Dillon's Claim (3 page)

She held herself rigid. “Dillon...”
God, the feel of him was driving her crazy, making her want things she shouldn’t.

“I’m not gonna sit here and
watch you shiver because you’re too stubborn to say you’re cold,” he said, but
his grip on her shoulder softened. Several tense seconds passed before he spoke
again. “So there’s something that’s been bothering me,” he began, staring out
at the water instead of looking at her.

A pang of dread shot through
her. “And what’s that?”

“What did I do to you that was
so terrible it made you take off?”

She met his gaze head on,
fought back the tension in her gut. “You didn’t do anything. And I didn’t take
off.”

“Yeah, you did.”

She looked away, unable to bear
the scrutiny in his eyes. “I had my life waiting for me back in Austin, and you
had yours here at the ranch. Getting involved would have been too complicated.”

He snorted. “That’s the sorriest
excuse I’ve ever heard.”

Throwing off his restraining arm,
she climbed to her feet. “Look, if you brought me out here for an interrogation,
then I’m going back.”

Dillon shot to his feet and
grabbed her wrist. His grip was firm, but the obvious strength in his hand was
tempered. She froze as tingles shot up her arm, then looked back at him over
her shoulder. His jaw was tight, and she could all but feel the waves of
frustration pulsing from him.

“Was there someone else?” he demanded.

She lifted her chin. “I told
you I was seeing someone back then.” Though she could barely remember what he
looked like.

“
Seeing
someone could
mean anything. And if it had been serious, you wouldn’t have kissed me. Not
like that.”

A hot flush crept up her neck
and into her cheeks as she remembered the exquisite sensation of being locked
in his arms, surrendering to him by degrees. He’d held her up against his solid
body, both his hands in her hair, keeping her still for the commanding yet
tender exploration of his tongue in her mouth. Feeling herself melt, the fear
had stopped her, made her pull away. Knowing she’d been on the verge of the
most exciting experience of her life but afraid to take that last step and
relinquish control. It had haunted her ever since. Her nipples throbbed just
thinking about it.

He was right about the kisses,
but she wasn’t going to admit it and give him more ammo. “Let go. And I can
find my own way back.”

“Like hell I’d let you walk
back alone.” He stepped up close, so close she could feel his warmth and breathe
in that luscious scent he carried. Soap, mixed with a trace of woodsy cologne. “If
there wasn’t someone else, then what was it?”

“Dillon, drop it. I don’t want
to talk about this.”

“Too bad.”

She gaped at him, taken aback
by his sharp retort.

He shook his head, the tight
movement rife with annoyance. “The truth, Charissa. You owe me that much.”

He wanted the truth?

Because being with you turned
me into someone I didn’t even recognize.

He had woken needs inside her
that she’d long since buried and done her best to forget. He’d made her yearn
to experience his style of dominance so much that she’d been teetering on the
brink of surrendering. It had scared the living hell out of her.

“Well?” he demanded.

A bitter laugh crowded her
throat. She’d be damned if she’d lay herself bare to him like that now, when
she was afraid of giving her body to a man. A year ago he’d all but broken
through every last barrier she’d erected around her heart, and without even
trying. Standing here, confronting him about this while he tried to pry the true
reasons from her? Forget it. “The truth is, it wasn’t going to work.”

“The truth is, you didn’t
want
it to work.”

“Fine.” Whatever. Let him
believe what he wanted. Pulling her arm free, she turned on her heel and
marched away.

She only made it two strides
before he caught her arm again and spun her around. The anger blazing in his
eyes took her off guard. Instinctively, she backed up a step.

“It’s
not
fine,” he
growled. “Not with me. And if you’d be honest with yourself for a second, it’s
not fine with you, either.”

“Really?” she demanded.

“Yeah. And here’s why.” Before
she could draw a breath to speak, he slid a hand into the hair at her nape and
kissed her.

Shock rippled through her at
the sensual feel of his mouth on hers. Her hands immediately went to his
shoulders, palms pressing against the contours of solid muscle. He didn’t let
go, the gentle pressure of his hand at her nape reinforcing his control and heightening
all her senses. The kiss was hard, possessive, but his lips were soft and warm
on hers. A startled moan escaped, her body tingling with a rush of pleasure.

She wanted this. Had craved it
for so long. God help her, her fingers curled around his shoulders instead of
pushing him away. Her lips softened and parted beneath his, the tender stroke
of his tongue making her pussy clench in anguish. He kissed her like he’d been
dying to taste her, licking and caressing all the sensitive places inside her
mouth, that strong hand cradling the back of her neck.

All too soon, he pulled back,
leaving her hot, confused. Wanting more.

Dillon raised a hand and trailed
a questioning fingertip over her cheekbone, holding her spellbound. “Something
spooked you the last time I did that,” he said in a low voice, his eyes far too
knowing. “What was it? This?”

Before she could pull away, he
threaded his other hand into her hair and held her head still. Letting her feel
a taste of his authority, making her pussy even wetter at the thought of
exactly how it would translate into the bedroom. The dominant side of him frightened
her as much as it aroused her.

She swallowed, hating the
betraying stillness in her body as she softened, wordlessly affirming her
desire to give up control. His steely eyes pinned her mercilessly, gauging her
reaction, watching for any sign of vulnerability. Here was the dark predator
she’d sensed lurking inside him, and this time there was no escape. She closed
her eyes to block out his scrutiny.

“Look at me,” he commanded
softly.

Fighting with herself, she
drew a deep breath and forced herself to meet his gaze. She swallowed again as
his long fingers rubbed against her scalp, his grip commanding, yet so tender
it tied her in knots. For the life of her, she couldn’t make herself pull away.

