Chapter Four
Finally, finally Nate had the woman of his dreams at his side. And rather than throwing herself at him, she was still focused on a one-night stand. He just barely held back a crazy laugh.
As he guided her onto the dance floor, he thought that fate really was a cruel bitch.
“Nate?” Ellie watched him with those careful blue eyes as he drew her into his arms. The tip of her tongue darted out to trace over her lips, and he barely stifled a groan.
She couldn’t possibly understand the depth of what he wanted from her. If she did, she’d be running far, far away. But at this point, the primal instinct to mark her as his own won out. Though they were the only ones on the dance floor, he gave into the need, tugging her against him with one hard movement.
She gasped but didn’t push him away. It pleased him immensely that her gaze didn’t so much as flicker from his own.
Her sweet curves molded to his body and he thickened, hardening against the stiff denim of his pants. His hips moved reflexively, seeking her heat, and her soft moan had his blood pumping harder in his veins.
He wanted to sink into her, immerse himself in everything that was Ellie, and he wasn’t just talking about sex. But she’d made it clear that that wasn’t going to happen.
He knew exactly how she saw him. The player, the kinky guy who’d oblige her curiosity for a night.
Knowing that hurt more than he’d imagined it could. And he knew that for the first time in his life, this would be more than sex. Would leave him in a world of hurt. If he was smart, he’d stop this right now.
But if she wanted to take a walk on the wild side, he’d be damned it she did it with anyone but him.
She shifted restlessly against him, and his body responded. He hoped like hell they looked like old friends sharing a dance and catching up, because he’d drawn her closer than was appropriate and didn’t much feel like letting go. And when he shifted on his feet, her soft thighs cradled his erection, driving him mad.
“Jesus, Nate.” Ellie’s nails dug into his shoulders, and he hissed at the delicious bite of pain. Threading his hand into her hair, he gave it one quick little warning tug before releasing and returning his hand to her back.
The small gasp, the low moan—ah, fuck. Those intelligent eyes of hers were blurred with need from that little taste of dominance, something he’d never expected from her.
Any thoughts of walking away flew right out the window. This woman, her insecurities, her hidden sexuality was his, and he meant to claim her. “Yeah, you feel it, too.”
“I’d have to be dead not to feel it.” Ellie buried her face in his neck, just for a second, but the moist heat of her breath on his skin made him growl.
This connection between them was intense. Never before had he been so desperate to get a woman alone, to get inside of her, and he knew that need stemmed from the feelings he had for her that had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with the warmth around his heart. Pressing his fingers to her back, he gave another subtle little roll of his hips, and almost swore out loud at the sweet, sweet sensation.
Drawing on every little shred of self-control that he possessed, Nate pulled back, placing just the thinnest ribbon of space between them. It was physically painful.
“What’s wrong?” Ellie’s voice was low, breathy, and he could just imagine her panting out his name as she came.
“I need you to be clear about what you’re getting into.” Nate watched her expression carefully. One hint that she wasn’t on board, and he’d walk away. It would kill him, but he’d do it.
Ellie huffed out a laugh, her lips curving into a wry smile. “Not sure how to break this to you, Nate, but I’ve done this before.”
Oh, had she now? He knew she meant that she’d had sex before, but just the reminder that another man had put his hands on her brought forth a blinding fury. Forgetting his well-worded warning, he pulled her flush against him again and growled.
“I don’t think that you have, Blondie.” He smiled down at her as well, but this time the tone held a mocking, hungry edge. “Unless you’re telling me that you’ve been with a man who took everything that you gave him and demanded more? A man who wanted to claim you, to mark you, to make you forget you’ve ever met any other man?”
“I—what?” Ellie’s fingers scrabbled for purchase against the muscles of his back, and he just held her tighter.
“You heard me.” Christ, but when she looked at him like that, her eyes already blurry with pleasure when he’d barely even touched her…
Ellie was silent for a moment, but he felt her shiver, as though a fever had overtaken her.
“Are you talking like… Fifty Shades of Grey kind of demanding? That’s what you’d want from me if we… sleep together?”
Was the woman serious? She didn’t even look put off by the notion, just intrigued.
Nate was done for.
