by Sara Daniel
“Yes.” She slid her fingers inside his shirt, clutching his shoulders. Raising her leg, she curled it around his waist, still gyrating her body against his.
He’d imagined Caroline willing, begging for him and surrounding him so many times. But he hadn’t anticipated being reduced to begging, too. Lifting his head, he braced shaky arms on the sofa on either side of her. “I’m doing you. Got it? We’re having sex my way.”
With parted lips and blue eyes glazed with passion, she nodded. “Just touch me again. I need you so much. You complete me.”
He slammed his mouth back over hers but couldn’t undo the fatal mistake of allowing her to say what his soul longed to hear. She might have forgotten they were engaging in a purely physical one-night stand. He wouldn’t forget.
Peeling her leg from around his waist, he worked open the zipper to her tailored suit pants and shoved them down her hips. He couldn’t let her repeat how much she wanted him, and kept his mouth sealed to hers. But she didn’t need to say a word to let him know exactly how much she liked what he did to her. The pounding of her heart and her enthusiasm as she tangled her tongue with his gave her away.
So she wanted him, but how far would she go before she retreated to her safe, comfortable life? The sooner he discovered the answer, the sooner he could separate his fantasies from reality and prove only the fantasy appealed to him.
Raising his head, he demanded, “Lift your leg.”
She settled hands on his shoulders, meeting his gaze without hesitation.
Feeling the balance of control slipping toward her, he pushed her slacks and panties off one ankle, leaving them hanging from her other leg. Then he shifted her to the end of the couch, guiding her foot up to the armrest.
She stared at him, her creamy skin flushed, her face as vulnerable as her body.
He pressed one finger inside her, inching into her slick, hot tightness, memories of the past sweeping through him. Keeping the encounter completely physical might have worked if he’d been able to break eye contact. Instead, he trembled, needing her to believe he’d honor the trust she’d placed in him by allowing him to touch her.
He shifted, trying not to let her body’s sweetness dissolve him into a quivering mass.
“Don’t stop. Please.”
“I don’t intend to. I’m going to make you come, then keep touching you until you come again.” Focusing exclusively on her pleasure, he added a second finger.
Eyes glazed, she moaned, surrendering her body to him. “Please, oh please yes.” Her hips jerked, and she convulsed, drowning him with her passion.
His own muscles lurched in response, and he yanked his hand away. Despite his pledge, he couldn’t give her a second orgasm without coming in his jeans.
Limp, she leaned into the couch armrest. “Come back inside me. I want everything you promised.”
The longing on her face squeezed his heart. They were supposed to be engaging in sex. Only sex, no emotion. Instead, he wanted to promise her forever, to offer her a glittery ring she’d be proud to wear. “This armrest has potential. Let’s see what else we can do here.”
After considering the furniture for a moment, she stood and looped her arms around his neck, nipping at his lower lip. “I can sit on it and wrap my legs around you. But you still need to take your pants off, you know.”
He ached to give her what she wanted. Unfortunately, if he continued to stare into her face, he’d fall head-first in love, a love she didn’t reciprocate with the same devotion. “I want you on your knees on the armrest, your ass facing me.”
Her teasing grin fell into uncertainty.
While he was doing those things, he would stay in control—of the situation, of his body, of his emotions. “I’m going to take care of you and give you what you want, I promise.”
Caressing his cheek with her fingertips, she immediately threatened every ounce of that control. “I know you will.” She dropped her hand and turned her back on him, tucking her knees under her on the armrest.
“Javier.” She tipped her head to the side, her blonde hair falling over her cheek. “Please do me.”
She lifted her hips, raising her ass to him.
He swallowed, amazed at the gift of trust, afraid he wouldn’t be able to live up to the experience she deserved. Her smooth skin contrasted with his calloused hands. He swept his thumbs across her wet pussy then into her hot sex.
She bucked and moaned. “Yes, more. Deeper.”
Even writhing with need, she still issued orders. He wanted to follow each one to the letter, giving her exactly what she wanted. Easing his thumbs out, he cupped her round cheeks. He hoped her trembling was a sign she needed him—just as his shaking hands gave away how much he needed her.
Releasing her before she noticed his weakness, he unbuckled and opened his pants. The need was only physical. Sex wouldn’t give them a lasting connection. Desperate to achieve that connection nonetheless, he ripped open the condom, rolling it on his rock hard erection.
She reached back and dug her fingers into his thigh. “I missed you so much.”
Grasping her hips, he glided inside her ready pussy. He squeezed his eyes closed and couldn’t stop the moan torn from his throat. “You are so damn wet and tight. Fricking amazing. I didn’t want it to be as good as I remembered.”
Hell, he sucked at impersonal one-night stand stuff.
“It’s not like before,” she said, roaming her fingers along the back of his leg. “It’s better.”
Unable to allow her to touch him for fear of combusting, he pulled her hand away and extended it forward on the couch. He leaned over her smooth back, brushing his chin on the thin, lacy bra he had yet to remove. When she accepted him deeper, bliss overcame him.
Need built too fast and strong to corral. He tried pulling back but hurtled closer to the brink. “I can’t wait. You have to come now.”
