‘Ah, yeah.’ Holding the sides of her face, Ryan pulled her forwards, drawing her eyes to the small trail of hair on his stomach. Tight muscles flexed as he controlled her movements, pulling and pushing as he urged her mouth to move over his arousal.
Hearing his deep raspy breathing, Megan ran her hands over his hips, scratching his flesh as she moved to grab his wrists. She jerked his hands away from her face and tossed them aside. He slipped from between her lips.
‘Please.’ The word left him in a soft plea.
Megan drew small kisses along the tip of his shaft, torturing him with the light presses.
‘Please, Megan.’
‘Please, what?’ She giggled, unable to help herself.
‘Please suck me.’ He thrust, trying to take advantage of her passing mouth. ‘Suck me. I need to feel you. I need . . .’
He didn’t finish. Megan gripped the back of his thighs, letting her fingers curl just beneath his ass. Ryan didn’t protest as she took the lead over the rhythm. Her hips rolled in small circles, mimicking the bobbing of her mouth. Both of his hands found her hair as she did what he asked, working his erection back and forth into her moist hot mouth. Her teeth grazed him and he nearly choked her trying to go deeper.
‘Not like this.’
Megan kept going, barely hearing his words. Her body ached and she drew her hand down to touch her sex, needing stimulation. Slipping her finger through the soft fold, she pinched her clit.
‘Megan,’ Ryan insisted.
Suddenly, she was on her feet, dazed and weak as she stood before him. ‘What? Why did you stop me?’
‘This is not how I thought it would be. Not like this.’ He breathed heavily.
‘Not like what?’ she asked with a little more force than before.
‘I . . .’ He touched her face. ‘Romance.’
Megan laughed. How could she not? Ryan had a woman on her knees, giving him head, and he was worried about it not being romantic enough? Without thought, she pushed him back, walking him until he was backed up against the wall. ‘Romance is for people in love.’
Ryan searched her face, his eyes darting back and forth as he studied her expression. He didn’t answer as he forcibly took her arms, swinging her around so their positions were switched. Her back hit the wall with a dull thud. She liked the rough command in him, the confident almost punishing way his mouth collapsed along hers. He pinned her into the wall, his tight body firmly trapping her against the hard wood.
Keeping her in place with his mouth, he reached for the crotch of her panties, hooking it with his finger to pull them off, out of his way. A knuckle skimmed over her sensitive clit, almost as if by accident. She moaned softly.
When the panties were gone, he lifted her off the floor. Her back slid up the wall, her bra catching and snagging against the planked wood. Fingers dug into her thighs, holding her in place. She knew she should make him wait for a condom, but, as his cock slid along her wet folds, probing without the aid of his hand to find entrance, she couldn’t form the words to protest.
‘Is this how you want it?’ Ryan groaned, punctuating the words with a hard thrust. ‘Emotionless. Unfeeling.’
This time he was able to go much deeper than the first, stretching her wide as he fucked her hard against the wall. He didn’t kiss her, instead holding back as he stared piercingly into her eyes. Each plunge was stiff and sure, almost angry.
Megan didn’t care. It felt too good. She held on, closing her eyes to his hard gaze as she let the sensations take over her. The feel of flesh was much better than her vibrator. Ryan’s warmth, his strength, the sound of his harsh breath consumed her.
Her legs tightened along his waist, forcing him to slow his punishing pace. Automatically, he obeyed the silent command, gentling his hold. The strokes became easy smooth caresses inside her, almost worshipping in their tenderness. Keeping him deep, her body tightened as she found release. Megan whimpered, biting her lip to stop her cry of pleasure. She wanted to keep him inside her, but Ryan made a strange noise and jerked back. He dropped her legs and her feet landed on the floor, still shaking. Stunned, she looked up in time to see him gasping his release into his cupped hand.
She should have been thankful he had the presence of mind to pull out, but she was more irritated with herself because she hadn’t thought of it first. Weak with the aftermath of release, she pushed away from the wall. Her heartbeat began to slow and her head to clear.
