Ties That Bind

“Shhh,” he gently placed his finger under her chin and lifted it so she would look up at him. He already knew why she was stopping. Ashton Fox had already lost… though she didn’t know that yet. His eyes darkened attractively as he listened to her near ragged breathing from only a simple kiss.

“Don’t be sorry… you should never be sorry for loving me. At least I know you forgive me for not telling you about our mother.” Hunter let go of her, forcing himself to step back and press the button so the elevator doors would open for her.

Knowing he would talk about his mother when he was ready, Angel turned and fled the elevator, no longer trusting herself to be alone with him. Once she was sure he was gone, she slowed her steps.

Poor Hunter… and Ray. They had always been so gentle with their mother and she had loved them dearly in return. Angel remembered often wishing she and her own mother had that kind of relationship. But her mother was a stranger to her… always had been.

When the elevator doors closed behind her, Hunter placed his hands against the same wall he had just held her against… pushing at it in frustration. If counting to ten only worked. Closing his eyes he did it anyway, forcing his breathing to return to something resembling normal. When he straightened and opened his eyes, he was perfectly calm once again.

Flipping his cell phone open, he dialed Tristian’s number to tell him his sister was settled. Hunter frowned seeing there was no signal on the cell phone.

Angel walked into her room and smiled seeing they had left everything like it had been before she’d moved. She threw herself backwards onto the mattress with a happy sigh as she closed her eyes. As soon as she did, what she and Hunter had just done in the elevator came back to haunt her and make her body burn.

She had been gone so long that she’d figured he wouldn’t want her like that anymore. Tristian had started dating someone… why hadn’t Hunter?

When she’d started dating Ashton… she had tried to block out the memories of Hunter and Tristian. But now that she was back, it felt like her heart was already being pulled apart again. She’d been in love with both of them for so long that it was the reason she had started dating Ashton in the first place… to forget. But when Hunter had touched her in the elevator just now, it had confirmed her worse fears… she wasn’t in love with Ashton Fox and he would never make her feel like Hunter just did.

She flattened her palm against her lower stomach and then slowly slid it down between her legs, arching her body as she did so. She closed her eyes when the imaginary image of Hunter wavered and was replaced with the memory of Tristian’s heated touch.

Chapter 3 “Jealousy”

It was almost dark when Tristian switched the mellow music out for some alternative rock then grabbed the bottle of wine he had hidden down low inside the Tiki-Bar. As he picked up three glasses, a hint of a smile flickered across his lips. He had recently found his grandfather’s hidden wine cellar within the secret hallways that ran under and through the huge building.

Keeping the other family members from knowing about the narrow hallways was the only thing Tristian was glad his grandfather had done. Now he had his own little secret and so far only one other person knew about it, Angel, and she wasn’t the type to go exploring the cobwebbed catacombs.

Seeing Ashton come in the side entrance, he called to him and waved him over. “It’s time to start meeting the family.” Tristian led them to one of the upholstered picnic tables where the twins were entertaining Stacey.

“Okay. I haven’t even started drinking yet and I’m already seeing double,” Ashton joked hoping it would be a good icebreaker.

Hearing them, Damien and Devin both glanced up seeing the bottle of wine and letting their gaze follow it as Tristian set it down on the table.

“Hey, that’s one of the bottles from grandfather’s secret stash. I saw him and dad drinking one a long time ago.” Devin grabbed it and started prying at the cork. “Where the hell did you find this one?”

Before Tristian could even answer, Damien nodded toward Ashton. “Tristian? What’d you bring him for? We need another guy like we need a hole in the head.” He slid his arm around Stacey while his twin was distracted.

“Ha ha,” Tristian set the glasses down. “I would like for you to meet Ashton Fox… Angel’s boyfriend.” He raised his finger and actually pointed as he introduced them to Ashton. “And this is Devin… and Damien, our cousins… along with Stacey, who just comes to torture them when she finds the time.” He winked at Stacey knowing she wouldn’t deny it.

Ashton stuck his hand out and tried not to cringe as the twins took turns almost breaking his fingers with their grip. Flexing his hand to get the blood flowing again, he smiled and said, “Angel told me a lot about you guys. It’s good to finally meet the twins.”

“So, our little Angel told you about her favorite kissing cousins?” Damien asked with a straight face.

“Yeah, she also told me about the bloody nose you got for the effort,” Ashton said just as seriously, if not a little bored. If he was fated to crank up the testosterone… then so be it.

Tristian laughed loudly and smacked Ashton on the back, “That-a-boy, get him.”

“Are you serious?” Stacey asked, laughing with Tristian as she reached for one of the wine glasses Devin had just finished pouring.

“Hardly ever… as far as I can tell.” Damien grabbed his glass and downed it. It was sad to see that Angel had managed to get herself yet another bodyguard. Wasn’t the Indian brigade enough?

