If revenge had to involve kissing Dane a lot, then she’d gladly turn herself over to the task. She slid a little closer, trying to take his mouth with her own again.
His hand remained firmly anchored in her hair, trying to hold her in place. She was trapped an inch away from his face. “Miranda, what are you doing?”
“Trying to kiss you,” she whispered, her gaze focused on his mouth. It had thinned out into a hard line that she was very tempted to kiss into softness. His confusion just turned her on more. “Let go of my hair and I can get back to it.”
Instead of doing as she asked, Dane sat up and rolled away. She gave him a frown as he stood up, but it smoothed away when he reached for her hand.
Miranda placed it in his and allowed him to help pull her off the ground. Immediately he began to tug her away from the camp, into the woods. An excited flutter started low in her belly, her pulse throbbing in all the right places. Were they going to go hide in the woods and have sex again? Could she handle a morning orgasm? She suddenly liked the thought of that very much, and licked her lips in anticipation. Oh boy, could she ever.
Who knew that her revenge would be so much fun?
There was a large tree with low-hanging branches at the edge of camp, and Dane pulled her toward it, his hand tight on her own. When they were behind the branches, she reached for him again, tilting her face up to his, a slight smile on her mouth. “Good morning, sunshine,” she said and slid a hand along the front of his chest. Oh yum. She could feel washboard muscles and well-defined pectorals through the fabric of his shirt. Miranda resisted the urge to rub her hand all over his chest and explore his physique.
He pulled her hand off his chest and frowned down at her. “I think we need to talk.”
She stiffened. That had not been the response she was expecting. Didn’t most men like a sexually aggressive woman? “What’s there to talk about?”
“This!” He gestured at her and then at his mouth. “The kissing and the…you know. Last night in the forest.” He dropped his voice and looked over at the campsite to make sure the others weren’t awake. “You and me. What the hell is going on here, Miranda?”
She rolled her eyes. “Do we really have to analyze it? I wanted to have sex with you to see what it’d be like, and so I did. Satisfied?”
Dane shook his head, frowning. “Whatever it is Colt and Grant set you up to do, you won, all right? No sense rubbing salt in the wound.”
That made her flinch. She released his hand as if he were diseased and took a quick step away. “Excuse me?”
He crossed his arms over his chest, his mouth firming in disapproval. “I know Colt and Grant are behind this. I mean, it’s pretty obvious. Our first week on the job and who happens to show up? My high school crush, looking just as amazing as the last time I saw her, and wanting nothing more than to jump my bones. Convenient, isn’t it?” Dane glared down at her, as if he was cursing the fact that he was attracted to her. His hot gaze raked over her body. “They’re obviously paying you to test my willpower. And it’s obvious that I failed.”
Her jaw dropped. Her hand went to her collar and she nervously tugged it up closer to her neck. “Well,” Miranda said nervously. “That’s a first.”
“What is?”
“I’ve never been called a whore in one sentence, and flattered in the next. I’m not quite sure whether I should be insulted or amused, though I have to admit that I’m leaning toward insulted.”
He rubbed a hand over his mouth, and it curved in a slow smile that irritated the shit out of her. “If it makes you feel any better, if I weren’t on the job, I’d take you back into the woods again and f**k a few more orgasms out of you.” His eyes smoldered down at her. “Since that’s clearly what you’re here for.”
The arrogant piece of shit! Did he think she was all over him because someone had paid her money? Her hand clenched even harder. So much for enjoying kissing Dane—all she wanted right now was to kick him in the groin. Hard.
“That’s sweet,” she said in a dry voice. Her arms crossed over her chest and she gave him an angry, mulish look. “But if you call me a whore again, Pete’s not going to be the only one nursing a bruised jaw. Understand me?”
“Are you mad at me? I was trying to flatter you. I haven’t seen you in nine years and I have to admit that you look amazing.” Dane’s smile tilted. “Sorry if that offends you.”
“That’s not the part that offends me,” she bit out. “It’s the part where you keep saying someone paid me to sleep with you.”
His easy grin disappeared entirely. “You mean Colt and Grant didn’t approach you to…come to me?”
A sour taste built in her mouth. “I said all of three words to Colt yesterday. I haven’t talked to Grant since high school. Why would they pay me to come out on a survival trip?”
Dane remained silent for a long moment. “That…wasn’t what I meant. Did they ask you to hit on me?”
“No!” Her voice raised an outraged octave. “Why would I sleep with you for money?”
A hand covered her mouth. Dane pressed his hand over her lips, his palm warm. He glanced back at the camp to see if the others had awakened from the sound of their argument, but they slept on. Dane reached over and touched her arm, pulling her closer so they could talk quietly, his hand falling from her mouth. “Miranda…” he began, then stopped, studying her face for a long moment.
