by Soraya Lane
Chloe took the bottle of water he passed her, unscrewing the top and taking a big gulp. She did it again and started to feel less like her head was full of cotton candy. When the plane lurched for a third time she grabbed hold of Ryder’s hand again, tight. His fingers interlinked with hers, his grip firm as he tugged her hand down to rest on his thigh.
“We’ll be fine. It’s just bad weather,” he said, swapping hands so his right was holding her right hand, so he could put the other arm around her shoulders. “I shouldn’t have let you have a second glass without warning you.”
Chloe relaxed into him, forgetting her anger. “Thanks,” she mumbled, wishing she wasn’t acting like such a baby. Planes didn’t just fall from the sky, but a few bouts of turbulence and she was a nervous wreck.
“Maybe we should have taken the road-trip option, huh?” Ryder said as rain started lashing the wings of the plane while they both stared out at the sky. “We could have been singing along to some country music and eating greasy burgers about now.”
She leaned into him and laughed, comforted by his hold as the plane moved a little too much for her comfort. She’d gone from being furious with him to thankful he was beside her, and she did have to admit that he was kind of fun. Chloe hadn’t let her hair down in a long time because life had become too serious, so maybe she needed to just enjoy Ryder’s company.
“If we were in a car we’d have the wipers going flat-out and you’d be struggling to see the road.”
Ryder chuckled. “Yeah, there is that.”
When the weather settled and the plane hadn’t lurched for a while, Chloe pulled out of Ryder’s arms and picked up her bottle of water again for something to do. She took a sip.
“Could you live without all this?” she asked, looking around at their surroundings before fixing her gaze on him. “If it was all taken away, what would you do?”
Ryder didn’t look at her, just grunted and stared straight ahead. “If all this was taken away from me, it’d mean my family didn’t want anything to do with me. And I couldn’t live with that. The luxuries, sure, but not them.”
“Then why did you take that gamble on Saturday night?” she asked, wondering if she’d just seriously overstepped. “It just doesn’t make sense. You might be fun and impulsive, but it’s still just … weird.”
His shoulders moved up, then down as he took a big breath and let it go. When he turned, all she saw was regret.
“I’ve never lost big before,” he told her. “I’ve been on a high since coming back to Texas, but I’ve also been keeping a low profile, trying to keep out of trouble. Only to prove that I’m one big fuckup.”
She shook her head. “I don’t believe that’s what you are.”
“It’s taken a hell of a big effort to stay on the straight and narrow since I’ve been back, but maybe I’m just not supposed to be the reformed bad boy,” he told her. “I was better when I didn’t give a damn and I wasn’t known for my family name. When I was away from home, I made a name for myself. I didn’t need to drop King into a sentence because everything I had was self-made.”
“So this is what this is about? Wanting to prove yourself?”
“Is it so bad to want to have a shot at life on your own terms? Without anyone else’s expectations following you around like a shadow?” He grimaced. “I love my family, but I’m the youngest of two overachieving brothers. It felt good to show the world that I could hold my own.”
“Don’t you ever take what you have for granted,” she said, reaching for his hand again and studying his tanned skin as she made their fingers interlace. “When I win it all back for you, I want you to promise me that you won’t gamble again. You don’t have to be good all the time, and you can be whoever the hell you want to be, but you do have to not be stupid.”
He dipped his head. “Why are you doing this for me, Chloe?”
She was going to joke, like she always did when things became too serious, but she stopped herself. “Because I want something you can give me.”
“It’s not just for that,” he said. “There’s something you’re not telling me.”
Chloe stared at him. Either he was fishing for information or he actually took a lot more notice than she would have given him credit for.
“Look, I liked you when I met you, and then when I saw what happened the other night…” She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I could see that me helping you could be mutually beneficial. I don’t exactly like working my ass off for minimum wage and tips.”
“But you don’t think I’m a complete fuckup?” he asked.
Chloe wrapped her arms around herself. “No,” she said honestly. “I don’t.”
“So you wouldn’t mind if I did this?” he asked, running a hand down her arm and at the same time raising an eyebrow, tongue seductively moistening his lower lip.
She sucked in a breath as his fingers trailed across her skin. Yes, she did mind. That’s what she should have said. Only she didn’t. Chloe dug her nails into the leather beneath her as Ryder explored her upper arm, across her shoulder and painstakingly slowly down her chest. All his fingers stopped at the edge of her top, except for one that dipped a little lower.
“Chloe?”
She swallowed, breathing heavily, conscious of every tiny movement of his body. His fingertips were like blasts of scorching heat against her skin, each touch making a dent in her willpower.
“What are you doing?” she choked out.
His grin was wicked. “What do you want me to be doing?”
She wasn’t going to answer that. “Ryder, we shouldn’t…”
“Why not?” he asked, his deep, husky whisper not helping her willpower any. “The way I see it, we can have some fun together and get what we both need.”
She swallowed hard as he pushed down the front of her top, so close to exposing her chest, his fingers way too close to her breast for comfort.
“So,” she started, sucking back a sharp breath as he slipped one finger inside her bra and brushed her nipple. “You just want sex?”
