Legal Heirs - Box Set Edition: Books 5-8 (Surrendering Charlotte Chronicles) (29 page)

When she was a little girl her father had loved her with his whole heart, but he had gone away one summer and he’d never returned. She remembered having her mother’s love up until then, but after her father was gone things were never the same. Her mother was affectionate to Jack and Ava, but she seemed to hold Skyler at arms-length emotionally. That hurt, a life lived with only the small portion of love her mother doled out, lavishing the rest on her brother and sister. Sometimes Skyler would reach under her bed at night and drag out the metal footlocker that had belonged to her dad when he was a Navy SEAL. She would look at all his war-medals and awards, and after she had made herself sick with longing for the father she could barely remember, she would take out the sole article of his clothing, a moth eaten t-shirt, and breathe in the safe, loving smell of JP.

“I am never marrying Cuatro Rhodes, thank you very much! There was probably a short period of time when I thought that a great big snake and possum and various critter infested ranch was cool, but not anymore. Cuatro intends to graduate from NYU, travel the world for a couple of years while he writes the great American novel, and then hunker down in the wilds of Texas and keep some girl barefoot and pregnant. Trust me, that girl is not me. Besides, he’s so freaking controlling, I want a man who knows I’m his equal. A man who makes me want to rip off my clothes and do nasty, nasty things… Oh fabulous, just what we need, the bikini police,” Hadley hissed under her breath and sat up so fast she felt dizzy. “Here comes trouble, my big brother and his… what… half related brother? Is that what Holden is, I wonder? Ugh, it’s all too much, Holden and Mia’s dad has carried this ancient torch of love for my mother, and now my grandfather is married to Evangeline Bly. God, everyone we know is related to each other. I can’t wait to go to Manhattan and break free of all these practically incestuous relationships; it’s one giant cluster….”

“Really Hads? Did you actually pay money for that… swimsuit? And I use the term lightly, here put some clothes on,” Atticus said, peeling off his t-shirt and tossing it at her.

He loomed over his sister and her friend with Holden by his side, Atticus was six five and Holden was only about an inch shorter. They were built the same, tall with broad shoulders that tapered to narrow waists, and they both stood, muscled and deadly-handsome, with their hands on their hips. Skyler looked up at Atticus and she shielded her eyes with her hand and pretended it was the heat of the sun that caused her cheeks to blaze. It was really the thought of that thin trail of dark hair running southward from Atticus’ naval that disappeared beneath the waistband of his swim trunks. Thoughts of him both tortured and thrilled her, she loved him, truly, madly, deeply…

“Put the t-shirt on Hads,” Atticus said, and he tried to sound forceful but he was distracted by Skyler. Her angels face peered up at him, and her wide, innocent green eyes gave away her longing. Suddenly he reached down and hauled her to her feet next to him. “You’re the best surfer, Sky, why don’t you surf with me? A storm is coming in and the waves are building, can you handle it?” he said, trapping her in his electric blue gaze. It was all Skyler could do to keep from wrapping herself around him right then and there. She wished she had the nerve to tell him that she had every intention of handling
him
very well someday.

“Okay,” she said, blushing so hard that Atticus released her arms and laughed, then ruffled her long blonde hair the way he had done when they were kids. She was seventeen and he was twenty, and she had been in love with him longer than she could remember. To him she had always been the baby of the group, and his little sister’s best friend, and nothing more. She bent over to pick up her surfboard and the sight of her perfectly sublime little ass made Atticus’ heart skip a beat. She possessed a girl’s face and a woman’s figure, and she was breathtaking beautiful. Her heart-shaped face and long, lithe body had appeared on the covers and pages of countless fashion magazines. She had an all-American fresh-faced beauty, her corn-silk hair fell past her small, high breasts, and her wide green eyes were almost too large in her lovely face. Her mouth was full and pink and he had to pull his eyes from it and walk out into the water to hide his growing erection. She was a nice girl, he knew that for sure. She was JP’s youngest daughter, the love-child that his parent’s best friend had loved so much. Charlotte and Finn had kept Skyler close to them after JP was killed in Mexico, when Amanda had turned cold and blamed her for JP’s leaving and going in search of Lizzie.

