Chapter One
Chloe Anderson hummed to herself as she blended a batch of strawberry margaritas, her hips swaying rhythmically as she worked. Heated desire ignited in the deepest part of Gabe Mackenzie and spread outward, feeding the hunger she inspired. He watched her in silence, his presence in the kitchen of her apartment still unnoticed. Hell, according to her brother, Chloe didn’t even know he was back in town. But she would. As soon as he’d looked his fill.
She was hotter and sexier than the sexual fantasies that had sustained him since the last time he’d seen her seven months ago. Her soft honey blond curls were clipped on top of her head and spiral strands wisped around her nape. He ached to press his lips to that vulnerable, exposed curve of her neck. Craved to taste and tease and coax her surrender in any way she’d allow.
Soon, he’d do just that.
His hungry gaze flickered lower. She wore a pair of well-worn jean shorts that rode low on her hips and a pink cotton camisole that was held up by thin straps he could easily rip apart with his bare hands. At the moment, he was feeling primal and possessive enough to do just that. The hem of her top ended at the inward dip of her waist, revealing a strip of tanned skin around her midriff. His fingers flexed, itching to caress her smooth flesh.
Her bare legs were endlessly long, the kind that inspired provocative images of stroking his hands up her sleek thighs as he pressed them apart…and more erotic visions of having those gorgeous, slender legs wrapped tight around his hips in wild abandonment.
The tantalizing thought made the temperature of his blood rise another notch. He lifted his gaze back to the classic lines of her profile just as she rolled a fat, juicy strawberry into a sugar bowl and took a big bite of the fruit. Juice dribbled down her chin and she caught the sticky sweetness with her fingers, then sucked each one of them clean…slowly, leisurely, thoroughly.
It wasn’t difficult to imagine her tongue swirling and licking him in the same delicious way. Arousal settled low and deep in his belly, and he drew in a steady breath to keep his unruly hormones under control. A futile attempt, he knew. She’d always had an effortless way of revving his libido, and the damnable thing was, she had no clue the power she held over him. Had no idea just how much he wanted her. Had always wanted her.
Tonight she was going to learn the truth, and more. There would be no avoiding him, and no denying what he ultimately desired. Chloe. In his bed. In his life. In his future. Unfortunately, a huge obstacle stood in the way—gaining her forgiveness for walking out of her life six years ago.
He had less than a week to breach the barriers she’d erected since that cool spring night when he’d hurt her so badly. This time, he wouldn’t allow her to reduce their conversations to polite chitchat as she now tended to do, or pretend as if what they’d shared for a very brief time hadn’t meant anything at all to her. He knew better. The emotions he’d glimpsed in her eyes over the ensuing years told a different tale.
She still wanted him, too.
The attraction still burned hot between them and he intended to confront and pursue it—and her—by any means necessary. Including executing a shameless, all-out seduction she wouldn’t be able to resist. Starting tonight, at the weekly Monday night poker game between Chloe and her brothers. And the one invited guest she wasn’t aware of. Yet.
She turned the blender off, reached into the cupboard, and brought down a crystal glass. Wetting the wide rim, she dipped it into the sugar to coat the lip of the glass, still oblivious to his presence. But Gabe was very aware of the fact that his time alone with her was limited. All three of Chloe’s older brothers were only a room away, setting up the table for the card game.
If he didn’t act fast, the opportunity to shake up her defenses and stake his claim would be lost. “Chloe,” he murmured in a low, silky drawl.
She spun around at the sound of her name, her bright green eyes widening with startled surprise when they landed on him. “Gabe!” His name escaped on a gasp.
Taking advantage of her shock, he closed the distance between them in three long strides, slid his fingers into the loose hair at the back of her head to keep her from pulling away, and claimed her mouth with his own. Her body stiffened, and she grasped the edge of the counter behind her for support. Amazingly enough her lips softened and grew pliable beneath the heat and persuasion of his, and he wasted no time slipping his tongue inside with a hot, searing stroke that stated his intentions in a way she couldn’t misinterpret.
A faint, strangled sound rose in the back of her throat, which quickly coalesced into a soft moan of pleasure when he angled her head and deepened their kiss. A shameless, erotic embrace designed to make her weak with wanting, and mindless with need. She tasted like the sweetness of berries and womanly desire, and the ripe flavor was like an aphrodisiac to his already overloaded senses.
