Claiming Her (Keeping Her Series) (9 page)

Wow, Lucas can snarl really
loudly. 
Ian, she noticed, was safely out of the room with
the door slammed before his father could stomp over and rip off his arms, which
is what he looked like he wanted to do.

“Eli.”  He growled
again, and it was as much a threat as a promise.  Unfortunately for the man in
question he chose that moment to push the door open on his way in.

“Heard Ian whooping
from my room and figured you were back.”  His eyes moved to Isabella and smiled. 
“Darlin’,” he said, shaking his head, “you get sexier every time I see you.” 
Never mind that it had been years.  Miley laughed and stepped right into Eli’s
spread arms for a hug.  If there was such a thing as a sexy southern Irishman,
Eli Ramsey was that.  Black hair, green eyes and at six foot one inch, he was
all twisted steel and sex in black cargo pants and a tight t-shirt.

She leaned back and
smiled even as she ignored the angry vibe coming off Logan.  “You haven’t
changed at all.”

“Like you darlin’, I
just get better with age.”

Another dangerous man
pushed his way in behind Eli.  Logan McCord. 
Sigh.
 Tall, lean and
dangerous, that was Logan.  While his animal to call was a black wolf, in his
human form, he moved more like Eli’s panther.  Fluid and deadly.  Like the hawk-shifter
trailing him, he had brown hair and hazel eyes, but that covered a wide range
of colors.  Shawn Ryan, standing quietly behind his pack mates, had hazel eyes
that coasted toward green and lighter hair, cut short.  Logan, two inches
taller at six foot two, had dark brown hair that curled at his collar, and
hazel eyes that coasted close to blue.  Both men were leaner than Lucas, Shawn
with a whipcord lean body that looked to have about zero body fat and Logan who
had the look of a ripped cowboy in his western boots and denim.

Logan smiled his own
half smile; it was not suggestive or lewd, as Eli’s had been, and still it
managed to be sexier.  “Hello, Miley.”

Eli and Logan were both
born in the south, though Logan had lost whatever Louisiana accent he had been
born with.  Isabella knew from experience that it sometimes came back
unexpectedly when he was emotional, which was well, never.  Eli on the other
hand clung to his roots tenaciously, and liked to thicken it up on occasion to
pure South Carolina.

“Hey Logan, Shawn.” 
She smiled at them both as Lucas claimed her from Eli, pulling her back into
his chest with a possessive arm around her waist.

“Miley,” Shawn said
simply, his smile genuine.  One could not say that the Lionsgate pack did not
have some seriously sexy voices to go along with everything else they had in
abundance, but Shawn. 
Sigh. 
He spoke rarely, but when he did that
smooth deep voice always caused little shivers in the most interesting places. 
Again, wowza.

The testosterone in the
room was off the charts and Isabella wondered if there was a woman alive who
could stand in the midst of
this
pack and not have wicked thoughts.

“You want to tell me
what Ian is doing here when I specifically said to leave him gone?  And where
is Cleo?”

“She’ll be along. 
She’s finishing a run.” Logan spoke up for all of them.  “Ian, well, short of
hog tying him, he was not going to stay away.  Figured you could send him
packing if you really wanted to.
 After
we celebrate his sister’s twenty-first
birthday, which he reminded me is the day after tomorrow.  You know he won’t
miss that.”

“Fuck,” Lucas muttered,
“I must be losing my mind to forget about Cleo’s birthday.  We’ll have to throw
something together,” he finished on a mumble.

Isabella cleared her
throat.  “I actually already made arrangements for Cleo’s party.”  She looked
over her shoulder at Lucas, and spoke a little faster.  “Just in case.”  She
shrugged.  “I knew you would be here for the security business, so I figured I
should have something ready just in case she was around as well.”

His face wiped clean of
emotion, Lucas studied her upturned face.  “You made arrangements for Cleo’s
birthday?”

“Well . . . yeah.”

