by Cat Schield
With a huge sigh, Will set his hands on her hips and stepped back. “Obviously she’s occupied getting Brody ready for bed. I guess that was all for nothing.”
If Megan had had a skillet in her hand she would’ve clobbered him. How could the man whip up her emotions with so little effort and then act as if nothing happened? A better question might be how could she stop it from happening over and over?
“Is that all you were doing just now?” she demanded, her body awash in conflict. “Making a point to your sister?”
Will frowned down at her. “Are we okay?”
His question was the last thing she expected. “Of course. Why wouldn’t we be?”
“I just want you to know that having you at the ranch has been great.”
“Thank you.” Megan wished she had some idea where he was going with this. “I’ve enjoyed being here and appreciated getting to know you better.”
“I’m glad we’re both on the same page.”
And then, before she could sort out what he meant by that, Will swept her off her feet and began to move with purpose toward the master suite.
Megan’s motor was redlining by the time he set her on her feet in his bedroom, and she pushed up on her toes, meeting his descending lips with a greedy moan. They wasted no time with words—it was just teeth and tongue, lips and hands, sighs and moans as they kissed and clawed at buttons and buckles. Seams tore. Buttons flew. Hooks parted. Each time his tongue plunged into her mouth Megan grew more frantic with need. Blind to anything but the craving to glide her fingers over his warm skin and take his erection into her hands, she fumbled with his zipper.
She’d never known such all-consuming hunger until Will had touched her for the first time. With his mouth on hers, erection buried deep inside her, it was as if the entire world spun away and it was only Will’s tongue sliding against hers, his hard body crushing her beneath him.
For a few blissful hours, she could pretend that her life was without danger. That her brother wasn’t dead. That she hadn’t made an enormous mistake by falling for a cheap imitation of Will. That love was real and trusting someone was possible again.
A growl broke from his throat as she freed him. Something primal and raw burst free inside her as she took him in her hand and ran her fingertips along his swollen length. He was huge and powerful, and she craved the taste of him. Dropping to her knees, she ran the tip of her tongue around his velvet tip. His cry of pleasure cut off abruptly as if his lungs had stopped functioning. But he was quick to demonstrate his gratification by digging his fingers into her skull as she slid her mouth over him.
Each shudder of his body and incoherent groan fanned her own desire. Just when she thought he’d let her take him all the way to orgasm, Will drew her back to her feet and claimed her lips in a fiery kiss that left her lightheaded and gasping.
And then a whimper broke free from her throat as his hands slipped between her thighs and found her hot and wet for him. His touch was perfect. One finger dipping between her slick folds to drive her mad.
Even as her knees buckled, he was scooping her off her feet once more. He lay her in the middle of his bed and dug into the nightstand for protection. Sliding it on, he joined her on the mattress. His lips and tongue coasted over her skin, leaving a damp, sizzling trail of fire from her neck to her navel. She quaked beneath the electric shock of each new sensation as he devoured her body and set her heart free.
Lost in Will and her hunger for him, Megan plunged into voracious need and incendiary desire. She surrendered to the heavy longing deep in her womb and the sharp ache of arousal between her thighs. Will would take care of her as he always did and she would do the same for him.
“Megan.” Her name on his lips was so filled with desperate longing that she could do nothing but smile. “Open your eyes and see that it’s me,” he murmured, an edge to his soft command. “See the man who is making love to you.”
Although her eyelids felt impossibly heavy, she couldn’t deny him. Her lashes came up. Her gaze collided with his as he filled her in a single, deliberate thrust that shattered her world. This was what she’d longed for. The heat. The absolute rightness. As their bodies found a perfect rhythm, Megan knew this was the man she’d waited all her life for.
He cupped her butt and lifted her to the angle she liked, driving into her with smooth, unrelenting thrusts that she welcomed over and over. She wrapped her arms around his neck and slid her lips over his damp skin, tasting salt and aroused male. The blend poured rocket fuel on the fires already burning out-of-control inside her and she sank her teeth into his shoulder, nails biting into his back.
Hips moving like pistons, he bent down, nipped her neck and murmured, “Come for me.”
A combination of the command and his hot breath caressing her ear and Megan’s body began to thrum with a familiar pressure. He seemed to know exactly what was happening because he started to roll his hips, unleashing a maelstrom inside her. She felt herself coming apart and wondered if she’d ever be the same again.
Yet within every aftermath she discovered a stronger, better, more confident version of herself. Will did that for her. Each time they made love. She became new and improved.
Her climax bowled into her then. Her body arched as she cried out. Taking this as his cue, Will’s thrusts increased in intensity until he possessed more than her body. He laid claim to her soul. It felt so incredibly good that a second orgasm ripped through Megan and she exhaled a slow, lingering breath as the last wave of pleasure shuddered through her.
Moments later Will collapsed onto her, having found his release, and Megan’s hands coasted over his sweat-slicked shoulders, loving the weight of him pressing her into the mattress.
“I love that you’re so good at that,” she murmured, too spent to keep her eyes open.
