Unmasking the Maverick Prince

by Kristi Gold

Standing, she turned and took one last look at Mitch. He slept on his side facing the window, the sheet draped carelessly over his hips, exposing only the tops of his thighs and the flat plane of his belly, his arms tucked beneath the pillow, his eyes closed against the limited light of the moon and Tori’s scrutiny.

  She wanted desperately to climb back beneath the covers and mold herself to his strong back. She wanted to wake him one more time and fuel the fire between them with a few touches. Instead, she bypassed the bed and headed out the door, leaving her discarded clothes, and Mitch, behind.

  Tori needed time to think and assess. She needed to sleep. She couldn’t do either with him so close.

  Tomorrow, she would continue the interview process. If more intimacy occurred between them, she would strive to keep her feelings out of it. She would take what he had to offer, engage in a little self-discovery and enjoy their remaining time together without inhibition.

  A solid plan. A good plan. Now she just had to stick to it.

  Eight

  Mitch had hated waking at dawn to find Tori gone. He’d had every intention of making love to her again before they started their day. At breakfast, he’d planned to confront her over the disappearing act but she hadn’t shown up. When he’d gone to her room to seek her out, he’d found her bed made and the place totally deserted. As irrational as it seemed, he’d worried she’d taken the first plane back to Dallas after last night. It wasn’t until Bob had told him Tori was up at the old house with Stella that he’d allowed himself to relax—as much as a man with an illogical need for a woman could relax.

  After he accomplished something constructive, Mitch planned to let her know that he wanted her in his bed until she left on Sunday, no argument. If she appeared reluctant, he’d just have to find a way to convince her, and he could think of a lot of ways.

  That brought about a smile as he sat at his desk, checking the status of pending software shipments. He wasn’t having a whole lot of luck concentrating on his business when the business of making love to Tori was still so fresh on his mind. His concentration went completely by the wayside when the knock came at the door followed by, “Mitch, can I come in?”

  “Door’s open,” he replied as he braced himself for the impact of seeing Tori again, as if he could prepare. Just hearing her voice had him on edge.

  Tori entered the room dressed in a navy blazer and a skirt that hit just above her knees, revealing her legs and a pair of matching moderate high heels. Her straight brown hair flowed over her shoulders, stopping where the collar formed a V above her breasts. The suit was business conservative, tasteful, but to Mitch, she might as well have been wearing nothing at all, considering the impact on his libido.

  Mitch leaned back in his chair. “Where have you been?”

  She hooked a thumb over her shoulder. “Actually, I’ve been talking to some of the hands. I wanted to ask them a few questions.”

  “And you did it dressed like that?” His tone sounded gruff and jealous. He’d be damned if he wasn’t.

  Tori smoothed a hand down the skirt. “They didn’t seem to mind.”

  “I’m sure they didn’t mind at all. In fact, you probably made their day, showing up in that outfit.”

  “I meant they didn’t seem to notice.”

  Mitch tented his fingers beneath his chin. “I never pegged you as being that naïve, Tori. They’re men. They noticed. Especially Rand. He might seem like the quiet type, but you have to be careful around him.”

  As if bent on ignoring him, she slid the black bag off her shoulder and set it down on the sofa then pulled out a yellow notepad. “I have some interesting comments here. The overall opinion is you’re fair and generous. One man said that he, and I quote, ‘considers you a good friend, second only to his bluetick hound.’ The only real criticism came when Rand said you’re not always pleasant if you haven’t had your coffee. Have you had your coffee today, Mitch?”

  “Are you saying I’m not pleasant enough for you?”

  “You are a little testy.” She went back to the notes. “However, I am happy to report that the general consensus is that you’re a generous employer and a good man.”

  When she swept her hair away from her shoulder and smiled, Mitch had the strongest urge to show her exactly how good he could be. “I still don’t understand why it was necessary to get all dressed up to talk to the help.”

  “I’m dressed up because I plan to go into town with Stella. She wants to shop for some fabric for the nursery curtains. While I’m there, I’ll interview a few people to give the story some local color. In order to do that, I need to appear professional.”

