Craig was the baby of the three, being a few months away from his thirtieth birthday. He also gave Colt a run for his money in the muscle department, although he was a good head shorter. And Craig wasn’t shy either. Not that any of them were, but while Colt had donned formalwear, Craig was taking great pleasure in showing off his ripped torso, and was clad only in a pair of leather pants; his black boots the only nod to the Christmas theme, and even that was questionable, although Craig insisted they were the same type as Santa wore.
Colt tipped up one side of his mouth in a lopsided smile that was mostly disguised by his dense, but short trimmed beard. Because his friend was right. Itwaswhat they always did.
“So, do you two have anyone in mind for tonight?” The question was asked by Shay, the third of their little band of musketeers. His whiskey-colored eyes sparkled, and he looked around at the array of beautiful women all dressed in their festive finery.
Their skimpy festive finery.
Skintight little red dresses seemed to be the order of the day, or tiny red skater skirts trimmed with fur to imitate a sexy Mrs. Christmas.
It was a veritable sea of red out there, while the guys were mostly wearing black. Fairly predictable, but that didn’t dim any of the fun.
Besides, a lot of those clothes would come off before the end of the night.
Hot damn. Life didn’t get very much better than living on a tropical Island with its very own kink club.
“I know who I’d like to see,” Colt murmured, though he stopped short of naming names.
“Oh? Who’s that then? That sweet thing from the restaurant? Melissa, is that her name?”
Colt smirked and shook his head. Melissa Marshall, the Tartarean Restaurant manager was far from sweet. In her day job she was one of the most organized people he knew, and she didn’t blink an eye at dealing with irate customers who got snarky when they expected the busy restaurant to simply be able to seat them without a booking. And he’d watched her go head-to-head with more than one Dom because she struggled to switch off that side of her personality, regardless of how much she wanted to.
Maybe it was his job, but Colt really wanted someone who brought out all his protective instincts.
“Doesn’t matter,” he admitted with a sigh. “I’ve never seen her down here before, so I doubt tonight will be any different.”
The other two eyed him curiously but didn’t push him on it. Colt was glad. He didn’t want to put a downer on the night, thinking of things he couldn’t have.
“So, what about Shelly, the pole dancer?” Craig asked, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. “That girl can do amazing things with her body. She’s like a pretzel.”
Shay gave Craig a good-natured punch on the arm. “Hey, I doubt that’s the kind of analogy that’s going to get you laid dude. Besides, if I’m any judge, you’ll have to get past Cree first, and he’s packing enough muscle to give even you a run for your money.”
Craig frowned and crooked an eyebrow. “Really? I thought they hated each other?”
“Seriously man?” Shay teased. “You know as well as I do that’s just a front for sexual tension. Mark my words; there might be fireworks, but I’m betting they’ll go off together.”
The two of them continued their banter, but Colt filtered them out as a flash of incongruous, unblemished white caught his eye amidst the sinuous black and red sea. Like an angel from the Empyrean, the vanilla hotel on the other side of the island, had mistakenly landed in the midst of this wicked, shadowy underworld.
For a moment, Colt really did think someone was in the wrong place. His security role automatically kicked in and he’d taken a couple of steps in that direction before he pulled up short and dragged in a stuttering breath.
Because there she was. The one woman he quietly lusted after and never expected to see at Iniquity.
His brain short circuited and for a moment his mind went blank, like he didn’t know what to do; how to handle this unexpected occurrence.
Then his instincts and his libido steamed back, full force, and he knew!
He wasgoingto make her his…
He felt his two friends step up to his shoulders and Colt’s single-minded plans expanded.
Shay sucked in a breath, and Craig gave a low whistle, and Colt didn’t have to look to know exactly where their eyes glued.
Yep, they were right there with him. All on the same page.
Kimika Murakami was going to betheirs.
CHAPTER3
Follow your instincts.