Chapter 21

“You get along really well with Michael and Jarrod. How long have you known each other?” Gabrielle asked sitting down on the chaise portion of the sofa after slipping off her shoes.

K.C. watched the toned, light chocolate limbs fold under easily her and he shifted subtly to find a comfortable position to give his growing erection some room.

The heat that was building in the room had nothing to do with the energy growing in the atmosphere outside. They heard another rumble of thunder and knew the storm was getting closer.

K.C. told her about meeting Jarrod in the seventh grade when the other boy and his parents had moved to America and they had gone to the same private school. He had met Michael in his first year at University of Texas at Austin where they were roommates.

“I also met some other good friends along the way one named Victor Randolph who is now a successful lawyer in Atlanta, he and his wife Monica just had the most adorable baby girl named Rhianna Marie. I met Alex Moore who is the quarterback for the Admirals at the same time through Michael. Alex is back home in Maryland but he’ll come for a visit before he has to turn up for training camp in Norfolk.” K.C. told her taking a sip of the water from the crystal glass.

“I know that you love the island and just from driving around St. Sebastian I think it's a great place to live but do you ever miss living in the States?” he asked curiously watching her face carefully over the rim of the glass.

“I miss going to the big museums and art galleries.  I did enjoy a few Baltimore Ravens home games for which I’ll have to apologize to Michael and I guess Alex too when I meet him. I actually liked the changing of the seasons, there’s nothing like watching the leaves turn colors, making snow angels or seeing the cherry blossoms in D.C and the heat during summer is something else. Apart from that this is home.” She answered with an easy smile.

“Would you ever consider living on an island like St. Sebastian?” Gabrielle asked tossing the ball back into his court with a raised eyebrow.

The thunder rumbling in the air sounded much closer and he smiled when she jumped nervously and K.C. reached out to touch her hand hoping to distract her and lost his train of thought for a moment looking down at her slim fingers. He smiled as a memory came to him before he answered honestly.

“I spent a summer living in Japan after I graduated from high school and found that though I missed my family I… enjoyed immersing myself in the different culture and found it stimulating.” he told her.

Gabrielle’s gaze had fastened onto his mouth and she watched his tongue come out to lick his firm pink lips. She was fascinated by their shape and barely heard his words as he put the glass down on the table beside him without looking away and reached for her.

K.C. had seen her staring at him and he was only human he thought as his hands closed around her forearms to drawing her to him. She went willingly, her eyes closing as she found herself plastered against his broad chest as his lips covering hers in a kiss that had Rielle moaning into his mouth.

This time he wasn’t knocking tentatively at the door he was demanding to be let in and Gabrielle met his ardor with her own fire. The warmth surged between her legs and she felt herself getting wet as a big hand went up to cup her head while the other slid down to curve on her hip leaving her skin tingling where K.C. touched her through the cotton of her dress.

She instinctively unfolded her legs as her hands went up to sift through his thick hair and he leaned back against the cushions ending in a prone position leaving Gabrielle sprawled on top of him. Their mouths never lost contact during this not even when the rumbling thunder gave way to a sudden heavy downpour of rain, the violence of the storm outside triggering something elemental between them.

Her arms cradled his head as their tongues met and mated in the heated confines of hers and they tasted the creamy coconut of their ice cream desert and Rielle knew her panties were going to be soaked.

His hand moved to the small of her back and her mound was pressed into his groin when he opened his legs so that she was resting between his thighs. He groaned at the wicked pressure and she squirmed against his growing bulge as his hand continued down to the toned curve of her bottom as she shivered reflexively.

One minute they were totally engaged in one another and the next a screaming Gabrielle was being snatched away from his grasp and his eyes flew open.

“What the fuck is going on here Rielle!” he heard a man say in a raspy rumble that almost rivaled the thunder outside. He had dragged her to her feet and she felt like a rag doll. Rielle looked up and saw irate hazel eyes blazing into hers before she was tugged behind K.C. in a move that she would find endearing after she had a chance to reflect on the act.

  Christopher Hall

He had sprung up to meet the furious glare of a man about his height and build with dark hair and a goatee in a wet shirt who looked like he was ready to pound him into the ground and the adrenalin that had been focused on passion now turned towards protecting his woman.  

Thunder cracked overhead startling them all, ramping up the emotion in the room and K.C. was glad he was a black belt in aikido. All K.C. could think was if he couldn’t talk this guy down he was he was going to have to take him down before he could hurt Gabrielle.

“Look man, I don’t know what you think is going on but you need to chill out.” K.C. said quietly with his hands raised palms up.

