The Red-Hot Cajun (12 page)

Suddenly he sat up on his knees and looked at her. “How do you like cuddling so far,
chère?”

She refused to answer.

“Speechless, eh? Ah, well, I have the cure for that.” Swifter than she could say, “Whoo-ee,” he inched her shirt up and over her head till it bunched at her bound wrists. She was fully exposed to him now, except for her thong.

Still kneeling between her legs, he studied her in a way that could only be described as hungry. His fists clenched as he tried to control himself, but Val could see the surrender in his hot eyes and parted lips.

And she saw physical evidence of his arousal in the tenting of his shorts. Very physical evidence! She had never considered herself a sensual woman before, but she did now.

“You are so fucking sweet,” he said in a voice husky with desire.

It was a crude thing to say, but Valerie was oddly flattered.

He kissed her, passionately. He caressed her now bare breasts to the point where she was mindless with need. “Please, please, please,” she begged him.

“Shhhhh,” he whispered and wet one nipple, then drew her deeply inside his mouth, where he alternately suckled then licked her with the tip of his tongue.

Finally, just from his making love to her breasts, she felt her inner muscles begin to spasm. She was going to come, just from foreplay. He would think she was really pathetic, so desperate after two years of celibacy that little attention would bring her to climax. She stiffened her body and fought the scorching waves that were already undulating out of her.

“Relax, sweetheart. Relax.”

“Easy for you to say,” she grumbled.

“Hah! Every time you twitch, I double twitch.”

She had to smile at that description. “Okay, release me now.”

“No way.”

“You’ve proven that you can make me lose control during the previews. Now, let’s move onto the main event.”

“If you mean what I think you do about the main event, forget about it. We are not going to have carnal knowledge of each other.”

“It sure as hell feels like carnal knowledge.”

“Naw. That was just semi-carnal. But as for the main event, I can’t do that, not tonight, but I do have another short feature in store for you.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, then yelped with surprise when he lay down beside her again, rolled her onto her side, wrapped an arm around her waist, then rolled the two of them back so that he lay under her, both of them facing upward. He made a few adjustments, raising her arms higher, causing her breasts to arch. His erection nestled between her buttocks and her female folds. She could swear she felt the rapid beat of his heart against her back.

“This is crazy.”

“You think so?” he said against her ear.
Ear sex again? Lordy, Lordy!
“Move your legs, sweetheart,”

he told her and helped her to spread them wide, bent at the knees, with her feet firmly planted on either side of his thighs.

Only then, when she was fully exposed, except for her thong, did he touch her there. She almost swooned. Immediately the heel of his palm ground against her most vulnerable part, causing it to ache in a most delicious way. And then... and then... and THEN, his expert fingers plied their arts in the most incredible, sexual way just where she wanted, just the way she needed. How did he know all that? Why didn’t all men know that?

Even though his left hand pressed against her tummy, she was able to arch up, up, up when her orgasm hit her in nerve-splintering waves. The whole time, he whispered wicked, graphic things in her ears, all encouraging her to let loose. Which she did. And she couldn’t even be embarrassed about that. Not even her scream of ecstasy in the end, which could have awakened the dead, or Tante Lulu, which it thankfully did not.

As her racing heart returned to normal and drowsiness overcame her, she felt her restraints come loose and Rene cuddled her in his arms, crooning soft words to soothe her. She felt his erection pressing against her side, and she murmured, “You didn’t come yet.”

“Next time,
chère.
Next time, guaranteed.”

“But it’s not fair... that I got all the pleasure.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. I got pleasure, too. It was the best—”

“Puh-leeze,” she interrupted. “Don’t try to tell me it was the best sex you ever had. I’m not buyin’ that line.”

“Tsk -tsk -tsk !”
He chuckled and nipped her bottom lip with his teeth. “It was the best
near-sex
I ever had.”

She couldn’t argue with that.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Two years . . . and counting

He couldn’t avoid Val any longer.

It was probably delusional of him, but he wanted to remember last night as a good experience. If Val was like most women, she would pull a Jekyll-and-Hyde on him now and turn the whole thing into one of those morning-after regrets.
It’s not you, Rene. It’s me. Yada, yada, yada.

Although it was barely 9 a.m., Remy had just landed his copter in the bayou on its water buoys, thus scaring the bejesus out of every animal within five miles. Tante Lulu was inside the cabin doing some last-minute packing; she was probably also making him meals for the next few days, unable to believe he could cope on his own. Val was inside the cabin, too, doing God only knew what. For sure, she was avoiding him, just as he was her.

They had to talk before she left. But he refused to ask her what she was going to do about the “kidnapping” once she was back in Houma. And he sure as hell didn’t want to discuss their near-sex episode.
Maybe I should just shake her hand and say, “Thank s for a great time, sugar. See ya.” Oh,
yeah, that would go over great. What I’d really like to say is, “Wow! You and I made magic, Val. I
would really like to get to know you better. And I don’t just mean sex. Can I call you sometime ? “

Oh, yeah, that would go over great, too. She would think I just wanted another chance to pick upwhere we left off. I do, but
...
aaarrgh!

Remy crawled out of the copter followed by their half-brother, sixteen-year-old Tee-John, who’d presumably come along for the ride. Both of them worked to tie the vehicle’s rigging to a tree stump. Then, grinning from ear to ear, they waded through the water toward him.

“Hey, Rene,” Remy said, still grinning.

“Hey, Rene,” Tee-John said, also continuing to grin.

