The Mighty Quinns: Marcus, Ian & Declan: The Mighty Quinns: Marcus / The Mighty Quinns: Ian / The Mighty Quinns: Declan

Eden felt a hand on her shoulder and she jerked her head up. “Are you all right?” Marcus asked.

“Fine,” she said, quickly wiping the tears from her cheeks. “I—I’m sorry about the wrench. It was a wrench, right? I’ll buy you a new one. I’ll buy you a hundred of them.”

He smiled and nodded. “The water’s clear. I’ll be able to find it. No big deal.” He reached out and tenderly brushed the hair from her face. “I’m sorry I snapped at you.”

He studied her face, his gaze skimming over her features as if trying to understand her tears. And then he leaned forward and kissed her. It was a perfect kiss, full of sweetness and warmth. The breath slipped from Eden’s lips along with the frustration and confusion she felt. It hadn’t come as a result of seduction or some game she’d played. It had come from simple kindness.

Strange how Marcus, a man she barely knew, could make her feel safe with just one kiss. She’d always managed to throw herself into the paths of completely inappropriate men. She didn’t know anything about Marcus Quinn, beyond the fact that he knew how to kiss and he had some kind of accent. For all she knew, he could be yet another in a long line of self-absorbed jerks. But for now, his touch, his kiss, made her feel better about herself.

“I don’t think we should do any more work today,” he murmured, his lips warm against her temple. “I’m going to go into town and get us something really good for dinner and we’ll celebrate.”

“Celebrate what?” Eden asked, glancing up into his deep blue eyes.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m sure we’ll come up with something. We’ve got all night.”

Eden nodded, a tiny sliver of apprehension shooting through her. One of two things would happen tonight, she mused. Either they’d become friends or they’d become lovers. The trouble was Eden wasn’t sure which she wanted more.

LIGHTS LINED THE DOCK of the Ross estate, reflecting in the glassy water. The sprawling white clapboard house sat on a rise overlooking Price’s Neck, the last of the sunset fading behind it. Though the house was huge, it wasn’t nearly as ostentatious as some of the neighboring mansions. Marcus smiled to himself. He could have fit Porter Hall inside Trevor Ross’s house at least twice, and the guesthouse alone was bigger than the Quinn family house in Bonnett Harbor.

Marcus shifted the grocery bags in his arms as he walked down to the water. He’d given Eden a few hours to calm herself and he hoped that her dismal mood had dissipated. He really wasn’t adept at dealing with tears, and they came as such a surprise from Eden. She seemed to maintain such tight control of her emotions.

It didn’t look as though she’d be leaving anytime soon. If they were going to live together on the boat, they had to come to some sort of understanding, and tonight would be the perfect time to work out the terms. He’d bought a ready-made meal of cold salmon, grilled vegetables and Caesar salad, along with cherry pie for dessert. Champagne was also on the menu, although Marcus wasn’t too sure about the effect it would have on his self-control.

As Marcus stepped onto the dock, he saw a figure at the end, rising from a bench that overlooked the water. Though the light was low, he immediately recognized his brother Declan. “Hey,” he called.

Dec waved and waited for Marcus to reach the end of the dock. “Hey, little brother.”

“What are you doing here?” Marcus asked, an uneasy feeling twisting at his gut. “Is everything all right? Is Ma okay?”

“I’m here on business.”

“How the hell did you get past the gate?”

“I’m doing another job for Ross,” Declan explained. “I have the security codes to the house and the gate. I thought you’d be out on the boat, but the housekeeper said your truck was gone.”

“I was just getting some dinner from town,” Marcus said. He set the bags on the bench. “What kind of job?”

“I’ll tell you all about it over dinner,” Dec said. “I assume you have cold beer on that boat and something good to eat in those bags.” He peeked inside, then withdrew the bottle of champagne. “I thought you preferred Guinness.”

Marcus grabbed the bottle and shoved it back into the bag. “I’m just resupplying the boat. Replacing a bottle I drank one night when I ran out of beer.”

Declan pulled out a plastic bag and dangled it in front of Marcus’s face. “And what are these?”

“Organic mangoes,” Marcus explained.

“Since when do you eat mangoes?”

