Propositioning Mr. Raine (Riding the Raines Book 1)

by Laurann Dohner

  His eyes searched hers in the dim parking lot for long seconds before they widened in surprise. “You’re serious.”

  Expressions she couldn’t read flickered across his face as he released her arm. He took a step back, hooking his thumbs in his front jean pockets. Tearing her gaze from his, Trina bent to pick up her keys. She straightened, gripping them, and glanced at him again.

  “I’m really sorry and I mean it about the loan. Just draw up something fair and bring me the paperwork to sign. I can write you a check and I won’t need it any time sooner than you can pay it back.”

  She unlocked her door and tossed her purse inside, ready to climb in after it to flee the scene of her humiliation. A gentle hand clamped on her arm again. She turned to stare up at Navarro, only to discover him staring back at her, nearly touching her body with his. She couldn’t read the intense expression on his face but wished that she could.

  “You’re an attractive woman and could get a lot of guys in your bed.”

  He seemed to be a nice man and the least she could do after dropping a bomb on him was be honest.

  “I’m thirty-eight years old, not young anymore, and my body isn’t what it was twenty years ago. I gained weight when I was married and then I lost it during my grief, so I look better in clothes than I do out of them. I’ve only slept with three men in my life so I’m kind of shy and not outgoing. I always draw the smart types who aren’t like you.” She paused. “That’s not an insult, I think you’re smart, but what I meant is I draw nerdy men. Even when I was younger, men who look like you never hit on me. I was attracted to you because I’m not blind and you’re damn near perfect.”

  A small smile curved his full lips. “Damn near, huh? What makes me almost perfect?”

  She hesitated. “You have a mirror in your home. You’re hot and you know it.”

  “So what makes you think I wouldn’t fuck you without you paying me? You’re attractive, Trina.”

  “I saw your ex-girlfriend, and I’m old enough to be her very young mother. She’s got legs that go on forever and she’s beautiful.”

  “She’s also a cold bitch,” he said harshly, all teasing gone from his tone.

  “Yeah. There’s that. What she did was fucked up.”

  He arched an eyebrow. “You’re serious about this offer?”

  She just stared up at him, wondering if he was playing with her by even asking that question. He studied her, his expression thoughtful.

  “What are the terms you came up with if I agree to do this?”

  “I don’t know.” Astonishment filled Trina. Was he considering it? “I didn’t get that far. I thought we could just discuss it and figure it out if I worked up the nerve to approach you, which I kind of doubted I would, so I didn’t plan much beyond just propositioning you.”

  Navarro let his palm slide down her arm until he gripped her hand, surprising her by the action. He stared down at her for long seconds and then opened his mouth.

  “If you pay off my brother’s loan, I’ll give you two months.”

  Shock tore through her at his words, leaving her speechless.

  “Let’s say five nights a week for those two months. We could stay at my place or yours but it would be easier if it were mine. Otherwise I’d have to leave before dawn since I have horses to care for. I’d give you seven nights, but what I do is really hard on my body and I need to get a couple of full nights’ sleep.”

  “Seriously? You’ll do it?” She was still stunned.

  A smile tugged at his lips. “I can’t believe I’m going to get paid to touch you.” He inched in closer. “You want me to fuck you, right?” His voice dropped to a deeper tone as he spoke.

  Trina knew she couldn’t have spoken to save her life at that moment. She gave a sharp nod.

  “Then I will—and I’ll show you what you’ve been missing.”

  Her knees went weak and she managed to nod her head again, wanting him to know she was accepting whatever he was offering.

  “Follow me to my place.”

  Another jolt of astonishment ran through her, leaving her able to speak again. “Now?”

  “Now.”

  “But I thought you’d want the money first.” Panic hit her hard, since she hadn’t really believed he’d agree to her crazy idea, but not only had he said yes, he wanted her to go home with him right then. “But…” She was mute and unable to think.

  Navarro’s intense look pierced her. “Tonight is free, Trina. Tomorrow we’ll start our arrangement and then you can talk money to me so I’ll write out something to promise you two months of my nights.” His hand released her as he stepped back. “Let’s go, Trina. You were brave enough to come to me, so follow me right now.”

  He walked away, moving slowly for his beat-up pickup truck. She hesitated for a heartbeat before she climbed into her SUV and put on her seat belt. Amazement slammed her hard that he’d agreed and asked her back to his place for a free night of sex. When he backed out of the parking space, she found herself shoving her key in the ignition, her hands shaking badly, but she started her vehicle.

  Navarro Raine had offered to take her to his bed, to show her all the things she’d always missed out on in the bedroom, if he was really as good as some women in town had bragged.

  Her entire body trembled at the thought of what he might do to her when they were alone.

  Chapter Two

  The Raine home was a two-story, Spanish-style home. It was too dark to get a good look at its condition but judging from the well-lit front porch, it was obvious that Navarro took care of his home. Trina parked behind his truck and climbed out of her SUV. She was grateful that she’d showered and had dressed nicely to talk to him at the bar.

  Navarro watched her silently as she walked toward where he waited at the bottom of the porch. His back was to the light so she wasn’t able to see his eyes in the shadows. She really was nervous and it must have shown on her face.

