The Girl's Guide to (Man)Hunting (21 page)

She swallowed the knot in her throat and gave him a skeptical smile. “Like you?”

“Yeah, like me,” he said, offended that he had to point out the fact. “I’m a multimillionaire, you know. I—”

“You’re the CEO of Hazardous Waste Games. Yes, I know,” she interrupted, then turned and held her fishing pole in his direction. “And while the offer is very sweet, Pete, I’m really not looking to hook up with anyone on this trip. I’m starting a new life in two weeks, and I don’t plan on leaving any baggage behind.”

“That’s fine,” Pete was quick to offer. “I’m totally game for a one-night stand.”

She rolled her eyes and turned to leave. “Take my fishing pole, please. I need some time alone.” She shoved it into his hand. “I think it has a bite.” Ignoring his yelps of surprise, Miranda ducked past a tree and moved deeper into the woods. She needed time to breathe. Time to think.

Was Dane just using
her
? She’d thought she’d seen real interest in his eyes, but was she being blind? Was this just round two of Dane’s twisted games, nine years after he’d ruined her life the first time?

The thought made her sick to her stomach, because she couldn’t tell what Dane was up to.

S

So he approached Pete. “Caught something, I see?”

“I did,” Pete agreed, and before Dane could even ask him to, he sat down and began to dress the fish.

Well, that was an improvement. Pete never did anything voluntarily. Dane glanced at the woods, looking for Miranda. It was getting dark and she should have been with Pete, but there was no sign of her. “Where’s your partner?”

Pete’s skinny shoulders raised in a shrug. “She went for a walk.” When Dane continued to loom over Pete with a frown, Pete added, “She was in a bad mood. I didn’t ask. You know how women get.”

Not only was that sexist, but that was unfair to Miranda. She’d had good reason for getting mad at Pete the times that she had. He crossed his arms over his chest, deciding to wait it out. It could have been that something had upset her stomach and she was ill, and she wanted to be sick in the woods away from nosy Pete. That he could understand.

As he fed another branch to the cozy fire, he turned and looked at the others in the camp. Steve was showing Jamie how to lash the shelter properly, but it was finished for the evening, with even a cozy side shelter for Miranda. George and Will had caught a squirrel in one of the traplines and Will was busy cleaning the kill. Their little camp was busy and productive. Except for Miranda, who had run off into the woods.

He decided to wait a few more minutes, to see if she would come back. So he gathered wood and answered Steve’s questions—Steve always had more questions—and loitered around camp as they cooked dinner. Pete whistled an annoying, off-key tune as he finished scaling the fish and trussed it up through a stick to roast over the fire next to the squirrel. They had some pecans and dandelion greens to go with the small meal, and spirits were high.

When the food was ready and dark had set on the camp, the men looked at him expectantly. “Should we wait for Miranda before eating?”

“The portions are awfully small for seven people,” Pete helpfully pointed out. “Maybe she’s already eaten something and we should go ahead without her?”

That little shit. Part of him wanted to tell Pete to fuck off, and that if he touched Miranda’s share of the food, he’d skewer him
over the fire next. But that wouldn’t make him a great teacher, would it?

He frowned and moved to his backpack, pulling out the GPS tracker. He turned it on and punched in the code for Miranda’s bracelet, and she began to beep on his radar. “You guys eat without us. I’m going to go check on Miranda and make sure everything is all right.”

Gray-haired George immediately stood and moved to Dane’s side. “I’ll come with you, just in case she’s hurt herself and you need help.”

“No,” Dane said quickly, thinking of his last few rendezvous with Miranda. She’d surprised him from out of nowhere repeatedly and pounced on him. Maybe this was another one of her sexy little games. The last thing he wanted was for George to come upon Miranda trying to seduce him in the woods again. “I’m sure I can find her. Don’t worry about us. If I need help, I’ll radio back to the base. You guys go ahead and eat. Don’t worry about Miranda.”

George nodded and moved back to the fire, and Dane set off in the woods, tracking Miranda.

He found her a short while later, a mile or so from camp, sitting alone in the woods on a fallen log. Though the sky was darkening and the stars were out, there was plenty of light to see by thanks to the rising moon that leaked in through the trees and the flashlight in his hand. He could have found her without the flashlight, but it would give her a chance to see him coming and to not be scared.

