His Kind of Trouble (8 page)

Chance stood, hugging the wall by the door, hardly breathing as he waited.

The door opened slightly, and someone stepped in.

He moved quickly from behind, knowing from the moment his hands touched her, and his nose caught the scent of her hair, who it was in his grasp.

“Ana?” he whispered, letting go and shutting the door quietly.

She stood in the soft light of his room, looking at him with those big brown eyes, her hair slightly messy, as if she had just left her own bed. She wore a thin, cream-colored shift that—God help him—showed the lovely silhouette of her naked form underneath the fabric.

“What are you doing here? I could have hurt you,” he said, not taking one step closer.

For the first time since he’d met her, Ana Perez looked uncertain.

“I couldn’t sleep. I’m sorry. I...I shouldn’t have come. I don’t know what I was thinking,” she said, nervous. “I’m sorry,” she repeated. “Good night.”

Chance stopped her with a hand on her shoulder before she could turn the knob.

“Ana, what
were
you thinking?”

He was so close, standing right next to her, that her scent seemed to surround him, hypnotizing him. He drew her against him, his hands on her shoulders, his mouth by her ear.

“Were you thinking about me?” he whispered.

She nodded, swallowing hard. “I wanted to make sure you were okay,” she said softly, shifting in his arms. She raised a hand to his face, touching his bruise gingerly. “And to thank you.”

“For what?”

“For helping,” she said with a slight smile.

“I should have stopped the fight,” he said, rubbing his chin lightly along her hairline, making her close her eyes and tip her head back for more. “I’m sorry I let it go that far.”

“Thank you,” she said, offering her lips up for a kiss that blotted out anything else. Pulling her up against him, his arms closed around her, the two of them pressed together completely.

“You were thinking about this?” he asked roughly before his tongue took to investigating her bottom lip.

“Yes.”

It was what he wanted to hear.

“Me, too. I couldn’t get this afternoon out of my head,” he admitted, as hungry as she was. Lifting her thigh, she slid her leg against his, opening so that her body brought his erection even closer to her core. Chance groaned, pressing in.

“Ana,” he said on a choked breath, sliding his hands into her hair and holding her still as he dived back in for a deeper kiss, his tongue exploring, tangling with hers as she did the same to him.

She tasted so good, he thought vaguely, as she let him hold her and move her any way he pleased. It was wonderful as his hands cupped her bottom, grinding her against him, and she shuddered with need as he brought her very close to coming but then loosened his hold.

She moaned a little in protest, and he pulled her up so that she was no longer standing but had to wrap her arms and legs around him and hold on. His towel had hit the floor, and he caught his breath on a choked curse, feeling her against him.

Perfect, as he knew she would be.

Her nightgown had pushed up with the movement, so she was bare against him except for the slick, thin material of the thong she wore. Chance reached back, twisting the material in his hands and tearing it from her body with one firm pull, making her gasp in pleasure.

He didn’t want anything between them and let go with one hand to try to lift the thin shift from her body, but it was caught, and Ana helped, so that she was as naked as he was.

Ana kissed him this time, her nipples rubbing against the light bit of hair on his chest. She swayed back and forth to intensify the contact as she kissed him as deeply as he had kissed her.

“I can barely keep it together. I might end up disappointing you,” he said with a faint chuckle, leading her to the bed.

“Not possible.” She smiled, squeezing his hand.

He set her down on the edge of the massive bed and grabbed his duffel, taking out several small, round foil packets.

“I hadn’t even thought of that,” she admitted. “But I am...safe. Protected.”

“Never hurts to be sure,” he said.

Ana stopped him just short of sitting on the bed with her and turned him to her.

“Let me see you,” she said, her eyes on him.

Chance held still, held his breath, wondering what was next. Hoping.

Her hand ran up the inside of his strong thigh to cup him and then stroke along the soft skin beneath. He trembled and groaned, a hand landing on her shoulder to steady himself.

“Ana,” he said on an unsteady breath as her fingers explored, traveling over his length.

She leaned forward to press a kiss to his flat, taught belly, and he said her name again, reverently. Ana smiled, still holding him in her hand, and dipped her lips down to kiss him intimately, letting her tongue sweep over the tip of his cock.

Sensation so sharp he almost felt split in two drove through him, and he cursed on a sharp exhale, hearing her soft, satisfied chuckle. Ana tasted him more thoroughly, and before she was done, he was shaking, his knees starting to give out as he got closer to coming.

“Ana, stop, or this is going to be over before it starts,” he said, panting and reaching for a foil packet.

She took it from him and covered him herself, her touch making him close his eyes, hold his breath.

