Kept By Casanova (Casanova Series) Read online

  KEPT BY CASANOVA

  By

  Seraphina Donavan

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, places, businesses, and incidents are from the author’s imagination, or they are used fictitiously and are definitely fictionalized. Any trademarks or pictures herein are not authorized by the trademark owners and do not in any way mean the work is sponsored by or associated with the trademark owners. Any trademarks or pictures used are specifically in a descriptive capacity.

  No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form (electronic or print) without permission from the author, except in the embodiment of reviews.

  Editor: Leanore Elliott

  Cover Art provided

  By

  Wicked Muse Covers

  ©November, 2013; Seraphina Donavan®

  CHAPTER ONE

  Liberty Jones rolled onto her back, the sun warming her skin as she lounged by the pool. Tanning wasn’t really the issue for her, and since she’d slathered herself with sunblock that had the equivalent protection of a layer of concrete, she was in no danger of it. Still, the heat felt lovely, seeping into muscles that were slightly stiff and sore. Thinking of just how those muscles had gotten that way, created a whole new kind of ache.

  Gavin made love to her over and over during the night, and again that morning. At times, he’d been gentle and tender at others, rough and commanding. During all of it, there’d been an edge of desperation in the way he touched her—the way he’d held her.

  She could also be imagining it. Desperation was creeping in for her along with the idea of how their time together would soon come to an end.

  Of course, it hadn’t been all play and no work. Gavin had been working on the Hypernion Project, but they’d hit a snag that couldn’t be fixed remotely. She knew it was frustrating him, but he seemed to be coping well enough.

  In order to finish the project, they needed to get home, and for that to happen, the threat must be eliminated. The downside being they would need to come out of hiding. With that in mind, Ronan paid a hotel staff person to leak their location to the press. Within minutes, it’d been on half a dozen tabloid news site. Billionaire and Bombshell Hiding Out in Monaco. Bombshell. Some of the tabloids hadn’t been so nice. There’d been snarky comments about her voluptuous figure. She’d been called everything from curvy to corpulent.

  It wasn’t simply that the press would begin hounding them soon or the hotel staff would begin being bribed for every detail, or even having her face splashed all over new stands in next to less than complimentary terms.

  Everything would be coming to a head, and once the danger passed—there would no longer be any excuse for her to remain with Gavin.

  He wasn’t in it for the long haul. Gavin didn’t do commitment. It was a well documented fact. The idea that he would grow tired of her and one day, give her some lovely parting gift and a pat on the head just made her cringe.

  The incessant ringing of a phone pulled Libby from her less than comforting thoughts. She didn’t have her phone. It, along with everything else, had been left behind in the states. A sick feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. Turning her head in the direction of the sound, she could see the small LCD screen flashing in the pot of the palm tree nearest to her.

  Gingerly, half afraid that it would be another bomb, Libby reached for the phone. It looked unattached to anything else, so she picked it up and accepted the call. “Who is this?” She uttered the question harshly.

  An amused chuckle greeted her. “Miss Jones! I do love a Southern accent and yours is just lovely.”

  Libby shivered. She didn’t know how he knew she was the person answering the phone, but she didn’t bother trying to deny that he was correct. “Who is this and what do you want?”

  “So unpleasant! I thought Southern women were renowned for their charm and grace? Perhaps McBray’s lack of skill in the bedroom can account for your sour mood...I’d offer my assistance, but you’re not really my type. Allow me to introduce myself…My name is Trevaython.”

  “Just Trevaython?” While she attempted to engage him in conversation, she scanned the area beyond the balcony, peering through the trees. She could see nothing, no hint or indication that anyone might be close by.

  “In the world that I move in now, since being blackballed in the security industry, a single name is all that’s required. No social security numbers or pesky taxes either. It’s a profitable business.”

  “What business is that?” Libby asked the question as she rose and moved toward the door to the relative safety of being inside. The feeling of being watched became too uncomfortable to bear.

  “That would be the business of murder, Miss Jones.”

  The plaster on the side of the building exploded just inches before her, bits of it stinging her skin as she dropped to her knees, cowering behind one of the large terra-cotta pots.

  He clucked his tongue at her, the sound sending chills down her spine. “I am in charge for the moment, Miss Jones. I have no desire to kill you. You may go inside when I tell you, but not until then.”

  “What do you want?”

  He laughed. “To the point then. I like that about you, Miss Jones. Tell McBray that if he wants your life guaranteed, all he has to do is sacrifice his.”

  “I won’t do it!”

  He made the sound again, the slight tisking noise as if he were a teacher and she were a naughty pupil. “Miss Jones, I said I didn’t want to kill you. I never said that I wouldn’t. Either you or McBray will die. The choice is yours. Now, run along inside before you burn.”

  Libby moved toward the door, staying behind the potted palms as much as possible. When she reached the door, there seemed to be no option but to leave cover. Reaching for the handle, a burning pain exploded in her shoulder and she screamed as rivulets of blood began to run down her arm.

