which to give her pleasure or pain. The thought made her breathless.
Axel slammed back in a moment later, returning to the bar with a bucket in his hand. She frowned. What the hell?
After he set it on the floor beside him, he returned to cage her body against the wall with his own. If anything, his face loomed closer, his lips an aching breath away. Mystery tried to inch closer and seal her lips over his. Before she could even blink, he grabbed her wrists and held her against the wall. She gripped the neck of the bottle, kind of wishing he’d pour it all over her body and lick it off.
“You’re saying yes?” he asked in a rough whisper.
“Yes.”
“Whatever I want?”
To all the erotic ways he could take her currently spinning in her head? “Yes.”
He grabbed the bottle from her grip and took a step back. “I’m saying no, Mystery.” Before she could sputter a reply, he turned the bottle upside down and poured the tequila into the bucket, onto a mound of dirt he’d scooped inside.
“What the hell are you doing?” she screeched.
Axel shook the bottle a couple of times to make sure every last drop emptied out. “No, Mystery. I don’t think you’ve heard that word enough in your life. No, you cannot get wasted. No, you cannot check out when you’re in the middle of danger. And no, you cannot have sex with me just because you want it.”
He dumped the empty bottle into the bucket and turned his back on her.
Shock pelted her, then quickly morphed to anger. She charged after him. When he whirled to face her, she poked a finger into his steely chest. “You wanted me. I felt it.” She stared pointedly at his tented towel. “I still see it.”
He stiffened. “I’m just a man. You’re a pretty girl. But I don’t need to fuck someone every time I have an itch to scratch. Do you?”
“No. I just thought—”
“I was a novelty? I’d thank my lucky stars that you’d grant me use of your famous pussy for an hour or two so you could wrap me around your little finger?”
“No!” That he’d even imagined she felt that way horrified her.
He narrowed his eyes, and she felt chastened. “Then what did you think, girl?”
Tears welled. Her mouth turned down, and she knew an ugly cry was coming. She couldn’t stop it to save her life. “That I liked you and wanted you. I hoped you liked and wanted me, too.”
Something in his face softened, but his stance didn’t. “I like you just fine. You’re easy to talk to. You learn fast. You’ve got backbone and a tender heart—an appealing combination.”
“Then why—”
“You need to finish growing up. And you can’t handle what I’d demand from you in bed, especially after the trauma you’ve just been through. Besides, you’re too damn young for sex.”
“I’m not fucking five. I’m a legal adult.”
“So you think that means you should exercise your right to spread your legs?”
“You don’t have to be an ass about it.” She swiped away the unwanted tears scalding her cheeks. “What’s your hang-up, anyway? It’s not like I’m a virgin.”
His expression became a fortress, the windows to his soul slamming shut and cutting her off from his every thought. “So you think I should corrupt you more?” He raised a brow at her. “The absence of a hymen doesn’t make you a woman. We’re done here. Take your lantern, get in bed, and try to sleep.”
With just a few sentences, he’d turned her down cold, embarrassed the hell out of her, and dismissed her utterly. A part of her wanted to call him names, argue and rail. The other part felt too humiliated and just wanted to escape.
But she couldn’t resist a parting shot. “Fine. Just don’t talk to me anymore. Don’t act nice or pretend you give a shit. Just do what my father paid you to do and get me home.”
Chapter Six
Present day
EARTH to Elise.” Axel snapped his fingers.
His words didn’t jar her back to the present, but the sharp sound following did. Mystery started and blinked at him. Crap, how long had she been drifting into the past?
“Sorry. I . . .” What did she say now? She didn’t really have an excuse other than a trip down memory lane in which he’d been the star. Not that she could tell him that. He’d turned her down flat once. Despite their promising exchange at the bar, Mystery feared he’d do it again.
“You having second thoughts?”
“No.” Hell no. “Last I recall, I asked you if we could hit your bedroom and you could lose some clothes.”
“We were kissing. You in some hurry?”
He couldn’t begin to imagine how done she was waiting for him. Just being in the same room with him excited her beyond belief—unlike the last time they’d shared space.
After he’d rejected her in the old hotel’s bar, Mystery had felt two inches tall. She didn’t think he’d intended to hurt her feelings as much as he’d wanted to put distance between them. In retrospect, she would have turned herself down, too. She’d been a stupid kid playing adult games. And she hadn’t been in the right mind-set for sex. He’d known that. But his rebuff had dented her pride and wounded her heart. She’d stomped up the stairs to bed, expecting to spend a few hours alone to cry out her confusion and heartache. Instead, he’d followed right behind her and plopped himself onto the chair in the corner, then spread his big-ass gun across his lap.
