The Girl's Guide to (Man)Hunting (11 page)

He rubbed a hand over his mouth, and it curved in a slow smile that irritated the shit out of her. “If it makes you feel any better, if I weren’t on the job, I’d take you back into the woods again and fuck a few more orgasms out of you.” His eyes smoldered down at her. “Since that’s clearly what you’re here for.”

The arrogant piece of shit! Did he think she was all over him because someone had paid her money? Her hand clenched even harder. So much for enjoying kissing Dane—all she wanted right now was to kick him in the groin. Hard.

“That’s sweet,” she said in a dry voice. Her arms crossed over her chest and she gave him an angry, mulish look. “But if you call me a whore again, Pete’s not going to be the only one nursing a bruised jaw. Understand me?”

“Are you mad at me? I was trying to flatter you. I haven’t seen you in nine years and I have to admit that you look amazing.” Dane’s smile tilted. “Sorry if that offends you.”

“That’s not the part that offends me,” she bit out. “It’s the part where you keep saying someone paid me to sleep with you.”

His easy grin disappeared entirely. “You mean Colt and Grant didn’t approach you to…come to me?”

A sour taste built in her mouth. “I said all of three words to Colt yesterday. I haven’t talked to Grant since high school. Why would they pay me to come out on a survival trip?”

Dane remained silent for a long moment. “That…wasn’t what I meant. Did they ask you to hit on me?”

“No!” Her voice raised an outraged octave. “Why would I sleep with you for money?”

A hand covered her mouth. Dane pressed his hand over her lips, his palm warm. He glanced back at the camp to see if the others had awakened from the sound of their argument, but they slept on. Dane reached over and touched her arm, pulling her closer so they could talk quietly, his hand falling from her mouth. “Miranda…” he began, then stopped, studying her face for a long moment.

She felt the insane urge to tug at her collar.

“If you’re not doing this because Colt or Grant put you up to it, then why did you sleep with me?”

“Jeez, I didn’t realize I was that bad of a lay.”

His gaze dropped to her mouth. “Not in the slightest,” he said, his voice dipping to a husky tone. His thumb brushed against her lower lip. “But you can’t think I wouldn’t be suspicious of your motives. You packed an entire bag of lingerie for a survival trip.”

“I told you why,” she said defensively, pulling away. “I wanted to see if I could have a…you know”—she waved a hand—“with you, or if I was totally broken. And now that I know that I can…come”—she still blushed at saying the word—“with a man and not just a battery-powered toy, I’m satisfied. I don’t need you any longer.”

She was lying through her teeth, of course, to see if he would take the bait.

“Were you?” he said in a low, husky voice. His gaze remained on her mouth and he brushed his thumb over her lip again, tugging
her mouth open a little. “Satisfied with that? Because it was just a quick meeting in the woods, Miranda. If you think that’s the best I’ve got to offer, you’re sorely mistaken.”

Her knees trembled a little at the thought. “Oh?”

A slow smile curved his mouth, and he pulled her closer to him. His hand caressed her cheek and stroked down her neck, playing with the neckline of her shirt. Touching her as if he owned her—possessed her. The thought made her weak. “That was just one tiny little orgasm,” he said. “I bet if you give me the chance, I could make you come two, maybe three times in a row.”

“Three times?” Her breath caught a little at the thought. She’d read romance novels where the heroine screamed the entire time they had sex, and movies made it look like an hours-long marathon, of course, but her experiences had been sadly underwhelming in that respect. Even her rendezvous with Dane—while mind-blowing in itself—had been a brief excursion. “Is that normal?”

“It is when you’re in bed with me,” he said softly, and his hand slid down her back, fingers tickling her spine before resting on the small of her back. “Don’t tell me you’ve never had a man lick that sweet pussy of yours for hours, making you come so often that your legs won’t support you any longer?”

Her legs were having difficulty supporting her body right now. She felt weak, boneless like he described, and the urge to lean against him and sink into his warmth was nearly overwhelming. She realized he was watching her, waiting for her answer, and she shook her head. “It’s none of your business, Dane, but I’ve had plenty of oral sex.” That was a lie. She’d had some, but when it became obvious that she was just uncomfortable instead of enjoying herself, it was quickly taken off the table.
After a while, she’d given up on oral altogether. “Lots. So don’t you worry about me.”