“Come on,” Atticus called back over his shoulder, tearing his thoughts away from Skyler. “Holden, you surf with Hadley, but I warn you, she’s not any good at it.”

“Right,” Hadley said, “we’ll see about that.” She jumped up and tossed aside the t-shirt Atticus had thrown at her. She didn’t bother to adjust the tiny bikini as it rode up over her little round ass when she walked toward the water with Holden following her.

Fuck!
Holden thought as he watched Hadley walk across the hot white sand. He’d barely noticed her over the last couple of years, she was a year younger than him, but mostly she was Atticus’ much loved baby sister. To say that Atticus was protective of her was an understatement, and hadn’t Holden just promised to protect her from men who looked at her the way he was at that very moment? He and Mia had gone to school in Switzerland until their senior year when Atticus had talked their father into letting them attend and graduate from Country Day Prep. Atticus had graduated the year before so he wasn’t at school with them, but it had been a great experience as far as Holden was concerned, he’d gotten to know and become one of the close group of friends Atticus and Hadley were a part of in San Diego.

During an experiment in a chemistry class the year before; that was the first time he’d seen Hadley Hale up close. She was stunning, that went without saying, tall and gorgeous and graceful with masses of walnut colored hair, and a body that screamed for a man’s hands. Her eyes were a startling blue-grey that seemed to look into your soul, and her mouth… oh, that mouth! He hated to admit that the sight of her mouth literally made him weak in the knees, it was so full and red and… hot. As she walked toward the surf he felt an actual physical need for her, her legs seemed to go on forever, finally ending when they reached that sublime ass of hers. As she splashed into the water she turned her amazing eyes up to glance into his before she lay on her board and paddled out.
Fuck
, her ass was beyond perfection, small and perfectly round, and he knew instinctively that it would fit exactly in his hands. Out of nowhere it seemed, he was imagining his hands tracing down her long narrow back to rest on that tiny waist before they slipped under the miniscule bit of fabric she called a bikini… But, she was forbidden fruit, he’d made a promise to Atticus, and he would simply have to resist the temptation of the utterly delectable Hadley Hale.

“Are you coming or not?” she yelled over the crashing waves and smiled a smile that seemed to light up the world. Holden hesitated for a moment, Cuatro Rhodes was seriously in love with her, and Atticus was unwavering in his belief that no man was good enough for Hadley. He walked into the water and when he caught up with her they floated on their surf boards gazing at into each other’s eyes as if it was the first time they’d ever met.

Mine
, the thought materialized in his head, just as the rolling roar of thunder sounded in the distance.
MINE!
His mind yelled, insistent and determined, but he refused to listen, she was completely off limits. Atticus was a big brother to both of them and he took the job seriously, he sheltered Hadley, and he and Holden hung out and fucked a lot of random girls. That’s what Atticus would believe if Holden expressed any interest in Hadley, that she was just one of the many that Holden conquered, and slept with, and quickly forgot.

“Are you gonna surf or not?” Atticus shouted at Holden across the surging waves. The wind had picked up, the sky was cloud-darkened, and the water was turning rough and choppy.

“Let’s show ‘em how it’s done,” he said to Hadley with a wicked smile, and they moved apart and each of them caught a wave and rode it for long moments before Hadley fell. She didn’t come back to the surface, and Holden felt the cold grip of fear seize his heart. The waves were pounding mercilessly, and lightening streaked across the sky. He dove into the waves and swam through water that was murky with seaweed churned up by the off-shore storm. He could barely see his own hands in front of him but he reached out his long arms and searched under the water. His lungs felt as if they would burst from lack of air when he felt her hand, he grabbed and held it and kicked toward the surface. They surfaced at the same time and she coughed and sputtered as he held her against him with the waves breaking over their heads and tossing them about. Atticus was there on his board like a shadow above them, and he reached down with one powerful arm and lifted his sister up beside him. He gave a Holden a look of immense gratitude and asked Hadley if she was alright.

