Shameless

Prologue

Courtney lay silently, a frown on her face as she stared at the dimly lit ceiling above the bed. Cool air wafted across her body, drying the fine sheen of perspiration that had built there over the past hour. Her hand strummed idly against her stomach, her index finger flicking against the emerald belly ring that pierced the flesh above her navel.

The feel of her nails rasping over her flesh was a pleasant sensation. In many ways, more pleasant than the experienced caresses of the man who lay beside her. Not that he hadn’t tried, not that she hadn’t tried, but satisfaction lingered just out of reach, an ethereal promise that she knew would remain unfulfilled for a while yet.

Doubts assailed her in that moment, as well as a lingering regret. She hadn’t imagined this as her first sexual experience. She had envisioned an event much more earth-shattering, one that would fulfill not just her sexual desires, but those that filled her heart as well. Unfortunately, there were sacrifices to be made for the dream she had carried in her heart for so long. Her virginity was one of those sacrifices.

She breathed in carefully, deeply, restraining the weakening emotion that assailed her at the thought of what could come. She wasn’t leaving her country or her home without knowing exactly what she was doing. She had studied her objective, learned every facet of his character possible and planned each move out carefully. She couldn’t fail. Too much was at stake to fail. Her future, her very heart and the dreams she had carried since childhood now lay on the line.

“Well. I can honestly say you are my one failure, darling.” Sebastian DeLorents leaned casually on his side as he interrupted her musings, his voice filled with amusement.

She turned her head, a smile quirking her lips as she stared back at perhaps her dearest friend on this Earth. Bastian had led her through many of her most important adventures and helped her ensure that her father never suspected that his little princess was perhaps a tad bit more reckless than he would have wished. Dane Mattlaw believed his perfect, innocent daughter was unwary of the world, unknowing of the darker side of life that could be found outside the walls of the estate he had raised her in. He had no idea of the free spirit, the reckless, outrageous woman his daughter had become.

She wasn’t trying to be cruel in keeping him in the dark. She just knew how he worried, how he fought to always protect her from any harm that could come her way. He wasn’t overbearing, merely overprotective in a very fatherly way. And she understood the reasons why, had lived those reasons for three long, nightmarish years at her grandparents’ home in Spain when she was a child.

But she wasn’t a child any longer.

“Don’t take it personally.” She turned to him, heedless of her nudity, staring back at his darkly handsome face, the well-muscled, powerful body, the wicked glint in his black eyes. “I told you, I was saving myself for another, Bastian. I had only to get rid of that pesky shield of virginity to set my plans in motion.”

He grimaced, though she knew he accepted it good-naturedly. She hadn’t deceived him. She had been aboveboard, honest. She couldn’t lie to Bastian, the very thought was abhorrent. Besides, he had wicked ways of getting even with those who crossed him. She wasn’t frightened of him, but she had a healthy respect for the code of honor to which he adhered.

She reached out, trailing her fingers along his cheek as his arms came around her, pulling her close against his body. There was no sexual tension, no arousal. The friendship they had formed throughout her life was a comforting, supportive relationship that had given her the courage to go after her greatest dream. He had given her a memory to treasure, if not one of satisfaction, this night. He had tenderly, lovingly taken that last barrier to womanhood and given her the freedom to chase after her final dream.

“I will miss you, la luz más, querida.” My little light. He had called her that for years. He kissed the top of her head as he sighed heavily. “You keep the world brighter.”

A soft laugh escaped her at that. “You mean I give you a reasonable shield between you and the calculating mommas and baby girls snapping at your heels. Come on, Bastian, you need to settle down someday.”

She followed as he rolled to his back, groaning lightly as she propped herself against his chest, staring down at him as laughter welled within her.

Her Bastian was one of the finest-looking men Spain and England had ever beheld. He was a product of a Spanish aristocrat and an American mother, the pure blue blood of his ancestors diluted by the hated American sludge. At least, this was his grandfather’s point of view.

