Tempted

by Kimberly Van Meter

  The cenote was nearly perfectly round with a layer of brilliant green muck covering the surface.

  The fresh water bubbled up from deep in the earth but there was little to move the water around, so the top seemed to stagnate a bit.

  “And they threw kids into this thing?” Harper asked, appalled. “It’s pretty awful.”

  “Different cultures,” Teagan reminded her. “And it was, like, hundreds upon hundreds of years ago. It’s not as if they could Google better ways to appease their gods. They were doing what they thought was best.”

  “Still awful.”

  The vista was quiet. Most of the tourists had vacated the cenote and moved on to other points of interest, leaving Teagan and Harper alone.

  The jungle crowded around them, reminding Teagan of when he’d flown into Mexico to rescue his brother and Hope.

  He supposed there was a rugged beauty about the Mexican jungle but he was less enamored of it than he had been before that near-death experience.

  “You okay?” Harper asked when he quieted. “Is something wrong?”

  “Big, green, leafy jungles tend to make my skin crawl.”

  “Why?”

  “My younger brother nearly died in a Mexican jungle. The memory is hard to forget. Especially since it only happened a few months ago.”

  “Are you being serious? Or joking?”

  If only he were joking. “It happened. But I guess it all worked out in the end. I don’t know why I’m still skittish about it.”

  “Why did you take a Mexican cruise if you’re scared of the jungle?”

  “I didn’t say I was scared,” Teagan corrected with mock machismo. “I just said I was skittish. And I didn’t book this cruise, my brother did. I think, in his own messed-up way, he was trying to blot out what’d happened before with new memories.”

  “How’s that working out for you?”

  “So far so good,” he admitted, glancing around the jungle canopy. “Being here with you doesn’t suck.”

  She laughed. “High praise, indeed.”

  “Hey, just being honest.” He kissed her again. “Want to disappear behind those bushes and get primal?”

  “You’re asking me if I want to get naked with you in the jungle?” she asked, incredulous, then answered with a playful sniff. “I’m not that kind of girl.”

  “Oh, I know what kind of girl you were, Little Miss Designer Dress.” Teagan slid his hand around the back of her neck to draw her to him. “But I’m more interested in the kind of woman you can be with me.”

  Harper gasped and he captured her mouth again, drinking in her taste and reveling in the way her body melded to his almost perfectly.

  Her muffled laughter was all he needed as he carried her into a secluded area off the beaten path, like a caveman about to stake his claim.

  Teagan laid her down gently and quickly freed himself from his shorts. “I want to thank you for wearing that beautiful dress,” he said with a hungry smile, lifting the hem to reveal that sweet feminine place. “I’m a fan of easy access.”

  “Stop talking and just do me already,” she demanded with an equally hungry expression. With a directive like that, how could he refuse? Teagan wasted no time in easing his length inside her hot sheath, the smell of crushed grass mixing with the jungle loving. Her legs wrapped around his torso as he drove into her, losing himself in the overwhelming pleasure of nailing Harper to the moist ground. She clutched at his back desperately, thrusting her hips against him, meeting him stroke for stroke as if she couldn’t quite help herself.

  “Insatiable little diva,” he said, grinning as sweat began to cover their bodies. Teagan wanted to draw out the pleasure as long as possible but his body was not on board.

  And apparently neither was Harper’s.

  She stiffened and cried out, mindless to the fact that jungle foliage was a terrible sound barrier, and Teagan followed seconds later, shouting his own release as he poured into her, jetting into her canal with desperate, hard thrusts.

  If he could brand his scent onto her body, he would.

  That was how primal she made him feel.

  Teagan wasn’t usually the type to go all caveman but with Harper, it seemed his only speed.

  They both stiffened in alarm as voices approached. Withdrawing quickly, he tucked himself back into his shorts while Harper adjusted her hem and brushed off the stray leaves and dirt clinging to her hair. Teagan plucked a green fuzzy thing from her hair and they emerged from their hidden spot before more tourists arrived.

  They barely held in their laughter as they escaped the curious stares of total strangers, practically running from the cenote.

  They managed to reach the Temple of the Warriors before stopping to gasp for breath.

  “I can’t believe we did that,” Harper exclaimed, laughing as she tried to breathe. “That had to be sacrilegious or something. What if we’re cursed by some Mayan god for defiling his temple?”

  “Something tells me the Mayan gods were good with sex. Maybe we even paid homage. Maybe we’ll be blessed instead of cursed.”

  “Do you always manage to put a positive spin on things?” she asked, smiling.

  “Don’t always succeed, but I give it a good college try.”

  “Why are you so...”

  The look of wonder and frustration sobered him. “Why am I so what?” he pressed.

  “So amazing,” she finished, but her tone didn’t make it sound like a compliment.

  “Why are you so damn stubborn?” he challenged softly, the moment becoming as fragile as a soap bubble on the wind.

  “Because that’s how I’ve had to be.”

