Sarah's Seduction (7 page)

“Nothing to be concerned about.” Brock shrugged, forcing the lie past his lips. He wanted to keep Sarah; at least until he knew if the obsession he had always had for her went deeper than just lust.

“Is that why Dr. Bennett had a message on his machine this morning that you were bringing a patient in for an exam and a prescription of birth control pills?” Marly dropped her own little bomb, watching him carefully. “He called this morning to set up the appointment time. By the way, he said late afternoon would work.”

Brock felt a stirring of lust and tamped it down ruthlessly. Soon, he would be able to take Sarah, to thrust into her and feel his own release shatter through him as it vibrated against the walls of her flesh.

“He’s zoning out on us, Munchkin,” Sam sighed with exaggerated patience. “He’s a goner.”

Brock flashed him an irritated look. He didn’t need Sam’s highjinks right now. He also caught the flash of fear in Marly’s eyes and his chest clenched. He didn’t want to hurt Marly. It was the last thing he wanted to do.

“Her ex was at her house when we showed up last night. It was late.” He shrugged, keeping his eyes on his cup.

“So you’re taking her home?” There was a measure of relief in Marly’s voice. Brock wanted to hit something. He could feel the pain of this boiling through his system, making him want to curse in fury.

“Yeah, soon as she’s ready. Then I’ll run the bastard out of her house and put the fear of Brock in him.” He grinned crookedly, though he felt like howling. Lora Leigh

Sarah’s Seduction

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He avoided Sam’s look, knowing his twin would sense the emotions he was keeping carefully under control. He hadn’t expected this, though he admitted he should have. He had hoped, no, he had believed Marly would eventually welcome any woman he claimed into the house. He hadn’t thought she would feel insecure, hurt.

“Hey, Marly, you’re gonna be late for your own appointment this morning,” Sam told her laughing. “It’s nearly ten. Didn’t you schedule with Denise for eleven?”

Denise Lamont did the intimate waxing, plucking and toning of Marly’s body.

“Damn.” Marly swallowed the last drink of coffee and jumped to her feet. “You’re right, and she’ll kill me if I’m late.”

She left the kitchen hurriedly, leaving Sam and Brock alone, the silence thickening harshly around them.

“What are you gonna do?” Sam finally asked him curiously. Brock shook his head, hunching his shoulders as he sipped at his coffee. There was nothing to do but accept it. He hated it. The pain of it lay in his gut like acid. But what else could he do? He couldn’t hurt Marly.

“I heard her and Cade this morning. She was crying, Brock. Cade’s furious.” Sam kept his voice low as he leaned closer to Brock.

Brock grimaced, his own anger surging through his body. Dammit, it was his home too. His right. A right Marly’s pain would steal away from him. There was no sense in arguing the fairness of it, or of bemoaning it. Marly hadn’t been raised as they had been. She had been sheltered, loved during the years she had lived in their home. She didn’t understand the bond they shared, the needs they had.

“I’ll take care of it.” Brock shook his head.

Silence descended once again. It was strained, questions unsaid, explanations no longer important now.

“How will you take care of it?” Sam finally asked him quietly. Brock flashed him a disgruntled look.

“I don’t know, Sam, do I need your permission, whatever I do?”

Sam sighed again. He pushed his fingers through his hair, and Brock knew Sam was feeling his own frustration. Brock could only imagine how Cade felt.

“She won’t handle Cade touching another woman, I don’t think.” Sam shook his head sadly. “It’s what Cade’s been afraid of.”

“And I won’t push her into it,” Brock promised him, finishing his coffee. “I’ll get Sarah up and head out as soon as I talk to Cade.””

He rose to his feet, feeling tired, lacking the enthusiasm of the day that he had felt when he first woke up. Damn. He didn’t know what to do now. He would have to move out, at least until he knew what was going on with himself and Sarah. He wasn’t about to do without her in his bed, in his arms, as long as he could keep her there. He would help her clear the trash out of her house, then come back and pack some clothes. The traveling between the ranch and her house would suck, but it beat the alternative. Lora Leigh

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“She isn’t the type anyway, Brock,” Sam told him sadly as Brock started to turn away from him. “She wouldn’t ease into the family. You know that.”

