Blake, Abby - Sweet Captivation [A Bride for Eight Brothers 2] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) (3 page)

To anyone else those words might’ve sounded straight from the Dom’s handbook, but she heard the slight catch in his voice, the small tremor in his arms. She stayed still, giving him what he needed, relaxing into his chest the way he wanted her to.

She woke hours later. The television played infomercials for a gadget that seemed to be an item no one would ever want to live without. And if she bought it now, she could have two. She giggled as she remembered practically the same commercial playing twenty years ago. Some things just never changed.

Lachlan woke suddenly, his arms closing harder around her at the sound.

“Sorry to wake you,” she said, not really feeling sorry at all. She angled her head to try and kiss him, hoping to get back to what they’d been doing before she’d fallen asleep. He groaned as he took control of the kiss, his hands roaming over every inch of flesh he could reach. Considering she still had her panties tangled around her knees he could reach quite a lot. His finger had just started stroking the slippery flesh of her slit when the door-chime startled them both.

Shit! That was way too loud in the middle of the fucking night.

Lachlan’s grip tightened as he reached for the remote and flicked to the video feed from the front door surveillance camera. Mikayla tried to move to get a clearer look at the man who would visit in the middle of the night, but Lachlan held her against him even harder and she got the impression that he didn’t want her to see whoever was at the door.

“What do you want?” he asked aggressively.

“Now, bro, don’t be like that. Aren’t you going to welcome me with open arms and all that, you know, prodigal son bullshit?”

Son? Lachlan was only early thirties, and the brief glimpse of this man suggested he was about the same age, so he couldn’t mean son, not literally. Lachlan must’ve sensed the confusion swirling through her brain because he explained in an irritated sounding voice.

“Bryce is Matt’s twin brother.” Twin brother? Another brother? She’d been with them for over a year, and none of them had mentioned that Matt had a twin brother. She opened her mouth to ask a million questions, but Lachlan lifted her off his lap and onto her feet in front of him. He frowned when he realized where her panties were and then leaned over and slid them back up. “Go to bed,” he said in the Dom voice he expected her to obey. “I’ll deal with this and join you shortly.”

“But,” she started to say, but he cut her off with a finger over her lips.

“No ‘buts.’ Behave, little one, and I’ll explain later.”

He physically turned her around and sent her on her way with a soft tap on her ass. Confused and needing answers, she obeyed him… just this once.

Chapter Three

Lachlan opened the door, anger still riding him. He didn’t want Mikayla hurt, and he realized he’d do anything to protect her from this spoiled, selfish asshole. Bryce was just about as opposite as one could get to Matt. Despite the fact that they were twins, they were nothing alike. Matt was loyal, steadfast, honest, and reliable. Bryce simply wasn’t.

Hell, none of them had seen or heard from him in nearly ten years. Why the fuck would he turn up now?

A quick glance at the complicated looking brace wrapped around Bryce’s leg answered that question. Looking more closely at his long lost brother, Lachlan realized Bryce’s pale complexion and tight skin around his mouth were likely due to pain.

Damn.

Lachlan knew he couldn’t turn him away. Family or not, asshole or not, Bryce was in need of assistance and Lachlan’s instinct had always been to help anyone he could.

Double damn.

“Come on,” he said gruffly as he stepped out the door and slid a supportive arm around the injured man. Sweat beaded Bryce’s face by the time Lachlan had him settled on the nearest lounge. “Do you have pain meds?”

Bryce shook his head wearily, and Lachlan wondered why the hell Bryce wasn’t still in hospital. It was obvious by the brace that he’d been injured quite severely and had most likely shattered or crushed his thigh bone.

In the end it didn’t take a genius to figure out. Bryce had a small, battered duffle bag with him and was wearing clothes that had seen much better days. It was a good bet that he had no medical insurance, no savings, and nowhere else to go.

Lachlan left the room quickly, intending to grab the strongest over the counter painkillers he could find in his bathroom. He was so busy considering options that he nearly ran right over Mikayla.

“Bed,” he ordered at the same time that he went to throw her over his shoulder. At the last moment he remembered her delicate condition and lifted her to his chest, encouraging her to wrap her legs around his waist as he walked them back to his living quarters.

“He’s injured,” she said quietly.

“I know,” he said, feeling annoyed at how complicated the situation had become because of their unexpected visitor. Lachlan had wondered how he would get through four months alone with her—four months that he would’ve loved to have kept her naked the whole time if only she’d not been pregnant—but now he had to figure out how to protect her from the asshole who, despite everything he’d done, was still his younger brother. “Mikayla, please, just do as I ask. I don’t want him anywhere near you.”

“Why?” she asked quietly. If she’d been belligerent or petulant or demanding he might’ve stood his ground and demanded her obedience, but it was her concern and obvious compassion for a person she didn’t even know that did him in.

“Because I love you too much to put you in danger. When Bryce left, he already had a criminal record and done time in prison. I have no idea how he was injured or why he’s shown up here.”

“But you still care for him,” she said quietly. The way she said it made it obvious it wasn’t a question. He nodded anyway and then kissed her softly.

“Okay, you go deal with your brother, and I’ll wait for you to come to me.”

He smiled, hoping it looked more sincere than worried, and then headed into the bathroom, found the meds, and left quickly.

* * * *

Cold sweat drenched Bryce when he heard a woman’s voice. Shit! He shouldn’t have come here. What the hell had he been thinking? He hadn’t seen any of his brothers in more years than he cared to count, and it hadn’t even occurred to him that things might’ve changed.

What if they had children?