“Anything to keep you happy.” His breath puffed against her neck as he shifted to lie on his back, pulling her limp form snug against his side.
He kissed her shoulder, sliding his lips into that sensitive spot near the hollow of her throat. A smile tugged at her lips as tingles sped across her nerve endings. Despite her exhaustion, she shivered in reaction, but it had been a long day and her body was sated and lethargic.
“You make me happy,” she told him, hypnotized by the slow sweep of his fingers up and down her back.
What he replied, if he replied, she never knew.
Ten
In the days following Cora Lee’s barbecue and the revelations about how Megan viewed the state of their relationship, Will tried to adjust his own perception. This was easy during the day as he sat in his big office at Spark Energy Solutions and poured over the contracts Rich had signed in Will’s name, looking for potential legal exposure. But when he came home and Megan greeted him with a kiss and a smile, his heart and body took over.
Sometimes they spent the evening hours walking around the ranch hand-in-hand, talking about their past successes and failures, views on social issues, anecdotes about her niece and his nephew, and a hundred other things lovers shared.
Other nights they skipped dinner and feasted on each other, satisfying their appetites with mouth and hands, driving hunger away with endless kisses, frenzied sex and blistering, blissful orgasms.
Will felt as if he’d tumbled into an alternate desire-filled world of perfect pleasure and there was no way he was leaving without a fight.
And with each hour in her company it became clearer that he was falling in love with the woman his archenemy had married.
“It’s moments like this—” Will said, air leaking from his lungs in a contented sigh. Presently, he was smack-dab in the middle of his big bed with a disheveled and very naked Megan sprawled beside him “—that I marvel at how damn lucky I am to be alive and back home.”
Megan drew circles on his shoulder with her fingertips. “Do you think Rich planned all along to k
ill you and take your identity?”
Will stared at the ceiling as he recalled how shocked he’d been to show up in Royal and discover what Lowell had done.
“I’ve thought about that a lot in the months since I returned from Mexico and what I’ve decided is that his attack was an impulse. Which is in part why it failed.”
“I’ve talked to Jillian about how she was trying to contact you,” Megan said. “Those of us who’d been tricked by Rich have formed an informal club.”
Will hated the pain underlying Megan’s wry tone. “I blame myself for so much of what Lowell did in my name.” The imposter had a lot to pay for and it frustrated Will that the bastard was still at large. “When I started getting phone calls and emails from Jillian Norris, I never should’ve simply assumed I was the victim of identity theft and put off dealing with it till after my trip to Cabo San Lucas.”
“But at the time how could you know Rich had gone to Las Vegas, pretending to be you?” Megan asked. “You thought he was your friend.”
This last statement made Will wince. “That doesn’t say much about my ability to judge a person’s character.”
“How did he come to attack you?”
“While we were hanging out on the yacht, drinking beer and fishing, I started talking about how Jillian had contacted me and her insinuations that I had gotten her pregnant.” Will paused and shook his head. “So there I was, going on and on about someone running around pretending to be me, all the while not paying attention to Rich’s reaction until he referred to Jillian by her name. It was then that I realized I’d never identified her.”
“Did you call him on it?”
“I never got the chance to. One second I’m trying to wrap my head around Rich knowing Jillian’s name and the next he’s coming at me, fists swinging, murder in his eyes.”
Will wasn’t proud that Rich had gotten the drop on him. But the situation had deteriorated so fast and without warning.
“What happened then?” Megan’s blue eyes seemed larger than ever as she gazed at him, completely wrapped up in the story.
“He came at me like a defensive end, head down, shoulders driving forward. He hit me in the gut and I went backward toward the rail. I got in a couple good punches, but he had momentum on his side and I was off balance both physically and mentally.”
“Is that when he pushed you overboard?”
“No. I managed to twist to one side before he did and got a little space between us.” So many of the details from that day were fuzzy because of his head injury and the speed with which the incident had taken place. “I’m pretty sure I asked him what the hell was going on, but he never answered and rushed me again.” Will blew out a breath. “I threw a punch and managed to land a hit to his throat. It slowed him down, but he just kept coming. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve known the guy for over ten years and this was a side of him I’d never seen before.”
“Sounds like he snapped. It’s amazing you survived.”
“I’ve been accused of leading a charmed life and, after what happened on that boat, I’m pretty sure that’s the case.”
“So what happened after he charged you?”
Will paused for a second to sort through his recollections about the day before resuming the tale. “He picked up one of the empty beer bottles that we hadn’t thrown away yet and chucked it in my direction. It hit me on the head. The impact was just enough to daze me and, without much room to maneuver, when he came rushing at me again, I wasn’t ready for him.”
“I just can’t believe all this happened.”
“It’s pretty much what I was thinking as he bounced my head against the railing. I blacked out after that because some time had passed when I heard the sound of a boat motor and smelled fire. I managed to get to my feet and saw Rich heading out in the inflatable we’d been towing.”
“He left you on the burning boat?”
“From everything I’ve gathered since coming back to Royal, I think he realized if I died, he could become me.”
