She turned back to find him staring directly at her. Her stomach tightened. That darkened stare had her nerves on edge. She didn’t want to see this side of him. She didn’t want to see him as a human with real feelings. From the second she turned into the drive and saw that iron arch with the ranch name, Dane had become a complete stranger. She didn’t know where the man was from the resort, but damn if her heart didn’t have a hole in it that was just his size.
She could walk away, no matter how much it hurt, if she could convince herself that everything about that man she’d thought he was had been a lie. But the longer she stayed, the more she realized the truth was complicated—and so was Dane.
“I realize we’re not that different,” she stated. “We both want the same thing for justifiable reasons.”
Dane started forward, but Stella held up her hands and kept going. “Your methods are clearly what sets us apart. I never would’ve used someone, blindsided them, and then stolen their life.”
“You really think your dad was just going to turn the resort over to you?”
Stella’s heart clenched. “Maybe not, but I had a fighting chance before you came along throwing your money and whatever else at him.”
Dane crossed his arms over his chest and clenched his jaw. “I gave him two of my businesses on top of the money.”
Part of her admired the lengths he would go to in order to reclaim his mother’s legacy. The other part of her, the part that had been manipulated, hated every part of Dane Michaels for going behind her back to steal what she’d thought could be hers.
But damn if she wasn’t still attracted to him. Her body still responded to that midnight gaze, those broad shoulders...one glimpse of those talented hands.
Why couldn’t there be some switch to turn off emotions and tingly reactions? Sex messed with her head. Great sex somehow managed to mess with her heart because there was no way she’d fallen for him. Stella refused to believe that she could have in such a short time.
“You’re thinking.”
Dane’s words settled between them. That low tone always got to her in ways she’d never been able to explain. How could a voice cause arousal?
But, yes, she was thinking. Thinking how she was stuck here waiting for the storm to pass. Thinking about how she’d been used. Thinking about how the past few weeks had been out of her control and she wanted to take that control back.
Stella took a step toward Dane before she could talk herself out of this. If she thought too much she’d find every reason not to
take this leap. But for now, just for this moment, she was in charge and she’d be damned if anyone else would ever take the decisions from her again.
“I hate you,” she told him as she started working on the buttons on her dress. “I hate how you stole my world from me. But you’re right. You are the same man who stayed in my bed when I was exhausted and alone, who helped me when I didn’t even ask. You’re the same man my body craves and the man I can’t stop wanting.”
“Stella—”
“No.” She shrugged out of her dress, sending it to the floor in a whisper. “I call the shots now. You used me, right? Well, I’m about to use you. I want you and I’m going to have you.”
Dane’s eyes widened, his jaw clenched and his nostrils flared. She recognized his signs of arousal and desire. His gaze raked over her nearly bare body. She had on only her knee boots and her matching nude lace bra and panties.
“This isn’t a good idea,” he told her. “You know it’s not. Are you doing this to get back at me?”
Stella shrugged. “Perhaps. But I’m also doing it because I want you. I wish I could turn that off, but I see you and my body responds.”
She quickly rid herself of her boots before focusing on him again. “Unless you’ve decided you’ve gotten all you wanted from me.”
Dane muttered a curse before he was on her. “I should turn you away, but damn if you don’t have some power over me.”
He scooped her up and started back toward the entryway, back toward the steps.
“Not your bedroom,” she commanded.
There was no way she’d go somewhere that personal, that intimate.
“This isn’t anything more than sex,” she added.
Dane set her back on her feet and backed her against the wide door frame leading from the living room. For a half second, he merely stared, seeming to take in her entire body with one hungry sweep.
Then he thrust his hands through her hair and captured her lips. Stella arched her body and found the edge of his T-shirt. With frantic motions, she jerked it up, pulling her lips away long enough to get the shirt up and over his head. Then he was on her again as she went for his belt and the snap on his jeans.
She’d barely gotten them unzipped when he pulled away. Dane kept his eyes on her while he reached into his pocket and pulled out protection. He covered himself and stepped back toward her.