Their Virgin Hostage, Masters of Ménage, Book 5 (15 page)

“Nah, I just want to see how far she’ll go before she runs
back here,” Law said finally. “She’s being impulsive. She does this a lot. In
the end, she’s always sensible. Trust me.”

Law was the subject matter expert when it came to
Kinley
Kohl. Just as he said the words, she stopped, and
Riley watched as her shoulders rolled and she drew in a deep breath. She seemed
to be having an argument with herself.

“See,
Kinley
is telling herself
that she’s being stubborn,” Law explained. “She did the same thing when she
went to the spa to get a bikini wax earlier this week. She stood outside that
damn building for twenty minutes telling herself that she was being dumb and
that most women didn’t shape their pubic hair into a style. Finally, she made
the right decision and got a full Brazilian.”

“How the hell do you know that?”

“I listened in on her conversation with Annabelle,” Law
explained. “There’s a coffee shop right next door. She sat down at one of the
tables. I was beside her. At first, I was
pissy
that
she waxed for that douchebag, but then I didn’t care
why
her pussy was soft and ready to eat. I just appreciated that it
was. She might have been thinking of him when she did it, but I’ll be the one
reaping the reward. Oh, look, she’s not ready to make the right call yet.”

She started walking again. Butch was still following along,
but now Gigi had decided she wanted dick more than designer luggage since she
was trying to climb free of her carrier.

Kinley’s
blonde hair bounced with
every wobbling step she took. Heels in soft earth just didn’t make a stride
easy. She’d put on a sweater, but it didn’t cover her ass. That luscious,
gorgeous backside swayed, and Riley couldn’t seem to pry his stare from her
juicy cheeks. That was an ass made for a man’s hands. The rhinestones all over
her butt glittered in the sun, a veritable
Get
It Here
sign right across her
tush
.

She turned slightly as though she felt eyes on her, but she
didn’t see them under the shadow of the porch.

God, she was an adorable bundle of chaos, Riley admitted.
Definitely not someone who overthought everything, the way he tended to.
Kinley
lit up a room with just her smile. She fucking
glowed. Okay, so she was naïve and didn’t always make the most rational choices
when she let her emotions rule. Because she used her heart far more than her
head.

Riley stared with a thoughtful sigh. She needed a man. Or
two. Or three.

Damn, but she was getting to him.

“Oh, shit.” Dominic pointed to the edge of the tree line
where the forest started ahead.

A massive moose lumbered along.
Kinley
focused on Butch barking behind her.

“
Kinley
! Baby, watch out!” Law
yelled as he jogged toward her.

Butch started growling at the moose.
Kinley
finally turned around—and her whole body went rigid. She gasped.

“It won’t hurt you!” Law yelled.

It wouldn’t charge her, but it might kick her if she got too
close.

“It’s an herbivore!” Dominic promised, laughing. It had been
months and months since Riley had seen Dominic even crack a smile. “Do you
think the moose likes designer luggage?”

Kinley
let out a little scream,
then turned and staggered as fast as her heels would take her. She didn’t just
run from the moose. She darted straight toward Law, dumping everything on the
ground except Gigi and her carrier, then practically jumped into his arms,
wrapping her legs around him.

Law’s whole body shook with the force of his laughter, but
he held her like he meant to protect her, no matter what. He didn’t even seem
to mind that Gigi’s head poked out of the purse and that she seemed intent on
licking every inch of his arm.

“Law is in love with her,” Riley muttered. “Fuck.”

“Yeah.” Dominic sobered. “And Law’s only going to fall once.
If this doesn’t work out, he’ll mourn her for the rest of his life. I can’t fix
it, man. If this was another time, another place, I would be all in. I like
her. She’s a little impractical and stubborn at times, but she’s also loyal and
so damn sweet that I almost can’t help myself.”

“But we have to help ourselves because this isn’t going to
end well.” Riley couldn’t stand the thought of his brothers being hurt. But
unless Law changed course, it was inevitable. And if Dominic hopped on the
bandwagon, too…shit.