Miranda was anything but scared, though. Instead, when he came up to her, she looked pissed. “Miranda, are you all right?”

“Fine,” she said in an oddly flat voice. She didn’t sound fine.

“Did you hurt something? Did you get bitten?” He gestured with the flashlight back the way he came. “The others were waiting for you at camp.”

“I needed to clear my head,” she said, and didn’t offer more. Dane frowned and clicked off the flashlight.

“Clear your head? Why?” He watched her tilt her head to the side, as if considering his answer and how she would respond.

After a moment, she gave a long, weary sigh. “It’s complicated, Dane. Very, very complicated.” She sounded so dejected that he felt a ridiculous urge to go and comfort her. Miranda didn’t need comforting, did she?

“So complicated that you can’t talk to me about it?” For some reason, he didn’t like that. Miranda didn’t need protecting, but while she was on this trip, she was his responsibility, and he didn’t like seeing her troubled. He liked seeing that playful smile on her face. It wasn’t there right now, and he hadn’t realized how much he’d enjoyed seeing it. So he moved toward her and tilted a finger under her chin, forcing her to lift her face. “Hey,” he said softly. “You can talk to me.”

She gave a small, brittle laugh at that. “Can I really, Dane?”

“Of course,” he said, a little stung. “You can trust me.”

Another mirthless laugh escaped her with that.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” she said with a sigh, standing up and brushing off her shorts. “Just laughing at myself, really.”

He moved forward and put a hand on her arm. “Miranda,” he said, brushing his thumb across the bare skin of her upper arm. “No one is…approaching you incorrectly, are they?
They’re not harassing you?” He remembered Pete’s “accidental” grab of her breasts and his jaw clenched, hard. Client or no client, if that little shit had tried anything…

“No,” she said in a soft voice. “It’s nothing. I’m just mentally not all here today.” Her arm patted his. “Really. It’s nothing.”

He decided to make her smile, instead. “It’s because you missed me, right?” His hand reached up and touched her chin. “Couldn’t stand the thought of being away from me for a few hours, and spending it with Pete was enough to make you sad?”

She laughed at that, and he felt her mouth pull into a genuine smile. His thumb grazed over her lip, and a long, quiet moment passed between the two of them. “See? It’s not so bad being with me,” he teased.

That seemed to sober her again. He frowned. Was she mad at him for some strange reason? The last time they’d had a moment alone together, she’d flopped back on the grass after giving him the best blow job of his life. She’d looked content and just a little pleased with herself. Miranda had him turned inside out lately. What had brought around this newest change of heart?

Before he could question her further, she reached up, grasped his ears, and pulled him down. Her mouth devoured his in a wild kiss, her tongue thrusting into his mouth.

Was Miranda fired up, then? Practically every time she saw him alone, she attacked him. The woman had a killer libido.

Still, he wasn’t looking this gift horse in the mouth. His arms wrapped around her and his hands settled on her waist, then he grasped her ass and pulled her in closer. His tongue thrust back against hers, a willing partner.

Her kiss broke off with a low growl, and she stared up at him
in the moonlight for a long moment. Then she said, “I started this, Dane. And I’m going to be the one to finish it. Understand me?”

What the hell was she talking about? “Not really,” he said with a half grin. “Care to explain?”

“No,” she said. “We’re going to do this by my rules.” And she pulled him in for another searing kiss. Her hands went to the front of his shorts.

His cock jumped. “You want to do this right now?”

She gave him another wicked smile. “Are you chicken?”

“Hell no,” he said, and pulled her in for another searing kiss. He wanted to kiss that smirky little smile off her face, get her expression to change from the almost-angry intensity to softness. To watch her mouth part and hear those soft little noises she made in her throat when he touched her. So Dane continued to kiss her, his tongue licking into her mouth.

Her hand slid over his cock in his shorts, rubbing the length of him in a way that made his entire body flare with need. He groaned against her mouth, trapping her hand just as she brushed her fingertips over his sac. “You’re a little wild today, aren’t you?”

