Page 44 of Celtic Dragon
Rebel flinches at her words, then reaches for Ari’s arm and pulls her over to the couch. “Sit,” he says. “There’s no need to involve Ice in this. Just let me explain.”
As she sits down, she looks at her watch and says, “We’ve been here long enough. You can start explaining any time, Rebel. I’m not going anywhere.” She crosses her arms and adds, “Yet!”
Honey and I walk over to the two chairs across from the couch and sit down. Rebel says, “Today, we finally got a lead on my mam and da. I was pumped, anxious, and unable to sleep. So, I came downstairs to get something to eat. Ciara came down after me.”
“Why is she even here in the middle of the night?” Ari asks.
“She is dating my brother, Damon. I assume she was in his room.”
Ari seems to accept that reply and silently gestures for Rebel to go on. He says, “She came down half-naked and tried to get me to take her back to my room, but I refused. I never touched her and I didn’t instigate this.” He says pleadingly, “I swear!”
He waits for Ari to say something, but she remains quiet, apparently in deep thought. Then he adds, “Babe, do you really think I’d be so stupid to do something like this with your brother upstairs? He’d fucking kill me!”
Ari still doesn’t say a word, but I think his last words hit home with her. She really couldn’t argue with his last point unless she knew he had a death wish.
I can see the uncertainty in her eyes. She’s torn. She wants to believe him, but what we walked in on totally contradicts everything he said. I decide it’s time for the “big sister” to jump in. I say, “Ari?” She looks over at me. “I believe he’s telling the truth. If there’s only one thing he’s said tonight that makes perfect sense and totally backs up his story, it’s the fact that he wouldn’t be stupid enough to do this with Caden in the house.”
She looks at me and finally speaks, acting as if Rebel wasn’t even in the room. “But how do you know, Emma? How do I know I can trust him?” she asks.
“Has he ever given you any reason, ever, to mistrust him?” I say.
“No.”
“And do you think he would be stupid enough to take the risk?” I ask.
“No,” she says as she looks over at him.
“Then I think you have your answer. You need to give him the benefit of the doubt and not make assumptions about things that didn’t happen.”
Still looking at Rebel and crying silent tears, she says nothing. He pulls her into his arms and says, “Babe, I love you. I would never do anything to fuck up what we have. Ever.”
“I love you too, Rebel,” she says, hugging him back.
They hug for a few more minutes and then Rebel says, “So what the hell, ladies? What’re you doing here?”
Honey says, “That’s a long story.” Laughing, she adds, “I’ll let Emma tell you.”
I roll my eyes and think,Thanks, Honey.
Just as I prepare to tell my story, we hear someone coming down the stairs. “What the fuck is all the noise about?” Cade asks.
Oh, shit. I was hoping I’d have a little more time before he knew I was here. Nothing ever goes according to plan.
When Caden gets to the bottom of the steps, I finally get a good look at him. Like Rebel, he’s wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants hanging low on his hips.What is it with these guys and the tease of the pant line low on the hips? It makes me fucking nuts, especially on him!Taking in his beauty, I’m reminded of how magnificent he really is and that he’s all mine. It’s obvious that he hasn’t shaved since he’s been here; his facial hair has thickened. The gray that speckles his beard is damn sexy and he looks absolutely delicious. I think about his stubble against my thighs and I can feel the wetness pooling between my legs.Damn!The baby hormones are in full force right now and my only thought is to devour him. Unfortunately, that’s not possible at the moment. The hormones will have to wait. Besides, I need to deal with his wrath before I get him in bed.
“Fuck, Emma!” he says when he sees us.
“Hey, Cade,” I say meekly. I’m so ready for the shit storm that’s about to happen that I actually brace myself by holding tightly to the arms of the chair.
But instead of receiving Caden’s rage, I experience something much worse. I get the calm and collected Ice. He walks over to me and carefully pulls me up from the chair. His arm wraps around my waist as he pulls me in close. Our bodies are so close that I can actually feel his dick growing hard against me.Holy shit, he’s getting a hard-on in front of all these people and he only has a pair of loose-fitting sweatpants to hide it.
He leans in and I think he’s going to kiss me. But instead, he finally speaks. “I’m not gonna ask why you’re here. I’m not gonna ask why you’ve pulled my sister out of school and brought her with you. I’m not gonna ask why you didn’t give me so much as a notice that you were coming. But if I wasn’t so fucking happy to see you right now, I would put you over my knee and spank your ass!” His last words cause the wetness between my thighs to pool even more. He leans in closer and greedily claims my lips with his.
He releases me from the kiss, leaving me breathless in his wake. He steps back and looks me over. Then his eyes move to Ari and then Honey. Shaking his head, he turns back toward Rebel. “Did you know about this?” he asks.
“No! I’m just as surprised as you,” Rebel replies.
“You can say that again,” Ari says. At her words, everyone busts out laughing. That is, everyone but Caden, who just looks confused.