  “I won’t hurt you.”

  “I know. I’ve just never done this before.”

  He chuckled. “What exactly haven’t you done before?”

  “I’ve never gone home with a virtual stranger. I was always in long-term relationships with the few men I did have sex with.”

  “I promise you that you’ll enjoy what we do.”

  Trina shivered. “Okay. I’m counting on that.”

  Navarro chuckled again and reached out to take her hand in his larger one, turning toward the house, leading her up the porch steps. He paused to unlock the door, shoved it open and waited for her to walk in first. The living room light was already on as she stepped into his home, allowing Trina to take a good look at the large room that was a bit under furnished but clean. The room only contained a couch, one end table with the lamp, a large television and a coffee table. It was obvious that a woman didn’t live there.

  “Bedroom? Or do you want another room of the house? The kitchen maybe?”

  She looked up into his handsome face and realized his sexy gaze was studying her close enough to make her blush. “I don’t know. I’m not really good at this. That’s why I wanted to pay you.”

  He chuckled, revealing that he had a nice laugh as he gently squeezed her hand, closing the door behind them, and used his free hand to lock it. “We’ll go to my bedroom.”

  She let him lead her into a hallway and up the stairs. He bypassed a few closed doors and went to the one down the hall that stood open and dark. He walked in, flipped on the light and let Trina take in her fill of the room as he released her hand and firmly closed the bedroom door behind them.

  The bedroom was also pretty bare, only housing a large king-sized, four-poster, wooden bed frame. It was covered with a black comforter and a few big body pillows lay along the wooden headboard. Two nightstands and a dresser were the only other furniture in the room. Two doors stood open, one leading to a small walk-in closet filled with clothing and the other to his private bathroom, the tub in clear view. A pair of discarded jeans lay
on the floor and black boxer briefs were on top of them, the only sign of mess in his otherwise clean room.

  “Do you have anything to drink?” Trina faced him.

  Navarro nodded. “I do but I don’t want you drunk.”

  “Oh.” She swallowed. “I thought it would relax me.”

  “Undress and climb onto the bed.” He slowly grinned, showing white teeth.

  “So we’re just getting right to it, huh?” Her heart hammered in her chest.

  “Yeah. I’ve been hard since the parking lot. Undress and climb up onto my bed, Trina. I want you flat on your back in the middle.”

  Uncertainty gripped Trina as she hesitated. “Can we turn down the lights? Maybe even turn them off? I wasn’t kidding about the part where I look better with my clothes on.”

  His grin died as blue eyes narrowed. “If this is going to work, you need to do what I say, Trina. You need to follow orders. Take off all your clothes. I want you to stretch out on your back in the middle of my bed, completely naked. Is that clear?”

  Nervously, Trina started to undress and knew she was blushing heavily, feeling her cheeks flaming with heat. He’d asked to see her naked but she hoped he didn’t change his mind once he got her that way. She eyed his black comforter with dread and realized that with her white skin she was probably going to look dead lying on top of it. With her fair skin, she avoided the sun as much as possible. She hoped she didn’t blind him.

  She kicked off her shoes, unzipped her jeans and slid them down her legs and off, then pulled her shirt off and let it drop. She was glad her bra and bikini-cut undies matched. If she’d known he was going to be seeing her undressed, she’d have worn white—it would be less startling against her skin than the black she wore. She risked a glance at him. He was still fully dressed, watching her silently. She paused.

  “Aren’t you going to get undressed?”

  “I will. Take it all off.”

  Shit. Biting her lip again, she reached behind her to unfasten her bra and looked away from him as she let it drop. She hoped he didn’t get turned off because gravity had dipped her breasts a bit and her stomach wasn’t firm or flat. She blushed with embarrassment, assuming he was firm all over.

  She reached for her undies last, to slide them down, wondering how he was going to react to the fact that she was totally shaved everywhere from the waist down. She walked stiffly to his bed, realized it was higher than a standard bed and really did have to climb up, since the mattress was hip-high on her. She got to the center of the mattress and slowly rolled onto her back to stretch out just as he’d ordered her to do. She risked another curious glance his way.

  Navarro’s shirt was opened slightly so she saw a hint of tanned skin and defined chest, but she looked at his face to watch his reaction to her. His gaze roamed her body while he unfastened more buttons on his flannel shirt but she didn’t see disgust as he studied her. He actually looked turned on, if she were any kind of judge of his expressions. She was more nervous than aroused as her attention fixed on his chest, which he revealed when he dropped the shirt.

  She experienced the feeling of being punched in the gut as she stared at his perfectly muscled chest, then decided it was better than perfect. His skin was tan over ridges of muscles on his taut, firm stomach. He had a little hair on his chest—only a small smattering—but hair dipped in a line from under his bellybutton down to the snap of his pants. Two tan hands gripped the front as he opened them slowly.

  “Trina?”

  “Yes?” Her voice shook.

  “Don’t look so scared.”

  “I’m nervous.” She figured honesty was best and just admitted it.

  “I’m the one under pressure.”

  Her gaze flew to his in surprise. “Pressure?”

