“That’s easy for you to say,” she retorted. “I don’t have unlimited means of income. Everything I have is from my salary, but it’s not a lot. My father considers room and board enough. This resort, this little piece of his life is all I’ve ever wanted. I gave up on his love a long time ago, but getting his respect is something I may never give up wanting.”
“Why?”
“Because he only deals in business,” she explained. “Respect for my business abilities may be the closest thing to love that he can give. I don’t know that he’s capable of love in the way that I need it.”
Not likely, but since Dane didn’t know how to love anyone like they needed, he wasn’t the person to offer advice on this matter.
His cell rang, breaking the tension and giving him the out he needed.
“I need to take that,” Dane explained as he eased off the bed.
He scooped up his jeans and pulled the cell from his pocket. With a quick glance to the screen, he saw it was Ethan.
“I’m just going to step out here.” He started for the patio when her words stopped him.
“That’s not your ex-fiancée wanting you back, is it?”
Ex-fiancée. Damn it. Dane had gotten so swept away in this whole charade, he’d forgotten about the fictitious woman.
“I promise, it’s nobody wanting me back.”
Possessive girlfriends had never been an issue in his life because no one had ever been allowed to get that close. He was fine with that. There was no need to chance having your heart ripped out again. Once was more than enough for him when he lost his mother. The ranch kept him busy and that was all he needed. Well, that and Mirage.
Dane swiped the screen and glanced over his shoulder to see Stella sliding beneath the covers, her hand going to the dent in his pillow.
Swallowing the guilt, he answered. “It’s awfully early for you, isn’t it?”
“I haven’t been to bed, yet,” Ethan replied. “I figured being a rancher you’re always up at this time anyway.”
“I’m not on the ranch.”
“I’m aware,” Ethan growled. “Shut up and listen. Robert is due to be at Sunset Cove in three days.”
Dane gripped his cell. “How do you know? And are you positive?”
“My sources confirmed his travel arrangements. How soon can you get here?”
“You’re already there?” Dane shook his head and glanced to the hot tub where hours ago he’d pleasured Stella until she cried out his name.
The memories of her would last him a lifetime, which was good since she’d hate him in the very near future.
“I’m here,” Ethan confirmed.
“Just make sure you keep the goal in mind—and I don’t mean bikini-clad women.”
His brother chuckled. “No reason I can’t enjoy myself while I wait.”
There was static on the line and Ethan’s muffled voice a moment before he said, “I’ll text you updates. I gotta go.”
The call ended, leaving Dane wondering just how quick he could wrap things up here. Ruiz needed to be dealt with here and now. The next number Dane would have his broker throw out would be impossible to turn down. Maybe he could make things move faster by appealing to Ruiz’s male chauvinist side.
Dane stared out the window as the sun started peeking over the mountaintops. The snow had stopped sometime during the night, which was good news for the stranded guests.
With another quick glance over his shoulder, Dane sent a text to his broker with the new offer and stipulations. There was no way this would be turned down. Ruiz was a smart businessman. If all went as planned, this resort would be his in thirty days.
Thirteen
Stella had never taken advantage of a fantasy suite. She had her own penthouse for one thing, but the main reason was she’d never had a need or a man.
Well, now she had both.
Butterflies fluttered in her stomach and she had no clue why she was nervous. It wasn’t like she was a virgin or hadn’t slept with Dane before. Over the past several days, they’d been all over each other.
The blizzard had calmed down to Montana’s usual snow accumulation and guests came and went, still cautious of slippery roads. All was mostly back to normal.
Except Dane stayed. His stay was technically up two days ago and his penthouse had been taken by a couple celebrating their tenth wedding anniversary.
So she moved his stuff into her suite.
Stella jerked on the tie of her shirt. She couldn’t believe she had donned this outfit, but she figured Dane would like it. At least, she hoped he went for that whole lumberjack girl vibe. She’d taken one of her plaid flannels and left all buttons undone, simply tying the bottom in a knot just below her breasts. She figured the bright red lacy bra beneath was a nice touch.
Then she’d found an old denim skirt and ended up taking a pair of scissors to it to make it about four inches shorter. Dane would love the present beneath the skirt.
Of course she couldn’t exactly parade through her resort looking like she was about to take the stage as a strip club’s version of Twin Peaks with her boobs on display. That wouldn’t be professional at all and her father’s minion, whoever that might be, would certainly be all too eager to tattle.
Stella had put a fake name into the computer system to block off the room for the night and she’d sneaked in with her costume in her purse. She still wore her knee boots, but she had pulled her hair from the twist and left it in a wild mess around her shoulders.
She pulled her cell from her back pocket and checked the time. Dane should be here any minute. She’d told him she needed help moving something in the Lumberjack Room and he’d said he’d be right there.
Now she waited.
Stella crossed the hardwood floor and put the cell in her bag in the corner. A click of the door had her spinning back around.
Dane stepped through the door, took in the lanterns all around the room, the hanging tent, and the bourbon bar.
