Bound For Me

by Natalie Anderson

  “Mock all you like, but it’s the truth.”

  “I’m not mocking,” she said quietly, a small shiver rippling through her.

  “Come on. Come and sit up here.”

  She climbed into the helicopter but swivelled to sit side on, so she was facing him as he clicked out of his skis.

  “Tell me more.”

  He yanked on a polypropylene base layer—striped thermal leggings. He stared at her for a second, his hands low on his hips. Still rocking that ginormous hard-on, he looked like an over-sized Christmas elf who’d escaped from an x-rated fantasy advent calendar. “I’ll tell you a story, okay?”

  She nodded.

  “When Logan and I were kids, we really pushed it skiing. There was a huge amount of pressure. Dad wanted Olympic Gold to hang in the Great Hall. For the Hughes name to be etched in glory… you know, the total over the top, Summerhill thing.” He grimaced and then turned, picking up his skis and loading them into the helicopter, along with her snowboard. “So we’d been choppered up really high, just the two of us. Then we were racing. I crashed out badly. Ripped up on an exposed rock. Logan had no choice but to go get help. I was clinging to the side of this mountain for hours. Bleeding. Alone. In and out of consciousness. I think I pretty much died a couple times. But you know what? I wasn’t scared. Not for a moment. It was my home.”

  “You love it.”

  “And it’s my life. I made a pact with the mountain—let me survive, and I’ll spend the rest of my life taking care of you.” A bashful expression crossed his face and he couldn’t quite look her in the eye. “I guess I communed with the mountain gods…”

  “You’re a romantic,” she said softly. An idealist.

  “Perhaps.” He shrugged. “But it got me through. And I’ve wanted to look after the beast ever since.”

  He was a romantic. Who’d have thought the chilly-gazed, workaholic actually had such a huge heart? “What about your family? Do they feel the same about it?”

  “My family?” His smile hardened. Then died. “You were right about one thing Savannah. One part of the perfect Summerhill package is a mirage. Our happy family is a total facade. My parents are the most unhappily married people. He’s cheated on her so many times. That’s where he was the day I had that accident. He was in a chalet with his assistant instead of coaching us. He’d been through a number of assistants…”

  “Oh,” Savannah felt truly chilled for the first time all morning. “I’m sorry.”

  “So was I. But I wasn’t going to sit back and let him throw all this away because he got distracted by his uncontrollable lust.” Frowning he stomped round to climb into the helicopter. “He has lust for everything. Women. Status. Land. Money.” He hoisted himself into his seat and turned his head towards her. “For the record Savannah, he invested in that company he told your dad about. He lost money too. If it makes you feel any better.”

  She closed her door and curled up her legs so she could turn round to face him. The thought of Rex Hughes losing money? Maybe it should have made her feel better. But it didn’t.

  “I’m sorry your family has had its troubles,” she said, wriggling up onto her knees. “But I’m glad you have the mountain. You’re a good caretaker for it.”

  He looked at her. Stilled.

  But there was nothing more for her to say.

  She crawled past the controls and climbed right onto him. He still didn’t have a shirt on and it was cramped. That didn’t stop her kissing him.

  “Savannah…” he muttered, his hands automatically setting to work on arousing her more. “You’re so beautiful.”

  She kissed him again. Needing to silence him now too. The sweet murmurings more dangerous than any dirty talk.

  “You can’t silence me.”

  He knew what she was trying to do? He could read her too easily. So she returned to her prickly persona. “Stop being so damn bossy.” Wasn’t that her job?

  “Make me.”

  Her mouth parted in surprise. Before he’d been happy to let her lead their sex play, but now he was challenging her explicitly?

  And daring her to silence him? Master him?

  Yes please.

  She saw the challenge burning in his eyes. He, like she, liked it fierce. Liked the battle between them. They both exhilarated in the unpredictable. She pulled a condom from her pocket.

