‘I . . .’ Beatrice hesitated. ‘I was showing you there were two sides to every topic.’
‘You were giving us nightmares,’ Kat said.
‘Not me,’ Megan put forth with a shrug. ‘I never believed the ghosts and knew that the boogiemen were nothing compared to real live criminals.’
‘I for one vote that Megan can’t talk about her job,’ Sasha said.
‘Then she won’t talk the entire vacation,’ Kat teased. ‘I could be down with that.’
‘Shut up.’ Megan tossed a piece of toast at Kat’s head. Her sister giggled, ducking. ‘You left like fifteen messages on my phone about bugs when you were trying to get into Vincent’s, ah –’ she glanced at her parents before weakly changing what she was going to say ‘– Vincent’s good graces.’
‘Smooth, Megs,’ Sasha teased. ‘Really smooth.’
Ryan couldn’t help but smile. It had been so long since he’d been around a family like this. Without brothers or sisters of his own, he hadn’t been left with the bond to fall back on when his parents died. There was an easiness to the banter, unlike the dinner he’d shared with them at Douglas and Beatrice’s house. He’d been too nervous about what Megan thought about him to relax.
‘So, what does everyone want to do today?’ Beatrice asked.
‘Isn’t there a dinosaur dig around here?’ Sasha looked at her father.
‘Yes, and preserved nests, too,’ Douglas said. ‘First ones discovered in North America. The area is filled with fossilised Maiasaura babies and adults, even the eggs, all dating from eighty million years ago. The palaeontology dig site at Egg Mountain has provided more biological evidence of the Cretaceous period than any other dig in the world.’
‘How do you know that?’ Beatrice busied herself picking up breakfast. ‘I’ve never heard you talk about dinosaurs before.’
Douglas reached next to him on the couch and lifted up a few brochures. ‘Found these on the coffee table.’
‘Sounds interesting,’ Sasha said.
‘It would sound interesting to you, college girl.’ Megan laughed, wiping her hands. ‘Careful, Dad, or Sasha will change her major again.’
‘Hey, I’ve only switched it a few times,’ Sasha protested, though she didn’t look insulted by Megan’s joking.
‘A few hundred,’ mumbled Kat.
Douglas weeded through the small pile, reading the highlights. ‘We don’t have to do educational. We can hike, swim, visit the hot springs, horseback ride, camp –’
‘Um, Dad, no offence, but this is about as much camping as I want to do,’ Kat said.
Vincent laughed and whispered something into his wife’s ear, causing her to giggle. She playfully hit his arm.
Ryan studied Megan, wishing things were so easy between them. He hated to be jealous of Kat and Vincent’s relationship, but he was. Megan refused to look at him.
‘I’ll do whatever. Horseback riding or hiking could be fun.’ Megan made her way to the staircase. ‘I’m going to take a bath and change.’
‘Trust Megs to pick something athletic,’ Sasha said. The others didn’t comment.
Ryan watched after her before catching movement out of the corner of his eyes. Kat was motioning for him to follow and Sasha eyed him expectantly. He glanced weakly at Megan’s parents. They were busy reading over the brochures. Though Megan was an adult, he was still slightly uncomfortable with her parents knowing they shared the same room – even if her parents didn’t care.
‘You should shower, Ryan.’ Kat smirked. ‘You’re all sweaty.’
‘Katarina,’ Beatrice scolded. ‘Don’t be rude.’
‘No, Mrs Matthews, it’s all right. I do need to bathe and change after my run.’ Ryan followed Megan up the stairs.
‘I told you, dear, call me Mom!’ Beatrice yelled behind him.
Chapter Seven
Megan wasn’t sure if Ryan’s confident knowledge that she’d fuck him on this trip was upsetting, seductive or insulting. Tugging the towel tighter against her chest, she peered into the dresser drawer that held the contents of his check-on bag. He’d brought enough condoms to ensure they had sex at least twice a day the entire trip.
