Читать книгу Sins & Secrets - NICHOLA HARVEY - Страница 10

FRESHLY SHOWERED, and satisfied, Teddy and I eventually decided we needed to move past the bedroom and join everyone outside before someone came breaking the door down. Thankfully, no one hadn’t.

My steps slowly faltered in the doorway as I saw the reason why. My sister was otherwise preoccupied – with bloody Damien, my father’s new junior associate of all people. Won’t our father be pleased when he discovers their little dalliance?

My sudden stop caused Teddy to run directly into my back. Noticing my deathly glare, she circled me to my front, her chin jerking towards the unsightly view.

“Leave it,” she firmly whispered, hastily turning her irate gaze back on me.

“Yeah right, like that’s going to happen,” I scoffed stepping onto the patio to the sound of jeering wolf whistles and loud clapping, distracting us away from our little disagreement.

I slung an arm around Teddy’s shoulders, chuckling as she buried her crimson face in my shoulder. “Okay, settle down you bunch of degenerates. We’re aware you’re all just as delighted as I am, but please, my poor girls blushing like a tomato.” The poking comment earned me a smack to the chest. Feisty. I had better watch myself.

Snaking my other arm around her, I pulled her closer and pressed my lips to her temple as my narrowed gaze furtively observed the cosy couple over the top of her head. My jaw ticking tightly as the pet project whispered sickly-sweet nothings in her ear, leaving Dominique in a fit of riotous giggles.

“I’d need more wine for that,” she murmured, biting down on her lip, and looking at him like …. Ugh, I now had a ghastly image seared into my brain. I needed a drink, something stiff preferably. Oh Christ, another gruesome image worse than the last one just gave me third-degree burns.

“I’ll be right back,” I heard her say as she jumped off his lap, not before performing a lap dance much to the drooling idiots' delight. My watchful gaze following her as she sauntered into the kitchen, an opportunity that was well worth seizing.

“I’ll be back shortly.” Cupping Teddy’s cheek with my palm, I gently pressed my mouth to hers. Ever so slightly, I pulled back. With a well-shaped eyebrow raised questioningly at me, I simpered, “I need to take care of something.”

The shake of the head said it all; I was in the shit. Already.

Dominique’s happiness was apparent as she strolled back inside the house. She hummed, retrieving another two bottles of Pinot Grigio from the bar fridge in the butler’s pantry, twisting their lids off at the island bench.

“What do you want, Ari?”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I snorted; our mother certainly hadn’t raised a fool. “Is dad aware his new protégée came home with you last night?” I asked glowering at her over the marble counter.

“No, he doesn’t,” Dominique haughtily informed. “And you aren’t going to tell him either. Daddy doesn’t need to know,” she boldly added. Attitude plus that one. Whatever happened to my sweet, innocent baby sister?

I scowled. “What were you thinking, Dom? Bringing him home to screw his brains out hasn’t been one of your brightest ideas, has it?”

“I wasn’t…thinking – and anyway, I like Damien!” Defiant, she shrugged. “Regardless, daddy shouldn’t stop his staff from having a relationship with anyone, even if it is me.”

Frustrated with the blasé attitude, I scrubbed at my forehead. “Stupidly, I find myself agreeing with you, but please, try to be pragmatic here; what if there’s a lover’s spat? Or, god forbid, this ‘relationship’ doesn’t work?” One held out hope. I rounded the bench and inched closer. “The conflict would displease both our father and Uncle Garrett immensely, and you being his daughter is no exception; another reason as to why you shouldn’t pursue this so-called relationship. I’m just simply throwing caution to the wind, little sister.”

She held up a hand in front of my face. “Well, big brother, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’m no longer a child! I’m now an adult and have been for the last four years! So, you and that wind you blew in on can fucking butt out!” Seizing both bottles by their necks, she angrily spun on her heel and stormed off outside.

I stiffly twisted at the waist and trailed after her, my head shaking in disgust as she perched on the pet project’s knee and kissed him passionately.

“Stubborn. Like mother, like daughter.” Exasperated, I ran my hands through my hair before reaching into the stainless steel fridge behind me, grabbing a stubby of Carlton Dry. I twisted the top and threw the lid in anger. Icy cold beer was just the ticket.

Laying my forearms along the marble island, I continued sipping, observing Damien closely from afar. Watching as he pushed his sunglasses down his nose and followed Teddy with a wide-eyed gaze the moment she left her chair and walked towards the pool with my sister, whom he was presumably dating. My jaw tightened; right, time for that little chat with the pet project.

