Melt Into You

“Well, we thought for your birthday we’d help you with that little issue,” Marcus said, obviously fighting a smile.

“My issue?” Her mind took a moment to fully process the words. “Wait, with my celibacy issue?”

Daniel grinned. “Exactly.”

She pulled her hand from Daniel’s and stared at the two of them in disbelief. How in the hell could two gay men help her with her celibacy issue? They surely weren’t going to volunteer to go bi or straight for the night. She almost laughed at the notion, but then a disgusting thought hit her, making her choke. “Oh, no. No way.”

“What?” Daniel asked in a tone worthy of a halo and wings.

“I swear to God if you paid for some escort or something, I’m seriously going to kill you two right here at the table.”

Daniel leaned back in his chair and sipped his coffee with a casual elegance that had Evan ready to throw something more damaging at him than her napkin. He set down his cup. “Evan, we would never do that to you. You deserve better than that.”

“Definitely,” Marcus said, sliding an envelope onto the table. “Like a membership to The Ranch. Three months fully paid.”

She stared down at the little white envelope and the red R emblazoned on its wax seal. The thing looked innocuous enough, but she had a feeling the gift inside was far from innocent. She raised her gaze, hoping she was wrong. “Is that some sort of spa or something?”

Daniel’s lips curled into a mischievous smile. “Not exactly.”

“Jesus, Daniel, tell me it’s not a brothel.” She had no idea if they even had brothels with dude prostitutes, but she wasn’t putting anything past her two friends. They were kinky bastards.

Marcus rolled his eyes. “Stop messing with her, D. You’re freaking her out.”

“Oh, neither of you are any fun,” Daniel said, motioning to the waiter for a coffee refill, then looking back to Evan. “It’s not a brothel, for God’s sake. It’s a resort where people go to live out their fantasies, explore their . . . inclinations with each other.”

“Inclinations?” she repeated. “Like figuring out if they’re gay or straight? ’Cause, no offense, but I don’t have any doubts there.”

His eyebrow arched. “I’m sure some go there for that. But this is more about venturing into things you may not have access to in your day-to-day life. Fantasies. Role-playing. Multiple partners. Bondage. In your case, maybe just a confidential sexual partner.”

Her hands turned sweaty against the booth’s leather seat as she replayed his list in her head. Role-playing. Bondage. She parted her lips, but the words stuck to her tongue.

Marcus pushed the envelope closer to her. “I’ve been a member for a while. The place is top notch—safe, exclusive, uber private—and has very strict membership requirements.”

Her brain began to spin. A sex club? They wanted her to go to a sex club? The boys were out of their freaking minds.

“It’s all very confidential,” Daniel added. “I don’t want you to reveal our situation, but members will know you’re engaged and that your fiancé approves of you being there. People there won’t blink an eye at that. They’re used to unique situations.”

She looked back and forth between the two of them as her ability to form sentences returned in a rush. “You seriously expect me to just go there and have sex with strangers? Are you nuts?”

Marcus gave her a sympathetic look. “You can do whatever you feel comfortable with. No one’s going to make you participate. But don’t shut yourself off to the possibility until you see the place. You may be surprised how things change in that kind of environment—how your mind opens up. They specialize in BDSM, but I’m sure they can accommodate whatever situation or fantasy is most enticing to you.”

Her mind automatically rewound to the day in the seminar room—Jace tying her hands and being in control, touching her. She’d accessed that scene in her head countless times over the last two weeks, had touched herself as she filled in the blanks of what could’ve happened if they’d been alone and had no past to contend with.

And still, despite the constant fantasy rerun, the effect hadn’t worn off. Even now, heat built low in her belly at the mere thought. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, a champagne headache starting. “Guys, really, I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but I don’t need this. I’m fine.”

“We’ve already packed your bag, and there’s a car waiting for you outside,” Daniel said, causing her head to snap up. “Grant Waters, the owner of the place, has set up a tour for you tonight so you can see it before people start arriving for the weekend retreat tomorrow. We’ve also reserved you a private cabin.”

“Daniel,” she demanded, trying to keep her voice low enough so that it wouldn’t garner the attention of the people at the other tables. “You can’t actually expect me to go to this place.”

He frowned. “Look, if you go on the tour and decide not to participate in anything, then take the weekend to enjoy the scenery and the cabin. It’s beautiful out there and surrounded by vineyards. Plus, I think they do have a masseuse on staff if you really want to do the spa thing. I think the break will be good for you regardless.”