  Teagan lifted her palm to his lips. “Not anymore,” he told her. “Whatever happened in the past...isn’t what has to happen in the future.”

  For a brief, heart-stopping moment, Teagan saw the flash of hope but it dimmed as quickly as if someone had thrown water on it. She pulled her hand free with a short, pained smile, saying, “Pretty promises are easy to make but hard to keep.”

  And that was all she was going to say.

  * * *

  SO MUCH FOR just enjoying the moment.

  How could things be so great one minute and the next, fall apart?

  Harper had never felt so out of control of her own feelings than when she was with Teagan.

  And that lack of control scared the crap out of her.

  Her mother’s DNA was contaminating her thought process.

  Love wasn’t real. Men didn’t stay.

  Get the goods while the getting’s good, those were words to live by.

  Not this flimsy, chemical-based attraction that was bound to fade after a few months, leaving her in a worse position than she was when she’d started.

  But Teagan managed to get under her skin every time and twist up her logic.

  When she was with him, everything she’d ever wanted or secretly dreamed about seemed possible.

  And that was the dangerous thing.

  Dreams were simply that—fluffy, ephemeral, cotton-ball clouds that evaporated under the heat of real life.

  She needed a minute to get her head back on, but Teagan wasn’t going to let her have a blessed minute to herself.

  It was as if he knew she was on the edge but he wanted her to fall.

  Was he going to catch her when she fell flat on her face?

  Like Rex had promised to be there for her mom before he robbed them blind and left them destitute?

  Pretty lies.

  Not gonna get sucked in.

  “Hold up,” Teagan called out, but Harper didn’t stop. She wanted to find the helicopter and hightail it out of there. Sure, that was irrational, but right now, she wasn’t thinking clearly. That much was obvious because she despe
rately wanted to ignore her brain and simply give Teagan a chance to break her damn heart.

  But Teagan picked up the pace when he realized she was trying to ditch him and quickly caught up, grasping her arm and forcing her to skid to a stop.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  He had to ask? Wasn’t it obvious? But Harper didn’t have it in her to explain, because if she tried, even to her own ears it would sound ridiculous and she might break down in tiny pieces.

  “Teagan, I need a little space,” she said, shaking her head when he tried to reach for her. “This is moving way too fast in a direction that I’m not prepared to go.”

  “Bullshit.”

  His bald statement took her back. “Excuse me?”

  “I call total and complete bullshit. You’re scared of feeling something with me. Why don’t you just tell me what you’re running from so I can help you get through it.”

  Damn him for being uncannily observant when it came to her private feelings. “Don’t flatter yourself,” she said, trying to sound like the rational one. “I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but I’m trying to be honest. I’m not into you like that.”

  “No. I don’t buy it. You’re real good at putting up walls but you suck at seeing what’s right in front of you.”

  Harper tried to chuckle with derision but it came out sounding weak and desperate...probably because she was flirting with the edge of both.

  “Teagan, I—”

  He silenced her with a searing kiss that immediately made her knees weak. She clutched at him for support and he pulled her close, ravaging her lips as if to both punish and arouse.

  And it was working.

  A needy yearning curled in her belly as wetness trickled down her leg. They hadn’t used a condom. Pregnancy wasn’t a concern, but cleaning up had been the last thing on her mind as they’d dashed away from the cenote.

  She gasped as Teagan reached under her dress to rub the wetness around her mound, effectively smearing his seed into her skin. It should’ve disgusted her—but oh, God, it was the hottest thing she’d ever experienced.

  It should’ve mattered that anyone could’ve noticed but Harper’s thundering heartbeat blotted out all sense of propriety.

  “You can fight it all you want, but you’re mine,” he told her, his eyes burning into her. She lost her ability to protest or even speak. “This right here—” he slipped a finger between her slick folds to pinch her swollen clit “—belongs to me. You and I both know it but I’m the only one willing to ride that wild wave all the way to the shore.”

  Harper shuddered as a second, sweet orgasm rippled through her, punctuating his words as if they had some power over her body.

  She gasped, squeezing her eyes shut as waves of pleasure rolled over her, forcing Harper to hold on to Teagan or fall to the ground.

  She did belong to Teagan—in her heart of hearts, she knew he was right—but there was no future between them.

  Nothing worth putting her entire life on the line for.

  Not even the most amazing sex in the world could make her forget how easily her mom had been discarded and left penniless.

  That would never be her.

  Love was a luxury she’d long since accepted was never going to be hers.

  Teagan was just going to have to accept it, too.

  19

  HARPER REMAINED QUIET the rest of the trip back to the ship. She smiled at the appropriate times, chatted when spoken to, but otherwise remained buttoned up.

  The woman was a hard nut to crack.

  He could see right through the facade she put up for everyone else’s benefit and it baffled him why she was so resistant to giving him a chance.

  Clearly, someone had broken her heart.

  He could show her that he wasn’t that guy—if she would let him.

  But that was the difficult part. Harper was adamant that she wasn’t going to let him see anything beyond the surface.

