Scarred (Unlikely Heroes Book 5) (20 page)

“My tattoos?” He sat up, giving her a full view of his splendid torso. “Sure. What do you want to know?”

Emily studied the eagle tattoo on his chest, then the cheetah across his lower abdomen. “They’re…interesting. Unique. What do they mean?”

He shrugged. “The eagle represents freedom. The cheetah, speed.”

She’d already suspected as much. “Freedom and speed,” she murmured, glancing up into his eyes. “Things you crave.”

He held her gaze. “Yeah.”

“I’m pretty sure you don’t have any problem finding speed when you need it. But what about freedom? Do you think you’ll ever find it?”

He lowered his gaze. “I don’t know. Maybe you can help me with that.”

Her heart melted.
Oh Sebastian.
“You know I will.”

His gaze darted back to hers.

“I’m hungry. Let’s cook some breakfast.”

She giggled. “Breakfast? It’s almost noon.”

He shrugged. “Lunch then. I’m starving. You wore me out.”

She slapped playfully at his arm. Their gazes locked.

They smiled at each other. Sebastian rolled away and tossed the covers aside, slid his legs over the side of the bed. Emily stared at his beautiful body as he strode naked across the room to the shower. He turned and caught her staring.

“Wanna take a shower with me?”

Heat bloomed up her neck and into her face. Did she?

He paused, a smile curving his mouth. “I’ve already seen every inch of you naked. I’ve already
tasted
every inch of you. There’s no need to be shy.” He winked.

Her blush deepened. Emily sat up. She let her gaze roam down his perfect, masculine body, then back up. Yes, she wanted to take a shower with him. Wanted to wash him, wanted to feel the sleek wetness over his skin as she stroked a sponge over his hard, muscular body. She’d never done something like that before. It seemed so…naughty.

As if what you’ve already done with him wasn’t naughty?

She slid her legs over the side of the bed and strode toward him, naked, her head held high. She’d never been so daring, so brazen before.

His gaze swept down her body, lingering for a long moment at the juncture of her thighs, then crawled back to hers.

Her cheeks flamed.

“Did I ever tell you how gorgeous you are?” His voice was husky.

She lost her self-consciousness in the possessive look he sent her. “No. Did I ever tell you how gorgeous you are?”

He snagged her around the waist, scooped her up into his arms. Lowering his mouth to hers, he kissed her as he carried her into the bathroom.

* * *

They didn’t leave his house for three entire days. They spent seventy to eighty percent of that time making love. Sebastian didn’t realize he could be a marathon lover. He’d never wanted to be a marathon lover before. As soon as they finished making love, they rested for a few hours, watched a movie, had something to eat, took a lazy shower, then made love again. And again. And again. Emily seemed as eager as he and initiated nearly half of their lovemaking sessions. It made him feel good that he was able to help her overcome her trauma and she trusted him enough and liked being with him enough to stay with him like this. He’d never had a woman stay with him like this before. He’d never wanted one to.

He’d never been so happy, so content before. He didn’t want it to end.

Emily was his new addiction.

But she was better than any drug, alcohol or other addictive substance. It wasn’t the sex he was addicted to. It was
her
. Everything about her fascinated him. Being around her soothed him, pushed the demons back, made him feel again. She’d snared him like one of the talons from his eagle tattoo, hooking him deep. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to get enough of her. He didn’t want to contemplate what it meant. It was easier to admit to having a new addiction than to admit he was falling in love. These feelings were still so new to him. For now he wasn’t ready to admit to anything more than that she was an addiction he couldn’t fight. An addiction he didn’t want to fight. She made him happy and right now that was all he cared about.

By the end of the third day, worry slithered in. They hadn’t used any form of birth control. He was concerned about an unwanted pregnancy.

“Emily?” he murmured, brushing her long hair back behind her ear.

She settled her head against his chest and smiled up at him.

“Yes?”

“We need to talk about something.”

Concern flickered across her face. She sat up. “What?”

“Birth control.” He paused. “We haven’t been using any. Is there a possibility you could get pregnant?”

She considered that for a moment, then smiled and snuggled back against him. “No. It’s the wrong time of the month. I should be okay for a few more days at least. Maybe even a week.”

Relief swept through him. “I think we need to discuss birth control. Are you okay with…using condoms now?”