“Well, I left my whip at home.” He savored her soft gasp and decided not to enlighten her that he was joking—mostly. “But the basic idea, yes. I want to own you. And make no mistake, we will not be sleeping together. I will be fucking you. Hard.”
“Well, when you put it that way.” Ellie sucked in a deep breath. Nate studied her face, looking for any sign that she was at all unsure.
There was none. Instead, her every look, her every shiver seemed to mirror the clawing need that he felt, too. Their eyes locked, the connection between them pulling tighter. Ellie’s fingers slid from his back, playing over his shoulders and working their way into the nonexistent space between their bodies. She grabbed the front of his shirt, lifted her chin.
He wanted to kiss her. Needed to taste her lips, to explore that hot, wet cavern of her mouth. To own it.
Just in time, he remembered where they were.
“Ellie.” It almost killed him, but he pushed them the slightest bit apart. “Too many eyes here.”
He wanted to press his erection against her sweet heat again so badly that he almost didn’t care. Only the thought of her embarrassment, Chase’s anger, and the set-down that Ellie would get from her family for hooking up with that good-for-nothing Archer boy, held him in check.
Ellie blinked and swallowed heavily. For a moment it looked like she didn’t care either. Then she nodded ever so slightly, inching back, putting space between them.
Nate hated the distance. If he had his way, he’d have her naked and on the floor beneath him, never mind who the fuck was watching.
“We need to leave.” Ellie swallowed, and he watched, fascinated, as she tried to pull her mask of cool composure back into place. “I have to move some of that alcohol to the reception venue for my mother first. Why don’t you… go on ahead and say goodbye to Chase and the others? I’ll meet you out at your car in fifteen minutes?”
Blondie thought she was going to dictate how this went down, did she? Nate grinned to himself as he ushered her to the side of the dance floor.
Catching a finger in one of the flimsy straps of her dress before she could scurry away, he leaned in to whisper in her ear.
“Fuck moving the alcohol.” Her earlobe was right there, a pretty pink shell that he wanted to bite, but there were too many people around. “We have better things to do.”
Ellie arched an eyebrow at him. “My mother asked me to.”
“No.” Nate fought back the urge to crush her against him and run his hands down the length of those luscious curves. “This is what you’re going to do. You’re going to forget about the alcohol. You’re going to go to the ladies room, and you’re going to take off your panties.”
“What?” Ellie’s mouth fell open. “Are you insane? I’m not doing any such thing.”
“I told you that I would demand everything from you.” Nate leveled her with an intent stare. “If you don’t want to do as I ask, then it’s best we don’t start at all.”
“I—” Ellie flushed a pretty shade of deep pink as she visibly struggled with the order. “I don’t—”
For one long, agonizing moment, Nate thought that she was going to bow out. And it would crush him, but he’d respect her decision. But then she straightened her spine, tossed him the single sexiest glare he’d ever seen in his life, and marched out of the large room—as much as she could march in high heels.
So. Cute.
Blood humming, he loitered for a few minutes, making small talk with the people milling around him. When he saw Sara-Dara heading toward him like a steam engine, he figured he’d hung around long enough and beat a hasty retreat.
He walked into the hallway. Ellie was standing just outside the women’s bathroom, her cheeks stained red and the fingers clutching her small purse in a death grip. She narrowed her eyes at him as he approached, but her pupils were dilated and her nipples were puckering against the thin silk of her dress.
“I did it.” The words were partially defiant, partially aroused. “Can we go now?”
“In a second. Put them in my pocket first.”
“I’m not taking them out of my purse here!”
“Yes, you are.” He smiled lazily, nodding politely at a woman who exited the bathroom. “You’ll pull them out of your purse and place them in the pocket of my jeans, right here, right now. Know why?”
“Why?” she asked.
“Because once those little panties are in my pocket, my cock is going to get harder than it’s ever been.” He smiled at her sharp intake of breath. “And that’s the way you want me. Hard and ready for you.”
“For heaven’s sake, Nate.” Ellie wiped a hand over her brow. “I can’t think when you talk to me like that.”
“I’d say you’re still thinking too much if you can form that sentence.” With a quick glance around, he noted the nearly abandoned coat check. A few shawls, wraps and suit jackets hung inside, but mostly the weather was too warm for everyone to have worn coats.