And Riley hated the ache that split his chest as he watched
Law turn and head back to the house, still carrying
Kinley
.
His brother’s face was completely open and happy. She said something, looking
both terrified and animated. Law howled again, then leaned in to brush his lips
against hers. She met him halfway. When the kiss was over, she didn’t try to
retreat, but simply buried her face in his neck and held on.

“You’re right. It probably won’t end well,” Dominic
admitted, his prior joy draining from his face. “But I think you should be
ready to let Law make his own mistakes. If she wants him, then let him be happy
for however long it lasts. Not every woman plays with a man like Simone,” he
reminded. “I’m going to go grab her bags before the moose decides to take a
dump on them. We need to get a lock on that window.”

“There’s so much nature, Law. It’s everywhere!”
Kinley
insisted as Law carried her to the porch. “Why is
there so much of it?”

“It’s Alaska, baby. Nature is a big selling point here. No
one comes to this part of the world expecting a Neiman’s around the corner.”
Law glanced his way. “I’m going to sit her down and feed her some breakfast. Do
you want anything?”

Riley didn’t want food. He was shocked to realize that, deep
down, he wanted to feel the way Law felt now. Some dangerously yearning spot
inside him railed that she didn’t cling to him—or even look his way. He wanted
to know her, feel like he had a place beside her.

He had to stop thinking this shit.

“No. I’ve got some work to do. Come on, Butch. Let’s go look
at that window.”

The dog utterly ignored him, following Law,
Kinley
, and Gigi inside.

Everyone had a crush it seemed.

He watched through the window as Law sat
Kinley
at the table and poured her a cup of coffee. She peeked at Law from beneath her
lashes and bit her lower lip, her eyes downcast until he handed her the mug.
Then her brilliant smile damn near lit up the whole house.

Riley took a step back. He was not falling for a woman to
try to share with his brothers again. He couldn’t. She was Law’s. Dominic could
flirt with sharing a corner of their sheets or whatever. Not his problem, and
Riley knew he had to let this go. If the other two didn’t care about getting
burned again, that was their call. They’d see the light when she used her charm
to escape, this time for good.
Kinley
didn’t really
want them, and the fairy tale complete with the picket fence Law was
envisioning would never happen. The sooner he and Dom figured that out, the
better.

With a sigh, Riley went back to work.

* * * *

Kinley
took a long swallow of her
wine and stared at the accounting books spread across the table in front of
her. Hours and hours had gone by since she’d escaped, only to turn around and
run back into her captor’s arms.

Moose shouldn’t be that big. Like huge. Enormous. And
slobbery. That thing could seriously put out the mucous.

“You all right?” Riley Anders stood in the doorway, leaning
negligently against it.

He was heartbreakingly gorgeous, and it was so obvious that
he wanted nothing to do with her. He was the only one who never invaded her
space, who stayed as far from her as possible.

She knew these men considered themselves so close that they
were all for one and one for all. If Riley didn’t want her, she was screwed. Or
not screwed.

“I’m okay.” Except that she was dumber than dirt, and the
evidence in front of her proved it. The last six weeks showed a series of
payouts that she couldn’t account for. And apparently her accountant wasn’t
doing his job anymore for whatever reason. Someone had been keeping the books,
but nothing like meticulous Steve.

And she was a fool because she just knew she was falling for
the men who had kidnapped her.

Nothing in the world had felt so right as running toward Law
this morning. Even as she’d crawled out the window, something inside her kept
insisting she was making a huge mistake. But logic told her that she should
want to escape her abductors, so she’d kept walking. Very quickly,
Kinley
had realized that she knew absolutely nothing about
surviving in the woods. And obviously, they hadn’t lied about the whole Alaska
thing. The sun didn’t stay down for very long. She’d managed to sleep a little,
but the lack of darkness threw off her whole system.

So did they.

Riley stood in the doorway, almost staring a hole through
her. “How about the rat thing?”

She wasn’t sure she liked them referring to her dog as a
rat. “Gigi is fine now that’s she’s been fed.”