“What arrangements?”

“A drunken luau.”

“Fuckin A,” Eli
muttered happily.  Logan choked out a laugh, and Shawn looked like he was trying
not to smile.  Lucas, though, he actually looked shocked.

“Pardon me?”  His voice
had dropped to a warning glower. 

“Well,” she was
struggling not to roll her eyes at that pissy tone, but really, the drama.  “She
is turning twenty-one, so I thought something with music, alcohol, and an
island theme.  Plus, with you guys working here, most of her family will be
present, and I invited a few other people I knew she would like to see, so . .
. it should be fun.”

“Tell me you did not
invite that puppy from your office.” It was more a warning growl than a
question so she ignored it and went on.

“You should all be over
at the party beach by 6 pm day after tomorrow. It’s an open bar and finger
foods, and of course, cake.”  She smiled around at them.  “Homemade spice cake
with cream cheese frosting.  Dress for the beach, no combat boots.”

“Party beach,” Shawn
mumbled, shaking his head while fighting a smile.

“An open bar and the
party beach on Paradise Island.”  Eli wiped away an imaginary tear.  It made
Isabella laugh.

Logan smiled full out,
and then dipped his head to press a warm kiss on her cheek.  “Good to have you
back, Miley.  Cleo will love it.”

Everyone seemed
thrilled with the party news, everyone but Lucas.  He watched her with no
expression whatsoever and then flashed hot eyes at the other men. 

“Out,” was all he said,
making Isabella freeze at the harsh word to the others.  A second later she was
alone, finally, with Lucas Gibbs, and not sure she wanted to be there with the
way his arm was like a steel band at her waist and the vibes he was giving off
were scary intense at her back.  The quiet after the door clicked shut was
ominous.

“A drunken luau?” he
asked, his voice low in the quiet of the deserted suite, “for my baby girl?”

Seriously? His baby
girl?
Isabella turned to face him, huffing out an
exasperated breath.
 
“What did you want to do for her twenty-first birthday? 
A hello kitty party and a clown?”

He raised that
ridiculous arrogant eyebrow and then she watched as his mouth formed a wicked half
smile that did not say happy. 
Hmmm.  Maybe should have called the drunken luau
something less suggestive of debauchery.

The silence did not
have time to thicken once the men disappeared.  Lucas had a grip on Miley and
he wasn’t about to let go, not with that nervous look in her eyes.

“Drunken luau?”

He watched Miley clear
her throat and knew she wanted to roll her eyes at his tone.  She restrained
herself, but then she’d always been smart.  It was one of the things he loved
about her.

“We can call it
something else if you prefer,” she crossed her arms, “but if you just call it a
beach party, it won’t have the same impact for Cleo.  Drunken luau sounds more
fun and the slightest bit wicked, which Cleo has never had, so she will like it
more if we call it that.”

“Slightest bit?  Sounds
like it will be followed by an orgy.”

She scoffed, trying to
make a joke of it.  “Drunken luaus rarely turn into orgies; it’s happened like
three times . . . tops.”

“Not funny, Miley.”

“For goodness sake,
Lucas, lighten up.”  She pressed forward to make her point, her hands on his
chest, her eyes twinkling at his issues.  “Cleo is probably the most level-headed,
not to mention badass, woman I have ever met.  You don’t need to protect her
from this.  Besides, you’ll be there, and Eli, and Logan, and for the love of
all that’s holy, Shawn with his eagle eyes that see everything, will be there. 
How much trouble do you think she will get into with you all watching to make
sure she is qualified to join the nunnery after combat training?”

Lucas growled inwardly,
knowing that she was right about that, but still not liking the implications of
his daughter at something called a ‘drunken luau.’  “Fine.  But when we talk
about this it will not be referred to at any time as a ‘drunken luau’.”

“Absolutely.”  Miley
nodded her head, clearly fighting a smile at his expense.  “How about ‘pretty,
pretty, princess beach party,’ will that work for you?”