Then his eyes scanned back to her. The dark gaze raked over her, up and down. Then another slow, visual perusal.
“So I’m assuming you don’t want to move anything,” he said as he reached behind him, flicking the lock into place.
He crossed to the middle of the room and put his hand on the small wooden steps leading to the tent. He peered inside and back to her.
“This thing hold people?” he asked.
Stella smiled. “It’s secure for up to eight hundred pounds.”
Dane hooked his thumbs through his belt loops as his gaze took another travel down her body. “Then I guess we’re safe.”
Safe? She was anything but safe with him. At least not emotionally because she was pretty sure she was falling for him, which was ridiculous considering she’d known him just over a week. The level of feelings she thought she had couldn’t be developed in such a short time...could it?
“Something is rolling around inside that head of yours,” he stated, pulling her from her thoughts. “Maybe you need a distraction.”
“Oh, believe me. You’ve distracted me since you got here.”
Dane kept that dark gaze on hers as his mouth kicked up in a grin and he pulled on his belt buckle. “That’s the nicest compliment I’ve ever received.”
“You would take that as a compliment.”
Dane stood before her with his jeans unfastened, belt dangling, and reached for the hem of his shirt. “Why did you go to this trouble? We could’ve just stayed in your penthouse.”
Stella shrugged. “I wanted to change it up a little. I never know when you’re going to leave, so I guess I wanted to—”
“Give me a going away present?” he asked.
When he whipped his shirt over his head, she felt a warm glow of satisfaction at the realization that he’d gotten so comfortable with being bare around her
he no longer even hesitated to take off his shirt. Everything about being together had become natural and effortless. They’d fallen into an easy pattern of making love at night, and when she worked during the day he would text to check on her or he’d make himself scarce and let her work. He never tried to tell her how to do her job and he’d never mentioned buying Mirage again and she certainly hadn’t brought it up.
“Let’s not talk about you leaving,” she added. “I’d rather focus on you and this fantasy of mine.”
Dane quirked a brow. “Did you have any man in mind for this fantasy?”
She took a step toward him and toyed with the tie between her breasts. “I didn’t even think of this fantasy until I saw you.”
He reached out, easing her hands aside, and slid apart the knot holding her shirt closed. Dane’s fingertips grazed over her skin as he pushed the material from her shoulders. Stella shrugged until the shirt fell to the floor.
“I do like this outfit you came up with.” He caressed the line on her skin just above the lacy edge of her bra. “I don’t think I’ve seen you wear this around the resort before. Is this special for me?”
“You know it is.”
His hand slid down and he curled his fingers inside her waistband, tugging her toward him. “I like knowing you thought of me, of this. Nobody has ever done anything like this before.”
Which would explain the lack of fiancée now.
“First the bourbon and now the fantasy room.” Stella smiled. “This has been quite the week for you.”
“You have no idea,” he murmured. “But let’s get to this fantasy.”
“Well, as much as I’d love to escape to the middle of nowhere and just chill, that’s not possible for me now. So, I thought I’d bring you here and we could at least pretend to be somewhere else.”
Dane unfastened her skirt and sent it down her legs. She kicked it aside, leaving her in her matching red bra and thong set, and her boots.
“I don’t care where I am if that’s what you’re wearing.” Dane finished undressing and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Tell me you’ve never brought another man in here.”
Stella rolled her eyes. “What do you think?”
He dipped his head and feathered his lips over the swell of her breasts. “I think I’m damn lucky and I’m done talking.”
She fisted his hair and arched her back as he jerked her bra cups aside and feasted on her. His hands gripped her backside as he lifted her off the ground. She wrapped her legs around his waist and let him take total control.
Dane spun toward the suspended, oversize tent and sat her on the open edge. When he eased back, Stella nearly whimpered. But he didn’t go far. He reached down to her boots and slid one, then the other off, letting them thunk to the floor.
Stella spread her legs, making room for him. He stepped up onto the bottom rung of the small ladder and curled his fingers around her waist.
“I want to see and taste every damn inch of you,” he told her as he scooted her back into the pile of pillows. “I’ll ruin you for another man.”
Stella stilled, her eyes darting to his. Ruin her for another man? What was he saying? Did that mean he wanted more? That he wanted to stay and see what happened?
Little did he know, he’d already ruined her for anybody else. There would never be another man like Dane.
But that was something they’d have to discuss later when he wasn’t making her toes curl with passionate promises.
Dane trailed his lips over her chest and down to her abdomen. “You’re so damn sexy.”
He made her feel that way. She never would’ve taken another man to the fantasy suite. Sex with Dane was, well, indescribable. She wanted to experience everything with him.
Hooking his thumbs in the silky material of her panties across her hips, he didn’t tear them off or jerk them down. Instead he drove her out of her mind with sliding those rough, calloused hands over her heated skin as he slowly eased the material down her legs.
His mouth seemed poised to follow the path of his hands and Stella couldn’t control her restlessness. She ached, she needed, she craved.