Riley frowned. “Is that what all the barking was about? For
such a little thing, she can be awfully loud.”

Gigi was simply a dog who knew what she wanted. “She’s used
to a certain feeding schedule. The whole kidnapping thing threw us off. If she
starts up again, she’s likely hungry so if you want her to stop, feed her a
little something. And she’s smart. She knows where the food is. She’ll come
running into the kitchen at least twice a day barking up a storm now that she
knows where the food bowls are kept.”

“Good to know,” Riley said. He looked back at the door as
though he was contemplating walking back out, but then he seemed to come to a
decision. That straight-line jaw of his firmed. “Are you going to run again?”

After the whole snot-nosed moose incident? “No. Now that
I’ve seen what’s out there, I feel much safer here. You’re not going to murder
me and leave my body in the woods, are you?”

“No.” He took a single step toward her. “We really are
trying to help you. Your boyfriend meant to kill you.”

She’d just about accepted that fact. “He was never my
boyfriend, just my fiancé. That may sound weird, but a boyfriend is someone who
wants you. A fiancé can be bought. I should know.”

She’d bought Greg with her name, her connections, and
apparently her charity.

Riley stared at the floor. “I wouldn’t know about that. I’ve
never had enough money to buy one.”

She heard the bitter tone of his voice. “Yeah, well, I would
tell you to hold out for someone you love. The whole sacrifice thing tends to
go wrong.”

“Is that how you saw it? A sacrifice?”

She’d been sacrificing her whole life. She’d given up so
much time, energy, and love. She’d always thought that, while her sister and
father meant well, they struggled with self-discipline and showing affection.
But now she knew they simply didn’t have any kind of a conscience.

“Yes. I was marrying Greg because I firmly believed my
father had cancer and my charity was going under. The economy has been bad.
Donations are way down. Hope House was the work of my mom’s heart. I couldn’t
let it die. And the thought of my dad having cancer and no insurance nearly
killed me. Mom was the one who worked. Dad,
uhm
…he
didn’t think about practicalities like paying bills and stuff.”

“Or he was too busy gambling to send his check in.”

She started to protest and stopped. Because it was true.
“Yeah.”

“So you were marrying Greg to save your dad and your
charity?”

“And because I was lonely.” Her heart ached, and she was too
tired to lie. “I’m twenty-five and I’ve never had a lover. I was lonely, and I
wanted a family before it was too late.”

He was silent for a long moment. “You want a family? Like a
husband and kids and a white picket fence?”

That had been the dream, but… “I think I would take love any
way it came to me.”

He laughed, but it was a bitter thing. “I’ve never known a
woman like you to care about love.”

“A woman like me?”

“Pampered. Rich.”

“Money doesn’t buy happiness, Riley. And we’ve already
covered that it can’t buy love. At the end of the day, I’m just a woman. I
can’t speak for all of them, but me? I just want to have a good life.”

“What would a good life be?”

That idea hadn’t changed in the years since she’d first
understood what the word family meant. “Someone who loves me. Someone I could
love back. Children. A purpose that’s meaningful. I’m not talking about fame. I
don’t care if anyone knows who I am. I just want to make a difference. I want
to make other people’s lives better because I walked the earth. I want to make
the people who love me proud. Is that too much to ask? I guess it is, because I
don’t seem to be able to do it.”

He stared, a long moment passing before he spoke. “I hope
you find it. I came in here for a reason.
Uhm
, Jansen
is on TV right now. Look, Law doesn’t want you to watch this, but I think you
should. You’re strong enough to handle the truth. Greg is holding press
conferences and telling people you were taken. He’s trying to make a case for
you to return to him.”

“Why?”

“Well, for starters, if you married Jansen, you wouldn’t be
compelled to testify against him.”

“Show me.” She wanted to see whatever Law sought to protect
her from. It was sweet that he didn’t want her hurt or upset, but she needed to
know. She was quickly realizing that she wanted what these men could give her.
Law offered utter devotion. He would try to shield her with every ounce of his
being. Dominic challenged her. He wanted her to be smarter, better than she
thought she could be.