Kenny laughed back at her. “Be there in a sec, honey.”
Satisfied she had complimented her favorite bartender to his satisfaction, she wiggled between the two men, pressing at each of them until they shifted marginally, then waited.
“You are trouble waiting to happen, Gypsy Rum,” Rule warned her as Kenny handed her the beer and smacked her an air kiss with a smile.
“So everyone keeps telling me.” Turning her head, she shot the Breed a look from the corner of her eye, taking in all those sexy dark looks and sensual-as-hell features.
Her heart kicked up a few beats, just as it always did whenever he was around, while she became slick and wet, her thighs clenching as her moist interest for him threatened to cause her no small amount of embarrassment.
After all, Breeds could smell a woman’s sexual interest.
Thankfully, if he sensed it, he never commented on it.
“One of these days, I might stop warning and start spanking.” Too-long, too-lush lashes lowered just enough to make her breath quicken just that little bit as she turned to face the cavernous room and lifted the beer to her lips.
He followed the journey, his gaze lingering several seconds as she took a drink of the alcohol, clenching her teeth at the little bitter bite that hit her taste buds.
Rule and his sidekick, Dane, enjoyed the busy talk-filled bars just as much as she pretended to, it seemed.
“Careful there, sweetheart,” Dane drawled, his South African accent sexy as hell but nowhere near as interesting as Rule’s dark, growly tone. “You know what they say about teasing lions, right?”
She gave her eyes a playful little roll before sliding Rule another sideways glance.
“And I have a habit of shooting men who touch when they’re not invited,” she reminded them both. “Besides, I think Commander Breaker is intelligent enough to understand the word ‘no.’”
Rule lifted the short glass of dark amber liquid to his lips and took a leisurely drink, his gaze holding hers as he obviously tried to hide his grin from her.
Evidently, she tended to amuse him, because he did that a lot while she was around.
“So tell me, luscious.” Dane surprised her with the little pet name and sudden flirtatious air. “What exactly does one have to do to earn an invitation to touch?”
No way!
He did not just ask that question! And he did not just give her that suggestive little wink! After weeks of obeying her no-touch, no-sex rules, this heir to some imagined South African throne was breaking the rules?
This could get interesting.
A little dangerous, but interesting considering his family was one of the Breeds’ main financial supporters.
“Overlook Junior there,” Rule drawled, his voice lazy and mocking despite that little hint of a rasp beneath his smooth tone. “His keeper was called home and there’s no one left to smack him around when he gets out of line.”
Now wasn’t this little sideshow quite the surprise and not exactly what she was used to from them? Not that a little flirting from them wasn’t normal. It was. But this was just a shade beyond flirting from Dane.
Lifting the beer to her lips once again, more to kill time and watch the dance floor than out of actual thirst, Gypsy took another long, leisurely sip.
On one side Dane’s emerald green eyes watched her with amused attraction. On the other side, Rule’s dark blue eyes had her breasts suddenly tingling, her nipples tightening. And between her thighs her clit was so hard and swollen she knew she’d be masturbating the second she walked into her bedroom when she returned home.
“You’re scaring her off, Breed,” Dane accused Rule then, his voice smooth and mocking. “You should run along and finish chasing shadows.” With a little flip of his fingers he dismissed Rule lazily. “I’ll see that this luscious little morsel is well taken care of.”
She nearly spewed her beer at the outrageous proclamation even as her senses skipped a beat, along with her heart, at his reference to Rule chasing shadows.
“You’re joking, right?” she laughed incredulously when she managed to swallow the mouthful of beer.
Straightening from her slouched position against the bar, eyes wide, she stared between the two friends.
“He always acts out when Rhys isn’t here to watch after him,” Rule drawled, the lazy amusement in his tone at odds with the sudden spark in his vivid blue eyes.
Was that anger?
Not quite, she decided, but whatever it was had her finely honed instincts instantly wary.
What game were these two playing?
“It’s starting to sound to me as though both of you need a keeper,” she suggested, amused by them, despite her wariness and sudden curiosity about Rule’s supposed search. “Is Rhys due back soon?”
Rhys or Ryan Desalvo, Dane’s friend and sometime bodyguard, was always deflecting attention from the other man. She often wondered if Dane’s habit of watching everyone was the reason why Rhys did it. So his friend could dissect and probe the psyches of those around him.
“Not real soon.” Dane shifted a little closer, his large body crowding her, forcing her to slide to the side, her eyes narrowing up at him.
Despite his rough, blond good looks, emerald eyes and lazy humor, she could always sense his detachment, his overly intent curiosity whenever his attention settled on her.
As it was, now.
“Should I have a few of my enforcers toss his amused ass out the door?” Rule’s lips were at her ear, his voice lazy and wicked, causing an indescribable warmth to slowly infuse her body.
Turning her heat to meet his gaze, she realized only then how close she had moved to him. Too close. Standing between his spread thighs, though he hadn’t taken advantage of the position.
He wasn’t touching her, though he surrounded her almost protectively.
His gaze held her.
Warmth and quiet amusement gleaming there, along with hunger.
A wicked, sensual, confident hunger that had her heart racing faster than before as her breath began to feel tight.
He made her want—
He made her want things she couldn’t have, hunger for things she knew he could never sate.
Never even attempt to fulfill.
She wanted him to touch her. She wanted it even though she knew it would only make the need clawing at her worse.
Dane was saying something, his voice faintly mocking. She ignored him, as did Rule. His gaze was locked with hers, his lips so close to hers, tempting her, drawing her—
...
The scent of her need—it actually outmatched the suspicion and that white-hot flare of curiosity that tinged the air.
Absently Rule ran his tongue over his teeth, just to be certain the glands beneath were still dormant. The scent of her need had his erection throbbing imperatively, his balls so tight with the need to spill his seed that it was nearing agony.
Jade green eyes were wide, filled with so many shadows and barely perceptible fears that he wanted nothing more in that moment than to see pleasure filling them. Hell, that was all he wanted every time he looked into the pretty green spheres and sensed the lust pulling them closer.
Her lips parted, that plump little lower lip feeling the damp caress of her tongue as it ran over it.
He could hear the thump-thump of her heart as it raced between her lush breasts, the curves defined and perfect beneath the snug little red tank top she wore.
That tiny bit of cloth paired with those butt-snug jeans and moccasin boots that laced up the sides of her shapely legs had him all but panting for her.
She made him hotter than he’d been in—hell, harder, hotter than he’d ever been. And now, as she stared up at him, her lips parted, that hunger blazing up at him, he was a second from taking that kiss he’d been longing for.