I was so done. I had come out to Denver because Aaron wanted me to and look what happened.

I was in a plane crash. I almost got eaten by wolves. And now I find out my boyfriend has been cheating on me.

And I had no doubt he was cheating. That was not just some one-time interlude I just witnessed.

I knew it wasn’t.

My head was pounding.

I was so furious I was almost sick with it. Part of me was tempted to figure out a way to get off this stupid mountain right this second and get to Denver, pack my clothes and fly back to New York City on the first flight available.

But I didn’t. I was going to think through what I did next because some part of me sort of liked it here.

Not in the mountains here but Denver here.

I wasn’t living in the shadow of my excellent family, my parents who knew everybody and were known by everybody or my sisters who weren’t just good at everything, they excelled.

I could carve out a place for myself here. Maybe. But one thing was clear, I was done living for other people. Maybe I would quit my job. Maybe I wouldn’t. But I wasn’t going to keep working at the firm just because Aaron seemed to think I should. Or because he had gotten me the job. I was going to pack up first thing when I got home, and whatever I couldn’t fit in my car, I would get later. I’d stay in a hotel for a few days until I found someplace to stay on my own.

But I sure as hell was not going to try to make things work with Aaron anymore. Behind me, I heard somebody shout my name, but I ignored it.

Part of me wanted to go back and tell him he should hurry back to Terri. She was probably lonely without him.

But I didn’t. If I saw Aaron anytime in the next twenty-four hours, I might belt him. I kept walking, not paying much attention to where I was going or what was going on around me.

One might think that my time in the mountains would have taught me better than that.

One would be wrong.

I almost crashed head-first into Lukas, and if it wasn’t for his hands coming up to steady me, I probably would have bounced right off his hard chest and ended up on my ass on the path.

“You should pay attention,” he said, that low, whiskey-smooth voice a caress on my jagged nerves.

I’m done, I thought again. Done living for other people and I was going to do what I want for a change.

It was odd, but that thought circled through my mind right then. Standing there with his hands on my arms and his eyes resting on my face, I went and did something I never would have done ten minutes earlier. Reaching up, I hooked my hand around the back of his neck and pulled his mouth down to meet mine.

I gave into the secret urge that had haunted me since that dream, and I kissed him.

I couldn’t believe I was doing this – kissing him. I was kissing Lukas.

He kissed me back after a few seconds of utter stillness, and it was the most erotic thing I had ever experienced in my life. I slid my tongue into his mouth, and I whimpered as he began to suck on me. He bit me lightly. Hunger hit me hard and fast like a punch in the gut only there was no pain, just pleasure.

He slid a hand up my spine from the small of my back all the way up to my neck, pressing our bodies together.

The kiss seemed to last forever and no time at all, and then he lifted his mouth away. Whimpering, I tried to follow, but he held me in place. “This isn’t a good idea,” he said gruffly.

“I’m tired of thinking about whether or not something is a good idea. I’m tired of thinking. I just want to feel.” I met his eyes boldly.

“Are you sure about that?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

A moment later, he had me plastered back against him, and I shuddered as he sealed his mouth over mine with a kiss so decadent, so deep, so wet and torrid, it was almost to intimate for people who were still dressed and still upright. This was a kiss that belonged in bed. This was a kiss that belonged to two people who were naked and entwined around each other. And then we were entwined, my legs wrapping around his hips as he boosted me up. “Hold on,” he said, his voice practically a growl.

I clung to him, not having much choice because the world was spinning around me.

It wasn’t just that he was moving, either. The very earth seemed to be spinning. I had never known anything like his kiss. Then my back was pressed up against something hard, and he pulled away again. I groaned and reached for him. He caught my hands and pinned them to the wall next to my head. It was then that I realized we were inside. I hadn’t even noticed when we had left the path. I didn’t recognize our surroundings, and dimly, I heard myself asking, “Where are we?”

“My cabin. Look at me, Stella.” His hand cupped my face, guiding my gaze to his. “Look at me.”

Where else was I going to look? I didn’t say that though. I merely met his eyes and found myself caught up in that hypnotic, alluring gaze.

“You realize what’s going to happen if we keep this up?” he asked.

“I sure as hell hope so.” I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face.

“What about your boyfriend?”

“I don’t have a boyfriend,” I simply replied.

He continued to study me for a long, pensive moment and then slowly, he nodded. It was as if he was debating something that required a great deal of thought, a great deal of concentration, and he’d finally made his decision.

Then he fully lowered his head and pressed his mouth to my neck. “You better be sure.” That was all he said, and then he slid his hands under my shirt. A moment later, it was gone so quick, it was almost like magic. Poof. Just gone.

I gasped as he took my breasts in his hands, my bra suddenly a barrier that was just intolerable. I wiggled against him, wanting to take it off but not daring to move. I had the insane idea that if I moved, this would all shatter and fall apart like a dream.

It didn’t, but I almost did, especially when he freed the front clasp of my bra and cupped both breasts in his hands, plumping them together and circling my nipples with his thumbs.

