It was rare for Sebastian to become out of sorts over a woman if she’d made other plans. Though, to be honest, Alyssa wasn’t just another woman.
Her lips thinned for a moment. After she glanced toward the ceiling as though debating something far too seriously, it took her only seconds to direct those soft gray eyes at them once more.
“You’re aware I’m only eighteen, right?” The question was a bit defensive. “And not exactly experienced. I had the impression the two of you much preferred women with a bit more sexual expertise than I possess.”
Sebastian was riding a line he found discomforting, especially after that little declaration. His cock was hardening despite his best efforts to keep it from doing so. The thought of touching her, seeing her wonder with each new pleasure, was like an aphrodisiac. Instantly he was hungrier for her, the sexual need rising with such strength he was wary of it himself.
Son of a bitch. She was right; she was too young for them, too inexperienced. And it was the same thing he’d been telling himself for five months. Still, she was under his skin in a way he couldn’t seem to help.
“We just want to get to know you, Alyssa,” he told her, shoving his hands into his pockets as he stood staring back at her. “We didn’t intend to frighten you. Perhaps in this enchantment you’ve cast over us we’ve neglected to consider the fact that perhaps the fascination doesn’t go both ways.”
He knew better, just as Shane did. She was so aroused it was all she could do to make herself stand still. Her nipples were like little pebbles beneath that shirt and bikini top, a light, telltale flush tinted her flesh, and the slight additional fullness to her lips assured him she was more than just interested.
They were experienced enough to know the signs, while her inexperience ensured she couldn’t hide them.
“I didn’t say I wasn’t attracted.” A frown flirted with her brow as she fought the wariness of her response to them. “I’m not willing to be steamrolled out of the holiday I came here to enjoy, though. I didn’t come looking for a summer romance or a broken heart. And that’s exactly what will happen if I’m not very, very careful.”
“Then be careful, love.” Pulling his hands from his pockets, he moved to her, bent his head, and brushed a kiss against her forehead. “We’ll return. And if you need us…”
Her cell phone lay on the counter. Picking it up, he keyed in both his and Shane’s numbers.
“Or if you get lonely,” he suggested as flirtatiously as such overwhelming hunger allowed, “you’ve only to call us.”
Staring back at him, Alyssa drew her lower lip between her teeth and worried it uncertainly as he turned and joined his cousin at the French doors. As she watched them leave, it was all she could do not to call them back.
A frustrated groan spilled from her lips before she moved to the doors to lock them, only to find them locked. Damn it, she’d forgotten to make him give her the key.
Stalking to her bedroom, she stripped the shirt and bikini off before pulling on the loose white sundress she wore around the house. This situation was going to make her crazy, she decided. Having those two here was going to ruin all her plans for the summer.
Okay, the plans were boring to begin with, but she wouldn’t leave Spain with more baggage than she arrived with if she stuck to her plan. And now that plan was burned to cinders, the ashes scattered. Because if they came back, and she had a feeling they would, then she wouldn’t be able to continue resisting them.
She actually expected them to show up before she left for the beach party. As she showered and dressed in the long, tan chiffon skirt and white cami-tank, she listened for them. Securing a leather bracelet around her ankle, she then pushed her feet into a pair of leather sandals and left the apartment.
As darkness settled around the beach the soft strains of Spanish love songs could be heard from the small band set up not far from the apartment building.
Alyssa stared out over the beach and the small crowd gathered around the bonfire. There were quite a few partygoers milling around, chatting, laughing. There was no sign of Shane and Sebastian, though. And Alyssa admitted her excitement at the thought of attending the party had waned.
If it hadn’t been for her fears, for her certainty that there wasn’t a chance in hell of handling them, then she could have been with them tonight.
“Alyssa, coming down?” Gia Bennett, the daughter of one of Davis Hampstead’s backers, waved up at her. “The band’s warming up and the wine’s going fast.”
Taller than Alyssa, though most people were, lanky in a tomboyish way, with dark brown hair and hazel eyes, Gia could have been a model. Instead, she’d told Alyssa, when she returned home she intended to apply for an apprenticeship program with the FBI.
She’d make a hell of an agent too.
Moving down the wide steps, sandals in hand, Alyssa met the other woman at the bottom of the stairs.
“Dish, girl, what were De Loren and his cousin doing waiting for you at the beach?” Gia asked with teasing inquisitiveness. “I bet every woman there was watching them as they waited for you.”
“You know them?” she asked.
“I know of them,” Gia stressed. “What do you know about them?”
“I met them at the Collier party in December,” she admitted. “Why?”
“I’d keep those cute asses a secret if they were visiting me.” Gia turned and headed into the sand, glancing back as Alyssa followed her. “A real close kind of secret, if you get my drift.” Her warning wasn’t lost on Alyssa. “One you might get away with, but both of the De Loren get coming to call? Honey, you’re playing hardball there. You know they share their lovers, right?”
“I rather got that idea in December when I came upon them in the garden with one of the guests. She wasn’t happy at the thought of being caught, either.” Millicent had watched her closely after Alyssa returned to the party, obviously worried.