She closed her eyes as the cab started up and they moved into the flow of traffic. She glanced at her watch and was amazed at how short a time had pa.s.sed. All she could hope for was that Dakota was still talking to his brothers and hadn't missed her at all. G.o.d help her if he had. She was in no position to defend herself now.

'Dakota, sit down, you're creating a draught.'

Dakota scowled at Jay who sat at his ease in one of the comfortable chairs by the fire.

'I know what she's up to. She's gone back to her apartment to get her stuff.'

Jay raised an eyebrow. 'And what's wrong with that? Girls need their stuff.'

Dakota stopped pacing. 'Because the p.r.i.c.k that hurt her still lives there and I don't want her anywhere near the b.a.s.t.a.r.d.'

'Robyn doesn't strike me as the kind of woman who needs defending, bro.'

'You don't know her like I do. That b.a.l.l.sy exterior's a front.'

'Really.'

Dakota flung himself into the chair opposite Jay. 'Yeah, really.' His hand curled into a fist. 'If that guy lays a finger on her . . .'

'We'll go and lay a few more fingers on him, OK?'

Dakota gave him a reluctant smile. 'Thanks. Robyn doesn't really have anyone to look out for her.'

'Except you.' Jay whistled. 'Man, you've got it bad, haven't you?'

'Got what?'

'The love bug.'

Dakota hunched a shoulder. 'f.u.c.k off, bro.'

'You're welcome.'

Dakota went still as he heard a pa.s.skey in the hotel door and then leapt to his feet. He strode across the room, grabbed the handle and yanked it open. Robyn fell into his arms in a froth of jumbled clothing and hangers.

'Oh h.e.l.l. I was hoping you'd gone to bed.'

'I bet you were.'

She sighed. 'I know you're going to get mad at me, so come on, get it over with.'

He thrust his hands into the pile of clothing, pulled the whole lot from her grasp and threw it to the floor. 'You went back to your apartment.'

Robyn leant against the wall, her arms wrapped around her waist, her posture all defense and c.o.c.ky aggression. 'Nope, I went midnight shopping. Will you shut up now?'

'The h.e.l.l I will.' Dakota realized he was shouting but he couldn't stop himself. 'You are so f.u.c.king stupid! Why didn't you let me come with you? You could've gotten hurt.'

Jay touched his shoulder. 'Shut up, bro, she is hurt, now get out of my way.'

Dakota struggled to breathe when he registered the line of blood streaking Robyn's clenched hand. He guessed she was holding herself upright with the sheer force of her considerable will. A cold unfamiliar rage flooded through him, choking all his senses until he wanted to scream and break something. He started for the door.

'I'm going to f.u.c.king kill him.'

Jay blocked his way. 'How about we take care of Robyn first, find out what happened and then kill him?'

Dakota returned his gaze to Robyn, saw the pain in her eyes and forced himself to calm down. 'OK.'

Jay guided Robyn into a chair and knelt in front of her, blocking Dakota's view. Robyn closed her eyes, her face a pale oval against the darkness of her hair.

Jay put his hand under Robyn's chin and stared into her eyes. 'She looks a little dazed. Did you hit your head, Robyn?'

'Yeah.'

Jay nodded. 'Anywhere else it hurts?'

'My elbow and my side.'

With a shock, Dakota realized he couldn't bear to see Jay's hands on her, impersonal as they were. He nudged his brother's shoulder. 'Let me help her.'

Jay looked exasperated. 'I'm doing just fine. If you take over you'll start shouting at her again, so sit down and shut up.' He returned his attention to Robyn. 'What happened? Did someone hurt you?'

Dakota grunted. 'Of course he f.u.c.king did. What did she expect going over there by herself?'

'Dakota, shut the f.u.c.k up!'

For the first time in his life he understood how his mother could simultaneously hug him and want to kill him when he'd done something dangerous or stupid as a kid. He wanted to take Robyn to bed and never let her out of his sight. He wanted to put her over his knee and spank her until she promised never to do anything so stupid ever again.

'I fell down some stairs. My arms were full of clothes so I couldn't stop my fall. But at least they cushioned the impact.'

'You fell or were you pushed?' Jay felt around her skull.

She shrugged, the movement way too careful. 'I'm not sure. It happened so fast.' She winced as his fingers settled over the side of her head. 'Ouch.'

'Yeah, definitely an ouch. You've got an egg-sized b.u.mp just above your ear. You'll need to put some ice on it.' He stared into her eyes. 'You might have a mild concussion, but nothing too serious.'

'Good. I think the rest is just bruises.' She continued to smile shakily at Jay as Dakota sank down on to his knees beside her. Strangely reluctant to see her attention fixed on his brother, Dakota took her hand.

'If you're done, Jay. I can take it from here.'

Jay got to his feet. 'You OK with that, Robyn? Do you trust this idiot to take care of you?'

She nodded carefully. 'Thanks for your help.'

'No problem.' He gently squeezed her shoulder and then turned to Dakota. 'Keep your temper and call me or Grayson if you have any worries in the night, OK?'

Dakota let out his breath. 'Will do, thanks, Jay.'

'See you tomorrow.'

Dakota waited until he heard the sound of the door shutting behind Jay. 'What happened?'

Robyn glanced down at him and then looked away. 'I told you. I went to get some of my clothes and doc.u.ments. Damien wasn't there so I decided to go in. Unfortunately he turned up just as I was about to leave.'

'And he shoved you down the stairs.'

'I told him to get out of my place and that I no longer considered myself his client. Not surprisingly, he didn't take it that well.'

Dakota frowned. 'What do you mean, you're his client?'

