When Chemistry Wins (The Dark Horse Trilogy Book 1) (3 page)

“Do I? Maybe there’s something you want to share with the class.”

“Not really. Just something I have observed. Even in my own relationships, I suppose.”

Although curious, Kerri did not press for more information. After all, they had just met.

“And you? In your relationships?”

Scoffing, Kerri crossed her legs away from Hunter. “I don’t think so,” she said with an edge. “I barely know who you are. For all I know you’re a really good reporter wanting to write an exposé on my family by framing me as a whore. Oh, the Halls would
love
that.”

Hunter chuckled, his fingers brushing against the hair on his chin. “I’m not a reporter. If I were, I would be doing a really bad job right now.”

“And how’s that?”

The mystery man leaned against his knees and winked at Kerri. “Because I’m flirting too much for my own good.”

She knew it. From the moment Hunter approached her, Kerri sensed his ulterior motives. The only difference between him and other men who made the same advances was that she was not disgusted with the thought. Quite the opposite. Hunter was not only handsome, but the sort of gentleman the Kerri of old expected to meet somewhere out in the world. So far, she had been sorely disappointed. “That’s funny,” Kerri said. “Here I thought I was bumbling along with my own sad attempt at flirting.” She stood, pivoted her heels, and slowly sauntered toward the end of the garden where the moonlight shone strongest.

Hunter did not move. At first Kerri thought her coy moves had failed her.
Wouldn’t be the first time.
She turned her head and found Hunter only a few inches behind her.

“Fascinating,” he said. His voice was warmer than the air around them as he whispered into Kerri’s ear. She turned her hips away so she wouldn’t be tempted to do something stupid.
Stupid is fun sometimes, though.
The Mitchells tried to keep her away from stupid as much as possible. “It seems that we have more in common than we initially thought.”

“How could we know how much we have in common?” His presence crept upon Kerri’s skin in tingling waves. Her body grew hot, her stomach tightening and her breath catching in her throat.
Long time since I last felt like this.
“We just met half an hour ago.” That wasn’t a negative. Kerri enjoyed casual adventures when she had the chance. And as she turned to look at Hunter in the moonlight, there in their secluded, secret garden, she saw shadows dancing on his face, pulling her lips toward his cheek.

One peck, and her senses returned to her. Kerri stepped back. She looked around to make sure nobody had seen this innocent tryst unfurl right beneath the governor’s nose.

Hunter put his hand on her shoulder, gentle, but firm. “Perhaps we could know each other better,” he said, urgency suppressed in his voice. “I mean that maybe we could go out sometime. If you’re not seeing someone right now.”

“No.” Too quick to say it. Kerri faced him again, encountering those eyes piercing into her and making her feel blessedly small in his presence. “No to seeing someone, that is.” Her last boyfriend was months ago. Nothing serious. They barely had a roll in the hay before Kerri realized he was a complete bore.

Hunter, on the other hand…

Maybe it was hormones. They were known to make her wild at times. Now she was becoming wild in the wrong places. “I’m also afraid that I’ll be quite busy.” A half lie. Oh, she would be busy… with her father’s campaign, as much as she didn’t want to be involved. “That is, I won’t have much time for dating. Being so keen on politics, you know how election season is. My father wouldn’t like me seeing someone while the press is scrutinizing our every movement.”

“I see.” Hunter cleared his throat. “Excuse me then, Miss Mitchell. I won’t take up much more of your time.”

He was almost behind a hedge when Kerri took a step after him. “Wait!” she called, stopping him before he could leave as quickly as he arrived. When he turned, they shared a gaze that burst in flames between them.

To hell with it. Kerri had done dumber things in the name of some fun.

She snatched his hand and brought him into the shadows of the corner, where she could not see Hunter’s face, but she could feel the strength in his arms and in the rest of him as it pressed her against the wall.

The moment Hunter understood what she was after, he kissed her, Kerri’s arms wrapping around his broad shoulders as his physical power passed into her veins.