“Yes. I want it,” she promised.
Leaving her less than completely satisfied when he did orgasm wasn’t an option. The building release would be every bit as earthshattering for her as it promised to be for him. He palmed her ass again and massaged his thumb along the crevice between the cheeks.
She bucked her hips, smacking his pelvis, and his control disintegrated. Pulling her tight to the base of his shaft, he fingered her clitoris.
Spasming around his cock, she screamed his name.
He squeezed his eyes closed and bent over her, releasing into her. He’d found the missing part of his soul. His past and his future collided, completing his life.
Except, she’d just used him for a freaking one-night stand.
“Sex with you is amazing,” Caroline whispered, still shaking but safe and treasured, spooned in his arms. “You are amazing, Javier Alvarado.” She turned her head to meet his gaze.
For a moment, he appeared to return the sentiment, before his expression hardened. “I hope you remember tonight every time you have boring, vanilla sex with your husband.” Releasing her, he stepped back.
Nearly whimpering at the loss, she rolled on her back then sat up. The sex had changed her, connecting her to him on an elemental level. Surely, he felt it, too, and would believe the truth she spoke from her heart.
“I told you, I’m not marrying anyone. I couldn’t when I never stopped loving you.”
He fumbled in the process of fastening his belt buckle. “This has nothing to do with love, querida.”
“Then what is it?” Throwing her words back in her face chilled her, but a small part of her thrilled at his use of her old nickname. Even if he didn’t recognize it, she emotionally engaged him.
“A one-night stand where we used each other to get a good fuck.” He strode toward the exit.
Despite his intention to shock her, she prayed he didn’t believe his own words. “Javier, wait.”
Damn it, he’d stayed dressed, while her bra sat at a crooked angle over her breasts and her pants hung around one ankle. He paused and glanced over his shoulder. His ga
ze raked her, revealing no hint of emotion or tenderness under his stone mask. “I got what I wanted, and I don’t ever want to see you again.” He slammed the door behind him.
Caroline stared at it for a moment then sank back on the sofa. Opening her body and her heart, she’d given him everything she had. He took what he wanted, nothing more, nothing less. Making the same mistake as millions of women throughout history, she’d believed she could reach him emotionally through physical expression. And she failed.
Too late to reverse the evening’s strategy, she resolved to make better choices going forward. Starting with eradicating reminders of the night, she removed the twisted bra and pants then gathered the remains of her shirt and stuffed everything in the garbage.
Flipping the security lock in place, she stumbled to the bathroom, indulging in a long cry and a longer hot bath. She loved Javier, always had. She’d been foolish and wrong to come so close to marrying someone else, and even more so to imagine sex would convince the man she loved to return her feelings.
Using her business degree and résumé of solid experience, she had to create her own life apart from the father she’d tried so hard to please and even further from the love of her life.
Despite having no plans to meet anyone and no one to impress, she dressed in a business pant suit with a full blazer. Her image and her pride were the only things within her control. With precious little of either one to fall back on, she intended to preserve what she did have.
Picking up the phone, she took a deep breath and dialed. No one answered, hardly a surprise considering the time, so she waited for the tone to leave a message.
“Alberto, this is Caroline Sunburst. Thank you for offering me the opportunity to interview with your beautiful resort. The position is and will always remain my dream job, but unfortunately, I need to remove my name from consideration. Thank you for your wonderful hospitality.” She paused and swallowed hard, but didn’t lower the receiver. After burning her bridges at Sunburst Hotels by abruptly calling off the wedding and embarrassing her family, she couldn’t afford to turn her back on any business contacts. “I do have an unusual request,” she continued, her long cry earlier allowing her to keep her voice even. “If you hear of any similar positions open at other resorts, would you be so kind as to pass my name on to them? I’m willing to go anywhere.”
The farther away the better, she added silently, replacing the phone. With trembling fingers she shouldered her purse, grabbed the handle of her rolling suitcase, and walked into the empty hall.
Moments later, she checked out at the registration desk and requested a cab to take her somewhere to start over—far away from her broken heart and tattered dreams.
Chapter Five
Javier listened to the message Alberto had forwarded to him, every word from Caroline drenched with sincerity and heartbreak. She’d given her name as an interview candidate, considering building her life near him.
His brain turned, remembering the words she’d spoken in an effort to get through to him.
He’s not my fiancé anymore. We broke up. I broke up with him.
I want to be with you, Javier.
You’re the only one I belong with.
You complete me.
I told you, I’m not marrying anyone. I couldn’t when I never stopped loving you.
He flinched at the memory of his heartless response. Loving him, Caroline opened her heart and offered him everything. She’d seen the possibilities of them partnering in work and in life. Meanwhile, he selfishly took her body, using her, hurting her. Of course she would leave him after his efforts to prove he didn’t care.
Sprinting from his office, he took the stairs two at a time to the fifteenth floor. “Caroline!” He pounded on her door, his heart thundering and not from the race up to her room. “Querida, I have to talk to you.”
No answer.
