Dominance Never Dies (Masters and Mercenaries #11)(47)

“Who was that nightgown for?”

She was glad she wasn’t looking up at him or he would have seen her wince. “I put it in there when I flew from Austin to Dallas. I knew it would be an overnight flight to Colombia. I needed something to sleep in.”

His hand found the top of her head and he gently forced her to tilt up. One brow was arched over his blue eyes. “You expect me to buy that? You sleep in ridiculously sexy lingerie?”

She tended to sleep in a tank top and panties, but he didn’t need to know that. If he was anything like her friends’ Doms he wouldn’t let her sleep in anything at all. “No, Sir.”

“Then what was the plan? I know there was a plan in there somewhere.”

“I thought I might accidently need something from the main cabin after I’d gone to bed and then you would see me in my sexy nightie and very likely ravish me.” She’d read too many romance novels.

“Put it on.” He stepped back and offered her a hand up.

“Case, I know it was a silly thing to do.” So why had she still snuck it into her bag? She’d casually made her way back to the bedroom after she’d landed the plane and carefully slid the gown into her oversized Louis Vuitton overnight bag.

He glanced her way. “Mia, do you know how many women in my life have gone to the trouble to seduce me?”

She could only guess. Thousands, likely. “A bunch, I would suspect.”

“None,” he replied. “Not a single one. I was the easy hookup who could get them off in my hometown. In the Navy, it was a parade of women who thought it would be awesome to f*ck a SEAL. In the last couple of years, it’s been women I picked up at bars. I’ve had two fairly serious girlfriends in my whole life and I initiated sex every single time. So yes, I want you to go to the bathroom and change into that filmy nightgown and I want you to show me how you would have played it.”

“Those women were crazy.” The words were out of her mouth before she could think about them. But they were also true. She’d planned to seduce that big cowboy from pretty much the minute she’d laid eyes on him. Schemed and plotted and planned to be with him any way she could.

His lips curved up in a sad smile. “They just knew I was a bad bet as a potential husband and honestly, the two girlfriends were probably more submissive outside the bedroom than I would have liked. But they were easy to be around and they didn’t give me trouble.”

She was trouble. A whole lot of trouble. She couldn’t seem to help it. “I’m not like them, am I?”

He smoothed back her hair, staring down at her. “You are the opposite of every girl I’ve ever been with before. You’re a woman who lied to me, used me to further your cause, and caused me to do the one thing I swore I wouldn’t. Be the guy a girl cheats on her man with. You put me in that position.”

She felt tears well. “I’m sorry, Case.”

“It upset me more than I like to admit. I didn’t like being the guy who hit on a taken woman, but beyond that I kind of wanted to know what the hell you were thinking getting engaged to him when it was so obvious you were meant for me. So go and put on that gown and show me how you would have seduced me.”

Mia grabbed the bag he’d set down when they’d entered the room and made for the bathroom. He’d said the one thing guaranteed to get her moving.

You were meant for me.

She’d thought it the moment she’d seen him, had been sure of it the first time he’d kissed her.

For however long they had, she intended to make him understand that he’d been meant for her, too.





Case locked the door. It should have been the first thing he’d done when they’d walked in, but his brain had been on Mia.

It was like just being near the woman tamped down his senses for anything but her. She was all he could see and hear and smell and touch. Everything else was background noise.

His cell trilled in his hand and he winced as he looked down at the phone.

Ian.

If he didn’t answer, the big guy would likely call around until he found someone who knew where he was, and that meant getting Hutch on the phone. Hutch would try to lie, but he would wilt like a hothouse flower the minute Ian barked at him, and then Case would have much bigger issues.

The key to Ian was to act like the dumbass he believed everyone to be. Case took a deep breath and connected the line. “I swear I’m going to use a condom.”

A chuckle came over the line and Case knew it was working. “I’m surprised you haven’t already gone through a box.”

The only reason he hadn’t had been the kidnapping attempt he wasn’t going to tell his brother about. “Yeah, well, she kicked me in the balls at the start of the evening. I think they’re starting to work again now.”

This time Ian’s full-throated laugh came over the line. “I knew there was a reason I liked that girl.” He sighed. “I wanted to make sure you’re okay and give you an update on Erin. She and TJ are doing great. Faith just got in this morning. She’s staying with Erin a few days while Ten’s doing god knows what. He didn’t come in with her so it’s safe to say he’s likely up to his old tricks.”

Meaning Tennessee Smith was working some angle in the intelligence world. “I thought he’d quit the Agency completely.”