Wicked Lovers 07 Ours to Love (14 page)

Fuck, he didn’t think he could wait much longer. Here wasn’t the place to take her
virginity. Now wasn’t the time. But he had to have more of her. He had to see those
gorgeous breasts again. Suck them. Taste them. Remind her how good he could make her
feel.

One after the other, he tore through the buttons on her dress and shoved the edges
of the garment wide. With one hand, he reached behind her to unsnap her bra. It fell
slightly away from her body, and her breasts hung free in his hand. The bra still
covered her nipples, and the wall, coupled with his closeness, impeded him. Damn.
He wanted to see her bare. He wanted that sunlight to slant through the window over
her fair skin and light up those pink nipples before he put them in his mouth. He
wanted to rip all her clothes away, guide her to her knees, and feed his cock past
those pretty little lips.

“Xander,” she panted, her voice breathy and slurred.

It was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard. He breathed his appreciation across her
skin, a little groan in the sound of her name as he kissed her neck, then brushed
his lips down her collarbones, to the swells of her breasts. He eased the bra aside
and latched onto her nipple. Hard against his tongue. Oh so sweet. She threaded her
fingers in his hair and brought him closer. Yes, perfect. Almost exactly where he
wanted her. Supine on a bed would be better, with him between her spread legs. Soon,
he promised himself. Very soon.

He pushed the bra down a bit farther, but the sleeves of her dress made removing it
impossible. Fine, he’d work around it.

“
Belleza
, whatever you want, I want to give to you. Open to me. I promise I’ll do whatever
it takes to make this an experience you never forget.”

Leather creaked, and Xander heard a roar from the other side of the room. “Get your
fucking hands off my assistant!”

Javier.
Xander recognized his brother’s voice.

London was Javier’s assistant? When had
that
happened?

Javi reached between him and London to grab him by the neck of his T-shirt, then shove
him against the wall face-first. Xander fought, but his brother was surprisingly strong
and agile for a drunk man.

“Let me the fuck go.” Xander elbowed Javier, who grunted and loosened his grip.

He turned to find Javier in his face, his breath reeking of vodka . . . and his hot
stare all over London’s mostly exposed breasts. His brother looked rapt. Javier held
his breath, as if he was afraid that moving or speaking would break the spell. London
met his brother’s gaze, trembling, as if she was both fascinated and terrified. She
stood frozen, her heartbeat throbbing in her neck. Xander had no doubt that in seconds,
his brother would have his hands all over the breasts only he’d ever touched.

Fuck that.
Xander wasn’t letting Javier horn in. Besides, the boss shouldn’t even be thinking
about sex and his employee in the same sentence.

But Javier was definitely thinking it. He raised his hand toward her, heading straight
for her plump breast rising and falling with each ragged breath, toward that hard
nipple still wet from his mouth.

“Don’t,” Xander snarled.

His command broke the spell. With a gasp, London scrambled back into her bra, trying
to reach behind her to fasten it again. Tears welled in her eyes. And that pissed
Xander off.

“You embarrassed her,” he accused Javier, reaching over to help her with her bra.

His brother growled and stepped between them, shoving his hand away. “You don’t ever
touch her again.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to tell his brother that London had offered him her
virginity, but that would only upset her more, besides being disrespectful to her.
“We were talking, and you weren’t invited to our conversation.”

“That wasn’t talking; it was mauling. I know way too much about who and what you are
to believe that you’ll be good for her.” Thunder rolled across Javier’s dark face.
“You’ll fuck London, then leave her for some skanky whore willing to blow you in a
bathroom stall. Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me you’ve never come down a girl’s throat
while you’re cruising at twice the speed limit down the Santa Monica freeway at two
in the morning.”

Xander couldn’t say that he hadn’t done either of those things. Seeing red, he clenched
his jaw and surged forward, right in Javier’s face. “Shut up. This is between London
and me. You’re her boss. Not her boyfriend. Not her lover. Not her Master. I know
you want to control everything and everyone around you. Guess the fuck what? That
doesn’t work with me. You’re the
Titanic
, Javier. You’re going down and you won’t let anyone help you. I’m not letting you
take London with you.”