“It’s cold,” she whispered, and her eyes were large and luminous and shimmering with shock. She looked down into the unconscionably handsome face of Holden Bly as his sea-glass colored eyes watched her with concern.
Holden Bly
, she thought,
my brother’s brother. Son of the man who is still in love with my mother to this day. He’s so damned gorgeous it hurts to look at him, and that body, those freaking muscles! I’m afraid I could get addicted to a man like him, he’s not what I need for a one night stand, and my acting career is all that matters right now. He’s not for me, he’s not for me
…

“Are you alright, that was scary? You were under the water for way too long!” Skyler said, they slipped off the surf boards and rain began to pelt the sand as the little group trudged toward the McCall House.

“She’s alright,” Atticus said, putting an arm roughly around his sister’s shoulders. “This girl is tough, right Hads? But it’s a good thing Holden pulled you out of the water, you should thank him.”

Hadley stopped in her tracks and turned to Holden, huge drops of rain drenched them and lightening zinged across the turbulent sky. She was shaking uncontrollably, maybe from fear, or shock, or cold…. Or maybe because those sea-glass colored eyes made her feel like a million waves were crashing against her heart and threatened to sweep her away.

“Thanks Holden, really, I…”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, and his eyes held something deep and unsaid. “I’d never let anything happen to you… to Atti’s kid sister.”

Atticus laughed at that and Hadley broke free of Holden’s mesmerizing gaze and went into the house and up the stairs to her room.

*

She met Angus whatever-his-name-was by the trellised beach pavilion that stood between the McCall House and the house that Holden and Mia Bly owned. Angus was seventeen and handsome and boring, but his personality was not what interested Hadley. He started to say something and she pressed a finger to his lips to silence him.

“Shhh,” she said. “We don’t want anyone to hear us, now do we, Angus?”

He smiled and leaned down to kiss her, and then buried his face in her hair when she turned her face away. His hands skirted up the backs of her thighs and he sighed loudly when his fingers disappeared into her shorts. She froze then, dread sending an icy chill up her spine at the feel of his hands on her skin. She wanted to turn and run, she wanted… she wanted to be in love, or at least think that she was, before she let a man make love to her.

“Is this really what you want?” she heard the words, and she knew the slow, deep voice even in the dark. Holden was there watching, standing in the shadows at the edge of the pavilion.

“What the fuck?” Angus said, he backed away from Hadley only a step or two, then pulled her back against him. “Who the blasted fuck is this? Your crazy big brother, maybe? I’ve heard tell of him and his habit of scaring all your boyfriends away. Well, you can forget about it, brother, she’s offering herself up like a Christmas gift to be unwrapped and enjoyed.”

Holden moved quickly and grabbed Angus by the throat, lifting him off of his feet. “I’ll let you choose,
Angus
, you can leave and never see her again, and you can keep your job and keep your blood from being spilled. Or, you can stay and I’ll beat the shit out of you and you’ll still never see her again, and you’ll leave here looking like one embarrassed ass-wipe with his face fucked up.”

“Fucking asshole!” Angus choked out when Holden let him go, and he couldn’t stand to look at Hadley as he stalked off into the night.

“I thought you were in love with Cuatro, what the hell are you doing here with that lowlife jerk?” Holden asked, staring first into Hadley’s startled eyes, then down at her disturbingly irresistible lips.

“Were you spying on me? I’ve never been in love with Cuatro. I’m eighteen years old; I’m going to have a career, forget falling in love,
I am never falling in
…”

He bent his face to hers and kissed her, pressing his lips to hers with one hand at the nape of her neck and one on the small of her back. It was a kiss so sensual and drenched in yearning that it should have gone down in history. A kiss that went on and on and Holden felt his heart split open wide, leaving a space where only Hadley would fit. She lifted her face and body toward him, her hands reveling in the feel of his broad, muscled shoulders and chest beneath the thin t-shirt he wore. She felt a buzz begin down low in her belly and spiral through her, igniting a part of her brain that whispered that this man was
the one
, that she would never feel complete without him. Hadley was lost then in pure sensation with Holden’s hands moving over her body awakening every nerve ending. Her body responded to his of its own will, pressing into him. Her hands were wild in their need to feel the texture of his skin as they moved from the hot pulse of his neck to his cheek, then they were lost in his thick, softly waving hair as she pulled his lips harder against hers.