
. A split second later, Ty retaliated, landing a punch on the left side of Mitch’s face.

Mitch’s brain felt positively dislodged. Just as Mitch had never thrown a punch, neither had he ever received one. It
hurt
. Not even the alcohol could shield him from it. Cursing, Mitch brought his fist back once more, the innate urge to meet violence with violence coursing through him. Someone wrapped an arm around his waist and yanked him backward, preventing his fist from making contact a second time.

Mitch yelled across at Ty, who was also being held back by one of the party guests, “You don’t deserve her!”

Ty appeared mystified. “Who—the stripper?”

“Hayley, you idiot,” Mitch spat in disgust. “You’re the one she wants, and you don’t even give a shit.”

Ty had the audacity to laugh. “Jesus. And you call me an idiot.”

The other man’s laughter made Mitch’s anger flare afresh. He struggled to free himself but either his captor was too strong or Mitch was too drunk to make escape feasible. “Let me go.”

“Don’t think that’s wise right now.” The voice carried a British accent and no small amount of mirth.

“Mitch, why don’t you take a walk and cool off?” It was Luke’s voice, deliberately neutral as he stepped up to Mitch’s other side and slipped into rescue mode. “This isn’t doing you any good.”

“Forget it, I’ll go.” At Ty’s proclamation, the man who’d been holding him let go. Ty shrugged his shoulders, a ghost of a smile playing with his lips. “I s’pose someone’s got to be the bigger man here.”

Mitch leapt forward, only to be held back once again by the British guy and Luke. Ty laughed outright. “Stop it, Wood, you’ll pull a muscle. I told you, I’m going.” Ty took a couple of steps toward Mitch so he was standing just close enough for his low murmur to be heard above the still-thumping pop music. “I have a date with a lady, a cute blonde with the tightest, wettest little puss—”

Pain arrowed through Mitch’s head. Ty swore graphically and stumbled back, clutching his face. Long seconds after the fact, Mitch realized that he’d head-butted the man.

This really was a night for firsts.

In a flurry of movement, several men escorted Ty out of the club, while Luke and Aidan took Mitch to the bar and forced him to drink water, followed by coffee, followed by more water. They needn’t have bothered trying to sober him up. The self-inflicted knock on the head seemed to have dispelled the effects of his earlier intoxication. Everything was so much clearer to Mitch now.

Ty Butler was a reprobate of the first order, and if Hayley got any further entangled with the man, she was bound to end up hurt. Besides, Luke had been right before. Mitch wasn’t the type to concede, it wasn’t in him. He couldn’t give up on Hayley—not yet.

Not until he’d exhausted every last option available to him.

Chapter Six

Mitch snuck out of the club before anyone else could force caffeine or Evian down his throat. The fragrant air outside swept over him as he walked around the edges of the lagoon-style pool that marked the center of the resort. It was built to resemble a tropical oasis and was surrounded by towering palm trees. The moon was a fat orb shining down on the surface of the water, making it sparkle brighter than the pole dancer’s sequins. He wasn’t sure where he was headed until he saw the lights of Bar Evoke glowing on the other side of the pool and heard the music pumping from inside.

The hen’s night. Of course, that’s where Hayley would be. Filled with renewed resolve, Mitch started in that direction.

He was only meters from the club’s entrance when he saw a couple emerge. The man was none other than Ty Butler. Behind him he dragged a protesting Hayley. Neither saw him as they headed in the opposite direction, toward the moonlit lagoon. On autopilot, Mitch followed the sound of splashing water until he saw them both standing in the shallows of the pool. Hayley’s dress hit her midthigh, and now the water lapped around the hem, the ripples phosphorescent where the shine cast by the moon clashed with that emanating from the underwater lighting.

“I don’t know, Ty,” Hayley was saying. “I think we need to talk.”

“Come on, don’t tell me watching that buff guy rip off his fireman’s uniform didn’t get you hot.” Ty reached down to clasp Hayley’s butt in his hands. He murmured something into her ear that Mitch couldn’t make out. Then he began inching her dress upward.

“Ty…” The uncertainty in Hayley’s voice propelled Mitch forward. If Butler was going to push the issue…

Mitch halted in midstride when Ty pulled Hayley’s shift dress up and over her shoulders. She wore a pair of brief blue panties that sat low on her hips and revealed the swirling design of her tattoo. In the moonlight, Mitch could see all of it—the intricately etched tropical flowers, their stems intertwining to form a frame for a word, a single word written in bold cursive.

Freedom.

Mitch was a heartbeat away from storming into the water and scooping Hayley into his arms, taking over the situation because he wanted things his way. But that one word and all its implications had him welded to the spot. Was that what Hayley wanted above all else—her freedom? If that was the case, dragging her off to his room to keep her captive until she admitted she had feelings for him was the last thing she’d accept.

“You’re so perfect, Hales.”

Ty’s soft praise echoed Mitch’s thoughts. Hayley Bryant was perfect, exactly as she was. Mitch didn’t want to change a thing about her, even if it meant accepting this…desire of hers. The one she’d expressed to him that very morning.

