Bad Boys of Summer Read online

  “Ohmigod.”

  “Shhh. Let me lock the door.”

  He fumbled behind her, and she heard the click of the lock falling into place. Cupping his face in trembling hands, she whispered, “This is incredible.”

  “Not yet—but it will be.” He took her mouth again, hard and deep and hungry, all the while keeping her snug against him, nudging her back and forth in a mind-blowing rhythm.

  The most amazing pressure began to build, so sharp and sweet she almost couldn’t bear it. Freeing her mouth, she tipped her head back and gulped air. Lucius used the moment to taste her throat, licking, sucking lightly, probably leaving a hickey or two, not that she minded at that particular moment.

  “Tell me you want me, Bethany, before I explode.”

  “Oh yeah, you betcha.”

  He set her back on her feet and attacked the button on her slacks. The long zipper required both his hands, and he groused a complaint. “Damn it, these stupid pants are…” They came undone, and because of the generous fit, promptly fell all the way to the floor to bunch up around her ankles.

  Lucius stared. “Great pants. Love the pants.”

  Bethany grinned even as she felt horribly exposed. Lucius never failed to amuse her, to turn her on, to provoke her many senses and emotions.

  He put a hand beneath her blouse and opened it over her belly. In gravelly tones, he said, “Have I told you lately how drop-dead gorgeous you are?”

  That struck a nerve, upsetting her state of arousal. “I look just like my sister.”

  “Naw.” He angled his fingers downward, and without warning, slid inside her panties.

  She squeezed her eyes shut at the shock and thrill of it.

  His mouth touched her temple. “On the outside maybe, yeah, you two look alike. But where it counts, you’re plenty different.”

  His fingers cupped her, just that, nothing more, and she wanted to scream with frustration. She couldn’t think. His hand felt hot. Hard. So very enticing.

  Holding still required great concentration. She wanted to move against him. She wanted him to explore her. “We’re…identical twins.”

  “True.” She felt his smile against her skin. “But like you said, it’s an attitude thing. And honey, I love your attitude.” He pressed the heel of his hand against her, right above her mound.

  “God, Lucius.”

  Slow and gentle, using only his fingertips, he parted her lips and pressed one finger between. “Damn, you’re wet.”

  She stuck her face in his shoulder and held on tight. “This is awful.”

  “It’s sexy as hell.” He stroked back and forth, spreading her moisture, then up and over her swollen clitoris.

  Her whole body trembled and she clenched her fingers on his shoulders. “I…I don’t believe this.”

  “Told you so.” Urgent and hot, intent on devastation, he nudged her face up so he could kiss her again, all the while his fingers played with her, circling her, making the pressure build and build.

  Something buzzed against her hip, jolting her, and she jumped. Her mind couldn’t assimilate the new sensation, but she had no problem understanding Lucius’s curse.

  Other than the wild thumping of his heart and his fast breaths, he went utterly still.

  “Lucius?” she said, and his name sounded like a moan. “What’s wrong?” She lifted heavy eyelids and encountered a pained expression on his face. “Lucius?”

  His forehead touched hers. “Jesus, I hate to do this.”

  She gulped. That didn’t sound good at all. “This?”

  “I have to go.”

  What? He still had one hand squeezing her butt. He still had his other hand in her panties! She was hot and ready…Very ready.

  A little desperate, she said, “Please be kidding.”

  “I am so damn sorry.”

  All she needed was another minute or two at the most. She’d never had a climax with a man. By herself, yes. But it wasn’t the same, not by a long shot. “You can’t wait just a few more—”

  “I’m sorry. More sorry than you can know.” He removed his hand, smoothed her hair back, and stepped away. “Duty calls.”

  Her panties had dropped down to her knees, her pants around her ankles, her shirt displaced and twisted. She’d all but begged him to stay.

  Mortification rippled through her. She stared at him, dumbfounded, lost. “I was so close.”

  He drew in a breath and every muscle in his body looked painfully taut. Two seconds ticked by, then he growled, “Hold that thought, okay? And trust me—I swear I’ll make it up to you.” He looked her over, groaned, and turned away in a rush.

