by Seton, Cora
Storm barely trusted herself to answer. Kenna would say no—she’d never wanted a husband or a family.
But Storm wasn’t Kenna.
“Yes. I’ve always wanted to marry, too. My parents were so happy together and it’s been so hard on my mom since…” She caught herself just in time, realizing she was getting her story crossed with Kenna’s. “I’ve always wanted to marry. I want…” What did she want? “I want a partner in life. Someone I can depend on. Someone I can celebrate with when things go well. I want us each to have our separate passions, but I want us to have plenty that we do together, too. Does that make sense?”
“That makes perfect sense. Kenna, I—”
“Call me Storm,” she said on impulse. “All my friends do.” Each time he said Kenna’s name it felt like a slap to the face. She didn’t want to remember Zane was her boss’s pretend fiancé, not hers. She didn’t want to think about Kenna at all.
“Storm,” he said slowly. “I like that. It suits you better than Kenna. Storm, I feel like you and I—” He broke off, turned away, and surveyed the parking lot beneath them. “Never mind. Come on. Let’s get you inside and I’ll be back in a minute with some food.”
Disappointment stabbed through her. What had he been about to say?
She forced the feeling down, and told herself to stop being such a fool. There could be nothing between her and Zane, even if he was saying all the things she’d always longed to hear from a man. She had to keep things on an even keel. She was here because it was her job to be here—because Kenna would pay her to do the job well.
If Zane ever found that out, she could kiss him good-bye.
Of course, she’d have to kiss him good-bye anyway when her six weeks were up. Her heart ached at the thought of it, and she scolded herself for being foolish. She barely knew the man. She couldn’t be falling for him.
But she knew she was.
What the hell was wrong with him, Zane asked himself as he strode toward Fila’s. He couldn’t believe what he’d almost said to Storm back there. I think you and I could make a real go of it.
Really? He thought the woman he’d known for all of an hour was his soul-mate? In what universe was love at first sight even possible?
Not this one.
He had to stop hoping for that kind of connection and get to the matter at hand. In less than twenty-four hours he’d present Storm as his fiancée to his family, and they would live together with his brothers and their wives for the next six weeks. It was time for him and Storm to swap all the necessary details so they could act their parts. The rest of the afternoon was for homework, not flirting.
Although flirting sounded like a hell of a lot more fun. Storm liked him; he could tell. When he’d taken her hand she hadn’t even tried to tug it away. If she had, he would have let her, of course, and he would have kept their relationship as innocent as it had started. She’d let him hold her hand, though, and had seemed disappointed when he finally let it go.
What would it be like to kiss Storm? To do more than that?
Zane nearly sighed in frustration. It was too risky. He had to remember what was at stake here—the ranch he and his brothers all loved. If he scared Storm off now, he was in trouble.
Still, they needed to pretend they were in love. A little flirting couldn’t hurt.
He quickened his pace.
When he arrived back at Storm’s room a half-hour later, she gestured for him to set down the meal on the Formica table near the window. As he took his seat and unpacked the meal, Storm exclaimed over the entrees he’d chosen.
“This all looks delicious!”
“I told you. Do you like curry?”
“Love it.”
“Beef or chicken?”
“Chicken.”
He handed her a container and a piece of naan bread to dip into the sauce. “I guessed right.”
“What about you? Beef or chicken?”
“I’m a cattle rancher. Beef, of course.”
“Huh. Which do you like better? Hamburgers or steak?”
“You got me there. Burgers. Don’t tell anyone, though.”
“I prefer steak,” she said.
“Ketchup or mustard?” he asked, playing along with the game.
“Ketchup.”
“I like mustard. And relish.”
“Bacon or sausage?” Storm asked, opening the container he’d passed her.
“Bacon.”
“Me, too.”
He leaned over and kissed her, then pulled back, as surprised as she was. “Sorry. Just seemed like the right thing to do somehow.” He chuckled at her expression. She looked half-shocked, half-pleased. He had been about to say it wouldn’t happen again, but he thought better of it. It just might.
“Beer or wine?” he asked to smooth things over.
“Wine,” she said slowly, “although a cold beer on a hot day when you’re exhausted from a long bike ride is pretty sweet.”
“I prefer beer no matter what the occasion.” They were back on solid ground and he took a few bites of his curry before he asked another question. “Zombies or vampires?”
“Neither.” She made a face. “Surfing or skateboarding?”
“I’ve never tried either one. Have you?”
“I’m terrific at surfing. Not so great on a skateboard.”
He filed that information away. “How about ice cream? Chocolate or vanilla?”
“Chocolate, of course.”
“Me, too,” he said, glad they were back to common ground. Her silence caught his attention after a moment and when he glanced her way he found her watching him. Was she… waiting for another kiss? He didn’t stop to think about it. He leaned over and snatched one before the moment was lost. “Mm, you taste like curry.”
“You, too.”
“Your turn.”
“My turn?”
“To ask a question.”
She took a bite, as if she wasn’t fazed by this game at all, but her cheeks were pink and he could tell she was trying to think of a good one. “House or condo?”
