Chapter Three

Sloane and Dylan fell through the bungalow door in a tangle of limbs and heated kisses.

He kicked the door shut and hauled her off her feet. She squealed as he tossed her over his shoulder and carried her through the bungalow.

Her insides were on fire with need she hadn't felt in far too long. The man really knew how to seduce a woman, and she didn't even mind that she was paying for it.

Sharing the bottle of champagne on the bench while watching the sky change from pale blue to orange to yellow and finally pink before the sun fell behind the mountains was the best date she could have asked for.

When he pulled her into his lap and kissed her, she melted into his caresses, and she couldn't blame that on a desperation to be touched. He put her at such ease that it didn't seem like she met him just that afternoon.

Dangling over his back, she got a great view of the chiseled planes of muscles moving with every step he took. "Put me down! I can walk."

He delivered a light swat to her ass, making her gasp. "Insolent woman. Don't you know that when a man drags you off to bed, you take it as your due?"

Her due. Now that was a different way of thinking. In a world where people fought for every single thing, did anybody think they were owed anything?

"Well, I did pay for this. I do kind of have it coming."

His palm on her ass again had her crying out with surprise. He carried her through the bedroom door and yanked her off his shoulder, letting her slide down his body to her feet.

When he cupped her face in his big hands and stared into her eyes, she felt that look travel low into her core.

"What I'm about to do to you is completely genuine, sweetheart. Understand?"

She didn't, not really. But she wanted what he promised her, so she nodded in agreement. Moving in, she brushed her lips over his.

Instead of responding to her kiss, he stopped her. "Sloane. I mean what I say."

She dropped her gaze to his angular chin stubbled with a five-o'clock shadow that seemed to have sprouted the minute the sun went down. "Okay."

His chest inflated with a disapproving breath. "You don't buy that, do you? You don't think any man could actually want you in a real way."

A sharp pang of pain sliced through her chest. In a matter of hours, he'd zeroed right in on the root of her problem, her reason for being here. How? Was she that transparent? She racked her brain for what might have given her away, even going back in her memory to when she filled out the application online seeking therapy on the ranch.

Dylan's deep brown gaze penetrated hers. Several heartbeats passed. His long fingers closed around her wrist, and he moved her hand to the bulge in his jeans.

"There's no faking this, sweetheart."

She moaned. The thick, hard length that threatened to break his zipper had enticed her with its feel from the second he pulled her into his lap earlier. The heat building inside her wouldn't let her overthink what she was about to do.

She looped her arms around his neck and used her strength to hitch herself up his body, legs wrapped around his waist.

He growled. "You're about to be one very…very…satisfied…woman."

She kissed him again, her tongue moving across his lips until he plunged his tongue into her mouth. In a few steps, they reached the bed, and he lowered her to the mattress, still wrapped around him.

He stared into her eyes as he rocked his erection against her pussy. "You want this?"

"God, do I."

His grin flashed like a neon sign that read GAME ON.

He took control of her mouth, nibbling and stroking his tongue over hers in the softest of brushes until her insides quivered and she was panting. His hat had fallen off back at the door, so she was able to sink her fingers into his thick hair.

When she raked her fingertips over his scalp, he issued a low growl that vibrated through every inch of her body. She let out small moans as the kiss spiraled on and on, gaining momentum until it was out of control.

She tore at his shirt. He braced his weight on one arm to allow her to strip it off him. And when she spied the hard muscles of his chest and arms, her insides clenched with want.

If he was treating her like an object, she was doing the same to him. Any woman would be crazy not to take advantage of this man's every carved inch—and Sloane intended to experience all those inches while she was here.

He breached the hem of her top. Rough fingers brushed over her sensitive skin. It took a while for her body to bounce back after having her daughter, but she was lucky it did and she had been able to continue her well-paying career. It also meant she didn't have any reservations about a new man seeing her naked.

Tearing away from the kiss, he stared down at her, panting. "Christ, Sloane. I'm aching for you."

"I want you so much. Don't stop!" She spread her hands over his shoulders and yanked him down for more. Their mouths melded in a never-ending kiss, broken only when he stripped off her top.

When his practiced hand moved along her spine, she wasn't surprised that he popped the clasp of her bra. Ducking his head, he took the cloth between his teeth and tore it off her.