What a bad girl I am!
Kerri would laugh if she could, but her mouth was exploring the stubble on Hunter’s chin as his wandered toward her throat.
Oh, dear, if we’re caught…
There was a thrill in it, knowing that the consequences were so terrible. The governor’s daughter making out with some random young stranger while her father’s fundraising dinner went on only a ways away? If they were caught, her father’s campaign may already be up in smoke. Imagine the scandal in the newspapers and on the tabloid sites!

As much as this made the situation hotter, Kerri had to admit that she would do this even if the stakes weren’t so high.

For Hunter was strong enough to hold her against the wall, pulling her leg and skirt up as they made hasty work of exploring each other’s skin. Not that Kerri could see anything clearly in this darkness. But she kind of liked not knowing what each part of him looked like – only felt like.
I’ve never done it like this before.
Nor had she ever had a partner like Hunter, who softly asked if he could fondle her while they nipped each other’s lips. “I don’t see why not,” she said, wrapping one leg around his waist. She urged her pelvis forward, wondering if she could feel his yet.
Not quite.
What a disappointment it would be if she never could. “I really don’t.” Of course she saw many reasons to not do this. Most of them were in the Governor’s Mansion, probably assuming that the First Daughter was still a virgin.

This was way more fun than sitting in that dining room any longer.

She gasped in delight as Hunter eased his hand up between their bodies and wrapped his hand around her breast. He was gentle, much to her chagrin. At this point she was hoping the gentlemanly side of Hunter would have folded to a wilder one.

“Hold up,” Kerri said, waiting for Hunter to get the message and back away a few inches. He no longer panted against her like a wolf in heat, but Kerri could still feel the tension bubbling between them. “We should take this elsewhere.” Her mind was already racing with the possibilities of where they could go.

“Where?” Hunter straightened his clothing. Was he still interested in her? “I mean, not that I have no interest in you,” well that answered that, “but I’m not sure where in a place like this we could be alone…” His voice as it trailed off was full of the sort of lust Kerri needed to hear to give her the confidence to change her fate that night.

She took Hunter’s hand, looked around to make sure their path was clear, and pulled him toward the back entrance to the gardens. “There’s a back way inside where we won’t be noticed. We can go to my room.”

“Damn.” He nearly pulled his hand out of hers. “You’re serious?”

Kerri turned to him. Without any light to illuminate his features, Kerri had no idea how she was supposed to read him. “Of course I’m serious. You coming or not?” She hoped he got her double entendre.

Apparently he did. “Lead the way. And God have mercy on us if we’re caught.”

Please, I’m a grown woman.
Kerri led Hunter forward, trying to remember where to go from there so they would not be disturbed on the way to her room.

She slept in the east wing, on the side opposite her parents, although her father kept an office nearby. But that meant the private entrance to the wing was clear, only requiring a key from Kerri’s bag to open. Hunter kept watch for anyone who may catch them.

“This way,” she said coyly, taking Hunter by the hand again as she led him down the hall. Hunter made sure to latch the door shut behind them. “We must be quiet.” Kerri said that more for herself. The closer they got to her room, the giddier she became.

It had been years since she last snuck a boy into her room… and that boy wasn’t even there for a scandalous rendezvous.
He was my science fair partner, and my parents wouldn’t let him in our house.
Apparently his parents were key members of the opposing party. The one time Kerri snuck a boy into her girls-only dorm in college, she had been sorely disappointed by his performance. Looking over her shoulder at Hunter, who had a healthy glow in the low hallway lights, gave Kerri some hope that tonight’s prospects were much better.

Her bedroom was upstairs, and the staircase and hallway were clear. It almost seemed too easy to be this nefarious.
Helps that everyone is down in the ball and dining rooms.
When they reached her room, she had a key for that too. Her father made the whole family lock up the important rooms whenever there was a shindig.

But that meant Kerri and Hunter wouldn’t be disturbed.