Brock wasn’t so certain of that. She was untutored, innocent in many ways, but he had seen the spark of excitement in her eyes when he came to her in that damned bar. She knew the rumors, knew what was told about the August brothers and the lover of the oldest. The rumors had been flying for years.

“Yeah. I’m sure you’re right.” Brock agreed with him anyway. He didn’t want Sam feeling guilty, didn’t want Cade or Marly feeling that way either. Life just sucked sometimes. You had to accept it, or opt out of the game. Brock was no longer willing to opt out.

He left the kitchen, feeling the weight of it dragging at him. He loved the ranch, loved the house. Leaving it for even a little while wouldn’t be easy. But he needed Sarah. The taste of her, so sweet and hot, was becoming addicting. He wanted more. He wanted her in his bed at night, he wanted to hear her scream out his name when she climaxed, but he also wanted more. He wanted her to be part of the family. His family.

* * * * *

Brock found Cade in the stables repairing a stirrup on his favorite saddle. He stood in the doorway to the tack room, silent, absorbing the scents of hay, sweat and horse as he watched his brother work to fix something older than all of them were. A piece of their history, yet one Cade had been unable to put away. The saddle was old. Generations old. It had belonged to the first Cade August more than a hundred years before. Handed down from father to son, until Grandpa August had bypassed Joe and given it instead to Cade. The summer he died Joe had packed them off to the demon’s house. Brock refused to even think that name. For days, months at a time he could forget the horror of those months. Then it would swamp him again, rushing over him, boiling in his stomach like an evil acid, ready to devour him. It never failed. It was the same for all of them. When they attempted to draw close to each other, to sense each other’s pain, to attempt to make reason of the hell their lives would often become, the memories attacked. That had been the intention. The object of the lesson. They were alone. Just as that fucking bastard father of theirs had been. He had despised the bond they had as boys, so he had defiled it. Made it ugly and useless, made it something to fear.

Brock clenched his teeth, his jaw aching as he fought for control. He wanted to turn and walk away, to leave the sight of his brother, a man alone, fighting his pain. Cade had always fought so well. For all of them.

“You should put it up. You’re always working on it.” He stepped into the small room, ignoring the sense of oppressiveness, the demons raking at his soul with razor sharp talons.

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Sarah’s Seduction

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Cade continued the delicate work, his tanned face tight and drawn as he concentrated on repairing the leather.

Brock leaned against the wall, as close to the door and escape as he could get. God, how did Cade stand it? Being closed up like this, enduring the small space and the memories he knew came with it.

“It endures, Brock.” Cade shrugged, the harsh sound of his voice vibrating through the confined space.

And few other things do.

Brock crossed his arms over his chest, staring around the room. Saddles, ropes, bridles, the tools of any cowboy’s trade lined the room. Sunlight filtered through a small, high window, but at no time of the day would the damaging rays of the sun be permitted to touch the leather. The damage would be irreparable.

“I’m getting ready to take Sarah home.” Brock took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Son of a bitch. He hated this fucking room. He could smell antiseptic, hear screams. He was breaking out in a sweat and only by force of control did he keep his body from shaking.

“Will you be back?” Cade didn’t look up. Brock knew what he would see if he did. Pain, anger, blood.

“I’ll be back in the morning for most of the day. I’ll drive the distance for the time being.” Brock shifted, watching Cade’s hands work stubborn leather, his head down bent.

“Marly still crying?” Cade’s voice reflected his torment now. He couldn’t bear Marly’s tears. Never could. The sound of her sobs, or the whisper of tears over pale cheeks destroyed him. He would kill the man or woman who deliberately made Marly cry.

“No. I took care of it.” Brock clenched his teeth. Cade’s body tensed further.

“It’s best.” Cade finally nodded. “No sense in someone else being hurt by this, Brock.”

Cade was alone. Brock felt betraying moisture prick his eyes and he fought it back. The time for tears was long past. But damn, seeing his brother drawing away, being separated from him, tore at him. He pushed his hands through his hair, exhaling with a fierce breath.

“She’ll accept it, Cade. If you explain it to her.” It was a heavy disagreement between them all.

Cade refused to tell Marly the details of the abuse, in even the vaguest form. He wanted her shielded, sheltered. His fury when he learned Tara, Marly’s former bodyguard, had revealed part of it, had ended in a vicious, bloody fight between himself and Tara’s brother-in-law, Rick.