He snorted. “House, of course. Wait until you see mine. You’ll love it.” She would. Everyone loved the Hall. “Shower or bath?”
She choked on the bite she’d just taken and he pounded her back while she struggled to sip water from her cup. “That’s pretty personal, don’t you think?”
“We’re going to be married in six short weeks,” he reminded her. “I need to know these things.”
Her color deepened. “Shower for getting clean, bath for relaxing.”
“Same.” He waited for her to turn his way again. This time as he bent to kiss her, he took his time, tilting her chin up with his fingers so she met him halfway. He lingered over the kiss, his lips sliding over hers, then deepened the connection, tracing his tongue over hers, tasting her. When he pulled back she bit her lip and played with her fork, not meeting his gaze.
“In the bath or in the shower?” he asked.
“What do you mean?”
From the way the flush spread over her cheeks he was pretty sure she knew exactly what he meant. “Where do you prefer to make love?”
Her eyes widened, then she quickly looked away. For a moment he thought he’d gone too far and he wanted to kick himself for spoiling the game before they’d hardly begun to play, but when he opened his mouth to apologize, she whispered, “Shower.”
Heat rushed through him at the thought of taking her that way. He’d be able to see all of her—to feel all of her as he lifted her against the bathroom wall and thrust inside her, the steam from the hot water swirling around them.
He forced himself back to the present. He couldn’t leave her hanging while he fantasized, not after she’d been brave enough to answer him. “Me, too.” He set his fork down and cupped her chin with both hands as he bent for another kiss. Somehow he found himself on his feet, Storm rising with him and he pulled her into an embrace, no longer holding back at all. Storm felt good in his arms. So good.
“Tongue or no tongue?” he asked, brushing kisses down her neck.
“Tongue.”
He rose up to capture her mouth again, cupping the back of her neck with one palm, sliding the other hand down her back. She kissed him back hungrily, twining her fingers behind his neck.
“Behind the ear or along the collarbone?” he asked.
“Collarbone.”
He obliged, loving the taste of her. On fire with the knowledge that this game was approaching a line of no return. “Buttoned or unbuttoned?” he said, tugging at her shirt.
She hesitated and he waited for her answer, holding his breath.
“Unbuttoned.” Heat surged through him as he bent to the task and quickly had her shirt undone. Beneath it her breasts were displayed in lacy cups that made desire pulse through him again. He swept a kiss from one soft mound to the other, lingering in the hollow between them. He was about to ask another question when Storm spoke up.
“Bra or no bra?” she asked, burying her face against his shoulder.
“No bra.” He pulled her shirt from the waistband of her skirt and slid his hands up to the clasp of the lacy garment.
“Me, too,” she said and sighed when he undid the catch. He skimmed his hands under her bra and palmed her breasts.
“Hands or mouth?” he asked as he gloried in the sweet weight of her breasts.
“Mouth.” She moaned as he made short work of her shirt, pulling it off her shoulders. He tangled his fingers in her bra and tossed it aside, then bent to take one nipple in his mouth. She clung to him, arching her back to give him greater access, working at the buttons on his shirt in turn. He pulled back, shouldered his way out of the button down and tugged his T-shirt off in one swift motion. “Looking or touching?”
“Touching.” She smoothed her palms over his chest, then took his hands in hers and lifted them to her breasts again. He obeyed her silent request, tracing circles around them until he couldn’t hold back.
“Standing or lying down?” He nudged her toward the bed.
“Lying down.” She sat down on the mattress, pulling him down with her. He lifted her onto the center of the bed and climbed on top of her, kissing her again until they were both breathless. He allowed himself the chance to explore her fully, tracing kisses around the rosy peaks of her nipples, squeezing and feasting on them in turn as she moaned and gasped beneath him. When her fingers found the button of his jeans he stilled and pulled back.
Storm was every bit as beautiful as he’d thought she’d be with her blonde hair tossed in a halo around her face. “All or nothing?” she asked him in a voice so low he thought he’d dreamed the question.
Need pulsed through him again, hot and urgent. “All,” he said and bent to kiss her, helping her help him tug off his jeans. He groaned when her hands plunged down under the waistband of his boxers, and made quick work of losing them too. He knelt above her, letting her take a good long look. “Skirt on or off?”
She bit her lip. “Sometimes on, but today off.”
“Good answer,” he growled and found the fastening behind her back. His fingers were clumsy, but soon he was sliding the soft skirt off of her, the sight of the one scrap of lace and silk still left between them only increasing his desire to know everything about her. As he tossed her skirt away he bent to trail a string of kisses from her breasts down to her belly. He knelt between her legs and eased her panties off. “Foreplay or main event?” He dipped down to kiss her in an intimate place and she sighed.
“Both?”
“Of course.” He plunged his hands under her hips and lifted her to meet his mouth, eager to explore every inch of her hidden charms. Storm gasped beneath him, her fingers clutching the bedclothes. He asked no more questions, preferring to trust his instincts now. They didn’t let him down and soon Storm was tugging at his shoulders, urging him back up to cover her.