She grinned against his mouth, and then ran her tongue over his lower lip. “I’ve heard you have a thing for wild, Mr. Croft.”

Did he ever. Miranda’s flirty freight train of lust was driving him insane. When her fingers squeezed his sac again, he groaned and pulled her against him, turning so her back was cradled against his stomach. His hands pinned her hips against his, and he leaned in and whispered against her ear. “How would you like it if I turned the tables on you, Miss Wild?”

“Why, I thought you’d never ask,” she purred.

Dane’s hand skimmed over her breasts. Her nipples were hard little pricks under her T-shirt, and he coaxed each one with a gentle brush of his fingers. She inhaled sharply, and he leaned in and kissed the side of her neck, which was slightly damp with sweat. He loved it when she was sweaty, her skin slightly dewy with exertion. When she arched into his hand, he teased her nipple a moment more before skimming lower. His hand went to the waistband of her shorts, and then he skimmed his fingers along the edge of the fabric, teasing her.

Miranda wriggled in his arms, as if anxious for his touch. Her hand curved backward, stroking the short burr of his hair. “Are you going to touch me or not?”

He nipped at the side of her neck. “Depends on how badly you need it.”

Her other hand slid between them and he felt it brush against the hard length of his cock again. “Seems like I’m not the only one who needs it bad,” she teased. “You’re as hard as iron back here.”

Dane groaned at her touch. “I am.”

She slithered out of his arms and turned toward him with a mischievous look on her face. “I can help you with that.”

“Can you, now?”

She dropped to her knees, tugging down his pants and freeing his cock from his boxers. A second later, she was taking him in her mouth and her hot, wet tongue stroked the underside of his cock, along the thick vein there. He shuddered hard, his hand going to her hair. He should tell her to stop, should take control again, pull her back in his arms, and tease the ever-loving hell out of those pretty nipples. But then Miranda’s hand stroked his sac
as she lapped at the head of his cock, looking up at him with a teasing glint in her eyes.

And he pretty much forgot everything.

When she took him deep in her throat and began to hum, he groaned and began to thrust into her mouth. He was building fast and hard, and he wasn’t going to last long. Miranda seemed to know this, encouraging it with her fingers dancing across his sac.

“Miranda,” he gritted out. “Might want to pull away if—”

She bore down on him, pulling him deep into her throat and humming louder. The vibration of her vocal cords made his entire cock feel like it was bathed in sensation.

He came, shooting hot cum down the back of her throat. She continued to stroke his sac, fondling him as he came down from the short, violent orgasm. When he finished, she looked up at him with a very naughty expression and wiped the corners of her mouth. “Not much staying power, I’m afraid.”

Minx. He hitched his shorts back up and, when she stood, snagged her in his arms. “Not so fast. Turnabout is fair play.” His hands went to her shorts and he began to unbutton them.

She stiffened in his arms for a moment, then relaxed and helped him slide them down her legs. Her panties quickly followed after them, he tugged her against him and slid to his knees, burying his mouth in her wet pussy. She gasped in shock and then her fingers curled in his hair, her body shuddering as his tongue darted into the slit of her pussy and stroked her clit.

He wanted to make her come as fast and as hard as he had. One hand stole between her buttocks and he ran his fingers along the seam of her sex, then plunged a finger into her wet core. His
tongue continued to flick and suck against her clit, relentless and determined.

Miranda shivered against him, and then he heard her breath choke in her throat, and her fingernails dug into his scalp, rough, and she came in a wet, salty rush against his tongue.

He gave her clit one last, satisfying lick, savoring the taste, and then looked up at her and grinned. “Not much staying power?”

She gave him a dazed laugh, the tension in her face gone. “Guess not.”

For the next two days, they didn’t have a chance to sneak in any alone time. It was starting to make Miranda antsy—each time they’d sneak off into the woods, someone would follow them. They hadn’t been able to do more than steal a kiss or two, and Miranda was starting to feel anxious. It was going to be tricky to keep Dane interested if they couldn’t have sex, after all. So she did her best to cast him longing glances and let her fingers linger on him when she had the chance. Not that she had to try hard to look at him longingly—she couldn’t wait to have sex again.