I love the sound of her teasing me.

“Stubborn is fair.” I shrug. “I’ve had to fight for everything I have in life, so when I find something I want, I hold on to it tight.I protect it.”

“And what is it you want, Austin?” She glances toward me, her gaze on mine as her breathy voice fades out.

“I think you know what I want, Cora.” I say the words with my eyes on the road as I turn into the long gravel driveway of the ranch. There are a million ways I want to tell Cora how I feel about her, but none of them include my hands on the steering wheel. Besides that, I’m a little nervous to show her the ranch knowing what she could have with Richie Rich.

When the tires hit the gravel drive, she moves her gaze back toward the property and my chest tightens. “It’s a work in progress. I’d like to rebuild that barn down by the pond so the horses have easier access. And someday soon, I’ll fix up the chicken coop, and build a better pasture fence for the sheep. It’s—”

“It’s great,” she says, putting her hand over mine. “It looks like you really love the place.” I can’t figure why she’s softened, but I don’t question it. Maybe she’s seen the shambles I live in and she’s sorry for me.

Then again, the dark is shielding the truth. In the morning, she’ll be able to really see what a true fixer-upper looks like. The chipping paint, the mismatched roof on the barn, the muddy tractor path that leads to the back field.

“The inside is much better. I just finished renovating the place a few months ago.”

She doesn’t say much, though I’m not sure I expect her to.I have kidnapped her.

“Help yourself to anything you need.” I open the front door and help her inside. “I’ve got beer and Coke. I don’t know what you like, so I grabbed a bit of everything in town. You won’t go hungry. I don’t have a television, though, so you’ll have to busy yourself with books.” I glance toward the bookshelf in the backcorner of the room. It’s a custom piece I built a few winters ago when I was looking to fill some time during a blizzard. “It’s mostly books on woodworking and war, though, but have at it if you’re interested.”

She smiles. “So… you’re not going to tie me up or anything?”

I shake my head. “No. Should I?”

“Well, I mean, what keeps me from walking right back out the door, or calling someone for help?”

I step toward her, my hands on her hips, my gaze on hers. “You could leave… but we’re up about as far as that mountain will let us go. There are wolves, bears, and big, seven-foot blue aliens the people up here like to gossip about. Any one of those things would tear a sweet, innocent woman like you to shreds.”

She rolls her eyes. “And what about my phone?”

I step in closer, our lips nearly brushing together as I answer. “No service.”

We’ve barely touched, but electricity surges through me, sparking and lighting the room around us like nothing I’ve ever felt. I shouldn’t kiss her, and I sure as hell shouldn’t pull her in closer, but I’m in this deep, and I don’t want to stop.

Chapter Seven

Cora

My eyes close and for one single second, I’m on a cloud somewhere in Valhalla as a man the size of Thor leans into me for a kiss. He’s big, powerful, and as the kiss deepens, his hand goes to the side of my face. He’s all dominance.

I shouldn’t love it. I really shouldn’t love it all, but I do. I love it so much that my clit is throbbing in rhythm with my heart.

Austin’s free hand grips my hip, and he presses me so tightly against him that I feel the hard ridge of what I assume is his cock.

It’s then that reality hits, and common sense comes flooding back. I’m engaged to another man. I can’t be making out with Austin.

“We need to stop.” I push his chest away and back up. “I’m confused and I’m making terrible decisions.”

He doesn’t speak, but I see the turn in his gaze. There’s an animalistic look in his eye, like he’s struggling. Like he wants me the same way I want him, but we both know it’s impossible. “We can’t go any further until you call Richie Rich and cancel the wedding.”

“Why did you bring me here?” I snap. “To torture me?”

He grins. “If it’s torture to kiss me, then maybe you have your answer.”

I sigh. “Well, it is. It’s torture.”

He steps back in, his hand on my cheek. “So, it’s torture when we stop?”

My heart tightens and my stomach turns as I stare toward him.