Fuck. He needed to get out of here.

He leaned forward, trying to reach the brace on his leg. The awkward movement sent pain screaming along every nerve ending, and he gritted his teeth against the urge to vomit. He managed to wriggle halfway off the lounge before dizziness stalled his progress. He closed his eyes for a moment, but they flew open quickly when he heard someone enter the room.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Lachlan asked, sounding completely exasperated. It was the same question he’d asked Bryce the day before he’d walked out of their lives. Bryce hadn’t been able to give him an answer then, at least this time he could say something.

“I’m sorry,” he began as he tried again to get to his feet, “but this was a really bad idea. I should be going.”

“Not a chance,” Lachlan said, sounding like the bossy older brother Bryce remembered. “How’d you break the leg?”

“You know me. Give me a few beers, and I get really clumsy,” he said in what he hoped was a dismissive tone. “Dude, look, you don’t understand. I really shouldn’t have come here.”

“Why?” Lachlan asked as he handed Bryce two pain pills and a glass of water. Bryce gratefully swallowed the tablets and then leaned back, hoping that they could kick in quickly and he’d be on his way. Damn, he shouldn’t have come.

“Where are the others?”

“Off planet,” Lachlan answered tersely. “Answer the question.”

“Why what?” Bryce asked trying to buy himself some time. He really hadn’t thought this through at all. He’d been wrong to involve his brothers in his problems.

“Why did you leave? Why did you come back? Why now? Why can’t you stay?” Lachlan started pacing back and forth but then seemed to realize what he was doing and stopped in the middle of the room. “Fuck, Bryce! Pick a question. Give me something here. Tell me anything.”

It hurt that Lachlan still cared. Fuck. Why would the guy care for someone who’d done nothing but cause him trouble? Bryce felt his chest squeeze as every regret he had rolled through him. He wanted nothing more than to ask for his brothers’ help, but he couldn’t be that selfish. Not now.

“Who’s the girl?” he asked, deliberately injecting his voice with disdain. Maybe if Lachlan didn’t care anymore, if Bryce managed to insult his brother enough, he would get out of here without putting anyone in danger. “Some pain slut you picked up from the club?”

“No, my wife,” Lachlan said as his eyes narrowed in anger. Wife? Oh fuck, it was a monumentally stupid idea to come here. Wife? God, he needed to get out of here. Maybe if he insulted Lachlan enough he’d be angry enough to dump his sorry ass in a cab and wave good-bye. Lord knew he wasn’t getting out of here under his own steam. If possible, his leg throbbed more now than it had the day he’d woken with it in the brace.

Trying to think clearly through the pain buzzing in his brain, Bryce came up with the only insult his overwrought mind could conjure.

“So you sharing her around or what? Isn’t that what you and Brock do? Find some little pain slut and beat her ass and fuck her until you get tired of her?”

The anger on Lachlan’s face was frightening. Hell, at this rate he was liable to strangle Bryce before he dumped him in a cab.

* * * *

Mikayla sat cross-legged in the middle of Lachlan’s bed. Unable to relax enough to fall asleep and too anxious for answers, she’d settled into the uncomfortable position and waited. She had a million questions, but the one she needed to ask first was why hadn’t anyone mentioned an eighth brother. It was possible that they’d all just assumed that one of the others had told her, but not even Matt had mentioned his twin. More questions rose to haunt her as she realized she’d married into a family she suddenly knew nothing about. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

“Little one,” Lachlan said from the doorway. “It’s going to be okay.”

“How is it going to be okay? I feel as if I don’t even know any of you.”

“That’s not true,” he said, sounding hurt, “you know us. We haven’t changed simply because we left out one little detail. It’s not like we ever expected to see Bryce again. He walked out on all of us years ago.”

“Why didn’t Matt say something?”

“I don’t know why he didn’t tell you, Mikayla, but I do know that he took Bryce’s leaving pretty badly. They were as close as Ryan and Ty at one stage, but then Bryce started getting into trouble and things just got worse from there.” Lachlan sat heavily on the bed and pulled her into his embrace. “I think in some ways Matt feels guilty for not being able to keep his twin out of trouble. I know he visited Bryce a few times when he was in prison, but something happened and Matt stopped going. When Bryce got parole he pretty much dropped out of our lives. Until today I wasn’t even sure he was still alive. Although, by the looks of him, death came pretty close.”

“How bad is his leg?” Mikayla couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more—much more—to the story, but without any basis for what was essentially a gut feeling she kept the observation to herself.

“Bad. I think he should still be in hospital. I doubt even the private system would release someone so badly injured, insured or not. At the very least he should be in a public hospital.”

Mikayla nodded in agreement but chewed on her lower lip for a moment before asking, “Do you think he discharged himself?”

“That’s my guess,” Lachlan said on a deep sigh. “Mikayla, I think he’s in trouble. Serious trouble this time but I’m not sure how to help him. I think taking him back to the hospital might be a very bad idea.”

“We need to call Matt,” she said decisively. “Maybe he can give us some insight. He might even want to come home for a while.” She tried to squash the annoying little thought that wanted Matt and the others home for her own selfish reasons.

“Come on,” Lachlan said as he helped her off his lap and onto her feet, “we’ll contact Matt right now.”

* * * *

Matt woke from yet another sexy dream of his wife. God, he missed her. They’d barely been gone three weeks, and already he wanted to say to hell with the contract and go back to his woman. He glanced down at the hard cock tenting his pants and wondered for about the millionth time on this trip whether it was worth risking hypothermia in an effort to deflate what seemed to be a constant erection.