Despite teetering on the edge of madness himself, Luc watched her hold her breath, tremble. Just as she started to shudder, he unclamped her nipples.

She screamed.

Then her pussy undulated around him like nothing he’d ever felt, not just encouraging him to come, but demanding it. Deke surrendered—sweat, need, love.

Somewhere in the middle, he heard Luc’s shout of satisfaction, and Deke found himself desperate, determined to get deeper inside her. He thrust up against her womb as the last of his seed spilled.

And he gave his very soul to her.

Two hours later, Kimber was sulking in the bedroom. Not the most mature behavior she realized. Screw maturity though; she was worried about her dad and pissed that Luc and Deke weren’t driving her to the hospital.

Okay, so those make-her-panties-melt men were right—rushing off to the hospital might be dangerous. But now that they’d finished distracting her, reality rushed back, and she was scared; this was her dad. After talking to Logan, she was scared all over again. Terrified she’d lose her only remaining parent and a man she loved so much, afraid she’d experience more of the nightmares she’d had each night since the explosion, anxious that there was actually someone after her.

None of that changed her wants, however. She wanted to go to the hospital and visit her father. See him. Touch him. Say good-bye…just in case.

Deke and Luc were hardly letting her go to the bathroom without escort.

To make matters worse, she couldn’t hate them for it. They had her safety in mind, she knew. And they knew how to give a girl mind-bending pleasure. And after…Deke had wrapped her tight in his arms and held her while she cried out of release, anger, frustration, fear.

How could she be pissed about his cautious approach to a hospital visit when he acted like he cared so much?

“Want some lunch?” Luc said softly from the bedroom doorway.

“No.”

He shuffled into the room and placed soft hands on her shoulders. “Sweetheart, you have to eat. You skipped breakfast.”

“It slipped my mind.”

Luc cleared his throat. “You’ve been upset for a while. You’re tearing me up. Can’t you cut an old man some slack.”

Old man. She snorted. Yeah, he might be pushing thirty-five, but Luc was prime.

“I’ll throw in an apple crisp with brandy butter for dessert.” Oh, the man knew how to play dirty. But she was going to stay strong. Besides, every time she thought back to her dad lying in a hospital bed, connected to IVs, tubes, and monitors, her empty stomach nearly heaved. She could only imagine the results if she filled her stomach with Luc’s rich cooking.

Stubbornly, she shook her head.

More footsteps. She turned to find Deke shouldering his cousin aside and stepping into the room. He braced his hands on his hips. “Here’s the deal. You eat some lunch, at least something light that will help you keep your energy up, then we’ll talk.”

“About what? We’ve already conversed today—twice—in the language you’re most fluent in: Fuckese.”

Deke fought a smile. “You probably meant that as a slur, but somehow I’m complimented.”

“You would be,” she muttered.

“See, Morgan, I told you, she’s terrible company.” Kimber turned her head around so quickly, she nearly got dizzy. Yep, there stood Morgan Cole, the wife of one of Deke’s best friends, a woman she knew he had taken to bed. And Deke imagined that she wanted Morgan’s company? Even without knowing that her man and the gorgeous redhead had played hide the salami, she would have resented Morgan. Pretty, daintily curved, feminine, not to mention a celebrity, and a great dresser. Probably smart and witty and admired by every man she met.

Sometimes, life just sucked.

“Bite me,” she murmured.

“Okay, where?” Deke asked, then went on. “Never mind. I’ve got some enticing ideas of my own.”

Kimber groaned. “Go away.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Kimber saw Deke lean toward Morgan. In a stage whisper, he said, “She probably doesn’t want to play dress up with you and go to the hospital.”

The hospital?

She charged to her feet and ran to him. “Did you say—” Deke grabbed her and laid a hard kiss on her mouth. “The hospital. Yes. We’re ready to take you, but there are rules,” he stressed.

Kimber nodded eagerly. She didn’t care what they were. She’d get to see her dad.

Get to squeeze his hand, talk to him, kiss his cheek, and hope that her being there would help him.

“Anything.”

“Oh, that’s interesting. I’ll save that for later.” He winked. “Morgan will help you disguise yourself. She brought wigs and makeup and clothes. You won’t arrive there until after sundown. If anyone asks, you’ll say you’re visiting a friend in maternity. You’ll have fifteen minutes, no more. I’ll be there. Logan and Jack will be there. Hunter may even be there, recently arrived from an undisclosed location so secret, he’d have to kill you if he told you. We’re not deviating from plan. We’re not taking chances. We’re not letting anything happen to you. Agreed?”

“Yes.” More tears burned her eyes, even as a bolt of pure love pierced her chest.

He was willing to let her have her way, even though letting her go to the hospital clearly worried him.

God, she was crazy in love with the man. Would he ever open up and share his soul—his past—with her? Ever love her back? Kimber didn’t consider herself a coward, but that was one question she wasn’t sure she wanted the answer to.

CHAPTER 16

Kimber, wearing a wig of dark brown hair in a swinging bob and casual, conservative clothes that made her look as if she’d just stepped out of a Lands’ End catalog, wended her way into the hospital with Morgan beside her. Jack and Deke trailed, low-key in shades, but still looking mean enough to remove the limbs of anyone who screwed with her.

She was pretty sure they were being more than a little over the top. No, make that paranoid. Who would want to hurt her? Why? Yes, it was weird that someone had been calling for her from an untraceable phone and refusing to leave messages, but did that necessarily have to be sinister? Truth was, Dad had way more enemies than she did. And if someone really wanted to do her in, why blow up her dad’s house? Those calls were probably just some pain-in-the-ass reporter wanting more dirt on Jesse.

