Rewind & Go: A Blue-Collar Billionaire Romance (Sander's Valley Book 1) Read online

  He knelt behind her and kissed her neck. She bent her head to give him better access. The tiny shivers of awareness only he could stir within her flared to life. She leaned into him, letting him support her weight.

  “Not alone. I’ll be there with you.”

  She wasn’t sure she wanted him there. The days they’d spent together had been the best she’d had in a decade. They’d made love whenever the mood struck and spent the rest of their time hiking and swimming in the lake, exactly as they used to do.

  The love and peace she found in Kyle’s arms felt right, but it didn’t change the facts. Her life was in Virginia. His was here. Even if he did agree to move in with her, he’d grow resentful. She didn’t care what he said. He was a Sander, and their tie to the valley was too strong. Both Levi and Jack had left. Levi had gone to cooking school in Europe, and Jack had enlisted in the Marines. Both had returned and sworn they’d never leave again.

  Kyle might’ve forgiven her for hurting him, and she was trying to put the past behind them too and move forward, only she didn’t know how. No, that wasn’t quite true. There was one way—hand the gallery over to someone else and return to Sander’s Valley. Her ancestors would likely roll over in their graves if they knew what she’d been contemplating.

  It sickened her just thinking about it—not the decision itself but her hesitation. She loved Kyle. Why couldn’t she do the right thing? Because I’ll be sacrificing everything for a man who will always hold the anger in his heart over our ten wasted years.

  She sighed. That was the sticking point. She knew it. He’d said so himself: he would never forget. “Doesn’t mean we can’t start over.” He’d said that too. But could she? It’d be so much easier to just move on.

  “Well? You’re going to call me, right?”

  She answered automatically. “Of course.”

  “Good.” He kissed her, slowly and lovingly, until her body hummed. He finally eased back. “Deal with the PI, but then we need to get up. We’ve slept in again, and I promised we’d take the horses out today.”

  “You know I can’t stay here forever.”

  He wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on her shoulder. “I know, doll. I want…” A long, weary sigh escaped his lips. He squeezed her a little harder. “I want breakfast. I’ll go make us bacon and eggs, okay?”

  “Sounds wonderful.”

  He grabbed a pair of sweats from the floor and walked naked from the room, giving her a wonderful view of his tight ass.

  She shook her head to clear it of the lusty thoughts. Focus. She needed to keep her mind on one thing at a time. Before she could even contemplate breaking the tradition and obligation that had rested on the shoulders of the eldest and often only Axel heir, she had to uncover the mystery surrounding her parents’ failed marriage. The big secret.

  She dialed and steeled herself for the truth she knew in her heart but refused to accept. Her father had called Russia home, not Sander’s Valley.

  * * * *

  Kyle turned at the sound of Ronnie clearing her throat. Dressed in a pair of cutoffs and a white tank top with her straight blonde hair cascading over her shoulders, she looked like his woman. The past week had reaffirmed his belief. He’d never love another girl. The sight of Ronnie standing in the doorway of his kitchen with her tote bag and car keys in hand, however, reminded him he still had no clue how to make her his wife.

  The only way he could see them getting married was if he moved to Virginia. He’d sworn he didn’t care, and he was almost positive that was the truth, but a tiny part of him feared it’d be a mistake. Here, he had a life. Not a rich one, but it was good. He had his friends and family, a house, his cat. There, he had nothing. He’d be living in her house and associating with her friends, the same ones who hadn’t even cared enough to check up on her when they’d realized she’d been missing for a week. Or maybe they hadn’t even noticed her absence.

  She raised her chin. “He found the letter in Northern California.”

  Kyle swallowed hard. She’d said the farther away her mom had stashed stuff, the more it had hurt her. “That’s good he found it.”

  She licked her lips. “There was also a message on my phone from the lawyer. Apparently Gerald’s daughter had been going through her dad’s things and found several paintings all packed and addressed to me. There was a note attached to them, asking her to send them after he died.”

  He cursed. “He thought you were his.”