Marcus shrugged. “I like mangoes. Kiwi, too.” He grabbed the bag and searched for a quick change of subject. “You said you’re doing a job for Ross?”

Dec nodded. “I’m looking for his daughter,” he said, giving him an odd look. “She’s gone missing.”

“Missing? Like kidnapped?”

Dec held out a copy of a tabloid newspaper he had tucked under his arm. Marcus took it and turned it toward the light at the end of the dock. The National Inquisitor.

“'Eden’s Sexcapade Caught on Tape,’” Dec read.

“What exactly is a ‘sexcapade'?” Marcus asked.

“Miss Ross and one of her Eurotrash boyfriends decided to make a little home movie a few years back. Somehow it got out there, and now the guy who has it is threatening to sell it over the Internet. He’s released a few still photos from it to amp up the interest. The story broke in Europe last week and the tabloids picked it up here. In a few days it will be all over the news. Trevor Ross is furious and he has his lawyers working on a lawsuit against the magazine. Meanwhile, nobody seems to know where Eden is. Ross isn’t even sure this is his daughter in the video, and until he talks to her, he can’t confirm it.”

“Don’t these magazines usually make stories up?”

“Yeah, but look at the photo,” Dec said.

Marcus squinted to try to make out Eden’s face, but it was too blurry to see. “And you’re looking for her?”

“We know she landed at JFK last Sunday, but after a cabbie dropped her off at the Plaza in Manhattan, she just vanished. Ross thought she might come here, but I didn’t think so. The housekeeper hasn’t seen her. She’s probably hiding out with friends in New York City.”

“Hiding out?” Marcus asked.

“Hell, she had to know this would hit the fan sooner or later. I don’t think she’s too anxious to see her father right now. It’s going to cost him a lot of money to get her out of this.”

“Maybe he shouldn’t,” Marcus said with a shrug.

“Her problems are his problems,” Dec said. “If he can’t control his daughter, people are going to start to think he doesn’t have control over his business interests either.”

“She’s a big girl,” Marcus replied. “She lives her own life.”

“She’s a silly girl with far too much money and free time on her hands. But if she does come here, I want you to call me.”

Marcus nodded, then rolled up the tabloid. “I think I’ll keep this. I’m not sure I’d recognize her if I saw her.”

In truth, Marcus knew nearly every inch of Eden’s body, from the gentle slope of her shoulder, to the soft spot behind her knee, to the sweet curves of her breasts. He’d recognize her stark naked and fully clothed, in broad daylight and in the deepest night. He could probably recognize her by the feel of her skin or the taste of her mouth or the smell of her hair. In just a few short days he had come to know Eden Ross quite intimately.

“So are you going to show me this boat you’re working on?” Declan asked.

“Another time. It’s a mess right now. I’ve got wood and tools all over the place. Wait until I’m done. Then I’ll really have something to show you.”

Dec reluctantly nodded. “All right. You sure you don’t want to come out for a beer?”

“Nah, I’m beat. I’ve been working all day. I just want to eat something and then turn in.”

“We’re still on for dinner Friday night at Ian’s place, right?” Dec asked. “I’ve got another job I’m working on for Ross. But that shouldn’t interfere.”

“Yeah, we’re still on.”

Dec clapped his hand on Marcus’s shoulder. “Enjoy your mangoes, baby brother.”

“I will,” Marcus said. He breathed a silent sigh of relief, then wondered why he felt relief at all. Since Eden had come aboard he’d been looking for a way to get rid of her, and now he’d just blown his chance. Instead of revealing her presence, he’d suddenly felt a need to protect her, to preserve her privacy—or was it their privacy now?

He needed more time, just a day or two to figure out this illogical attraction he had to her. Every time he drew a line in the sand, they seemed to step across it, yet Marcus wasn’t sure he wanted to go back. Not just yet.

He carefully loaded the groceries into the dinghy, then stepped down off the dock. The outboard sputtered to life and he steered the small boat toward Victorious. By the time he’d tied up, Eden had come out of the cabin and was standing on the stern, waiting for him.

She wore a gauzy white dress, the fabric so thin that light showed through it. It clung to her curves, fluttering in the evening breeze, and he imagined that she wore nothing beneath. It would be so simple to draw the dress up over her head and touch her at will.

