Summer Temptation: Waking Up In The Wrong Bed / Once a Rebel... / The Devil and the Deep

‘Turn around.’ He laughed.

‘How do you expect me to when you’re holding me so tight?’ She was more breathless than he, which was embarrassing given he’d been the load bearer.

He turned her, holding her firm, pulling her body back close against his as soon as he could.

She drew an even deeper breath. ‘That’s the hut?’

‘Uh-huh.’ As he laughed again she felt his chest rumbling against her back.

She smiled too, gazing at the small building, not hiding her amazement. ‘So what are we doing here, glamping?’ Glamour-camping. In by helicopter to a pristine lake and then a little trek to some deluxe boudoir?

‘Hey, it’s hardly five stars—look at the place. It’s tiny and made out of tin,’ he said in mock-defence. ‘But we can get it really warm.’

Oh, she bet they could.

It was tiny, no more than a couple of metres squared. Two-storeyed and on stilts. A beautiful copper coloured tower. He strode ahead, pulling a set of keys from his pocket. He unlocked the padlocks on each side and pulled up the shades so they became awnings, revealing the massive windows beneath providing a view as far as the eye could see in each direction.

‘Oh, my.’ Ellie peered in the first window.

There was a log burner on the ground floor, with a pot on the top, a rug, a cupboard with a small amount of supplies—survival food, coffee. No sofa, just a wooden floor and a mountain of cushions. But that was what made it so damn glamorous. The wooden floor was polished, the rug hand woven, the cushions covered with the most expensive fabrics.

‘You bring people here often?’ Oh, she suspected him.

He shook his head. ‘No. Honestly no.’ His smile twisted. ‘Let me get the fire going.’

It already was—a roaring inferno in her belly. ‘You’re not going to rub two sticks together?’

‘Well, you only need one when it’s a match.’

She kicked off her boots, as he did, and followed him inside.

‘I’m guessing trampers and members of the public don’t use this.’ Every single item in the place was carefully selected, chosen for both use and quality, neat and tidy and perfect.

‘No, it’s not on any maps. It’s my little getaway.’

‘It’s pretty amazing.’ She turned around, taking it all in.

He waved a hand, encompassing that tiny space. ‘You really like it?’

‘Absolutely.’ How could anyone not?

He looked boyishly, endearingly pleased. ‘I designed it.’ He coughed. ‘And built it.’

‘Really?’

‘Is that so hard to believe?’ He actually looked self-conscious.

Of course it wasn’t. She suspected he was capable of many things, given all he’d achieved in the last ten or so years. ‘You’ve designed other things?’

‘Just this. It was all I wanted just for me.’

He owned several luxury lodges—massive ones—and he’d built himself a tiny annexe up in the wild heights.

‘Have you brought any other women here?’ She shouldn’t want to know this. Knowing this was irrelevant. But somehow it mattered.

He shook his head and too much satisfaction burned through Ellie’s veins.

‘Truth is I’ve never brought anyone here. I like being alone, appreciating the view. It’s peaceful.’

Yes, this place offered serene simplicity. ‘I’m not breaking that peace for you?’

‘You’re part of the fantasy.’ He smiled. ‘I think everybody needs an escape.’ He bent to get the fire going.

‘Especially those rich people who have it so hard,’ she teased.

‘Well, them no less than any other people. And they may want privacy and luxury furnishings. This is my escape.’

It was two square metres of heaven. An earthbound spot for angels to come down and enjoy the majesty of the Alps.

‘But it really isn’t glamping,’ he muttered apologetically. ‘The facilities are...uh...there.’ He jerked his head to a spot out of the window where she could see a shovel. Beyond that, the privacy of tussock land.

‘Great.’ She grinned.

‘There’s a tap, the tank collects the rain water from the roof. There’s some soap and stuff in the cupboard.’ He stood. ‘Come up and see the view before the light goes altogether.’

The flue of the log burner ran up the wall—radiating heat already—and further along from that was the ladder.

On that second floor there was a bed—not a giant bed, only slightly larger than a single and currently stripped of coverings. The walls were wooden, warm and cosy. There was only one window up here—a large rectangle cut out, facing the best view right up the spine of the Alps. While some might have wanted glass all round, like the lower level, the one window was like a painting. A frame for nature’s greatest effort. It gave the eye a focal point, but the rest of the room offered a sense of safety, of security against that awesome, but ultimately uncaring environment. It really was a nest.