He chuckled as he tugged her closer and pressed a wet kiss to her neck. “I want you. For as long as I can have you.”
Chloe moaned, trying to find some shred of willpower, knowing she needed to pull away. But her bones were like liquid, refusing to comply, and instead of heading in the other direction she ended up climbing onto his lap, straddling him as he guided her closer, hands locked on her hips. What had happened to her steely resolve?
“You’re bad, you know that?”
“So I’ve been told,” he replied, one hand snaking around the back of her head to force her forward, tipping her down toward him.
“This is only temporary,” she muttered, staying in control just enough to push him back so she could talk. “We had a deal and once it’s done, I’ll be heading off to school. On the other side of the state.”
Ryder made a noise that sounded like a growl. She didn’t know if he was angry with her words or impatient for her to shut the hell up and get back to kissing him.
“I thought you didn’t want to be my mistress,” he ground out, pulling her down hard so she was pinned to his big chest.
“I’m not your mistress,” she murmured, her lips parting from his barely enough to get the words out. “This is just two people having fun and pretending to be in a relationship. No feelings, no strings attached.”
His laugh was a throaty rumble. “Sweetheart, you might not be having feelings but I sure as hell am.”
She wriggled down over his crotch, her eyebrows shooting up as she met his gaze. He was hard as a rock. “You know I wasn’t talking about those kinds of feelings.”
He shrugged. “I get it. No falling for you, no real relationship. Now can you stop talking and let me show you what kind of feelings I had in mind?”
“You’re a devil, Ryder King,” she muttered. Chloe closed her eyes as Ryder tugged her down again, one of his hands warm against her bare skin as it slipped under her top, the ot
her tangled in her long hair and holding her in place. The little voice in her head, the one telling her she was a fool to do anything with Ryder, was starting to fade until all she could think about was how good his mouth felt against hers. His lips were painstakingly slow one minute then rough and demanding the next, his tongue clashing with hers as she explored his mouth.
Chloe heard a moan, listening to the guttural noise before realizing it had escaped from her. Ryder’s hands were all over her, one on her butt, the other skimming under her T-shirt, feeling her up and sending goose bumps racing across her skin. Her body was humming, back arched as his palm pressed against her stomach and traced a path upward. But he wasn’t the only one allowed to touch.
She pushed up, taking her mouth off his long enough only to yank open a few buttons of his shirt, desperate to explore his chest, to feel his muscles and taste his skin. Ryder went to move but she pressed down hard on his chest, palms flat, thighs clenching tight to lock him in place. She only hoped the flight attendant hadn’t come back in—Ryder had told her the attendants knew to make themselves scarce and kept to their quarters, but still …
“Stay still,” she ordered after a quick look around to make sure they were definitely alone.
Ryder raised one eyebrow, clearly up for the challenge. “Or what?”
She laughed. “Or this.” Chloe made fast work of the next couple of buttons and pulled his shirt out from his jeans so his entire chest and stomach were exposed. Then she dipped her head, her hair falling over him as she kissed his chest then his abs, tongue darting out to explore each grove of muscle. She’d been wanting to do it ever since she’d seen him strip off his shirt the other day, no matter how much she’d tried to pretend otherwise.
Ryder drew in a sharp breath as she worked her way back up and sucked hard on one of his nipples, grating her teeth gently against the delicate flesh.
“Easy,” he muttered, grabbing hold of her hair.
She laughed, fighting to free herself from his grasp. “Or what?”
He yanked her head up, his gaze both deadly serious and playful. “Wouldn’t you like to find out.”
Chloe was about to push him back and return to her exploration when a loud voice made her jump and grab hold of Ryder’s shirt.
“We’ll soon be beginning our descent into Las Vegas, with an estimated arrival time of approximately fifteen minutes.”
Chloe sighed as Ryder pushed her hair from her face and back over her shoulder.
“You’re jumpy.”
She nodded. “I’m kind of a nervous flyer.”
His frown made his eyebrows pull together. “You didn’t think to mention that earlier?”
“I thought the champagne would take the edge off.”
“So how about I distract you some more,” Ryder suggested, running a finger from her chin all the way down her chest. “I know exactly how to take your mind off landing.”
Chloe looked down at him, the man she had clamped between her thighs, her palms still placed on his firm, golden-brown chest. A moment ago she’d wanted to rip his clothes off and take him right there on the plush leather sofa. Now she was overthinking the whole thing and starting to have regrets. What the hell was she doing? She’d never been this reckless or impulsive before. And what had happened to keeping things strictly professional between them? The moment they’d been alone on the plane her resolve had crumbled.
“Is there anything you need before we land, Mr. King?”
She sighed at the interruption and righted her top before turning her attention to Ryder’s buttons. She’d popped one in her hurry to see him bare, but the rest she was able to do up.
“We’re fine. Thank you,” he muttered, not bothering to look at the attendant, his eyes firmly fixed on Chloe instead.
“We’ve got a long day ahead of us,” Chloe told him.
“Don’t give me some bullshit lines,” he said, grabbing hold of her wrists and making her stop before she did up the last button.
