Sophie Oak - Siren Beloved

Her nose turned up as though it had just caught a whiff of something vile. “You’re that Lexi person?”

Oh, she was going to be trouble. First, Lexi didn’t honestly believe that this woman was engaged to Aidan. Aidan had been a rat bastard, but he’d never lied to her. He wouldn’t have come after her and Lucas if he had a fiancée tucked away somewhere. “Yep, that’s me.”

“What are you doing here?”

Dani stepped up. “Lexi is a member of this club. Her stepfather is the largest independent rancher in the state of Texas. And she’s here because Aidan brought her here. Aidan is upstairs with my husband. He should be down in a minute. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to see you.”

That overly painted mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. “Well, he doesn’t know I’m here. I thought I would surprise him.”

She tapped her foot, and it finally clicked. Karen Wilcox. Aidan’s high school girlfriend. Lexi hadn’t had the privilege of meeting her. She and Aidan had only gone to Deer Run a few times. From what she could remember, Karen had been married to someone significantly older than she was.

“I think he’ll be surprised,” Lexi allowed. She was pretty sure he’d be pissed. A little kernel of evil joy lit inside her. She pulled out her cell phone. “Why don’t we give him a call?”

She dialed Lucas’s number. He answered immediately, his voice low as though he didn’t want to disrupt what was going on. “Lexi? Are you all right?”

“I am more than fine, babe. I’m down in the lobby talking to Aidan’s fiancée.”

“What?” Lucas practically screamed over the phone. “We’ll be down there in a minute.”

Lexi closed the phone and felt a smile split her face. “He’ll be down in a minute.”

Dani turned back to the concierge, shaking her head. “Paul, I think we’re going to need someone from the staff to go grab Mr. O’Malley’s and Mr. Cameron’s bags. Just give them to the valet. I don’t think Lexi is going to want to miss this.”

“Not for anything.”

“He dumped you,” Karen said. Her perfectly manicured nails curled around her purse. “He called off your wedding.”

“Yep,” Lexi agreed. “Which begs the question of why he’s dragging my ass back home to Deer Run when he has such a lovely fiancé waiting for him?”

Dani leaned over. “Does she come with a superhot, somewhat submissive, bi guy?”

“What is that? Is that some city talk?” Karen huffed a bit as though that was the worst thing she could think of. “It doesn’t matter. I just want to know what you’re doing with my fiancé.”

“Well, let’s see, he’s spanked me, forced me to undress in front of an audience, shoved a plug up my ass, followed me home, and now he’s kidnapping me.”

“Drama queen,” Dani said with a little grin.

Karen actually took a step back. “Aidan would never do that. He’s a former soldier. He served his country.”

“And soldiers don’t like to spank girls?” Lexi wondered just how sheltered Karen’s life had been. She turned to Dani. “And I had to take that plug out myself. I hope he doesn’t expect to see that one again.”

The doors to the elevator slid open, and the former soldier they were talking about stalked out. “What are you doing here, Karen? How did you even find out where I was?”

Karen’s whole demeanor changed. One minute she was the queen bee bitch of the world, and the next, she’d softened. “Well, I wanted to see you. It’s been a week since you came and saw me.”

Aidan’s face bunched up in confusion. “I came out to your place because I was dropping off a check for the charity dinner. I wasn’t seeing you.”

Karen moved closer to Aidan. Her voice was all breathy and pouty. It made Lexi want to gag just a little. “Well, we can fix that. Dwight let it slip where you were, and I tracked you down. What kind of place is this? Are you okay here? This woman is making all sorts of accusations about you.”

His head shook, and Lexi could have sworn he smiled a bit. “Yes, I’m sure she did. Lucas, will you escort Lexi down to the truck? We’re done here. Ben and Chase can come out to the ranch if they need anything else. I’ll deal with this one.”

Lucas seemed perfectly satisfied to take her by the arm and start to lead her away. Lexi wasn’t happy though. “Hey, I was enjoying that.”

Lucas slipped his fingers through hers. He leaned over and kissed her firmly on the lips. “Yes, I know. Now stop causing trouble, or we’ll both get spanked again.”

“Unfair! I’m not the one who hid my identity. And that whole shooting thing was not my fault.” She was arguing, but she didn’t put any heat behind it. Despite what she said, she really did feel safer now that they were leaving town. Someone had shot at her. She was putting on a brave front, but she was scared. And she couldn’t go to her mom’s place. She wouldn’t put her sister and brother in harm’s way.