‘It must be amazing here in the rain.’ She’d love to lie in that bed and listen to a storm lash the tin.

‘Yeah.’ He pulled out an underbed storage box, opening it swiftly.

‘There are sheets?’ She laughed. She didn’t know whether to be insulted that he hadn’t jumped on her already, or touched that he was concerned for their comfort.

He looked a little sheepish. ‘I get too hot in sleeping bags.’

She watched him flare the sheet out over the mattress.

‘Told you it wasn’t the world’s biggest bed.’ He grimaced.

She ran her hands down her thighs to stop the sudden damp nerves. ‘Can I help?’ She couldn’t believe he was being so matter of fact and restrained about this, especially after the cave-man toss-her-over-his-shoulder approach of earlier.

‘Pillows.’ He nodded to the box in the corner.

She opened it and smiled. ‘How many pillows do you need?’

He pulled a handful of pillowslips from the linen box and threw them at her. ‘I like pillows.’

‘So it’s not just for the luxury look at the lodge?’ She quickly covered a few and tossed them onto the now sheet-covered bed. ‘How many do you have on your bed?’

He shrugged. ‘Enough.’

‘You cuddle a pillow,’ she teased.

‘At least it’s not a soft toy,’ he said, defensively snappy.

She giggled.

‘I’m going to show you just how useful a couple of extra pillows can be,’ he threatened.

Ellie swallowed, her toes curling in her socks.

‘Except we should probably eat something first.’

Oh, he just had to be kidding. Was he deliberately torturing her? She shook her head and pushed her hands into her jeans pockets. ‘I’m not very hungry.’

She wanted action. She wanted to be done with the ache that had haunted her so long. She wanted to burn the memory of that night. So she undid the first button of her blouse, then the second.

For a moment, he watched her. Then—to her relief—he moved. She smiled, hoping he was going to take over; she wasn’t entirely comfortable with her attempted striptease. But to her surprise he moved only to switch on the battery-powered lantern that hung in one corner.

She paused. Completely self-conscious now.

‘Oh, no,’ he murmured. ‘Don’t stop. I didn’t have the pleasure of seeing you last time.’

She couldn’t.

He smiled. And that was when she saw the sheen of sweat on him—the film of heat that hadn’t been there even after he’d lugged her up the mountain for five minutes. No, this sign of tension in him was new. And empowering. ‘Only if you do the same for me.’

His wickedness flashed. ‘You want me to strip for you?’

‘Oh, yes.’ She undid the last buttons and let her shirt fall. ‘I go no further until you’ve matched me.’

She hadn’t even blinked before that ‘Lucky’ tee shirt was whisked over his head and on the floor already. He unfastened his jeans. To her delight, he didn’t take his briefs down with the denim. They were the close-fitting knit boxer type. They fitted him well.

‘This is all for you, Ellie.’ He knew exactly where she was looking.

‘You and your size thing,’ she mumbled.

‘I’m not the one with body-conscious issues,’ he taunted softly. ‘But trust me,’ he said. ‘Look at me. Look at what you do to me. I want you so much it hurts.’

And she wanted it all.

‘So now it’s your turn,’ he said.

She slipped out of her jeans, taking her socks off—but, like him, leaving that last layer.

‘Lace.’ He nodded. ‘Like your slip that night.’ His gaze roved over her. ‘You like the feel of it?’

‘I like the feel of you.’ She stepped towards him.

‘Uh-uh.’ He shook his head and backed a pace. ‘It’s not going to be quick this time.’

She needed it to be. She wanted that orgasm so badly. She licked her lower lip, so hot, so ready. So wanting. And given the pressure the front of his briefs was under, he was too. And so she went to the bed, removing her bra in the two paces it took to get there. She slipped off her knickers and stretched out on the mattress. Daring him to deny her now.

His grin disappeared for a moment as he watched her recline. Good, it was about time he felt as bothered as she was. Only then, to her surprise, his smile came back—more wicked than ever. He leaned over and took her hand, pulling her to sit up.

‘Are you sure you don’t want to star in a movie, Ellie?’ he asked quietly.

‘What?’ Why wouldn’t he just hurry up and lie down with her?

‘Look at the window.’ His voice a wicked tease, an invitation to decadence.

The night sky was now black—the moon had waned to the thinnest of crescents that threw little light. The stars not bright enough to fight back against the glow of the lantern in their room. So the window reflected the scene within—it had become a mirror.