  Just that easily, he dismissed her from his mind and went into battle mode.

  Flummoxed, Bethany watched as he removed the phone and pager from his shorts. He retrieved his jeans and shirt and jerked them on, then made a call. Holding the phone with his shoulder, he sat on the couch to pull on his socks and tie up his boots.

  She heard him speaking, something about the “Incident Commander” and the “Command Post”; she even heard the word “barricade,” but he didn’t say enough for her to piece it all together, not with her brain still sluggish.

  He didn’t look at her.

  She couldn’t stop staring at him.

  He disconnected the phone and clipped it, and the pager, back to his waistband. As if they hadn’t just been very intimately involved, as if he didn’t even see her, he nudged her away from the door and walked out without a word, leaving her to untangle her clothes and her emotions before she literally got caught with her pants down.

  Through the jumble of confusion and embarrassment, Bethany heard his apartment door open. He said to Marci, “I’m in a situation here. Could you watch Hero until I get home? Eventually he’ll be all right by himself, I’m assuming, but right now—”

  Marci said, “Wait. Slow down. Where are you going?”

  “I have to work. Can you stay with him?”

  “Of course I can. It’s my pleasure. But what about my sister?”

  “She threw me out. Said she had some things to do. Gotta run. Thanks, Marci.”

  Bethany heard a smooching kiss that had better have been on a forehead or cheek, and then the trotting footsteps as he left the apartment complex.

  Threw him out? Well, at least he hadn’t told Marci that he’d left her shaking with need. She appreciated his consideration.

  Before Marci could catch her in the lie, Bethany pulled up her pants and rushed into the bathroom. She turned on the shower. Cold. She doubted it would help, but what choice did she have? She stripped off her clothes and stepped under the spray, gasping with the shock of it even as it cleared her head.

  And then it hit her.

  Lucius was on a call, which meant danger with a capital D. Despite the icy water, a rush of heat left her head spinning and her knees weak. Someone might shoot at him. He could be gone for hours. Even days.

  She could lose him forever—when she’d yet to really have him.

  Suddenly, she understood what he meant about his job being tough. Before kissing him, she’d been able to keep the danger inherent in his work in the peripheral of her mind.

  Now everything had changed. Now she had to accept that she cared about him. She would most definitely worry about him. Counting the minutes until he returned would be excruciating.

  This was just what she didn’t need—more complications.

  Four

  Lucius returned around midnight, and this time he wasn’t in the least sleepy. Hungry, yes. But for Bethany, not food.

  He started to go straight to his apartment, but he couldn’t make himself do it. Regardless of the time, he wanted to see her. The way he’d left her, on the verge of satisfaction, had plagued him.

  After the cracks she’d made about men and disappointing sex, he’d expected some resistance.

  He’d expected to have to really work on her.

  Instead, she’d all but melted the second he touched her. And re
membering that had him ready to melt.

  As soon as he’d finished the job, which had been a clusterfuck of the first order, thoughts of her had taken over his brain. The scent of her skin and hair; the scent of her excitement. Her hair was silky, her flesh more so. When his fingers found her sleek and wet…Lucius groaned.

  No way could he just go to his place and sleep.

  Besides, he needed to collect his dog. A good enough reason to disturb women so late at night.

  He tapped lightly on the twin’s door.

  It opened almost immediately. Big blue eyes stared up at him with concern and caring. A tremulous smile. Tangled brown hair. A very cute housecoat that covered a killer body.

  Disappointment washed over him. “Hey, Marci.” Why couldn’t Bethany have opened the door? Wasn’t she concerned and caring, too? “Sorry it’s so late.” He looked around behind her, but didn’t see Bethany anywhere.

  While holding the door open for him to enter, Marci asked, “How do you do it?”

  “Do what?”

  “Tell us apart.”

  He had no idea. But from jump, he’d always known which woman was which. One set him on fire, and one he just considered cute. “You’re different from your sister.”

