Free Rule's Property (The House of Rule Book 2) by Lynda Chance

words held a sharp edge. "Courtney . There's a more immediate problem than my goddamn ego here. If you don't tell me the truth, I might make the wrong assumption and not take the kind of care I should." His eyes held hers as his control seemed to slip a notch and he rasped, "You understand me, baby? I'm half-fucking crazed already; if there's a chance I might hurt you, you better fucking tell me right now."
    His meaning hit her all at once.
    It was probably ridiculous, but as she realized that Nick was fueled with enough testosterone to stop a moving train and that he was impatient on top of it, her face paled and she stared back without speaking, a sudden feminine fear holding her in its grip.
    His hands clenched as he prompted her for an answer. "I need something here. Give me something to go on."
    She took a deep breath and held his eyes and made a decision because in essence, not only did she despise pain of any kind, she could only lose her virginity once, and even if she and Nick were standing up inside a closet, she wanted it to be special between them. "Be careful," she whispered.
    He stared at her for the count of two seconds before his eyes closed and he leaned in toward her. He placed his lips gently on her forehead, and there was no other way that Courtney could describe it. He kissed her in benediction.
    It was as if a switch had been flipped inside of him. Gone was the sexually aggressive man of moments ago; in his place was Nick, as he'd been on her eighteenth birthday.
    With a gentle movement, taking her by the hand, he led her from the closet and into her bedroom. He started for the bed, but then with a quick turn, he swept her up into his arms and carried her out of the room, down the hall and into his suite of rooms.
    He was just about to drop her to the bed when they heard pounding on the door in the vestibule adjacent to the elevator. The noise was loud and cacophonous as it resonated through the air and Nick's hold on Courtney tightened immediately. They both looked in the direction of the door and then they heard Garrett's voice. "Nick! What the fuck? Are you in there or not?"
    Courtney felt Nick's body tense as his head came down to her ear and he said under his breath, "Not a word. Don't move a muscle. I'm not letting him in."
    Realizing that she was half-naked and that Garrett had to know they were inside the apartment, she started squirming, wanting out of Nick's arms.
    His hands clenched as if he wasn't going to let her go until Garrett changed gears by shouting, "Courtney! I know you're in there. I need to talk to you. Come open the door, damn it."
    Nick growled, low in his throat.
    "Let me down," she hissed at Nick and with a low rumble of anger, he loosened his arms. She didn't wait another second. She raced back to her room and then to her closet and pulled on the jeans and panties that Nick had taken from her not five minutes before.
    Sixty seconds later, she opened the front door, sans shoes, and let a clearly pissed-off Garrett inside.
    Nick stood at the sideboard in the dining room pouring a drink, and Courtney couldn't believe he was letting his agitation show by mixing a cocktail in the middle of the afternoon. As far as she knew, he never drank during the day, unless absolutely forced to because of business reasons, and certainly not on a normal Thursday afternoon. But she'd been gone a while. Who knew?
    "Hey," she greeted as Garrett strolled inside and looked first to her and then to his brother with a suspicious glint in his eye.
    "What the fuck's going on?" he asked as he continued to look between the two of them.
    Courtney was guiltily aware that her hair was wild and her color was heightened. She glanced at Nick who was grimacing as he swallowed a hefty drink of his bourbon. He made no attempt to answer his brother; he didn't even glance in his direction.
    "Nothing," Courtney answered Garrett as neutrally as possible. "I was unpacking in the closet and didn't hear you. Where's my