  Ducking inside, she sank to her knees while Ronan and Gavin came running towards her. She tried to wave them back, terrified that Trevaython would use the opportunity to shoot them, but she simply couldn’t speak.

  In the end, it wasn’t necessary, Ronan pushed Gavin aside, even as a smattering of bullets peppered the room. He scooped her up and they all retreated hurriedly to the interior of the suite.

  ~*~*~

  Gavin stared at the blood staining Libby’s arm, the deep crimson obscenely dark against the whiteness of her skin. He watched as Ronan pried the phone from her fingers, clenched tight with pain and fear. Gavin took the phone from him. “What the hell do you want?”

  “I want you dead...It isn’t personal, McBray. I don’t like you much, and you did fire me, but I’m a live and let live sort, unless there’s money involved. Killing you is going to be very profitable.”

  Gavin’s jaw clenched tightly as cold fury washed through him. “Leave Libby out of this. This is between you and me!”

  “It was a shame to mar such lovely skin with a nasty bullet, but I felt that I needed to get your attention, McBray. I have it now, don’t I?”

  “You have my undivided attention,” Gavin responded tersely, “I warn you, it will be more than you bargained for.”

  “I’m looking forward to it McBray, and to the hefty paycheck I’ll be getting when I put a bullet through your head.”

  The call ended abruptly, the silence deafening. Gavin looked pointedly at Ronan. “How bad is it?”

  “It’s just a scrape, but it probably hurts like hell...I’ve called the concierge for a doctor.”

  Gavin moved to the side of the bed and took Libby’s hand. “We’ll get you something for the pain.”

  “It isn’t that bad.”

  Gavin k
new the protest was solely for his benefit. The wound wasn’t deep but it looked angry. He glanced away from the bloody gouge on her upper arm. “I’m so sorry this happened.”

  “It isn’t your fault. There’s only person responsible for this and that’s the man who shot me.”

  He shook his head. It felt like his fault. “Well, whether it is or not, he’s given us exactly what we need to track him.”

  “The phone?”

  “Not this phone, but the one he called from. With that number, I can and will find him.”

  Libby shook her head. “It’s just a burner, I’m sure—he’s probably tossed it already.”

  Gavin shook his head. “There’s another small feature of the Hypernion Project I failed to mention before. We’re working out the kinks, but it doesn’t just tell me present locations. I can track any phone calls made to and from this number now and get GPS coordinates to go along with them. Essentially, it’s going to give us a grid of everywhere he’s been and the locations of everyone he’s called since the phone came into his possession.”

  “So, it creates a road map of all his locations?”

  “Yes...What we’re looking for is where everything intersects. It’s the density of the hits that will give us his probable locations.” Gavin held her hand as he explained. It was more of an effort to distract her and keep her from thinking about the fact that she’d very nearly been killed because of him and not for the first time.

  Of course, Libby was nothing if not determined. “He said his name was Trevaython. Who is he really?”

  Gavin sighed. “Do you really want to discuss this now?”

  “I can’t think of a better time. Can you?”

  She did have a point. “Fine. Scott Trevaython was a soldier with elite training. I hired him as part of my security team, but he never really fit. Maybe it was PTSD or maybe he’s just a sociopath, regardless, I had to let him go. Now, someone is paying him to kill me…A win- win situation for him. A paycheck and revenge all in one job.”

  Gavin said nothing further as the door to the suite opened and Ronan ushered in a man with skin tanned to the consistency and color of fine leather. His shock of white hair looked damp, but still standing in disarray and he wore a hotel robe over very brief, banana yellow speedos.

  Gavin saw Libby’s eyes widen in alarm. He grinned in spite of their present circumstances. “This will be quite a story one day.” He moved away from the bed to give the doctor room to work.

  All in all, it didn’t take very long. He applied antiseptic liberally to the wound and then dressed it with gauze, all the while muttering in German. “Gunshot wounds,” he finally said in English, “Were not supposed to be part of my vacation. Please try not to get shot again.”

  Gavin started to speak, but Libby beat him to the punch. “Oddly enough, I didn’t try to get shot the first time.” Glaring at the doctor, her tone sounded icy. “It wasn’t exactly on my, to do list, either.”

  The older man’s mouth firmed, but his sagging jaw didn’t. “Keep the wound clean and dry. No swimming. I will arrange with a local pharmacy to have pain killers delivered.”After those terse sentences, the man rose and walked out with more dignity than a person should’ve been able to muster while wearing speedos and a fluffy robe.

  Exasperated, Gavin turned to Ronan. “Where did you dig him up?”

  “Pool side, flirting with a woman half his age, but still too old for either of us...Best I could do on short notice.”

  “Try not to inconvenience him again. His bedside manner needs serious work.”

  Ronan looked nonplussed. “No one else is getting hurt on my watch. Neither of you is leaving this room until the gala tomorrow night. I will be on the other side of those doors, so for the love of God, if you’re going to hump like rabbits, hump like mute rabbits.”

  Gavin watched Ronan storm out and then looked over at Libby.

  She was now sitting up in bed, trying to contain her laughter. Other than being a bit pale, or more so than usual, and the stark white bandage on her arm, she appeared fine.