“Yes. I think I’m over that now. You cured me. When we get back to Idaho, I will get on birth control pills.”

“Good.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. One less thing to worry about.

Then a deeper worry twisted his gut. Travis would be showing up soon. Sebastian needed to get Emily out of here before then. He had no idea what his father might do to her if he found out about her. Sebastian had been selfish to bring her here, to put her in danger like this.

But she makes me happy. I can’t let her go. I’m addicted to her.

Then you’ll have to do something about Travis or he’ll take her away.

“I’m taking a shower.” Emily smiled lazily at him as she slid her legs over the side of the bed. “Then we can make dinner and maybe go for a walk along the beach.”

“Sounds like a plan.” He rose from the bed, followed her into the bathroom. “But I’m joining you in there.”

She giggled and pulled him into the shower with her. “Then it might be awhile before we eat.”

As she brushed her smooth, perfect body against his, her nipples hardening against his chest, he forgot all about the threat of his father.

He forgot about everything but her.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“He’s at the Venice Beach house. He brought the girl intern with him.”

“Did he now?” Interesting. Travis smirked at his reflection in the rearview mirror, then scowled as he continued picking at the stubborn piece of steak that was wedged between his teeth. If he wanted to pick up a chic tonight, he needed to get that piece of meat out of his teeth first. Fuck.

He’d just finished eating at the Long Horn Steakhouse. He’d originally had a date with Bertrice from the beauty shop, but the bitch had stood him up, so he’d eaten alone. He hated eating alone. He preferred witty banter with a slutty, scantily clad woman he could ogle across the table. Though the meal had been good, it would have been a lot better if Bertrice hadn’t stood him up. The only thing that would make him feel better now would be getting laid. So he’d parked his truck down the street from the corner where he’d seen the girls hanging out. These girls weren’t cheap, which pissed him off even more. Bertrice would have given it to him for the price of dinner. Now he’d have to pay double. Or triple. Damn that bitch anyway.

Travis had been watching the tall brunette on the left. She was a looker. He bet she knew how to please a man. She better not charge too much. She was the one he wanted to take home tonight. Yep. If he couldn’t have Bertrice, the brunette hooker would have to do.

“Trav? You there?”

Travis cleared his throat. “Yeah. Got distracted by this hot chic on the corner.” He tried to recall what Marty had just told him. Sebastian. Yes. He remembered now. “So loverboy’s come out of his celibacy. Huh. He must have changed his mind about the fight. Why else would he be in L.A.? He probably brought her along so he could show off his fighting skills. Women love that kind of shit. Tell me, is she pretty?”

Marty snorted. “Aren’t they always? Yeah. She’s smoking hot. They rode the motorcycle all the way here. I’ve been tailing them since yesterday morning. Right now I’m sitting out here on the street in front of the house, laying low. You know cops patrol this area regularly with all the rich snobs that live here. I’m probably going to have to move soon before one of the neighbors notice me. You owe me big time for this. I want a hefty cut from Saturday’s fight.”

Travis lifted the phone away from his ear and glowered at it. “I’ll pay you what I think you deserve and nothing more!” He took a deep breath, let it out. If Sebastian didn’t show up for the fight, Travis would lose all the money he’d spent setting everything up, and that didn’t sit well with him. He’d splurged on the meal at the Long Horn in celebration of the upcoming event, in anticipation of a huge win. Arranging the fights wasn’t easy, or cheap. Travis expected Sebastian to hold up his end of the deal. Or the boy would suffer like he’d never suffered before.

If you defy me, Sebastian, I’ll make you scream like a little girl.

But if Sebastian was in L.A., he had to be there for a reason. And Travis could think of only one reason why Sebastian would be there.

“Sebastian either decided to do the fight…or he’s fucking with me.” Would the boy be stupid enough to defy Travis? Didn’t he care about the noose Travis had around his neck?

Shit. Maybe he doesn’t care. Maybe he really is fucking with me.

“I’m coming there right now.” Travis flicked the toothpick aside and started the truck. He’d have to pick up the brunette another time. He had more important things to deal with. “I’m calling Chris to fly me to L.A. I’ll call you when I get in. I’ll need you to pick me up from the airport.”

“Okee dokee.” Marty hung up.