Beyond rational thinking, and with his sole focus on the woman he’d waited years to make his, he placed his free hand on her bare waist and feathered his thumb across the soft skin of her belly. She shivered at his alluring touch, and he boldly stepped closer, bringing her hips into intimate contact with the fierce erection straining the front of his jeans. He moved against her, a subtle roll of his hips, letting her feel exactly what she did to him. He wanted to brand this moment into her memory for her to think about later, when he took their simmering attraction to the next level of seduction.
Too soon for his liking, he lifted his head, untangled his fingers from her hair, and glided his open palm along her jaw in a tender caress. He took great satisfaction in the knowledge that not once did she attempt to stop his advance.
Her breathing was ragged and aroused. With every rise and fall of her full breasts the taut nipples pressing against her cotton camisole top grazed his chest. He enjoyed the feeling, enjoyed even more that she wasn’t wearing a bra so that he could appreciate the way the soft material molded to those shapely mounds.
“That was a long time coming,” he murmured, his voice low and husky as his thumb stroked across her bottom lip, still hot and wet from their kiss. “But definitely worth the wait.”
Even now, when she could have found a way to evade his touch, she didn’t back down or try to move away. Adopting an indignant attitude had never been her style. Stubbornness was more suited to her personality, and that mutinous characteristic made an appearance now.
She held her ground, bare toes to his sneakered feet, never once letting on that he’d managed to ruffle her composure with his spontaneous kiss, or that his nearness bothered her. He admired her spirit and fortitude, and knew those traits would work to his favor more than her own.
Her chin lifted, and her eyes flashed with a mixture of defiance and wry humor. “A simple hello would have sufficed just fine.”
A bad-boy grin curved the corner of his mouth as his wandering finger found the pulse beating rapidly at the base of her throat. “Every simple, polite hello we’ve exchanged in the past six years has left me lukewarm when I know the two of us can burn red-hot.”
“So, you decided to just walk into my place and kiss me like you own me?”
He tugged playfully on a stray spiral curl and dipped his head closer to hers, tempted to take her mouth again. “Got your attention, didn’t it?”
She rolled her eyes in disbelief and moved her head back. The strand of hair slipped from his fingers, severing the connection between them. “You know, I don’t remember you being so arrogant.”
He shrugged, unwilling to admit that his actions had nothing to do with arrogance and were more centered on the need to claim what he’d forfeited that night so long ago. “It has its time and place.”
With an audacious wink, he turned and exited the kitchen, knowing she wasn’t ready to hear the truth about his feelings just yet. He’d fallen hard and fast for her six years ago, at a time when his life was in the midst of turmoil. He’d been drafted into the NFL, so very close to grasping his dream, and in a split second lost it all when he’d torn a ligament in his knee, which had ended his career as a professional football player before it ever began.
With nothing promising to offer her, and fearing he’d never claw his way out of the poverty that had always been his way of life, he’d walked away from her, believing he was doing the honorable thing by giving her the chance to find someone who could give her everything he couldn’t.
The ensuing years had been good to him, in ways he’d never imagined or expected. Yet no matter how hard he’d tried to forget about Chloe and move on, she’d remained deeply rooted within his mind and heart. And since there was no purging her from his soul, this time he was playing for keeps.
For him, it could be no other way.
Chloe felt as though she’d been swept into the eye of a hurricane and spit back out, leaving her neat and orderly world tipped on its axis and her body still reeling from the aftershock. Gabe had returned. And with his unexpected and thorough possession of her mouth he’d staked some kind of primitive, male claim with his hot, unapologetic kiss. But why her and why now?
She touched her trembling fingers to her puffy, still tingling lips. She had no answers to that particular question, and he hadn’t been forthcoming about those details, either. Obviously he believed he could barge right back into her life and pick up where they’d left off all those years ago. And she’d done nothing to stop his direct and explicit invasion.
Turning back to the counter, she poured the strawberry margarita mix into her glass with a shaky hand and her heart still beating wildly in her chest. If there ever was a man who could make her pulse race at the mere mention of his name, let alone a kiss, it was Gabe MacKenzie, a sexy, blue-eyed rebel who’d played a reoccurring role in every guilty, erotic fantasy she’d indulged in since high school. Unbidden, he slipped into her most private dreams and aroused her with wicked, forbidden pleasures, yet she always woke up with her breasts tight and aching, and her body throbbing with need. The same way he’d left her nearly six years ago, the night they’d finally given in to their mutual attraction.
