"I see. I guess you're accustomed to spending the night with men who aren't your boyfriend then?"
Dani felt like the wind had just been knocked out of her. She grunted, amazed at his sudden callousness. "That's a low blow," she fired back. "You have no idea what you're talking about."
"I'd say I have some idea," he countered, "since I just spent the night with you, and I sure as hell ain't your boyfriend."
She faced him, not surprised to see his cold mask back in place. Suddenly she wanted to cry. But she didn't. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction. She let her anger off its leash and tore into him. "Look, you ignorant asshole, Dean Fischer is my boss, and he has some weird thing for me, but I'm not into him. I will never be into him. I never wanted to spend the night with him in the first place. He tricked me."
"Tricked you?" Caleb said, his disbelief evident in his tone. "Tricked you into helping your career with a little slap and tickle? He sure didn't seem disappointed when he dropped you off the next day."
"How dare you!"
Dani couldn't take his baseless accusations anymore. She crossed her arms over her chest and breathed deeply, doing everything she could to ignore the man beside her. The rest of the ride was spent in sullen silence. When Caleb finally pulled up in front of his cabin, she jumped out and grabbed her things then headed to her car.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked, following her.
"I'm getting the fuck out of here! If you think I'm gonna stay with you in your shitty little cabin, you're crazy."
She hunted in her backpack for her car keys, wishing he would leave her alone to lick her wounds.
"Like hell." He grabbed her arm and spun her back around. "We just had a hell of a storm, and you know portions of the park are flooded. That means the roads around here are probably flooded too. I'm not gonna let you risk driving off and getting stuck or worse out there."
"It's not your job to babysit me," she growled, yanking her arm out of his grasp. "I'll be fine."
"You're damn right you'll be fine because you're staying here."
"No!" she yelled up into his face.
He stared down at her, anger driving his eyebrows low, hooding his dangerous blue eyes.
All of a sudden, he smiled, and the heat in his eyes changed to something more sinister -- desire. Caleb grabbed her arms and pulled her into him, stealing her lips in a savage kiss. He didn't let up until she melted into him until she surrendered and wrapped her arms around his neck, giving as good as she got.
He put his hands on her bottom and lifted her, whispering in her ear for her to wrap her legs around him. She did, and he moaned, pressing his hardness into her need. For a moment Dani thought he'd take her right here on the hood of her car, and at that moment she didn't care, as long as he was inside her again.
He walked with her across the yard and up the few steps to his cabin. There he had to set her down to dig out his keys, but he kept one arm around her as if he were afraid she would run. And she might.
For one second she wondered what was happening. He had said awful things to her after making sweet love to her, and now he was attempting to have his way with her again. The ranger made her head spin. Before she had a chance to escape, however, he pulled her back into his embrace and ravished her mouth with another heady kiss.
They stumbled into his cabin, and Caleb pulled her into the open room that combined both kitchen and living area. He backed her up to the table and grabbed her waist, lifting her to sit on its cool surface. Without a moment's hesitation, he slid her jeans and panties from her legs, then knelt before her.
"So beautiful, so soft," he whispered from between her thighs, his warm breath hitting her mound, stirring the patch of dark hair that sat above her slit. He leaned forward, and she inhaled heavily when she his tongue roll through her folds, opening her and forcing her to beckon to his desire to taste her again.
Caleb buried his head between her thighs and tasted her, licking her inside and out. "So delicious," he sighed, and Dani allowed herself to relax and lay back against the table, holding his shoulders while he paid homage to her.
The pace of his worship increased, and she began to pant and tremble. His tongue thrust into her rapidly, his fingers holding her apart for his assault. Finally, he sucked her clit between his lips and then teased it with his teeth. Dani exploded in climax without warning, crying out his name and grabbing his shoulders so hard that her nails dug into his skin. He did not stop his attentions until she gently came down from the heavens. At last he, stood, smiling down at her in satisfaction.
Caleb wasted no time pulling off his own clothes and returning to stand between her legs, naked and fully aroused. In the light of day, Dani could see his cock and couldn't help but look it over in appreciation. It was massive but finely formed, and currently a most delightful shade of pink.
He gently probed her opening with his shaft, her juices allowing him to ease in. With a hard thrust he was lodged inside her, and he bent down to kiss her then, his hands on his shoulders to brace her against him. Then he began to move.
Dani had thought the orgasms of last night were the strongest she'd ever had and ever would have. But it seemed like maybe she was wrong. As Caleb pressed himself inside of her she moaned, her desire burning her up fast, like the short fuse on a stick of dynamite. Too soon she was exploding around him again, clawing at his back. He kept pounding into her, his mouth at her ear, saying things that soon brought her arousal back to feverish heights.
"You feel so good around me," he whispered, nipping at her earlobe. "I can't resist you. I want to spend the rest of my life fucking you, you naughty little thing."
Her hips moved up to meet his as he slammed into her, picking up the pace, and suddenly the mood of the sex changed. It became charged with something more than passion -- anger.
"Does your dean make you feel like this?" he asked, shoving into her with a force that was almost painful. "Can he fuck you like this?" He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into a sitting position. It seemed like his cock went even deeper this way, but she couldn't stand the words coming out of his mouth.