She knew what he wanted, and pushed back on the bed so that he could get between her thighs and pull her forward to the edge. She was so ready, and Chance swallowed hard, not taking his eyes from hers as he poised his cock at the swell of her sex, touching, sliding, teasing.

Ana arched off the bed, her hands on her breasts like his fantasy come to life. He eased inside of her, just a bit, and she cried out, begging him for more.

“Ana, you undo me” was all he said before he dipped down to replace her fingers, taking her nipple in his mouth, drawing on her hard as he pressed the rest of himself into her. He looked up then, breathing hard as he stayed planted deep inside.

She caught his eye, her own breath labored now. “Someone might hear. Have to be quiet,” he said with a smile, nodding to the open windows.

She smiled back, nodding in agreement.

He returned to her breast, which had her writhing on the bed, biting her lip as he started to move inside her. He suckled her to the same rhythm of his thrusts, loving how she twined her fingers through his hair.

The tempo of his thrusts quickened, and she moaned and sighed, telling him that she was enjoying the ride. Every muscle in his body went rigid as she closed around him, pulsing tight and drawing his release even closer. He slowed down, wanted to last.

Framing his face in her hands, she looked into his eyes. “Make me come, Chance... Let go... Just take me like you want to,” she said.

It was as if something snapped inside of him, and he stood, tugging her forward, his hands holding her delectable ass as she wrapped her legs around his lower back. He pressed into her faster, wilder, like a hot wire broken free.

“Ana,” he growled under his breath, his body straining when she leaned into him, keening with pleasure as her tight muscles pulsed around his cock. As she climaxed, she clung to him as he set off yet another hot wave of release through her body.

Chance was aware of nothing but the pleasure he felt being inside her, unaware of anything but the searing satisfaction of his own climax as it rushed along every inch of his body. As the most intense moments passed, he let her go, fell forward over her, braced on his arms.

“Ana, if I died right now, that would be okay,” he said, but he was grinning when he tilted his forehead against hers.

Chance had made love to a lot of women, but he was damned sure not one of them had completely wrecked him as Ana had. Nothing had ever been like this.

“No, it really wouldn’t be,” she joked as she kissed him. “I’m not nearly done with you yet,” she added with a smile.

Music to his ears.

7

T
HUNDER
RUMBLED
SOMEWHERE
in the distance, and rain started to patter softly outside as Ana thought about how much things could change in a day.

She hadn’t been sure about coming to Chance’s room, offering herself to him, but as she’d tossed and turned in bed, he was all she could think of. Wanting him, and wanting something that would obliterate every other thought, worry and concern in her head.

He had certainly done that.

She watched him walk to the bathroom, returning a few seconds later to lay back down beside her.

“What are you thinking about now?” he asked.

She raised her eyebrows and answered truthfully. “About doing it again.”

He laughed. “You might have to give me a little recovery time. You wrung me dry.”

“I can wait,” she said, rolling over to cover him, folding her arms on her chest and resting her chin there, gazing out at the rain.

He was warm, big and solid. Ana cuddled into him, resting the sensitive apex of her thighs against his hard abdomen. She sighed in satisfaction.

“Storm moving in,” he commented absently.

“A small one. Our rainy season isn’t until the summer months, and then, of course, there is hurricane season,” she said with a shudder.

“You’ve been caught in one?”

“A few times. No way to miss it down here. I bought this house for my family—reinforced brick—because everything we had was lost in 2005, with Wilma,” she said, remembering the carnage.

“You take good care of them,” he said, arms behind his head as he looked out the window with her. She liked the intimacy that the rain pattering on the window created between them, as if there was no one else in the world.

“I wanted them to come back to the States with me, but this is home. My father died that year, as well,” she said, swallowing hard as she remembered that sadness.

“In the hurricane?”

She shook her head. “Heart attack, just before. The hurricane just added insult to injury, but that year...it was hard, to say the least.”

“You had just agreed to a contract for your cable show in 2005, right?”

“
Sí.
It meant I had to be away from home much more than I should have been. I wish I had seen Papa more. I wish—”

She stopped, taking a deep breath and shaking her head. “This is not what we should be talking about,” she said, leaning down to take a flat nipple between her teeth, sucking lightly and liking the sound he made in response.

“You do a lot for your family, for your village,” he said as his hands traveled over her shoulders, her back. “What do you do for Ana?”

She smiled, turning in his arms. “Those things are for me, too. They make me happy. I have a wonderful life,” she said, rising, her hands on his chest.

Ana wanted him again and felt his answer against the inside of her thigh. Still, it was nice to talk, too. To be just two people, making love, getting to know each other, and nothing more.

“You’ve built up half of this village or more. Financed most of the small businesses,” he said, kissing her temple.