‘I need to take a bath,’ she said, refusing to look at him as she turned. What had to be the bathroom door was close and she reached for the knob.
‘Don’t want my smell on you?’ he asked.
Megan stiffened, even as she pushed open the door. Every muscle was on edge. Her gaze focused on the other room. It was the bathroom. A light-blue toilet and matching porcelain sink were revealed. Short white curtains trimmed with lace hung over a closed window. Since she didn’t detect a tub, she assumed it was behind the door, where she couldn’t see.
‘Ryan, don’t.’
‘What?’
‘Don’t pout and don’t search for sentiments.’ She was a cop and knew when someone was probing. Very aware of her exposed state, as she stood wearing only a bra, Megan forced herself to stay still. ‘You chose this. Whatever your reasons, you chose it, Ryan. Sex is sex. If we have it again, that is all it will be – sex for common release, nothing else. I will never pretend to love you.’ She placed her hand on the doorframe and glanced back.
He stood, glorious and naked, and clearly unhappy with her cold response.
‘Now, I’m going to take a bath. I’m tired and travel worn. Getting clean will make me feel better.’
‘I’m not a child. You don’t have to talk down to me, Megan. You can turn off the cop voice.’ He actually sounded upset.
She gave a short humourless laugh. ‘It’s the only voice I have. If you are looking for layers, peel an onion. With me, you see what you get.’
Closing the door behind her, she took a deep breath. Exhaustion and the day of travel had made her temper sharper than usual, but it was better Ryan knew where she stood. It was bad enough she had sex with him without having a talk to set ground rules first. What was it about the man that made her suddenly careless about such things? And no condom? She was a world-class idiot.
‘I need to go back to work,’ she whispered. ‘Things make sense there.’
As she suspected, a large tub with built-in jets was along the far wall. It too was the same blue as the other fixtures. She ran the water, but didn’t wait for it to fill all the way before stepping inside. Warmth encompassed her feet as she took off her bra. The sheer material along the back had been snagged from rubbing against the wall. With a loud sigh, she dropped it on the floor. One of her only expensive pieces of lingerie and it was ruined.
‘Megan?’ Ryan asked softly from the other side of the door. ‘Can I come in to talk to you?’
‘Not right now.’ She lowered herself into the tub. The water wasn’t too deep and she rubbed water over her arms in an effort to warm them.
‘Please, Megan.’
‘Not now.’ She closed her eyes, leaning her head back. ‘I’m too tired to deal. We’ll have this conversation later.’
Too tired to
deal
with him? Ryan frowned. He was something to be dealt with? Aggravated, he slipped his shirt back over his head. The material was stretched where Megan had pulled on it and he tried to even the marks out by stretching it further in the other direction.
‘What the hell does she want from me?’ Ryan grumbled, careful not to speak too loudly. Then, taking a deep breath, he told himself, ‘You promised yourself you’d give it this vacation. If she doesn’t like you after this, it’s over.’
Chapter Six
The early morning chill was welcome after a night spent sweating in the bedroom. Megan wished the heat could be attributed to carnal late-night activities, but in reality it was her mother’s overuse of the fireplace combined with the heater. Ryan had nothing to do with it. He hadn’t even been in the same creaky bed, choosing instead to spend the night on the floor.
Lifting her foot up on the railing along the big deck, she leant forwards, stretching her calf muscle as she got ready for a run. The blue glow of moonlight blended with the hint of dawn edged along the peaks of the distant mountains. Soon it would be light out. Megan hated to admit it, but she looked forward to the daylight and stretched a little extra to await its arrival. She had no problem walking down a dark New York alleyway, but this was wilderness, the wide-open untouched country. There were snakes, bears, wolves, raptors, deer, elk . . . Did elk attack humans? She seemed to remember Ella saying something about big-game animals attacking when in their rut. Ella would know. She spent a good portion of her childhood watching nature shows on television.