A night that had ended in her first taste of heartbreak.
A lifetime ago, yet her recollections were as fresh as yesterday. Gabe had come home from Chicago during spring break from his senior year in college. After her brother Derek had stood him up for a hotter date, Chloe had offered to join Gabe for a casual pizza dinner. Afterward, they’d driven to a secluded hilltop spot that overlooked the city of San Diego. There, he’d told her about the knee injury he’d sustained during a football game that had ended his career as a professional quarterback and any chance at the NFL.
He’d been clearly upset and at a loss as to where his future was headed. When she’d spontaneously leaned across the console to brush her lips across his cheek in a comforting gesture, he’d turned his head and her mouth had landed on his. That’s all it took for their suppressed desire for each other to flare out of control. After slow, deep kisses and caresses that had quickly turned intimate, he’d abruptly stopped his skillful strokes just as she reached the brink of a breathtaking orgasm. Without an explanation—just an oppressive silence hanging between them—he’d driven her home, leaving her unfulfilled and aching, as well as hurt and confused. But most of all, once he was gone, she’d missed the friendship they’d shared.
She closed her eyes and shivered at the provocative memory of that long-ago night, hating that he still had the ability to affect her so strongly after all this time. She’d become adept at keeping him at arm’s length and protecting her emotions and in a moment of spontaneous passion he’d shaken her control and resolve.
Now Gabe was back, bold as he pleased, kissing her like he had every right to. She had no idea what his intentions entailed, but judging by that sexy gleam in his eyes she considered herself fairly warned.
She’d learned from the past. He’d broken her heart once and she wouldn’t allow him to do so again. No matter how the man’s kisses turned her inside out with carnal longings.
She took a big gulp of her frothy drink and waited for the double shot of tequila to settle her nerves while her mind debated a strategy of her own. She’d initially been thrown by Gabe’s aggressive overture, but having been raised with three older, competitive brothers, she’d learned young to never back down from a dare, which her male siblings considered a sign of weakness they could pounce on and exploit to their benefit.
If anyone was going to be exploited tonight, it would be Gabe, because she was going to fight his brand of sensual fire with her own unabashed approach. She’d be just as brazen as he, only this time she’d walk away with her emotions firmly intact.
A private smile curled the corner of her mouth as she took another sip of her drink. Oh, yes, she liked the idea of giving Gabe as good as he dished out.
Feeling calmer now, she refilled her margarita, grabbed the snack mix she’d poured into a bowl earlier, and headed into the other room. Gabe’s back faced her as he conversed with Scott and Chad, two of her other siblings. He’d picked up a cold long-neck beer somewhere along the way, and she took a brief moment to admire a body that had, amazingly enough, improved with age. He’d been the star quarterback in high school, always in shape, and still no excess fat clung to his waist. His shoulders were still as wide as ever, tapering to narrow, lean hips, and giving way to a nice, tight ass that deserved a lingering, appreciative glance.
Tearing her gaze from that enticing sight, she placed the bowl of snacks on the table. The surface had been set up with a deck of cards and colored playing chips for their Monday night poker game, which had become a weekly ritual a few years ago and a way for her and her brothers to make time for one another outside of obligatory family gatherings. While it was just the four of them for the most part, every so often someone brought a guest to make the game more interesting.
And Gabe definitely livened up the evening.
She willed her legs to move forward and join her brothers in the living room. Deliberately, she came to a stop next to Gabe, just to prove she could stand this close to him and resist the temptation he posed to her body and senses. She glanced up and met his gaze, the dark irises still hot and smoldering from the kiss they’d shared minutes ago. Thick jet black hair was tousled around his head in a way that begged her to reach out and sift her fingers through the inky strands. The ebony color provided a velvet backdrop to his striking blue eyes, which had no doubt cajoled and enthralled many women over the years. Just as the heat and awareness glimmering in the depths seduced her now.
One deep inhale, and she realized he smelled good enough to take a big bite out of. Or nibble and lick leisurely. Every glorious, masculine inch of him. She could literally feel the sexual magnetism pouring off him, a natural confidence that kindled too much need and desire and the kind of craving no other man but Gabe had managed to stir within her.
