One Night with His Rival Page 5

  “And one other thing.”

  “Let me guess. You think I’m sexy, too.”

  Well, yeah. But that aside...

  “Just thought you’d like to know—” he nodded toward the window “—the rain stopped five minutes ago.”

  * * *

  Ohmigod!

  He was doing it again. Being all mind-bendingly gorgeous, having her believe he was about to make a big move, and then—

  And then—

  Veda spun toward the window.

  The rain had stopped?

  “I thought it was still pouring.”

  “Nope.” He rubbed his knuckles over his shadowed jaw as he peered out the window, too. “Guess it could start again, though.”

  Before she thought to stop herself, Veda smiled. “Yes, it could.”

  “But you said you wanted to leave as soon as it eased off. So, to be safe, you should probably make a break for it now.”

  That teasing grin, the mischievous glint in his dreamy blue eyes... He was just so full of it.

  “You love playing with me, don’t you?”

  His smoldering grin spread wider. “I’ll go with yes.”

  She’d put it another way. “You don’t really want me to go.”

  “Wait. You were the one who said you wanted to leave. I’m merely respecting your wishes. Keeping you up to date. Making sure any possibility of you and me getting together again tonight is categorically off the table.” He shrugged his broncobusting shoulders. “That is what you want, right?”

  While his chin tilted downward so that the brim of his hat almost covered the gleam in his eyes, Veda froze. What was the right response? She wasn’t completely sure anymore. The spinout in her car had brought back some ugly memories. Now she was with the man who had stormed down that hill in the rain to rescue her, which had made her feel not just good but safe.

  And yet Ajax was the furthest thing from that. He was a prince in the art of seduction. He was in love with an industry she loathed.

  For God’s sake, he was a Rawson.

  “I can see you’re frustrated,” he went on.

  She grunted and shifted on her feet. “A little.”

  “Would you like me to fix that for you?”

  Like how? By kissing her senseless?

  He was blindly laying the hat on the desk while he studied her face and hair like she was a fine piece of art. Like he could devour her whole in one big-bad-wolf bite.

  “Veda? You okay?”

  She held her nervy stomach. “I’m not sure.”

  His gaze raked over her again, drawing out the moment, leaving her to wince and wonder and wait.

  “You know,” he finally said, “I wasn’t going to push it, but we need to do this. We need to quit playing games.”

  “Playing games?”

  “Come on, Veda. You know what I’m talking about. Just be honest and say it—”

  “Okay, okay! We do. We need to talk.”

  A muscle in his jaw jumped before he gave a slow, approving nod. “So you agree. We need to be open about how we feel.”

  “And then what?”

  “Then we need to do something about it.”

  “You mean the same something we did in Saratoga.”

  He moved closer, until his breath warmed her brow and the energy arcing from his body to hers could be measured in megawatts.

  In his lowest, sexiest voice, he said, “I’m going to kiss you now.”

  Her insides began to throb. To beg. “Why...why are you telling me that?”

  “I want to know you’re okay with it.”

  “You didn’t ask the first time you kissed me.”

  “Did you want me to?”

  “No.”

  “And now?”

  She blinked, then gave it up. “I suppose you can tell me what to expect.”

  His lidded gaze dropped and locked on her mouth. “This kiss will be soft and light. Just a taste. Just in case. Then, if you’re absolutely sure, I’ll kiss you again. Deeper and longer next time.”

  She croaked, “And then...?”

  “Then...” He studied her shirt. “That’ll need to go.”

  She swallowed and pushed out a quivery breath.

  “Ajax...?”

  “Yes, Veda?”

  “I’m not wearing anything underneath.”

  His grin grew. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  Five

  This time four weeks ago, she and Ajax had been in Saratoga Springs. As they strolled around a garden after the charity event, there hadn’t been a cloud in the jasmine-scented moonlit sky. She remembered how he had stopped to cup her face and then kiss her like no woman had ever been kissed before. In that instant, it was all over.

  She was his.

  For years, she had dreamed of Ajax Rawson telling her she was beautiful, making her blush. But that night he’d done so much more than that. He had lifted her up. Helped her to fly.

  After parting ways, she’d decided that had to be a one-time-only experience. And yet, as his lips met hers now and sparks began to ignite, Veda only wanted to know that kind of ecstasy again. Suddenly all she cared about was Ajax, all night long.

  That didn’t change when his mouth claimed hers and she found out he had lied. This wasn’t soft and light, or just a taste just in case. This was as deliberate as any kiss got. And then his arms wound around her, urging her in, and her hands found his chest, hard and hot just as she remembered. When her fingertips grazed his nipples, she felt his grin before he deepened the kiss...so penetrating and skilled, her blood felt on fire.

  While she reacquainted herself with his shoulders and pecs, his hands trailed down her back until they were under her shirttails, kneading her buns. After each loving squeeze, his fingers slid together, scooping between the backs of her thighs. When Veda lifted a knee against the outside of his leg, his tongue stopped stroking hers for a beat before his touch went deeper, sliding along her sex. Each time he dipped a finger inside, pressing on just the right spot, she inched that knee a little higher and held on that bit tighter.