“How do you know— Oh, the file,” she said, remembering. “What else would I do with the money? Fast cars and faster men?” she joked.

“Something like that,” he offered with a grin.

“I take care of my family, and I take care of myself,” she said, leveling him a look, rocking against him gently.

Ana was quickly losing interest in the conversation and eyed the remaining packets on the bed.

“In a little while. Soon,” Chance promised, his eyes on her, knowing what she wanted.

Maybe knowing what she wanted more than she did, as he grabbed her hips and urged her forward, positioning her over his mouth.

Ana quivered with excitement, anticipating his touch. He didn’t make her wait, and she didn’t worry about making noise as the storm rose.

“Oh, Chance, yes, please,” she begged as he took her clit in between his lips, sucking as his fingers explored her slick flesh.

Ana closed her eyes, letting the storm and the mounting pleasure consume her. Chance rolled his tongue around her tender flesh, sucking and lapping at her as his fingers teased her with tender, sensitive touches. She tensed.

“No?” he whispered against the inside of her thigh, waiting.

“Yes,” she whispered.

Returning his mouth to her, his fingers explored and tested, gently finding his way inside her. Ana was lost in the host of new sensations taking over her body. And when he pushed deeper, sucked a little harder, she lost it completely. Thrashing over him, she came harder than she would have imagined was possible, losing track of everything but the pleasure he sent crashing through her. She wasn’t sure how long it lasted, but she didn’t want it to end.

As her pleasure receded, she sought more, sliding down his body to cover him again. He was so hard, so
big.
Planting her hands on his chest, she lowered herself over him, taking him fully inside as she watched his face contort. His lips expelled her name on a harsh breath as he jacked his hips up under her.

“Come with me, Chance,” she said, as she danced seductively over him, her head back, her breasts thrust toward him.

An explosion of wind and booming sound from outdoors crashed around them as their harsh cries filled the room, mingling with the noise around them. Ana’s wild ride settled to a slow, easy rocking as their passion cooled, and Chance reached down, sliding a finger in between her thighs to caress her. He watched her closely as her body shuddered over his with one more impossibly sweet climax.

He held her close, pulling a blanket over them as the air from the storm chilled their heated bodies. She was half-asleep as he pulled her in, tucking her into his body. Ana released a long breath and slept the best sleep of her life.

* * *

A
NA
AWOKE
WITH
A
SMILE
as she realized that she was alone in Chance’s bed. The storm had passed and sunlight glittered off the leaves and plants that surrounded the veranda.

Checking the clock, her eyes widened. She’d slept very late. Well, late for her. Chance should have awakened her, but then again, if he had, they would likely still be in bed, anyway, she thought, grinning.

Chance had been amazing. He’d excited her like no other lover she’d had.

What a night it had been. Her body felt tender from use but totally relaxed as only a passionate night of sex with a wonderful man could make happen. She wanted more. Much more, but that was for later.

Now she had to focus on her family, the holiday and all of the other reasons she was here. Slipping from under the blankets, her feet landed on the cool tile floor as she picked up her nightgown, gave it a shake before she put it back on.

Voices rang from below, someone down in the garden. Hopefully, she could get over to her room unnoticed. Surely, everyone was awake by now.

No such luck.

She practically smashed into her sister coming around the corner to the hallway where Lucia’s room was next to hers.

“Lucia, good morning,” Ana said, laughing and hoping her sister wouldn’t think anything of her running around the hall in her flimsy nightgown.

Interestingly, Lucia also looked disheveled, though she was fully dressed. Ana studied her face for a moment—something about her seemed different. Her face flushed, her eyes a little glassy. Was Lucia ill?

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, why?” Lucia’s response was quick and curt, and Ana frowned.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t sleep well, and I went for a run. You know how it always leaves me agitated. What are you doing?” her sister asked more reasonably, with an inquiring eyebrow as she took in Ana’s dress.

Ana closed her arms over her middle, not that that would hide anything.

“I needed to get some aspirin from the main bath,” she said, the lie falling from her lips more easily than she liked, but no way was she letting anyone know what she had been doing last night.

Not even Lucia.

“I see,” Lucia said softly and nodded agreeably before moving past Ana. “Are you well?”

“Just a little headache.”

“Well, I am going downstairs for some breakfast. You will be down soon?”

Ana smiled, glad that her sister was letting her off the hook, even if Lucia didn’t seem to completely buy her story.

“In just a few minutes.”

Lucia smiled and left, and Ana ducked into her room unseen by anyone else.

It felt so illicit—sneaking into a man’s bedroom in her family home. It was...inappropriate, even at her age, but she didn’t regret a second of her time with Chance.