Travis had to see Sebastian’s new woman for himself. If the boy still balked when Travis got there, then the woman might be exactly what Travis needed to get Sebastian to behave.

Slamming the truck into gear, he headed for the airport.

It was time to remind the boy who was boss. Sebastian
would
do this fight. Travis would make sure of it.

* * *

With a towel wrapped around her sarong style, Emily left Sebastian to finish up in the shower. She went to her duffle bag on the floor next to his. Bending over the bag, she searched for something to wear. She pulled out a pink summer top and a pair of jean shorts. Rising, she turned toward the bed. Something in Sebastian’s bag—something out of the ordinary—caught her eye. Black in color, with what looked like eyeholes, it stuck out of the top of his duffle bag. A mask?

She glanced toward the closed bathroom door, then snatched the mask up. Emily held it up to her face. Two eyeholes. An elastic band that secured it around the wearer’s head. She glanced in the mirror that hung above the dresser, held it up to her face again.

A banded mask, it left the lower half of the wearer’s face bare. Like a bandit would wear. Like a…raccoon.

Why would Sebastian have a raccoon mask in his duffle bag? Was it a souvenir from one of his movies? She didn’t recall him playing a bandit in any of his movies.

The bathroom door jerked open.

Crap!

Emily flicked the raccoon mask toward his duffle bag. It landed on the edge, then fell to the carpet.

She’d been caught snooping through his things.

Her heart pounding, she slowly lifted her gaze to his.

Sebastian stood in the doorway with a towel wrapped around his waist. He stared at her. He didn’t move. His gaze flickered to the duffle bag and the mask lying carelessly next to it, then back to her.

Crap.
What could she say that would excuse her snooping in his bag?

I wasn’t snooping. Not really. It just didn’t look like it belonged there. My curiosity got the best of me.

It was snooping.

She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. I didn’t meant to snoop. It just…didn’t look right, so I picked it up to see what it was.”

He moved then, striding across the room toward her. Bending, he snatched up the mask and stuffed it back into his bag.

“I didn’t want you to find out about that.”

Why not? What was he hiding?

She stared at him, but he avoided her eyes.

“What…is it?”

A loud pounding came from the front of the house. The doorbell shrilled, over and over. “Fuck.” Sebastian swung away from her. “You have to hide, Emily. That’s probably Travis. Get in the closet. Quickly. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought you here.”

I shouldn’t have brought you here.

What was going on?

She cleared her throat. “Who’s Travis?”

He sighed. “My father.”

She planted her hands on her hips. “I’m not hiding in your closet! I’m not scared of your father.”

He turned on her, his eyes narrowing, his nostrils flaring. He was pissed. “You’d better be. He’ll chew you up and spit you out so fast you won’t know what happened. If you don’t hide in that fucking closet, he will hurt you. Is that what you want?”

What was the matter with him? Why was he acting like this?

Had he been expecting his father all along? Was that why he’d come to L.A.? What was really going on here? What hadn’t Sebastian told her?

And what was with the raccoon mask?

I didn’t want you to find out about that.

What did that mean?

Sebastian yanked a pair of shorts up his legs, letting the towel fall to the floor, then strode from the room without a backward glance.

Emily snatched up her clothes and darted for the closet.

The closet was a huge walk-in closet with numerous rods and hooks for hanging clothes, shelves for shoes, and little compartments for smaller things. A woman’s dream closet. But it was nearly empty. Sebastian chose to live out of his duffle bag instead of using this beautiful closet. He didn’t even wear expensive designer clothes. His preferred attire was Polo shirts or cocktail shirts with jeans or, lately, shorts. But she had to admit the Polos and jeans looked damned good on him. Sebastian looked good in anything he wore.

If I had a closet like this, I’d fill it up with beautiful clothes, lots of shoes…

Emily sighed and slipped inside, closing the door behind her.

Faint voices came from somewhere in the house. The voices grew louder, closer.

Emily quickly dressed and pressed her ear to the door.

“Where’s the woman?”

She jerked away from the door, her heart hammering. They were in Sebastian’s bedroom, right outside the closet door.
Crap.

“She’s not here. She went down to the beach.” Sebastian’s voice.

“Not here, huh? You sure she ain’t hiding in the closet?”

