Free Oak, Sophie - Siren in Waiting [Texas Sirens 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Sophie Oak Page B

She said it to be polite. She couldn’t possibly know what it did to his dick.
    “Trev, if you’re trying to show me all the bad things that could happen to me, then I get your point. You’re bigger and stronger than I am. You don’t have to make a fool out of me.”
    He heard the slight hitch in her voice. He had been trained to read women. Beth wasn’t even close to being aroused. She was sad. Her body was slumped over as though she was just waiting for whatever happened to her.
    The discipline would have to wait.
    He helped her to her feet.
    “Thank you. I think you should go now. I promise I won’t get into trouble again.” She smoothed down the skirt of that fluffy, yellow sundress.
    “I told you I can’t go. I can’t leave you alone here.”
    “This is my home.”
    “What’s your dad’s number?”
    “My father passed away.”
    Trev’s heart clenched. She was alone. She really didn’t have anyone to watch out for her. What the hell was he thinking going after a woman like Beth? She was soft and sweet and deserved way more than he would be able to give her.
    And yet, it was so obvious there wasn’t a decent prospect for her on the horizon.
    He liked her. He should treat her the way she should expect to be treated, and that meant getting her out of a house that was obviously dangerous. His only other option was to stay here and watch over her. But if he stayed with her, he wasn’t sure he would be able to control his baser instinct. His cock was already aching.
    “I’m sorry to hear about your father.” He forced the Neanderthal inside him to take a break. He reached over and flicked on the lamp, praying it worked. It didn’t offer much by the way of illumination, but it was better than nothing. And then he caught sight of the monstrosity over his head. “What the hell is that?”
    Beth looked up and a little smile curled her lips. He was happy to see it since her face had paled when she’d mentioned her father. “It’s Maudine Bellows’s version of high art, I’m afraid.”
    It was a chandelier of sorts, only where there should be crystal dripping down, someone had made the whole damn thing out of deer antlers. They pointed up, down, and every which way, as though the “artist” hadn’t been able to decide on a direction and simply shoved a mass of sharp antlers into a bundle, parked some lights here and there, and hung it from the ceiling.
    It sort of creeped Trev out. “I think that’s a whole herd.”
    Beth simply shrugged. “She didn’t have the best taste, I’m afraid. And the actual lights don’t work. I’m going to replace it with something more modern and less, well, dead.”
    That seemed like a good idea. Now that he had a real look around, it was obvious the house needed a lot of work. It looked a little like the set of The Addams Family . Beth was a little ray of sunshine in amongst the gloom. And he couldn’t leave her. “Why don’t you get some things, and I’ll take you back to Shelley’s with me.”
    He hadn’t intended to go back, but he would for Beth. Tomorrow, after he’d met with Aidan and set everything up, he would install a new door and bright, shiny locks.
    And maybe he could take her to dinner if she really didn’t care what people thought.
    She shook her head. “I’m staying here.”
    “That’s a bad idea. Anyone could walk in.”
    “I’ll be fine. Nothing happened. It was just the wind. I’ll move one of the bookshelves in front of the door, and it will be fine.”
    “I can’t leave you here alone.” He took a deep breath. Honesty was always best. “And I can’t stay with you, either. If I stay in this house, I’m going to end up in bed with you.”
    Her eyes flashed to him and then back down, but not before he’d seen the interest there.
    Damn. He needed to walk away. She was so naïve. So fucking innocent, but she wasn’t a girl. She was a woman. She was a woman on her own.
    He should walk the fuck away.
    His hand came out and