"Fuck you!" she gasped, even as her hips did what her mouth claimed. Then she slapped him. His face was shocked for a moment, but then he smiled and rammed into her harder. She cried out, thrusting back to meet his rapid pace, the climb to her climax ramping up again.
"I know that little bastard can't make you feel like this," he said into her ear, and she shoved him, trying to push him away from her. He stood, still holding her in his hands, and she almost died from the pressure of his cock so deep inside her. "He can't satisfy you, can he? You're a wild woman, made just for me."
"Put me down!" she yelled, then struggled against him. He moved to oblige, but not in the manner she expected. He fell to his knees, then slid backward so that he was lying on the floor and she was on top of him.
She could stop this now if she wanted, all she would have to do was climb off.
But she didn't. She couldn't. Instead she rode him fiercely, and he gripped her hips, encouraging her. "That's right, darlin'," he groaned. "Give it to me!"
She leaned back, and he moved his hands to her breasts, squeezing them gently and working her nipples. She cried out again, her orgasm a breath away. "Come for me!" he ordered, and like clockwork she did.
It was the strongest orgasm of her life, and it took her breath away. A second after her release she felt him slam into her and stop, emptying himself deep inside of her. She collapsed on top of him, desperate to catch her breath, while he moved her hair away from her face and stroked her back.
* * *
It took several minutes for Caleb's breathing to return to normal, and his thoughts to return to reason. Once again he'd ignored his better judgment and succumbed to his desire for the little professor.
It had been more erotic than his raunchiest fantasy, but it had also been scary. They'd both lost control, letting their anger and passion mingle into somethin
g altogether more powerful. It reminded him too much of his parents’ rages. She'd even slapped him, for God's sake!
Finally, she straightened and looked down at him. "What was that?" she whispered, and he thought he saw fear in her dark eyes.
"I don't know," he said truthfully, "but it was dangerous."
* * *
Caleb had politely waited while she'd showered first, and had even offered her some of his clothing if she had wanted to change. She hadn't. She already felt too vulnerable and was sure she'd feel even worse if she replaced the protective layer of her familiar clothing with something that had been pressed against his warm and supple body.
It was all too confusing, and the air between them was so full of tension that she was drowning in it. Dani couldn't catch her breath, at the mercy of thoughts that swirled like eddies in a coastal tide pool.
She sat briefly on one of the wooden chairs flanking the table and put her head between her hands. How did this happen?
For once, her inner voice was silent. Events had tumbled out of control so quickly; she felt like her brain had whiplash. In the space of one night and one morning, she'd made love to the ranger after he'd revealed his past and fallen asleep in his arms. Then later she'd slapped and scratched the same man while they cursed one another before coming at almost the same time. He'd told her that she could stay with him, and in the next breath all but called her a whore. And in the meanwhile, she'd climaxed a handful of times.
He sure knows how to make a girl's head spin.
Steamy memories rushed in of them in the hunting shack, their lips glued together, his hands setting every part of her body alight with sensual fire. Then later, on the table, when he'd told her how wonderful she tasted. The table!
Her head flew out of her hands and her butt out of her seat. Her eyes flashed to the floor where she'd straddled him and ridden home to glory. A bright blush filled her cheeks, and she remembered how good he'd made her feel, how good she was sure she'd made him feel.
The bathroom door flew open, and Caleb walked out, his body enveloped in steam. A white towel was wrapped around his waist, and he was using another to dry his light brown locks. Dani watched as a bead of water slipped down from his neck, across his chest, and past his navel.
She wished she could trace its path with her tongue. The thought made her blush burn brighter.
Caleb ignored her, toweling himself as he padded to his bedroom, then closed the door behind him. Dani thought about opening a window to relieve some of the heat and tension that was nearly strangling her. Before she could make the decision to move the door to his room opened again, and he came out, dressed in loose-fitting gray sweats. His hair was wet and tousled, and she wanted to run her fingers through it while her lips pressed hot kisses on his neck.
He didn't meet her eyes but looked off somewhere in the distance when he spoke. "I didn't get much rest last night, and there's not much I can do today because of conditions, so I'm going to take a nap. Is there anything I can do for you before I turn in?"
"No." Her response came out in a nervous squeak. She coughed, then repeated herself. "No, thank you. I'm going to try and get some work done."
Caleb nodded, then returned to his bedroom. He shut the door behind him, and suddenly Dani felt it was symbolic, that he'd shut her out of his life.
The man was impossible to figure out. He ran cold, then hot, then cold again, in cycles so quick that she couldn't catch up. He'd opened up to her, spilled his darkest secrets.
It couldn't have been easy.
She thought he liked her, at least it had felt like it several times last night and this morning. He'd held her so tight; she'd felt so safe in his arms as she'd drifted to sleep. Still, his words this morning, their frenzied lovemaking, it was a complete contradiction to the tenderness of last night.
That was sex, her inner voice intoned, and Dani was amazed she finally had something to say. Sex is not love.
Who mentioned love? Dani argued with herself. Is that what's going on?
