The sight of her lapping cream with that soft little tongue made Shane’s pants feel suddenly way too tight. He reminded himself sternly for what seemed like the hundred thousandth time that Val was strictly off-limits, wondering as he did so if she had any idea of the effect even her most innocent gestures had on him.
“Well?” he said, his voice coming out raspy and abrupt. “What is it?”
Valentine hesitated. “It’s something I saw. Something I want.”
He laughed. “If you’re angling for another birthday present you’re too late—I already picked something out for you and you can’t have it until your actual birthday.”
A look of mild annoyance flitted across her face. “Honestly, Shane—I’m not twelve anymore.”
Don’t I know it! He smiled at her ruefully, wishing she was. If he could have somehow frozen her back at the innocent age when he’d first met her, back when he and Peter were still in high school and Valentine had been in junior high, things would be so much easier. He was sure he would never have had the improper desires he had to battle every time he was near her now, desires that had only grown sharper over the years of denying them. But there was no help for the situation—Valentine was Peter’s little sister and as such she was completely, totally, and forever off-limits. Shane would have sooner reached into a fire and grabbed a hot coal as he would lay a hand on her. Peter was his dearest friend and there was no way Shane would betray the trust he’d put in him, no matter how tempting his little sister might be.
And she was pretty damn tempting, with that halo of pale, soft blonde curls that made her look like an angel and those tilted green eyes that said there was a little bit of the devil in her too. Right now those eyes were flashing at him and Shane had an idea he was about to find out what exactly she had wanted.
“It is something I want for my birthday,” she said now, giving him a playful smile. “But it isn’t something you can buy me. And it’s not something I can get for myself—I know because I’ve tried. God knows I have.”
Shane was mystified but intrigued. It wasn’t unusual for Valentine to talk in circles. She was extremely intelligent as her degree in biochemistry proved. Shane had always thought her sharp mind was a turn-on—she turned every dumb blonde joke he’d ever heard on its head—but it did take a little while for her to get to the point sometimes.
“I’m waiting,” he said, smiling. “Are you going to explain that or do I have to guess?”
Valentine smiled nervously. “Sorry. I want…what I want are lessons.”
He frowned. “Lessons? Like guitar lessons? Language lessons? You want to learn Farsi or Japanese all of a sudden?”
“No, I told you—it’s nothing I can do or get for myself.” She took a deep breath. “I saw you, Shane. At the club—the Black and Blue. I was there last night and I saw what you did.”
“What?” Only one thing registered with him. “You were at the Black and Blue? Do you know how dangerous that is? Were you there with someone?”
He didn’t know what he wanted the answer to that to be. On one hand, the thought of her being by herself in such a dangerous place was very upsetting. But on the other hand, he couldn’t bear the thought of some other man making her submit—making her his.
“What the hell were you doing there?” he asked again, frowning.
“I was…I was looking for someone to show me about that world. The lifestyle.”
“You don’t belong there,” Shane told her.
“Where? In the club or in the D/s lifestyle?” She was beginning to look pissed but Shane didn’t care.
“Either one,” he told her fiercely. “It’s too dangerous, Val. You need to stay away— stay out.”
“So you’re allowed to be there, doing what you want—flogging people—oh yes, I saw you, don’t think I didn’t—but I can’t?” Valentine glared at him and he glared right back.
“That’s right.”
“And why is that? What makes you so much more deserving than me?”
Shane opened his mouth to say, I’m an adult. Then he closed it again. She was about to be twenty-four—she was more than legal. There was no way he could stop her if she wanted to go back to the Black and Blue. But God, just the thought of her wandering around, looking innocent and fresh and attracting every piece of bottom-feeding, low- life scum in the entire club made his skin crawl.
“I need this, Shane.” Her voice dropped, becoming less angry and more pleading. “And I need a guide to show me the way. I tried to get Gavin to help me but?—”
“Don’t.” He held up a hand to stop her. The last thing he wanted was to hear about her sex life. To imagine her with another guy. Some loser who didn’t deserve her.
“I was just going to say that he wasn’t into it. And…” Her voice dropped. “And I think maybe he thought it was kind of sick that I was. That I wanted to be, anyway.”
“There’s nothing wrong with the lifestyle,” Shane said automatically. “It fulfills needs—desires some people can’t come to terms with any other way.” Then he closed his mouth—why was he giving her the lecture he usually reserved for girls he was dating who found out what he was into?
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I have those needs—those desires.”
Shane frowned. “You may think you do but you’re probably just curious. Most people are. Then they find out a little about what really goes on behind closed doors and their curiosity dies pretty quick.”
