Breaking All the Rules Read online

  She parked at her apartment building and climbed out. Locking it as she walked to her new place, she headed inside, berating herself the entire trip, and carrying the food she’d stopped to pick up on her way. Once inside, she leaned against the door and moaned. “What the hell have I gotten myself into this time?”

  She toed off her shoes as she placed the bags on the chair by the door so she could shrug out of her jacket. Bags back in hand, she went to the kitchen and set her items on the counter.

  “I really need to go grocery shopping, I can’t keep eating out like this.”

  Eating out wasn’t a luxury she normally afforded herself, but lately, she had been so busy with this move and settling in this new place she’d yet to go. Now, given the news she would be flying out tomorrow there wasn’t point in going anyway.

  After she changed into sweats and a tank top, she headed to eat her take out. She stabbed the pancit noodles and tried to work out in her head how this would play out. “Maybe it won’t be so bad. There’s a pilot for each brother, basically. I can hope I don’t have to fly Wild.”

  Her body responded to just the memory of him. And what he did to, and for, her. She shifted on the chair and bit back her whimper of longing.

  I’m in so much trouble. No matter how I look at it. There are no rose glasses big enough to show me I’m not wading through it, this time.

  Alyse finished eating, cleaned up, and got back to unpacking. When she reached the photo of the small dark-haired boy, she paused and touched his face.

  “Hang in there, Ricki.” She put the picture on her shaky dresser. There was an identical photo of him in her locket she also wore. Her nephew, Ricardo, called Ricki by family, was battling cancer. Staring at the image she found her resolve to keep business business. “I can always buy more batteries.”

  She spent the afternoon putting away the few boxes she’d arrived with and turning the small one-bedroom apartment into something more like home. As she decided what to have for dinner, her phone rang. She eyed the screen.

  D.A.R.K..

  “Yes?”

  “Five minutes and I’ll be at your door. Let me in, I’m bringing food.”

  Wild.

  Immediately her breathing deepened and she felt the urge to rub herself against something, preferably something hard. Wild would work. The man in her thoughts hung up before she could drag her mind out of the gutter and the memories of her time in Belize with him and refute him stopping by her place.

  She groaned and allowed her head to rap hard against the counter. “I can’t even question how he got my address.”

  Sure enough there was a sharp knock on her door five minutes later. She muttered things to herself as she walked across the small space to face the man on the other side. With a final deep breath, she turned the knob and opened the door.

  Damn, this man is just too fine. His rectangular semi rimless sunglasses with their polar gray lenses hid his Mediterranean blue eyes from her. He’d rid himself of the scruff on his face from earlier and she wasn’t sure what to make of that. His mid-length dark brown leather jacket fell about to the top of his strong thighs and she wanted to run her hands over it.

  Then under it because I know exactly what is there.

  He held a plastic bag in one hand and had his other in a pocket. “You planning on letting me in, Alyse? Or did you want to stare at me some more?” A sexy grin lifted his lips and he used his free hand to remove his shades. “Because I’m all for that. I’ll strip for you and you can look all you want. So long as I can do the same.”

  Tempting. Oh, so tempting. She bit the inside of her cheek and stepped back to allow him entrance. “No thanks, I meant what I said earlier,” she said as the door clicked behind him.

  He went directly to her kitchen and placed the bag down. Then he faced her and shrugged out of the jacket. Shit! His tee molded tight to his large upper body, not hiding any of the muscles he sported. The bottom of it, hung over his waistband but not enough to hide his impressive size.

  Wild raked his gaze over her that perpetual sexy expression of his in place then strode toward her. His hands were in her hair and his lips on hers before she could say a word. Instantly she melted into him, a soft purr escaping as his tongue plundered the depths of her mouth. His taste. Oh, she couldn’t get enough. There wasn’t any way for her to possibly get enough of it.

  Great, here I go again, kissing my boss. That was the thought she needed to snap her from the desire-induced haze he submerged her in. She broke from his touch and put some distance between them, despising her carnal reaction to him. All it took was one touch and she was lost.