  “Looks that way. I’ll find out soon enough, I guess.” She dropped her gaze to the floor. “Either way, the paintings are mine. I have to meet with the lawyers about it and arrange the shipment and stuff.”

  He took in the tremor in her hands and the tic on her jaw. She was lying. He was certain of it. “You have to go now?”

  She nodded a little too quickly. Her hair danced around her. “Yes. There’s a…a time limit on when I can file for…” She swept the tip of her tongue along her bottom lip. “To complete the legalities.”

  He crossed his arms and leaned against the counter. “Your lawyer works on Sunday?”

  She jerked her head up. Wide-eyed, she stared at him for a moment before a carefully neutral mask slipped over her features. “Of course not. Gerald’s daughter, Iona, wants to talk to me.”

  “Why?”

  “Probably because she thinks the same thing I do.” She gave him a wan smile. “That Gerald’s my real dad.”

  “Call her from here. That way—”

  “No, Kyle. I have to do this on my own.”

  He wanted to argue. She’d need a shoulder to cry on, someone to hold her up when reality pushed her down.

  She blinked rapidly. “So, I’m going to take off now. The sooner I deal with the great big secret, the sooner I can get on with my life.”

  Hell no. She was not going to just walk away. He strode toward her. She backed into the hallway, dropping her bag to hold a hand up. As if that would stop him. He caged her in, palms flattened against the wall by her face.

  “And the sooner you can forget about us.” He leaned closer, her widened hazel eyes confirming his guess. “That’s the real reason you want to leave now, isn’t it?”

  “I’ll never forget about us.”

  He bent so his breath mixed with hers. “Really?”

  “Yes, really.”

  “So what, I’ll star in your secret little fantasies? Be the man you think of when some other guy is fucking you?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  No, she’d only implied it. Or maybe it was his suspicions rising to the surface. Either way, he wasn’t letting her walk away without some kind of commitment. Goddammit, he needed her to tell him she loved him, or he might go mad.

  “Am I overreacting, then?”

  “Yes. I have no intention of replacing you.”

  Didn’t mean she’d hold on to him. He tipped up her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “I’m not letting you go this time. We’re going to figure out how to make this work between us.”

  “Kyle, I—”

  He took her mouth on a rough kiss, stopping her denial. It was written on her face. No. He wouldn’t let her voice it or spew her doubts. He’d erase every one of them. Somehow. Dammit, somehow he’d make her his wife.

  She resisted for a moment before matching him, kissing him harder than she ever had before. Their teeth banged and tongues dueled, a battle for dominance they both fought to win. At the moment, he didn’t care who did as long as he got her passion.

  He ran his hand over her ass and gave each cheek a rough squeeze. She gasped, a shocked sound he greedily swallowed. It fueled him as much as the way she tugged at his sweats, trying to yank them down. He pressed his hips to hers, pinning the cotton in place. He wasn’t ready. He wanted her crazed, aching for him. She had other ideas.

  She dug her nails into his ass and yanked him closer. He groaned, and his little vixen rubbed against him, stimulating him more. The ache in his cock grew. It pushed at her belly,
demanding to be touched. He ignored the tingling only her wet core would cure. His plans didn’t involve freeing his erection anytime soon.

  With more effort than he’d like to admit, he tore his mouth from hers. Dilated, lust-hazed eyes met his. He let his gaze roam over her and committed every detail to memory. Even if he did garner her commitment, it’d be days until he saw her again. One was too many. At the moment, he was facing five. Felt like a lifetime.

  “I love you, Ronnie.”

  Her gaze drifted to his lips. “I know.”

  “And you love me.” He waited a moment. Anger rushed up. She was going to pretend that what they had could be forgotten or replaced. “Say it!”

  She raised her gaze to his. “Please, don’t—”

  “I love you, Kyle Sander.” He leaned closer. “Say the words.”

  He hated his anger, but he couldn’t let her just walk away. He’d lose her. He knew it as well as he knew his name.

  She shook her head. “You don’t understand. I—”

  He pushed her shirt up, exposing her chest and stopping her words. The hard tips of her nipples poked the lacy white bra. He ran his thumb over one. She arched her back on a rough intake of air.