For Courtney, it was the opposite. Her mother was the youngest daughter of one of Spain’s oldest bloodlines. Her father, though, was pure blond American mutt, as he referred to himself. An Army man, tall, strong, dominant enough to stand up to the combined disapproval of Marguerita Catherine Santiago Rodriquez’s maternal and paternal families.

Thankfully, Courtney had not been required to spend a vast amount of time around her Spanish relatives. Marguerita had been unfortunate enough that during her relationship with Dane, her family had learned of her lifestyle, and had nearly destroyed her with their efforts to “save” her. Escaping them and the life they would have confined her to had not been easy.

Courtney had been seven when her mother had taken her to visit her relatives, and the three years they had been confined there had been hell. Thankfully, her father had finally seen through the lies her mother’s family had told him of their deaths and had rescued them both. It was a time her parents never forgot. Her mother had once told her that it served to remind them both of how fragile life can be, and that they should never take a single day for granted. It was a lesson Courtney had taken to heart.

“The calculating mommas are becoming wearisome,” he grunted reflectively, interrupting her thoughts. “Perhaps I should follow you to America. I’m certain I could help you with the mayhem you wish to create there.”

His smile was pure devilry. She rarely saw him so relaxed, playful. Bastian rarely relaxed enough to become playful. Which was a truly a shame, because when Bastian cared enough to play, he was an incredibly sexy sight to behold.

“Perhaps this is something you should do,” she agreed laughingly. “But give me time to capture him first. He won’t be an easy conquest, Bastian. And I could always fail.”

Such an option was something she fought against. She couldn’t fail. She had dreamed of him for too many years, had yearned for him with a strength that refused to allow her any rest.

“Failure is not a part of your destiny, querida,” he assured as her as he lifted his head, bussing an affectionate kiss on her lips before lifting her from his chest and rising from the bed. “You’ll succeed, just as you’ve always told me you would.”

She rolled to her back, lying against the pillows as she watched him pace to the wide windows of the bedroom and stare out over the city pensively. He seemed distant, reflective, as though some part of the evening weighed heavily on his shoulders.

“Are you upset with me, Bastian?” she asked then, wondering if perhaps she had asked too much of the friendship they had shared for so long.

He turned back to her, a slow, gentle smile on his lips.

“Never,” he assured her, his dark eyes watching her with a glimmer of his earlier amusement. “You, my dear, are like a breath of fresh air among the swine. I shall miss you though.”

He scratched lazily at the planes of his chest before his hand ran along his abdomen to rub absently as the heavy sac between his thighs. He was an impressive man, in all ways. But he wasn’t Ian. Bastian was her dearest friend, but Ian was her heart. He had been for nearly a decade. Before she had even known what the odd, unfamiliar feelings were that rose inside her, she had known they belonged to Ian.

Moving from the bed, she walked to him, settling into his embrace and rubbing her cheek against his chest as his hands smoothed down her back.

“I will always be near,” she promised him sincerely. “You work too hard, Bastian, and play too little. Should you require amusement, you have the numbers where I’ll be. Be sure to call me often.”

He chuckled. “Definitely. I shall require updates, little one. Now get dressed.” He patted her lightly on the bare expanse of her rear as he pushed her to the bathroom. “Your plane leaves within hours and you wouldn’t want to miss it. I believe your dear Ian is due to meet you?”

Excitement rose inside her. Instantly, her body became sensitive, her nipples hardening as the tender muscles of her pussy began to throb in hunger. It was like this each time she thought of him, her arousal would build within her body, making her weak with longing, with hunger. How surprised Ian would be when he learned the true reason for her visit to America, and her intentions. She was going to seduce the un-seducible. She was going to capture the most elusive prey in the world. The heart of the most cynical, jaded male she had ever known. A man who had sworn to possess no heart, no tender emotions.

She was going to claim Ian as her own.