“Rich used the boat blowing up to explain his scars and said it was an accident, but do you think he started it?”
“I do. It was a new boat with no electrical or mechanical problems. It wasn’t an accident that it caught fire or that it exploded. He needed to get rid of all evidence of foul play.”
Megan nodded. “How did you survive?”
“At first I went looking for the source of the fire to see if I could put it out, but I smelled gas and got the hell out of there. On the way to the rail, I grabbed a life preserver. I was swimming and trying to put on the life preserver when the boat blew.” Will trailed off as he relived those frantic moments as he’d swum away from the burning boat. There’d been nothing but water from horizon to horizon and the sound of the receding inflatable growing fainter by the second.
“The explosion was something. I wasn’t far enough away from to escape the blast and I blacked out again after something hit me in the back of the head. I don’t remember getting the life preserver fastened, but I must’ve done a decent enough job because I survived long enough to be picked up.”
“And you were in Mexico all that time? Why didn’t you call anyone and let them know you were alive?”
This was the tricky part of his story. Will wasn’t a man who was used to being at anyone’s mercy and his months with the Mexican cartel were some of the most difficult he’d ever endured.
“Here’s what I haven’t told anyone,” Will said, knowing he was taking a risk unburdening himself to Megan. “The people who found me were drug runners. They were on their way back to Mexico, and when they heard the explosion, they detoured to see what was going on.”
Megan’s eyes went wide. “I’m surprised they rescued you.”
“So was I. I can only assume that, given the size of the boat, they believed I might be worth something to them and they intended to ransom me back to my family.”
“Why didn’t they? You would’ve been home.”
“These were seriously deranged people. I didn’t trust them. It wouldn’t have surprised me if they received the money and then slit my throat.”
Megan shuddered. “You must have been terrified!”
“Honestly? If I had let myself dwell on it, I might have been. Instead, I focused on my fury at Rich for gaining the upper hand and leaving me to die.”
“So how did you keep the drug runners from ransoming you?”
“Well, at first I was in a coma, medically induced because of the brain injuries I’d suffered when the boat blew up. When I woke, I suffered with amnesia for several months. As my memories came back, I realized what a bad situation I’d landed in. So, I kept pretending to have amnesia while I tried to figure out how to get out of my predicament. Since I didn’t have any ID on me, they had no idea who to contact. And because technically I wasn’t missing, no one was looking for me.”
“If they were as bad as you say, why would they take care of you? I can’t imagine that a comatose guy they’d dragged out of the Pacific Ocean would be worth their time.”
“Luckily, I bore a resemblance to the head of the cartel’s dead son. She was the one who decided to keep me around while I recovered.” He still couldn’t believe he hadn’t been killed and his body dumped. Members of the gang had bragged about dealing with several tourists that way and constantly threatened to do the same to Will if he stepped out of line.
“So what kept you from returning home after you recovered?”
“I was closely watched,” Will explained. “The Mexican government is doing their best to capture or kill the cartel leaders operating there and this has led to the splintering of major trafficking organizations. Elena was particularly paranoid about maintaining her power while keeping drugs and money flowing. Several of her gang thought I was a US agent, but the circumstances of my rescue made that seem pretty farfetche
d.”
“You’re lucky to be alive, aren’t you?” Megan mused, nibbling on her lower lip as she regarded him.
“Very. If Elena hadn’t taken a fancy to me, I doubt I would’ve survived. Most of my time with the cartel I spent with her in the family compound. Still, she trusted me only to a point. I had no access to a phone or a way to communicate with anyone outside.
“Eventually, I talked her into letting me go out on some of their drug runs.” He released a breath. “On one of them, I was able to make it to a phone and called Jason. He didn’t pick up, but I started to leave a message then realized that Rich was still out there and that if anyone knew I was alive, they might become his target.” And he’d been right. Will was convinced Jason was dead because he’d confronted Rich after suspecting he’d had something to do with Will’s disappearance.
“Did you tell Jason where you were?”
“No. Too late I realized that I couldn’t involve him in a rescue attempt. If I was going to get away, I was going to have to do it on my own.”
“How did you escape?”
“We got into a pretty nasty gun fight in Los Cabos and I saved the life of one of the cartel gang. It bought me some cred and a few weeks later they took me along on a drug run to the US. I started to put a plan together and on one of the runs I was able to slip away.”
“But you still didn’t contact anyone once you made it to the US?”
“I tried contacting Jason, but couldn’t get through. That was a few days before I returned home to Royal.”
Megan pressed her lips together and blinked rapidly. “Because he was already dead, only none of us knew it yet.”
Seeing her sorrow, a slow burn kindled in Will’s gut. “Rich has so much to atone for,” he growled, bile rising at all the terrible things Lowell had done while pretending to be Will. “I’m going to make sure of that.”
* * *
Megan sauntered into Will’s office and found him sitting on the leather sofa near a wall of bookshelves. Several documents lay scattered on the cushions around him. He looked up as she neared and the line between his dark eyebrows vanished as he spotted her.