  “No,” she said. “I told you, I don’t mix business and pleasure.”

  He didn’t look at all perturbed. In fact, he appeared almost amused by her words as if they were a challenge. One he was going to enjoy winning.

  ***

  Wild couldn’t believe it. He had found her again. Not only that, she worked for his company. She stood before him wearing a pair of pink sweats and a white tank top that had the Breast Cancer Awareness ribbon on it.

  Her pants also bore the ribbon and as he dragged his gaze back up over her curves—Derek had it right when he made his motion at breakfast the other day about her body shape—he forced himself to stay put. He knew she wanted him, she was aroused. The dilated pupils, rapid pulse combined with the way her nipples poked out her thin tank top, provided him that information.

  “What’s the matter?” He inched closer to her, unable, apparently, to stay away.

  “Stay there.” Her order was accompanied by a vicious finger stab.

  He drew up and held his hands out to the sides. “Let’s eat.”

  She watched him warily but nodded. In moments they sat across from one another at her small table. Close enough to touch. He knew firsthand for their knees had been connected before she pulled away. There wasn’t much space in her place and he didn’t see many personal items out. Nothing, anyway, which gave him insight into Alyse Lamar the woman.

  “So,” he said, placing his fork down. “A pilot?”

  “What? Don’t I look like one to you?”

  Not particularly. Her hair while drawn back in a simple ponytail, had wisps of her dark locks escaping to frame her face with a softer look. Her attire didn’t exactly scream pilot to him. Before coming here, however, he had read her entire file. If it could ascend, she could most likely pilot it.

  “When I look at you, Alyse, I see you as you were in my hotel room. Flushed. Rumpled.” He leaned closer. “Well pleasured. Sex kitten that rocked my world.”

  She squirmed on the seat. “That’s your problem then.”

  He cocked a brow. “You think so?”

  Her dark green eyes heated. “I know so.” She finished erasing the distance between them, not backing down from his stare. “I don’t mix business with pleasure. So you can get any notions of a Belize repeat out of your mind.”

  “Baby, they are first and foremost in my mind and what we shared down there isn’t anything you can just snap a finger and forget.” He dragged a scarred knuckle down the smooth, unmarred skin of her face. “Even if there was, I wouldn’t do it. I want to remember every last, drugging second of what being with you was like.” His tone dropped low and seductive. “Each touch, each kiss, each caress. How it felt to be buried deep inside you. Your hot, slick wetness. All of it. The dig of your nails into my back, tearing my skin as you screamed my name to the room. How tight you held me as I fucked you, over and over. All over that hotel room until neither of us had the slightest bit of energy to move.”

  Her lips parted and her tongue snuck out to dampen the plump bottom one as her nose flared.

  “The way you were just as insatiable as I was.” He curved his finger along the path her tongue just traveled. “No way in hell I would give that up.”

  He watched her closely, need for her crawling over his skin like a living, breathing entity. Wild read her lips even as she muttered the words. />
  “Fuck it.”

  Those two words released him. His lips descended upon hers with a ferocity that almost scared him. Almost. With a single swipe, he knocked the table away and hauled her into him as he stood. One hand on her full breast, he backed her into the nearest wall, squeezing her through the shirt, before searching for her skin.

  Common sense vanished as her taste flooded him. Her kiss. God. It was unlike anything Wild had experienced in his life. One hand gripped her ass as he ground against her, showing her in no uncertain terms what she did to him and what he had in mind to do to her. Same as in the hotel, Alyse’s response was volcanic.

  There was nothing to stop them. When her nails dug into his shoulder muscles, the miniscule vestiges of his control completely vanished like morning mist beneath the sun’s rays.

  ***

  “Wake up.”

  Wild groaned and rolled over, squinting against the glare from the annoyingly bright overhead light. Was she kidding?

  “Come back to bed, Alyse.” He shut his eyes and patted the empty spot next to him on her double mattress. Wild liked how close it put them in proximity to one another for sleep, or other purposes.

  Smack!