But for the sake of Deke’s peace of mind and to see her father, she played the game. Nothing escaped Jack and Deke. Nothing. Kimber was used to men aware of their surroundings, but this… She wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d made note of the orderly’s shoe size or the brand of the fluorescent lights in the ceiling.

Apparently, they’d consulted blueprints of the hospital in advance or something.

After entering the building, they went straight to the maternity ward, wound through some back stairs, hijacked an employee-only elevator. A guard stood outside the authorized-personnel-only hallway they emerged from a few moments later and quickly shook Deke’s hand. Then they were down a short hall and inside her father’s room. Kimber nearly crumbled at first sight.

He looked so…fragile. Still sporting muscle and the remnants of his summer tan.

But all the monitors, tubes, and machinery surrounding him in that sterile bed…

The beeping drowning out his light breathing. His salt-and-pepper hair had been shaved completely. And so unlike her dad, he hadn’t moved a muscle in the two minutes she’d been staring.

“It’s okay, kitten,” Deke whispered, sliding a protective arm around her shoulders. “We’ll do this together.”

He led her to the room’s lone chair. Kimber had a sense of Jack drifting out the door, whether to stand guard or give them privacy, she wasn’t sure. Morgan fell into step beside her husband, leaving Kimber and Deke alone with the Colonel.

Deke sat and pulled her into his lap. She would not cry. It would only piss the Colonel off if he was conscious. And it wouldn’t do him a damn bit of good, no matter how tempting her compulsion was. Instead, she reached out and took his lax hand in hers and squeezed.

“Hi, Daddy. I hope you can hear me. Get better soon, please. Life isn’t the same without you barking orders.” She tried to smile. Kimber faltered when there was no response. Not that she expected one. Well, in one tiny corner of her heart she’d hoped that he’d magically snap out of the coma upon hearing her voice, but that was the stuff of fairy tales. Lately, her life was anything but.

Still, it was good to see him. A relief just to watch his chest move up and down.

“Sir,” Deke addressed him with respect. “I’m watching over your daughter.”

“What else are you doing with her?” came a sharp voice from the doorway.

Hunter.

Her oldest brother was everything Kimber wasn’t. Coolly controlled. Extremely serious. Apparently lacking a sense of humor. Hunter always knew exactly what he wanted out of life, what he didn’t, and how he was going to conquer any obstacles in his path. He didn’t make many friends, but people always feared and respected him.

Normally, Kimber herself fit into that category. At the moment, his sharp question just pissed her off. “Well, hello to you too, big brother. Nice to see you. It’s been what…four months? And the first words out of your mouth aren’t even to me.”

A normal person would have scowled. Hunter looked completely unruffled.

Secretly, Kimber had dubbed her brothers Fire and Ice. Logan raged out of control, blowing hot, his temper like an inferno. Hunter…he was always too glossy and cool. No one could see under the thick surface.

“Hello, little sister. I’d be more welcoming if I could figure out exactly why you’re wearing a wig and sitting on a depraved son of a bitch’s lap.” Underneath her, Deke tensed.

Kimber stood. “Stop. I’m not doing this here and now. In fact, I’m not doing this ever. I’ve explained myself to Logan, not that my sex life is anyone’s business. If you haven’t talked to our dear brother—”

“I just flew in this afternoon.”

“When I’m gone, he can fill you in. Until then, shut it. I’ve only got a few minutes to be with Dad, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to spend them arguing with you.”

“A few minutes?” Hunter leaned against the wall, crossing biceps the size of her thighs across his chest. “That as long as Trenton and his cousin can let you out of bed?”

Deke didn’t give him a verbal whipping, she was sure, to avoid starting a fight here in the hospital. Thank God one man in her life had some brains at the moment.

“Look, Edgington. I think she’s in danger. Logan can fill you in. He agreed that having her with me, well hidden, is the best course of action.” Hunter didn’t miss a beat. “Now that I’m back, I’ll see to my sister. I take care of my own.”

Deke slipped an arm around her waist. “How do you know she’s not mine now?” A muscle ticced—once—in Hunter’s cheek. “Kimber?”

“Deke is protecting me. I’m here to see Dad. I’m not discussing anything else with you right now.”

“Do you know what you’re getting into?”

Kimber shot him a glare that was much more self-assured than she felt. “Perfectly well, thank you.”

“Want to tell me why, if I’ve seen Jesse McCall making an ass of himself all over the media about you being his bride and future pop queen, you’re cozying up to Mr.

Ménage?”

Was Jesse still going on about marrying her? Having been tucked away in the middle of a swamp and very…busy, she hadn’t paid that much attention to the news. God, Jesse must be desperate to change his life, but hadn’t yet realized that she couldn’t do it for him.

“You saw that overseas?”

“It’s everywhere.”

Shaking her head, she explained, “I broke it off. Apparently, he hasn’t accepted it yet. He doesn’t need a wife; he needs a spine. And I don’t want to discuss it any more. Now, what do you know about Dad’s condition?” Hunter hesitated briefly. Knowing him, he was waging an internal debate over whether to let the subject of her love life drop or not. Finally, he said, “Logan phoned me briefly this morning when I was headed back Stateside. I stopped to talk with the doctor on my way here. There’s been no change since this morning.” Yeah, that wasn’t a stretch of the imagination. A coma was still a coma.

She sighed and moved closer, sitting on the edge of the bed beside him. “Daddy, get better soon. I couldn’t stand it if…”

No, she couldn’t say that, as if saying it might somehow make it true. Instead, she kissed his cheek, then whispered “I love you” in his ear.

Jack poked his head in the door. “Kimber, time’s up. New shift is coming. Dark has completely fallen. We need to slide out while we can.” Now that the time to leave was here, Kimber was reluctant to go. “Is all this precaution really necessary?”