Chloe didn’t fight him, stayed straddling him with his hands holding her still. She stared straight back into his eyes, so unsure of what she wanted. Or maybe she knew what she wanted, she just wasn’t sure about the consequences.
“We have as long as we need for you to brush up on your skills,” he told her, raising one of her wrists and pressing a slow kiss to the inside of it before letting go. “Tonight I’m taking you out, and you’re going to tell me all about your asshole father and how the hell you know how to play poker well enough to bet with the big boys.”
Chloe sucked on her bottom lip, biting the soft skin as she watched Ryder. “There’s nothing to tell.”
“To hell there isn’t,” he said, drawing her down so her breasts were pressed into his chest, his mouth only inches from hers. “If we’re going to play this whole dating thing seriously, I need to know all about you.” Ryder kissed her, his lips plucking at hers over and over until she was ready to yield to whatever the hell he wanted from her. “Today I decide what we do. Tomorrow?” He laughed. “Tomorrow I’m yours.”
Chloe forced herself to push Ryder away, but not before she cupped his face and kissed him like it was the only chance she’d ever get.
“Fine, you win,” she murmured, groaning as she extracted herself from him and wriggled her clothing back into place. He’d had her top pulled down so low her breasts were ready to spill out.
“Darlin’, if I were winning, you’d be butt naked and riding me right now.”
His deep drawl made it impossible not to smile, the mental picture alone making her want to moan. She might have put a stop to things right now, but that didn’t mean she was going to push Ryder away if something happened between them later. Shelly had told her not to be a prude, told her to jump his bones the first chance she had, so maybe she just needed to call her friend for a pep talk when they landed.
“You ever had a cocktail at the Bellagio?”
Ryder adjusted his jeans and sat up straighter, no longer slouching back. “Don’t think so. I’m not usually a cocktail kind of guy.”
“They’re world famous,” she told him. “So how about we start with one of those and then go from there?”
Ryder’s dimple winked at her, the look in his eyes like that of a wolf about to take down its prey. When she’d called him a devil before, she hadn’t been lying. “I say that sounds like a very, very good idea.”
Chloe settled herself on the leather seat facing him, turning her attention to the seat belt she was fastening around her waist.
“You know I had no intention of sleeping with you when I agreed to be your fake girlfriend,” she told him.
He made a grunting kind of laugh. “And now?”
She shrugged. “Now I’m wondering why I ever thought that abstinence was such a good idea.”
As they started their descent, Ryder’s laugh was even louder than the engines of the jet.
“You’re a hard one to read, Chloe, I’ll give you that.”
Now it was she who was smiling. “And that’s exactly why I make such a good poker player,” she told him. “No one knows what’s hit them until my cards flutter to the table.”
“And in the bedroom?”
His brazen question took her by surprise, but she wasn’t going to back down. Ryder flipped from going easy on her to laying on the sexual charm damn heavy, and she was no featherweight. She’d had to deal with a lot of men with big egos when she played with her dad, and letting Ryder intimidate her because she was attracted to him would be stupid. She just needed to keep reminding herself of the woman she’d been for so many years.
“In the bedroom you’ll know exactly what I want, Ryder. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
His smile spread slowly, his mouth turning upward and pleasure heating his gaze. “Yes,” he told her. “That was exactly what I wanted to hear.”
Chapter 7
Ryder waited outside the restroom for Chloe, pulling out his iPhone and scrolling through his emails. His phone v
ibrated and Chase’s name came up on the screen. He was going to send him to voice mail but changed his mind before he pushed the button.
“Hey,” he said, leaning back against the wall and scanning the crowd.
“You landed?”
“Yeah, just arrived. We’re still at the airport.”
Ryder frowned, waiting for Chase to get to the point of his phone call. They only usually dialed when they needed something, and either of his brothers calling him when they thought he was away on a dirty vacation was even more unusual. They didn’t exactly call one another to chat for the hell of it.
“I just got back from the feedstore and old Paddy there had a tale and a half to tell me.”
Ryder swallowed, his pulse starting to race. Chase sounded too calm to know, but …
“What’d that old woman have to say?”
Paddy was more of a gossip than half the ladies in town, and he talked every rancher’s ear off when they called in for their feed orders. If anyone was going to tell Chase or Nate, it’d be him.
“He had some bullshit story about you gambling up big-time and that schmuck Parker winning the deed to our ranch.” Chase laughed. “I told him to keep his trap shut and stop spreading stupid rumors. Can you believe it?”
Ryder cleared his throat. “Paddy’s always been a big talker. Full of shit.” He kept his voice level, blatantly lying to his brother and hating himself for doing it. He might have caused his big brothers some gray hairs in his time, but it was never for lying. “Don’t tell me you believed him?”
Chase made a snorting noise down the line. “Believed him? Not a chance. Just thought I’d let you know what was being said. Our family’s pissed Parker off for years, so it’s not exactly news that he hates us and would start a rumor like this.”
“Thanks.” Ryder waved Chloe over when she appeared. Her mouth hovered into a frown and he realized she was mimicking the look on his face. “Anything else?”
“Nope, just filling you in,” Chase said. “Nate would have flipped if he’d heard, but if I see Parker I’ll teach him a lesson for you, okay?”
