bouncing with barely contained chuckles, his Mate, the only woman he would ever love, sighed, “Ya’ know what?” Looking up, her sparkling eyes meeting his, she teased, "If for no other reason than to watch you grovel…" Shaking her head, she exhaled. "What the hell? What's the worst thing that can happen? I throw my OJ on that pretty shirt of yours?"
Damn near jumping for joy, hardly believing his ears, Ranger refused to let go of her hand as he turned around, stepped back to stand by her side, and with his free hand, motioned towards the elevator, "After you, mo chroí. Breakfast, and hopefully not your OJ, is on me.”
Chapter Seven
No sooner had the elevator doors closed than Ellie regretted her decision. She wasn't ready to be in the same little box, let alone the same resort, and most assuredly not sharing a meal with Ranger Evans. The blasted Dragon had broken her heart. He'd left her standing on her own damned porch, watching the dust fly, with tears streaming down her face like some lost pup.
Grabbing ahold of her renewed anger with both hands, she spun around to tell him that she’d changed her mind at precisely the same moment that he hit the red button on the panel and the elevator came to a screeching halt.
"What the hell are you doing?" She yelled, jerking her hand from his. "Let me out of here. You can't do this. Stop this…"
"I just did." Standing there with that damn sexy grin that made her insides turn to goo and her heart to go pitter-pat, Ranger Evans took a step forward. Looking larger than life and good enough to eat, he went on, "I know what you're thinkin', Ellie, and I can't take the chance that you'll run."
“So, you trap my ass in an elevator as a way to make me trust you?”
“No, I did not trap you.” He scratched the sexy stubble on his chiseled jaw, trying to hide the chuckle in his voice. “I simply detained you for a minute to try to make you see reason.”
"Reason?" She ground out through gritted teeth. "Look, Agent Evans, I am not some perp you can 'detain,' and I do not need to see reason." Stepping back so quickly that her butt hit the wall of the elevator, Ellie refused to let him see how ensnared she truly felt. Going on, her voice getting louder, more adamant with every syllable, she fumed, "I owe you nothing - not one damned thing. You're the one who left." Her finger shot out, jabbing the air with every word. "You're the one who didn't call." Her hand whipped through the air between them. "No harm. No foul. You made your decision. I had to live with it. I'm over it. Let's let bygones be bygones."
“You know that’s not…”
“I don’t know shit except what happened.” Leaning forward, letting the flames of her anger flash to life in her eyes, she spat, “You didn’t say anything. Not even a fucking goodbye.”
Moving faster than she could track, just a blur that her eyes didn't make sense of until it was too late, Ranger wrapped his arm around her waist, pulled her tight to his body, and slammed his lips to hers. From one second to the next, her body was engulfed in the fiery flames of passion. She was burning from the inside out and never wanted it to end.
Ranger was everywhere. Ellie could hear his thoughts. She could feel his heart beating in time with hers. Her body molded to his. They were two pieces of the same puzzle finally together, finally whole. So, when the tip of his tongue ran across the seam of her lips, she opened to him without a single hesitation.
Nothing short of amazing, their first kiss sealed what Ellie had always known, Ranger Evans was her Mate. The one man in all the world made for her by the Universe and the Goddess of All.
Lost to their passion, forgetting that she was mad, hurt, embarrassed, and, most of all, heartsick for him, Ellie jumped back with a loud squeak, when an obnoxious buzz filled the elevator. Eyes flying to Ranger's, her heart soared at the love she saw, not to mention that it did her ego good to know that he was just as turned on as she was.
Then a loud voice burst through the speaker, "Dammit Ranger, let the frikkin' elevator go. We've got guests waiting down here," and Ellie had