God, she was beautiful, he mused as she smiled down at him from the deck. He handed her the groceries, and as her hand brushed against his, he realized that he’d missed her during the short time he’d been gone. The moment he’d stepped on shore, he’d wondered what she was doing and he was almost grateful to return to her presence. But had he missed her company or just the sexual electricity that constantly sparked between them?

“You look nice,” he said as he climbed on board.

“Thank you,” Eden replied. “Who was that on the dock?”

“No one important,” he murmured.

The sound of music drifted out of the cabin, and when Marcus stepped into the cockpit, he saw a table she’d set for dinner. Candles burned through colored glass, and crystal and silver glittered in the low light. “Wow,” he said. “Fancy.”

Marcus followed her into the cabin and Eden began to unpack the grocery bags. But he couldn’t wait any longer to touch her. He reached out and drew her into his arms, eager to taste her again. He cupped her cheek in his palm as his mouth lingered over hers, teasing at first and then delving deeper.

Eden responded immediately, her arms wrapping around his neck, her breasts soft against his chest. Her body fit perfectly against his. Marcus ran his hand along her hip and drew her leg up, pressing his hard shaft against the juncture of her thighs. He’d grown hard the moment he’d stepped on board, the moment he’d seen her in that sheer dress.

This was crazy. His attraction to her was out of control. Every touch, every kiss, had become another piece of the puzzle that he was trying desperately to solve. Why did he want her? What did it mean?

She melted against him as he kissed her, offering a silent invitation to take more. Marcus wanted to make love to her right now and get it over with, spend all his passion on one incredible coupling. But somehow he knew that once would never be enough. Her body fascinated him, every inch of silken skin, every tempting curve.

Eden’s fingers furrowed through his hair, pulling him more deeply into the kiss, and a moan slipped from his throat. Though he wanted to drag her into his cabin, Marcus was loath to move, afraid that he’d break the seductive spell that had enveloped them. He reached down for the hem of her dress and pulled it up, exposing her naked legs.

“Are you hungry?” she asked, her breath warm against his lips.

It wasn’t enough, his mind repeated over and over again. He wanted more. “Starved,” Marcus murmured.

Eden took his hand and slowly dragged it beneath her dress, along her torso, across her stomach and up to her breast. “Is this what you want?” she asked.

He ran his thumb across her nipple, drawing it to a hard peak. Eden tipped her head back and sighed as his mouth took the place of his thumb. The fabric from her dress was so thin it crumpled between his fingers, then fell back down, hiding her from his eyes, tantalizing him with glimpses of her naked body.

Marcus tried to recall a time when he’d felt so desperate to possess a woman. But his mind refused to focus. His senses were operating on overload, the scent of her perfume making him dizzy, the feel of her skin driving him mad, and the sound of her voice urging him on.

Eden trailed her fingertips along his chest to his belly and then dipped below the waistband of his shorts. The moment her hand brushed against his erection, Marcus’s breath caught in his throat. He reached for her wrist to stop her, certain that now was not the time to test his control. He was so close to the edge that it would be over in a heartbeat.

When she wrapped her fingers around him, cool and firm against his heat, Marcus knew it wasn’t over. The pleasure was about to begin. Slowly she began to stroke him, gently and softly at first. Each caress was a revelation, waves of pleasure racing through his body until every nerve was alive with need.

Marcus wanted to share the feeling with her, to have her experience all that he was enjoying. He slipped his hand between her legs and touched her, the damp of her desire coating his fingertips. She leaned back against the bulkhead for support, and he moved with her, bracing one hand next to her head, the other hand teasing at her clitoris.

The world spun around them, sucking them into a vortex of need. He couldn’t think, he could only feel, drowning in wave after wave of intense sensation. And as if she could read his body, Eden increased her pace. Marcus felt his knees go weak, and it took all his strength to remain upright.

He slipped a finger inside her, matching her movements, then drew away, teasing at the center of her desire. It was so simple, this encounter, pleasuring each other with their hands. It was a perfect antidote to the tension that had bubbled between them for the past few days.

Drawing her toward the sofa in the main salon, Marcus fought to maintain his self-control. He wanted to pull her down, trap her beneath his body and sink into her until she surrounded every inch of him. But instead he continued the seduction with his fingers.