Javier opened his mouth, a snarl already on his lips. A little sob broke the tense
moment. Xander looked past his brother, who whipped his head around toward London.
Her blue eyes were filled with tears, her nose red, her chin trembling. She wouldn’t
be a pretty crier. She’d gone splotchy across her chest, her eyes were reddening.
His heart dropped.

“Stop it, both of you.” She barely managed to choke out the words.

While he and Javier had been at one another’s throats, she’d struggled back into her
bra and nearly finished buttoning her dress. As the last hint of cleavage disappeared
behind the modest cotton, he felt some of the tension leave his brother. Javier wanted
her—more than a little. And London wasn’t immune. That was a wrinkle he hadn’t seen
coming.
Fuck
.

“I’m sorry.” He reached around his brother to pull her close and comfort her.

Javier remained a wall between them, totally unwilling to move his tall frame. “Are
you all right, little one?”

She flushed, looking down. Her body softened. Xander didn’t miss her submissive posture.
No way Javier would, either. A glance told Xander that, without a doubt, Javier knew
that she could—and would—probably enjoy submitting.

“I’m fine,” she whispered. “I’m . . .”

London looked as if she wanted to apologize to Javier, but found it too awkward to
apologize to her boss for being wrapped in the embrace of the brother he despised.
Javier gave an abrupt nod, ending that conversation.

“I’d like to go home. Can you take me?” Javier asked London, never once casting a
glance in Xander’s direction.

Xander didn’t want that to hurt, but it was just another affirmation that his own
brother didn’t need or want him in any area of his life. London couldn’t have been
his assistant for more than a day or two. Why was he willing to rely on her and not
his own flesh and blood? That mystery aside, there was no way in hell he was leaving
London alone with Javier when he was this drunk. And horny.

“I’ll drive.” He phrased it like an offer, but it was a demand, pure and simple.

Javier whipped his gaze around. “Have you still not learned the meaning of ‘fuck off’?”

“I don’t trust you in this state with her.”

“Bastard.” His brother’s face twisted with anger. “I would never hurt her. You know
that.”

“Yeah?” Xander challenged. “What about Whitney?”

Javi flushed an angry red. “I was . . . having an episode that day.”

“And you could have one in the next ten minutes. If you want London to go with you,
I’m driving.”

As Javier opened his mouth to argue, London stepped between them and put a hand on
both of their chests. Xander felt her light touch reverberate through his entire body.
Lust flooded his veins. Even one small moment with her made him completely hot to
touch her, kiss her. Anymore, he had to work up enthusiasm to fuck a girl he’d usually
consider pretty. But London changed the game completely.

“It’s for the best, sir. You’re in no shape to drive, and I can’t. Let Xander.”

“What do you mean you can’t?” Javier frowned.

Embarrassment crossed her face as she dropped her arms away from them both and looked
down again. “I’m not medically cleared or able to drive.”

Javier’s face softened, and he cupped her shoulder. “Is that the reason for your prescriptions,
little one?”

Xander’s gaze fell to his brother’s caress. He frowned. How the hell had Javier known
that she took any meds? He hadn’t known anything about it himself. Then again, he
hadn’t asked.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Are you sick?” Xander didn’t mean to grill her, but his demanding tone made him wince.

“N-no. Not the way you mean.” But she wouldn’t meet his gaze.

He pressed a finger under her chin and lifted her face to him. “Does that have anything
to do with why you didn’t want me to see your back when I had you naked?”

London flushed an even deeper shade of red, then risked a glance at Javier, whose
eyes bulged. He looked twenty kinds of furious.

“You dirty motherfucker!” Javi charged at him. “What did you do to her?”

“Stop it!” London screamed. “Both of you. Sir.” She turned to Javier. “I met Xander
just before you interviewed me. Our connection is personal and will in no way affect
my job performance. You’ve asked me not to bring my work home; I won’t bring my home
life to work.” Before Xander could silently cheer that she hadn’t bowed to his brother’s
pressure and severed their connection, she turned to him, her blue eyes hurt and admonishing.
“I don’t know why you’re trying to convince me that you’ve, um, changed your mind.
Or are trying to stake some claim on me when we both know that your brother is strictly
my boss and that you’ll move on before the sheets are even cold. Please leave me out
of your arguments. I won’t be another something to come between you two. I’m going
to tell Luc where I’m going. I’ll meet you both by the front door.”