“Nice,” Hunter said as he entered Kerri’s room. She shut the door behind her, locked it, and turned to lean against it. “I’ve always wondered what the bedrooms in this place looked like.”

“I don’t think they’re that fancy.” Not that Kerri knew what most normal bedrooms looked like. Even as a kid, in the days before her father’s governorship, Kerri always had a grand bedroom. This one was the queen of them all, however, boasting enough space to double as a studio apartment. The rugs were imported Persian, with intricate designs of muted colors that blended with the mahogany four-post bed dominating the center of the wall. Kerri’s damson-colored bedspread was immaculate now, but given a few minutes she could probably convince Hunter to mess it up with her. “It is fancy enough for my taste, though.”

Hunter stood in the middle of the dark bedroom, gazing at a family photo of the Mitchells on Kerri’s vanity. She promptly walked up to it and turned it down so Raymond Mitchell could not watch this spectacle.

“Excuse me while I go freshen up.” Kerri was sweaty and could use a touch-up to her makeup. She had an en suite bathroom for these matters.

A firm hand took her by the wrist. “No need,” Hunter said, his other hand clasping her on the shoulder. Such a touch sent chills through Kerri’s skin – sweet chills, the kind simmering in her loins as she was reminded why she brought Hunter up here.
Such a gentleman.
There was nothing sinister in the way he wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her throat. “I hope I haven’t misinterpreted your intentions,” he said, placing his palm on her stomach. It slowly worked its way up her torso, stopping to cup her breast from beneath. “I don’t think I have, but don’t be shy to tell me that I’m wrong.”

How touching.
Kerri appreciated the gesture, but she didn’t let the sweetness show as she pushed herself into Hunter’s hold and grinded against his pelvis.
Oh, there it is.
The hard bulge pushing into her rear. She wondered how long it would take for him to do something with it.

“And if I tell you that you’re wrong?” Kerri also wondered how long she could prolong this game. “What then?”

Hunter released her breast. “I’ll leave. I’ll be disappointed, but I’ll leave.”

“And why would you be disappointed?”

“Because you’re an interesting woman, and it would be a good end to a good night.”

“What’s ‘it’?”

Hunter’s hand grazed the side of Kerri’s rear, making her suck in her breath as she tittered between her lips. “That thing adults do when they damn well feel like it.”

Before Hunter could pull away from her, Kerri turned and kissed his cheek again. It did not take long for him to interpret her intentions this time – he tilted her chin up and placed his lips upon hers.

You definitely didn’t misinterpret anything.
Kerri wrapped her arms around his shoulders and put the passion she had into kissing this man she just met.

Once upon a time Kerri was like most girls, wishing for a prince charming to come riding up on a horse and sweep her off her feet. She wanted a Romeo for her Juliet and to have a man change her life with one look. Over the years, Kerri came to realize that such men did not exist, even though her mother swore they did. The same mother who lived in another world where cooking sherry was a good substitute for a bottle of wine at dinner.

Not once during her adult life did Kerri think she would meet a man who ticked the boxes she set for herself years ago, when she watched those beautiful fairy tale cartoons with deliriously happy endings. Of course they didn’t exist, and Kerri wasn’t stupid enough to think that Hunter was any different. But she did admit that the moment Hunter lifted her off the ground and swung her onto her bed, she felt that thrill of prince charming, her Romeo, making his grand entrance into her life.

Oh, well then…
Kerri hid her smile as Hunter loomed over her, his fingers caressing her cheek before he bent down to kiss her lips, her hands pulling against the jacket of his suit. Any time now. He could take these damn clothes off any time now.

Hunter must have sensed how aroused Kerri was from the way he teased and indulged in her taste, feel, and scent. Her legs spread around his hips, welcoming him to thrust his clothed pelvis against hers – his thrusts were strong, steady. Kerri moaned before Hunter could even kiss his way from her throat to her chest, his tongue sinking into the cleft between her breasts as his fingers pulled down the bust of her dress.