  “I’ve thought about you every day,” he murmured against her lips.

  “Me, too,” she sighed. “I’ve thought of you.”

  His jaw grazed her cheek. “Next time, you’ll answer my calls.”

  She couldn’t stop grinning. “Just try to get me off the phone.”

  He hooked both hands between the backs of her thighs, coaxing her legs apart as he effortlessly raised her up. As her feet left the floor and her legs looped around him, she clung to his neck before his mouth took hers again. Cradling her seat, he rotated her hips, pressing her closer, stoking that heat.

  And as his hold grew firmer and the grinding got more intense, the friction began to climb...dear Lord, it began to blaze.

  * * *

  That night in Saratoga, Veda had given herself to him completely despite being nervous as hell. Ajax remembered how she had blushed while he’d gotten her out of that dress...how she had hesitated that first time climbing on top. Being with Veda had felt different.

  Had felt...new.

  Tonight, however, the training wheels were off. In no time, they had gone from kissing to full steam ahead. Now her legs were lashed around his hips, and every time he pushed in against her, the bulge in his pants just grew and grew.

  Breaking the kiss, he set his chin on her forehead, found his breath and drilled down on necessities.

  “Protection,” he said.

  Her teeth grazed his Adam’s apple. “We need that.”

  As he resumed their kiss, her hand dipped under his waistband and coiled around his erection. It felt good. Very good. Dropping her weight a little, he balanced her on his thighs to give her a little more room.

  A moment later, he fought through t
he pheromone fog to ask and be sure. “You’re on the pill, though, right?”

  Her grip on his neck slipped. At the same time he caught her, he moved to brace a palm against the nearest wall. A heartbeat later, she eased up and positioned the tip of his shaft precisely where it needed to be.

  After that initial bolt of pleasure, he began to move. Not in careful, gentle we’ll get there pumps. Tonight she obviously didn’t need slow and steady, and you’d better believe, neither did he.

  Her fingers were in his hair, knotting through the back, plowing up the sides, and he was wishing it hadn’t been so long between encounters because nothing felt like this... Veda here with him now and all brakes off, letting him know that her reasons for staying away didn’t matter anymore.

  Or at least didn’t matter tonight.

  As her legs vised tighter and his hold on her butt grew firmer, perspiration broke out on his brow, down his back. And then the responsible side of his brain kicked in again. No glove, bro, no love. Being inside her again was better than anything. But he needed to rein it in. For a start, he wanted to satisfy her first.

  But it seemed, on that score, she was way ahead of him.

  He was about to pull out when she ground in that much harder, deeper, at the same time her legs locked around him extra tight. When her head arced back, she shuddered and convulsed as her mouth dropped open and her nails bit into his neck.

  God! There was so much steam and energy. Such intensity and blinding, shooting heat.

  That was the second Ajax realized he’d just crossed the finish line, too.

  Six

  Amazing wasn’t the right word. It wasn’t nearly big or, well, real enough. With early-morning light filtering in through the windows, and Veda still asleep, the best Ajax could come up with to describe last night’s reunion was explosive.

  Lying beside her, facing her, he played with a wave of her hair as he recalled the conflagration when they’d come together. He’d been acutely aware of the heat as it built, the speed with which it had grown. But that tandem climax had caught him completely off guard.

  Afterward, Ajax had carried her in here to the bedroom where they’d scrapped her shirt and his pants and played around in a warm sudsy shower. There’d been plenty of exaggerated lathering and just as much kissing. But after toweling off, they’d slipped under these sheets, snuggled up and fallen asleep.

  As he’d drifted off, Ajax had embraced the feeling. Absolutely, without question, he’d been satisfied like never before. Now he wanted to coax her awake and not only recapture it all, but go harder and deeper.

  He wanted to know so much more.

  Veda stirred. Tangles of red hair glistened in the muted light as she stretched and sighed and eventually blinked open her eyes. She smelled of soap, remnants of her citrusy perfume and a natural scent that aroused him possibly even more than the sight of her breasts peeking above the rumpled sheet. He wanted to trace the tip of his tongue around each nipple, nip and gently suck the tips.

  Instead he brushed his lips over hers. When she sighed again, sleepily smiling into his eyes, he ran a palm up her side. As he found her breast, she slid her fingers back through his hair.

  Angling his head, he kissed her slowly and emphatically while he rolled her nipple between a finger and thumb. Then, moving closer, he pressed in against her belly, letting her know how darn turned on he was. He loved making her come, making her happy. He couldn’t think of a better way to kick off a lazy Sunday morning. Hell, if it was up to him, he’d spend the whole day here. The whole week.

  Then Veda paused and shifted onto her back. Maybe she wanted him to use his mouth instead. He was only too happy to oblige.

  But as he moved to go down, she caught his shoulder. Her voice was croaky but firm.

  “What time is it?”

  Ajax leaned in to circle the tip of his nose around hers. “Doesn’t matter.”

  “It so matters.”

  A few moments earlier, he’d caught the time on his wristwatch on the bedside table. “A little after seven.”

  She shut her eyes and groaned. “I need to go.”