  “You think I’m worth a hell of a lot of money.” He grinned. “Relax.”

  The smile was instant and something she couldn’t stop. “You’re totally eye candy. I just wish I were.”

  He left his black sexy briefs on as he walked to the bed. “I have no complaints.” His gaze slid over her body. “Trust me. From where I’m standing, you look good.”

  “Thank you.”

  He smiled. “Look at me.”

  She met his eyes, watching them. “I am.”

  “What do you want?”

  “I don’t know. I told you, I don’t…” She sighed, a bit embarrassed but ready to be completely open with him. “I know what the term vanilla means, since I read. My sex life has totally been as vanilla as it can be. I’ve read about a lot of things but I haven’t done much. I know I was married for sixteen years but he wasn’t into experimenting. I wanted to but he didn’t.”

  Navarro watched her. “That’s why you want me. You want to experience all of those things you fantasize about, don’t you, babe?”

  Trina felt embarrassed but she’d gone this far so she figured she might as well totally extend herself. “Yes. I’ve never been more attracted to a man than I am to you. I told you that I overheard some women at the diner talking about you. Saying that you’re really good at sex and you’re…”

  “I’m what?” He inched closer to her.

  “Um…really good in bed and a little wild. That’s what one of them said. She said you were a hell of a lot of fun and another one agreed with her.”

  Dark blue eyes twinkled with amusement as his lips curved into a sexy smile. “So I got good reviews, huh?”

  She smiled back. “Yes.”

  Navarro stared at her. “Your days of having boring sex are over. I’m the man who’s going to take you to new heights, and I’m the man who’s going to show you what you’ve been missing out on. You tell me what you’ve done and then we’ll work from there.”

  Trina licked her lips, letting her gaze run once more over his muscular chest and six-pack abs, voting silently that he was the sexiest man on the planet. Her body was already responding to just the sight of him and he hadn’t even climbed into bed yet.

  “Trina?”

  She met his eyes. “Yes?”

  “I’m impatient to get my hands and mouth on you. I want you too bad to wait forever for you to answer my questions. Do you see what you do to me? If you don’t start talking then we’re going to have this conversation much later.”

  Her focus lowered down his body to his black boxer briefs, and the sight there caused her heart to pound. Trina couldn’t miss that he was sporting a major erection. Navarro wasn’t just eye candy from the waist up. She could clearly see how much he wanted her because he was testing the limits of how far a pair of briefs could stretch. She was beyond impressed—she was a little intimidated.

  “Trina?”

  She met Navarro’s eyes. “Yes?”

  “Don’t tell me I’ve left you speechless. Answer my questions if you want me.”

  Trina wanted him so bad she ached. She had to force herself to think to remember what he wanted to know but it was hard to concentrate when Navarro was standing so close to her.

  “Wild to my husband was doggy style.”

  Trina couldn’t miss the surprise that crossed Navarro’s face as he took a deep breath. “Have you ever had anal sex?”

  She shook her head. “I can’t say I ever missed not having it either.”

  A laugh burst from him and his expression softened with humor. “Did your husband like oral sex?”

  “Getting it, but he never gave it.”

  His humor evaporated and shock transformed his features. “Never?”

  “He tried it twice but he didn’t like it so he never did it again. It just made me feel uncomfortable and I didn’t enjoy it either, so I didn’t bug him about it.”

  Navarro shook his head. “You’re damn near virginal, aren’t you, babe?”

  She shrugged. “Probably.”

  “Did he turn you on?”

  “Yes.”

  “But left you high and dry in the end?”

  Another blush stained her cheeks from the embarrassment of having spent si
xteen years in a marriage with dull sex. “I loved him and he was a good man.”

  “But he didn’t know his ass from his elbow in bed, did he?” Navarro didn’t wait for an answer. “I want you to relax and trust me. Can you follow orders? You need to do what I say, without question. You’ll like what I do, and if you don’t, I’ll find what you enjoy. You have to be honest with me about everything. Don’t fake a thing, even though I have a feeling you’ve gotten pretty good at that over the years. Are we clear about that?”

  “Yes.”

  He paused. “Have you been tested?”

  She eyed him, confused. “Tested for what?”

  He stared at her, waiting. She nodded, understanding dawning when he directed his attention to her thighs and then looked back at her.

  “I get regular checkups and I don’t have anything. Aren’t we using condoms? I mean, do you know for sure you don’t have anything? I’m not on any form of birth control.”

  “I’m clean and I can’t get you pregnant.” His mouth tensed. “I had an accident when I was younger that left me sterile.”

  Sympathy welled in her. “I’m sorry. Are you all right?”

  “If you’re asking me if everything works, it does, but I can’t have kids.”

  The look in his eyes bothered Trina, spotting real anger there and perhaps a little resentment as well. “My husband couldn’t have children either.”

  Shock paled Navarro’s features for a second. “Excuse me?”

  “Ted had leukemia when he was a teen and it left him sterile. You looked so angry when you said you couldn’t have kids. I’m sorry for your loss. It didn’t bother Ted since he didn’t want children, always said he worked too much to have kids anyway.”