I want you to watch Ty do all sorts of naughty things to me.

Jesus. Could he do it? Would it be worth it if it meant he could have Hayley to himself after—
any way he wanted
, as she’d promised?

Ty reached up and caressed Hayley’s pert breast. Mitch saw the way Hayley responded, her lithe body curving in the silver-blue light. Although he wished he was the one touching her, the sight of her near-naked body being stroked and caressed stirred Mitch’s carnal interest. He grew hard inside his cargos, his erection a thing that pulsed with a life of its own. He hated Butler, but the sight of him playing Hayley’s body like a fiddle turned Mitch on.

He was officially messed up.

Five, ten minutes tops
, Mitch told himself.
Do whatever it takes to get through it, and she’ll be yours.
He could prove to her control wasn’t the most important thing in his life, that he didn’t want to manage her or make her fit any kind of mold.

Mitch had to believe it would be worth it.

Hayley didn’t want Ty.

She ought to. He was doing everything the way he knew she liked, and she was in dire need of sexual release, that was for darn sure. The hard-bodied stripper dressed as a fireman who had burst into McKenzie’s hen’s night was enough to get any red-blooded girl going. After the day Hayley had spent—avoiding both Mitch and Ty while being unable to stop fantasizing about them both—she was practically aflame.

But not for Ty.

Despite having had him on her mind all day, in her imaginings, Mitch had always been there too. Watching. His gaze would burn upon her as Ty made love to her. Before Ty could finish, Mitch would always stop him. He’d drag Hayley away and take her fast and hard, claiming her as his right in front of Ty.

It was what she wanted most, for Mitch to challenge Ty for her. Dallying with Ty was wrong on every level now that she could admit that to herself. She pushed at Ty’s chest until he stopped kissing her neck and looked at her. Before she could say anything, Ty repeated in a low voice the thing he’d whispered in her ear a few moments ago. “One last hurrah, Hales.”

He knew she wanted to end it, and he wasn’t going to make it difficult for her. He wanted to say goodbye, that was all. And seeing as sex was kind of how they’d said hello, Ty’s suggestion made perfect sense.

If only Hayley could muster the required enthusiasm.

Spinning her around, Ty pressed her back against one of the smooth rocks that rimmed the pool. He bent his head and captured a nipple in his mouth. Hayley let him, waiting for the usual sensations to take over, staring over Ty’s shoulder at…

Mitch.

Hayley blinked. The moon had to be playing tricks on her, creating mirages out of her deepest fantasies. Her heartbeat accelerated as she acknowledged he was real. Mitch stood beside the pool, clutching the trunk of a palm tree as though using it as an anchor. She sensed the intensity of his gaze, hot and electric, on her.

He was doing what she’d asked of him, rising to the challenge she’d issued.

It happened then in a liquid rush. Heat slicked a path inside her, firing her erogenous zones and coating her sex with cream. Ty bit down gently on her nipple, and she let out a throaty cry.

“That’s it, Hales, now we’re talking.”

Hayley’s breath shallowed out. She was hot, and she throbbed everywhere. “Don’t go away.”

Ty muttered an agreement into her cleavage as he shifted his attention to her other breast, but Hayley’s gaze remained fixed on Mitch. In the light cast by the moon, she saw his fingernails dig into the tree trunk, as though that was the only thing stopping him from rushing forward and tearing her away from Ty. How long would he hold out before he did it?

The question fired her arousal. She arched against Ty, encouraging him to take her hard into his hot mouth. Mitch stood in the murky shadows, appearing almost sinister. His pants were wrinkled, his white shirt open to the center of his chest as though it missed a button, and the dark line along his jaw gave an indication that he had not shaved.

Hayley couldn’t remember ever seeing Mitch unshaven.

Suddenly, regret stole through her. She’d visualized him jealous, possessive, but not defeated. Watching her like this was painful for him.

The confirmation that he cared enough about her to be truly distressed by seeing her with Ty should have brought with it at least a modicum of satisfaction, but all Hayley felt was shame. A lump formed in her throat, and her eyes stung. She had to put a stop to this. Mitch—and Ty—deserved better from her. Hayley opened her mouth to have the talk with Ty she should have had the second he’d kidnapped her from the hen’s night.
It’s over. I am still in love with Mitch.

“You get off on this, don’t you?” Ty rasped in Hayley’s ear before she could say anything. “You love it with him watching.”

Hayley’s heart hung suspended in her chest. Ty knew. Somehow he knew Mitch was waiting in the shadows, observing them.

Ty’s soft chuckle made shivers of erotic delight dance over her skin. “I know what you’re into. When you’ve passed me over for him, I hope you’ll always remember that I was the guy who discovered this side of you.”

“Ty… My God.”

Hayley bit her lip when Ty reached between their bodies and sought out the slick, swollen lips of her sex. He probed her wet entrance, causing her hips to buck as though of their own volition. “Arch your back, Hales. Show him those gorgeous tits.”