  Where the hell was she? And where was his dog?

  “But how? Even our parents have had trouble keeping us separate.”

  He rolled stiff shoulders in a halfhearted shrug. “You’re each unique.”

  “In what way?”

  Marci wasn’t going to let it go, so he admitted, “I feel different around Bethany.”

  “Hotter?” Her mouth quirked.

  “That’s about it.” He tweaked her chin. “I see you, and enjoy your company. I see her, and I want to jump her bones.”

  Marci laughed. “Delighted to hear it.”

  So he had her on his side? Good to know. “Where is she, by the way?”

  “She’s at your place. With Hero. She was…worried about you and didn’t want to go to bed until she knew you were safe. And I see you are.” She tipped her head. “But you look wired. Want a cup of coffee or something?”

  He’d love one. “I don’t want to put you to any bother.”

  “It’s already made. I waited up for you, too. Come on in.” She headed for the minuscule kitchen.

  “Why’d you wait up?”

  “I wanted to talk to you about Bethany.”

  Hopefully not a lecture on relationships and all that crap. But since he had her alone for a minute, Lucius thought it might be the perfect time to find out more about her irresistible sister, so he agreed.

  “All right.” He followed her into the kitchen and leaned on the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room. “We can chat over the coffee. But just one cup. No reason to keep Bethany fretting.”

  “Don’t worry about it. She’s asleep.”

  That amused Lucius. “Yeah, sounds like she was pretty frantic with worry.” In truth, it relieved him that Bethany wasn’t up pacing the floor, wringing her hands the way some of the women he’d dated had done. It only added to his pressure with the job. Knowing Bethany could nod off put his mind at ease on at least one issue.

  Marci frowned at him. “She was plenty worried. But it’s been a horrendous time for her lately and she’s exhausted.”

  “Do tell.” He wanted to know about this bozo who had upset her.

  But Marci waved that away. “I went over twenty minutes ago to check on her, and she and Hero are sacked out in that big lounge chair you have.” Marci poured fragrant coffee into a mug and set it on the counter in front of him. “You two have a penchant for sleeping on the furniture. I’m beginning to wonder if you’ll ever both be in a bed at the same time.”

  “Count on it.” In fact, he planned to have her in his bed, with him, just as soon as he finished his coffee and got the lowdown from Marci.

  A smile curled her mouth. “Somehow I knew you’d say that.” The smile vanished. “I think you might be just what she needs.”

  He knew he needed her, so he hoped she needed him, too. “I’m all ears on this one.”

  Marci wasted no time diving into her subject. “You’re hard-nosed, Lucius. And you’re too good-looking, too confident for your own good.”

  He cocked a brow. “Is that an insult or a compliment?”

  “Neither. It’s a simple fact that you’re a very competent man. Strong. Intelligent. Gorgeous. And very sexy.”

  Did Bethany feel the same? He hoped so. “Now, Marci, don’t make me blush.”

  “As if that’s even possible.” She grinned. “The thing is, Bethany hasn’t had much experience with guys, and she’s had no experience with a guy like you. We’re twenty-six. I know why I don’t date much. It’s too risky when so many people want to expose me for a nutcase. Having a special talent hasn’t made it easy.”

  “People really do get on you about it?” He still thought it a little nutty, too, but he didn’t doubt her ability.

  For once, her gaze wasn’t direct. She toyed with the edge of her coffee cup and her voice dropped. “I don’t really blame others. I denied it myself for a long time.”

  Seeing her uncertainty, Lucius regretted his past teasing remarks. “It’s a talent, hon. You should be proud of it.”

  Her laugh sounded bitter. “At times it feels more like a curse.” Her breath shuddered out, and she looked up at him. “When I was a kid, I couldn’t bear to walk down the street. I felt the emotional pain of so many animals. A dog chained out to a tree. A cat ignored. A bird locked in a cage. It made me so furious. People take in pets, and many of them make the pet a member of the family. But a lot don’t.”

  Lucius reached for her hand. “People are sometimes idiots.”