He pulled a master key from his pocket and entered. After a cursory glance, he ran back to the bedroom. The bedspread didn’t have a single wrinkle. The bathroom at least appeared used, with wet towels hanging on the rack and a tip for the housekeeping staff on the marble countertop.
Returning to the sitting room, he paused. He lifted her ripped shirt from the wastebasket, and his stomach twisted. Reaching in again, he pulled out her bra, then her pants and underwear, no longer a symbol of the evening’s passion but evidence of something foul and disgusting.
He’d deliberately hurt Caroline, the only woman he’d ever loved. The only woman who’d ever loved him. Dios, what had he done?
He dashed from the room and punched the elevator button. When the doors didn’t immediately open, he ran for the stairwell and down to the lobby.
“Stop the helicopter,” he shouted to a security guard before spinning toward the girl at the front desk. “Did she check out? Which way did she go?”
“Who, sir?”
Who? How many people could possibly have checked out in the past ten minutes? He didn’t waste time answering but strode out the front door just as a taxi pulled to a halt in front of the building.
And he found her, standing next to Alberto. She started to shake his assistant’s hand then wrapped him in a hug. “Thank you. You’ve been wonderful,” she murmured.
Stepping back, her gaze locked on Javier, and the air seemed to whoosh out of her. Just for a moment. Then her shoulders straightened, and she turned toward the cab, as if he were beneath her notice.
The driver reached for her bag.
Javier darted forward, grabbing it first. “Don’t go.”
“I have wedding plans to make and other guys to screw. I don’t have time for you,” she said in a flat tone, her gaze fixed vacantly beyond him.
Stupidly believing so, he’d proved what an ass he was. While his assistant immediately recognized the truth, Javier had been too scared she would break his heart again, turning his Caroline into a woman as heartless as he’d treated her. “Por favor, querida, I want you to stay with me. I’m asking.”
Tracing his finger along her cheek, he ached to draw a response from her. She didn’t lean into him or flinch from his touch. Any reaction would have been better than none. I’ve already lost her.
“Ma’am, do you want me to take your suitcase?” the cab driver asked.
“Please, Caroline,” Javier said again. “I was wrong. Give me a chance to make it up to you. Por favor.”
Caroline dug her fingernails into her palms, trying to forget he only lapsed into Spanish when overcome with emotion. She didn’t have the will to move away from him, but the ache in her throat also prevented her from saying anything to push him away.
“Ms. Sunburst, what can I do to help?” Alberto asked, his voice full of genuine concern.
Tears blurred her vision.
Javier uncurled her fingers. With a hissed breath, he lifted her hand and pressed his lips to each indent created by her nails. “Lo siento, querida. This is all my fault. You told me the truth, I didn’t listen, and I hurt you. Give me a chance to fix it.”
With an achingly sweet swipe of his thumb, he whisked her tears away while Alberto slipped quietly into the building.
Javier lowered his voice to the barest of whispers. “Let me make love to you the way you were meant to be loved. If you still want to leave in the morning, I’ll send Alberto to personally escort you wherever you want to go.”
As much as she wanted to believe him, she wouldn’t let him cast her aside after sex again. “You don’t trust me.”
“I do trust you. I didn’t trust what I felt for you. My feelings for you scared me and I feared if I allowed them to take over, I would end up hurt. But I love you and I don’t want to lose you again.”
Desperate to hear those words, she didn’t trust her own ears. “Say it again. In Spanish.”
He repeated in his native tongue the words she longed for but had stopped believing she’d ever hear, and she knew he spoke the truth. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close, needing to soak in t
he rapid changes and allow the emotional roller coaster to glide to a stop.
After a moment, he pulled back, meeting her gaze again. “I want to show you my house. Will you come with me?”
Shock rippled through her. He’d invited her to his house, the one that he didn’t allow others inside. With anyone else, the intimacy might have happened too quickly, but her need and love for Javier had been building and simmering her whole life. She didn’t hesitate.
“Yes. I’d be honored.”
“So, you don’t need a taxi ride?” the driver demanded.
“We do need one,” Javier said. “Fast as you can, down the employee path, over the dirt road, along the fence line, and behind the corral. A hundred bucks if you can do it in less than three minutes.”
Two minutes later, they arrived.
The cab sped away, a thin layer of dust covering Caroline and her suitcase. The oversized front porch and the whimsical ranch design loomed instantly recognizable despite being encased in darkness offset only by the light of the moon.
“This is our house,” she whispered.
Beginning as a cheesy high school class assignment, they’d worked on the plans together until perfecting their dream house down to the children’s bedrooms and the colors of the towels in the bathrooms.
“I need you to make it a home. Can I take you inside?” He shifted, the moonlight reflecting the vulnerability in his brown eyes.
She nodded and looped her arms around his neck. “Please.”
He scooped her up in his arms. More than simply bringing her to his house, it seemed he intended to sweep her off her feet to carry her over the threshold. She hugged him tighter and kissed his neck, delighted by the romance and the emotion behind it.
Carrying her up the front porch, he kicked the front door open. The sign, “Home is Where My Horse is,” tilted to one side. She tried to adjust it, but he didn’t pause. Neither did he stop as he strode through the living room, kitchen, and down the hall, not giving her time to take everything in.