Page 17 of Driving Him Wild

Like a switch her expression grew icy, her eyes dimming to a dull brown before she blinked and

cast a disdainful glance at a spot over my shoulder.

I’d struck a nerve. For a moment I wanted to take back my words, but then I wanted to know just

what I’d done. To explore that nerve, get to know it better. So I might know this woman better?

She’s only here for another day. You don’t move in the same circles so if you don’t want to, youwon’t need to see her ever again.

That thought...dissatisfied. I wanted to know Graciela. If for nothing else, to satisfy myself that my instincts weren’t wrong about her. That my craving was misplaced. That she was another wannabe,

unworthy of the name...

Dominant.

My senses jumped. Harder than before, my gaze falling once more to those biteable lips. To her

clothes and what lay beneath. To how it would feel to receive her command to unwrap her, lay my

hands on her bare skin, feel her silky pulse jump beneath my touch. Hear her voice hitch with arousal as she revelled in controlling my every desire.

Even if it was a matter of losing myself in a woman just for the hell of it, with no agenda or deeper meaning, I was up for that.

‘I don’t believe I’m paying you to stand around and work out my IQ, Mr Scott.’

Keep your money. This one’s on the house.

I swallowed the words. I was richer than I’d be able to spend in one lifetime, courtesy of a life-

changing photograph taken on a faraway continent. I’d been doing well before the photo that had

propelled me to fame and fortune had set me up for life. I didn’t need her money, true. But I suspected a gesture like that would impress her even less. Not that I was out to impress her. And really, why the hell would I want to cut my nose to spite my face?

More axioms, Jensen?

I cursed the mocking voice and gestured at her to get back on the sled.

Disdain and designer sunglasses firmly in place, she hopped back into her seat.

The next destination was forty minutes’ sled ride away and, save for a quick stop to water the dogs, we completed it in silence.

Killik Falls was a natural waterfall cascading from a tiny blue lake cradled in one of the many

glaciers situated between Prudhoe Bay and Utqiagvik. The sight of the blue water bursting through a wall of ice was a stunning phenomenon, a fact evidenced by Graciela’s gasp when I pulled the sled to a stop near a flat plateau on one of the glaciers.

‘Wow, that’s breathtaking.’

I let out a relieved breath, noting annoyingly that I’d hoped the sight would please her as much as it’d pleased me the first time I saw it. ‘Yeah.’

She stepped off the sled, sliding off her shades to get a closer look. When she glanced at me there was only curiosity in her eyes. ‘It all looks great. So why here?’

‘It should’ve frozen over two months ago.’

Her face cleared, leaving behind a solemn look. ‘Ah. I see.’ She took in the snow-dusted fauna

around the lake while I took out my equipment. ‘How long has that been happening?’

‘Steadily for the past ten years.’

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