“You’re beautiful,” he said, voice gruff.

Heat exploded inside me as he studied me, hunger naked and raw in his eyes.

After my dream, I had wondered, even when I didn’t want to acknowledge it, I had wondered if he wanted me at all.

Now that I had my answer, I couldn’t help but wonder something else. How had I not seen it? How had I not seen this hunger?

He boosted me higher, and I whimpered as he closed his mouth around my right nipple. With teeth and tongue, he tasted me. It was like he had found some delicious treat and was determined to enjoy it thoroughly.

He stripped my bra away, and as it fell to the floor, he switched to my left nipple and treated it to the same attention he had bestowed to the right.

I kneaded his shoulders with my fingers, moaning under the onslaught of pleasure, so decadent and intense, I couldn’t even begin to process it.

His hips moved against mine, and once more, the pleasure that exploded inside me was too intense, too real, too much.

I was already so wet that my panties began to slide over me, back and forth, with every move of his hips.

He tugged at the button on my jeans, freeing it. I almost wanted to cry when he dragged the zipper down because I had no doubt that he’d strip them away and then be inside me. While part of me wanted that, another part of me wasn’t ready for all of this to end.

But instead of dragging my jeans down, he slid his fingers along the lacy band atop my panties. His voice was husky as he murmured, “Are you as wet as I think you are?”

I shivered at the sound of his voice.

“I don’t know.”

He slid his fingers inside just passed the band of the panties before slowly moving lower. The sound that escaped him with something caught between a growl and a moan, and I stared at him through my lashes as his head fell back. “Fuck, you are.”

His fingers slid across me, circled my clit, dipped lower and circled my entrance, but he didn’t enter me. He toyed with me. I was whimpering and ready to beg by the time he actually went just a little lower and slipped his fingers through my folds. But still, he didn’t give me what I needed.

I slammed my head back against the surface behind me. “Please,” I demanded, ready to beg.

He rubbed his lips against mine. “Be patient,” he said, voice taut.

“I don’t want to be.”

“That’s unfortunate for you. But you’ll be glad I don’t take orders from bossy little brats like you,” he said, something of a smile in his voice. He flicked his thumb against my clitoris as he said it, and any outrage I might have felt at his comment was obliterated under a storm of sensation.

I was shaking when he did it a second time and practically sobbing as he did it a third.

Then, finally, he circled the entrance to my body with one thick finger before slowly pushing inside.

I came. Just like that, with nothing more than a few strokes of my clit and his finger lodged inside me, I came. He swallowed down the mewling cries I made and continued to stroke me, stoking the fire inside me higher and higher.

When he had me clamoring and all but begging for him to make me come again, he stopped.

“You’re a bastard,” I said against his mouth.

“So I’ve been told.” He took me up into his arms and carried me over to the bed. He lay me down and said calmly, “Wait here.” He walked off, and when he came back to me, he caught the waistband of my jeans and dragged them down before stretching out between my thighs, pressing his mouth to my pubic bone. “I’m going to taste you,” he said in a blunt voice. “I wanted to eat you up practically since the first minute I saw you.”

I shivered at the words, remembering my dreams. “I’m not opposed...” The rest of the words dissolved into a harsh moan as he pressed his mouth to me and kissed my pussy in an open, lavish kiss.

He thrust his tongue inside me, licking at me like I was made of candy. I shoved my hands into his hair and cried out, unprepared for...this. I hadn’t ever felt anything like this, anything like him. This was a raging storm and everything I had known before this was like a spring rain.

He screwed two fingers into my cunt and caught my clitoris between his teeth, tugging on it. “Don’t come yet,” he said, voice ragged. “Don’t.”

He crawled up my body and rose up onto his knees. I grabbed the hem of his shirt and demanded, “Off.”

I wanted to feel his naked chest pressed to mine. I wanted it more than I could remember ever wanting anything.

Well, maybe not anything – I wanted to feel his cock inside me pretty damn bad.

He hesitated a moment, then grabbed his shirt and pulled it off, tossing it aside. His chest was broad, skin stretched taut over muscled skin, and when he pressed against me, the heat of me flooded me with an overload of sensation. Shaking from the intensity of it, I caught his arms, my nails digging into his skin.

He went rigid for a brief moment, his hard body a rigid line against mine. His mouth slammed down over mine in a kiss that tasted of need and darker things.

But then, after only seconds, the kiss changed, softened.

There was still hunger, but there was a control that hadn’t been there just seconds ago.

I didn’t want him controlled.

Raking my fingernails up his arms, I arched against him. “Lukas, please…”

He splayed his hand wide over my throat, and I could feel my pulse rabbiting against his touch as the kiss continued. But I wanted more.

He pulled away, and I groaned.

“Greedy,” he growled.

I would have reached for him, but he pulled something from his pocket – a condom. Okay. He could take care of that.

