CHAPTER ONE
“You want it fast, Sugar?”
“Yes. Oh yes. Always.”
She slammed back against the wall, pulling him with her. He deftly unbuttoned her blouse, exposing her black bra while she clutched his butt and tried to yank him closer, fumbling with his belt in sensual fury.
“Can’t wait two minutes to get upstairs?” He laughed, bending to lick the taut nipple pushing against the lace confinement.
“You know damn well I can’t,” she answered rough and breathless, and butter-fingered.
“Too quick,” he warned, but his hand slid under her skirt.
“Too bad. I want it. Now.”
There was a heavy clink as his belt hit the floor and she smiled up at him. A wanton, vital smile of success.
But he shook his head, his eyes gleaming wickedly. “You’re coming first.”
She arched against him. “On your cock, damn it.”
“On my fingers, Sugar. Or my tongue. Your call.”
“I call for cock.” She reached up and nipped his lips with her teeth.
“Fingers,” he argued. “And thumb.”
Back. Away. Now.
Step back from the window.
Nicoletta Valeri knew she should listen to her damn conscience and bolt from the intensely intimate scene unfolding before her. But she didn’t move. She couldn’t. Her gaze was glued to that gap in the curtain and what she could see of those swiftly moving bodies; the snatches of skin, the secret smiles and sparkling eyes. Her ears strained to catch the frantically uttered sensual whispers… to that passion.
He was kissing her neck now and did something Nicoletta couldn’t see—beneath the skirt. The woman threw her head back and moaned.
Goosebumps riddled Nicoletta’s skin. The raw pleasure in that sobbing sound?
Transfixed, she held her breath as the echo reverberated around her own emptiness. Never had a man made her release such an uncontrollable, carnal cry.
She stood motionless in the cold, shadowed corridor, watching as the couple stared at each other. They were suddenly still, silent, intent. She instinctively understood what this moment was.
Anticipation.
There was a slight movement, the woman whimpered. The next second, he thrust. Hard.
Nicoletta flinched, shocked at their matching expressions—the almost unbearable strain of relief and pleasure and that driving ache for more. They groaned, gathering shattered emotions, bracing to move closer still.
She’d seen sex scenes in movies. She’d watched a porno in a hotel one time with Brandon. But she’d never seen anything as elemental or as raw, as this. She wrapped her arms across her chest as her ribs tightened.
Back. Away. Now.
They were so tightly focused on each other, they’d never know she’d been there. All she had to do was walk—
“You’re tight, Sugar.” Tension radiated from his stance. “You need me to lick—”
“Don’t stop fucking me.” Sugar half ordered, half pleaded, her eyes filled with desperate want. “Don’t stop loving me.”
“Never.” He groaned, then hoisted her higher so he could push deeper. Slow, careful, sure and strong. “Never.”
Her heart-aching sigh was cut short by his kiss. Hell, the way they kissed. The way he took…
Nicoletta’s throat was dry. So were her eyes. She needed to blink, breathe, swallow. But heat shimmered through that tiny gap, giving her a glimpse into their private intimacy and burned her insides out.
Move, Nicoletta. This is wrong. So wrong.
But she couldn’t tear her gaze from something so right. Something she’d never had. Something she wanted so badly it made her skin blister.
A movement at her side made her turn. Horrified, she gasped. She wasn’t alone out here anymore. A man was leaning on the wall she was pressed back against. He wasn’t watching the action through the window, he was watching her.
Before her startled scream could sound he clamped his hand over her mouth and grabbed her wrist in his other hand, tugging so she lowered her arm. And as he stepped closer a bar of light from the room hit his face and she recognized the devilish upturn of his mouth.
Her heart stopped beating. Any last shred of dignity was smoked.
How long had he been there? Why hadn’t she heard him walk towards her? Why hadn’t she damn well walked away sooner? It was too late now. Humiliation was here. Mortified, she made herself look into his eyes. She knew they’d be green.
Yeah, they were very, very green right now.
Austin freaking Tate.
The burning sensation in her chest intensified. Could she die now please? Now and forever?
Doctor Austin Tate was sports doctor to the ski stars. Or he had been. Until she’d screwed—
The unmistakable sounds of escalating pleasure spiraled out of that room. Roughened breathing. The slap of skin on skin. Whispers. The cacophony of desire swirled, only to disappear in the cold darkness of the corridor.
The cold darkness where she now stood. With him. The man she longed to loathe. And couldn’t.