A laugh bubbled out but cut off on a cry when his mouth landed on her throat. Oh, this man could do anything he pleased to her and she'd let him. Maybe she was one of the lucky women who received instant gratification with her Boot Knocker, but she hoped all those women who'd gathered backstage were doing this very same thing right this second.

He sucked on her skin, probably leaving marks from the strong pulls, but she didn't give a damn. She'd take what she could this week…because once she returned to her world, she'd be alone again. A single mom.

He dipped his tongue over the crest of her breast. A growl burst from him. "I want to suck these nipples until dawn."

She arched upward, pushing her throbbing nipple into his lips. Holding her stare, he took it, clasping his full, hard lips on the bud and tugging with just enough pressure to make her panties flood.

A knife of need slashed through her core. She lost control; all sense of time and place vanished. All she knew was Dylan's lips, Dylan's hands…and the way Dylan looked at her, as if she was much, much more than most men saw.

* * * * *

Worshipping this woman was one of the easiest things Dylan had done in his life. Treating her right came as easy as breathing. But convincing her of her worth would take time, that much was evident.

He was more than up for the challenge, though. By week's end, Sloane would be boarding that plane with a smile, a bounce in her step and a twinkle in her eyes.

She'd also be lingering in his mind for a long time after.

He dragged his teeth lightly over her nipple, grazing it. She cried out and latched on to his shoulders, stopping him.

He studied her expression and then glanced at the red mark he'd left on her breast. "Hell, sweetheart. I'm sorry. You're much more tender than I'm used to."

The need pounding in his balls made him a little too rough with her, a little more on edge than he typically was with a woman. And Sloane was either going to bear his bite marks like a goddess or dislike him for it when they were finished here tonight.

Gentling his movements, he skated a hand down her stomach to the waist of her jeans. As he eased his fingers lower and lower, moving inside her clothes, breaching the soft, feminine curls on her mound and downward to her slick folds, he watched her face.

Her eyes slammed shut and her lips formed an O of pleasure. The hair tumbling across the mattress was too enticing—he gathered the length in his hand and held her in place while he leaned in to claim her mouth again.

Damn, he wished he had his ropes handy. The things he could do to her…

The sweet sounds she made came harsher now. Every throaty noise had his cock seeping more precum, the ache mounting to a wild storm.

"Take me!" Her plea stole the rest of his control. It slipped through his grasp and he tore from her lips to speckle kisses down her bare torso, moving between her legs.

In one flick of his hand, he popped the fly of her jeans. With his stare locked on hers, he yanked her jeans and panties down her hips and continued to pull them to her ankles, where he paused to remove her boots.

Staring down at her… Christ, he almost lost it like a damn schoolboy. He gripped his cock hard, staving off the impending release and what would be a hell of a lot of disappointment for both of them.

He had to get the upper hand here, but damn, she was undoing him with those soft noises urging him on.

"Spread those pretty thighs for me, sweetheart. Show me how wet you are."

She arched on a low moan and let her thighs part. One glance at her slick folds and the hard clit peeking out between them stole the rest of that control. She tossed him off his game like a bull launched him into the dirt.

With a growl, he threw himself on his stomach and stretched out between her thighs, fingers sinking inside her in one slick glide even as he latched on to the swollen bud of her clit and sucked.

Her hips lifted off the bed, and her inner walls gripped his fingers with each pass he made over her G-spot.

"Dylan! Oh god. Oh my…" Her words cut off.

Sensing she was close to coming for him, he did the tongue trick that he'd perfected over the years. When he swirled the tip over her clit while applying pressure with his mouth in a sucking pull, a scream tore from Sloane's throat.

Her body pulsated in his hands. She shook with her release.

His cock steeled. Pouring his focus into his lover and making her feel good, he drew his fingers in and out of her pussy in slow pumps. When she gave a final shudder and collapsed to the bed, he licked her in soft brushes of his tongue meant to keep her on the edge.

Her fingers dug into his scalp again. Goddamn, he loved the way she reacted. Even though they didn't know each other well at all, she gave herself with abandon, and that was rare.

He lifted his head and pressed a tender kiss to her inner thigh. She gasped and pressed her knees together.

"I'm so sensitive!"

He grinned. "Wait until I get inside you."

Their gazes locked. Now the seduction really began.