‘No one can see us. There isn’t anyone for miles,’ he said between teasing kisses everywhere on her face but her mouth. ‘But we can see us. You can see us. You can watch.’ He stepped in front of her, turned his back to the window and dropped to his knees.

She put her hand to her mouth when she saw what he meant. The clarity of their images. She was transfixed.

‘Life-size screen,’ he muttered, pressing a kiss to her throat.

He had to feel how her heart was racing. ‘Ruben...’

‘The lantern stays on,’ he said firmly. ‘The lantern stays on all night.’ It was a decree. ‘I want you to know it’s me.’

That stabbed. ‘I know that already.’

‘All night,’ he reiterated firmly. And then he kissed lower—down her neck, across her collarbones.

And she watched. Excitement liquefied her bones. Her body went as lax as a doll—his to toy with. Oh, yeah, she was starring in her own blue movie.

She licked her dried lips. ‘I’ve never watched this kind of movie before.’

‘Time you did.’ He reached her breasts. ‘But only with me.’

‘Ellie Summers, porn star.’

‘Ellie Summers, ultimate temptation.’ He thumbed her taut nipple and looked up at her sceptical expression. ‘You don’t believe me?’

‘I think you’re quite good at saying nice things.’

‘I’m quite good at doing nice things too. Things that feel nice.’ He returned to task.

‘Oh, my,’ she breathed.

‘You’ve never watched a woman be pleasured?’

‘You’re wicked.’ Heat flushed through her.

‘Watch while I do that for you,’ he muttered.

‘Oh.’

She’d never been very visual when it came to sex. She liked it in the dark, under the covers, the wobbly bits mostly out of the way. But the temperature in here was scorching—there was no way she wanted a sheet on her. And seeing a guy this built, on his knees in front of her. Yeah, that played to her hitherto unknown inner exhibitionist. She liked it. She liked what he was doing even more.

He cradled her breasts in his hands as if they were treasures he’d spent centuries searching for. His hands stroked down her sides, his palms flat, his reach broad and sure. He held her hips still as he bent forward to kiss her—from breast to breast, down her sternum. She lifted her hands, ran her fingers through his hair—so simple, but it was what she desired most. His kisses made her tummy tauten. His grip on her hips firmed as she unconsciously began to rock nearer him.

His smile was pleased. ‘Getting warmer?’

She shook her head. ‘Need more.’

She watched him tending to her, drank in the play of muscles across his broad back. His body was beautiful—big in the right places, but lean so that definition could be seen. His butt taut, muscles clenching as he thrust his hips slightly in time to his nips and kisses on her breasts. Oh he was gorgeous. He reached to cup her other breast as his tongue lashed her nipple. She felt like a prized lover, in the care of masculine perfection. She lifted her gaze and looked at her own face. The flush in her cheeks, the heavy-lidded darkness of her eyes. The full-lipped smile, her skin grazed by his stubbled jaw. She looked the picture of hedonism. And he was her expert, demanding slave.

‘You know I’ll do anything you want.’ He paused to look up at her.

Oh, yeah, captive lover. Her lungs were drawing in pure fire. ‘Everything.’ And now, because she was almost there already.

She put her hands on the top of her thighs, rubbing hard—applying pressure herself to try to ease the ache there. The desperate need for the pleasure of his weight, his invasion. His eyes glowed, tracking the slow, strong slide of her fingers. He put his hands over hers, spread her legs further, wider for him.

‘Impatient, aren’t you?’ he murmured, his breath teasing her as he moved closer.

But to her infinite relief and exquisite torture, he bent his head and licked her there. A slow, lush taste.

She cried out, tightening her fingers on herself, hovering. ‘Ruben.’

He lifted his head the merest fraction. ‘Say—’ a slide of his finger ‘—my name again.’

‘Ruben,’ she whispered.

He blew a shot of warm tormenting air above, while working his fingers inside. ‘Say it again.’

‘Ruben,’ she pleaded, her body constricting.

His expression darkened. ‘Scream it.’ He bent forward and feasted.

She shrieked his name to the sky.

