Lost : The Little Sisters Book One Read online

  “Aren’t you sharing with Jace?” Lucy asked her, for she had been sharing his bed every past visit.

  “Nope, I’ll sleep in the living room with Cat,” she said, moving to push past.

  “Wait! Cat could sleep with Jace,” Lucy said then, wanting to avoid her looming fate.

  “Nope,” Emily shook her head. “I need her with me,” she explained simply, and Lucy accepted that she did; the two were incredibly close and with her recent disappointment with Jace still fresh on her mind, she would need the comfort that only Cat could provide. Lucy nodded her head, but she couldn’t share Jace’s bed with him either; not with the way she felt about him.

  Lucy changed quickly and grabbed her blankets and pillow, deciding to sleep on the chaise in the living room, only to find her way barred by Jace.

  “Where are you going? The twins have taken the sofa-bed,” he reminded her. Lucy stared past him into the darkened corridor behind him and realised everyone else had turned in to bed.

  “I was going to take the chaise,” she mumbled out, “the double bed won’t hold the two of us,” Lucy reminded him, for he was huge, and she was no longer small either.

  “We’ll manage,” he replied huskily, “the chaise won’t be comfortable. Get in bed. I’ll go change.”

  Lucy found herself nodding and obeying. The strange tension that had been haunting her throughout the day was back humming and crackling in the air between them. She watched him grab his pyjama bottoms and head into the bathroom. Then Lucy got under the duvet and shivered with impatience and trepidation while she waited.

  She curled into herself and huddled under the duvet, trying to warm her trembling limbs, knowing full well that it was not the chill but the tension that was causing her to break out in shivers. Lucy tried to rub the goosebumps away and think of anything other than Jace unclothing behind the closed door only inches away from the bed. But her mind drew a blank at anything other than replaying on the fact that he took no top with him—only his pyjama bottoms.

  The room glared bright as the bathroom door opened to reveal Jace, but Lucy had squeezed her eyes shut and turned to face the other way. The bathroom light snapped off and footsteps padded over to the bed. A muffled fumbling later and the bedside lamp was lit.

  “You’re on my side of the bed,” said Jace gently, as he lifted the duvet to slide in beside her. “Here, I’ll shift you,” he whispered before sliding his arm beneath her and hauling her tense body over to him. Lucy bit her lips and gritted her teeth tightly, as she all but whimpered at the contact.

  “Shhh, it’s alright. I got you,” he soothed, as he continued to whisper huskily in her ear, but she couldn’t comprehend. Lucy seemed to have lost all ability to think.

  “Do you recall it? Your sixteenth birthday?” Jace whispered bringing up that tabooed subject just as he settled her not to the side but on top of him. His hands wrapped about her as he said, “Three years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. There has not been a moment since that I hadn’t thought back to that day.”

  She flushed red in embarrassment, recalling that day all too well. Throwing herself at him over the slightest show of his interest. She had all but dodged his footsteps the night of her sweet sixteenth and all because of one misplaced birthday kiss on his part. It hadn’t meant a thing to him.

  So why did he claim to still have thoughts about it now? Wrapped in his arms as she was, her body aflame by the mere contact with his, she didn’t need this reminder. She also didn’t think she could process any more. She was being bombarded by sensations on all fronts. It was unfair. It was not as if… as if… oh god!

  His hands absentmindedly swept down her back in a caressing stroke that repeated itself, again and again. Lucy broke out in goosebumps anew from the shivers that were ruthlessly raking through her. She only hoped he hadn’t noticed.

  “I don’t think of it at all,” Lucy managed to get out through gritted teeth.

  “Don’t you? Well… we can’t have that now, can we,” Jace said mildly, as he continued to run his hand caressingly down her spine, wreaking havoc to her sense of wellbeing along the way. She was beginning to crave in ways she hadn’t ever before. If he knew what was good for him. He should stop real soon.

  “I don’t understand,” Lucy muttered despairingly, as she tried in vain to pull away to preserve his wellbeing, if not her own. In the state she was in there was no knowing what she would do. But it was as though the forces of nature were against her for, despite Jace’s relatively relaxed hold on her, Lucy couldn’t seem to pry herself even an inch away. The only movement she seemed to manage at all was a push forward that pressed her closer against his warmth.