'He's my agent. The guy who's supposed to get me work and help my career.'

Dakota simply stared at her until she sighed.

'I know, I made a p.i.s.s-poor choice, but it was when I first got out of rehab and no one else in Hollywood would touch me. I thought he was a G.o.dsend and I signed my life away.'

'But you want to get away from him now, right?'

'h.e.l.l, yeah.'

Her fleeting smile displayed a little of her old sa.s.s. Dakota kissed her hand.

'I reckon we should set Grayson's lawyers on this. If anyone can get you out of this mess, they can.'

Her slight smile faded and she tried to get to her feet. 'I don't want you getting involved, Dakota, let alone your brother. I'm not his problem. I'm not anyone's problem.'

'And if I choose to make you my problem?'

He stood too, held her steady as she clutched onto the back of the seat, her face a sickly green. She touched his cheek, smoothed her thumb over his lip.

'You have no idea what that means. I'm not worth it. I'm too high maintenance for a nice uncomplicated guy like you.'

He stared down into her eyes; let her see the hurt in his. 'You can't stop me wanting to take care of you.'

'I can't but I like you too much to drag you down along with me.' She hesitated. 'Things are probably going to get a bit rough here on in. Perhaps I should move out.'

With a growl he carefully picked her up and headed for the bedroom. 'There's one thing you need to understand about me, honey. I'm no quitter.'

She curled her arm around his neck and held on tight. 'Dakota . . .'

He eased her down on to the bed and set about removing her clothes. She had a big packet of official-looking doc.u.ments in the back pocket of her jeans which he set on the bedside table. His breath hissed out in a curse as he uncovered an ugly bruise over her hip and her still bleeding elbow.

'Hang on, I'll get a cloth and some ice.'

He left her there and went into the bathroom. As he soaked a washcloth, he hardly recognized the grim reflection that stared back at him. For the first time in his life, he could see a resemblance to Beau, his birth father. Whether Robyn agreed or not, Damien, or whatever the f.u.c.k his name was, was toast.

And yeah, he would be talking to Grayson as well about how his lawyers could help unravel any contractual nightmares Robyn had gotten herself into. There was always a way out, even if it meant he had to pay Grayson back for the rest of his life.

He smiled into the mirror. Whether Robyn knew it or not, he was hers for the rest of his life. He squeezed out the washcloth and grabbed a clean towel. She would just have to get used to it.

Robyn woke up with a pounding headache and closed her eyes again. Spooned against her back, Dakota snored away, one hand tucked between her legs, the other cupped her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. After his initial outburst, he'd been incredibly gentle with her last night. Cleaning out her cuts, bringing her ice and pain pills and generally coddling her like a baby.

Despite his care, she knew him well enough to understand that Damien was in big trouble. She worried her lower lip. What would happen if Damien spilt all her secrets to Dakota? Would he hate her enough to walk away or would his sense of chivalry force him to hang around a woman he could only despise?

Something else nagged at her conscious mind, something about last night she'd almost forgotten. She tried to picture Damien's face, the avid interest of the woman he'd been with . . .

'How are you feeling, honey?' Dakota kissed her shoulder, his voice hoa.r.s.e and rough with sleep, his body tucked intimately against hers.

'I have a headache.'

'I bet you do.' He nuzzled at her neck. 'Stay there. I'll get you some more painkillers and see if our breakfast has arrived.'

G.o.d, he was so nice. Unaccustomed tears rose in her throat and she turned to bury her face against his muscular chest. How many more nights would she get to share with him before she had to give in and let Damien find her work to pay her bills?

'Are you OK, Robyn? h.e.l.l, honey, don't cry.'

She pressed against him, ignoring the aches and pains in her body and her pounding headache, intent on his scent and the strength surrounding her. At least she knew there were good men left in the world, even if she wasn't quite ready to take one on.

His arms closed around her and he rocked her, crooning nonsense into her ear until she relaxed against him and simply enjoyed being held and being wanted. She might have to walk away from him but she'd never forget how he felt or tasted.

She slid her hand down between their bodies and wrapped her fingers around his thick shaft. He groaned against her neck.

'Careful, honey, it's morning and I'm primed and ready to blow.'

Ignoring the protest in her muscles, she shifted down over him until her mouth hovered over the crown of his c.o.c.k. She used her tongue to delicately lick at the pre-come emerging from the tip.

'G.o.d, Robyn, that's f.u.c.king nice.'

She lowered her head and took his c.o.c.k into her mouth, sucking him hard and deep, loving the sensation of him filling her mouth. His hips jerked upward as she took him deeper, the crown of his c.o.c.k so far down her throat that she didn't even taste his come as he climaxed with a groan. His hand slid into her hair.

'Ouch!' She winced as his fingers brushed the bruise behind her ear.

'd.a.m.n, I'm sorry. I forgot about your head.'

He rotated her around until she faced him again, his expression full of concern.

She tried to smile. 'It's OK. I'm fine.'

'What the h.e.l.l are you doing giving me a b.l.o.w. .j.o.b when you obviously feel like c.r.a.p?'

She stared into his eyes. 'I don't feel like c.r.a.p and I wanted to give you a b.l.o.w. .j.o.b. Are you really complaining?'

He started to smile. 'Not really. I'm just trying to justify taking advantage of an invalid.' He touched her arm. 'Are you sure you feel OK? You don't have to go in today if you don't want to.'

She kissed his cheek. 'I'll be fine once I take a couple of painkillers. Staying in bed would be the worst thing I could do, I'd just get all stiff.'

Dakota glanced down at his c.o.c.k. 'I like stiff.'

'You might, but right now I need a hot shower.'