‘Wonderful,’ she mumbled. ‘I can see it now. I survive gang fights and serial killers only to be mauled by a sexually charged deer.’
‘I don’t think you have much to worry about. Deer murders aren’t prevalent this time of year and I don’t think you’re their type.’
Megan jumped, startled by Ryan’s laughing voice. Her heart sped ever so slightly. ‘What are you doing up?’
‘Same thing as you, I suppose,’ he said.
She glanced over her shoulder. He wore shorts and a hooded sweatshirt with a front pocket. It was hard to see the details, but the dark colours were outlined by the soft light coming out through the window. He’d pulled back his hair to the nape of his neck.
‘Care if I join you?’ Ryan lifted his arms over his head, leaning to one side and then the other.
Megan almost said no but, looking over the valley set before the mountains, she thought better of it. ‘Sure, company sounds nice.’
‘Nice?’ he almost choked on the word.
‘Well, if a rabid deer comes along, I’ll have something to throw at it so I can get away.’ She smiled to soften the words.
‘Happy to be your sacrifice,’ he said wryly.
Megan laughed. She felt better. Her head was clear, her body rested and for the most part the jet lag was gone. ‘Come on. I usually try to run at least a mile, longer if time allows.’
‘I have no pressing engagements.’
‘Five miles, then?’
‘Doesn’t need to be planned, does it?’ He led the way to the stairs at the end of the long wooden deck.
‘I guess not.’ Megan followed him, stepping carefully over the uneven rocky path as they walked through the shadow cast by the deck. Coming around to a trail that cut through the valley towards the Rocky Mountain Front, Ryan moved to the side so they could walk beside each other. ‘We should talk.’
‘Do you really want to do that now?’ Ryan asked.
‘No.’
‘Then, let’s not. We’ll be here for a couple of weeks. There is plenty of time for talking.’ He began to jog, prompting her to do the same. It was an easy pace, but she didn’t try to turn her morning exercise into a race. Going fast burnt energy too quickly and she wanted to make it to the distant mountains and back before breakfast.
Uneven dirt trails were a stark contrast to running over concrete sidewalks, but as the sun rose it became easy enough to see where she stepped. Ample grasses rolled over the Montana plains, covering the surrounding hills, distant trees and patches of dense shrubbery. It became apparent with the dawn that the mountains were way too far to reach by foot. Still, it was an awe-inspiring sight.
Yellow wildflowers dominated the flora colour scheme, enclosed within the blue-tinted grasses. Large flowers with arrowhead-shaped leaves mingled amongst shorter pink and yellow blooms. Bright-red bracts cradled tiny yellow flowers. Near the path, strange long-stemmed plants grew, feeling almost like velvet when she reached out to touch them as they jogged past. Then there were the giant brown cones with petals reminiscent of those of a sunflower, huge dandelions and what appeared to be dark-yellow snapdragons. Megan wasn’t good with flower names, but she’d always liked the look of snapdragons.
Adding even more to the scene was the smattering of blue, purple and pink varieties. Though she tried, it was impossible to count the number of different flowers they passed. It seemed they ran by a new one every couple of yards.
Neither one of them spoke. Megan was glad for it. What exactly would they talk about? She didn’t want to have the conversation she knew they should. Whenever the path narrowed, Megan backed away, allowing Ryan to go first. She looked forward to those times, when she could watch his ass moving beneath his shorts. Tan legs sprinkled with hair strode in steady rhythmic perfection.
Ryan slowed to a stop in front of her. Pointing to the sky, he said, ‘Look. Golden eagle.’
Breathing hard, Megan shaded her eyes and followed his finger. ‘It’s not gold, it’s brown.’
‘No, that’s just its name. I didn’t mean the colour . . .’ He trailed off as he caught her amused look. ‘You knew that.’
Megan gave a soft laugh. ‘My mom gave me brochures she’d printed off the computer. I had nothing better to do, so I glanced over them.’