hadn't made him happy. Lex made a soothing noise and beckoned him. "Time to hide from them for a while."
Mad abandoned the sofa to make room for Dallas, who dropped to the plush cushions with a groan. "That's how I kept from wringing his damn neck. I thought about how disappointed you'd be if we had to waste the night shooting our way across two sectors to get home."
"What the hell did he say?" she asked.
Dallas snagged her with one arm and hauled her into his lap so she was straddling his thighs, her face level with his. Still scowling, he traced his thumb along her jaw. "He was impressed with how neatly you cut Colby's knees out from under him. He wants to buy a girl from Cerys and have me train her up like I did you."
A notion almost as laughable as it was horrible. "Someone doesn't understand how the concept works, hmm? A woman who'll speak her mind?"
"Like he could handle one." Dallas let his head thump back against the sofa and grinned up at her. "Besides, there's only one Lex."
"Only me." The tension started to seep from his muscles, and she stroked her hands up his arms. "Did you tell him to go fuck himself?"
"Worse. I told him Cerys sent you to me just the way you are." He stroked her throat and the soft lace edging her collar. "I hope she sends him a clever little spy who jerks his territory out from under him. I don't care if it makes her stronger."
Bren couldn't let that stand. "You can't afford not to care," he told Dallas firmly. "Cerys is ruthless."
"Fine, I don't care tonight," Dallas amended. "He's already got it in his head to take one of Cerys's girls, and I was too fucking pissed to talk him out of it."
Lex nuzzled his cheek. "Don't listen to Bren. You need to relax for a while, or you'll drive yourself nuts."
"Mmm." His hands fell to her hips, edging her closer. "You gonna help me relax?"
No matter what he'd promised before dinner, he couldn't mean to include Mad and Bren--especially since at least one of them had to pull first watch. Still, just knowing the other men could hear the gentle command was its own measure of arousal. Her skin prickled, and her nipples tightened. "Is that an order?"
He kept one hand on her hip and caught her chin with the other, his thumb coming to rest against her lips. "All night, all those bastards' eyes on you. They wish they owned you, even Cerys. But they don't, do they?"
She couldn't move her mouth under the bruising pressure of his thumb, so she shook her head.
"That's right. You're an O'Kane." He eased his thumb down, forcing her lips apart. "And you had your hand on my dick half the night. Get on your knees and finish what you started."
The urge to obey trembled through her. She wanted him in her mouth, but not as much as she wanted to challenge him with a little bite. So she did it literally, closing her teeth sharply on his thumb.
He laughed and drove his other hand into her hair, twisting as he surged to his feet and spilled her to the floor. "Fine, Lexie. I'll get just as hard putting you there myself. Maybe harder."
He held tight to her hair, the delicious pressure skirting close to pain, and her hand brushed his erection as she reached for his belt buckle. "That's how I like it. Hard enough to be a little rough."
"I know." He gave her hair an extra sharp tug as a fond smile curved his lips. "You got a taste of what you like. You want more? Give me what I like."
She glanced over her shoulder. Mad quirked one eyebrow at her from a large cushion, and Bren's fingers had constricted around his glass. "You're a tease, Dallas," he muttered darkly.
"I'm a selfish bastard," Dallas corrected, dragging Lex's head back around. "Ask them if they'll watch, Lex. Ask them if they'll do it because it makes you hot."
"I don't ask anyone for anything." She pulled his belt buckle open. "Nobody but you."
His eyes sparked, and his slow smile promised sex, the kind where you came so hard you'd ache for days. "That's my girl." He looked past her. "You two can make yourselves scarce or park your asses on the couch and enjoy the show. I'll return the favor when Cerys sends a girl around to bounce on