  Did she have to look so sexy doing it? “Fine. I’m sure they won’t tell you all that much.”

  “I’ll take my chances, but first.…” Rifling in the bag, she exchanged the pad for a camera and waved it at him. “Picture time. I want to show you in your element. The cowboy working at the computer.” She lifted the camera and said, “Smile.”

  Mitch didn’t feel like smiling. The only thing he wanted to do right now was make her smile, utilizing his hands and mouth. To appease her, he sent her a halfway grin. She seemed satisfied and snapped the camera, nearly blinding Mitch with the flash.

  “Great,” she said. “One more.”

  She didn’t wait for a smile or for Mitch’s vision to return before she took two more shots.

  “Enough,” Mitch said. “I can’t see a thing.” That wouldn’t do at all since he didn’t want to miss a minute of seeing her, especially in that suit.

  “Sorry,” she said. “That’s enough for now.”

  Not by a long shot, Mitch decided. He moved from behind his desk and held out his hand. “Give it here. I want to take a couple of pictures of you.”

  “Me?”

  “Yeah. I want a souvenir.”

  She laid a dramatic hand above her breasts. “Well, if I must. Where do you want me?”

  He grinned. “Honestly?”

  She frowned. “For the picture, Mitch.”

  Stepping aside, he gestured toward his desk. “Sit there.”

  “You want me on the desk?”

  Oh, yeah. That was a fine idea. “We could do it on the sofa, but I think the desk adds a unique perspective.”

  “If you say so.” Finally she complied, hoisting herself up with her palms, her legs dangling and her hands folded primly in her lap.

  Mitch didn’t want prim and proper. “Cross your legs and pull the hem of your skirt up a little. Show me some leg.”

  She complied and leaned back on her palms, then topped off the pose with a coy look. “How’s this?”

  Pretty damn good, but he wanted to see a little more skin. If he had to settle for a picture as a replacement after she left, he wanted a good one. “Unbutton the top button on your jacket.”

  “Mitch—”

  “Just do it, Tori. You might actually enjoy it.” He sure was, and he’d only just begun.

  Tori got the button undone after a couple of attempts. Mitch suspected she was nervous, but he also wondered if maybe she was a little turned on by it all. He planned to find that out, real soon. Stepping back, he snapped a picture then narrowed his eyes. “Open your jacket up a little.”

  “If I do that, you’ll be able to see my bra.”

  “I know.”

  She drew in a shaky breath and released it slowly. “Why, Mitch Warner, I didn’t know you were serious about taking naughty pictures.”

  “Sexy pictures, Tori. Just a little suggestive.”

  “Oh, so you want suggestive, do you?” she said, challenge in her tone and her dark eyes.

  She released every last one of the jacket buttons and opened it completely, exposing her navy satin bra and shocking the hell out of Mitch in the process. She shook her head, mussing her hair so that it now looked as untamed as Mitch felt. And when she inched her skirt up to the tops of her thighs, he reclaimed enough coherency to back up and lock the door.

  “Is this suggestive enou
gh?” she asked when he stepped forward.

  “Oh, yeah. That looks real good.”

  When he continued to stand there, greatly enjoying the sight, Tori asked, “Are you going to take the picture?”

  He didn’t want another picture. He wanted her. Now.

  After tossing the camera into the bag, he strode to his desk and moved in front of her. Her skin was flushed, either from self-consciousness or excitement. He hoped it was the latter. Hoped that she was experiencing the steady burn she’d incited in him.

  Mitch pulled her up from the desk and into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist as he carried her to the sofa and deposited her there. He leaned over to kiss her, deep, hard, unrelenting, before he worked the jacket off her slender shoulders and pulled her arms from the sleeves. He trailed his lips down her neck, pausing to slide his tongue along the edging of her bra. When he heard her gasp, he raised his head and found her staring at him with anticipation.

  “This morning, I didn’t like finding you gone from my bed,” he told her as he played with her nipples through the bra.