Ignoring the twins, Tristian tapped Ashton on the shoulder to get him to quit glaring. “Over there is Uncle Robert and his wife Diane,” he pointed to the couple that was climbing into the hot tub. “They stopped having children after the twins for some reason.” He tried not to laugh when that got a smirk out of Ashton.

“Who’s your friend?” Tiffany came over, putting her knee beside Devin and leaning on it like she was bored but curious. She was wearing a baby-blue bikini that was several sizes too small with a sheer wrap tied around her waist.

She flicked Devin on the ear when he turned his head to stare right at her breasts. “Ewww, stop that you pervert.”

“Give it up Tiff, he’s taken,” Devin said in a pitying tone then winked at her. “I guess you’re stuck with me after all.” He growled when he noticed Damien trying to kiss Stacey. “Damn it Damien, I can’t turn my back on you for a minute, can I?”

When the twins tried to lean toward each other to argue, Stacey was still in the middle of them. She put a delicate hand on each one of their shoulders and pushed. “Cut it out guys or I swear I’ll go home again,” she warned them.

“Tiffany, meet Ashton… Angel’s guest for the week,” Tristian downgraded Ashton from boyfriend status to guest on purpose. If Tiffany wanted to take a shot at Ash… then who was he to stop her. “Tiffany here, is our youngest cousin and she has two siblings around here somewhere.”

“They’re in the pool with their friends,” Tiffany pouted feeling just as sulky as Devin. Rolling her eyes, she grabbed Devin’s hand and pulled him out of the chair. “Come on… let’s go get wet.”

“Sure,” Devin slapped Stacey on the butt as he followed her toward the pool.

Ashton cocked an eyebrow but bit his tongue refusing to say anything out loud. Besides, the family would probably just gang up on him if he said what was running through his mind.

Tristian pointed toward the dark haired girl climbing the later of the high dive, “That’s Paris, Tiffany’s older sister. And the strange man coming up the ladder behind her is probably her new toy for the week because I have never seen him before.” He turned in his chair looking towards the other end of the pool. “And one of the two people making out in the kiddy section would be Jason, their brother.”

“What’s in the wine around here?” Ashton asked, hoping it sounded like a joke.

“Why do you think I’m not drinking it?” Tristian smiled liking Ashton more and more… sometimes life sucked. “Their mom should be showing up soon. Aunt Carley.” So Damien wouldn’t overhear, he leaned toward Ashton and added in a whisper, “That is, unless she is so drunk that she can’t walk.”

“I bet that’s her,” Ashton nodded toward the entrance since he had been scanning it watching for Angel. The middle-aged lady looked like the girls but with shorter hair and way too much makeup. She kind of looked tired… or wait a minute… did she just stagger?

“Yeah… that’s her. I bet she goes straight for the liquor.” Tristian made a winning bell sound when Carley picked up a bottle of crown royal from the Tiki-Bar and took it to a lounge chair not even bothering with a glass.

“And who is that?” Ashton asked pointing back toward the entrance, seeing a girl around Angel's age with long brown hair and fair skin.

“That would be our other cousin,” Tristian left his chair and met the girl halfway. Knowing this would really freak Ashton out; he dipped his head, giving Shae a long passionate kiss. Once he thought it was good enough of a show, he breathed against her lips. “Don’t get mad at me… but I just told Angel’s boyfriend that you were one of our cousins. Did he fall out of his seat yet?”

Shae giggled, “No, but is he always that pale?”

Tristian glanced over his shoulder and almost choked on his laugh when Ashton instantly looked in the other direction as if he hadn’t been watching. “Okay, let’s go let him off the hook.” Tristian led her by the hand back to the table noticing Damien and Stacey had joined Devin in the pool.

“This is my cousin Shae,” he grabbed his ribs when Shae elbowed him. “I mean my girlfriend Shae,” he smiled guiltily.

Ashton crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head studying them. “Where’s that sister of yours? I suddenly feel the urge to hide behind someone.”

“Is my brother giving you a hard time?” Angel asked from directly behind him. She was smiling at Shae, having overheard the cousin remark.

“Thank god,” Ashton leaned his head back as Angel leaned down and gave him a light kiss on the lips. He was suddenly jealous because it wasn’t half as passionate as the simple kiss he had seen her slip Hunter. “I know I won’t be twenty-one for a couple more hours but your brother is seriously trying to drive me to drink.”

Pulling her around beside him, Ashton couldn’t help but glance behind her to see if the Indian was dogging her heels. Seeing a man leaning against one of the thick polls of the Tiki-Bar watching them, he frowned at first thinking it was Hunter… then realizing it wasn’t. This man was Indian, but something about him seemed more dangerous than the one he had already met.

Ray didn’t bother to look away but instead locked eyes with Angel’s boyfriend. Giving him a cold stare, he started walking straight toward them… never breaking eye contact. Seeing Angel follow the boy’s gaze, Ray softened his expression to glance at her, not caring what Ashton thought of him.

Angel’s eyes instantly lit up, “Oh look, its Ray!”