For what he had in mind, it was just perfect.
“Come with me.” Without waiting for her reaction, Nate strode toward the door of the coat room.
The door was meant for employees to enter and exit through while people checking their coats would pass them over the bar-style opening. With so few items inside, however, no one was manning the station, and the dimly lit interior was empty. Still, Ellie dug her high heels into the carpet as he tugged her through the entry.
“Oh, no. Not here.”
Ellie was strong, but she was so very little, especially compared to his six-plus feet. Pulling her into the coat check after him required about as much effort as it would take to lift a kitten.
“Nate!”
“If you seriously mean no, then say red. Understand?” Body humming from being so close to her, Nate slammed the coat check door shut behind them. He pulled her tightly against him, just the way they had been on the dance floor, and waited for her to nod.
She did. And he continued.
“Tonight I’m going to do a lot of dirty, dirty things to you.” Dipping his head, Nate nipped at that delicate earlobe that had been taunting him all night. “Things you’ve never done. Things that might make your mouth say no, out of habit, when you really mean yes. So red is the word that means you want me to stop. Got it?”
“I…” Ellie flicked a quick glance to the side, to where the wide bar-style opening yawned. Where they were, in a corner against the door, they were hidden – unless someone leaned right over that bar. Still, the chance that someone could do just that, could see whatever he was about to do to her…
He watched as the potent combination of nerves and excitement and, finally, surrender painted her face.
“Red. I understand.” Then, astounding him, she fisted her fingers in the front of his shirt and tugged his mouth down to hers.
“Ellie.” His need to take control reared its head, but then their lips were glued together, greedy little murmurs coming from her slender throat as she opened beneath the flick of his tongue.
This. This was the kiss he’d been waiting for, dreaming about, ever since they were teenagers. The room spun as though he was drunk, and he worked his fingers into the golden ribbons of her hair, freeing it from its bun and anchoring himself in her warmth and scent.
She whimpered against him, her fingers digging into the muscles of his chest until he felt a bite of pain. With every slide of her soft lips over his own, his control slipped away, disappearing with the need to be inside her, to be part of her, to be consumed by her.
No. No consuming. He didn’t get lost in women. He dominated them, he owned them, he sent them out of their minds with pleasure… but he never, ever lost himself.
He needed to bring some of that control back.
“Press your cheek against the door.” Using the hands in her hair as a guide, Nate turned Ellie until she faced the closed door they’d just entered the room through, pressing her against it. “Hands flat against the door. Do not move them, no matter what I do.”
He watched as she sucked in a great mouthful of air, her chest heaving in a way that made him curse under his breath. Slowly, she did as he asked, lowering her face to the metal of the door, then sliding her hands across the surface until they came to rest above her head. She shivered, goose bumps prickling her soft skin even though her body was fever-hot beneath his.
“What are you feeling?” Pressing his front to her back, Nate grabbed her hips, then slid his hands up her torso, palming every curve, absorbing the sensations. “Tell me.”
“It’s like… fire and ice,” Ellie said as he worked his hands between her breasts and the door, teasing her with circling strokes. “The door is cold. But I’m… I’m so hot. Everywhere. Like I’m on fire.”
“You’re going to get hotter.” He rolled his hips as she bucked back against him, the delicious friction making his eyes roll back in his head.
With his teeth, he slid one of the delicate straps of her dress down the sensual slope of her shoulder, then moved to the other. She was naked beneath, and he felt his cock grow impossibly harder as the slip of silk fell to her waist and he caught her nipples between his fingers.
She cried out sharply as he tugged on the hard peaks, and he laughed into that warmly scented tumble of hair.
“No noise, Blondie. Even though I’m going to do my best to make you scream, no sound until we’re alone…” He rolled her nipples, savoring the way they continued to tighten beneath his touch.
“Nate, God!” Using her hands as leverage, Ellie pushed back against him, grinding her sweet ass into his erection. For a moment, he gave into the rising tide, tugging her back against him and pushing against her, chasing the dark need.
“I can feel how wet you’re getting, Blondie. Hot and wet and ready for me.” With one hand, he continued to toy with her nipple, enjoying the way she pushed back against him with each tug. With the other hand, he moved down her body to cup her between her legs, finding her aching core. With her panties in his pocket, there was no barrier between his questing fingers and her slick heat.