She’d been so pissed off that he’d denied her the privacy of a good cry.
A couple of hours later, he’d awakened her fully dressed. He’d handed her the bra and panties he’d washed for her and instructed her to get her clothes on. Ten minutes later, they’d been walking through the desert, lit only by the moonlight, neither saying a word.
As dawn broke, they’d walked into Keeler and were spotted by an elderly man, who kindly let them borrow his phone. Fifteen minutes later, the Inyo County Sheriff’s Department showed up, sirens blaring, and took her back to her father. She hadn’t seen Axel much during questioning, just long enough for him to ask her to keep his name out of the press and to wish her well.
A media circus ensued afterward. Her picture had been plastered everywhere. She’d hidden in her house for weeks, waiting for the frenzy to die down. Her father had hired her a publicist and an agent . . . then drowned himself in a new starlet. She’d been approached to write her story for millions of dollars by publishers and TV producers. Mystery had refused them. She didn’t want to recount for the world how stupid she’d been.
And she’d never heard from Axel again.
The other dark cloud hanging over her memory? Her abduction had never been solved. Her captor had been identified as a thug for hire with a record a mile long, but they’d never managed to figure out who had paid him to kidnap her or why. Her father had freaked out, convinced that his celebrity had been to blame, that someone wanting to extort money or kick-start their fifteen minutes of fame had taken her. In the absence of a better theory, it made sense. He’d insisted they move elsewhere, and had been prepping to shoot a film in London. Mystery had tagged along, and they’d never left.
In the ensuing six and a half years, she’d put the incident behind her, stopped having nightmares, and managed to move forward again. She’d finished university, three cozy mysteries with a hip flair, the most recent of which would be published in June. She’d learned self-defense, taken up yoga, and begun to live with purpose. She’d succeeded at everything she attempted—except having a full love life.
She’d never, ever been able to forget Axel or stop wondering what if things had been different . . .
“I might be in a bit of a hurry,” she admitted, glancing at Axel from beneath her lashes. “But I suspect you’ll be worth the wait.”
He grinned, flashing his dimples. “You’re an interesting little flirt.”
Interesting? Mystery wasn’t sure if that was a rebuke or a compliment. “Surely you didn’t bring me here simply to figure me out.”
“Maybe I did. You intrigue me.” He cocked his head. “And you look somewhat familiar.”
Fear struck to the bottom of her heart, but she plastered on her best poker face and tried to laugh it off. “You don’t have to feed me a pick-up line. I’m already here.”
Before he could respond, she wriggled off the counter and landed on her feet, brushing up against him. She knew Axel preferred to be in charge, but damn it, she couldn’t give him too much time to think. And she didn’t want to wait anymore.
Mystery reached for the hem of her tank top, then pulled it over her head in one fluid move. As she flung the cotton onto the counter behind her, she heard him suck in a sharp breath and found him staring at her plump mounds spilling from her underwire lingerie.
Yeah, if you like this lacy black bra, wait until you see the matching thong.
“You look . . . edible.”
If that was true, why wouldn’t he take a bite out of her? She cupped her breasts in offering and leaned closer. Instead of grabbing her by the hand and hauling her to his bedroom to promptly strip her down and plunge inside her, he grabbed her shoulders and drilled his stare into her.
“I’m going to take you so hard, baby. But in my time and in my way. Come with me. Leave your shirt there.”
When he clasped her hand and hauled her out of the kitchen, she wondered where they were headed. It didn’t take long before she realized he really did want to cuddle on the couch. He sat on a sleek gray sectional and pulled her into his lap. On the bright side, she felt his very insistent erection against her hip. The huge drawback? He wanted to talk. The longer they chatted, the more time he had to figure out who she truly was.
“Call me old-fashioned, but I like to know a little something about a woman before we share skin.”
“Not much to say. I’m boring unless I’m horizontal.”
He tossed his head back and laughed. “Somehow, I doubt that. And the more you push me, the more I’m going to drag this out. So give over and tell me all about you.”
Mystery believed him. He hadn’t hopped into bed with her simply because he could years ago. Apparently, nothing had changed. “I’m twentysomething and single, educated, and tired of European men. I’m here on vacation and fascinated by you.”
“Why? You don’t know me.”
More than one flippant answer streamed through her head, but she’d been mostly stupid and impatient today. If she wanted him, she had to put a hold on her hormones and her heart. She had to use her damn head.
“You look . . . comfortable in your skin. You seem the sort of man who lives life robustly. You can relax, as you were when I saw you at the bar, drinking your ale. But you quickly caught on to my intent, and I like people with brains and wit. I can’t deny that I found you quite sexy. Does attraction require more explanation than that?”