“ ‘Bout time you got here,” he complained, which was a really ridiculous thing for him to say.

“I don’t see any blood or bruises,” Remy remarked as he came up on the bank. His boots and khaki pants were wet up to the knees.

He didn’t bother to answer, recognizing the mischievous glint in his brother’s eyes.

“I mean, I figure four days with you and Valerie ‘Ice’ Breaux together, she should have done some major damage to you by now. At the least you should have freezer burn on some important body parts,”

Remy explained, pretending to examine his body for frostbite.

“There is that mark on his neck,” Tee-John pointed out, also coming up to stand in front of him. He wore only a tank top, swimming trunks, and athletic shoes sans socks. He probably considered himself some kind of Teenage Hunk of the Month. He probably was.

“I suppose it could be a bruise from her trying to strangle him to death,” Remy said to Tee-John.

“Or it could be a hickey,” Tee-John offered back.

“Or teeth marks,” Remy observed. “Yep, that’s what I think it is.”

Uh-oh.
Before he could catch himself, Rene slapped a hand to the suspicious spot, thus confirming his brothers’ suspicions.

Laughing openly now, his brothers were slapping each other on the back with glee. At his expense.

“Did you run into a door, bro?” Tee-John asked then.

“No. Why?”
Sometimes I don’t have the sense God gave a goose. I should know better than to
encourage my brothers.

“I could swear your lips are all puffy-like.”

“I’ll give you
puffy-like.”
Rene reached out an arm to punch his brother, but he feinted left, then right, and put some distance between them.

“You are in deep shit,” Remy remarked then, just a mite serious, although his lips still twitched with mirth. “And I don’t mean for fooling around with Val.”

“Tell me about it.” And he didn’t mean that as encouragement for Remy to actually tell him something.

Tee-John walked past him, up the steps, and into the cabin. They could hear him teasing Tante Lulu, who loved the scamp. She would probably be feeding him before they left, figuring he might die of hunger if he didn’t get any of her good Cajun food in his belly.

“J.B. and Maddie took their shrimp boat out to the Gulf for a few days of fishing,” Remy told him, sitting down on the steps. “Luc ordered them to stay out of sight till you talked with them.”

“Good.”

“They think you walk on water, Bro.”

“The last time I tried, I was three sheets to the wind and I got a bucket of water up my nose.”

Remy grinned at him. “But, man, forget about your fan club. Everyone else in the world is gonna be on your tail. It’s a good thing you’re not coming back today.”

Rene joined his brother on the porch and let his silence be a question.

“Val’s mother is on the rampage. Threatening lawsuits. Claiming
her
daughter would never get involved with any of those wacky environmentalists or any of those wacky LeDeuxs.”

The two brothers smiled at each other, not at all concerned about the LeDeux reputation. In fact, they’d both done plenty to fuel it over the years.

“Did she forget that her niece Sylvie is married to a LeDeux?” Rene asked Remy.

“Convenient memory lapse. Anyhow, she has riled up her clan of Breaux bitches and they in turn have riled some politicians and news media.”

He shrugged. No big deal. He wasn’t afraid of Simone Breaux or the politicians. Val, on the other hand...

“I don’t think it’s just legal action you have to fear,” Remy said, as if reading his mind.

Like I didn’t know that!
“What else?”

“J.B. and Maddie mentioned a highfalutin documentary, which if it does any good, could affect some of their pocketbooks. People fight dirty when money is involved. You might be in danger.”

He waved a hand dismissively. “Dad already called to issue one of his usual threats.”

“Like?”

“He’s gonna beat the crap out of me if I don’t toe the line—
his
line that is. He’s not big enough to do it himself anymore; so, he’ll probably hire someone to do the dirty work.”

Remy shook his head hopelessly. That about said it all when it came to their father. The bastard!

“Besides, there isn’t going to be a documentary. It was all a fabrication J.B. and Maddie dreamed up in hopes of stirring the hornets’ nest.”

“They did that, for sure.”

“You don’t convince someone to do you a favor by kidnapping her. Talk about!”
Nor do you have
near-sex with her and expect her not to be suspicious of your motives... even if it was her idea.
“I can’t fault J.B. and Maddie, though. Their hearts are in the right place.”

“Their hearts, and other innards, may very well be in prison by the time Val is done with them. What about Val, by the way? Luc stands ready, if you need him. What’s she gonna say, or do, when she returns?”

“I don’t have a clue. She’s made lots of threats, but my gut instinct says... I don’t know.”

Just then, Tee-John came out with a catfish sandwich in one hand and a can of RC Cola in the other.

Setting the soda on the porch rail, he took a bite of his sandwich, then said, “What is
that?”
Tee-John went down the porch steps and picked something up off the ground by the tent. It was pink but, oh my God, it was not a flower.

Flashing a “gotcha” smirk, Tee-John held it up high and asked, “Been playin’ cops and robbers, have you, big brother?”

Rene felt his face heat up as he stomped down the steps and walked over to grab the freakin’ handcuffs, which they must have forgotten last night. Tee-John danced away, still holding the cuffs out of reach. ‘Tee-John” was the Cajun diminutive for Little-John, which became a misnomer the more he grew; the boy was as tall as he was. That didn’t mean he couldn’t whup him good if he didn’t behave himself.

“What is it?” Remy asked, coming up to stand by Rene.

“Handcuffs,” Rene said. “I got ‘em from Tante Lulu, who got them from guess who?” He looked pointedly at Tee-John.

“Tee-John!” Remy said with a laugh. “I’m surprised at you.”