“Perhaps you should visit while I am there, Bastian.” She moved quickly for the shower. “We would have a wonderful time in America. And Ian’s club is rumored to be one of the most exclusive and entertaining among the sharing clubs in the world. It’s not as though it is not a pleasure you greatly enjoy.” She cast him an impish smile over her shoulder as she grabbed up the overnight bag at the bottom of the bed.

Bastian was perhaps much like Ian. Open only to those closest to him, his sexuality running deep and hot. He wasn’t a man known to deny himself any pleasure that he deemed appropriate. He was a true sensualist, one of the few men who cared little for the opinion of those around him, and only for the personal code of honor he held.

“Perhaps soon.” He shrugged, but his expression was thoughtful. “Perhaps soon.”

Ian Sinclair fought to breathe deeply as he rolled from the limp, exhausted form that had been sandwiched between him and her husband. Kimberly Raddington was like a flame, searing them with a sexual heat as she clenched around the cocks invading her slender body, screaming for more, pleading with Jared for release and fighting to drive them both deeper inside her.

Now, hours later, she moaned tiredly as Jared shifted her between them, allowing the rest they had denied her through the night. Long, flame-red hair flowed over her back to fall to her side, caressing Ian’s arm where he lay beside her. Reminding him too much of darker, silkier locks. Of a woman he knew he could never possess.

He stared down at the bright silk, a smile playing about his mouth as she grumbled grouchily at her husband’s movements beside her.

Ian patted her rear affectionately as she settled back down, his gaze lingering on the blushing flesh. He had spanked her until her silken ass had flushed as red as her hair, and still she had screamed, begged for more. They had used her well into the midnight hour, and she had drained both men more than once, leaving them nearly as exhausted now as she was.

“You stayin’?” Jared asked as he yawned tiredly, cuddling close to Kimberly’s sleeping form as he stared over her shoulder at Ian.

Ian glanced at the bedside clock and grimaced wearily.

“Not tonight.” He didn’t want to shower and leave. The effort seemed monumental, but he had no choice. “I have to meet Courtney’s plane in a few hours and take her back to the house. I may be back tomorrow though.”

The relationship he shared with Jared and Kimberly was a unique one for him. He had never formed close ties with one of the members of his club, and never with one of the women that he played a third to. But Jared and Kimberly were different. Kimberly’s natural affection had touched him, made him realize there was perhaps more to sex than the act itself. The itch that needed to be scratched.

Unfortunately, she also reminded him too much of someone else. The realization, when it had hit him months before, had sent a chill chasing through him. But it hadn’t eased the arousal that filled him each time he spent the night with the couple. It had, perhaps, made it stronger.

Ian was a man uncomfortable with weakness. He had made certain over the years that his heart remained free of entanglements and that his soul was his own. He had learned early the value of keeping his emotions to himself and of steeling his heart against the women who entered his life. But Kimberly had touched him, had wormed her way into his emotions before he realized it, or, unfortunately, realized why.

“That’s Dane Mattlaw’s daughter, right?” Jared watched him in concern. “You’re keeping her at the house? Think that’s smart?”

“No.” Ian knew it wasn’t smart. If he remembered anything about Courtney Mattlaw it was her reckless, wild nature. Dane never seemed to see the wildness that glittered in his precious daughter’s eyes, but Ian had. And it made him more than a little uncomfortable. It spurred a response in him that made him feel like a dirty old man.

Hell, she had been too damned young for the hard-on that filled his pants the first time he saw the heat in her gaze as she watched him.

What kind of pervert lusted after a seventeen-year-old? It was perverted. Depraved. Even worse than what he knew he was. Sharing a lover was a far sight less despicable than getting the hardest erection he had ever experienced in his life, for a child. And had Dane known, he would have castrated him. Courtney was his baby. His precious little jewel. If he even suspected that Ian’s thoughts were less than pure about the girl, then Ian was dead.

“What’s up, Ian?” Jared’s gaze was sharp, suspicious as he stared over Kimberly’s sleeping body.