His hands remained hard on her thighs, mercilessly keeping her still for him, so he could continue applying his own brand of ecstatic torment. His tongue thrust deep, just as she wanted his erection to, or his fingers again, any part of him—just more. All of him. She threw her head back, her shriek not abating. Her hands clutched, trying to draw him closer. Wanting him to mount her, wanting him to ride her. Wanting it all harder than she ever had. Because she wanted as she never had. Oh, it was utter hedonism. She was spent, yet starving. She shook with the force of release, the savage orgasmic contractions going on and on. Until she begged over and over, ‘I want you.’

He looked up, his fingers tracing back and forth softly across her slick, sensitive entrance. ‘You want me to what?’

Panting, she swore at the amusement in his eyes. ‘You know already.’

‘How bad do you want it?’

She rocked harder into his hand. ‘You know that already too.’

‘I want you to tell me.’

He wanted it all? She reached, clenching his shoulders. ‘Take me so hard I won’t be able to walk.’

His cheeks flushed, his face went stern as determination gripped him. ‘That hard?’

‘Harder.’ She wanted the furthest spectrum of pleasure. From him she’d settle for nothing less. This one night? This was all hers.

But he didn’t rise and lie against her as she expected. No, nothing was as she expected tonight. He stood and finally removed his boxers, got the protection.

She sat up, mouth watering. ‘You want me to—’

‘No.’ A pained refusal. ‘I won’t last,’ he growled.

He got onto the bed behind her, angling her slightly so they faced that reflection on the diagonal. He drew her to her knees, spreading them so his fitted between. His thighs were rock solid beneath hers. His erection strained against her soft flesh.

‘Oh,’ she gasped.

‘Watch.’

She turned, gasped again at the erotic image in the window. She could see him behind her. His gaze met hers in that mirror. He held her waist firm in his hands and then encouraged her to rise up a little.

She did.

‘Watch.’ He leaned back, positioned her above him.

The instruction wasn’t necessary—she couldn’t tear her gaze from the sight of him thrusting upwards, from the sight of her swallowing him whole as he impaled her on him in one swift bite.

She screamed her joy. The excitement of watching their bodies fuse was too much. As was watching the play of his hand, now slipping down over her stomach to strum between her legs, the rippling of his thigh muscles as he flexed his hips, bumping her over and over, the sway of her own breasts—until he clutched them in his other palm. And then she watched the slide of his thumb over her nipples. She gasped for air, gasped to retain her sanity. And failed. Meeting his eyes in the reflection—she saw the glazed heat of lust that she felt mirrored within him too. The uncontrolled, animal lust. Until she couldn’t watch any more. It was so overwhelming, she had to close her eyes to combat the intensity of the sensations. Because all this while, he was inside her, stroking deep, deep, deep inside her.

‘Ellie,’ he warned.

But she couldn’t bear it any more. It was too hot, too intense—she just wanted another release now.

He moved. Lifting her, leaving her.

‘Ruben.’ She was furious, spun to face him, to pull him back.

But he pushed her down and, seeing the look on his face, she went, ecstatic. Lying back, panting, grateful for the cool cotton sheet beneath her. He loomed above, looking right into her eyes. There was no mistaking she was getting it all now.

All inhibition gone, all sense of reality gone, she smiled.

He held her apart, bent his head and kissed her. Then let her feel the immense power of him. She shook. This was what she’d wanted—his weight. All his weight pressing on her. Filling her. Almost smothering her with his strength. Her fingers spread, clutching his biceps, sliding round to his back to simply try to hang on. She arched her hips, trying to widen her legs more to cope with him. He owned her then. Thrusting again and again, filling her until her pleasure overflowed, releasing in harsh flashes, her nails digging, her screams raw as she revelled in his assault. She still couldn’t get enough.

‘Hell, you’re demanding,’ he choked. He gripped her hair and tilted her head back so he could see into her eyes. ‘How much more do you want?’

‘Every last damn bit,’ she answered, throaty, unashamed, ravenous.

He threw back his head and thrust harder than ever. Slow and violent and so deep her groan was ripped from the core of her. It wasn’t about fantasy any more; there was no game, no tease in his action. He was as unleashed, as uninhibited and as out of control as she. And she adored it.

Sweat slicked between their hot bodies. Skin sizzled where it touched, the burn such a pleasure she pushed closer still. Their movements deepened again, relentless, the pace now insane. She didn’t want it to stop, never ever to stop. Yet she couldn’t bear it a second longer.

He swore. ‘I feel you, I can feel you—’

He broke off as her scream rose high, echoing round the unforgiving peaks of the mountains.