She gave herself a hard mental shake. God, she was crazy to still lust after him, but the knowledge that he was still under her skin only served to reinforce her plan to take advantage of the opportunity Gabe had presented and indulge in a little sexual revenge of her own.
With effort, she transferred her gaze to her brother Derek, who’d brought Gabe as a guest. “Nice of you to bring fresh blood to our weekly poker game,” she told him, an upbeat, sassy note to her voice.
Derek chuckled. “Shhh. I told him it would be a friendly game of poker.”
“You didn’t warn him just how ruthless Chloe can be with a new player?” Scott asked, amusement creasing his handsome features. “Why not just have Gabe empty the contents of his wallet into her purse and be done with it.”
Chloe beamed at the compliment. She had to agree that she was an impressive poker player, and she’d learned from the best. Her ruthless, card-shark brothers had granted her no leniency for being the youngest in the family, or for being the fairer sex. She’d learned quickly that it was either learn the game and play it well, or end up fifty bucks poorer every week.
She slanted Gabe a sly look. “I’ll go easy on him, boys,” she said, the promise not quite as pure as it should have been. Besides, she found the thought of beating the pants off Gabe MacKenzie too irresistible, in more ways than one.
He held her gaze, one dark brow raising, matching the subtle challenge she’d just issued. “No need to go easy on me, Chloe,” he drawled lazily. “I can definitely hold my own in a poker game.”
And with you, she read in his gaze. “Okay, consider yourself forewarned then.” She smiled sweetly.
Her brothers moved away to make room for another player and put out the rest of the pretzels and peanuts. Alone with Gabe once again, yet all too aware that her siblings were within hearing distance so she needed to behave, she decided to stick with polite pleasantries for now.
“So, what have you been up to lately?” After the accident that had ruined his knee, Gabe had redirected his ambitions to representing some of the biggest names in the sports industry. “Still living the good life as a sports agent in Chicago?”
His broad shoulders lifted in a shrug. “I don’t know about living the good life,” he said modestly, “but yeah, I’m still doing the sports agent thing.”
She caught the slightly wistful note in his voice and words, as if his life lacked something despite all that he’d achieved on his own. An amazing notion, considering the fact that he was highly successful and made enough money to be considered wealthy, though he certainly didn’t wear or flaunt his monetary assets. She guessed a part of him still remained a cautious spender since he’d come from such an impoverished upbringing.
She took another swallow of her drink and slowly licked a bit of sugar off her bottom lip, just to torment him since that’s where his eyes had chosen to linger. “What brings you back to San Diego?”
“My mom,” he replied, and took a long, slow drink of his beer.
She tipped her head, recalling a bit of information she’d heard from her own mother. “Isn’t she off in the Caribbean on a cruise with her new husband?”
He nodded, causing a lock of that silky hair to tumble across his forehead, adding to his virile appearance. “Yeah. She’s selling her house here in San Diego and moving to Nevada where Clyde lives and works and she wanted me to go through what’s left in my old room. So, I’m here for a week to pack up what I want and tie up other loose ends.”
After that kiss he’d planted on her in the kitchen, she wondered if she was one of those other loose ends he intended to tie up. And what, exactly, did that resolution consist of besides a lusty, dizzying kiss?
“And what about you?” he asked, his gaze touching on her damp lips once again, the gesture as evocative as a caress. “It’s been a while since we last saw each other. What are you up to?”
She was surprised he remembered their last encounter at a nearby restaurant, which had been very brief as he’d passed her table where she’d been eating lunch with a girlfriend. He’d stopped and asked about her family, his sinful eyes and demeanor as breathtakingly sexy as ever. After a few minutes of polite conversation on her end he’d continued on his way. But as always he’d left a lasting impression, which had carried her through the rest of the day and into the night.
She saw no harm in telling him what she did for a living. “I just recently went to work for an Internet sales company designing web sites and databases for large corporations.”
“Wow,” he said, suitably impressed, then followed that up with a teasing comment. “You don’t look like any computer geek I’ve ever known.”
She laughed lightly. “Thank you…I think.”