  “What—” He sat up and grabbed at the clothing she’d just hit him with. Opening his eyes, he stared at her in disbelief. Her state of dress finally registered to him; she wore a uniform, the one all the D.A.R.K. Cover, Inc. pilots wore.

  She made it look way better than any of the men, in his opinion. The navy blue pants suit and the crisp white shirt fit her like a dream. Professional or not, she was fucking hot. Her hair was drawn back in a severe braid. There existed no shred of the woman who’d rocked his world last night. This Alyse was nothing but business.

  “Get dressed. You have to go.”

  He wasn’t used to being tossed out of a woman’s bed. Normally, he left or got rid of the one in his bed. He didn’t much care for how this felt. Wild climbed naked from her bed, clothes in one hand. She shook her head as he approached her, gaze stubbornly refusing to leave his face.

  “No. No touching. No seductive words. Dress and leave, you have five minutes.”

  She pivoted around and walked out. Wild shoved into his clothing, took in all he could of her room, and used her bathroom before making his way to the small living area. Alyse rooted around in the backpack on one of her chairs. He noted that the table and all had been put back to rights after the mess they made last night.

  “Why are you kicking me out?” he asked, propping a hip against the counter.

  “Because I’m leaving. I have a flight. I don’t know you well enough to leave you in my place.”

  He didn’t point out she knew him well enough for mind blowing, sense stealing, and off the charts sex. What else did she need to know? “Who are you flying?” An unreasonable wave of jealousy filled him.

  She didn’t even glance in his direction. “Derek and Adam.”

  The flirt Derek. He wanted to gnash his teeth. “When are you returning?”

  She zipped the bag closed. “Don’t know and it doesn’t matter.” Alyse looked him dead in his eyes. “This…whatever it was, isn’t happening again. I didn’t lie when I said I don’t mix business with pleasure.”

  He crossed his arms. “You did yesterday.”

  “I won’t anymore.”

  “Why not?” He waved a hand absently. “Tell me who the kid is in the picture. Is he your son?”

  The flash of pain which crossed her face made him wonder if he’d hit it right.

  “No. Ricki’s my nephew.” She touched the necklace around her neck. “And he’s the reason this isn’t going to happen again.”

  Alyse checked her watch and he gazed at the microwave. Three-fifteen in the morning. Fighting off a yawn, he waited for her to make the next move.

  “Let’s get going.”

  “What? No coffee or breakfast?”

  “I’m sure you know of a place that serves it.” One finger pointed to the door. “Go.”

  He led the way and watched as she locked up behind her. He recognized the signs of her mental preparation for the job at hand. She’d flown in combat and even though taking his brothers to Arizona didn’t quite qualify as that, he understood the process was something she would always do.

  “Want a ride?”

  “Nope.”

  She brushed by him and took the stairs down to the first floor where she pushed out into the dark. Alyse barely looked at him as she climbed into her Tribeca. Before he realized what was about to happen, she drove away.

  Wild ran a hand over his short hair and walked to his SUV and leaned against it, staring after her until he could no longer see the taillights of her vehicle. Muttering a curse, he got behind the wheel of his own and drove home. It wasn’t easy, for he wanted nothing more than to go to their office and make sure his two single brothers knew Alyse was off limits.

  In his house, he flicked on the kitchen lights and began making coffee. He knew someone would be stopping by soon and his instincts didn’t prove him wrong. Not much later there was a precursory knock on his door before his eldest brother strode into view.

  “Morning, Rhodi,” he said. “Shouldn’t you be home with your wife and son?”

  “My wife is the reason I’m here,” he snapped. “She told me about the interaction with you and Alyse in the lobby.” He threw his hands up in the air. “Are you kidding me? You slept with our newest pilot! Do you ever keep it in your pants?” Rhodi held out his hands. “You know what, I don’t want to know. Leave her alone, Wild.”

  Not a chance. He poured his coffee and added the creamer then a liberal amount of sugar.

  “First off,” Wild began. “I met her in Belize. It’s not like I knew she worked for us then. We didn’t exactly talk about where we worked. Something we should be happy about. She respected the NDA.”

