by Joya Ryan
She bent down, picked up her notebook, flipped to the sexy list, and crossed off, “Kiss a stranger.”
She popped the notebook shut, put it back in her bag, and smiled. When G.I. Joe realized what she’d just pulled, he didn’t look happy, and she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d made their situation better, worse, or complicated.
Either way, she wasn’t feeling cold anymore.
Chapter Three
Dex had his shelter set, a fire going, and now with the sun setting, he sat back and watched the sexy, pain in the ass princess huff and puff and fail at getting her own shelter completed for the night.
“How’s it going over there?” he called. She was maybe twenty feet in front of him and doing God knew what with some sticks and branches.
“It’s great!’ she called, then sprinkled some grass along her poor excuse for a hut. “See, I can do this just fine.”
“Yep, you sure showed me,” Dex said, threading his fingers and placing them behind his head to recline against the tree behind him. A tarp was pulled tight above his head, making an A-frame tent of sorts that would hold up against wind, rain, and other elements if needed. He had a cozy spot against the thick oak and his Grizzly two-person sleeping bag rolled out and ready to go. Not because he ever had a company in his bag, but he was a mover in his sleep, and he was well aware he was already built large. Regular bags were too clingy.
Yep, he was ready, set, and all he could think about was Perfect-Ass Barbie’s notebook. More specifically, her To Do lists. Yeah, he’d caught a glimpse of them. There were different categories. Woman was on a mission of some kind. But the one that stuck out was the sexual fantasy category.
He’d read enough to know that she was looking for some fun in the sack. More specifically, fun in the sack, outside, and from behind.
His cock throbbed thinking of her delicate penmanship and the words she’d written.
Reverse cowgirl.
Penetration from behind.
Spankings.
Restraint—but not too restrained. Light bondage. But not too light.
Perform oral pleasure—possibly at the same time as receiving, if applicable.
Oh, it’s applicable, princess.
He smiled, recalling all he’d gotten a chance to read. Even her list was adorable, and he could almost picture her frowning and biting her lip while she wrote out all these ideas. The rich girl was looking to have a wild streak. That much was clear, and damn, if he didn’t respond to that.
She huffed again, and his gaze snapped back to her still struggling with her camp.
She had a heap of sticks she was currently trying to squeeze said perfect ass underneath.
“You sure you don’t want my help?” he called out again. “You said so yourself that I’m a useful tool, after all.”
She hit him with a soft, stern glare, and those baby blues did a number on his chest.
“No, thank you. I’ve got this.”
She definitely didn’t have this. But he had to give her credit. She was tenacious and persistent. All the other yuppies he’d taken on these excursions did jack shit. They made Dex set up camp and start the fire, and once he’d even had to uncork the fucking wine they’d brought. Not this woman, though. Yeah, she was wealthy and a yuppie just like the others. Something he’d be smart to remember. But she was also crawling around, working hard in her expensive clothes, getting…dirty.
And it was a fucking sexy look on her.
All that red hair was slowly coming loose. Strands framed her face, and her ivory skin was getting flushed with hard work and a bit of cold that was picking up in the air.
He ran a hand over his cock that was still hard from that sneaky little kiss she’d delivered an hour ago. Just replaying the feel of her lush mouth, her taste, and he was in bad shape from wanting her.
His mother had always warned him that he was never a bull in a china shop; he was a poor kid in a jewelry store. He wanted the classy, sparkly, beautiful piece, but he wasn’t the kind of guy who could afford it. Didn’t stop him from wanting it, though. And Michelle was beyond class and beauty. She was his personal brand of fuck yeah.
He watched her shimmy as she made her way under the little collection of twigs she deemed shelter, and suddenly he knew he was a damn glutton for punishment. Sure, he wasn’t poor white trash anymore. He was a successful guy that handled himself. But that didn’t change what he was deep down–blue collar at best. And the town knew it, just like he did. Not that he had a problem with that. It was when the women wanted a ride on the wild side from the guy on the wrong side that it got old.
He was the tempting edge of dangerous that women wanted to use to shock their mamas.
And Dex played his part well. Too well. To the point that he’d gotten caught up once and actually thought a woman wanted more of him. But he’d quickly found out the score. She was better than him, and she had no problem pointing that out to anyone at any time. But he’d loved her anyway. Stupidly. Because she’d ripped his heart out and stomped on it with those expensive stilettos she always wore.
That was how he’d chosen his life as it was now. He performed boot camps for the wealthy and performed in bed for the rich women. He provided a service, they took said service, then said good-bye with no strings attached. He’d never fit in to that kind of world anyway. The kind of world Michelle was clearly from. And that was fine with him. He’d learned his lesson the hard way. Getting mixed up with someone too rich for your blood only left you emotionally bankrupt.
“I thought you said you brought all your survival necessities in that purse of yours?” he asked when Michelle huffed again, trying to reinforce her structure.
Did she…did she just take gum out of her mouth and stick it on the branch?
Yep, she had.