“That was definitely a compliment,” he assured her with an easygoing grin. “Intelligence, a good sense of humor, and natural beauty all in one package is rare to find in a woman these days.”
A warm blush swept over her cheeks, startling her, mainly because she wasn’t normally prone to such coy mannerisms. But then again, the men she’d dated had never been overly interested in her choice of profession, nor had they seemed to appreciate her attributes the way that Gabe just did. His remark could have been nothing more than a flirtatious ruse, but judging by the serious set of his features, she didn’t think so.
“Come on, you two,” her brother Chad called from the dining room. “Put your money on the table and let’s get the game started.”
“We’re coming.” She turned to go when she felt the brush of Gabe’s long fingers at the base of her spine—a fleeting touch that could have been as erotic as a deep, intimate caress for how wildly her pulse escalated. Her breath caught in her throat as she glanced back at him, and a slow, sensual grin appeared on his lips. He looked too damned composed, guileless even, while her entire body thrummed with heated awareness.
Gabe took a seat at the table, and she selected a chair across from him. Her glance encompassed all four men, but lingered the longest on Gabe. “I’m feeling very lucky tonight, boys, so no whining when I win.”
“We’ll see about that,” Derek said, picking up the deck of cards to shuffle.
Gabe’s piercing blue eyes remained steady on her as he withdrew fifty dollars from his leather wallet and tossed it toward Chad, who doled out colored chips for everyone’s cash. “I have to say that I feel like I’m going to get lucky tonight, too.”
She lifted a brow incredulously, surprised that he’d go so far as to issue her a double entendre in front of her brothers, as well as an obvious dare. And judging by the curious looks her siblings sent her and Gabe’s way, they were very aware of the sexual undercurrents between them.
Gabe was being very, very bad, and she decided it was up to her to teach him a thing or two about poker, and maybe a bit about seduction, too. Because if anyone walked away from tonight’s game satisfied, it would be her.
Shoring up her confidence, she blinked lazily and said in a husky drawl, “Then by all means, let the game begin.”
“Ante up,” Derek announced, and tossed a handful of roasted peanuts into his mouth. Once everyone added their opening bet to the middle of the table, he dealt the first hand for seven-card stud and the fun began.
After two and a half hours of bawdy jokes, laughter, raucous teasing, and a subtle, seductive push and pull between her and Gabe, the game dwindled down to the last hand and a pot of chips that encompassed the last of everyone’s money, except Gabe’s, who’d been on a winning streak all night long and who held everyone’s surplus in reserve.
Each of her brothers folded their current hand at the delivery of their fourth card because they didn’t have enough money left to match Gabe’s latest increase in the betting. Chloe was just barely able to remain in the game, and from the looks of her cards, she finally had a decent hand to play.
“I’m out.” Chad huffed in disgust, and drowned his loss in a huge swallow of beer.
“Yeah, me, too,” Derek echoed, tossing his cards, facedown, onto the table.
Scott did the same, his mouth pursed with exasperation and his gaze narrowed on Gabe. “How in the hell did you manage to wipe us out?”
Gabe merely smiled and transferred his gaze to Chloe. “How about you, Lady Luck?” he drawled, laughter dancing in his eyes. “Are you willing to risk the rest of your money on this last hand?”
Her supposed luck throughout the game had been dismal, not that she appreciated him rubbing her nose in the fact. Nor was she about to bow out now and admit defeat to him in front of her brothers. She’d play to the bitter end.
To give herself an extra boost of confidence she finished off her third margarita and matched Gabe’s current bet. “I’m in.”
“You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that,” Gabe said, his velvet smooth voice wrapping around her like a long-denied addiction. Tempting, taunting, teasing her.
“Don’t gloat too much,” she shot back, striving for a bravado she didn’t completely feel. “You haven’t won yet.”
“ ‘Yet’ being the operative word,” he added, his eyes glimmering with deviltry and too much self-assurance.
The next card was dealt. Her brothers watched the game, adding amusing commentary while Chloe continued to match and raise Gabe’s bets, increasing the stakes and tension between them until the final card was doled out. She glanced from her hand, to Gabe’s, chewing absently on her bottom lip. As it stood, with four cards face-up, one down, and the last card just being delivered, it appeared that Gabe had a good chance at a flush of diamonds if one of his other cards came through for him, while she was sitting on a three of a kind of fours. Great, another losing hand, she thought grumpily.
