“Guilty people usually react in such a fashion.” He stopped an arm’s length from her, feet spread wide apart with his arms crossed over his bulging chest. He looked all too yummy in a pair of black running shorts and a white sleeveless t-shirt.
“What exactly do you believe you overheard?” she lilted with narrowed eyes.
“Enough to know that you’re going to break my little brother’s heart.”
“That’s a little presumptuous, don’t you think? We hardly know each other. Love sure as hell isn’t on either of our minds yet.”
“On yours not ever, right?”
Taylor bit her lip as she shifted her weight and darted a look toward the ocean, seeking strength and guidance to remain calm.
“Shall we try this again?” she said with a dimpled smile as she held out her hand. “I’m Taylor Banks, best friend of Peyton.”
“I’m too old to fall for flattery, fluttering eyelashes, and a sweet smile, so don’t bother.”
“Look, Shane, all I want is to be civil and for us, Zeke and me, and everyone else for that matter, to get to know each other. Why do you have to jump feet first into the fire and conclude I’m out to break his heart?”
“One thing you’ll learn pretty quickly, Miss Banks, is that I’m fiercely protective over Zeke. It might appear he had an easy and glorified existence, but life wasn’t always good to him. He suffered enough and I won’t allow a little snip like you to use him.”
“Now you’re insulting me.”
“Am I?” He tapped a finger against his chin. “Let me think, what were your words again? Hm .. ah yes, and I quote, ‘You have to concentrate on what’s important in your life. Your career and sex.’ Do not forget that’s all you want from him. Sex, sex, and more sex.” He bent forward to press his face against hers. “In my books, that’s exactly what it is, Taylor Banks. You want a sex toy and nothing more.”
She took a step back and barked a short laugh. “You don’t know your brother if you believe he’d ever be any woman’s sex toy. Besides, what else am I to him than exactly that? He doesn’t know me from a bar of soap and yet he insists that we sign a permanent Dom/sub agreement. Why else would he do that if for no other reason than to have a pussy at his beck and call?”
“The Sinclairs all have one thing in common and you’d be wise to take this to heart. None of us would ever sign an agreement with any woman unless it’s the one we aim to keep by our side until the end of time. Zeke isn’t any different.”
He caught her chin between his fingers and squeezed hard. His eyes flashed as she cried out in pain and caught his wrists. “Have you signed that agreement yet?”
“No, he’s waiting for Hawk to bring it today,” she whimpered as she pulled frantically on his arms. “Let go! You’re hurting me.”
His fingers tightened and she moaned pitifully as his harsh voice graveled in her ears. “Think very carefully about what I said before you do, Miss Banks, because a permanent Dom/sub agreement with Zeke will be exactly that. Permanent. If you don’t intend to honor it, make sure he knows, otherwise, you won’t only have my wrath to contend with, but his hate the day you walk out on him.”
His fingers relaxed but he didn’t release her chin. Instead, he studied her features with such intensity it completely discombobulated her. A flash of black darkened his gaze momentarily before his hand fell away and he took a step back. She simmered under the look that grazed her from head to toe and back up.
“I can see the attraction he has for you. You’re exactly the kind of woman he’s been searching for.” He flashed a devilish grin that once again caused her girlie bits to tingle uncontrollably.
Get with the fucking program, girls! The fucking devil just scared the shit out of me!
“One more warning, little snip. Zeke carries within him the spirit of the dragon. Like his totem, he has a mystical effect on people, especially women. Your career might be all you see in your mind but be prepared for what he’s going to unleash inside you. Believe me, Taylor, you won’t see it coming and don’t stand a chance.” He turned and ambled toward the path between the trees where he looked back at her over his shoulder. “If you’re not prepared to fully commit to a relationship with my brother, walk away before you sign that agreement. Do not say I didn’t warn you.”
“Warn her of what?”
Taylor’s breath hissed through her lips as Zeke stepped around Shane and looked at her questioningly. He looked sweaty and so hot, dressed in similar running gear as Shane, that all she could do was stare with drool in her mouth.
“Not to stand so close to the edge of the cliff.” Shane thumped him on the shoulder. “Since you’re here, I can finish my run.”
He took off without another look at Taylor. She finally managed to release the breath she’d been holding. Her eyes drifted unconsciously over Zeke’s rippling chest as he prowled closer. The pink tip of her tongue appeared like a much-needed mirage to wet her suddenly dry lips. He didn’t only look as sexy as fuck, he looked dangerous.
“I didn’t appreciate waking up alone, Taylor.”
Her gaze shot to his face, surprised at the dark shadows in his eyes which prompted her to retreat as he approached. Another quick flick of her tongue drew his narrowed gaze to her now glistening lips.
“I … er, didn’t realize I was under lock and key,” she managed to gasp as her back connected with the large palm tree she’d leaned against earlier.
“You’re not but leaving my bed without waking me is unacceptable.”
“I’ll be sure to remember that in the future.”
“Good. Make sure you add my morning kiss to that reminder.”
“Y-your morning kiss?” Taylor listened to her breathless voice, surprised at how husky and raw it echoed inside her mind … and filled with such longing. She cringed. She was supposed to be confident and assertive, not sound like a ninny begging for scraps from the big, bad wolf! Or … was it the dragon?
The way his eyes glowed answered that question, especially as she felt herself being drawn into him. His entire essence encapsulated her in a cocoon of such divine desire, she struggled to remember where she was and why she’d escaped from the castle.
And then all thoughts fled her mind as he crowded her against the tree and clasped her hands against it high above her head with one hand. The other traced the contours of her face, his fervent gaze following in the wake of the tender strokes. She felt it like the flick of an artist’s brush against her skin. Almost like his eyes were a caress of profound appreciation and seduction on its own.
“Morning, little one,” he breathed against her lips a split second before his mouth captured hers in a kiss so passionately demanding, she could only accept and revel in the sensations rippling through her.
The world tilted with each tantalizing stroke of his tongue over the roof of her mouth and the sensual slide over hers. She was blindsided by a burgeoning spark of lust that cocooned snugly around the nerve endings in her loins, shooting fragments of heat to bristle through her core.
He lifted his head and stared at her, enraptured by how her eyes smoldered in return. He lifted a finger and swept at the tiny opalescent beads of perspiration that situated themselves in a random pattern clinging to her forehead.