“Rielle who is this joker and why is he in this house?” the newcomer demanded to know. His voice sounding like he’d inhaled a lungful of smoke as he tried to see past K.C. to the woman that was behind him.

“That is it, first Camille and now you! I’ve had it! I’m an adult and you have no right trying to tell me what to do! Get the hell out of my house!” she screamed at the newcomer. K.C. saw the man’s eyebrows rise as his defensive posture softened at her outburst.  

K.C. was so surprised by her anger he turned to look down at Gabrielle her expression livid as she came to stand beside him, but that was quickly gone and her eyes sparkled with a devilish light.

She took that opportunity to grab K.C., pull down his head and kiss him defiantly and he was not sure what was going on as his hands slowly reached up to embrace her almost at the same time he expected to be ambushed by the other man. She opened her mouth beneath his, bringing all of her passion to the kiss and almost forgot that they had an observer in the room.

“You’ve made your point Rielle. Are you going to have sex with him in front of me or introduce me to your new boyfriend?” He vaguely heard the other man say in a resigned voice.

K.C. pulled away reluctantly and pressed his forehead against hers for a moment.

“Are you okay now?” he asked looking down into her brilliant eyes and she nodded.

He turned with his arm about Gabrielle’s waist and faced the other man who was staring at them with curiosity his arms folded across his chest.

“K.C. this is happening a lot faster than I expected but I’d like you to meet my over protective barbarian of a brother Christopher Hall. Chris this is K.C. Whitfield he’s the architect for the Tropicana Hotel project and a good friend of Jarrod Stewart.” She said calmly.

This confirmed what K.C. had guessed seeing the resemblance between brother and sister and he could only imagine that Gabrielle looked like her mother.

Her expression dared Chris to ignore K.C.’s outstretched hand as she folded her arms across her breasts and knowing how stubborn his sister could be he took the other man's hand. It would be just like her to date this guy just to spite him, even if he was a jerk.  Rielle knew her brother wasn’t above trying the handshake of death with K.C. but for some reason chose to behave himself.

People said Rielle looked like their mother while Chris looked like their dad and with his normally curly, dark brown hair dripping wet from the rain, peaked eyebrows over hazel eyes and tall athletic build he had women coming into the bank hoping to do more than get a loan.

“So have you met the parental units yet K.C.?” Chris asked in a deceptively friendly tone looking at the other man.

“No, he hasn’t because he’s only been here a short time. You never said why you came over Chris, don't make me regret giving you those keys.” She said quickly before K.C.'s mouth quirked at her quick recovery whe was very spirited.

“Wait a minute, what do you mean he’s only been here a short time?” Chris said sharply his eyebrows lowering threateningly. K.C. squeezed her waist when he felt her tensing and getting ready to unleash God only knows what on her brother.

“Gabrielle means that I arrived on St. Sebastian yesterday and we met last night. I know you’re just meeting me and what you walked in on was not the kind of thing any brother wants to see of his sister but I recognize that she’s a very special young woman.” K.C. told the other man and he met the searching gaze of Christopher Hall easily.

“That may be all well and good but you haven’t met our parents yet and you’ll have to convince them as well as me.” Chris finally said not buying into the stranger's bullshit. 

He knew that the first thing he was going to do when he got home was jump on his computer and Google search K.C. Whitfield and find out what the hell the story was on this guy.

It was easy to come down here and drop the name of a famous resident if you didn't know the guy. With the amount of people on the island it was possible to claim to be friends with anyone that didn't make it so. And even if he was friends with Jarrod Stewart didn’t mean that he was legit and Rielle hadn’t dated anyone in quite some time. 

Rielle might  look like a sexpot but she had been raised to respect herself and this kind of behavior wasn't like her. He knew some men from the mainland came to the islands looking for easy tail and sweet talked the woman into sleeping with them before they left. The women were often left broken and no way in hell was he going to stand by and allow his sister to go out like that. 

She was surprisingly still a little naïve when it came to men and apparently Whitfield was a smooth talker as evidenced by the way he’d found them making out only a day after they’d first met. Chris had overheard his sister and her friends talking about her college lover, Jonathan Franklin and he had something very special waiting if they ever met too.

In the meantime, he had to deal with this K.C. Whitfield, seeing the man meet his eyes easily didn't mean anything. He knew people who could lie with a straight face and he wasn't impressed by his act one damned bit.

Although he did remember how the other man had put himself between Rielle and what to him had been an unknown threat. He couldn't have known if Chris had some kind of weapon on him and he gave him props for being a man.