“I have everything I need right here,” she replied and did a quick inventory of her bag. She was mumbling, but Dex was pretty sure he heard the words “moisturizer” and “vitamins.”
“Do you have water?” he asked.
“No,” she said softly.
“Food?”
“I have a gluten-free granola bar.”
Oh boy.
“And your shelter is…”
“Sorry, I don’t carry around a tarp on my person like you do,” she snapped.
He almost laughed. Even if she wasn’t clearly out of her element, of course, she wasn’t as prepared as a pro like himself. He was the best because he’d been trained by the best. He always had the essentials in his pack. Food, water, shelter. He could make fire on his own, but matches helped—why make things harder?—so he had those, too.
Just then, Michelle’s “shelter” caught a small gust of wind and toppled into a pile of sticks to the ground.
She stood and looked down at what had taken her an hour to build. It didn’t take a pro to see it would never work as a shelter. Not in a million years.
Dex hustled up to her side. Shit, she was going to cry. He could see the water start to line those pretty blue eyes.
“I can’t do it,” she said softly. “I tried. Thought I could and…”
“You can,” he said and placed his hand on her shoulder. “You’ve done a great job.”
She scoffed and looked up at him beneath thick lashes. “Yeah, right.”
She glanced at his shelter over his shoulder and shook her head.
“I’m failing,” she said so softly that Dex almost missed it. “Looks like I’m not very adventurous. What else is new?”
His heart sank.
The deflated tone in her voice and the defeat in her eyes tugged on Dex’s chest. He’d frequently had to step in to keep some rich girl from starving or freezing to death, but this was the first one who’d shown him an emotional vulnerability. He almost didn’t know what to do, but he’d be damned if he let her wither from crumbling self-esteem. Not on his watch.
“Why don’t you come over to my place?” he asked. “Sit by the fire and have a drink.”
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nbsp; She eyed him suspiciously, but when another gust of wind came and her teeth chattered, he didn’t wait for her answer, just grabbed her hand and tugged her into his makeshift tent.
He sat her close by the fire, then got out his flask of rum and handed it to her.
“This isn’t me running toward the easy option,” she said.
“Princess, nothing about what you’ve done today has been easy. You’re fighting. There’s something to be said for that. Now you’re just going to choose hanging out with me over getting hypothermia tonight. Unless that’s on your checklist of things to experience?”
She glared at him, and it was damn cute. This list of hers was fun, and he had a feeling bringing it up flustered her. Which was also fun since it meant he got to see those pretty cheeks turn pink.
She took the flask he offered. “You know alcohol only creates the illusion that you feel warm, when in fact, you’re still just as cold,” she said. But she took the drink anyway. The way she informed him of facts was also kind of cute. Like she was teaching him something. She took a small swallow, then handed it back to him.
“You’re right, princess.” He took a swig, welcoming that warm burn down his throat. “But illusion or not, I love the feel of it. Worth indulging every time.”
When he handed it to her again, she took it. On a hard swallow, she tossed back more rum, then winced and handed it back.
“So, you want to tell me why you signed up for this?” he asked. “This doesn’t seem like your idea of a good time.”
“How would you know?” she asked, straightening her shoulders with a stubbornness he was already recognizing after their short time together. “Maybe I do this all that time. Maybe this is fun for me.”
“No way,” he said around a laugh. “If that were true, you’d be dead by now.”
She frowned, and damn it, that was what he was trying to steer away from.
“Look,” he said, handing her back the rum. “I really do think you’re doing a good job. You’re driven, and that’s a great thing to be when taking on any challenge.”
Her eyes went a little wide, as though she were physically hanging on his words. Wow, no one had ever looked at him like that before. Like he could do anything. Say anything. And it would matter in her world.
“Go on,” she said, the yearning in her voice driving him insane.
“You impress me,” he said, not sure why that little fact decided to slip out just then.
A small smile tugged on her lush slips. “Really?”
He nodded. “Men twice your size have shed tears by now.”
She laughed. “No way could I outlast you.”
“Well of course not. Be realistic,” he said with a wink, and she laughed again. “But you outlasted most civilians. Hell, think about that group you came here with. They’re back at the Hilton sipping cosmos, but you’re out here giving it your all.”
She looked down the front of herself. “All at the expense of Jimmy and Michael.” She brushed a hand over her damaged sweater and sighed. Dex didn’t know who Jimmy and Michael were, but he assumed they’d given her those clothes she was wearing.
“Thank you for instructing me,” she said. “It’s really incredible that you can take care of yourself and others the way you do. At a moment’s notice, the world could end, and you’d be prepared.” She glanced around the tarp tent. “You’d even provide five-star camping accommodations.”
The words rolled off her tongue and hit him was like a warm hug. Because there was a hint of seriousness in those words. She thought he was incredible?
“I know it’s barely dark, but I’m kind of tired,” she said.
He unzipped his sleeping bag and held it open for her.
She looked at his offering, then at him.
“I can’t take your sleeping bag. Where will you sleep?”
“I’ll just sit right here.” He patted the large tree and sat back against it.
“You’ll freeze.”