When he held her knees apart with the width of his broad shoulders, Stella couldn’t suppress the groan that escaped her. And then his mouth was on her. Those big, firm hands gripped her inner thighs as he pleasured her in a way she’d never known before.
Stella threaded her fingers through his hair and arched her back. Dane’s relentless urge to please her had her body spiraling out of control and she didn’t even try to hold back her cries.
The climax hit her so fiercely, Stella shook against him for what felt like hours until her tremors began to slow. Before she could fully recover, he was putting on a condom and climbing up to her.
“I’m not nearly done with you.”
He gripped the backs of her thighs and slid into her in one slow, delicious thrust. Then he flipped them so she straddled him and he smiled up at her.
“Do what you want, cowgirl.”
Why did he have to be so sexy? Was there anything about him that didn’t turn her on? The relinquishing of power right when her body still zinged and tingled made her feel dizzy and overwhelmed. She wasn’t sure she could even move right now.
Dane playfully smacked her hip. “I’m waiting.”
Bracing her hands on his chest, Stella smiled as she started to move. Dane’s fingertips dug into her thighs as she rocked against him. From the way his jaw was set, his nostrils flared, and his lids lowered, she’d guess she was doing just fine.
As she quickened her rhythm, her body started climbing again. The pleasure became too intense and she leaned down, capturing his mouth with hers.
Dane palmed her backside and urged her faster while he made love to her mouth. He seemed to touch her everywhere all at once, causing that familiar tingling to build and grow until she exploded all around him.
He tightened his hold as he stilled beneath her. His lips moved over hers almost as if he couldn’t get enough.
Yeah, he’d definitely ruined her for any other man.
Stella waited until they both stopped trembling before she sat back up and smiled. “Well, I should book this room more often.”
Dane reached up and cupped her breasts. “You’ll only be booking it with me.”
When he said things like that, she couldn’t help but think...
“What do you say we take that bottle of bourbon and go upstairs?” he suggested. “I have a few more things I want to do to you.”
Mercy. Was he serious? She wasn’t sure she could walk on these shaky legs, let alone head in for round two...or three in her case.
Within minutes, though, they were dressed and heading the private back way toward the elevator exclusively for her.
Dane laced his fingers through hers and Stella couldn’t help but smile. She hadn’t held hands with a man in, well, years. There was something so innocent, yet so...was bonding the right word? After all they’d done together, the fact he led her back to her suite by her hand was so damn adorable.
There was no denying she’d fallen in love with him. What would he do if she actually came out and told him? Would he vanish? Would he tell her he felt the same?
Part of her wanted to be completely honest and open with her feelings. The rest of her wanted to keep her feelings locked away inside her heart where they couldn’t be hurt or crushed. She’d never told someone she loved them before.
Maybe she couldn’t trust her feelings. What did she know about love? She’d never known her mother, her father was about as loving as a tree stump, and the only other time she’d thought she was in love, the man had been a cheating scumbag who had been using her only to impress her father.
Maybe all this amazing sex had her emotions and thoughts too scattered.
“You’re awfully quiet,” Dane stated as he
punched the code in to take them up to her penthouse. “Maybe I wore you out.”
Stella squeezed his hand and rested her head on his shoulder. “I’m not even going to deny that because it’s true.”
He kissed her forehead. “I’ll let you sleep a few hours before I take you again.”
Her body stirred. Just those simple words had her imagining them together again. Each time was just as thrilling as the first. She was half-dressed, and they were entirely alone, so he could have her right here and now and nobody would ever know.
But she really needed to figure out what she was going to do about her feelings...how to tell him.
Maybe she should actually put some clothes on to have the talk because it didn’t seem appropriate to have a serious conversation when her underwear was gone, her shirt was tied over her bare breasts and her skirt was so short her nether regions were nearly showing.
The elevator door slid open and Stella took in everything all at once. The roaring fire that she hadn’t started, the overwhelming scent of a pipe and the robust man wearing a suit at nearly midnight.
“Dad. What are you doing here?”
Fourteen
Dane released Stella’s hand and stared at the man across the room. So this was Ruiz Garcia. The businessman was clearly all business. Who the hell stayed dressed up at this time of the night?
“I told you I was coming.”
Ruiz turned to face them and his eyes widened at the sight of Stella’s outfit. “I don’t have to ask what you’ve been doing. Is this typical behavior at my resort for you?”
“Dad, I just—”
“Decided to take advantage of a fantasy suite,” Dane chimed in, earning him a glare from Stella. “She’s been working her ass off,” Dane went on, ignoring her wide eyes. He stepped around her, mostly to shield her half-naked body, but also to shield her from the proverbial big, bad wolf. “This is an adult resort, and it’s beautifully managed and maintained, with everything a couple could want. No reason she can’t take advantage of the amenities.”
Ruiz narrowed his eyes as he slid aside his suit jacket and slid his hands into his pockets. “And you are?”
Montana Seduction Page 11