Hearing a splash, she glanced at the bathroom door. Ryan was in the tub, cleaning up after their adventure. Though hardly life-threatening, Megan was still a little shook up by the bear encounter. Wild beasts were not her norm and she wasn’t a girl used to being out of her element.
She heard another splash. The idea of Ryan naked and wet, heat curling around his body as he washed the sweat from his skin, made her tremble. Maybe it was the mountains, nature, being so far removed from her job and the city, but her eyes were again drawn to the drawer. Reaching in, her hand shook slightly as she pulled out a condom.
Why was she so nervous when it came to Ryan? Was it just because she’d been without a lover for so long? Megan fingered the package, feeling the rubber slide around within. It wasn’t like her to be nervous with men. Normally, she was confident and sure.
Logic told her they needed to talk first, to set ground rules, to clear up the matter of their fake engagement. But being with Ryan wasn’t like most circumstances and he wasn’t like most lovers, and their engagement was some sort of blackmail. The cop in her wouldn’t let her forget it, but the woman inside her was willing to ignore it for the time being. There was something sexily erotic about his having power over her.
Sure, it was a little depraved to think that way, but she wasn’t romantically minded Zoe, optimistic Ella, free-going Kat or over-thinking Sasha. She was her own person – instinctual, controlled, decidedly unromantic if not slightly pessimistic in her views. And, if her detective side needed an excuse, she could always consider it like an undercover assignment – doing what needed to be done to solve the mystery that was Ryan Lucas.
Comfortable with the logic, she walked to the bathroom door. A damp lock of hair stuck to her neck, still wet from her bath. She didn’t care if she was already clean because she suddenly felt very, very dirty.
The door opened easily and she heard a startled movement in the tub before her gaze reached his. He appeared surprised to see her and she couldn’t blame him, considering she’d not invited him in when she bathed.
‘Did you miss a spot?’ he asked.
‘No.’ Without hesitation, she dropped her towel. Ryan’s eyes devoured her, lingering on her breasts before travelling down to her hips. His shoulders straightened as he sat forwards. Megan kept her gaze steady as she walked towards him. Her feet fell silently against the chilly floor tiles. ‘You did.’
‘Oh, did I?’ Ryan stared up at her.
‘Are you going to make room for me?’ Megan asked, raising a brow.
As he moved over, the expectant gleam in his eyes caught her notice. Shades of uncertainty and hope spread over his features, as if he searched her for more than she could give. The raw intimacy of it terrified her. Ryan tried to hide the hopeful expression under a smooth sexy façade but it was too late. She’d seen it in him and had to wonder what it was he looked for in this strange relationship of theirs. Megan hesitated.
‘Are you changing your mind?’ He matched her earlier demeanour, lifting a playful brow in challenge. All tender sentiments were gone from his face, replaced by the confident, if not slightly cold lover. She wouldn’t call him emotionless in his passions, but the way he looked at her now was more distant than before.
Was that a challenge? Had she been mistaken in the hopeful look? Was he daring her to play his little game? She just wished she knew what they were playing for.
Megan stepped into the tub, kneeling before him in the hot water. It was large enough for both of them to sit comfortably. Ryan pushed the button to turn on the side jets. The water began to churn, bubbling and rippling over the surface. She ran her hands over his thighs, caressing them up to his strong hips.
The heat from the bath stirred her already aroused blood. Every nerve ending tingled, reaching out to touch him. She wanted contact, wanted to feel him inside her. Dipping forwards, her breasts rubbed against him as she brushed her lips to his. Instantly, his tongue delved forwards, licking the inner edge of her lips as he moved his mouth against her. The easy light pressure deepened with each measured movement.
Hands slid over her sides, curving over her ass and squeezing. With a hard confident jerk, he pulled her against his fully aroused cock. Knowing he was as eager as she, that he wanted her as desperately as she did him, only pushed her desperation over the edge. She rubbed her sex along his shaft to stimulate her clit. Everything was so wet and hot and she couldn’t quit from squirming against him.