In the end, they lasted as long as they could, and when Eden finally allowed herself to climax, Marcus wasn’t far behind. He felt her convulse around his fingers and then collapse against his body. A moment later he exploded in her hand.

Tangled in each other’s arms, Marcus pulled her close and pressed his face into the curve of her neck, letting the spasms that coursed through his body subside. There wasn’t any need to speak. There was no regret, no confusion over what they’d just shared. It seemed perfectly natural and right, and when those feelings arose again, Marcus knew that they would simply act upon them.

His promise to his brothers drifted through his mind, bringing with it a wave of guilt. But Marcus brushed it aside. This wasn’t just any woman he’d made love to. How could he possibly deny such a powerful physical attraction? He was just a man.

Eden sighed softly and pressed her lips against his temple. It was such a simple act, but Marcus felt a strange rush of emotion well up inside him. Everything was different between him and Eden now that they’d surrendered. They didn’t have to hide their desire for each other—they could act upon it.

For now, Eden’s body belonged to him and his belonged to her. As long as it lasted, they would enjoy this powerful and intense attraction. And for now, he wouldn’t think about how it would end. Or if it ever would.

He lay next to her for a long time, considering all that had happened between them in such a short time. When he knew Eden was asleep, Marcus slipped off the sofa and retrieved a blanket from a nearby cabinet, then gently covered her.

He grabbed a beer from the icebox in the galley and crawled out on deck. The stars had come out, twinkling brightly in the inky blue sky. He sat down on the foredeck and stretched his legs out over the side of the boat, listening to the soft lap of the water against the hull of the boat.

He wasn’t sure how long he sat staring up at the sky. When he felt a soft caress on his shoulder, he looked up to see Eden standing above him. She’d wrapped herself in the blanket and had an uneasy expression on her beautiful face. “I woke up and you weren’t there,” Eden murmured.

Marcus reached out and captured her hand, then gently pulled her down beside him. He took the blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders, then tucked her beneath his arm until her body molded to his.

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I didn’t want to do that.”

Marcus pulled back and looked down into her eyes.

“You didn’t?”

“Well, I did,” she explained. “But I didn’t. It was … wonderful. I—I don’t want you to think that I … that I—”

Marcus pressed his finger to her lips. “I’m not sure your father would approve, but we couldn’t have avoided it for much longer, Eden.”

“I want you to know that it’s never been like that for me before. I—I know you think that I’m … well, that I have—”

“I don’t,” Marcus interrupted. “It doesn’t matter. All that doesn’t make a difference to me. It’s just you and me, here, on this boat. That’s all we need to worry about.”

“You make it sound so simple,” Eden murmured. “I seem to make life very complicated for anyone I get involved with.”

“Then we’ll just keep things simple,” Marcus said. Somehow, under the starry night sky, with Eden sitting beside him, the notion seemed almost possible. But in his heart Marcus suspected that sooner or later Eden would leave. After all, what could he possibly offer a woman who could have anything … or anyone?

3

THE SCENT OF FRESHLY brewed coffee wafted through Eden’s stateroom, teasing her awake. She smiled and sighed, then opened her eyes, hoping to find Marcus in bed beside her. But the opposite side of the bed was cold and empty.

Her smile faded to a frown and Eden sat up, brushing the hair from her eyes. She still wore the gauzy cotton sundress she’d put on the previous afternoon, but she didn’t need a reminder that she and Marcus hadn’t completed the seduction begun yesterday evening.

A tiny shiver skittered down her spine as she recalled the sensations his touch had sent spiraling through her body. All the sexual experiences she’d had in her life seemed to blur together behind that single moment with Marcus. Her desire had been undeniable, so strong that it had obliterated the past. And their shared release had been so strangely intimate that it teased constantly at her thoughts.

Eden sighed as she toyed with the hem of her dress. He had no right to be so good at it, she mused. After all, Marcus Quinn was just a regular guy. A man with such a great talent for seduction ought to be famous—or at least have a publicist.

She giggled and flopped back into the pillows. For the first time in weeks she felt happy … relaxed … and safe. The outside world didn’t exist when she was on this boat. And with Marcus occupying her thoughts, she had no time for reflection on her past indiscretions.