His dick, that’s what was up. He sat up on the bed, jerking his pants from the floor and pulling them over his legs as he kept his back to his friend.

Where the hell was his shirt? He looked around the room, his lips twisting humorously as he spied it half under the bed. Kimberly had been desperate to get them undressed by time they got her to the bedroom.

He bent, jerking it from the floor and pulling it roughly over his shoulders, buttoning it, leaving the tails hanging free to hide the erection pushing against his jeans.

“Not a damned thing,” he finally answered. “I’m stuck babysitting Dane’s brat for God knows how long, because he doesn’t want his precious baby in America alone. She’s twenty-four years old, for God’s sake. I doubt she needs a chaperone anymore.”

He raked his fingers through his hair, casting Jared a furious look at the thought.

“Where is the man’s common sense? Does he think The Club is some lily-white establishment catering to male virgins? What the hell is he doing sending his daughter to me of all people?”

He had been very careful of Courtney in the past years, visiting her parent’s estate in England rather than having them visit him. Staying for only short visits, and limiting his time in her company. As she grew from the child he had carried from a virtual prison during the darkness of night, to a young woman whose very presence lit up a room, he had realized how dangerous she could be to him.

He turned away, shaking his head at the situation he found himself in. He searched for his socks, finding one in the corner of the bedroom, the other under the bed. Dammit, Kimberly was going to have to pay more attention to where she threw his clothing.

“Dane’s not a stupid man.” Jared yawned again, obviously dismissing the subject. “He knows you’ll take care of her.”

Yeah. Flat on her fucking back with her feet around her ears while his cock plowed into her. That was how he was going to end up taking care of her if he wasn’t extremely careful.

As far as he was concerned, Dane had lost his fucking mind.

“You would think so,” he grunted at the comment. “You would definitely think so.”

Lord save him!

Ian leaned against the wall of the airport waiting area and watched as Courtney made her way from the escalator and looked around the crowded terminal with a slight frown on her face. She hadn’t caught a glimpse of him yet, for which he was extremely thankful. It gave him a moment to catch his breath.

How could he have forgotten how damned pretty she was? Her long, dark brown hair was left loose to flow down her back, nearly to her hips, her expressive face was currently holding a slight pout as the sight of him continued to elude her, and her tall, slender body was a wet dream walking.

Dressed in below the hip jeans, and a blouse cut too high for comfort, there was enough flesh displayed to make his mouth go dry, not to mention the dirty old men passing by her, sneaking looks at the silken, glistening flesh she had bared.

And winking shamelessly at her navel was an emerald in the shape of a cat’s eye, glistening against the dark flesh of her belly. It was enough to make a grown man whimper. Despite the provocative clothing and the sensual grace with which she moved, innocence still seemed to shroud her. A cheeky smirk curved her lips, chocolate brown eyes gleamed with joy, curiosity, and a love of life. She was like a breath of fresh air blowing through the stale atmosphere of the airport lounge.

A grunt of laughter escaped his throat.

He had been getting hard for her since she was seventeen years old. Who was the dirty old man? He was eleven years older than she was and old enough to know better, now, seven years later. But his cock had no conscience. It was hard, straining beneath his jeans, and throbbing in hunger.

“Ian…” He watched as a wide smile curved her lips and pleasure lit her dark eyes as she finally spotted him.

Striding quickly across the room, her full breasts bounced—damn, she was obviously not wearing a bra. The emerald that pierced her belly button winked erotically and had his tongue aching to lick and probe at the little indention it called attention to.

She was the most tempting thing he had seen in his life. A temptation he didn’t need.

“About time you got here, brat.” He opened his arms to her, closing his eyes as she threw herself into his embrace, her arms wrapping around his neck as he lifted her from her feet and hugged her tight, relishing the feel of her in his arms. She was going to be a pain in the neck, but she was one of the few people in the world that he cared anything for. One of the few who truly cared for him.