  “And often cruel.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “At first, it was impossible to deal with it. I went into a depression and I cried a lot and my folks got fed up with me.” Her eyes opened again. “But not Bethany. She’s always been there for me.”

  Yeah, he figured Bethany for the loyal sort. It was one of the things he adored most about her. “Have you thought about marketing your talent?”

  “Right. Like on Jerry Springer? No, thanks. I prefer to help quietly. When I sense that an animal has a problem, I contact the owners and try to help. That way, they can either take my advice or not. I’m not exposing myself. I’m not opening myself to ridicule. Only the believers listen. The others sometimes hang up. I don’t want to be a spectacle ever again.”

  “If I can ever help…”

  She straightened with determination. “Now there’s my perfect lead-in.” She gave his hand a squeeze, then released him. “Bethany has been put through hell because of me. All through school she got teased about having a loony sister.”

  Lucius winced, remembering how he’d said similar things—and Bethany’s immediate defense.

  “Don’t do that, Lucius. Never, not even once, has your teasing felt malicious or mean-spirited. Support—that’s all I’ve ever gotten from you, and I appreciate it. I told Bethany that, so she knows it, too.”

  “Still…”

  “There’s a man. I knew him as Mitch Tracer, but he told Bethany his name was Michael. He’s making her life hell.”

  Lucius straightened. An alias? He didn’t like the sound of that. “This is the ass she used to date before coming here?” No way in hell would he let anyone hurt Bethany.

  “He started out by pretending an interest in her, and she liked him enough that she went out on several dates with him. But when she mentioned him to me, I recognized the description. Blond, glasses, nice clothes, and a not-so-nice smile. See, he’d wanted to date me months before. I refused him. He asked too many questions about my work, about animals. I avoid intrusions into my personal life, and he made me uneasy.”

  “He tried to use Bethany to get close to you?”

  She rubbed her forehead. “Unfortunately, it’s not the first time it’s happened.”

  “But that doesn’t make any sense.
No insult intended toward you, hon, but hell, you’re twins. What makes you more appealing than her?”

  “Nothing. It’s just that Bethany is more…independent, and that can put some men off. But they see me as an airhead, somehow sweeter and easier than Bethany, and so they come after me.”

  “That’s just idiotic.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, I know it, but…Bethany doesn’t. Sometimes, too, they’re just trying to get to me because of my ability. They want to expose me, interview me, maybe use my talent for something, but I’m not dumb. I can see through them. So, I don’t date much.”

  Lucius could understand her way of thinking, but he didn’t like it. If he ever caught anyone giving Marci a hard time, he’d handle it for her, with or without her permission. “Those are your reasons. What are Bethany’s?”

  She drew a deep breath, then admitted, “More than once, men have gone to her after I’ve rejected them.”

  Damn. That’d be a tough pill for a woman to swallow.

  “They act as though we’re interchangeable. Can’t have first pick? Well, then, they’ll take second.”

  “Shit.”

  “Exactly.”

  It felt like the right time to make something perfectly clear, so Lucius leaned forward over the bar and took her hand again. “Far as I’m concerned, Bethany would never be second best. Like I said, you two are different. One isn’t better than the other, but one sure as hell affects me differently.”

  “I believe you, but Bethany has taken to distrusting any guy who knew me first.”

  Which included him? Smiling, he released her and leaned on the bar. “She wasn’t exactly slapping my face earlier today.”

  “I hoped not. But she hasn’t said much about it, and you said she threw you out…”

  “I got called in for a barricade. Let’s just say, the timing sucked.”

  Appearing delighted, Marci asked, “Interrupted some interesting things, did it?”

  Not even for her sister would Lucius kiss and tell. Bethany could share the details as much or as little as she wanted. “Some dip-shit sped his pickup through a residential area, and when a deputy tried to pull him over, he fired a shotgun at the patrol car’s window. The deputy wasn’t hurt, but soon as he ran the plates, he found some outstanding warrants for possession and trafficking. The truck pulled into a house and the driver disappeared inside.”