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"Neither"

Soave away nothing All of Ki his way inside of Kimber when he’d peeked in on therand finale Had he…?

"You didn’t fuck her" Deke stated his question as fact, hoping that could so you?" Luc asked "If you want her this , she’s all soft and rumpled and wet And she’s still in bed Go I’ll babysit the coffee"

Deke hesitated Show that he could resist or et as much of Kimber as Luc had? If he could, he’d take even

The coffeemaker beeped, and Luc extracted the fresh pot off the burner and poured a cup, wearing a faint s

This ga was bullshit, and he didn’t want to be on either tea to work Kio"

"Keep your voice down or she’ll hear you," Luc grated

That would be for the best He didn’t want to hurt her feelings, just o?" Luc asked in low tones "You can’t think she’s unable to learn e have to teach her"

Deke rolled his eyes "Don’t play stupid She can learn Obviously I know she’s not scared She should be, but for some crazy reason, she isn’t But that isn’t the issue"

"Hmm I think I knohat the issue is, but why don’t you explain it to in"

"Whose na to do with Kiain" Luc cocked his head and slid hi stare "We never hashed it in the first place, which is part of the problem But fine, you don’t want to discuss Heather TellKi anything Luc didn’t already know "Nothing I didn’t warn you about before She’s blowing pastto disrespect her wishes Sooner or later, she’ll beg, and I won’t have the will to say no I will fuck her"

"If Kis, we’ll reevaluate the situation Maybe it would be in everyone’s interest if we gave her exactly what she asks for" The idea of Luc being the one to take Kiuts had been churned in a blender then spit back out But he could never take her, especially not alone Ever

"You think she’s ours"

Luc responded slowly "Anything is possible I’m hardpressed to believe that a woman would respond so perfectly the very first tied to someone else"

"Has it escaped your memory that she’s here to have us train her to accept the touch of two other men, one of whom she thinks she’s in love with?"

"No Ithat Jesse McCall is the right path I also don’t think it will take her long to sort it all out for herself"

"Which is Luc-speak for you think that Kis with us and she’ll co Deke shook his head "You’re delusional, you know that? At best, Ki all about e so she can live it with soet rid of this idea that there’s some perfect woman out there ants to play house with us until death do us part"

"She’s out there" He sounded confident "But that somewhere may be miles away or just down the hall We don’t know yet"

Deke shook his head, poured himself a cup of coffee, and counted to ten Which did absolutely no good The frustration still boiled up inside hiood sense and restraint

"I don’t want a wife I don’t want anything but a good fuck, and she isn’t it" Luc said nothing for a full ten seconds "Then you have nothing to worry about except keeping your word She’s overcoiven you for the terrible way you treated her when she first arrived" Shit Luc didn’t just state that they couldn’t go back on their proe But he implied it in every syllable

"Besides," Luc added "It’s not as if we’re her only options Have you forgotten the Catrell brothers?"

No The sight of Adam and Burke with their hands on her was burned into his brain

"I don’t think she wants theh to learn to go with thehed Kimber had him by the balls--inher occupied so we can protect her from the Catrell brothers, e know far too much about to kid ourselves," Luc said

Yeah They were hard on their worind her into little pieces, and spit her out when she couldn’t keep up

Basically, he was screwed if he let her stay and screwed if he let her go

"Fine She’s here for the next thirteen days Not a ed on his shirt, took another swig of his coffee, and shuffled over to the sandals he kept by the back door "I have to run to a local radio interview We’ll have this chat again in thirteen days In the "--he licked his lips--"help yourself" As Deke watched his cousin grab his car keys and head out the door, he restrained the urge to hit walls, blocks of wood--Luc’s head--and cursed

Help hi to happen There ay inity and sophomoric crush on Jesse McCall Way more than petty jealousy And damn if Luc didn’t know it and plotted to te the days, probably on one hand, before he wound up breaking through Kimber’s barriers--mental and physical It was inevitable

And when it happened, everyone was going to suffer, Kimber most of all

She woke for the second ti alone in Luc’s cozy, downy bed, tossed on someone’s discarded shirt--Luc’s?--and padded down the hall Heavy-limbed and flushed, Kimber made her way toward the smell of fresh coffee But she couldn’t pretend anxiety didn’t claw her

When she reached the kitchen, the sight of Deke hunched over a cup of coffee, lost in his thoughts, brought her to a stop Especially since they didn’t look like happy thoughts Of course they weren’t She was underfoot, and he didn’t want her here She hadn’t heard any other part of his arguh loud and crystal clear

Which explained why she’d fallen asleep last night with Deke by her side, only to awaken twenty one And why each tiht, she’d found only Luc beside her Not only had Deke chosen to sleep elsewhere, but he’d refused to co when Luc had devoured her The why behind that pressed sadness and sha intensity

Despite Deke’s seeasm, he’d apparently lost interest in her Because he still saw her as a teenager? Because he liked and respected her dad too e fro morosely into his coffee about those issues The real probleet past, especially if it was the one she’d had her entire dating life

"Hi," she murmured