When he drew his stiff cock into his hand, he held her stare while pumping it in slow jacks.

Suddenly, a vision rose into his mind unbidden, of him doing this with Shaw. They'd only played that one time, but he had been aching for another chance. The hard pounding Shaw gave him was something that lived on in his fantasies. But why the cowboy was popping up between him and Sloane now was anyone's guess.

Sloane ran her hands down her stomach and dipped two fingers between her legs, running her manicured fingers over her wet pussy.

He groaned and rolled the head of his cock through his fist, bringing a pearl of precum to the tip.

She swept her tongue over her lips. "I want to taste you."

Hell, he wanted that like he wanted a gulp of air that wouldn't quite fill his lungs, but he'd never last if she wrapped those beautiful lips around his cock.

"Please." Her eyes were wide, luminous with desire.

His heart tumbled. "One taste," he grated out.

She sat up and scooted down the bed until she sat on the edge. When she looked up at him that way, her lips at the cusp of his aching cock, he damn near exploded and shot his cum all over her face and breasts.

He curled his toes in the boots he still wore, muscles locking as he guided his cock into her scorching hot mouth and that bead of cum disappeared on her tongue.

They shared a moan.

He started to swing his hips back, needing out of her tormenting mouth—fast. But she planted her hands on his ass and held him, taking him right to the root.

"Fuck!" He shook. God, when was the last time he gave himself over so fully to sensation this way?

Again, Shaw's rugged features slammed into his mind.

Not now, dammit.

He couldn't sink his cock deep into Sloane's throat while thinking of doing the same to that man.

But it was too late. She took control and sucked him in. He stared down at her glazed eyes and pink cheeks and knew he had seconds to get inside her or die.

Threading his fingers into her hair, he drew out of her mouth. Watching the inches slide over her lips damn near killed him.

But somehow, he managed to shed his clothes and get a condom in place. When he positioned her beneath him and kissed her sweet mouth, a different sort of warmth flooded his chest.

"I need you inside me. Please!" Her breathless cry was all he needed.

In one slow shove, he sank into her.

The tight clasp of her pussy around his girth took him to a level of madness he couldn't remember in past experiences.

He pulled out slowly and slammed into her again. But Sloane wouldn't take it slow. She refused to let him set the pace and instead rocked her hips, bucking into him with a drive that stole his sanity and left him no choice but to give her what she demanded.

He met her thrusts with his own, driving them hard and fast until her body began to shake again and he tasted her need in her very kisses. The tip of his cock stretched deeper. The coil of need whipped at his spine. Still, he held back.

"Dylan! Yes! Oh yes! I'm coming!"

The words didn't clear her lips before he let loose. The jets of cum shooting out of him felt like he'd been on the Boot Knockers dry spell for a year. He came hard, then harder. His head reared back and all of his muscles locked as she shook beneath him in her own release.

His balls drained in seconds. With his weight on his arms, he hung over her…and felt her lips brush across his in the most tender touch.

He never expected it. Didn't see it coming.

The warmth of connection.

Too bad it came now, at this point in the game. Because the tides of life would sweep him somewhere else very soon, as they always did.

* * * * *

Shaw tipped the canister of leather oil into the cloth in his hand with enough force to splatter it over the wooden bench. Grunting in annoyance, he mopped up what he could and began applying it to the saddle he was oiling.

Dammit. Coming to Alaska was supposed to give him time to think, regroup. Now the woman he was running from was here.

From the very beginning, he believed Sloane was the one he'd drop onto bended knee for. He even pictured doing it after a hockey win, pulling her out onto the ice and proposing in front of the entire arena and the world it was broadcast to.

Then things just…stopped being good. Long before she realized she was pregnant, they started arguing more. Seeing eye-to-eye was something of the past. It didn't take long for the entire ship of their relationship to sink, and now the only trace of their love left on Earth was their daughter.

Marigold. The occasional photos Sloane sent him showed a happy and beautiful toddler, but one that would grow up without a father who gave more than child support.

He heaved a sigh. On a daily basis, he questioned his choices. Right now, he needed to blank his mind, the way he did before a game. Pushups were mindless enough in the locker room. Here, he went on a whirlwind spree which involved taking care of all the tack on the ranch.

He massaged the leather with the cloth for long minutes, his mind sinking deeper and deeper.