“So, Damien, is it? Ari Jaeger, Dominique’s big brother.” He eyed me suspiciously before cautiously shaking my hand. I almost burst out laughing. A punctured balloon had a sight more grip.

“I have a question for you, Damien.” Self-assured, I took the seat beside him, and casually leaned back in the cane chair, resting an ankle on my knee. “What are your intentions with my sister? Are you only fucking her? Or do you intend to string her along under the pretence you want a relationship all the while lusting after my girlfriend?”

“That’s three questions, and I don’t believe it’s any of your business, Ari,” Damien retorted smugly, covering his eyes with his sunglasses. Wimp. “Dominique’s a grown woman who can make her own decisions.”

I glowered. “I didn’t realise you could count, you impertinent little shit. Did you happen to include jackarse on your résumé when you applied to my father’s firm?”

“Presume whatever you want, I don’t have to answer to you and quite frankly, nor does your sister,” he argued rising from the chair and standing over me — attempted to anyway.

I looked up and laughed in his face. “You’re right; you don’t. But you forget one minor detail…”

He crossed his arms and smirked. “I’m sure you’ll enlighten me.”

“You answer to our father and uncle. Neither of them would be pleased to learn you’d screwed my sister over after you’d screwed her. It sounds as though your new job at my father’s firm might be very short-lived, especially if I have anything to say about it.” Observing as the realisation dawned on the pet projects smug face, I smirked triumphantly “Not so cocky now, are we?” I asked, swigging on my beer.

His puffed-out chest deflated. As I said, limp. “Look, we only just met, and we haven’t exactly talked about having a relationship. I assumed it was only going to be a one-night thing.”

My expression hardened. Rushing to my feet, I closed the gap between us placing Damien’s terrified face only millimetres from mine. “You either have good intentions, or you don’t? Simple.”

“I need to find out what Dominique wants first,” he nervously spluttered, tugging the short sleeves of a plaid shirt over his arms. “She might not want a relationship, and truthfully, neither do I. As you clearly stated, I have only just started at the firm…and besides, she was the one who threw herself at me!”

Outraged by the suggestive insults directed at my sister, I swung a fist, the impact sending him toppling backwards. Like the bag of shit he was, he dropped, hitting the timber decking with a resounding thud. “Now get out, before I throw you out!”

Touching his swelling nose, he winced. Then he proceeded to wag one of his bony fingers up at me. “Don’t even think about touching me again!” he uttered through clenched and bloodied teeth.

I snorted. “Or what, you’ll sue me? Go your hardest.” Glowering, I squatted; the pet project clearly required one of my stern warnings. I kept my voice intimidatingly low. “Are you incapable of saying no? You’re a grown arse man who has choices, and if I ever catch you sniffing around my sister again, you’ll be extremely sorry.”

Having heard the commotion, Dominique hurried from the pool and gaped, boorishly sharing her mortification.

“How dare you do this to Damien, Ari!” she screeched, squatting to give him a towel for his profusely bleeding nose. “Stop trying to run my life! You’re as bad as mum and dad! Actually, no rephrase that – you are worse than they are. And whom I see is my business, not yours!”

“Having a devil may care attitude won’t help anyone, Dom. Especially you, taking up with the impertinent one.”

Helping Damien up off the ground, she shot me a deathly glare. “I’m not interested in your opinions, Ari!”

“Of course, you aren’t,” I mocked unconcerned until I spun around spotting both Teddy and Poppy frozen to the spot. Their eyes wide after having witnessed the volatile argument unfold in front of them.

Poppy cleared her throat, excusing herself, “Um, I’m leaving you both to it. Good luck,” she whispered sympathetically to Teddy before disappearing inside.

“Thanks, I’m going to need it,” she uttered, grabbing the knitted cover-up from the back of the chair and slipping it over her head. Rigid arms folded over her chest, covering her soaked breasts from my wandering gaze. “Do I dare ask what that was about?”

“Damien made my sister sound easy,” I grumbled sheepishly.

She scowled. “So, your way of dealing with Damien was to punch him?”

“He deserved it.”

Her scowl deepened. “Nobody deserves getting punched in the nose, Ari.” Teddy exhaled roughly. “In case you failed to notice recently, Dom’s an adult now. Meaning she’s quite capable, and old enough, to make her own decisions. She needs to learn to make mistakes and to grow as a person without you. You can’t go controlling every aspect of her life, Ari, that caveman behaviour,” she purred, waving a hand in the air, “only pushes her away.”