  “Shhh,” he soothed again, as her rebelling body twitched against him in a final futile resistance before it succumbed again to melt over him in a mindless heap.

  “I got you,’’ he whispered, as if responding to her unvoiced concern.

  Not!

  She knew he got her… that was the whole problem. Lucy tugged away lamely, or at least she thought she did for she hadn’t moved at all. It must have been a combination of all the emotional turmoil of the day, news of her father and found brother, the mental straining against her attraction to him, and the inner war against herself, for his whispered command, “Sleep” hit her like a ton of hot bricks, and Lucy was finally, thankfully, out like light.

  Chapter 4

  Lucy woke to the bright glare of the morning sun and a shaking bed. The rattling and rocking movement of the mattress made her vaguely consider the possibility she was on a boat out at sea, or at the very least the devious twins had set her, mattress and all, adrift on a raft in it.

  Bemused at her own silly thoughts Lucy pried her eyes open to find Cat curled up at her side just like her feline counterpart would on encountering the soft berth of this mattress. But Cat was not causing the rocking; glancing away from her Cheshire-kitten smile, Lucy painstakingly turned to face her reflection on the other side. Emily sat there bouncing on her knees as she impatiently waited for Lucy to wake up.

  What now? She silently wondered as she took in her false overbright grin.

  “Soooo,” Emily started before intentionally trailing off into silence.

  “So, what?” Lucy asked irritably. They were ruining her sleep in. Again. And they better have a good reason for it.

  “So, you and Jace, huh?” Emily asked a little uncertainly. Her plastered smile wavering a little.

  “Jace and I, huh—what?” Lucy’s heart spasmed in an odd mix of fear, excitement, and self-revulsion. She had been all over him last night. In her dreams and—she suspected—out, as well.

  Emily’s smile faded away altogether. “You were sleeping in his arms all night. I know; I came to use the toilet last night and saw…,” she trailed off uncertainly.

  “Nothing happened,” Lucy said worriedly, recalling that Emily’s infatuation with Jace was all still very recent, unlike her own that had been silently festering for way too long already. But the twins were intuitive this way. They knew she felt more for him than she let on. They had even teased her over it in the past. Lucy needed to avoid another night like last night. She doubted her senses could withstand another onslaught of Jace. If she hadn’t been so worn out from everything, nothing would have stopped her from ripping off and taking what… she wanted.

  “He wants something to happen,” Emily stated matter-of-factly, earning a wary look from Lucy. Emily was taking this a little… oddly.

  “Why would you say that?” She asked indulgently, pretending to humour her. But Emily only raised a brow at her efforts. Lucy was no good at all these mind games and they both knew it. She grimaced back silently, admitting defeat.

  “Because I saw him looking at you. He was wide awake. It was three in the morning and he was awake, just holding on to you, watching you sleep.”

  Lucy stared into her shimmering baby blues and knew she was telling the truth. She regretted the hurt she was causing her. Emily’s infatuati
on with Jace was all too recent for this. Her heart bled that she was caused more hurt by this. Shaking her head, “You’re wrong. We all know what Jace is like. There’s nothing going on between us.”

  Lucy wasn’t quite sure how to feel about knowing that Jace, contrary to all appearances, was not immune to her. She had felt that attraction, but to know it was mutual and not just Jace playing some kind of head game with her. Lucy sighed; whatever it was, she knew neither of them were willing to act on it. But she couldn’t help the secret thrill she felt at this revelation. It must have shown in her expressive eyes as Emily was quick to pick up on it.

  Her sad eyes faked amusement as she said, “Looks like the bell is clamouring at both ends.”

  “Emily,” Lucy called out, but she was already off the bed and heading back out the door. Lucy turned urgently to face Cat who only shrugged her shoulders uncertainly before rushing off after Emily.