  “I thought it might be better if I slept in my own bed, in case Buck should become suspicious.”

  “I don’t care what Buck thinks. I just want to make you feel as good as you made me felt last night. Let me do that, Tori.”

  “What if someone wants you?”

  “I want you, and that’s all that matters.”

  Her sigh echoed in the room. “Mitch, you’re making it hard for me to be a good girl.”

  “Tori, you’re just making me hard.”

  Mitch crouched before her and propped both her legs on his shoulder. He removed her shoes, one at a time, before reaching beneath her skirt to tug her panties up her legs slowly, then lifted her heels to completely pull them away.

  Tori stared at Mitch, mute, the rasp of her respiration the only sound disturbing the quiet. The power of his gaze, the soft strokes he breezed up and down her thighs with his callused palms, the anticipation, robbed her of any desire to protest anything he might attempt.

  For a fleeting moment, she questioned his goal when he lifted her bottom and pushed her skirt up until it bunched below her waist. All doubt dissolved, and so did she, when he dropped to his knees, nudged her legs apart with his shoulders and lowered his head.

  Tori wasn’t exactly a novice when it came to sex, definitely not a schoolgirl virgin. She had knowledge of the ways a man and woman could express themselves during lovemaking, but mostly through girl talk, not through practice.

  The gentle sweep of Mitch’s tongue, the unyielding tug of his lips, the caress of his fingertips went beyond her realm of experience. Beyond anything she had ever known before with a man, even her former lover.

  The tempting taboo of it all sent her into an abyss where nothing existed except pure feeling. Her head listed to one side as Mitch continued to assail her, using his mouth as a lovely weapon to daze and weaken her, leaving her helpless to do anything but stare in wonderment.

  When the climax claimed her, she tried to prolong it with every last bit of her strength. But she didn’t have the will to stop it any more than she had the will to stop Mitch from keeping her captive with his mouth.

  As Tori drifted back to reality and her heartbeat began to slow, she tipped her head back and closed her eyes, only mildly aware of the rasp of a zipper and the rattle of paper. She recognized then that Mitch was not quite done with her yet, and she wasn’t quite sure she could handle more of his sensual torture.

  But she was darn sure going try, she thought when he said, “Come here, Tori,” in a low, controlled voice

  She opened her eyes to see his jeans pushed to his knees, his shirttail doing little to conceal his erection. Like a boneless puppet, she didn’t resist when he clasped her waist and directed her onto his lap to straddle his thighs. While she watched, he released the buttons on his shirt, allowing it to fall open.

  Keeping his eyes locked on hers, Mitch lifted her up and guided her to his erection. Now it was Tori’s turn to level her own brand of torture on him. She moved her hips in a slow, teasing rhythm, taking him inside her in small increments. She watched his face as she quickened the tempo, his jaw clenched tight. The power she experienced was a little hedonistic, and well-deserved considering the power he’d held over her. She bent to kiss him, nipping at his lips as she moved in a wilder cadence. A groan escaped his lips and she leaned back, knowing that in a matter of moments, he would be exactly where she had been minutes before, where she was going again because of Mitch’s touch.

  This release hit her as hard as the first, sending shock waves through her body as she took Mitch completely inside. A long breath hissed out of his mouth and she felt the steady pulse of his climax.

  Tori collapsed against his bare chest, her palms curled over his solid shoulders as if she needed to hang on for dear life, her cheek resting over his strong heart. For such a reckless ride into oblivion, she felt incredibly content.

  After a time, Mitch pressed a kiss to her temple and said, “I could get used to this.”

  So could she, and that was dangerous. “Guess there’s something to be said for having outrageous sex in an office.”

  “It’s not just the lovemaking, Tori. I could get used to having you around for more than a few days.”

  She raised her head and met his solemn gaze. “Unfortunately, I have to go back to work.”

  He brushed her hair away from her shoulders. “I know, but I want to see you again after that.”

  A tiny glimmer of hope radiated from Tori’s heart. “That might be difficult since I live in Dallas and you live here.”