She didn’t look back at the lovers in the room. Austin’s eyes now trapped hers. And his grip on her wrist was a shackle.
He kept his broad hand over her mouth—hard—and took a step backwards, drawing her away from the private meeting room at the back of Summerhill Lodge. He walked slowly, keeping her with him. Keeping her silent. Keepin
g their presence undetected.
They’d taken only a few steps when the unrestrained cries of orgasm sounded.
Nicoletta stumbled. Austin’s hold tightened, his eyes narrowing, their vividness intensifying. The pressure on her mouth deepened, his palm crushing her lips. It was the closest she’d ever gotten to him. And for a wild second she wanted the rest of his weight crushing her.
They stood frozen together. She couldn’t tear away from him. She couldn’t hide.
He dropped his hand from her mouth but kept that steely grip on her wrist and marched her back to the bar she’d walked out of only ten minutes before when she’d seen him on the far side of it, sitting with no less than three women.
She was such a stupid fool.
Now he led her to the vacant stools at the very end of the half empty bar. He finally released her wrist but stood on the exit side, so she’d have to push past him to get away. She got the impression there’d be no getting away just yet.
She didn’t take a seat, just waited for the scathing words to emerge. She deserved every one of them. But he didn’t say anything. He just leaned against the bar and looked down at her. Also waiting.
She stared at the smug smile now curling his mouth. It irritated the hell out of her, the way it had a year ago. Always he looked at her like he knew something about her—something that privately amused him.
Well, she’d given him plenty to be amused about now, hadn’t she?
Anger flashed. “Did you have to hold my wrist so tight?” She rubbed it pointedly. “There’ll be a bruise tomorrow.”
“Did you have to stand there watching Connor have sex with his fiancée?” he countered dryly.
Shame burned. Envy burned deeper.
That woman was Connor Hughes’s fiancée? So the two of them were going to have sex that awesome for the rest of their lives? And despite knowing that, they still wanted each other so much they couldn’t wait to get to their own room only a flight of stairs away?
“How long were you watching me?” Cold sweat slicked her palms. She’d long wanted Austin’s attention—but never like this.
He looked even more amused. “Why, you feel violated or something?”
Ouch. Why did Austin Tate have to bust her in the most humiliating moment of her life?
The dumb-ass, frankly delicious doctor had charmed every woman in her ski squad. They’d all wanted a taste of his wicked skills. All tried in their own ways to bag him. And yeah, Nicoletta hadn’t been immune either. She’d tried. Just the once. And she, like everyone else, had failed.
“I need a drink.” She turned away from the mockery in Austin’s green-eyed gaze and called to the bartender. “Three shots of tequila.”
“There are only two of us.”
“None of them are for you,” she snapped.
She didn’t want him anymore, right? She loathed him. Okay, right now she loathed herself.
“You’re going to have all three?” His eyebrows arched. “Who are you and what have you done with Nicoletta Valeri? She doesn’t drink. She’s too much the pro athlete.”
“Just goes to show you don’t know everything about me.” She picked up the first shot and knocked it back, swallowing hard as her eyes stung.
“True,” he replied blandly. “I never would’ve guessed you’re a voyeur.”
She sucked in a breath and it wasn’t because of the alcohol burning down her throat. Really making a meal of it, wasn’t he? “It wasn’t what it looked like.”
“You can say that if it makes you feel better,” he said, eyeing her sharply as she set the glass back down. “No salt and lime?”
“I want to feel the full burn.”
“Because you’re not burning up enough already?”
She sent him a venomous look. Only it didn’t satisfy her need to strike, because just looking at him made her draw another breath. Austin Tate was devilishly handsome. Tall, lean, with russet colored hair and an imp in his eyes that spelled trouble. Sinful, filthy trouble. The kind of trouble Nicoletta ached for and never got.
His all-black jeans and tee combo showed off his lightly tanned muscular frame—a light outfit in spite of the freezeroid temperatures outside. But Austin could get from the bar to his bed without stepping outside. So could she. So could all the women present—hence their slinky dresses and sexy heels. But Nicoletta still wore the jeans, silk shirt, and ankle boots she’d travelled to Summerhill in tonight. She’d come straight to the bar, knowing she’d most likely find everyone there.
And she had.
“What were you doing out the back anyway?” he asked.
Like she was about to tell him she’d gone out there to avoid watching him score some other woman?
“It’s the private area,” he added when she didn’t respond. “Or does Princess NV think she can go wherever the hell she pleases?”