“What were you so scared of,
Charissa? Maybe this?” He bent and brushed his mouth over hers. Gently this
time, a beguiling caress of lips and tongue that made her catch her breath,
press closer to him. Tempting her in ways a more forceful touch never could
have. The man was lethal with his mouth. She could just imagine how well he’d
use the rest of his body.

Shit!

Charissa stiffened and flattened
her hands against his shoulders, ready to push him away. Her heart slammed
against her ribs, the rush of blood through her veins making her dizzy. Dillon’s
hands bunched in her hair, pulling on the strands with a delicious pressure
that made the fire burn hotter. Testing her.

Yes!
she wanted to snap
at him. This is
exactly
what she’d run from. His intensity, the
mind-blowing response he called from her body. She craved the rough, dominant
side of him she’d glimpsed, always tempered with an edge of tenderness. That
killer combination set her on fire. She wanted him to seize control, to strip
away all her control and inhibitions as he fucked her. Wanted him to restrain
her, so that she had no choice but to go wherever he pushed her. But the last
time she’d tried to go down that road it had ended in disaster. That awful
experience with her previous lover had all but killed her interest in sex.
Until Dillon.

Yet, part of her knew he’d not
only push her right to the physical and emotional brink; he’d send her right over
that edge.
That’s
why she’d run. Surrendering completely to a lover made
her uneasy now, but Dillon held the power to make her lose herself completely.
In the end, she’d run rather than face her fears. Something she’d secretly
regretted every day since.

Still holding her captive, he
dropped his head to nuzzle the side of her neck, his breath warm against her sensitive
skin. “What are you so afraid of, sweetness? Tell me.”

Murmured in that deep drawl of
his, the endearment put a lump in her throat. He made her feel cherished and
needy, protected yet frightened of succumbing to the power he wielded over her.
He could take her emotional shields apart so easily, without even realizing it,
and she’d never be the same again.

He’d destroy her. Not on
purpose, but it would happen nonetheless.

Trembling, she braced herself
for the pain and pushed away. Dillon refused to let her go.

She shook her head. “Stop.
Please don’t do this. I can’t...”

The stroke of his lips was
infinitely gentle against her neck, her jaw. Exquisitely seductive, so sure of
his power over her. “Baby, don’t be afraid of me.”

“I’m not, it’s—” She didn’t
dare voice it aloud. He’d never understand.

His hands shifted, one moving
to cradle her nape while the other swept down her spine to settle at the small
of her back. The gleam in his eyes was hot and knowing, disturbing on so many
levels. “You’re afraid of what I make you feel. What I make you want.”

Dropping her gaze to his
boots, she nodded miserably.

A large hand cupped her chin
and raised her face, forcing her to meet his gaze. “I would never hurt you.”

Not physically, no. “Don’t do
this to me.” She was weak, so weak, and he had to sense her wavering. How close
she was to giving in to the need twisting inside her.

“I have to. You’re hurting. I
want to make it better.”

“No. You can’t.”

A slow smile curved his mouth.
“That a challenge, sweetness?”

She shook her head. “No,
just—you don’t know.”

“What don’t I know?” His voice
was so soft, a sensuous caress against her ear. Tiny shivers skittered down her
spine.

Charissa grasped his upper
arms to put some space between them, trying to ignore the flutter in her belly
when his biceps bunched beneath her hands. No matter how much she wanted him,
wanted a taste of what he could offer, she didn’t dare act on it.

He stilled her struggles by
pressing his body tighter into hers. Her sensitive breasts grazed a wall of
hard muscle, and her stomach cradled the steely length of his cock. “Tell me.
Tell me what it is that scared you so bad it made you run and hide from me for
almost a damn year.”

Another tight shake of her
head.

He nuzzled the side of her
neck and the gentle caress made her see stars. “I want you, Charissa. I care
about you. Have for so long. I want you naked underneath me, staring up at me
with those big blue eyes while I do all the things I’ve dreamed about doing to
you. All the things you’ve ever fantasized about me doing to you.”

Oh, God. She was so wet already,
fighting the need roaring inside her. “Let me go.”

“So you can run again? No way.
Not this time. You came here of your own free will, and I’m not letting you hide
from me.”

“I came here for Bridgette.”
The lie sounded hollow even to her.

“Bullshit.” He pulled back to
stare down at her in the semi-darkness. “She was the excuse you needed to show
up. At least have the guts to look me in the eye and admit why you’re really
here.”

She opened her mouth to blast
him but choked the words back. Okay, she’d partly come here out of a sense of
morbid curiosity, just to see if she’d built him up in her head all this time.
She’d been sure that Dillon would’ve forgotten her and moved on a long time ago,
but now she realized she’d been wrong. Was she merely a challenge he couldn’t
resist? The one woman that had managed to escape his seductive lure and he
couldn’t stand it?

“You want me.” He said it
firmly, emphatically.

In her position, with her hard
nipples pressed into his chest, she couldn’t exactly deny it. “So?”

“So, I want to show you
exactly how good it can be between us.”

Yeah, and then he’d see
exactly all that she
didn’t
have to offer. “Look,” she began, trying for
a reasonable tone though she was staring down more than two hundred pounds of
hot, hungry cowboy. “I have no doubt that you’re amazing in bed, and I know you’ve
had a lot of practice perfecting your technique, but I haven’t.”

He frowned but didn’t deny his
sexual experience. “You haven’t what? Had lots of practice?”

She sighed, tried again to ease
him away. This was so embarrassing. Having to talk about this with him of all
people. He didn’t budge under the force of her hands. Damn it. “What, you need
me to spell it out for you?”

“Yeah.”

Fine
. “I have a hard
time letting go in bed, all right?”