“And Daniel and I are going to be doing press for the next few days. If you’re on a ‘spa’ weekend, it will save you from having to be a part of it,” Marcus added.

She kept her eyes on them and gulped the last of her champagne, shocked to find herself actually considering the whole thing.

A weekend away from the press—and the boys, for that matter—did sound kind of tempting. And she hated to admit it, but for some reason, the whole celibacy thing was suddenly driving her mad. Going solo with her vibrator hadn’t fixed anything. In fact, it’d only made her fantasize and want sex more. It was as if seeing Jace again had tripped some wire inside her.

She blew out a long breath. She could throw herself into her work like she had planned, but deep down she knew this restlessness wasn’t going to go away so easily. Wasn’t this what she’d really been yearning for? A bit of physical indulgence without all the complications.

And at least at this place the guy would know she wasn’t cheating, but doing it with her fiancé’s consent. That helped. Felt less seedy to do it under the pretense of being kinky instead of being a lying cheat.

Maybe if she could have a real live man to warm her bed for a few days, she could cleanse her mind of these stupid Jace fantasies. She’d been infatuated with him when she was a teenager, weaving daydreams about what it would be like to be with him. Apparently her mind had gone straight back to that old place—forgetting how awful it had been after she’d actually gotten what she thought she wanted. Stupid.

She needed an exorcism. And this might be just the thing to do it. She grabbed the envelope off the table and nodded at the guys. Resolved.

“Okay, I’ll go. But”—she jabbed a finger at Marcus then Daniel—“if this turns out to be creepy or gross in any way, I’m holding both of you responsible. I will seriously dig out all those toys I know you guys have and beat you with the most painful ones.”

Marcus snorted. “Daniel might actually enjoy that.”

She rolled her eyes.

Daniel ignored Marcus’s comment and smiled at her. “Happy birthday, sweets.” He lifted his coffee cup. “Here’s hoping you have fun. It’ll be like losing your virginity all over again.”

Oh, God, she hoped not. Losing it the first time had been the worst mistake she’d ever made.

SEVEN (#ua2025c48-69cb-58d3-9896-ba187ad1a3a3)

Evan’s palms were damp against the arms of the overstuffed chair as she waited for the owner of The Ranch to meet with her. The limo drive to the place had been long, and as the minutes had slipped away, so had her resolve.

She glanced around the well-appointed sitting room, trying to focus on anything but her reasons for being here. Dark, rustic furniture, wood floors, artwork displaying Texas’s varied landscapes, and a large stone fireplace, which she was sure was more for show than practicality in this climate. If she didn’t know better, she would’ve guessed she was in some high-end ski resort and not a retreat specializing in kink.

She tilted her head back and groaned. This was stupid. Ridiculous. She wasn’t the type of person to go to a sex resort. Was she really that desperate? She’d lived without sex for over a year. Why was it suddenly such a big deal?

There could only be one reason.

Goddamn Jace. He’d always been able to stir up that part of her without trying. Even when she’d first met him and hadn’t totally recognized the feeling as desire, she’d been drawn to him, wanted to be in his sphere of attention as much as possible. He had a way of making her feel like she was the only one in the room, and after years of being invisible to everyone around her that feeling had been heady, addictive. She should’ve been immune to it by now. But after a few seemingly harmless touches on that stage, Jace had flipped the switch and had her engines firing on all cylinders again. Man, she was screwed.

A massive wooden door on the opposite side of the room eased open, and an impossibly tall man with wavy dark hair stepped inside. He gave her a smile that seemed to warm the whole room. “You must be Ms. Kennedy.”

The deep twang in his voice matched the cowboy boots peeking out of the bottom of his faded jeans. The image totally didn’t fit with what Evan had imagined the owner of this type of resort to look like. She hadn’t expected head-to-toe leather or anything, but a handsome cowboy hadn’t been on her radar of possibilities either.

She smiled. “That’d be me. But please, call me Evan.”

He crossed the room in two long strides and put his hand out to shake hers. “Welcome to The Ranch, Evan. I’m Grant Waters, the owner and operator.”

She shook his hand, hoping he didn’t notice just how sweaty her palm was. “Nice to meet you.”

He held her hand for a moment longer, holding her gaze, no doubt evaluating her, and then stepped back to sit on the couch across from her. He crooked a thumb at the door. “Would you like something to drink? We have everything but alcohol here.”