As she quickly showered and dressed, she exited her room again, heading downstairs. The familiar, succulent scent of her mother’s cooking led her to the kitchen, where Doncia was working at the counter.

Ana smiled. Her mother always cooked for her when she was home. It was an overwhelming treat, as much as Ana loved to cook, to have someone present
her
with a meal. Her mother’s cooking was second to none, not even her own.

“Mama, this smells wonderful,” she said, crossing the kitchen to hug her mother.

“You slept in,” her mother said, kissing her forehead and studying her face, maybe too closely.

Ana averted her eyes. “I was tired. The show has been nonstop for weeks,” she said, cleaning a spot on the counter where her mother had been chopping vegetables.

“Hmm. It was upsetting with Marco last night,” Doncia said.

“Yes.” Ana sighed. “But necessary.”

Her mother sighed, too. “If you do not love him, then that is best.”

Ana paused, somewhat surprised by her mother’s easy agreement.

“You are not upset with me?”

It was her mother’s turn to look surprised.

“Why would I be upset with you, Ana? You must do what your heart tells you, whether it is with your life work or to whom you give your heart,” she said.

“Thank you, Mama,” Ana said with no small amount of relief.

It lasted only a second.

“And Chance, he was also all right after last night’s...conflict?”

Ana paused. She had spent time in the kitchen with her family, cleaning up after the party, and Chance had gone to his room to tend to his wounds.

Her mother was crafty, Ana thought appreciatively.

“I assume he was fine,” Ana said lightly, carrying a plate of fruit to the table.

“Ana.”

Ana knew that tone.

“Mama, really,” she started, but Doncia interrupted her.

“I saw how he looks at you—like you are everything. The only thing he sees. And how he fought for you last night,” Doncia said with a fond smile. “Your father looked at me like that. Fought for me once, too,” she added.

“Papa? Fight?” Ana said, distracted by that bit of information. Her father was a gardener, a peace-
loving man. She couldn’t imagine him ever raising a fist.

“There was another man. He wanted me, though I was in love with your papa. This other man, Arturo, would not take no. He did, after your father made it very clear to keep his distance,” Doncia said happily. “Much like your...friend.”

Ana swallowed hard. How to tell her mother that Chance was only so focused on her because she was his client? That he watched her so intently, and protected her, because that was his job?

He had told her not to tell anyone, and Ana felt trapped. Her mother had the entirely wrong idea.

“I saw him kiss you in the courtyard yesterday,” her mother added, sealing the statement with a damning look. Ana’s goose was cooked. “He’s a good man.
Es puro de espíritu.
I could see that right away about him.”

“Okay, Mama. Yes, we are...attracted to each other, but it’s nothing serious. Not like you and Papa.”

As the words left her lips, she looked up to notice Chance in the doorway to the kitchen.

“Chance.
Buenos días,
” she said, and her mother turned to wish him the same, with a welcoming smile.

“Come, sit. I’ve kept some breakfast warm. You and Ana were both very tired after everything that happened last night,” Doncia said, innocently as could be, but Ana sent her mother a warning look.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Chance offered, smiling at Ana in a way that she felt down to her toes. Her mother’s back was to them. The look he sent her told her that he was thinking about everything that had happened between them the night before.

Worse, her mother would know everything in an instant, and then she would hear wedding bells ringing again, when all Chance was...what? Convenient? Hot? Willing?

All of those, Ana thought guiltily. So she had met him in the night and scratched an itch? So what? Men did it all the time, she thought to herself as she finished setting the table as Chance chatted with her mother in easy Spanish.

“I always make huevos rancheros for Ana when she comes home. She has to cook all of the time with her job, so I like her to enjoy being cooked for when she visits. Although most of her famous recipes are mine and her
abuela’s,
my mother Paula’s,” Doncia told Chance, while showing him how to mince the jalapeños easily and safely.

“They have inspired all of my own,” Ana added affectionately. “A new book of them, even.”

Chance turned to her. “You’re having another book published?”

Ana smiled, glad to change topics. “It’s titled
Recipes from Home,
and it’s been a labor of love. I work on it when I have time away from the show, and I just delivered it to the publisher at Christmas. I dedicated it to you, Mama, and Mama Paula,” she said, smiled at the shocked look on her mother’s face.

“Oh, Ana! That’s wonderful,” her mother said warmly.

Ana knew what her mother really wanted was grandchildren, and worried that neither of her daughters would produce that boon within her lifetime. Ana couldn’t make any promises, but she was glad her mother was excited—hopefully, over her professional accomplishments.

“I hoped that you would write the forward to it, Mama, while I am here. Maybe you could write about how you taught all of us to cook when we were children,” Ana suggested.