  Damn shadow! Lucy huffed silently to herself as she collapsed back onto the bed. Deciding her plans for a sleep-in were already well and truly ruined, Lucy got up off the bed and got dressed in record time. She donned a pair of knee-high loose jean cut-offs that did nothing for her figure and dropped a crisp white shirt over her mismatched bikini top.

  Her one-piece bather needed a wash and she didn’t relish putting that on until it was clean. Her bikini set, like her swimsuit, had seen better days. But it had been of good quality when it was first purchased, so other than the well-worn look, it was wearable.

  The house was silent, marking it empty. Everyone must have had the same idea on rising that morning, and that was to hit the beach first thing. Lucy grabbed a beach towel, her beach bag already packed with the necessities and her sunnies, stopping only to grab a quick bite to eat before she too headed off down to the beach.

  Lucy waved her hand at the Neils, seated together on portable lounging chairs under a beach umbrella, before she moved off to join Emily and Cat sunbathing further down the beach.

  No!

  Lucy only just held in that astonished exclamation as she gingerly made her way past some rocky surface and closed in on the twins. Always a handful, they were more so now than normal. Positively two hands full… no make that four. Her sisters were topless. Sunbathing with their bikini tops off.

  “Are you freaking out of your minds?” Lucy couldn’t quite rein in the temper, after all. “Put some fucking clothes on!”

  “There is no one here but us. The Neils are too far back to really see us… and don’t worry, Jace has gone into town,” said Cat, covering all the basics matter-of-factly.

  “I don’t care if you were on an abandoned island. Cover up now!” Lucy threw in her angriest bigger sister tone of voice and glared mightily. It was her fail-proof stance that she’d used in the past, but today it seemed to have no impact on her recalcitrant little sisters.

  “Do we have to?” They whinnied up at her, needlingly.

  “Right, I’m calling Dad!” Lucy stuck her hand into her beach bag to rummage around convincingly looking for a phone that she recalled only too well as having been left back at the house with her other belongings.

  “Okay, okay,” Emily stated soothingly, as she and Cat leaped to their feet to rummage about the mess of their belongings strewn around them to pluck a random top and slip it back on. Lucy shook her head as they assisted each other to tie up the strings.

  Strangely drained, she moved further away, deciding she needed space from the twins if she were to get any relaxation at all. Lucy clambered over the next cascade of rocks and walked along the smooth beach there. Her feet coming to a halt all on their own as her gaze took in the aqua, blue-green sea beyond.

  Lucy dropped her beach towel where she stood then bent to spread it out before unfolding her length onto it. Bone-deep relaxation instantly flooded her soul. All thoughts of Jace, her father, her parents, Emily, and the world in general faded to a quiet hum in the background. So, it was a moment later before the need to apply sun protection niggled her into action.

  “Here, let me.”

  Lucy looked up in surprise at hearing that gruff tone. “Jace?”

  He didn’t answer, but dropped down onto his haunches to grab the bottle of sunblock from her nerveless fingers. Squirting a good portion on her bare abdomen, he pressed his cool palm down onto her heated skin to rub the protection in soothing circles. Lucy’s gaze was drawn to his mesmerising cyan swirling depths.

  “You’ll burn to a crisp if you’re not careful,” he said, staring down at her as he continued to apply the lotion.

  “I thought you were out.” She murmured shakily.

  “Now I am back,” he murmured mockingly with a shrug. “I saw you from up top. Not long after you plopped yourself down here,” he replied, pointing at the overhanging cliff on which the house stood.

  “Oh,” She murmured, feeling a little shaken. The effect he had on her hadn’t lessened after last night. She still couldn’t believe she had slept right through it. She had every opportunity to ogle at him asleep—much like what Emily had caught Jace doing with her—and she had spent it all, incredibly, sleeping.

  The hand on her stomach shifted down to skip past her bikini strings and onto her trembling legs, and Lucy was too weakened to do much else than watch as it slid up and down in smooth strokes sending the already burning fires within into an onrushing inferno.

  She bit her lip and tried to hold in her reaction but her unfaithful body betrayed her again. Goosebumps broke out across her skin, but that was not the worst of it. Nope, the very worst was her pebbled nipples pushing against the white fabric of her skimpy bikini top that had drawn and fixated Jace’s interested gaze. Lucy flushed red in humiliation.