  “I’m not letting you ignore what you feel for me.” He dragged the cup down, exposing her flesh. Using the nail of his forefinger, he circled her nipple. She sucked in another breath. “And I’m not letting you ignore what made you stay away for ten years.”

  She grasped his wrist. “I don’t want to talk about our past or our future.”

  “Fine. We’ll talk about now.” Then he’d get you to admit the truth.

  He tweaked her nipple and swallowed her gasp on another kiss. While he loved her mouth, he worked the button on her shorts free and tugged the zipper. The denim slipped, pooling at her feet. She kicked it away. Pulled him closer.

  The satin of her panties felt cool against his fingers. He slipped his fingertips beneath her waistband, and she widened her stance, inviting him lower. He took her up on her silent offer and slid a finger over her soft skin until it met her slickened folds. Quick flicks to her clit tore those soft little mewling sounds from her throat. He took them in and worked her sensitive button until she squirmed, her orgasm building.

  Her greedy core squeezed around his finger. She sucked in a breath. She was ready to come. Had he not wanted to make a point, he would’ve given her the relief.

  Not yet. Wouldn’t make it easy. He yanked his hand away, denying her the orgasm, and dropped to his knees. With a rough tug, he drew her panties down. Her arousal glistened on her cleft. He licked his lips, needing to taste her, needing to hear her moan his name.

  Today, tomorrow, for the next sixty years.

  “You’re my addiction, Ronnie.” He looked into her face, letting her see the possessiveness riding him. “I want to fuck you, lock you to my side, hold you. Every day. Not just now. I won’t give this up. Do you hear me?”

  “Yes, I hear you, but—”

  “But nothing.” He dragged his thumb over her slick folds and pressed his fingertip to her opening, not breaching her but with enough pressure that she wouldn’t be able to misinterpret his intent. “Your body is mine. So is your heart. I claimed both years ago.”

  He glared at her, challenging her. She didn’t deny his words. She held his gaze.

  Good. She knew to whom she belonged. It was stubbornness that stopped her from acting on the truth. If she thought he’d stand for it, she was in for a surprise. A Sander learned from his mistakes.

  “I should never have allowed you to leave me.” He clenched his jaw and fought the dark emotions choking him. “For a decade other men have touched what was mine.”

  She shook her head. “We weren’t together. You can’t—”

  “Never again, Ronnie.” He pushed his thumb into her body and stroked her. Her eyelids drifted shut, and her mouth opened slightly on a shaky exhale. “You won’t ever take another loser to your bed. I won’t allow it.”

  With his hands on her ass, he tilted her hips and licked along her cleft, not giving her the chance to deny his claim on her. It would only be stubbornness that would make her say it. Her fingernails biting into his scalp, holding him in place so she could rub her drenched sex over his face, proved him right. He was the only man for her. She knew it. He knew it.

  “Kyle.” She moaned his name.

  The sound fueled him. Made him crazed. He dragged his flattened tongue through her folds, over and over, until she rocked against him, fucking herself on his driving tongue. Her breaths shortened. The pinch of her nails in his scalp grew. The back and forth movement of her hips quickened. She took her pleasure from him. Used him. He loved every damn second of it. He wanted her hooked on him. Addicted to him. Begging him.

  Loving him.

  He wanted her to admit the truth to herself and him. She’d never find another lover that could make her soar the way he could. What they had right here was nothing short of heaven. It was…

  Beauty—art—in its purest form.

  She’d never find it elsewhere, not in a lover or a priceless painting.

  Determination settled over him. He didn’t give a shit how long it took her to realize it. He’d help her accept the truth.

  “Kyle, more. Make me come.”

  That was his plan. He worked her body with flicks and nibbles. Kept up the teasing until her grip on his hair slackened. She trembled. He thrust his tongue inside her core and pressed his thumb to her clit. Her orgasm hit. She groaned his name, a raw and untamed sound he loved hearing. With quick strokes, he stretched her release until her whimpers turned from pleasured sounds to ones of discomfort.