“And no orgasms? I’m heartbroken at the thought. Those must have been some shitty boyfriends.”

A laugh escaped her throat, and she quickly muffled it again, then gave him a skeptical look. “What makes you think I’m interested in another round, Dane? Maybe I sampled the goods and found them lacking.”

“You didn’t,” he said confidently. His hand slid back up her spine and he cupped the base of her neck, pulling her close and tilting her head back. “Did you? I bet if I dropped to the ground and kissed that pussy of yours, you’d let me do whatever I wanted to you.”

Dear God, it was true. Her fingers wrapped in his shirt and she clung to him. Dane was taller than her by a few inches, but he’d bent near and their faces were so close together that she could smell the musk of his skin and see the shadow of a beard on his chin. He licked his lips as if he were still thinking about putting his mouth on her pussy, and her entire body tingled in response, a throb starting low in her sex. His other hand slid to her ass, pulling her body against him. Her nipples grazed his chest and she gasped.

His mouth brushed against her own, giving her the most fleeting of kisses. “How about,” he said softly, “I drop to my knees right now and give you a taste?”

“Do it,” she breathed, her heart pounding in her breast.

He grinned at her and slid his hands to her waist. As she watched him, he dropped to his knees, his face going to the cradle of her thighs and—

“Hey,” called a voice back at the camp. “Anyone seen Dane?”

Dane jerked upright, nearly knocking her over in his haste to
get to his feet. The look in his eyes had gone from sexy to wildly paranoid in a flash.

With a sigh, she realized that she wasn’t going to get what he’d promised after all. “Guess we’ll never find out if you’re full of hot air, will we? Shame.”

The look he gave her was hot, and he pulled her in for a quick, fierce kiss. “Tonight. You don’t say a thing, I don’t say a thing, and we meet again tonight.” Then he disappeared into the bushes, trudging his way back to camp.

Tonight? She curled her toes in anticipation at the thought, then sighed. The blood still throbbed in her veins and tonight was a very, very long day away. She waited a few minutes, then sauntered back to camp herself, tying the strings on her shorts as if to make it look like she’d been in the woods for a different reason.

Dane looked up as she reentered the camp and gave her a light wave, as if just now seeing her. What a faker. “Morning, Miranda. Sleep well?”

“Like a baby.” She said the lie with a grin, and moved to the far side of the camp to get her pack. As she walked, she let her hips roll, and swung her long, tangled hair over her shoulder, knowing that he was watching. Dane wanted to see her tonight. That thrilled her just a little too much to fit in with her plans, and she frowned to herself. If this revenge idea was going to work, she needed to keep control of the situation. And Dane had just taken control a few minutes ago. Worse, she’d been ready and willing to give it to him.

She was going to need to be tougher if she wanted to get revenge on Casanova Croft, rather than just be one of his conquests.

O

Dane showed them how to make a fire bundle that would keep an ember smoldering while they walked, and he handed it to Miranda to carry. “It’s very important that you keep this going at all times,” he said to her, his face utterly serious. “If you keep it smoldering, you can rekindle a fire with just a touch.”

She stared at him, then at the fire bundle, her thoughts on things other than fire. Was his meaning what she thought it was…? She decided to test that theory. “I think I can manage to keep a spark burning,” she said in a low, husky voice, and
licked her lips. “Even if it requires working it a little to fan the flame. It’ll be worth it, don’t you think?”

The look in his eyes grew hot, and she knew they were thinking the same thing. “See that you do. I’d hate to have to start all over, though…I’d be happy to show you how to tend it again, if need be.”

Her pulse fluttered and she tried not to blush. Show her how to tend her fires, indeed.

As the team hiked, Dane pointed out flora and fauna to them. He showed them a poisonous spider, demonstrated which nuts were edible, and gave them a nature lesson as they walked. Occasionally he’d pick up a bit of tinder or a particular leaf, his eyes constantly scanning the environment.