  He laughed. “You think it’s going to be that easy?”

  “Not in this space, actually. No. But just because something’s not easy, doesn’t mean it’s not going to be worth it.”

  “What is it you like about vehicles?” He groaned, long minutes later when she finally rolled the condom down his erection. “Is it the promise of speed?”

  She kissed him to shut him up again as she slid down onto him.

  But he knew her now. Knew what she liked. Knew how to push her quickly to her edge.

  Only more and more often, he held her there for longer. Teasing her for longer. So when release came, it was all the more intense.

  And this time? On his lap, facing him in the broad light of midday?

  There was no closing her eyes. No avoiding the intensity. Looking at him, with his cock locked deep inside her, she found she couldn’t move. Couldn’t ride. She could only feel.

  He shaped her butt with his broad palms, not breaking the intimate eye contact. He lifted her a fraction, enough for him to thrust up into her. So forcefully she sucked in a sharp breath. Then sighed. Then moaned.

  And so he did it again.

  Over and over. Harder. Faster—just as she liked. Until they were both groaning with each thrust, both flushed and steamy, both fighting to reach the finish line together.

  And then he pulled her closer still, so she rested against him, her face turned into his neck. She could feel the rapid pace of his heart starting to slow.

  “Savannah.”

  She liked it too much when he murmured her name like that.

  “You do everything to your very best, don’t you?” he muttered.

  Yeah. She put everything she had into everything she did. Which was why she needed to be so careful with him. “So do you.”

  And together they did sex, very, very well. So well, she was sleepy now.

  “When you’ve seen out our seven nights, what are you going to do?” he asked quietly, running his hand over her back in a gentle after-play.

  She didn’t think she was going to last seven nights. Aside from needing to check on her father, she wasn’t sure she could handle Connor in charming mode. “Find someplace else. Find work. What else can I do?” she shook her head slightly. “I don’t have any money.”

  “Why don’t you? Your father would have made money on the hotel sale?”

  “Sure. More than enough to pay the bank debt,” she muttered. “And then he gambled every last cent of it away.”

  She felt Connor’s muscles tense beneath her. “He’s a gambler?”

  “For the last few years.” She closed her eyes as the memories surfaced. The slow decline, then rapid fall to rock bottom. “He gambled his money. All of it. And then mine. Until there was absolutely nothing. He lied to me. I gave him that money on trust, but he lied.” And it still hurt. She lifted her head, looked into Connor’s serious blue eyes. “And for all that time, I’d heard nothing but how amazing Summerhill was, and what a freaking oracle Rex Hughes was… and when everything fell apart, I guess that became my fixation.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Not your fault.” She finally stepped up and admitted it. “It wasn’t.” She’d been wrong to blame his family.

  “It must be hard for you.” Connor said. At least he had the grace not to gloat. If anything, he looked more grim than he ever had.

  “I’m over it now.”

  “So where’s your mom?”

  “She and dad broke up a few years ago.”

  He nodded. “But she has a new partner.”

  “Clearly,” she drawled, hiding her hurt. “Dad wanted to ge
t her back... That’s why he was so determined to make the hotel such a success. Why he modelled himself on Rex. But it was never going to happen.”

  “The hotel? Or getting your mother back?”

  “Both.”

  “She’d already met that someone else?”

  Savannah nodded.

  “What happened?”

  She wanted to curl up and hide. She never talked about this. But Connor pulled her close so she rested her head on his broad shoulder again. He wrapped both arms around her, his hand gently rubbing her back. She closed her eyes, breathed in the scent of sun and snow and sex and him. “We went on a school trip. You know how you do. A week in Washington, seeing the sights. She came as a parent help. And he was my history teacher.” Savannah explained.

  “No.”