The closet door swung inward. Emily leapt back with a soft yelp. Her heart pounding, she stared up at the stranger who strode boldly into the closet. He was tall like Sebastian, but wider in the shoulders, stockier. Dark hair like Sebastian’s, though much longer, curling in an unkempt manner about his shoulders. Light blue eyes like Sebastian’s, though this man’s eyes were mean and filled with a cunning that unnerved her. His face was weathered and rough-looking. She guessed him to be in his early to mid-fifties. He reeked of cigarette smoke. Emily wrinkled her nose and took a wary step back.

“Well, fucking A, Sebastian! Where’d you find this hot little tamale?” The man leered down at her, his rancid breath making her cringe away. “Why you hiding in the closet, sweet thing?” His voice was deeper than Sebastian’s, rougher, his accent heavier than Sebastian’s, laced heavily with the “hillbilly dialects” Sebastian had trained out of his own speech. Though Sebastian’s speech still contained the lilts and drawls of the region where he’d grown up, his words were smooth and cultured, not crass and rude like his father’s. It wasn’t Travis’s speech that offended Emily, but Travis himself.

Emily shivered in revulsion. Her skin crawled at the lascivious look in his eyes. This creep was Sebastian’s father? No wonder Sebastian had changed his name. She wouldn’t want anyone to know if this man was her father either.

She glanced behind him to where Sebastian stood, unspeaking.

Was she supposed to answer him? Sebastian wasn’t helping at all. He just stood there, saying nothing, no emotion on his face.

He’d gone into acting mode. He’d shut himself off.

“Let me introduce myself, Sweet  Cheeks. I’m Travis Wade, Sebastian’s dad.” He held out a hand in greeting.

Emily ignored his outstretched hand. She took another step back. No way in hell was she touching him.

Travis narrowed his eyes. “Don’t get all high and mighty with me, bitch. If you can spread those pretty thighs for Sebastian, you can do it for me too. He ain’t no better than me. He may be younger and prettier and have a college education, but the apple don’t fall far from the tree, you know.”

He moved suddenly, snagging a handful of Emily’s hair. She gave a startled yelp before he slammed her back against the closet wall and rubbed his body crudely into hers. “How about you give me some of that sweetness between your legs?”

Sebastian darted behind him, a flash of movement that Emily barely registered before his arm snaked around Travis’s throat. Travis gasped, choked.

Emily blinked.

And Travis was gone.

Her heart pounding, Emily sagged back against the wall and stared, wide-eyed, as Sebastian dragged his father away. With his arm tight around Travis’s throat, Sebastian steered him out of the closet and slammed the door behind them.

Her legs trembling, Emily slid to the floor.

Oh. My. God.

Her breaths came in quick pants and she forced herself to relax, to slow her breathing into a normal rhythm.

Sounds of a scuffle came from the bedroom.

Grunts. Bangs. Curses. Thuds.

Then…silence.

Emily tensed, waiting. Should she go out there? See if Sebastian was okay?

“Okay, boy, you win.
You win!
I give. Don’t break my fucking arm. I won’t touch her.” Travis let out a high-pitched squeal. “Please! Don’t break my arm!”

A crashing sound followed.

Then Sebastian’s voice, “If you touch her again, you’re dead. She’s not a cheap whore, you son-of-a-bitch. She’s not for sale.”

“They’re all for sale.”

Travis let out another loud squeal. Had Sebastian pinned him to the floor or something?

“Okaaay! I won’t touch her. As long as you do what you’re told.”

More silence.

“You taking her to the fight tomorrow?”

“No.” Sebastian’s voice was cold, emotionless.

Fight? What fight? Emily’s heartbeat accelerated. What was going on? She crept toward the closet door. She wasn’t about to be left in the dark anymore. Damn Sebastian. What was he keeping from her?

She pulled the closet door open.

Sebastian and his father stood in the center of Sebastian’s room, several feet apart, eyeing each other warily.

Both men glanced at her as she stepped out of the closet.

Travis chuckled. “Does she know you’re the Raccoon? Do you wear the mask while you’re fucking her?”

Sebastian moved swiftly, knocking Travis to the floor. He knelt over his father, his forearm pressed into Travis’s throat. “One of these days I’m going to kill you.”