  “I’ve been thinking,” Jace started after an awkward pause.

  “Yes?” Lucy asked vaguely, her thoughts focused on the slow drift of his hands on her heated skin. She bit her lip trying to temper her body’s reactions by thinking of anything else other than the hand on her thighs. She really should just tell him to stop, but then that would make it even more obvious that she was interested, wouldn’t it?

  But could she get any more obvious about it than she already was? Lucy opened her mouth to tell him to stop, but just then his hand slid to idly glide along her inner thigh. All speech got strangled in her throat as she nearly choked in holding back the cries of acute sensation.

  “You’re not sixteen, anymore,” said Jace, looking down at where his hands were now resting. Then his gaze abruptly swung back to meet hers through the useless tinted sunglasses. “Think about it,” he said enigmatically, before rising to his feet and abruptly walking away.

  “Think about it,” she muttered on releasing a frustrated puff of air, as if she could think of anything else. But what did he want her thinking about anyway? His hands on her? Doing a lot more than rubbing on sun protection? Shaking her head, she could only stare after him until he disappeared, then she collapsed back in a muffled groan.

  The rest of the day passed in a blur. Noon saw the sun shining too bright and the heated sand kept them all indoors.

  Lucy helped in preparing sandwiches for lunch, then joined the girls for a quiet afternoon siesta, which the men did their best to disrupt with their uproarious call-outs and hollers over a game of footy on the telly. But having heard it all before and knowing what to expect, Lucy took adequate measures to ensure her sleep was uninterrupted.

  The twins had the worst of it as they were out there on the sofa-bed next to the blaring TV and roaring men, while Lucy basked in the peace and tranquillity that four walls and a closed door afforded.

  It was the pillow being lifted off her face that first roused her from sleep. She blinked up sleepily. “You know you sleep entirely too much,” said Jace, leaning over her. It was an old grievance he had with her. Lucy reached out absentmindedly to swat at him before she tugged the pillow back over her head and tried not to breathe in his rousing scent.

  “You’re cute when you wake up,” Jace grinned down at
her disgruntled look as the pillow was tugged off again. Lucy could only stare up with a foul scowl plastered on her mutinous face. There was nothing cute about it.

  “I’ve been thinking” he started to say, ignoring her surly disposition.

  “Thinking, again?” She interrupted rudely. Thinking and Jace wasn’t good. The last thoughts he had left hers reeling.

  “As I was saying,” Jace reached up to tug at her earlobe, sending a delicious thrill down to her toes, “I should go with you.”

  “Go where?”

  “To the States—to see your dad.”

  She stared up at him mutely before saying, “He is my father. Why would you want to meet him?”

  “Oh, I could think of several reasons, but we both know that is not why I want to go.”

  Her sigh was heavy as her head slumped back against the soft pillow. She stared up at the ceiling for a moment knowing she had to think. Did she want him with her on that trip? Heaven knew he had been with her every step of the way since forever, but perhaps it was time they didn’t do that anymore. Perhaps the time away was just what she needed to put Jace Neil back into perspective as nothing more than her best friend.

  “Maybe, I need to do this on my own,” she deferred making the decision. There was time yet to figure it all out. She had to talk it over with her mum and dad first. She had to see what they had to say.

  “We should treat tonight as a date.”

  That abrupt change of topic shocked the wits out of her.

  Lucy shot upright, “Why? Why would we do that?”

  “You know why, Lucy. Three years is long enough to wait for you to grow up, don’t you think?” Jace stared down at her, stealing her breath away with the intensity of his gaze. “You can’t keep avoiding the inevitable.”

  Inevitable?

  Her fate had been sealed at that sixteenth birthday party when she’d felt that first moment of awareness of Jace… as a man. Watching Jace shrug off his t-shirt, displaying his perfect abs in boyish enthusiasm before he took a leaping dive into the pool was the precise moment when that awareness manifested. Only a few short hours after her first brush of his lips against her cheek. Her birthday kiss from Jace.