  “Yes. Fresh out of college, he’d only just gotten registered. He was the hot new history teacher. Nearer my age than hers.” She chuckled, it was that or cry. “Every one knew. They were off fucking around with each other, while my father was home alone and clueless. While I’m there. Ostracised by the rest of the class. They’re all giggling. And then bullying. Are you as easy as your mum? The guys asked. Do you come like a banshee the way she does?” Savannah winced, drawing more tightly into herself, but Connor’s arms now cradled.

  “My few girlfriends walked. You know how kids get—they operate in packs. If you’re the weak one, you’re attacked. And I was now the weak one. Brad—mum’s hot history lover—stayed teaching at the school for a while. It was hideous. Then they moved to a town an hour or so away. But my friends were no longer my friends.” She hadn’t felt like she could trust any of them again. She drew in a deep breath.

  “What about boyfriends?”

  “Didn’t have one for ages. Not ’til I’d left school. When dad’s problems really started to impact… he decided he couldn’t handle it.”

  “Did you love him?”

  “I thought I did. But he bailed.” All those she’d trusted had bailed. “So I guess we both know what it’s like to be let down by those we love…”

  “Yeah, I guess we do.”

  She lifted her head to meet his somber eyes and whispered. “So help me forget again, for just a little while.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  He was going to have to tell her. The worst. What he’d avoided. He’d thought she’d known, but it was obvious from this morning that she hadn’t a clue.

  Connor was afraid she was going to be hurt. And angry. But he’d told her he had nothing to hide. And he didn’t. So he had to be honest with her. He owed her that.

  Right when she’d finally opened up to him.

  He walked into the bar just as Luca must have said something funny to her, because she threw her boss a smile—so gorgeous it stopped Connor in his tracks. She had an intensity that he found irresistible.

  Seven nights? Not enough. Seven days and nights?

  Still not enough.

  He looked down, frowning at the thought. It was going to have to be enough. Because she was going to get on with her life. And he needed to get back to his.

  This whole keep her close, distract her deal, was now only about the attraction between them, right? The challenge. He’d wanted her capitulation—to have sex with her again, to have her stay the night in his arms...

  But now he had it?

  Still not enough.

  And worse than that? He felt shitty about what had happened to her. And the very real part he’d played in that. So he was going to have to ‘fess up.

  “Hey you.”

  Connor glanced back up, his worries slipping at the sound of her sweet greeting.

  But it wasn’t him she was talking to. She was looking the other way—at another guy who was walking over to the bar from a corner table.

  “Find who you were looking for?” she asked him.

  “Not yet,” the man answered.

  “Oh,” she pulled a little pout. “Well maybe tonight?”

  “Maybe.”

  Connor frowned, shifting to get a better view of the guy she was talking to. He didn’t recognize him.

  It wasn’t like her to be that chatty.

  And it wasn’t like him to be this jealous.

  Uncomfortable with the feeling, he glanced back at the table the guy had risen from. There was a woman there—good. But then he recognized her and his blood iced. Cynthia Matthews? His father’s last assistant. Last affair.

  She’d resigned only a couple weeks ago, just before his parents had their flashy fortieth wedding anniversary party. Connor had felt so bad for her, he’d ensured her final pay pack was bulging. And she’d told him she was leaving town immediately.

  But she hadn’t. She’d come to the freaking party. Logan had seen her off before she’d done anything.

  She was not the person he wanted to see tonight.

  He turned and walked out of the bar. Right on cue, his phone chimed.

  Good. He’d focus on work. That was his priority, right? Always.

  Connor had been there a moment, but he’d gone. Savannah drowned her disappointment by putting on an even sharper show with her cocktail throwing, hoping he’d come back soon. But it wasn’t until closing that he returned. He wasn’t smiling.

  She walked out to his stupid-sized SUV with him and swivelled in her seat as soon as he’d closed his door.

  “We’re not having sex in the car again,” he said.

  “No?” She was so tempted to tease him into it.

  “Savannah.”

  She stiffened. That tone of voice? She didn’t think she wanted to hear what he was about to say. “Then you can just drop me home.”