A long time later all she heard was his rough, rapid panting. His groan as he tried to control the frantic beat of his heart. Their sweat mingled. He was too heavy for her to push against. She didn’t care. It was a heavenly way to suffocate.

With a pained moan he shifted slightly to the side. ‘Can you breathe?’

‘Just about.’ Her throat was sore, she’d screamed so loud. Heat flooded her cheeks—not the lust kind. She’d been so abandoned.

He turned his head sharply. ‘Don’t regret a thing about it,’ he said. ‘Most awesome experience of my life.’

She nodded.

‘It was even better than before,’ he whispered. He shook his head hopelessly. ‘All I want now is to do it all again. Again. Again.’ He rolled right onto his back and growled up at the ceiling. ‘But I have to catch my breath.’

And scratchy-voiced she reminded them both. ‘Only tonight.’

CHAPTER TEN

HE WAS fitter than she, because he recovered far more quickly than she’d thought possible. But he was oh-so-kind, and let her just lie back while he explored. Deeply.

And then he leaned over her. ‘Are you hungry?’

‘You can’t be serious.’ She was aghast.

He roared with laughter. ‘No, I mean your stomach.’

‘Oh, that. Yes.’

He disappeared down the ladder and came back with long-life food. Yeah, muesli bars had never tasted so good.

‘High energy.’ He handed her a can. ‘Drink that and have some chocolate. Not exactly gourmet but perfect given all that’s required of you in the next ten hours.’

All that was required of her? Oh, she liked these demands. ‘Aren’t you planning to sleep at all?’ She’d thought he’d been teasing about that, but now she wasn’t so sure.

‘Not a wink.’

Two hours later Ellie was convinced he’d want to sleep now. But the crazy thing was, although she was physically exhausted, the last thing she felt like was sleeping. ‘Can we turn the lantern out?’ she asked.

‘No.’ Ruben refused to let that happen. He didn’t want to lose an hour of this to sleep.

‘What if I promise to say your name, repeatedly, so you know I know who I’m with.’

He chuckled. ‘Why do you want it out? You know we’re not actually going to sleep any tonight.’

‘I want to see the stars.’

He glanced at the big window. Okay, he could see how that would be good.

‘I’ll say your name lots.’ She batted her eyelashes at him.

He knelt up and flicked the switch off. The moon wasn’t big or terribly bright, but the white mass of stars was incredible.

She commando crawled to the end of the bed and leaned closer to the window. ‘Ruben, this place is amazing.’

‘I’m glad you like it.’ He liked how she made him feel.

‘Ruben, I don’t just like it, up here we’re practically in heaven. Ruben, this is heaven.’

Yeah, it was as close as he’d come to that.

‘Ruben.’ She said his name again in an exaggerated tease. ‘Can you see Lepus?’

Given the way her eyes were reflecting the stars, he figured she meant a constellation. ‘I can see the Southern Cross but that’s about it.’

‘Well, Ruben, if you look up there to the left, you’ll see a bigger one, then three more in an almost circle around it,’ she directed him. ‘Do you see?’

‘I think so,’ he lied and heard her snort of disbelief. No fooling her, then.

But lying side by side staring up at the massive expanse of sky was nice. So was the way she played up the over-use of his name.

‘Ruben, to the left.’

‘Did your father teach you these?’ he asked.

‘Honestly, Ruben, he was more into the conquer-the-mountain thing. I learnt them myself. It was my personal reward for getting through the day’s climb. Ruben, I’d lie there and look up at them and give thanks I made it through another day.’

‘It really doesn’t sound like fun.’

‘It wasn’t so bad, Ruben. At least I had him to myself for a bit, whereas Mum was always on the phone or something.’

Poor Ellie. Well, the least he could give her was his undivided, utterly focused attention—tonight.

He bit back the laughter at her repeat, repeat, repeat of his name. In the dark, lying sideways across the bed together, they looked at the stars. Somehow the conversation drifted. She joked her way through her assortment of odd jobs in the movie industry, then the focus turned to him—with her prompting he talked through the long, slow battle that had been the chateau. Ironic to think it had started with him begging any kind of work he could to get funds to develop it. He’d worked like a dog. Then all of a sudden success had snowballed. The acquisitions in recent years had him running faster than a hamster on speed—more hours than ever before. A week or so from one business to the next—he was driven to personally ensure each was on track. She listened in the dark, asked questions about the early years and commented, constantly beginning each utterance with his name.