Just as she was about to peek at her last facedown card, Gabe reached across the table and pressed his fingers to the rectangular card so that she couldn’t lift it up and see what she held. Uncertain of his actions, she met his smoky gaze.
“How about double or nothing,” he asked, his tone way too low and intimate for her peace of mind. Especially with her brothers listening in on the conversation.
Her heart thumped beneath her breast. “That’s a nice gesture, but nothing doubled is nothing,” she rationalized, as if he couldn’t have figured that out for himself. “If you haven’t noticed, all of my money is out on the table.”
“Yeah, I noticed.” He smiled, a bit predatory, and traced a long tapered finger along the edge of her card. “I was thinking of something more along the lines of a personal, private bet to raise the stakes a little more.”
She opened her mouth, then snapped it shut. He couldn’t be serious.
Oh, but he was.
“Whoa,” Scott said and abruptly scooted back his chair and stood, amusement evident in his tone. “I’m not sure I want to hear where this is going.”
“I’m with Scott,” Chad agreed. “As interesting as this game is getting, I think this is our cue to leave.”
Chloe couldn’t believe her brothers were ready to bolt out on her. “You don’t have to go,” she protested, not at all certain she wanted to be left alone with Gabe and whatever he had on his devious mind.
“Yeah, I think we do.” Derek shoved his fingers though his sandy blond hair. “Whatever’s going on between you and Gabe, and something obviously is, it would be better resolved without an audience.”
A touch of panic curled in her belly. “Nothing’s going on!”
“Uh-huh, sure,” Derek said knowingly, and turned to Scott. “I came to Chloe’s with Gabe, so would you mind dropping me off at my place on your way home?”
Scott grabbed his lightweight jacket and shrugged into it, anxious to be on his way, too. “Not at all.”
Derek planted a hand on Gabe’s shoulder as he passed his chair and murmured something beneath his breath that Chloe couldn’t hear, though judging by the fierce look on her brother’s face, he’d just issued Gabe a friendly warning about not hurting his baby sister. While she’d grown used to such protective gestures, Derek had nothing to worry about. She was old enough to take care of herself as far as this man was concerned.
Minutes later, the trio shuffled out of Chloe’s condo.
“Thanks a lot, guys,” she called after them. The door closed, and the air suddenly turned thick and warm with expectations and unbridled awareness. “Traitors,” she muttered.
Gabe leaned back in his chair, the muscles across his chest rippling beneath his cotton T-shirt. “They’re guys. They know when they’re not wanted or needed.”
She smirked. “You’re a guy, and I don’t see you heading out the door.”
A sexy, too-confident smile flirted around the corners of his mouth. “That’s because you want and need me.”
Even though her mind screamed yes!, she wore her best poker face. “Don’t be so sure of yourself.”
He rested his elbows on the armrest of the chair and clasped his hands in front of him. “I’m confident enough to put my wager where my mouth is,” he said, his voice a soft rumble of sound in the quiet, still room.
Knowing there was no avoiding the inevitable, and drawn to the innate sensuality in his gaze, she asked, “What kind of personal, private bet did you have in mind?”
“Have you ever wanted something so badly that you think about it all the time?”
It was a rhetorical question, couched in a low, husky tone that mesmerized and enthralled Chloe.
“At night it consumes your dreams, and it’s the first thing you think of when you wake up. The desire and obsession grows, becomes nearly unbearable, like a fever in your blood you can’t get rid of.”
She swallowed hard, feeling exactly like that now, all hot and bothered and needy.
Her breathing deepened, her entire body flushing with desire. He was seducing her with his words, tapping into her most erotic thoughts of him and bringing them out in the open. It was as though he had a direct link to her thoughts and knew all the forbidden secrets she’d harbored for so many years.
“Have you ever wanted something that badly, Chloe?” he murmured silkily.
From across the table, his intense gaze remained locked on hers, delving deep into her woman’s soul. This time he expected an answer, and her reply came boldly, truthfully. “Oh, yeah.”
He looked pleased with her answer. “Then here’s your chance to dare anything.”
She clung to one last bit of reality, even as her wildest fantasies begged to be a part of this last bet. “Even requesting that you leave and don’t come back?”