“Slow or fast?” he asked when he’d found a condom in his jeans and quickly sheathed himself.
“Slow, then fast,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck as he took his place between her legs again.
Zane did as she asked, pushing inside her slowly, enjoying every sweet inch of wet pressure that surrounded him. He pulled back and pushed in again, watching her close her eyes, her face a study in ecstasy.
How had this miracle occurred, he wondered as he continued. What coincidence had brought Storm to Chance Creek, into his life, into his arms, exactly when he needed her most? The best of it was he was slated to marry her in six short weeks. Just when he thought he’d turned his back on the possibility of love, it had been handed to him as neat as a package.
Wonder overtook him as he increased his pace and her breasts rose and fell with his movements. He captured her wrists and plunged into her again, lowering himself to press against her fully. Every inch of her excited him where they touched, and though they were far from completion, he found himself dreaming of other positions to try on other occasions. He knew they would be together again—many, many times.
Storm’s ragged breathing made him increase his pace again and soon he was plunging into her with an abandon that brought him close to the end. Her moans and cries told him she was close, too. Redoubling his speed, he thrust into her again and again until he swept them both over the edge. They cried out together and Zane held her tight until they were both spent. Collapsing on top of her, he pulled her over onto their sides, still joined.
“Once or twice?” he asked.
She laughed. “Twice.”
This time when he kissed her, Zane took his time, letting his gentleness and insistence say what he wanted to say. He wanted to be with her. He wanted to get close to her. As he cleaned up, found a new condom and pressed inside of her again he hoped she understood.
This wasn’t going to be a sham wedding.
He would do everything in his power to see if it could be real.
Storm lay back and let Zane make love to her thoroughly, competently and so completely that she no longer knew where she ended and he began. When she came for a second time, calling out his name, she realized that she was in over her head. She was long past keeping control of the situation. Zane was calling the shots now.
At least she wouldn’t have to pretend to his family that she knew him. She felt like she knew everything about him after their shared intimacies. She knew how his muscles were etched like stone when he flexed them. She knew how soft and tender he could be when coaxing her to open to him. She knew that he was generous, making sure of her pleasure before giving rein to his own.
She’d only met this man a few hours ago, and she was halfway to loving him. She’d never felt anything like this.
Never done anything like this. It was crazy to lie here with a man she barely knew and contemplate the marriage ahead of them. Was she acting so wantonly because she was far from home and none of this felt real?
Or had she really met the man for her in Chance Creek, Montana?
“What’s going on in that pretty head?” Zane asked, brushing a kiss over her brow.
“I didn’t expect… this.”
“Neither did I.”
“What do we do now?”
“I can think of a lot of things.” He smoothed a hand down her hip. “But I’ll have to get home before anyone starts asking questions I don’t want to answer. I wish I could stay with you tonight.”
“I wish you could too.” But already reality was crashing in. She should be grateful he was going home. It would give her time to formulate a new plan. She couldn’t go on lying to him—not when they’d connected like this.
She feared telling him the truth, though. How would he react?
Then there were her mother and sisters, who were counting on her to earn her bonus and get them up to date on their bills. If she told Zane the truth, she’d never get the money.
“What’s wrong?”
She opened her eyes to find Zane staring at her in concern. “Nothing. It’s just… I don’t want to lo
se you,” she said in a rush.
“You won’t lose me.”
She sat up, reaching for her bra. “This is only temporary. We both need to remember that.”
“Maybe I don’t want to remember that.” He sat up too.
“Zane—”
“Shh.” He held a finger to her lips, then kissed her quickly. “We’ll figure it all out. There’s no reason we can’t.”
She opened her mouth to speak again, then sighed when he tugged her bra away and bent to lavish attention on her breasts again. “Leave it all to me,” he said a few minutes later. “I won’t let you down, Kenna.”
Storm blinked, her boss’s name on Zane’s lips like a dash of cold water to her face. What was she doing? She had to remember who was really marrying Zane.
But as he pulled her close to make love to her a third time, Storm let all her concerns slide away. She’d worry about Kenna tomorrow.
Today she was all Zane’s.
When they’d exhausted themselves in bed, Zane snuggled her under the covers and questioned her until they both felt they could do a creditable job posing as an engaged couple. The fact they now knew each other’s bodies so intimately would go a far way to lending credence to the act. He knew just how to make her moan, and she knew where to kiss him to drive him wild.
They finished the rest of their food in bed and by the time they were done, Storm was beginning to feel adept at weaving the events of Kenna’s life together with her own sensibilities and opinions. The fact that she handled almost every aspect of Kenna’s calendar and day-to-day existence made the exercise much easier than it would otherwise be. In return, she’d learned more about the cattle ranch Zane and his three brothers had been given the chance to jointly inherit, and that it meant the world to Zane to succeed because he’d never wanted to leave it in the first place. She knew that his great aunt Heloise was a termagant of a woman whom they all feared to cross. She knew that his older brother Mason and his twin, Austin, already lived at the ranch—named Crescent Hall, after the house the family inhabited—with their wives, Regan and Ella.