London exited the room, and Xander couldn’t miss that both he and Javier watched her
leave. Silent tension thickened the air in the room. They’d both fucked up. Xander
had suspected when he met her that, under her sweet nature, she had hidden depths.
Now she was showing that she had limits she’d enforce, that she possessed more than
a bit of spine. He liked it.

Beside him, Javier raked a hand through his hair and muttered a curse, staring at
the empty space she’d just occupied. “I don’t want you anywhere near her.”

Xander stiffened. “I don’t want you anywhere near her, either. But I’m not going to
get my way on that. Neither are you.”

Knowing they’d just argue again, and that making sure London was all right was more
important than whatever had crawled up Javier’s ass, Xander left the room in search
of her. Behind him, he heard Javier cross the hall into the powder bath and shut the
door.
Good.
Maybe he’d have a few minutes alone with London.

Instead, he ran into Luc, who glared at him with a raised brow. “Let’s make this quick.
London is gathering a few things in her bedroom, and I don’t know how long your brother
needs to pee, but I doubt it’s more than a minute. Quickly, what is going on with
you three, and why is my wife’s cousin crying?”

While Xander would really like to tell Luc that it was none of his business, that
wasn’t going to fly. The man would tell Alyssa, who would blow her stack and come
between him and London. Time to be blisteringly honest.

“Javier has had too much to drink to be driving, and if London can’t drive—can you
explain that?”

“No. That’s her secret. If she wants you to know, she’ll tell you.”

Xander’s mind flew with a million possibilities, most of them terrible. What the hell
had happened? Who would hurt someone so sweet? Frustration wracked him, but a glance
at the chef’s stubborn expression told Xander that he wasn’t going to budge.

“All right,” he conceded. “If she doesn’t drive, someone’s got to. I volunteered.
I don’t trust my brother alone with London.”

“Why should I trust her alone with
you
? We all know you’re the king of one-night stands.” Luc crossed his arms over his
chest.

“London is a grown woman.”

“She isn’t completely a woman, and you’re too smart not to know it.”

Of course he knew. “Give her some credit. She may not be the most experienced, but
she’s smart enough to make her own decisions.”

“Maybe, but just so we’re clear, I have a huge collection of knives, some very sharp.
Others . . . not so much.” Luc shrugged like it didn’t matter, but tension tightened
his shoulders. “With those, it takes a while to slice things.”

Xander rolled his eyes and tried not to groan. “Luc, come on, man . . .”

“Seriously? Do I sound like I’m kidding to you?”

Not at all.
Fuck.
“I’m trying to protect London here. Javi is a natural Dom who’s been burying his
instinct and need under work, guilt, and booze. He’s not centered. Before we came
here, I paired him with a sub at Thorpe’s club in Dallas. He walked off. Just flat
left. If I hadn’t been there, he would have abandoned that girl while restrained to
a spanking bench in the middle of the dungeon. If you’re not aware, Logan, Hunter,
or Jack will tell you that’s
bad
.”

“I don’t need them to explain, but it’s not like London is going to let your older
brother tie her down and take a paddle to her tonight.”

Something burned his chest, searing, clutching.
Jealousy.
Spec-fucking-tacular. “The way Javi looks at her, he might try to persuade her. Or
at least attempt to get her on her back so he can slide between her legs.”

Luc raised a brow at him. “She’d have to let him first. London is a really sweet girl.”

Yes, she was, but she wanted to be rid of her virginity. And Xander had seen the way
she’d looked at his brother. She would welcome him. “I don’t want to give him that
chance. As far as I’m concerned, she’s mine. No way am I giving Javier the chance
to steal her out from under me before I’ve even had a damn date with her.” Before
he had the opportunity to make her his own.

“London being alone with Javier would only bother you if you thought she was interested
in your brother, too.”