“If that’s what you truly want,” he said, seemingly willing to accept whatever she requested. “But you’d have to win this last hand first, and do you really want to waste your bet on something that you don’t really want?”
There was that bit of arrogance again, as if he knew exactly what she wanted, needed even. She glanced at his face-up cards again, then her own, and knew that the odds of her winning the last hand were strongly against her. She could end the game now, without a personal, private bet on the table. The opportunity to walk away from him just as he’d done to her six years ago presented itself, but turning down a challenge wasn’t in her nature. Which meant she had to be willing to succumb to whatever he wagered.
His mouth tipped up in a beguiling smile. “What is it going to be, Chloe? A personal dare to spice up the pot, or are you going to call it quits?” His voice and words deliberately taunted her.
Backing out wasn’t an option, and the man sitting across from her damn well knew it. She held his sensual gaze, realizing what an emotional risk she’d be taking if she agreed to his dare. Realizing, too, that he’d be gone and out of her life after this week. Chances were they’d never see each other again, so why not indulge in a fantasy or two of her own?
Scooting back her chair, she retrieved a pad of stationery from a drawer in the kitchen. Ripping out two pieces of the violet-hued stationery trimmed in feminine lace print, she tossed one of the sheets his way, along with a pen, then sat back down to jot down her dare.
Suspecting his final wager would be as explicit and sexual as his kiss had been, she decided that her bet would be just as wicked and scandalous. She’d put her deepest desires down on paper, just to shake Gabe up a bit and put them on equal footing when he won the last hand. To let him know she was game for anything.
She’d request a brief affair, a sexual fling…all the pleasures he’d denied her six years ago and everything she’d craved ever since. Sex. Lust. Desire. Her written fantasy would suggest it all.
With a deep breath and her hand steadier than the rapid beat of her heart, she added her folded note on top of Gabe’s in the middle of the pile of chips. Then they both flipped over their final card, revealing their hand.
“I’ll be damned,” Gabe murmured in amazement. “A full house to my flush. It looks like you won.”
“Oh, wow.” Chloe stared at her three fours and the second ace she’d just revealed, giddy with the victory of beating Gabe and winning the huge pot of money…until it dawned on her that he was now honor-bound to deliver on the sexual and brazen request she’d suggested as her wager.
Which made her wonder what kind of proposition she’d narrowly escaped. She reached for Gabe’s note, but he snatched it up and out of her reach before she could grab the piece of paper.
Startled by his quick move, and annoyed that he was denying her the chance to read his bet, she frowned at him. “That’s not fair.” Standing, she rounded the table to his side, her hand palm out. “Hand it over, MacKenzie.”
“Nope.” He stood, too, and stuffed the note deep into the front pocket of his jeans, far out of her reach since she had no intention of wrestling him for it, which would entail shoving her hand down his pants. “Neither one of us stated any rule about the other person’s wager being read out loud if they lost.”
Her jaw tightened. The man was not only arrogant, but exasperating, too.
His blue eyes twinkled mischievously. “But, seeing that I owe you something, let’s see what my fate is.”
Plucking her folded piece of stationery from the table, he opened it, a dark brow raising high. “For the next four nights you’re mine, to do with as I please.” Gabe’s low, rich voice swirled around Chloe as he read her private note out loud. “I want you as my sexual slave, willing and eager to attend to my every whim and fulfill all my erotic desires.”
Lifting his head, he met her gaze and whistled long and low. “You’re a very naughty girl, Chloe,” he murmured, a sinfully sexy smile easing across his too-gorgeous face. “I wasn’t sure you had it in you to admit what you really wanted.”
Heat washed over her, making her feel every bit as wicked as he’d implied. She’d never been so straightforward with a man before, not that she was about to enlighten him of that fact. “Just goes to show you how little you know about me.”
He flicked the piece of paper in his hand with a finger. “According to this very adventurous bet, I’m sure by the end of the week I’ll know a whole lot more about you.”
Not if she could help it. Their affair would remain strictly about physical pleasure, she told herself, for the sole purpose of satisfying her lust for a man who’d remained a part of her fantasies for too long. Here was her chance to prove she could indulge in a fling and remain immune to him, and finally get him out of her system once and for all. Maybe then she could move on and give one hundred percent to another man, without thoughts of Gabe keeping her chained to a past and emotions that had consumed the deepest part of her soul. She’d pull out all the stops to have him, in any way she desired…and this time she’d be the one to walk away in the end.