It had been more than a year since he had seen her last. For just that reason. He didn’t want to hurt her, but more importantly, he hadn’t wanted that caring affection they shared harmed. The joy she showed when he was around lit up the dark places in his soul. Letting that go would be a wound to his heart he knew would never heal.

The hunger growing by the year was becoming uncomfortable enough to stress the control he prided himself on so deeply though. He was now forced to confront the seductive little baggage whether he wanted to or not.

“Ian, you are as handsome as ever,” she exclaimed as he set her back on her feet, staring up at him with those mysterious brown eyes and wicked humor.

“And you’re as pretty as sunrise.” He shook his head at the truth of his own statement. She was as fresh, as innocent as dawn.

She smiled up at him, her hands still gripping his shoulders, her hips pressed into his thighs. And that wicked, hungry light in her eyes assured him she had felt the hard-on raging beneath the cloth.

He shook his head mockingly.

“You’re a bad girl, Courtney.” He moved her back. “Your father should have spanked you more when you were a child.”

Her laughter was low, filled with heat. “So Mother keeps telling him. Perhaps you should spank me, Ian. Since it appears you are the one being affected. I might like having you spank me.”

The thought of it nearly had his eyes glazing in lust. And she damned well knew it if her expression was anything to go by.

She watched him beneath lowered eyelids, her thick lashes shadowing her cheeks as she damped her lips with a flick of her hot little tongue. His cock jerked, his lust howled out in hunger.

“Come on, wench.” He shook his head at her blatant flirtation, leading the way from the reception area to the limo outside. “Where’s your luggage?”

“You see it.” She indicated the carryon duffel bag at her feet as she picked it up and moved behind him. “It was time to go clothes shopping, so I thought I’d pick up the essentials while I was here. Why travel with tons of bags if you don’t have to?”

Ian took the bag from her as she came up beside him, nearly skipping to keep up with his stride.

“Has nothing to do with that shopping bug you picked up from your mother,” he grunted at the information as he fought the laughter welling in his chest. Her mother, Marguerita, could shop for days and never tire.

“Of course not,” she assured him with mocking emphasis. “I needed new clothes. A girl has to look presentable, Ian.”

He glanced at the clothing she wore now. “Buy something that fits this time,” he suggested, unable to keep from grinning at her free-spirited laughter. “Your father should lock you in a padded room, Courtney. You’re a menace.”

She pouted teasingly. “But you love me, Ian, you know you do.” She looped her arm through his, pressing close to his side as they exited the airport. “Just think of how dull and boring this winter would be without me. I came to heat things up for you, and you aren’t showing the least amount of thankfulness.”

Thankfulness wasn’t exactly the way he would describe it, he agreed silently.

The limo waited just outside the doors, its warm interior protection against the cold on her tender flesh. Why it should bother him, when it didn’t bother her, he wasn’t certain. Maybe he was hoping it was the cold that had her nipples pressing hard and tight against her shirt. If it wasn’t, he was in a hell of a lot of trouble here.

“You didn’t even bring a coat,” he growled as his driver whisked the door open and helped her in immediately.

“Who needs a coat?” She burrowed into the warm leather as he stepped in and the door closed behind him. “I could just cuddle up to you. You stay hot.”

She had no idea.

She flashed him a saucy smile as she began to play with the controls set against the opposite side. Within seconds, the tinted privacy window rose between them and the driver.

Ian watched her curiously. It was obvious the little minx had something on her mind. He waited patiently, watching as she leaned back in her seat, then turned, leaning her side against the leather back as she stared back at him silently.

He lifted a brow inquisitively. “You needed privacy?”

“Well, you never know when it might come in handy.” She was openly laughing at him now. “How far are we from the house?”

His gaze narrowed on her. “Half an hour, maybe.”

She turned to face him, laying her cheek against the back of the seat.

“I hate these late flights. Why is it, you can spend the night dancing and never tire before dawn. But take a flight that lands at three in the morning and you’re wasted?”