“Today is a new day,” Eden murmured. Her confidence bolstered, she climbed out of bed and shimmied out of her sundress. A quick search of her cabin turned up a pale blue bikini, one of her more conservative choices in swimwear. She stepped into the bottoms and pulled them up, then slipped into the top. She could go topless, but it would be much more fun to let Marcus fantasize about what was beneath the tiny scraps of fabric—and then let him undress her later.

She wandered through the cabin, listening for Marcus, but the boat was quiet, the clanging of the rigging the only sound. A quick check of the deck turned up nothing. She saw the note on the chalkboard when she stopped in the galley for coffee. “Went to town,” she read. “Be back before lunch. Call me if you need something.” He’d written his cell phone number on the bottom of the note, signing it with an M.

She stared down at his handwriting, running her fingers across the casual scrawl. A fleeting sense of loneliness settled in her heart and Eden brushed it aside. So she’d grown used to having him around. He wasn’t unpleasant to look at and he had a certain masculine charm that she found appealing. But it wouldn’t do to get too attached to him. After all, they moved in different circles and lived in different worlds.

Eden sat down on the sofa, impatient for her day to begin. She didn’t like being alone. When she was alone, her mind wandered to all her troubles, to the horrible stories that were probably being told in the media, to the anger and frustration that her father was no doubt feeling right now. But then, maybe the story hadn’t reached the States.

With a soft curse, Eden stood up and strode to the crew cabin at the bow of the boat, standing outside Marcus’s berth for a long moment before opening the door. She couldn’t help but be curious. He wasn’t much for conversation, so there would probably be very little forthcoming from him. Maybe there were a few clues to the man hidden amongst his belongings. Hesitantly Eden stepped inside and shut the door behind her.

The cabin was small, about a quarter the size of the stateroom she’d taken in the aft section of the yacht. His clothes were scattered all over, draped from the upper bunk and tossed into half-open drawers. Eden grabbed a shirt she recognized and pressed it to her nose. She breathed in a scent of his soap mixed with the fresh smell of salt air.

Twisting the shirt in her hands, she moved to the small cabinet next to the berth and picked through his selection of bedtime reading: a dog-eared paperback by Tom Clancy, two Horatio Hornblower books that she recognized from the ship’s library and a book on antique tools. Beneath the books, Eden found a stack of magazines and flipped through them. “Wooden Boat, Science Digest, The New Yorker,” she read, happy to see there were no girlie magazines. But when she reached the bottom of the pile, Eden froze. “The National Inquisitor.”

Her heart twisted in her chest, making it difficult to breathe. The headline was splashed across the top half of the cover. “Eden’s Sexcapade Caught on Tape.” Below the headline was the horribly grainy photo of her and Ricardo locked in a steamy embrace, the same photo that had appeared in the European magazines. She knew it was her. The Cartier watch was a dead giveaway.

Strange how she’d reached the level of celebrity where she’d become known by her first name only. There was no mistaking who they were talking about. There was only one Eden stupid enough to get herself mixed up in such a mess.

She slowly sat down on the edge of the bunk. What was Marcus doing with this? Had he picked it up at the grocery store yesterday? If he had, then that meant her father probably knew all about it by now. Tears of humiliation pressed at the corners of her eyes.

She’d come looking for clues about him and instead found everything he needed to pass judgment on her, all the sordid little details of her past, regurgitated once again for the public to savor. A sob welled up in her throat and she hurried out of the cabin, his shirt and the tabloid still clutched in her hands.

“Why the hell did he have to be here?” she muttered as she strode back to her stateroom. She’d wanted to spend some time alone, to figure out how to deal with the mess she’d made of her life. And now, because Marcus Quinn was here, she’d be forced to explain it all to him—a complete stranger!

Well, she certainly didn’t owe him any explanations. And if he came looking for them, then she just wouldn’t be here to make them. Eden grabbed her bags from beneath the berth and tossed them onto the bed. She didn’t bother to fold her clothes. The sooner she got off the boat, the better.

But as she stuffed her underwear into the suitcase, Eden realized that she couldn’t get off the boat with her belongings unless she threw her suitcases overboard and floated them back to the dock. Marcus had taken the dinghy.