"I sure hope you aren't that heavy-handed with your ladies, Sheridan." The drawl from the barn door brought his head up.

His gaze landed on Dylan. The last damn person he wanted to see.

He turned back to his task, eyes trained on the worn leather. "What do you want?"

Dylan stayed in the doorway, unmoving for so long that Shaw finally glanced up to see if he'd left.

Another growl of annoyance burned in his chest, and he checked it before he made a noise.

The thrill that Dylan's body always sent through him wasn't so easy to ignore. One glance and his balls clenched with immediate lust.

He would never be with Dylan again, especially now that the son of a bitch had been between Sloane's thighs, moving inside her. Shaw couldn't even look at him.

Dylan huffed out a throaty sigh that prickled the hair on Shaw's nape. That sound was so similar to the one Dylan made at the last, when his stiff body jerked with every jet of cum leaving him.

Shaw ducked his head and polished faster.

He shouldn't want to simultaneously sink his cock into Dylan's mouth and punch him in the teeth.

The quiet thump of boots on the wood floor put him on high alert.

"You're not good at reading cues, are you? I don't want company."

"Too bad." In a few strides, Dylan reached the workbench where he stood working.

The scent of soap only irritated him more. Did Dylan shower with Sloane? Soap up her body, working his rough hands over her luscious ass and fingering her tight pussy?

Dropping the oil cloth, he swung toward Dylan, fists clenched. "Did you come here to rub her in my face?"

Dylan's eyes narrowed. That goddamn dimple in his cheek had a habit of popping in and out depending on how he moved his mouth, and right now, he seemed to be gnawing his cheek, as if holding back what he really wanted to say.

"I don't know why you wanted her so bad."

Shaw issued a snort. "The hell you don't."

"She's gorgeous, yeah, but so are a lot of women who come to the ranch. You never got your tighty-whities in a bunch over them."

So Dylan didn't know. But why would he? Sloane hadn't seen Shaw—if she had, she would have been on the first flight home.

Dylan eyed him. "Maybe it isn't about her at all."

He leveled his fellow Boot Knocker in a glare. "What the hell does that mean?"

Dylan took a single step closer to him. Barely an inch separated their bodies. If he glanced down, Dylan would see the bulge of arousal in Shaw's jeans.

If he rocked closer, he would feel it.

His gut stirred with desire that he tamped down hard. He started to spin away, but Dylan threw out an arm, holding him in place.

Shaw froze. "You'd better back down, Dylan. You don't want what I have to give you right now."

He didn't move. He'd never kissed a man in his life, but the strong pull to crush his mouth onto Dylan's and see if he tasted like Sloane blazed through his body.

Dylan's chest heaved. "Shaw…"

"Get out." The gravel in his tone coupled with his command had Dylan dropping his arm. He took a step back, spun and strode out of the tack room.

Shaw watched him go, anger and need a dangerous cocktail to the spark of jealousy he felt knowing that the man put his hands on Sloane.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, breathing hard and fast.

Damn, his cock didn't get the message that it wasn't supposed to be turned on by Dylan's hard body or close proximity. Not to mention the idea of tasting her on him…

"Fuck!" He flicked open his belt and whipped open his fly. His cock filled his hand before he even pulled it free of his boxer briefs. With a rumble, he fisted his stiff length.

Throwing his head back, he pumped his cock from base to throbbing tip. His mind blurred, oblivious to anything but the demands of his body. At this moment, he needed release, hard and fast. Raw and primal.

He growled at the sensations rushing through him. When an image of Dylan sliding into Sloane while she took Shaw's cock in her beautiful mouth hit his brain, he jerked his hips.

Precum dripped from his cock. He swiped it with his fingers and used it as lube. Jacking faster and faster, he saw the saddle and smelled the oil he'd used on it minutes before. But his mind wasn't here—it was with Dylan and Sloane.

His balls tucked up tighter to his body with each pump. Dark need whipped within him.

Breath puffed through his lungs but when the knot inside broke free, pleasure rushed over him. His spine bowed as he jacked his cock five more times, then a sixth.

How easy it was to picture Dylan on his knees, his mouth open wide to take the hot spurts of cum exploding out of him.

But when the final drop left Shaw's body, he was all alone, with nothing but a fantasy that tormented him almost as much as another man in the bed of the woman he still loved…and always would, did.