  Teagan knew from experience, the pain from the past never healed if the person didn’t allow themselves to feel.

  You gotta feel to heal.

  He couldn’t take credit for that pithy saying. It had been said to him after a brutal mission had left him suffering from nightmares.

  His therapist had walked him through some tough times.

  PTSD was no joke.

  He’d been open to therapy, but some of his fellow airmen...not so much.

  Not everyone came out of that situation intact.

  Maybe Harper had something similar to a soldier’s PTSD.

  Something had scarred her so much at a critical age that it’d formed a permanent scar.

  If he could find out what that was...maybe he’d have a chance.

  He’d stopped asking himself why he kept trying.

  Unlike Harper, Teagan was ready to admit that she was the one for him.

  The stubborn, difficult, manipulative little money badger was the woman he wanted above all else.

  Good job, asshole.

  He could just hear J.T.’s voice already.

  I wanted you to get laid, not find the woman you want to marry someday.

  Ha. Marriage.

  Teagan had never considered himself the marrying type. He loved women but he enjoyed his freedom, too.

  Now that Harper had entered the picture, he couldn’t imagine wanting anyone else.

  He supposed this was what’d happened to J.T. when he’d met Hope.

  The hot redhead scientist had nearly gotten J.T. killed.

  Several times.

  And yet, J.T. couldn’t seem to get enough of her.

  I get it, brother. I totally get it now.

  He supposed he could count his blessings that Harper didn’t have bullets following her like Hope had.

  But in a way, dodging a visible threat was easier than fighting an enemy that only existed in someone’s mind.

  How the hell was he going to prove to Harper that he wasn’t like the man who’d hurt her before?

  Just tie her to the bed and screw her senseless.

  The thought made him smile, even if it wasn’t a long-term solution.

  Harper was a leaf in the wind. She came with no roots and only made surface-deep connections.

  There had to be a reason she’d targeted Stuart. By all accounts, Stuart was the least like someone who would tolerate a gold digger. He wasn’t swayed by her looks, or her charm. He was a genuine nice guy. Married for a lifetime to the same woman and had grieved that loss like a man who’d truly lost the love of his life.

  So why would she go after Stuart instead of some greasy blowhard who was more interested in pretty arm candy than a true partner?

  Lifestyles were hard to maintain without a steady flow of cash.

  Did she have a spending problem? Was she already broke and needed a fatter fish to satisfy her appetite for the finer things?

  Something told him that wasn’t the case.

  Harper was hiding more than a broken heart, he realized.

  Did she have a kid to care for?

  Would that matter to him?

  He gauged his gut reaction to the possibility of that news.

  Nope. Don’t care.

  She could have a passel of kids and he’d still want her.

  Maybe she was mired in credit card debt?

  Not a hard theory to float given her taste.

  So what, debt is a part of life these days.

  Maybe she had a crazy ex in prison?

  That’s what restraining orders and concealed carry laws are for.

  No matter what potential landmine he lobbed out there, nothing could shake his determination to have Harper as his own.

  All right, so the
facts were facts—he wasn’t going anywhere until Harper came clean about whatever she was trying to hide.

  That was the only way he’d ever have a chance to show her that he was different.

  * * *

  HARPER BAILED FROM the helicopter and hustled back to the ship. She didn’t want to talk to anyone, least of all Teagan, before she could decompress.

  Too much had happened.

  She wasn’t talking about the physical stuff—sex she could handle—she was talking about the mental stuff tripping her up.

  Teagan was a great guy but she wasn’t there to pick up a great guy. Harper was on the ship to find a wealthy husband.

  Her mother was counting on her.

  Harper could just imagine Teagan’s expression if she told him that she was the sole provider for her mother’s nursing care.

  The monthly bill was outrageous.

  And it seemed each month the amount increased.

  All the flowers and sweet words in the world wouldn’t pay that bill each month.

  And eventually, Teagan would realize he’d bitten off more than he could chew, which would leave her where?

  Jaded, bitter and flat-ass broke.

  She knew Teagan wouldn’t be far behind but maybe if she reached her room in time, she could lock him out and bury herself in bed.

  Harper exited the elevator and walked briskly to her room. The second elevator dinged and she sensed, rather than saw, Teagan step out.

  Harper turned in spite of herself and swallowed a yelp when she saw his expression.

  Teagan looked like he wanted to put her over his knee and spank her raw.

  But not in a good way.

  “I’m tired,” she blurted. Teagan wasn’t having it.

  “We’re having a conversation tonight,” he told her firmly, pulling her key card from her fingers and swiping it quickly before pushing the door open. He gestured with a terse “inside,” and Harper reluctantly did as she was directed.

  Teagan closed the door and locked it. She expected him to light into her immediately but he bypassed her for the bathroom. Harper frowned. Did he barge into her room just to use her toilet? Was that his revenge for rejecting him? Blowing up her bathroom?

  But then she heard the water running and she realized he was drawing a bath.