He moved closer into her space. “I was hoping I might come baring you.”
“Hilarious.” Val took a step back. “So you’ve already conquered Noelle?”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Oh, I see. Your dinner with Noelle came to an end, and you’re bringing me your leftover hard-on. How cute.” She crossed her arms. “But I’m not a backup, Dane.”
He put his hand back on the silk neckline and ran his finger under the cloth. Val relaxed her arms, letting him slip past her defenses and caress her breast. Encouraged by her body’s response, he loosened the tie around her waist, and the robe spilled open. He pushed her back against the glass doors and caught her in a kiss. His urgency heightened her desire. His erection pressed against her hip, and she fought her own urge to reach for him even as she failed to resist him.
His lips found her neck, and he dragged his teeth across her skin. When she shivered, he lifted his head and smiled that cocky grin. “Did you know Geraldo thinks we’re plotting against him?”
Only Dane would know those words would turn her on. “Well, we are.” Were they spying on each other? “Did Noelle tell you this?”
His only response was to press his mouth against her cheek with a groan. She ran her hands up the back of his neck, then pushed him back.
He stepped away and unclasped his belt. The idea of him taking her right there, right then made her pulse quicken. An agonizing throb accompanied every heartbeat. But she knew what Dane wanted. Fucking her and leaving her in emotional turmoil would be a revenge he’d savor.
She’d only let this happen on her own terms. She closed her robe. “Dane. This wasn’t the deal. What are you doing?”
“What I should have done years ago when I first brought you here.”
Her nostrils flared. “Are you starting to believe your own press? You didn’t bring me to this God-forsaken backwater. If anything, you just prepared the way for me.”
He caught her wrist and pulled her to him. “But you’re here now. With me. I only ever wanted you.” He was lying. And it was a lie she was only too eager to hear. “You know you want me, Val. Tell me you don’t, and I’ll leave.”
She wouldn’t answer that. He was right; she wanted him more than ever, but she didn’t like his tone with her.
Instead, she reached behind her for the handle and threw open the double doors. She walked back to the front of the house, talking over her shoulder. “We have a deal, Dane. You can have me when you finish dallying with Miss Constance. Until then—” She motioned toward his way out.
He ran his hands through his hair in frustration. She adored him when he was falling apart, but not enough to give in to him. She wanted him, but she didn’t need him.
Finally, he left her alone in the foyer. But not alone in the house.
When the door clicked closed, she swallowed down a lump in her throat. She allowed herself a moment of regret before taking control of her emotions. Then she climbed the stairs, opened the bedroom door and dropped her robe at her feet. When she slid under the sheets, her lover greeted her right where they’d left off, erect and ready for her, thank God.
He ran a hand across the same breast Dane had so recently excited. “What did he want?”
“Shut up,” she said. She shoved his shoulder back onto the bed and threw her leg over him, straddling him to take what she wanted. And she indulged in a forbidden fantasy. Unfortunately, while her body could be fooled, her mind knew the difference between Dane and another.
But she gave her imagination free rein, picturing Dane tracing her cheek with his finger, like he’d done that night, saying, “I’m still in love with you, Val. I always will be.”
She wrapped her hand around her lover’s index finger, pretending it was Dane’s. She used her lover’s body, but in her mind she stood in that hotel, saying, “It’s New Year’s. Is it too late to collect on a bet?”
Val’s lover flipped her onto her back, and she hooked her legs around his waist, remembering Dane rolling her onto her side, unzipping her dress.
Val rocked her hips up hard, and her lover grunted, meeting her frenzied rhythm.
Dane’s words echoed in her ears. “I spent so many nights imagining what this might have been like.” When he spoke, his breath whispered against her skin. Her spine tingled. He peeled the left side of her dress down her arm, and she let him slip the other side off. His eyes languorously followed the dress he slowly slid down her body. She lifted her hip and let him free the fabric completely.
Her chest rose and fell as her lungs sought oxygen to feed her pounding heart. Sweat dripped from her lover’s brow, but she saw Dane, propped on one elbow, wearing far too many clothes. As she started to loosen his tie, he lay perfectly still, letting her work through one obstacle at a time. He only lifted a hand to help when her fingers got frustrated on the buttons of his shirt. His dress shirt fell to the floor, and the undershirt came up over his head. She stopped and sucked in a breath. He was tanned and fit. Her hands needed to run along his taut torso.
She unhooked his belt and unfastened the button on his pants. The zipper showed a pronounced strain, and he moaned softly as she ran her hand along the front where the fabric stretched tighter. She didn’t want to waste time toying with him. She needed to see him, so she dug her nails over both waistbands and yanked his boxers off with his pants. God, he was glorious. She took in every inch of him, every hard inch.
As she reached for him, he grabbed her hand and said, “What about Geraldo?”
She froze. Her lover slowed, “Val? You okay?”
In response, she grabbed his ass and urged him on. He picked up his pace and lost himself again in his own pleasure. Val pushed through the motions, but her mind was troubled.