  “You do not need to go.” He knew where she was headed with this, but right now they needed the outside world to butt out. “If you’re worried about what anyone might think—” like Lanie or Hux, or Griff, who’d called it last night on the phone “—this is none of their business.”

  “It would just be so much easier—”

  “You know what would be easier?” he cut in, edging closer. “If we finished what we’re doing now. And later, you come up to the house and have breakfast.”

  She blinked like he was talking Mandarin. And, yes, he’d baulked at that breakfast idea, too, when Griff had suggested it. But now, after being with Veda again, extending that invitation seemed like the obvious thing to do. He didn’t want to shoo Veda off like he was ashamed or some kind of prick.

  “Sorry,” she said, pushing up onto an elbow. “I don’t work that way. I’m not going to flaunt it.”

  Ah, hell. He’d come right out and say it then. “You mean because your father wouldn’t approve?”

  Her eyes widened. “My father wouldn’t be the only one knocked off his chair.” She stopped, seemed to remember something and then cursed under her breath. “I forgot to call to say not to wait up.”

  “Your father was waiting up for you?” Really? How old was she again?

  “It’s his house. I am his daughter.”

  “And you’re over twenty-one.”

  She switched tacks. “What about Lanie? What’s she going to think?”

  When she found out that her friend and brother had spent the night together? “Lanie wouldn’t expect this. But she’ll support you because that’s what friends do. Siblings, too, for that matter.”

  He pushed up to sit against the headboard. Veda took her time but finally joined him. Wrapping his arm around her, he nuzzled her sweet-smelling hair and waited. He’d said enough. Time for her speak.

  Bit by bit, he felt her relax. Eventually, she laid a palm on his chest.

  “When I drove away last night,” she said, “I was...distracted. Thinking about Dad and how he would react if he knew...”

  Drake might get his nose out of joint, but dude. Suck it up. Except Veda didn’t need to hear that.

  Ajax stroked her arm, nuzzled her again.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “Sorry we got together, or sorry that my father’s against anything Rawson?”

  “Veda, I don’t care what Drake thinks about me or my family. I care about how you feel.”

  She paused before she rubbed her cheek against his shoulder, nodding.

  “I want to tell you something else,” she said.

  He held her a little tighter. “Shoot.”

  “When we were younger, I had a massive crush on you. I’d go to a race with my father and see you there with your dad. You were this tall, blond, muscle-ripped dream. Always smiling and talking. But I think an even bigger part of the attraction was knowing you were taboo. Forbidden. And even though I’ve moved away and have my own place and my own views, I always felt that was a place I could never go.”

  Ajax’s gut was in knots. Imagine growing up in the cold shadow of a father like Drake Darnel. Sure, Ajax liked having his own father’s approval, particularly when it came to looking after the farm and the business. Hux’s middle name was High Standards. But they were still their own people who enjoyed a mutual respect. There was trust. A certain understanding.

  Which was obviously not the case where Veda and Drake were concerned.

  “So don’t tell your father,” he said. The silly old coot didn’t need to know.

  “It’s too late for that. My car is parked right out front. Whether or not I sit down for breakfast with your family, rumors will spread. They always do.”


  “My family isn’t into gossip, Veda.”

  “Maybe not. But you have how many employees? Riders, assistant trainers, grooms, barn and breeding managers? I just want to get in my car and drive away.” She winced before giving a small, surrendering smile. “But I guess I’ll stand tall and stay.”

  He got that this was hard for her, and maybe she was right. Maybe she should just jump in her car and forget the whole breakfast-with-the-Rawsons thing.

  “Are you sure?” he asked.

  A wave of red fell over her cheek as she nodded. “Except... I can’t wear an evening dress or a man’s shirt to your family’s table.”

  “Well, I know how to fix that.”

  She was already onto it. “You mean contact Lanie and ask if she’s got anything I can borrow.”

  Veda looked like she’d rather pull out her toenails.

  “I can do it,” he said.

  “Thanks, but it’d seem less weird coming from me.”

  Just then his phone sounded. A text.

  “Princess Lanie’s morning ride must have taken her by here,” he said, putting aside the phone after reading his sister’s message.

  Veda slumped. “She saw my car.”

  “She says that she just dropped off a selection of clothes at my front door, and she expects to see us both at breakfast.” He cocked a brow. “Or else.”

  * * *

  People openly talked about anxiety these days. No matter how infrequently, everyone experienced the sensations. Racing heartbeat. Increased blood flow. Feeling uneasy, flustered. Even panicked.

  On her blog, Veda often addressed the issue. Her philosophy? Accept that you’re only human and embrace the idea that you can work through it. Having grown up with a learning disability, a self-absorbed father and a mother who “loved too much,” Veda felt as if she had earned the right to give advice on the subject.

  As an adult, she continued to feel the fear and come out the other side, like last night when she’d been left alone to speak with Hux Rawson. Or now, walking into the Rawsons’ dining room with Ajax as everyone’s attention turned their way. Even the golden retriever lying by the closed porch door lifted its head to check her out. Just like last night with Hux, Veda’s throat closed while her heart punched her ribs like a heavyweight champ. But she would get through it.