No, she shook her head. She didn't have time for love, especially with a man who would clearly take a lot of work to keep up with. And yet, when he'd opened up to her last night, when he'd held her in his arms as she'd fallen asleep, she could feel her heart responding.
I have to be careful. It would be too easy to fall in love with the handsome ranger. But like he said, it's dangerous. She wanted her career, wanted to prove her theory, to revolutionize the amphibian world.
Didn't she?
Dani pulled her laptop from her bag and turned it on, taking a minute to plug in. She pulled up her data screen and just stared at it. The rows of letters and numbers refused to come into focus. Instead, her memories forced her to relive his touch, his kiss, his smell -- like pine trees and mountain springs and pure masculinity.
His eyes haunted her, their cold blue tempered by warm desire. The feel of his morning-after stubble rubbing roughly against her cheeks, her breasts, her thighs. The memories drove a shiver down her spine, and she once again tried to focus on her work.
Danielle had had few friends during childhood. In the absence of age-appropriate playmates, she'd been forced to create her own worlds to keep the loneliness at bay. She'd imagined her life as an adult -- as a famous scientist who helped unlock the mysteries of the universe.
Her future world had consisted of successful friends and associates, impressed colleagues, enthusiastic students, and eager journalists who all wanted to hear her story. But never had she imagined someone to love, someone who stood by her side and looked on her accomplishments with admiration and satisfaction. Now her imagination wanted nothing more than to cast Caleb in that role.
In all her years of working toward her PhD, and now of working toward her tenure, she'd never really felt the lack of that someone special. She'd dated, had even gotten somewhat close to some of her fellow students, but never had she felt this fantastic rush of lust that fired her senses to such a degree.
Not only did Caleb blow her socks off in bed, but when he'd told her about his childhood she'd felt a connection to him that was unique. He'd never shared himself with anyone else, and she'd felt honored to be let in. When he'd looked at her, she'd seen the loneliness in his eyes, and it mirrored the loneliness that still lay hidden in her own soul.
Dani exhaled heavily, trying once again to drive her wayward thoughts back onto the path of science. She scrolled through her data points, searching for a pattern. But again, she was destined to be distracted. This time it wasn't by her own thoughts. Instead, she was surprised by the yell that came from behind Caleb's closed door.
At first she thought it was a fluke that perhaps she was hearing things. Then she heard it again, this time louder and more urgent. She ran to his door and hesitated. But she heard another scream and could no longer delay.
Dani flung open Caleb's bedroom door.
* * *
He was sitting behind the couch, playing with his toys like most evenings. He picked up a brown frog with green stripes and stacked it on top of a bright yellow frog with haunting dark eyes. Behind the couch, he could hear his parents start their evening quarrel.
His mother's voice rose up the scales until she was almost shrieking. His father sat still, his head down unless it was occasionally thrown back while he guzzled deep from the bottle of vodka held in his big hand.
Young Caleb picked up a pair of blue and black frogs with brilliant yellow stripes and placed them atop the growing pile.
"You worthless piece of shit, you'll never satisfy a woman like me."
His mother's words made him cringe. The things she said to his father, things that Caleb knew would wind him up, these things were disgusting things, hurtful things. Dirty things.
"Most of the time you can't even get it up. What kind of a man is that? You're not even half the man that bartender is. He couldn't wait to get inside me."
Caleb heard a loud slap and knew that his mother had finally touched a nerve. But even in the f
ace of his father's violence, his mother wouldn't be stopped.
"You weak bastard," she crowed, laughing in his father's face. "You hit like a child. And you fuck like a teenage boy -- wham bam, and one minute later, thank you, ma'am. He fucks like a champion!"
The leopard-spotted frog in his hand gave a loud croak as Caleb turned his head to the action on the couch. His father had risen, and he now reached out and grabbed his mother brutally.
Caleb dropped the frog and hopped over the couch, knowing that he had to stop his father. But once on the other side, he stood frozen. His father brought his large hands up around his mother's neck and began to squeeze.
Suddenly, Caleb was no longer looking on from the couch. No, now he was standing before his mother, his hands pressed around her neck. She smiled, and abruptly she changed. It wasn't his mother smiling up at him with evil intent; it was Danielle.
The professor's dark eyes were full of malice as she laughed into his face.
"Why would I want a freak like you?" Dani asked, not even attempting to fight back against the pressure of his hands around her throat. "You can't give me what he can. You're nothing. I could never love a man like you. The whole time you were between my thighs I was thinking of him."
That last line twisted his mouth into a painful grimace. He squeezed harder, trying to stop the stream of words, trying to drive out the thoughts they prompted.
Dani just laughed, her face redder than a stoplight, her lips turning blue. He watched her dark eyes begin to flutter close and still he squeezed. Her lips moved, and he bent in to hear her whisper, even as he choked the life out of her.
"I knew you'd hurt me," she said, then gasped out her last breath.
"No!" he screamed, letting go of her neck but grabbing her shoulders and pulling her to him. Her limp body hung in his arms, and he cried out again. "No! NO!"
Worth the Risk: (A Contemporary Bad Boy Romance) Page 12