“Nah, I’ve got layers.”
She looked like she’d fight him more, but he coaxed her to take his offer. After discarding her boots, she climbed into his bag, and he could smell her sweet scent of lilacs and vanilla. He knew right then that the damn smell would never come out of his bag.
Michelle didn’t know if she’d fallen asleep or not. Surely at some point she’d dozed off, but it was so cold that she could barely remember. She was just counting down the minutes until this was over.
She must have fallen asleep, though, because she’d been cold. Bone-shakingly cold. And now she was warm. A warmth that wrapped around her and was so comforting that she snuggled closer.
She was against a hot, large rock. Hard, chiseled… She gripped it with her hand. Squeezed…
What is that?
She peeled her eyes open and saw Dex sitting against the tree trunk, arms crossed, and looking down at her. Because she was in his lap.
“You’re awake?” she whispered.
He nodded once.
That’s when her vision heightened, and she saw that her head was against this thigh and her hand was squeezing a mere inch from his—
“Oh, God.” She yanked her hand back, realizing now what hard, hot thing she’d been massaging.
Heat spread from her face to her chest to her legs. She’d been so close. God. If she’d stayed asleep a few minutes longer, she might have ended up finishing him off and would have woken up to the pleasure of his satisfaction—
Wait. Stop. Where had that thought come from?
He grinned down at her. “One more minute there, princess, and I’d start thinking you were hitting on me.”
“I didn’t mean to. I’m so sorry.” She scrambled and sat up. The sleeping bag fell down her arms and pooled around her middle.
“Don’t be. You gravitated toward me. I’m not one to turn away a lady in need of heat.”
“I bet you aren’t,” she said under her breath as she eyed the sexy search and rescue hero. He was hard with cut muscles capable of anything. She bet he could fashion an airplane out of nothing more than a hairpin and a smile. And she’d hop on that flight all day long. Must be nice to be so…skilled.
Competent.
Adventurous.
Independent.
She wished she had her pen nearby, because the newest addition to her To Do list would be Dex. She shoved those thoughts away, and a cool tickle of air hit her upper half, now unguarded by the ultra-warm sleeping bag.
“I’m cold,” she whispered again.
She sat there while he tugged the sleeping bag up the way someone might when helping a toddler get dressed. With it now up to her neck, he held it there, his big hands cupping her shoulders.
“How do you do this?” she asked.
“Do what?”
She motioned at him. “This. It’s like you know how to…”
“Survive?” he finished with a smile.
“Yeah,” she said. Because like it or not, she didn’t know how to do that. She was trying. Hence the lists, the life change, the middle finger to her ex, and the determination to be independent. She’d started this damn adventure to prove to herself that she could see through a difficult endeavor. And everything about tonight was difficult. She couldn’t quit. Couldn’t be “the girl who ran home” before this was over. But she was currently failing at the most basic survival skills. Dex was a pro and made it look effortless, while she had been forced to hog his sleeping bag just to stay warm.
She saw the goose bumps on the base of his neck. The fire wasn’t flickering; it was roaring hard. Dex had likely been maintaining it while she slept. God, she felt like a brat. And a failure. She was back to someone else taking care of her.
The least she could do was be kind.
“Please,” she whispered. Earlier in class, Gage had talked about shared body heat. Huddling together when it was cold could save your life. Now was the time, and she needed that heat. She guessed he could use some, too, though he was too much of a stubborn
man to admit it. So she called the huddle.
“Please come here,” she said.
She slid back down to lie on the ground and scooted over inside the sleeping bag as far as she could. Then she held up the flap for him to join her. Thank goodness it was massive. Built for an ox. Or a gigantic man like Dex.
Dex looked at her for a long moment, then he kicked off his boots and unzipped the sleeping bag enough to climb in with her. It wasn’t spacious, and she was pressed against a wall of man. The minute he nestled against her, she felt better. Warmth radiated off of him. Lying face to face, he wrapped her in his arms, and she curled into him.
She pressed her palms against his chest and snuggled closer. He sifted through the long hair that hung down her back—
And the need for more took over. Just like earlier that day when she’d kissed him, she felt the overwhelming desire to give in. Give in to the moment. Give in to Dex.
Why not?
She was trying to be adventurous after all. And she did have a hefty list of fantasies she wanted to explore.
What better way to prove to herself that she was in control than by going after the man in front of her simply because she wanted him?
She closed the small distance between their lips and kissed him softly.
“This isn’t a good idea,” he rasped against her.
“You’re just keeping me warm.”
“You’re going to get a lot more from me than warmth if you keep doing what you’re doing there, princess.”
His hips moved just a bit, and she felt the hard ridge of his erection press against her lower stomach.
“Well, I don’t have condoms, so looks like all we can do is kiss.”
He grinned. “First of all, that’s not all we can do. I know a lot of ways to keep you warm involving just my hands. Others involve just my mouth.” He paused and nodded. “And others involve my hands and my mouth.”
Oh my. She got hot just from the sound of his words, so his follow-through would likely put the fire to shame.