Ryan massaged her chest, pinching her nipples. His mouth moved down her neck, licking her flesh, grazing his teeth as he pushed her back. With better access, his grip on her breasts tightened, his fingers slithering to encircle her tight nipples. The cool damp length of her hair against her back was an erotic contrast to the heat. He kissed her throat, then captured a nipple with his mouth, sucking and moaning.
Megan drew her hands along his arms, scratching his skin. Ryan made a weak noise, so she did it again, harder. She rocked her hips, keeping his shaft tightly locked along her soft folds without allowing him entrance. Though she wanted him, she forced herself to hold back, keeping him outside her body, waiting for the moment when she would be mindless with need.
‘Megan,’ Ryan whispered, sending a shiver over her with desperation in his voice. ‘I need you.’
‘What do you need?’ she asked, taking a small measure of the power he had over her.
‘You,’ he groaned.
‘Me?’
‘I want to be inside you.’ He took her by the hips and lifted her up. ‘I love the feel of you on me.’
Megan panted weakly as the tip of his shaft found her ready beneath the water’s surface. As she seated herself on his lap, impaling her body, his hands slid once more to her breast. The jets bubbled, punctuating their soft moans. She clutched the tub’s edge on both sides of his head, using it for support.
‘Mm, so tight,’ Ryan mumbled, nipping at the breast lodged between his teeth. ‘I can feel you clenching me.’
Megan tightened her muscles around his shaft, gripping him with her pussy. ‘Like this?’
‘Ah, you have to stop that or I’m going to come.’ His actions countered his words as he dug his fingers into the tops of her thighs and kept her on him.
‘Stop what?’ Megan did it again.
‘Oh, fuck, fuck.’ Ryan’s hands flew to the tub’s edge, holding on as she rode him. He let her have control and she took it, setting a slow rhythm.
His eyes closed, his head back, Ryan was a gorgeous male specimen. Water clung to him and the overhead light hit the small bead, gleaming like diamonds along his tanned strong flesh.
Megan tried to hold back, tried to keep from coming as she enjoyed the build, but the pressure became too much. She jerked, her hands slipping only to find a hold on his shoulder. Unable to move by her own will, she let the orgasm have her, trembling with his cock deeply embedded.
‘Mmm, I can’t stop.’ Ryan groaned, blindly reaching for her. ‘Pull off. I can’t keep from – ahh.’
The moan was pained and he tensed with the beginning release beneath her and, instead of pulling her off, his hips jerked up, ensuring his thick arousal stayed right where it was.
‘Fuck, fuck,’ he repeated over and over before groaning incoherently. ‘You do things to me. You make me forget myself.’
Megan took several deep breaths, attempting to calm her racing heart. When the feeling gradually came back to her limbs, bringing with it her sanity, she pushed up. His body glided from hers. She felt him watching her, but didn’t meet his gaze as she stepped out of the tub. Pulling her towel off the floor, she faltered briefly as she saw the unopened condom resting beneath it. She couldn’t believe they had done it again. Where was her head at? Slowly, she walked to the bathroom door, not bothering to pick the condom up. ‘You should hurry. They’ve probably decided on what we’re going to do today and are most likely waiting on us to join them.’
Ryan watched her walk out of the bathroom. Did he just get used for sex? He would have been upset if he wasn’t so sated.
It was all he could do to finish his bath. Not remembering if he washed his hair before she came in, he lathered it up and quickly rinsed. Everything about this woman was a mystery, one he wanted to spend the rest of his life solving. Getting out of the tub, he grabbed a towel and began drying off. The gleam of a condom wrapper caught his attention and he had a small sickened feeling in the pit of his stomach as he realised they’d forgotten protection again. What was it about Megan that made him lose all sense?
As he left the bathroom to get dressed, Megan was already gone, her towel crumpled on the floor. He dropped his own on top of it and hurriedly grabbed something to wear. If he wasn’t quick, it was quite possible Megan would convince her family to leave without him and he needed every second he could get to woo the frustrating woman.
‘We should talk.’
Megan glanced from the giant reproduction of a Tyrannosaurus Rex to Ryan and then back again. Under her breath, she said, ‘I agree. We need to start using condoms.’