He raised a brow at her as his hand slid down her waist, over her hip, caressed her thigh. Mystery didn’t feel just a shiver roll over her skin; his touch shook her whole body.
“I suppose not,” he admitted. “But you’ve given it more than a little thought.”
If he only knew . . .
“Why did you say yes?”
She probably shouldn’t ask because he’d start dissecting his reasons and replay their meet in his head. Who knew where that would take his thoughts? But she was too desperate for the answer to keep her mouth shut.
“I like a straightforward girl who can tell me what she wants but doesn’t always expect to get it. You intrigued me since you obviously didn’t belong in that bar and felt more than a bit of trepidation going in. But you put your big girl panties on and did it, anyway. I’m still not sure why, and your attempt to order wine made me smile. I haven’t been amused in a long time.”
She let out a slow breath. Intriguing and amusing she could handle. Him guessing her identity would make this whole evening go south. Mystery felt somewhat guilty for tricking him. He didn’t want her then, and if he knew who she was, she doubted he’d want her now. But she honestly didn’t know how else to move on with her life. She no longer had any taste for vain actors, party-hardy musicians, or “regular” but starstruck men. Mystery seemed completely stuck on Axel.
“I’d like the chance to amuse you more.” She leaned forward and layered her lips over his.
He let her, cupping her nape to bring her closer. He sank past her lips with a groan, his tongue seeking hers for a sensual slide as his palm found its way up her abdomen, then paused just below her breast. Soon—finally—Axel Dillon would actually be more intimate with her than a kiss. Mystery wanted to arch into his hand until he palmed her breast, but she knew he wouldn’t give her what she wanted simply because she wanted it. So she waited, hoping, unable to catch her breath. Even the thought of his touch made her light-headed.
Instead, he leaned back and stared into her face, as if trying to figure her out. No, as if trying to figure out who she was.
Time to distract him—fast.
She repositioned herself on his lap until she straddled him and pressed her sex against the ridge of his hard cock. Gyrating over his erection, she arched her back and thrust her breasts closer to his mouth. He braced his big hands around her waist and ground her onto his thick staff with a groan. As a thrill reverberated through her body, she reached behind her back and unclasped her bra. Her breasts bounced free, and she brushed one of her nipples across his lips.
“You’re pushing me,” he warned.
“I want you to see what I’m dying to give you.”
Axel took her face in his big hands. “You want to show me?”
She nodded too quickly, aware that she was making the same mistake she had more than once—throwing herself at him. But damn it, this man made her lose all self-control. “Please tell me you want to see me.”
“Oh, yeah. But we’re going to do this my way. Stand.”
Mystery wasn’t at all surprised when he took control. She’d expected it, hoped for it. Since he’d divulged the fact that he was Dominant, she’d done some reading and talking to people in the lifestyle. She probably only knew enough to be dangerous, but what she’d learned had prepared her to roll with his commands.
On shaking legs, she backed off his lap and rose to her feet in front of him, wearing her jeans and sandals and not much else.
“You listen well and you take direction nicely. Have you strolled down this path before?”
She knew he asked if she’d ever dabbled in BDSM. After the lies she’d already told him, she wanted to stick with as much of the truth as possible. “Not personally. I know something about it, though.”
He sat up straighter with a long, slow smile. “Looks like my afternoon just got more interesting. You wearing panties?”
She nodded, then remembered he liked verbal responses. “Yes, Axel.”
Mystery nearly bit her tongue after that. Crap, she didn’t need to jog his memory about their days together in Death Valley. On the other hand, how many women since then had given him their assent to do his worst using just those words? She tried not to answer herself.
He cocked his head again. “Compliant. But I still see your head working. Interesting . . . Strip off everything but the panties.”
She probably should have thought of it sooner, but he didn’t have a single drape covering the windows, and the blinds had been opened all the way to their casings, leaving the glass bare. Houses surrounded him. Could any of his neighbors see inside his place?
“You’re hesitating,” he observed. “Tell me the problem.”
“I’m eager to show you what you asked to see.” She cast her gaze along the back wall of windows again. “I don’t really want to show anyone else.”
“While you’re with me, it’s my job to keep you safe and protected. I realize you don’t know me, and I’m asking for a lot of trust, so I’m going to be lenient. My neighbors on the left don’t have any windows facing this direction. My neighbors on the right are in Cabo all week. I’ve intentionally grown the tre
es in my backyard tall enough to block the sight line between the second story windows of the house behind me and my own. Any other questions?”
In short, no one would be able to sneak a cheap peek—or