She felt the insane urge to tug at her collar.
“If you’re not doing this because Colt or Grant put you up to it, then why did you sleep with me?”
“Jeez, I didn’t realize I was that bad of a lay.”
His gaze dropped to her mouth. “Not in the slightest,” he said, his voice dipping to a husky tone. His thumb brushed against her lower lip. “But you can’t think I wouldn’t be suspicious of your motives. You packed an entire bag of lingerie for a survival trip.”
“I told you why,” she said defensively, pulling away. “I wanted to see if I could have a…you know”—she waved a hand—“with you, or if I was totally broken. And now that I know that I can…come”—she still blushed at saying the word—“with a man and not just a battery-powered toy, I’m satisfied. I don’t need you any longer.”
She was lying through her teeth, of course, to see if he would take the bait.
“Were you?” he said in a low, husky voice. His gaze remained on her mouth and he brushed his thumb over her lip again, tugging her mouth open a little. “Satisfied with that? Because it was just a quick meeting in the woods, Miranda. If you think that’s the best I’ve got to offer, you’re sorely mistaken.”
Her knees trembled a little at the thought. “Oh?”
A slow smile curved his mouth, and he pulled her closer to him. His hand caressed her cheek and stroked down her neck, playing with the neckline of her shirt. Touching her as if he owned her—possessed her. The thought made her weak. “That was just one tiny little orgasm,” he said. “I bet if you give me the chance, I could make you come two, maybe three times in a row.”
“Three times?” Her breath caught a little at the thought. She’d read romance novels where the her**ne screamed the entire time they had sex, and movies made it look like an hours-long marathon, of course, but her experiences had been sadly underwhelming in that respect. Even her rendezvous with Dane—while mind-blowing in itself—had been a brief excursion. “Is that normal?”
“It is when you’re in bed with me,” he said softly, and his hand slid down her back, fingers tickling her spine before resting on the small of her back. “Don’t tell me you’ve never had a man lick that sweet p**sy of yours for hours, making you come so often that your legs won’t support you any longer?”
Her legs were having difficulty supporting her body right now. She felt weak, boneless like he described, and the urge to lean against him and sink into his warmth was nearly overwhelming. She realized he was watching her, waiting for her answer, and she shook her head. “It’s none of your business, Dane, but I’ve had plenty of or*l s*x.” That was a lie. She’d had some, but when it became obvious that she was just uncomfortable instead of enjoying herself, it was quickly taken off the table. After a while, she’d given up on oral altogether. “Lots. So don’t you worry about me.”
“And no orgasms? I’m heartbroken at the thought. Those must have been some shitty boyfriends.”
A laugh escaped her throat, and she quickly muffled it again, then gave him a skeptical look. “What makes you think I’m interested in another round, Dane? Maybe I sampled the goods and found them lacking.”
“You didn’t,” he said confidently. His hand slid back up her spine and he cupped the base of her neck, pulling her close and tilting her head back. “Did you? I bet if I dropped to the ground and kissed that p**sy of yours, you’d let me do whatever I wanted to you.”
Dear God, it was true. Her fingers wrapped in his shirt and she clung to him. Dane was taller than her by a few inches, but he’d bent near and their faces were so close together that she could smell the musk of his skin and see the shadow of a beard on his chin. He licked his lips as if he were still thinking about putting his mouth on her p**sy, and her entire body tingled in response, a throb starting low in her sex. His other hand slid to her ass, pulling her body against him. Her n**ples grazed his chest and she gasped.
His mouth brushed against her own, giving her the most fleeting of kisses. “How about,” he said softly, “I drop to my knees right now and give you a taste?”
“Do it,” she breathed, her heart pounding in her breast.
He grinned at her and slid his hands to her waist. As she watched him, he dropped to his knees, his face going to the cradle of her thighs and—
“Hey,” called a voice back at the camp. “Anyone seen Dane?”
Dane jerked upright, nearly knocking her over in his haste to get to his feet. The look in his eyes had gone from sexy to wildly paranoid in a flash.
With a sigh, she realized that she wasn’t going to get what he’d promised after all. “Guess we’ll never find out if you’re full of hot air, will we? Shame.”
The look he gave her was hot, and he pulled her in for a quick, fierce kiss. “Tonight. You don’t say a thing, I don’t say a thing, and we meet again tonight.” Then he disappeared into the bushes, trudging his way back to camp.
Tonight? She curled her toes in anticipation at the thought, then sighed. The blood still throbbed in her veins and tonight was a very, very long day away. She waited a few minutes, then sauntered back to camp herself, tying the strings on her shorts as if to make it look like she’d been in the woods for a different reason.
Dane looked up as she reentered the camp and gave her a light wave, as if just now seeing her. What a faker. “Morning, Miranda. Sleep well?”