  “Maybe we could work something out.”

  “I’m open to suggestions.”

  He brushed a kiss across her lips. “Here’s a good suggestion. I want you in my bed until you leave. We’ll discuss the rest later.”

  That sounded more like a demand than a suggestion, but she didn’t have the strength or desire to refuse. “Okay, but what about Buck?”

  He grinned. “Three’s a crowd.”

  She playfully slapped at his arm. “You know what I mean. I wouldn’t want him to think badly of me.”

  “Don’t worry about Buck. He always minds his own business.”

  “I know it’s none of my business, but you’re heading for trouble.”

  Seated at the dinette in the kitchen, Mitch looked up from his beer and glared at his grandfather. “What are you talking about?”

  Buck turned a chair around, straddled it and rested his arms on the back. “You’re stringing that girl along, and I don’t like it one damn bit.”

  Mitch scratched at the label with a thumbnail. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re both adults and well above the legal age.”

  “I know that. I also know that she’s got feelings for you and I don’t want to see them trampled.”

  “I don’t intend to do that.”

  “What you intend to do and what you will do are two different things.”

  Mitch continued to stare at the brown bottle, dotted with condensation that was no match for the beads of sweat on his forehead. “What makes you think I’m going to hurt her?”

  “Have you asked her to marry you?”

  That garnered Mitch’s full attention. “No.”

  “Why not?”

  Mitch felt as if he were being reprimanded for staying out past curfew, only this was a much more serious offense, apparent by Buck’s tone. “One, we barely know each other. Two, I have no plans to marry anyone and you know that.”

  Buck tipped his straw hat back from his brow. “Maybe you need to reconsider what you’re doing by keeping her in your bed. Tori’s a nice girl and she deserves a man who isn’t gun-shy when it comes to matrimony.”

  “You’re getting way ahead of the game, Buck. She’s got a career that’s important to her. As far as I know, she’s not interested in anything too serious, either.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Tori did
n’t strike him as being the kind who wanted a husband and babies, but he’d been wrong about women before. “Tell you what. If you’ll stop grilling me about the women in my life, then I won’t ask where you’ve been the past few nights.”

  “I’ve been with Eula Jenkins if you hafta know.”

  “You’ve been bedding the town’s most proper widow?” Mitch shook his head. “Talk about trouble.”

  Buck snorted. “We’re both a little long in the tooth for you to be passing judgment.”

  Mitch couldn’t resist turning the tables on Buck. “Tell me something. Are you going to marry her?”

  “Stranger things have happened. And you’ll be the last to know if I propose.”

  Mitch barked out a laugh. “That’ll be the day, you getting married again.”

  “It’s a lot more possible than you going to the altar.” Buck rubbed a gnarled hand across his stubbled chin. “Just a little more advice, Gus. One of these days you’re going to have to let go of your anger over your daddy remarrying or it’s going to eat you up inside and ruin your chance at being happy.”

  Mitch didn’t think he would ever get over the betrayal, and he resented his grandfather for shoving it back in his face. “Don’t you have something to do?”

  Buck climbed from the chair with more agility than many twenty-year-olds. “Yeah. I gotta go get on the Internet. My chat buddies are expectin’ me.”

  “Have a good time.”

  “I will. And you have a care because if you break that little girl’s heart, you’re going to hear it from me.”

  As Buck strode away, Mitch took a swig of his beer and set it down hard on the table. Maybe his grandfather was making some sense. Maybe he should just let it be over after Tori left.

  But deep down, he couldn’t stomach the thought of letting her walk away without ever seeing her again. He’d just have to take that out and think about it later. Right now, he needed to get some work done.

  At least Tori had accomplished something besides having a little afternoon delight with Mitch Warner. She’d talked to several of the town’s more prosperous citizens, including the owner of the feed store, who’d been highly complimentary about Mitch’s community involvement, and Betty Galloway, the city secretary, who’d been forthright about Mitch’s commitment to the local school through his elected position on the board. Obviously he wasn’t so averse to politics after all, something Tori found somewhat amusing.