She didn’t regret it. In fact…she wanted to do it again.
Using a man for her needs had been so very gratifying. There’d been no emotion involved, just animal attraction. Even this morning, she knew that any rational woman would be riddled with guilt, but, she admitted to herself, her guilt was not nearly as great as that pleased part of her that had enjoyed herself, enjoyed using Dane, and wanted to do it all over again.
After all, she had an entire week left in this class. Why not enjoy herself? Explore what Dane’s body had to offer, and then discard him like yesterday’s trash once she’d gotten her revenge?
It sounded good to her. A little mercenary, but she didn’t care. After all, it was her life. She was going to take something for herself, damn it. So she didn’t have her camera with her. She’d have a week of naughty, illicit f**king, and top it off when she got back home and exacted her revenge. Sounded good to her.
Feeling a bit wicked this morning, she moved to Dane’s side and lay down next to him, a mere few inches away from his face. Miranda stared at his sleeping features. His mouth was parted slightly and the lines of his face were eased, making him look younger than his twenty-seven years. Her gaze skimmed the scars on his face—one on his nose just above the break, the small one through his eyebrow, and a longer one slashing across his chin and up to his lip. She was so close she could see the stubble on his face. It wouldn’t take much for her to lean over and kiss him awake.
So she did, because she was all about taking what she wanted this week.
His mouth was relaxed against hers, and she felt the stubble of his cheek graze against her smooth skin. She kept the kiss gentle at first, pressing her mouth against his lightly, sucking on his lower lip and tasting its softness. His lower lip was full and it gave him a slightly pouty look that she’d gone wild over as a teenager. She’d loved tugging on that sultry lower lip with her teeth, and she remembered that he’d liked it, too. She did it now, heat curling through her body when she felt his tongue brush against her mouth as he awoke and responded to her kiss. He was kissing her back.
Encouraged, she let her tongue stroke into his mouth, at first coaxing and then bolder. His mouth relaxed against hers, and her tongue swept inside, tangling against his. When his tongue touched hers in return, the stroke hard and sure, her ni**les tightened with pleasure at the sensation.
His hand tangled in her hair, and instead of kissing her back, he pulled her away. His expression was dismayed. “Miranda?”
“Hush,” she said, tracing a finger along his jaw and leaning in for another kiss. Kissing Dane had been a delicious experience. She hadn’t wanted to enjoy it, but…she had. Quite a bit. It was further proof that no matter how awful a person Dane was, she was attracted to him. The moment she’d placed her lips on his, her body had immediately flared with need. It had been a long time since she’d been in a relationship with a man—since college. And she was suddenly keenly aware of the lack and seemed to want to make up for lost time.
If revenge had to involve kissing Dane a lot, then she’d gladly turn herself over to the task. She slid a little closer, trying to take his mouth with her own again.
His hand remained firmly anchored in her hair, trying to hold her in place. She was trapped an inch away from his face. “Miranda, what are you doing?”
“Trying to kiss you,” she whispered, her gaze focused on his mouth. It had thinned out into a hard line that she was very tempted to kiss into softness. His confusion just turned her on more. “Let go of my hair and I can get back to it.”
Instead of doing as she asked, Dane sat up and rolled away. She gave him a frown as he stood up, but it smoothed away when he reached for her hand.
Miranda placed it in his and allowed him to help pull her off the ground. Immediately he began to tug her away from the camp, into the woods. An excited flutter started low in her belly, her pulse throbbing in all the right places. Were they going to go hide in the woods and have sex again? Could she handle a morning orgasm? She suddenly liked the thought of that very much, and licked her lips in anticipation. Oh boy, could she ever.
Who knew that her revenge would be so much fun?
There was a large tree with low-hanging branches at the edge of camp, and Dane pulled her toward it, his hand tight on her own. When they were behind the branches, she reached for him again, tilting her face up to his, a slight smile on her mouth. “Good morning, sunshine,” she said and slid a hand along the front of his chest. Oh yum. She could feel washboard muscles and well-defined pectorals through the fabric of his shirt. Miranda resisted the urge to rub her hand all over his chest and explore his physique.
He pulled her hand off his chest and frowned down at her. “I think we need to talk.”
She stiffened. That had not been the response she was expecting. Didn’t most men like a sexually aggressive woman? “What’s there to talk about?”
“This!” He gestured at her and then at his mouth. “The kissing and the…you know. Last night in the forest.” He dropped his voice and looked over at the campsite to make sure the others weren’t awake. “You and me. What the hell is going on here, Miranda?”
She rolled her eyes. “Do we really have to analyze it? I wanted to have sex with you to see what it’d be like, and so I did. Satisfied?”
Dane shook his head, frowning. “Whatever it is Colt and Grant set you up to do, you won, all right? No sense rubbing salt in the wound.”
That made her flinch. She released his hand as if he were diseased and took a quick step away. “Excuse me?”
He crossed his arms over his chest, his mouth firming in disapproval. “I know Colt and Grant are behind this. I mean, it’s pretty obvious. Our first week on the job and who happens to show up? My high school crush, looking just as amazing as the last time I saw her, and wanting nothing more than to jump my bones. Convenient, isn’t it?” Dane glared down at her, as if he was cursing the fact that he was attracted to her. His hot gaze raked over her body. “They’re obviously paying you to test my willpower. And it’s obvious that I failed.”
Her jaw dropped. Her hand went to her collar and she nervously tugged it up closer to her neck. “Well,” Miranda said nervously. “That’s a first.”
“What is?”
“I’ve never been called a whore in one sentence, and flattered in the next. I’m not quite sure whether I should be insulted or amused, though I have to admit that I’m leaning toward insulted.”