“Try meeting one at three in the morning,” he chuckled. “You dragged me from my warm bed, Courtney. Shame on you.”

“Not to mention the warm body likely sharing it.”

Her moue of displeasure was ignored.

“Your room is already prepared and waiting for you at the house,” he promised her. “You can fall right into bed the minute we arrive. Tomorrow, I’ll arrange for Stan to be at your disposal with the car. You can shop to your heart’s content.”

“Are you…coming with me?” She batted her eyes innocently.

Her sexy little innuendos were going to get her spanked. Unfortunately he had a feeling if he got his hands on her ass, discipline would be the last thing on his mind.

“I think I can do without the shopping trip.” He grimaced at the thought of it. “I’ll see if my housekeeper’s daughter is free if you like. She can help you become acquainted with the city, and show you the best stores. You’ll like Ivy. She’s as much a menace as you are.”

“Have you fucked her?”

The question had him pausing, his gaze sharpening on her now. He wished he had kept the careful distance he had started with. If he had, he might not have noticed the hard little nipples poking against her vest-style blouse, the white cotton doing little to hide the dark points from his gaze. There was no mistaking the arousal in her eyes, but he had been trying to ignore that.

“Is that any of your business, Courtney?” he asked her then, his voice gentle. He had no desire to hurt her feelings.

“Of course it is.” Her smile was faintly mocking. “I don’t want to go shopping with someone who’s already shared your bed, Ian. If I wanted to do that, I would have brought one of my maids with me.”

He arched his brow in surprise at the thread of anger he heard in her voice, as well as the fact that she knew who he played with while he visited. Well, he may as well strike fucking her maids if he visited her father’s estate again. And that was a shame. Dane insisted on hiring women whose coloring complemented his daughter and wife. There had been a few who resembled Courtney so closely he could even fool himself for brief moments.

“No, Courtney, I haven’t fucked Ivy,” he answered her coolly, fighting for a show of strength in the face of a possessiveness toward him that did nothing to soften his cock. “Any other questions.”

A vivid smile shaped her lips. “None. I just wanted to be certain. I would hate to be jealous of a potential friend.”

Aforementioned cock throbbed.

Damn her, he was aching to his back teeth to fuck her and she dared to sit there teasing him? He had done everything he could to avoid her for the past year, going out of his way to refuse Dane’s invitations, whereas he had accepted them eagerly in the past. He had fantasized about her, dreamed about her. Jacked off to her image. And now, he was going to have to deny himself. Denial wasn’t something he did well.

He watched her gaze flicker to his lap and grimaced at the fact he wasn’t exactly hiding his arousal.

“You’re going to get into more trouble than you can handle, Courtney.” Ignoring the situation wasn’t going to solve the problem.

“Am I?” Were her nipples harder? Were they pressing tighter against the cloth of her blouse? He knew his mouth was watering, hungering for a taste of them.

He smiled with an edge of mockery, more toward himself than toward her.

He wasn’t exactly used to denying himself anything he wanted sexually. As the owner of The Club, the exclusive men’s club that catered to dominant males whose tastes ran to the extreme, Ian was considered one of the most carnal of the group.

“Courtney,” he sighed her name warningly.

She grimaced at the tone of his voice. “I’m not a child, Ian. Even though you persist in trying to treat me like one.”

She edged closer. The scent of her, peaches and sweet female flesh, wrapped around him.

“You’re acting like one,” he accused her, attempting to find some distance, some defense against the hunger raging in his loins as she slid across the seat, too close, too warm and willing.

“Am I?” she whispered sensually. “Or perhaps I’m tired of watching you fuck my maids and moan my name as your head falls back and you climax to a vision only you can see. Evidently, a vision of me.”

She was leaning close to him now, watching him knowingly, leaving him no room to deny the obvious.

And what was the point? It wasn’t that he didn’t want her, that he didn’t crave the taste of her. It was her innocence, her connection to him. How could he destroy the purity he saw in her gaze? The trust her father placed in him. His connection to her was so much more than his connection to anyone else in his life. He cared for Courtney. Cared for her in ways he had never cared for anyone.