It was actually really interesting information, and Miranda would have appreciated it if she hadn’t been quite so distracted all the time. The vision of Dane’s tight ass muddied her thoughts of revenge, as did the incredible sex they’d had last night. And the conversation this morning. She couldn’t stop thinking about three orgasms. Three. It seemed like a sinful concept to her, when she struggled so hard to have just one in bed. Here he was offering her three. Her pussy clenched at the thought of him between her legs, languidly licking her to orgasm, and she felt the slick wetness of arousal.

Her spark was definitely going to keep going all day. By the time they were able to sneak away tonight, she’d probably come as soon as he said hello to her. And then he’d give her a smug smile, showing her that he was the shit and she was just another dumb girl who had fallen for his prowess in the sack…

But even as she said it to herself, the puzzle pieces didn’t fit. Last night, when she’d come on to him, he hadn’t acted like it was his due, or that he’d expected it. He’d seem shocked—and then flattered. And then, he was just as turned on as she was. That didn’t match the womanizing flirt she remembered and the tabloids had loved to harass. The man in her mind was far more self-centered and smug than this one seemed. Had Dane learned humility at some point? Had Casanova Croft had all the womanizing arrogance beaten out of him?

She doubted it.

They hiked over a ridge and Dane suddenly staked the flag in the ground. “This will be our next campsite.”

Miranda glanced around, but there didn’t seem to be anything particularly special about this spot. They’d passed the stream again about five minutes ago, so maybe that was why—nearby water in easy access.

The team dumped their packs on the ground and began to stretch, Pete wiping his brow. The gamer CEO was in worse shape than the rest of them; he began sweating as soon as they started hiking and didn’t stop until he went to sleep.

“What do we do now?” George said, looking expectantly at Dane.

Dane grinned and clapped the man on the back. “Now you’re going to get a chance to show me the survival skills that you’ve picked up. I showed you some things last night and this morning, and I want to see what you’ve learned.”

With that simple command, the team set to work. George left to go into the woods and begin setting up traps, and Pete headed off with the fishing line to do his task. He looked uncomfortable
at the thought, but no one offered to help him with it. After the disastrous incident involving her boobs, Pete had been reassigned from water and firewood to fishing (to get him away from her, she suspected). She couldn’t say she was sorry for it.

So now it was Will who was assigned to help her with the firewood, and while she waited for him to bring back the first bundle, she examined their new campsite. There was a small, scorched area that told her someone had built a fire here in the past, and she ran her shoe over it, looking for small rocks that would pop when heated. Nothing. Holding her fire bundle in her hands, she glanced around.

Dane stood nearby, arms crossed, leaning against a tree. He’d been muttering something into his satellite phone. Even though he was concentrating on something else, his gaze was on her, watching her as she worked around the campsite. For some reason that made her blush.
Dane Croft,
she thought. So very, very arrogant and self-assured. So certain that she’d take him up on the three orgasms he’d offered her that evening, now that he was assured she wouldn’t run and tell his partners that he was sleeping with the clientele.

She wanted to put him in his place…or kiss him. Right now she couldn’t decide which, and loathed herself for it. She was supposed to hate the man, not think about his mouth on her body all day. Not blush when he looked in her direction. Where was her righteous indignation? Or was she starting to lose her edge?

Scowling at the thought, she turned back to the fire. She needed to focus on work, not on sex. Starting a fire would distract her.

There was a scatter of larger rocks nearby and she spent some time gathering them and forming a circle to ring the fire and keep
it from spreading. Once that was done, she dug out the small area inside the rocks and then began to place the wood on it, stacking it the way she had been shown as Will came back with armful after armful. Poor Will had a thankless task—yesterday they’d realized just how much wood was needed to keep a fire going all night, and she suspected he’d gotten the raw end of the deal…and she’d gotten the easy job that kept her at camp and close at hand.

Miranda’s mouth soured at that. Protecting the girl? Or keeping her close for other reasons? Frowning to herself, she stacked the wood and then sat back to examine her fire pit. Not bad. She’d gathered some fallen leaves and dried grasses to use as tinder as they’d hiked. Her pockets had bulged with the material and now she pulled it out and began to set it at the base of the fire. Her fire bundle had been carefully tended all day, and every time she’d coaxed a bit of smoke out of the coals, she’d grown aroused all over again, thinking of Dane and his promises to her.