Lucas narrowed his
eyes, knowing that she was definitely laughing at him.  “It’s an improvement,” he
muttered, and this time she did roll her eyes.

He looked over her head
at the empty space behind her, then twisted his neck to take in the empty space
behind him.  He looked back at Miley and smiled.  They were alone, finally.

She lost her teasing
twinkle and began to look a little worried.  “Not sure I like that look in your
eye, Lucas Gibbs.”

“What look, Miley Rose?”

“The look that makes me
think Viking pillager and devastated villages.”

Lucas could feel his
smile widening. 
Fuck, she’s cute.
  “That was not the kind of plunder I
was thinking about, baby.”

“Right.”  This time she
looked around him at the empty room, then craned her neck to look behind her. 
Then
she
smiled, and he felt his dick instantly go hard.  “Oh, dear.” 
She batted her eyes in a flurry.   “Looks like you have me at your mercy.  All
alone, with no one to save me.  What will I do?” 

He growled, grabbing
her ass with both hands he lifted her up so she could wrap her legs around his
waist and her arms around his neck.  Which she did without prompting. 
Beautiful.
 He nipped a bite on her earlobe and she shivered in his arms.  “Just fuck me
baby, before I lose my ever lovin’ mind.”

He had just made it to
the desk to press her down across it when the front door flew open. 

“We’re having a drunken
luau?” were the excited words his teenage son yelled, followed by a loud
whoop.  “Best stepmom
ever
!”

If it had been anyone
else he could have killed him and been done with it. 
Fuck!
  Instead,
Lucas threw back his head and roared his displeasure to the ceiling.  Ian
blinked, and showing some of the intelligence he usually took pains to hide
behind a smart mouth, he backed out of the room with an “Oops.  My bad,” and slammed
the door.

Miley burst out
laughing, her hands covering her face while he looked down at her perched on
his desk and in his arms.  He was trying to determine if Ian had killed the
mood, in which case he might just hunt his ass down to share some misery, when Isabella
finally lay back and spread her arms out across the desk like she was
stretching, happiness shining off her like a fuckin’ beacon.  “You know I
missed all this when you fired me.  Not the sexual escapades because you were
playing hard to get back then, but the rest?”  She sighed and he thought,
any
moment she was going to wiggle around like a playful puppy
.  “Something is
always happening, and it’s usually ridiculous.”

“Yeah, that about sums
up this crazy pack,” he said dryly.  “Fuckin’ hilarious.”

She laughed again and
then her eyes quieted and she ran her hand down the side of his face.  She
seemed to be thinking deep thoughts while he watched her; finally, she smiled
softly at him and leaned up placing a gentle kiss on his chin.  Then, trailing
her luscious lips from there to his ear, she kissed the spot right under it, on
his neck, and nuzzled while she whispered, “Lock the door, Viking, then come
back and start with the pillaging.”

He growled low and
loud, pressing her forcefully down into the desk and biting softly at her
collarbone, making her gasp and shudder.  Then he went and locked the door, and
commenced with the pillaging.

***

It was sometime later
in the afternoon, they had made it to the bed for the second much slower round
and he was holding a naked Miley in his arms, her back pressed into his front,
her soft ass wedged against his happy dick.  Idly, she was rubbing her hand up
and down the skin of his forearm where it was wedged against her chest.  She
smelled of warm honey and him.  They were both drowsy in the afternoon sun
shining through the big window and the over-sized bamboo fan above them lazily stirring
the air-conditioned air around them.  Occasionally, they could both hear the
phone going off in the other room, but they ignored it.  Twice the front door
of the suite had opened in the distance, but they ignored that too, and
eventually his pack went away, first Logan, and then Ian from the scent.

“Thanks for taking care
of my girl,” he said softly.  “Even if it is the sin and vice of a ‘drunken luau,’
I like that you thought of her.”