And it all started here, and now, with her making the first brazen move to put the reins of control firmly in her hands. She was going to seduce him, his body and mind, and establish right up front who was in charge of this affair and that she’d call the shots. She had, after all, won fair and square.
Flattening a hand in the middle of his chest, she pushed him a few steps back, until his spine pressed against the wall and her body brushed along the front of his. Beneath his T-shirt, against her fingertips, his muscles moved and shifted. Dampening her bottom lip with her tongue, she slid her splayed hand lower, feeling the taut ridges in his abdomen flex in reaction.
His breathing deepened, and she cast him a slow, sultry, upswept look, gratified to see that her wanton move had surprised him. His eyes were dark and hot, and his face was etched with a fierce hunger that made her tremble deep inside.
She wasn’t done shocking him. Or arousing him. Shifting to the side, she leaned more fully into him so that her knee slipped snugly between his hard thighs, then she feathered her lips along the corded tendons in his neck, all the way up to his ear. She inhaled deeply, intoxicated by his masculine scent, as well as by the feminine power that was hers.
Her tongue lightly traced the shell of his ear, and his big body shuddered. A large hand settled on the curve of her waist to pull her closer, and she gently removed it, unwilling to let him distract her in any way.
“No touching, Gabe, not just yet.”
A frustrated groan slipped from his throat, and she bit back a delighted smile and continued to torment him.
“By the end of the week, you’ll know exactly what I want before I even ask for it, and you’ll know where and how I like to be caressed and pleasured the most.” The hand on his belly traveled upward, and her thumb flicked across his erect nipples. “You’ll find out how sensitive the inside of my thighs are when you kiss them, and how the slow, soft stroke of your tongue can make me quiver and moan. My breasts are very responsive, and just thinking about you taking my nipples into your warm, wet mouth is making me excited and my panties damp.”
He released a harsh breath, the entire length of him radiating waves of heat, inflaming her in turn. “Chloe…” Her name escaped on a gruff, desperate note.
Before he could say anything more, she pressed her fingers to his lips. “Shhh. I’m not done yet.” She placed a damp kiss on his jaw, removed her hand, and let her lips drift to the corner of his mouth. “I want to do things with you that I’ve never dared before, and be as uninhibited as I am in every one of my intimate fantasies. And you’ll do whatever I say, and agree to anything I request.” She smiled and met his gaze, which blazed with intensity and restraint. “And I think it’s only fair that I tell you that it’s been a very long time since I’ve had sex, and you’re just what I need to take the edge off of all my suppressed desires…unless you’re not up to the challenge?”
He laughed, the sound low and rough with arousal. “I’m more than up for it, sweetheart.”
“Really?” she goaded.
A shameless smile made an appearance, showing off straight white teeth. “See for yourself,” he dared.
Refusing to back down from his blatant challenge after coming so far, she slid her hand down his body, over the waistband of his jeans, and curled her fingers around the long, hard ridge of his cock. He filled her palm to overflowing, and as she stroked, the pulsing pressure of his erection continued to swell even more.
She swallowed to ease the dryness in her mouth, to quell the ripple of blistering heat infusing her veins. “Very impressive,” she said huskily, and squeezed him tighter in her hand, undeniably excited by the heady thought of having all that male aggression buried deep inside her. “And all mine for the next four nights.”
Sweat beaded on his forehead, and he groaned, instinctively rocking his hips forward into her hand.
She let him go and stepped away before they went too far for the first night, and he growled in pure disappointment. “You’re a tease, Chloe.”
“I just want to build the anticipation.” And leave him aching and aroused, as he’d done to her six years ago. Walking to the door on shaky legs, she opened it wide for him to exit. “Pick me up tomorrow night at seven.”
One side of his mouth quirked at her dismissal, but he played the game and respected her request. “As you wish.” At the threshold, he stopped just long enough to place a soft, warm kiss on her lips. “Sweet dreams, Chloe.”
Then he was gone.
Leaning against the closed door, she inhaled deeply and pressed a hand to her full, aching breasts. With her mind filled with prurient thoughts of Gabe and her body strung tight with shameless, carnal needs, she knew her dreams would be anything but sweet.