A ghost of a smile twitched at my lips. Yep, Teddy had my number. “…Caveman behaviour?”

She bit down on her bottom lip as a feebled attempt to curtail her laughter. “Out of that entire conversation, that’s all you heard?”

“I’m a caveman, am I?” Tickled, I shook my head and chuckled. “Wow, never have I ever been called that before.”

Hazel eyes alight with amusement, begged me to challenge her.

Rubbing my chin, I swiftly left gentleman Ari behind and ran at her, throwing her over my shoulder as I made a beeline for the pool. She objected, loudly and crudely, slapping my back as I jumped in, sinking her screams below the water’s surface.

In a spluttering rush, she resurfaced, angrily shoving sodden hair off her face. Her eyes narrowed as I rose calmly beside her. “That was mean! Nor was it funny!”

“You needed cooling off.” I shot her a mock glare and yanked at her arms, violently crashing our mouths together. She melded against me, pushing her soaked breasts against my chest.

Between soft, chaste kisses, Teddy mischievously glanced up. “Nice distraction there, Mr Jaeger.” Sharp fingernails scraped over my soaked abs. “Hmm, what do we have here?” Untying the string to my shorts, her hand slowly shovelled its way inside, springing my flaccid cock back to life with each teasing stroke of her fingers. In turn, she smirked proudly.

I inhaled sharply, surrendering to the audacious touch. My arm snaked around Teddy’s narrow waist. “That was impudent. Now, what am I to do with this?”

“I don’t know. But I’m sure Mrs Palmer and her five daughters would happily oblige you,” she simpered curling her arms and legs around me. Bloody monkey.

Haughty laughter escaped me. “That would be your Mrs Palmer and her five daughters, not mine,” I murmured, bending my head to capture her mouth. My tongue leisurely dipped inside, licking, and tasting as we moved towards the edge of the pool. I slid my splayed hands inside her bikini bottoms and tantalisingly caressed both cheeks.

Teddy’s mouth curved wickedly against mine. “I’ll see what I can arrange,” she said, gasping as the pad of my finger grazed the puckered rosebud between her buttocks. “Let’s take this inside.” She climbed off me and hauled herself up onto the edge of the pool, tugging the drenched cover-up over her head. It dropped to the ground from an outstretched hand before she reached around to undo the straps of her bikini top. Her stiffened nipples puckered against the light afternoon breeze.

My tongue swept across my lips, perfect little mounds.

Teddy’s crooked fingers grasped the side ties of the bottoms and tugged, promptly peeling them off her wet behind and dropping them at her feet. Her naked body now indecently and unashamedly on show, making my cock harder than the stone wall behind me. I’d come harder than the waterfall rushing from the stainless-steel spouts too if I wasn’t inside her soon.

An impassive Teddy clutched one of the large beach towels slung over the back of a lounge chair. “Surely you realised I wasn’t going inside all wet now, did you?” she purred, wrapping it around her slender frame. The little minx strutted towards the house only to pause in the doorway.

What was she up to now? Curious, I took a few tentative steps, bringing my hands to rest on the coping. My heated gaze piqued as she glanced over her shoulder and cheekily winked, before venturing inside – without the bloody towel!

I had to stop my jaw from hitting the bottom of the pool. Clambering from the water, I pushed my wet shorts down my legs in double time. “Right, if this is how the cheeky wench wants to play, then so be it.”

Determination had me taking Teddy against the wall the instant I reached the shower. Splayed fingers wrapped around her throat from behind, brushing the edge of her jaw with the tips.

She moaned. “About time you joined me. I was beginning to think you weren’t coming.”

“Oh, I have every intention of coming…inside of your tight little pussy,” I taunted, softly grinding my painfully hard cock between the crease of her delectable behind. “You want me. You got me. Now, it’s my turn to tease you.”

“You. Are. One voracious woman.” I buried my head in the crook of her neck, my heaving chest rising and falling as I attempted to catch my breath.

Teddy unwrapped her long legs from around me and leaned her delectable body against my rasping chest. “With you I am,” she purred, running her hands over my biceps and up my shoulders. “You are so…sexy and charismatic.”

“You know how to stroke my ego – in more ways than one.” That sounded smug, I know, but she did more than that. Much more. And I wanted more, my mouth finding hers once again.