Cade shook his head.

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Sarah’s Seduction

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“Let me tell her, Cade,” he urged him, unable to bear the lonely pain he knew Cade felt.

“No one tells her, Brock.” Cade moved to lift the saddle oil from the bench beside him, and Brock felt a shaft of agony pierce his heart. His brother’s face was lined, rough with unshed pain, unshed rage. His eyes were bleak, and so damned dark they looked like violent thunderheads. Brock clenched his fists, sucked in a hard, silent breath. He could do nothing, say nothing. He could only watch as Cade tended a piece of their past that was forever gone. Like their innocence. Except innocence was irreparable.

“What do I do, Cade?” he asked, clearing the emotion from his throat. No emotion. No need. He couldn’t, because he couldn’t bear the return of the nightmares, the horrible memories. “It’s my home, too. Will you sacrifice us all without even trying?”

Shock bloomed through Brock when Cade faced him fully. God. He couldn’t stand it. He couldn’t look in those eyes, nearly black with memories, with pain, shame. They had no reason to feel shame. Yet, he knew Cade did.

“I will not take her sense of security from her, Brock.” Cade’s voice vibrated with all the shattered hopes and dreams of a man who had once been innocent. Young. “I won’t do it, and neither will you. When I can control my need to part from that bond with you and Sam, you can bring Sarah home.”

Brock looked around the tack room and thought of the large house. It echoed with Marly’s laughter and sometimes with Cade’s. More often with Sam’s. And Brock knew that if this didn’t resolve, then as long as he had Sarah, he would never be able to return.

“Yeah. Sure.” Brock straightened from the wall, avoiding Cade’s gaze, avoiding more than just a look, and he knew it. “Just let me know, Cade.” And he knew Cade never would.

He turned without giving his brother a chance to speak and left the room. He wasn’t sure, but when he reached the wide stable doors, he thought he heard an animal’s whimper of pain. That lonely, haunting sound burst over his soul with the agonizing force of time. A young man’s whimper, his eyes black with shock, shame, his body—

He shook his head, pushing it back. Back. Far away where it couldn’t hurt the man, where it could never destroy ever again. Back to the past, where the shame, regret and blood were forever hidden.

Lora Leigh

Sarah’s Seduction

42

CHAPTER SIX

Sarah couldn’t believe what Brock had done. The appointment at the doctor was bad enough. A thorough exam and blood testing resulting in a quick shot into her forearm of a birth control medication. Dr. Bennett, pleased to learn that her cycle had just passed, was happy to begin the shots immediately. Then, to her immense mortification, with a nonchalant attitude blithely handed her the report on Brock’s last blood tests as well. Disease free. Her face flamed as she remembered the doctor’s curious glance at her.

Normally, she would have balked at Brock’s domineering attitude when he informed her of the appointment. But there had been something about him. Something broken and lost, an edge of desperation in his look that had halted her. The way he touched her cheek, pulled her to him, his arms tight, his breathing harsh as he held her. So she had given in instead. And she wasn’t certain what she had glimpsed, or why it had hurt her to the soles of her feet.

“All set?” Brock stood to his feet in the outer office as she walked out of the examination room.

He ignored her blush. She was certain he had noticed it.

“Yeah, all set.” She drew close to him, overwhelmed once again by the sheer maleness of him. He exuded testosterone. Hard and handsome, warm and strong, and if the bulge in his pants was any indication, more than ready to take her to bed.

“I just got a call from the sheriff,” he told her as he led her from the doctor’s office.

“Mark and his little friend are gone, and the cleaning crew just finished cleaning the house. You’ll have to replace most of the clothes he destroyed, but other than that everything seems in order. I also had your bed replaced.”

Sarah sighed. He was taking over. Why was he taking over? What the hell was going on here? She brought a man home for a night of rough and tumble sex, and all of a sudden she had blood tests, a birth control shot, and a new bed. None of it made sense.

“Thank you, but there was no need to bother,” she told him a bit desperately. “I didn’t mean for you to be put out this way.”

“That’s okay, love, I haven’t been put out.” He placed his hand at the small of her back as he led her to the jeep. “Mark doesn’t seem to be real accepting of this divorce though, Sarah. What’s up with that?”