He hadn’t anticipated this, he realized. He should have. In hindsight, he knew he should have expected it from her. He had seen the attraction grow within her, just as it had grown within him. His experience hadn’t helped him to ignore it, or destroy it. It was a hunger, a fascination he knew could destroy them all. And he cared too much for her to allow that.

“You are so beautiful,” he whispered, lifting his hand to touch her face, to marvel at the silken feel of her flesh. “So fresh and so innocent.” He allowed his voice to harden in warning. “Don’t push me, Courtney, to destroy that innocence. You won’t like me much afterwards, and losing your affection would hurt me more than you know.”

She stared up at him, her dark eyes filled with myriad emotions as he watched her process not just what he was saying, but what he wasn’t. In the meantime, he seemed unable, unwilling to stop his fingers from drifting down the smooth column of her throat just to feel the warmth and the hard pulse of blood beneath her flesh.

“You want me,” she stated, her voice soft, aching with need. And in that moment, he wanted her even more.

“I want you until I burn with it,” he admitted bitterly. “Until I nearly denied your father’s request to allow you to stay here. But I want more than you could ever give, baby. What I want from you could well destroy you.”

Something flashed in her eyes then. Some unnamed satisfaction that had his gut clenching in surging hunger.

“Would it? You forget who my parents are, Ian. You forget, I’ve watched you for years, having sex with my maids. And you weren’t alone with them. I’m very well aware of what you are, and what you may want from me.”

His cock was going to burst straight from his pants. Its engorged width throbbed, ached, demanded that he fuck her here and now and responsibilities be damned. Yes, she was her parent’s child, and he knew well the sexuality that Dane and Marguerita shared. Her father wasn’t one of the leading members of The Club for nothing.

“I’m not a game you can play, Courtney.” His thumb smoothed over her pouty lips as his body tightened to the point of pain with his need. She was so young, so fucking innocent, like a breath of pure, sweet air in his life. There was a special type of hell that waited for men perverse enough to corrupt such innocence. His soul was already stained once, he wanted nothing more to mar it.

Son of a bitch, arousal had never been this hard to deny in his life though. The hunger pulsed, bewitched, tempted him as nothing else ever had in his life.

“Then it’s a good thing I’m not trying to play a game, isn’t it?” she asked him softly. “And what makes you so certain I’m a virgin? That’s something only I and my gynecologist knows for certain. He’s not telling… And there’s only one other way to find out…” Her wicked look sent his pulse soaring.

“And no friends.” Ian had learned that lesson the hard way. The best way to lose a treasured friend was to take her to bed. The complications became astounding.

No virgins. No friends. No strings. No emotion. It was a recipe for loneliness, yet also the solution to avoiding the mistakes of the past. There were nights that loneliness ate him alive, but that was far better than the alternative.

He pulled his hand back, glancing past the window as they pulled into the long driveway that led to his home.

The three-story mansion was nearly a hundred years old, built by his grandfather, created as a home for his family. It was Ian’s father and several of his friends who had created The Club, and based it in the back wing of the mansion.

“Spoilsport.” The teasing pout in her voice he could handle. The naked arousal, the ever-deepening hunger touched too much of him, struck too close to a past he wanted only to forget. And it tempted him too much. She tempted him more than anything or anyone ever had in his life.

“Brat.” He glanced at her, smiling fondly, wishing, not for the first time, that life were different. “Come on, let’s get you to your room. Next time you decide to visit, Courtney, an earlier flight might be best…”

Control, he reminded himself as he escorted her into the house and up to her room. All he had to do was remember his control, and everything would work out well. She would leave in a week or so, her innocence and affection for him still intact. And if the loneliness dragged at him, darkened his life or left him regrets, then he would remind himself that at least her smile still charmed the world, rather than being dimmed forever.