NV—Envy—the nickname she hated. The one her momager had made her ‘own’ and appropriate for her ‘brand’. It was all over her helmet, even the clothing line she endorsed. She was the Slalom Queen who had it all—stellar ski career, modeling and sponsorship contracts, hot Hollywood boyfriend…
Well, one thing might’ve changed, but two out of three still wasn’t bad.
“I’ve been coming here most of my life, I’m allowed to go the staff routes.” She glared at him.
“What were you thinking?” His brow furrowed. “You’re lucky I was the one who caught you.”
That he’d busted her was the most unlucky thing in the world. Anyone would have been better than him.
“What would all your sponsors say, huh? Your young fans?” He continued with a shake of his head. “You’re usually more careful.”
“I didn’t do it deliberately,” she ground out.
“No? But you took advantage of the opportunity. You can’t deny it honey, I was watching you for quite a while before you noticed me.”
And now she really wanted to die. “Well what were you doing out there?”
CHAPTER TWO
Austin hesitated. He didn’t want to admit he’d followed her. He’d told himself not to. Nicoletta Valeri had come close to ruining his career. If he’d stuck with that job last year, she would have. Yet despite that, for some dumb reason his body went hyper hard whenever she was near. Like now. And now there were no contracts forbidding it. No legal or moral reasons why he shouldn’t get near.
The urge to see what she was up to had been irresistible. He’d followed her beautiful ass out the back and nearly died when he’d seen why she’d stopped so still.
“I am staff, remember?” He looked at her pointedly.
It was a mistake. His body winched tighter as he watched color run under her skin. Her dark brown eyes looked as bottomless as ever despite the bar light overhead. It seemed still waters ran deep. Nicoletta Valeri had urges he’d never have imagined.
Her silk shirt clung to her curves—it was her signature sky blue of course. Her helmet and ski suit were always that color. She’d left the top couple of buttons undone, so he could see her sleek collarbones. With the skinny jeans she had on tonight, her legs appeared longer than ever. Her whole look was striking, yet accessible. She was the woman every girl wanted to be. But he knew everything was perfectly ‘crafted’. The ‘NV’ nickname had started as a bitchy behind-her-back taunt years ago when she’d been on the junior circuit. Media had gotten hold of it but then she with her mom-and-dad management team had run with it. Because in truth every athlete wanted what Nicoletta had—the perfect physique, the drive, and the unlimited resources to get to the very top. They all wanted to be a world champion and score those insanely valuable sponsorship and modeling deals.
But what truly set Nicoletta apart from the rest was her steely core. Nothing would get in the way of her winning whatever she set her flinty heart on. She won every time in every way. He’d seen her in action. Smart, savvy, sexy… Nicoletta Valeri had it all.
So what was it she’d seen in the corridor that had her looking so fu
ll of want?
Connor freaking Hughes—multi-millionaire, ruthless tycoon. Damn owner of Summerhill—the exclusive ski resort Austin was currently resident doctor of. Austin swiftly turned, picked up her second shot and downed it.
“You don’t drink.” She stared at him.
“Guess that makes two of us going off road tonight.” He set the glass down on the bar with a bang.
Was it Connor she wanted? He liked the guy well enough, but hot anger roiled in his gut at the thought of her being with him. Yeah, Nicoletta was his freaking Achilles heel. The one woman he wanted more than was good for him. The woman who’d messed him around and ruined his last job. He wasn’t letting her do that again. He was staying far, far away, right?
But he couldn’t turn away from that emotion in her eyes—the defiant pride that was so very her, but the plea hidden beneath was something else.
Too bad, she wasn’t winning this one. She’d never get Connor now Savannah was here.
Austin ought to be laughing. Ought to feel some Karmic satisfaction. Hell, he could go tell the world about her inner deviant urges… only he wasn’t a complete bastard. And he wanted her too damn much. He had from the moment he’d first met her. Because in real life Nicoletta Valeri was more vital than the airbrushed perfection of her lip-gloss and energy drink ads. And tonight when she’d looked into his eyes as she listened to other people orgasm—he’d seen the naked envious essence of her.
So very, hotly, human.
“Is Connor why you’re here?” he asked roughly. “You’re too late. As you’ve seen, he’s otherwise entertained. And what with the giant diamond on her finger, it’s serious.”
“I don’t want Connor,” she answered, every bit as rough.
“So was it Savannah?” Austin nearly choked. Did she want that fiery brunette the way most men did?