“Nate. I need you.” Ellie shifted, trying to line up her damp folds with the tips of his fingers. He chuckled darkly and slid them forward until her mound rested in the palm of his hand.
“I know what you want.” Rotating his wrist, he ground the heel of his hand against her clit. Her thighs trembled, squeezing him. “You’ve always been a good girl. The kind of girl who would never let me fuck her in a coat closet. But that’s exactly what you want, isn’t it? You want me to slide right between these sweet thighs and fuck you hard.”
“Yes! Yes! That’s what I want.”
Releasing her breast, he slid his wrist in front of her mouth. “If you need to scream, bite.”
“Nate.” Ellie pressed down against his hand, her slickness coating his fingers. “God, please. Please.”
“Please what?” Slowly circling his hand, he worked his palm against her clit, the tightness of her thighs telling him that her pleasure was mounting. “Say the words.”
“Please make me come!” Her whisper was a scream as she writhed against his touch. Losing it because of him was… he didn’t have words to describe it. Never mind that this was just going to be for tonight—he wanted to ruin her for the touch of any other man, ever.
She needed to come? He’d give her the orgasm of her life.
“Hold on, baby.” She was so wet, so ready, there was no need to take it slow now—bending her at the waist, he speared two fingers inside her.
She gave a strangled cry against him, her body pushing down, silently begging for more.
“That’s it.” He worked his fingers in and out of her impossibly tight heat. “The second time you come for me, it will be when you’re stretched around my cock. But I don’t think you can wait that long, can you, Blondie? You need this. Need what only I can give you.”
“Yes. Dammit, yes, Nate. Please!” Her forehead knocked into the door as her writhing became more frenzied, but his wanton little minx didn’t even pause. “Now, now, now!”
“Since you asked so nicely.” Dipping his head to lick a trail up her neck, Nate scissored his fingers inside of her, loving the way she clenched around him. He did it again, felt her response ratchet up a notch in intensity, and then did it one last time, twisting his wrist so that he hit the soft flesh inside her, just the right spot for her to let go.
She gave a low cry, stiffening in his arms. Delicious licks of pain bolted through him as she sank her teeth into his wrist, a definite scream just barely muffled by the fabric of his shirt.
She squeezed the hand trapped between her legs hard, greedily wringing every last drop of her orgasm from his fingers. The ferocity of her response had him sinking into that fog again, the one where all he could think, taste and see was her.
Now. He had to have her now. Before his brain caught up with his body, he was reaching for the condom tucked into his pocket, determined to sheath the erection that had grown painful and in turn, guide himself inside all of that wet heat.
“What do you mean, she was with someone?” A female voice cut through the air from just outside the coat check, and both Nate and Ellie froze. “Ellie didn’t bring a date. I know she didn’t.”
“It was Nathan Archer.” The voice was male—it was that doctor who’d been hitting on Ellie earlier. Even though he couldn’t blame the guy for trying, he still stiffened with possessiveness. “They really seemed like they were together.”
“Nathan Archer?” The pair were in front of the counter now—Nate could just see their shadows.
Ellie shoved frantically against him, and he couldn’t quite hold back his chuckle. Sliding his fingers from where they were still nestled inside of her, he gave her clit one final rub, enjoying her intake of breath before letting her free. Still, he shifted to cover her while she straightened her dress, just in case someone got too curious and poked their head into the room.
“No, that’s not possible. I don’t think they’ve even seen each other since high school.”
The voices faded as Holly and Harry passed by the coat check, and Nate couldn’t help but chuckle again when he heard Ellie’s massive sigh of relief from behind him.
“Come on then, Blondie.” Turning, he met Ellie’s stare. Her eyes were still bright, her skin flushed bright from her recent orgasm and knowing that he was the one who had brought those beautiful changes out in her had him forgetting about everything but the driving need to be inside of her.
Nate had only had the smallest taste of this woman and he craved so much more. He didn’t understand why. He just knew he felt more when he was with her. Protective, in ways he’d never been with another woman. And, as he guided her from the Lodge with a hand at the small of her back, he wondered if just this one night was going to be enough to get his fill.