  “Well, looks like we’re stuck for a while.” Gavin moved toward the bed, but stopped to take a deck of playing cards from the drawer. “Rummy or—?”

  The cards fell to the floor with a thud as Libby managed to remove her bathing suit top and was now shimmying out of the matching bottoms. “I read somewhere that sex is a great pain reliever.”

  Gavin couldn’t stop looking at her breasts. Lush and full, her pink nipples standing at attention in the chill of the air-conditioned room, there wasn’t a man alive who could’ve looked away. Every move created a delicious sway that was mesmerizing and painfully tempting. “Where exactly did you read that?”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Naked, Libby stared up at a dazed looking Gavin and smiled. “You want references now? Will Cosmo do or should it come from a peer-reviewed medical journal?”

  “If it’s in Cosmo, it must be true.”

  Libby rose to her knees, balancing on the bed as she reached for the buttons of his shirt. “In deference to my injury, we may have to get creative.”

  One button and then another followed, each one revealing a swath of bronzed skin and the crisp, dark hair that bisected his ridged abs.

  Shock and adrenaline propelled her, but lust took over quickly. It took so little to make her want him, to incite the craving for his touch.

  That feeling was mirrored in his gaze.

  When the last button was free, she reached up to push the shirt off his shoulders and feel his skin against hers. A sharp pain in her arm had her gasping.

  Gavin promptly seized her hands. “You’re hurt,” he reminded her gently.

  Determined, Libby pulled her hands free and reached for his belt. “My arm isn’t the only part of me that’s aching. I want to feel you inside me—I need to.” She watched his eyes shutter closed, saw him take a deep breath. Disappointment filled her when he pushed her hands away, but it fled rapidly when he simply took over the task for himself. I

  In seconds, he’d stripped off the rest of his clothing and stood naked before her, his cock already jutting forward, hard and thick. “Here’s the deal...I do all the work. You lay back and enjoy it.”

  Libby tilted her head to the side as if considering the idea. “You drive a hard bargain, but I think maybe we can work something out.”

  “No working something out. My way or not at all.”

  Libby shivered. She liked the sound of that way more than she would’ve expected. “I’ll try, but sometimes I get carried away.”

  “Lie back.”

  It wasn’t a request. There was an air of command in his voice she couldn’t help but respond to. Libby complied without question, eager to have his hands and his mouth on her. She felt the bed sink with his weight as he moved toward her.

  Every move he made seemed slow, deliberate. He touched her gently, his fingertips grazing along her calf, over her knees until they skimmed up her thighs.

  A soft shudder passed through her as he traced the tan lines that arced over her hipbones. “Gavin, you’re killing me.”

  “Not in the least. You’re very much alive. That’s what this is all about, right?”

  She sank back onto the pillows, her hips arching toward his hand, seeking relief from the fire building inside her. “That’s part of it—but the rest of it’s just you.”

  His answering grin was too sexy for words. The pirate smile that played over his lips was too tempting by far. So was the hand settling low on her belly, the tips of his fingers brushing against her mound.

  Reaching for his hand, hoping to guide him to where she needed his touch the most, Libby felt shocked when he pulled back. “What are you doing?”

  “You’re not running this show, Liberty. Either you lie back and do as you’re told, or I’ll stop.”

  Libby met his gaze, saw how resolute he looked and dutifully did as she was told. Gavin was a dominant lover, masterful and skilled, but this seemed different. It w
as darker, intimidating but seductive.

  With her obsequiousness, he resumed his seemingly casual exploration of her body. A series of gentle caresses, each one moving closer to the part of her that ached for his touch. It took all of her willpower to simply lie there, to be utterly still as he awakened every nerve ending in her body.

  When he moved closer, his weight pressing her into the mattress while his hand moved more fully between her thighs, Libby couldn’t choke back the sob of relief.

  “Quiet, Libby. Not a sound,” he commanded.

  Libby bit her lip as the pads of his fingertips coasted over her slit, already damp for him. When he hooked one hand beneath her knee, parting her legs, leaving her open and vulnerable, she had to stifle a moan.

  His actions were controlled, but the lust burning in his gaze was not. He devoured her with a look. “You have no idea how beautiful you are.” A reverence vibrated in his voice as he spoke.

  It made her yearn for more. This all was a very dangerous thing, wanting forever from a man who was very much right now. Libby closed her eyes, shutting out everything but the sound of his voice and the feel of his hands on her skin. She wanted the world outside that room to go away.

  ~*~*~

  Gavin stared down at the woman who’d turned his whole world upside down. Every emotion showed on her expressive face. Libby hid nothing. She had no artifice, no guile. He’d never known anyone like her, and he had no intention of letting her go.

  For the moment, Libby was his to control, to command—laid out before him like a pagan sacrifice while following his every order. He knew she only did so because she wanted to, and the control he seemed to have was nothing more than an illusion. That fact didn’t make it any less heady.

  With a deliberately teasing touch, he stroked the damp folds of her sex.

  She shuddered but made no voluntary movements.