  “No. Seven nights, remember?” He fell silent.

  Savannah didn’t speak. She wanted to ask if everything was okay—if he was okay. He’d had a massive mood change since their time up on the snow this morning… but asking him if he was okay was such a girly, relationshippy thing to do. And this wasn’t a relationship.

  He took her hand and held it under his on the steering wheel. His hand was warm.

  When they got to the Lodge he led her up the small spiral staircase again, sneaking them up to his peaceful eagle’s nest. But something dangerous had stolen in since their time up on the snow this morning. She could see it in his eyes. Distance.

  “We need to talk.”

  Not what she wanted to do.

  “Your father…”

  She shifted and looked about the room.

  “I need to tell you something.” He sounded serious. “Savannah, I bought the hotel.”

  “What?” Her attention shot back to him.

  “It was one of our companies that bought your father’s hotel. And we then onsold it a couple months later. Just a couple weeks ago, actually.”

  She stared at him blankly. “No… It was some consortium based in Man… Manhattan.” Her heart puckered. Manhattan was where all his friends were. Oh my lord. “Why? Why would you do that?”

  “He’d been sending those begging letters to Rex—”

  “Because he’d lost all his money on bad investment advice that your father gave him.” Her heart raced. “He was badly in debt. He was stressed. He probably wasn’t even making sense…”

  “And it was his choice to invest.” Connor stuck to the damn party line. “Rex didn’t hold a gun to his head, he gave a few flippant tips at the end of a talk.” Connor frowned. “Anyway, your father made a packet from the sale of the hotel.”

  “Is that why you paid the full asking price?” Her voice rose as the implications sank in. “You know he’d have settled for less, he was so desperate. Was it guilt?”

  “No.”

  Of course it was. “You have no idea. No idea what you did.” She turned and pace away from him, needing to burn the adrenaline now flooding her.

  “I didn’t know about his gambling.”

  “That doesn’t matter.” She whirled to face him. “What matters is that you thought you could just pay some money and the irr
itating little problem would go away.”

  “No,” he stepped up, his hands reaching out. “I was trying to do the right thing.”

  She sidestepped him. “Because you knew there’d been a wrong thing done.”

  “No. Your father made his own mistakes. He didn’t research. He didn’t take proper advice. I guess I felt badly for him.”

  “But you didn’t want him bothering Rex anymore. You were protecting your father.” And he’d said it himself, his father was a jerk.

  “I was trying to do the right thing for everyone. It didn’t matter to me—”

  “Didn’t matter?” All that money didn’t matter? Because he was rolling in it, just less than one little million made no difference?

  He cursed. “I didn’t mean—I’m trying to do the right thing now by telling you.”

  What was the good in telling her now? It only hurt her. And it couldn’t fix things between her and her father. “You really think you can just pay someone off?”

  “Of course not. But it was the only way I could think to make the situation better. I thought it would work out for everyone.”

  “Well you were wrong.”

  “I’m sorry how it turned out.” He marched up and grabbed her by her shoulders, forcing her to look up into his face. “But what would have happened if I hadn’t bought the hotel, Savannah? The bank would have foreclosed on him. He’d have been declared bankrupt—”

  “He’s bankrupted now.” She lowered her gaze so she didn’t have to see the entreaty, and the truth, in his expression. “It was my dream,” she whispered. “My home.” The way this mountain was his. “I loved that hotel. It wasn’t exclusive, it wasn’t elite, but it was friendly. People liked it. I liked it… I couldn’t afford to buy it back. It’s gone forever.”

  But it had been lost to her before Connor had stepped in.

  She understood that it had been his way of trying to help again. Just like he’d fundraised for the cancer kid by shaving his head. He wasn’t all bad. But money didn’t solve problems. Money sometimes made them worse.

  “I’m sorry you lost that dream, Savannah.”

  “So am I.” She looked up at him then. “But I’ll get over it.”