And she could find out why Aidan was back. That was the worst reason of all to want to go.

“And the drinking?”

Lexi shrugged. She had no excuse for that. She leaned into Lucas’s strength. As they walked away, it struck her that Karen smelled like she smoked.

Maybe Deer Run wouldn’t be so safe. Either way, she was going to find out.

Lucas pushed through the double doors of the ranch house with a slightly reinvigorated lease on life. Lexi was sleeping peacefully in the ridiculously oversized bed Aidan had set up in the master bedroom. Lucas had never been to Aidan’s Central Texas ranch, and last night’s 4:00 a.m. arrival hadn’t told him much. However, he seriously doubted that the master bedroom had been in this elegant and oversized condition when Aidan’s father was alive. As far as Lucas knew, the elder O’Malley hadn’t been a ladies’ man, so he doubted he had required a custom-made bed with a delicate white quilt and three dressers. That room had been remodeled to fit a ménage.

Aidan was thinking positively.

Aidan would need a dose of positivity after the way his night had ended. Aidan had been mulishly quiet during the long drive from Dallas to the ranch. He had apparently had some form of conversation with the woman named Karen. When Lucas had asked about her, Aidan had simply said that she wasn’t his fiancée or his girlfriend, and Lucas wasn’t to worry about her.

But Karen had that look, that psycho “I’ll cut you” look under all the sugary sweetness she’d laid on Aidan. Lucas knew the type all too well. One of those had tried to kill Lexi just a year ago. Lucas wasn’t taking any chances. He’d already texted the Dawson brothers with Karen Wilcox’s name. It was a long shot. She hadn’t seemed to know Lexi was involved with Aidan, but Lucas couldn’t leave that stone unturned.

Lucas shook off the thought and started to look around for a coffee mug. His Lexi was a bit of a nightmare before she had her coffee. He often just set the coffee down in front of her, shook her gently awake, and ran before she was in angry badger mode.

The kitchen looked worn, with old appliances and faded curtains. Now that Lucas really looked around, the whole place had a slightly dilapidated air to it as though it had once been prosperous, but those days were now gone. It surprised him because the bedroom he and Lexi had been taken to last night had been polished to perfection.

“If you’re looking for the mugs, they’re in the cupboard on the left.”

Lucas turned and smiled at the slightly younger man who could only be Aidan’s brother, Bo. He was the spitting image of Aidan from four years before. “Thank you. I’m Lucas.”

“Yeah, I know who you are. You’re my brother’s…buddy.”

And he knew about Lucas’s relationship with Aidan. That one word “buddy” held an edge of distaste. Some of Lucas’s friendliness was whisked away. Lucas poured Lexi’s coffee in the mug. “I was at one point. Not so sure about now. Thank you for your help.”

He turned to go back toward the room he and Lexi had stayed in the night before.

“Wait.”

Lucas glanced back at Bo. He looked like he was in his early twenties, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. His hair was still wet, probably from a shower. The sun had come up hours before. Aidan had been out working with the dawn, despite only a few hours of sleep. Lucas knew that because he’d heard him moving around and then glimpsed him on horseback through the window. Lucas waited for Aidan’s brother to further castigate him for his sexual proclivities.

“Is Lexi all right?” Bo asked, staring down at his feet.

Lucas sighed. Well, naturally. Lexi was stunning, with raven black hair and a figure that harkened back to a fifties pin-up. He knew she was always worried about her weight, but she was utterly perfect in his mind. Soft and sweet and so fuckable he was getting hard just thinking about her. It wasn’t a surprise that Aidan’s baby brother had a thing for Lexi. He would have been a teen when they had been engaged. “She’s fine, but we all need to watch out for her. If you notice anyone odd hanging around, let me or Aidan know.”

“Yeah, okay. I was real upset to hear someone tried to hurt her,” Bo said. He paused, a flush heating his face. “So you’re my brother’s boyfriend?”

Lucas answered because the question had been asked with a modicum of civility. “No. I was your brother’s failed experiment. Now we’re involved in a short-term D/s relationship which means that for the time being, as long as it pleases me, I will do as he says.”

Bo’s eyes were back up and there was an unmistakable note of confusion in them. Lucas wondered exactly what Aidan had told him about their relationship. “But you slept with Lexi last night. Aidan slept in the guest bedroom.”