As he tore the foil open, I let myself study him, taking in the body I’d suspected lay below the flannel and denim – and under the Armani. Wide shoulders, a heavy chest that was corded with muscle. He shoved his jeans down just past his hips and my mouth parted as he freed his cock, casually stroking himself before pulling the condom from the packet.

Swallowing, I looked up to find him watching me as I stared at him.

I expected some arrogant remark…Like what you see?

But the look in his eyes was stark and naked, pure, heated desire – the kind I’d never had directed at me.

That look was as raw, as intimate as the kisses he’d given, as raw and intimate as the way he stroked his hands over me.

The hunger pulsed, throbbed in the air, dancing along my skin, and I wondered what I was going to do when he unleashed it all on me.

A moment later, I was bracing myself as he cupped my hips in my hands, drawing me closer.

I was all but shaking, so ready for him – so ready to feel the weight of that hunger – I hurt with it.

His mouth brushed mine just as he pushed his thigh between mine.

Reaching up, I caught his shoulders, my nails sinking into his flesh.

He wedged his hips between my thighs.

Shuddering, I arched up, so achingly ready, I hurt.

He brushed against me, once…twice…

“Quit teasing me,” I begged.

He fisted a hand in my hair and held my head in place, staring down at me. With his free hand, he reached between us, and I gasped as the head of his cock rubbed against me.

The head rubbed over, around…and then he was inside me, stretching me and I cried out at the pleasure of it.

He slid deeper, then pulled out.

Slow, lazy thrusts.

Slow.

Lazy.

It was sweet and easy…

And wrong.

“More,” I demanded, twining my thighs around his hips and grinding against him. That didn’t do it, but I hadn’t expected it to. I grabbed his biceps and sank my nails in deep – that made him stiffen, and he groaned, hips already tucked tightly against mine. He ground them in closer, head arched back and teeth clenched.

“More, Lukas,” I said. “Give me more.”

He grunted and pulled out, driving into me harder.

Pleasure lingered on the horizon, and I knew if it was just this, we’d both love it, welcome it…enjoy it.

But it still wasn’t enough.

I reached up and caught the back of his neck, hauling his head down to meet mine. I pressed my mouth against his, and once he was kissing me, I bit his tongue. “I want…all of you,” I rasped against his lips as he snarled.

He tensed, his body going still.

But a tremble racked him. From head to toe, I felt the aftereffects as his cock jerked inside me.

“All of you,” I said again, tightening around him.

“Be careful,” he whispered against my mouth, just before he bit my lower lip. “You just might get it.”

Then he shoved back onto his haunches until he knelt over me. Cupping my ass in his hands, he brought me in closer. He grabbed my wrists next and pinned them over my head as he began to swivel his hips in the cradle of mine. He felt bigger now, his cock pulsing and throbbing so that I felt every last fraction of movement.

“So good…” I whimpered, tightening around him.

He thrust, deeper, harder, lifting my ass up so I could take him deeper.

The hand on my butt slid up my side, along my torso, then up more until he had my throat in his hand. He squeezed lightly, his blue-gray eyes locked on mine, searching for…something.

“Lukas.” I whimpered, unable to hold all the need and desperation inside.

His response was to pull out and flip me over onto my knees. A second later, he was inside me again, and he felt thicker, bigger. “Open,” he ordered when I instinctively tensed around him. “Take it, baby…that’s it…”

I wailed as he withdrew and slammed deeper inside me.

My hands scrambled at the sheets, clung for purchase.

He slid one of his around and pressed his fingers to my clitoris, working it until I was rocking back and forth between him and his hand, uncertain which one I needed more – the heavy pillar of flesh that filled me or the clever fingers that threatened to drive me insane.

“Be still, Stella,” he said just when I almost came.

I couldn’t be still. Couldn’t. It wasn’t possible.

He spanked me, the flat of his hand coming down so hard and sudden that it shocked a yelp from me.

“I said be still.”

He began to pound into me, filling me with hard, slow thrusts that left me shaking, thrusts that felt like he was filling me all the way up to my throat.

“Tell me you want to come,” he ordered.

Tell…him? I was practically already there.

As if he sensed what I was thinking, he backed off. He didn’t just back off, though. He gripped one cheek of my ass and pulled, opening the bud of my anus. The shock was enough that it threw me off and the climax that had lingered just there fell away.

“Tell me you want to come,” he said again.

“You bastard,” I said instead. I’d told him that before, I realized.

“Say it.” The tip of his finger brushed against me, that tight, narrow spot nobody had ever touched. “Say it…or…”

Terror bloomed in me, and I didn’t know if I wanted to know the or or not.

“I want to come,” I said in a rush.

He fell back into his rhythm, hard and deep, all over again.

I wailed out his name.

As if he’d just been waiting for that, he gave me exactly what I needed, and began to toy with my clitoris, sending me right over the edge.

I came. It was brutal. It was beautiful.

He came too.

Yet…something told me, later that night, as we lay twined together, that it hadn’t been…everything for him.