His hands moved to the hem of her dress and slowly moved it up. His fingertips a light caress as they moved ever upwards. Without his urging, she opened her legs even more, and his heart began to thud in his chest. He’d wanted answers and he got them when she threw back her head and groaned in pleasure.
Moving up her chest, Josh stroked his tongue in one continuous move. Without warning and the use of only one hand, he lifted and pulled her forward until she was flush against his engorged cock. The feel of her elevated breath turned him on more than he could have imagined, and he knew he had to break the spell she held over him.
“Are you still going to try to tell me you don’t want to share my room? Hell, my bed, my room or even a tree!”
He anticipated what was coming and even with his natural speed only just managed to avoid the hand that shot out to grab hold of his dick.
“You’re lucky, if I caught you I would break you like a piece of dried up old driftwood!”
“Hey, come on now, I can assure you my wood is anything but dry. I bet you’re the same.” Josh teased wiggling his eyebrows. “Don’t lie now, or I’ll have to prove my point?”
“If you so much as touch me again, I’m going to scream bloody murder in this house?”
“I’m looking forward to it, but I have to tell ya, you’re going to have to compete with Aviva and MacKenzie. That’s just how we Kingdoms roll,” Josh laughed at her outraged expression.
“Did I just hear my name mentioned?” Aviva asked from the doorway.
“Indeed you did,” Josh answered, angling his aroused body as he moved further away from Lux.
“Lux, why on earth are you sitting on top of Jackson’s most prized item of furniture with your skirt up and your ta-tas on full display?”
The scramble that ensued would have been funny if Josh hadn’t felt more than a little sorry for Lux’s embarrassment at her compromising position.
Turning to Aviva, he attempted to give her a stern look that failed miserably. “That’s not nice, Vee.”
“Whatever!”
Her clothes once again in order, Josh watched as Lux jumped to the floor and gave Aviva a dirty look. Almost from the first moment they’d met, he sensed that Aviva didn’t like her. Seeing her and Lux glaring at each other finally brought home why that was. Physically they were completely different, but their personalities were almost identical. That being the case they were bound to butt heads.
“What my husband and I do is none of your business!” Lux snapped back.
“Come on ladies, play nice.”
“Whatever Josh,” Aviva replied before turning her attention back to Lux. “I thought you might be able to use these.” Placing an armful of clothing on a chair, Aviva turned to leave.
“Thank you for the clothing, I appreciate it.”
“No worries,” Aviva told the other woman as she left the room.
“Why doesn’t she like me?”
“She likes you well enough.”
“Is she attracted to you, is that where all this hostility comes from?”
“Aviva is a loyal, compassionate, beautiful woman. She also happens to be married and very much in love with my brother. If you understood that you wouldn’t ask that question,” Josh responded unable to keep the censure from his voice.
“So, the inference is that I’m none of those things, is that what you’re saying?”
Josh was tired of the conversation. Choosing not to answer, he picked up the pile of clothes and headed for the door.
“I’ll show you to your room.” He wasn’t ready to share his intimate space with her. One moment he wanted to make love with her and the next he wanted to wring her neck. He knew which feeling would win out if they were alone for a prolonged period of time; and she just wasn’t ready.
****
After he showed Lux to her room, Josh left the house. When he arrived at his destination, he parked and reclined his big body into the seat of his car. His family thought him a hothead and he couldn’t blame them, but he wasn’t a fool. Delphine having to bail his ass out of jail yet again wasn’t something he was up for, so he waited.
An hour later he saw the men he’d been waiting for. Leaving the car, he dodged traffic and cut them off as they approached their vehicle.
“Gentlemen,” he greeted officers Saunders and Bonetti. “I use the term loosely you understand, but I didn’t want to address you by the names running through my mind,” Josh grinned around his insult.
“What do you want, Kingdom?” Saunders, always the more vocal of the two asked.
Pretending to check around as though he gave a damn who was listening, he turned back to the officers. “I’m here to do you a favor.”
That was all it took to have their full attention. “We can’t speak here though, follow me,” Josh commanded. Knowing instinctively they wouldn’t like his tone, he was equally sure they would follow him like two puppy dogs.
Ducking into an alleyway, he kept walking until shadows swallowed them up, and the stench of rotting garbage and urine turned his stomach.