  He stood and took her mouth, sharing her arousal with her and reminding her of the intimacy they shared. She moaned for him and clutched his head tighter.

  “This, Ronnie,” he said between kisses. “I won’t lose this. Won’t lose you.”

  He shoved his pants down. His erection sprang forward. It slid along her wet lower lips, teasing him with heaven.

  She titled her hips, trying to capture his head, but he eased back and broke their kiss.

  “You love me.” He grabbed his length to stop it from twitching and brought it to the opening of her sex. “Say it.”

  She glared at him. “Not now. Not like this.”

  “Why, Ronnie?” He pushed the head of his dick past her lower lips. Her eyelashes fluttered, but she held them open. “You feel it. I know you do.”

  “You don’t know what I’m feeling right now.”

  She gripped his shoulders. He’d expected her to shove him away. She dug her blunt nails in and pulled him closer, wrapping her legs around his waist. The move opened her to him, giving him access to her body, inviting him to possess her.

  His dick slipped farther into her hot center. He tensed his muscles to stop himself from ramming the rest of his length inside her.

  “Tell me.”

  She crossed her ankles at the back of his spine and tilted her hips, impaling herself on his rigid length. “You want me to admit my love, marry you, and move here. I don’t know if I can. I thought I could, but after the call—”

  “Stop, Ronnie.” He panted and tried to get his lust and frustration under control before he said the wrong thing. “I want us to take one goddamn step at a time. Not marriage. Not any decision on where we’ll live. All I want from you is your love and a promise that we’ll keep seeing each other.”

  Her nostrils flared on her quickened breaths. She opened her mouth but closed it without saying a thing.

  He pulled his cock back. “Don’t do this to us.”

  She squeezed her eyes closed, but not soon enough. He saw the tears brimming in her eyes.

  “If I’m wrong and you don’t love me, I’ll let you go.” He cupped her face in his hands. “If I’m right, give us a chance.”

  She dug her heels into his ass and drew him in. Her warmth and the welcoming arousal invited him home. He slipped deeper. Her body molded to hi
m, hugging him close. He buried his face in her hair.

  “Love you, doll.”

  She hiccupped. “Love you too.”

  Thank God. He swallowed past the lump in his throat. With his arms banded around her, he held her close for a long moment and let her words sink in. Passion flared, though, pushing the softer emotion to the side. He had to move.

  Slow, full strokes loosened her body. With her head buried against his shoulder, she rocked with him. Her tears wet the cotton of his T-shirt. He tried not to read into them. Fortunately the clenching of her muscles over his dick distracted him.

  He gave himself over to the lust. The physical act, he could handle. Ronnie’s doubts, he couldn’t. They’d work it out. As long as she gave them a chance, everything would be fine. The thought faded as his balls drew up. He was ready to explode, needed to fill her up, but he craved her cries of completion first. The compulsion took hold.

  With her back against the wall to hold her in place, he pounded into her. She matched his furious pace, adding a push to his drive. Their groins smacked. Her nails left scratches on his back, and their moans surrounded them. Faster, harder, he gave her everything he had.

  She kissed her way up his neck to his ear. “I love you, Kyle Sander. Love you always.”

  Her words pushed him over. He drove deep once more and let go. She followed him on a cry of passion that stripped him raw. He wanted to hear that sound every goddamn day of his life. Soon he would. He held the vow close and ignored the good-bye in her touch.

  Ronnie wasn’t the only one who’d grown up during the years they’d been apart. So had he, and there was one very important thing he’d learned—persistence. No matter how much life had fucked with him, he’d gotten out of bed and faced his challenges. Ronnie’s stubbornness would be the biggest of all. And the most important.

  Her life and the great Axel legacy depended on him to be the man she needed.

  Chapter Eleven

  Kyle sat on his bed a few nights later and stared at the tiny diamond set in a white-gold band. It had taken him two years of working at the movie theater in the neighboring town to buy it. During the school year, he hadn’t minded spending his weekend nights there. It had given him something to do while his friends had gone on dates.