  Rhodi walked closer and grabbed a mug from the cupboard before filling his own. “Right, I am happy she respected the non-disclosure agreement but I am curious about something else. I suppose it’s just coincidence you are wearing the exact clothing from yesterday?”

  Shit. He’d forgotten about that. “Not your business, Rhodi.”

  “It is if your dick costs me a pilot. I want her on this team, Wild. Her skills are amazing.”

  He would have to agree on that. The look on Rhodi’s face told him he’d followed the line of thought.

  “Look, how is it fair you berate me for going after her when you were screwing Karen?”

  Rhodi shook his head. “This isn’t about me.”

  “So something else I shouldn’t be after her for?” He scowled at his brother.

  “If you’re trying to imply I’m a racist prick I will kick your ass so badly you’ll have to go crawling home to mom just to heal.”

  “You said it,” Wild commented. “And I haven’t met an Air Force guy who could kick my ass yet. Don’t think you’ll be the first.” He drank some coffee. “Why do I have to stay away from her then?”

  Rhodi smacked his hand on the countertop. “Because I said so!”

  “Problem is, bro, you’re not my boss. We all own this together.”

  Rhodi turned to him and stared down at him with his dark blue eyes. “Listen to me, Wild. I know you feel how you feel in regards to mom and losing dad. We get it. All of us do, regardless if you think we do or not. I also get your do it all yourself mentality. It’s what you did in the Corps. I get that too. But I swear if you mess this up and we lose her because you refuse to listen and keep that damn dick of yours in your pants, hell will rain down on you.” Rhodi walked away and the door clicked behind him.

  Wild stood there for a good five minutes before he moved. Even that was just to head to bed and collapse in it, face first. He didn’t like fighting with his siblings but he wasn’t about to give up on Alyse. Rhodi should understand; hell, it was like that for him and Karen. At least he and Alyse hadn’t been discovered in a janitor’s closet going at it like his brother had
been.

  Rhodi’s protecting her. But from what and why?

  Chapter Three

  “Are you sure you don’t want to come?” Karen asked her, batting her eyelashes and poking out her lower lip. “Please. Can’t I persuade you to come?”

  Alyse laughed. “You’re not going to make it easy for me to say no, are you?”

  “Duh, of course not. Please come, Alyse. It’s hard always being surrounded by the Wilder men. I need another woman to balance the scales a bit more.”

  She readjusted her backpack and leaned against the counter, eyeing the woman who was trying desperately to get her to attend her son’s birthday party. “What about their mother?”

  Karen tucked some blonde hair behind her ear. “She’s their mother.”

  “Okay, I can understand that. Aren’t any of them dating anyone they could bring?”

  Karen scowled at her. “I know you like my son, so what’s the problem.” Her brow went up. “Is this because you’re still on that business to be separate thing?” She tapped her pencil on the desktop. “Let me tell you something, you became family when you were hired. You haven’t met Mrs. Wilder yet and she’ll expect you there. I expect you there, but if it makes you feel better I can ask Rhodi to tell you to be there.” She wriggled her hips in her chair. “I have sway with him.”

  Alyse laughed. “I’m sure you do, just like I’m sure I don’t want to hear about it.” She wasn’t really feeling this thing but if she was to be honest with herself, she truly enjoyed Karen. They had had a few meals together during her first month here and she had always been nothing but welcoming.

  Karen must have seen the resignation on her face for she grinned wider. “So, we’ll see you there.”

  “See her where?” Rhodi asked as he came around the corner. He paused by Karen and kissed her, their passion so strong, Alyse averted her gaze.

  Unfortunately in doing so, it landed upon none other than Wild who had just walked into view. She’d been able to keep out of his way for the most part. As of yet, she’d not had to fly him anywhere and she was grateful. It was bad enough they knew she’d slept with him they didn’t need to know how many times at night she used her vibrator and came crying Wild’s name to the empty room. She gave him a small nod before hefting her bag to a more comfortable position.