Dina’s Favorite Mistake (Tequila Tycoons #2)

1. Prologue

Prologue

G irl, what are you doing?

In that exact moment, Dina Farias was trying not to faint as the man she had picked up in the hotel bar punished her with filthy kisses. Braced against the cold metal wall of an elevator, she tottered dangerously on her too-high Jimmy Choo pumps and clutched at the man’s button-down shirt for balance.

Steve.

The Texas Ranger.

She’d never had a baseball player before, and if he fucked as good as he kissed, Steve wasn’t going to be her last.

Tall. Dirty blond. A mustache. Blue eyes. A playful grin. A voice as sexy as sin.

The moment he had sidled up to her at the busy hotel bar and offered to buy her a drink, she’d been gone. Lust amped up to ten. Desire throbbing low in her core.

As a rule, she rarely dated. She had made the mistake of falling in love with a bad, bad man when she was a teenager. He had nearly destroyed her life and her family. She’d escaped by the skin of her teeth with her baby girl. After that, she had sworn off men.

Well. Mostly.

She was a red-blooded woman with needs, after all.

But there were ways to discreetly scratch that itch without getting involved.

Like one-night-stands when she traveled for business.

As Steve maneuvered her out of the elevator and into the hallway, she decided it was a good thing she was leaving early in the morning. Her head spun from his erotic kisses, and the way he manhandled her with those big, strong hands left her craving more. This man was dangerous—and she could not see him again.

But tonight? Oh, tonight, she was going to see all of him.

“Darlin’,” he drawled in between feverish kisses. “My room key.”

“Where?” she panted.

“Pocket.” He steered her down the hall, guiding her backward footsteps so she didn’t bang into anything. She slipped her hand into his pocket and was dismayed to feel the plastic keycard there. She’d have to find another reason to feel him up.

“Which room?”

“This one.”

Keenly aware that there were cameras everywhere, she wanted out of the hallway and into his hotel room as quickly as possible. Discretion was the name of the game, after all. She turned away from him and stabbed the keycard into the reader. In the heartbeat it took for the light to turn green, Steve swept aside her dark hair and latched onto her neck, sucking and scraping his teeth over her skin like an animal.

She gasped and grasped the door handle for support, yanking it down and opening the door in the process. The card fell onto the floor inside the room as they stumbled inside. He kicked the door closed with his foot and then spun her around, pressing her chest against it and covering her body with his much larger one.

“Oh!” She cried out as he groped her, possessively running his hands over her curves. He carelessly tugged at the expensive fabric of her red Prabal Gurung cocktail dress, trying to get his hands on her naked skin. “Careful,” she urged. “It will tear.”

“How do I get this thing off?” he asked, seemingly torn between exasperation and amusement.

“The zipper.” She gasped again as he licked a line along her neck before turning her face so he could claim her mouth in a demanding kiss. Caught between his body and the door, she surrendered to his control. She let go and let herself feel.

Steve abandoned his search for the zipper and simply shoved her skirt up as high as he could, tucking it into the neckline. He whistled at the discovery of her lacy thong. “You’re killing me, darlin’.”

Darlin’ . She flushed anew, overcome with the excitement of being under his rough and appreciative hands. He kissed and nibbled his way down her bare back before dropping to his knees behind her. She cried out at the sensation of his teeth grazing along her lower back.

A moment later, he shocked her again by biting the flimsy waistband of her underwear and dragging them down her body. He applied pressure to her right calf, and she followed his silent urge, lifting her foot to allow him to remove her thong. He surprised her by holding her foot in place, not letting her put it back down, leaving her wide open and exposed.

And then, without warning, his mouth was on her. His tongue was in her. She clawed at the door, panting, moaning. In her experience, men usually waited to offer oral sex only after receiving, but not this man. Not Steve. He was eager and relentless, his lips and tongue wickedly laving and suckling until her thighs trembled.

Marveling at his skill, she tried desperately to balance on one high-heel and the door in front of her. “Steve,” she said pleadingly. “I’m going to—.”

“Come for me,” he urged, his voice muffled by his position between her legs.

“I’m going to fall,” she corrected, torn between amusement and exasperation. The flamingo-like posture was hell on her standing leg, especially with the height and angle of her fuck-me pumps.

“Well, we can’t have that.” He pressed ticklish kisses to her inner thighs and then rose to his full height behind her. He effortlessly picked her up, cradling her safely in his arms, and carried her to the bed. She made good use of her new position to kiss him, relishing the intimacy and closeness.

He pounced the moment she was on the bed. His much larger body covered hers, sending a delicious thrill right through her. She plucked at the buttons lining the front of his shirt and greedily ran her hands over his hot skin as soon as he was bare. She eyed the tattoos revealed as he shrugged out of the shirt. A fish dangling from a line above a clutch of bluebonnets. The work was beautiful, but she couldn’t make sense of it. Maybe he liked to fish?

The tattoo was quickly forgotten as Steve grasped the backs of her thighs, shoved her knees toward her chest and brought his mouth back between her legs. It took him a few seconds to find the right rhythm, the right pressure, but once he did, she rewarded him with an arched back and cry of passion. He groaned against her, and the vibrations sent her hurtling over the edge.

She clawed at his forearms and rode out the waves of her climax. He was so, so good at this, and she didn’t want him to stop. Not that she needed to ask. He seemed to intuit she wanted more from him. With a slight shift, he pressed her thighs wider apart and changed the angle of attack from his mouth. She saw stars again, this time screaming with unadulterated joy.

When he finally dragged his mouth away, she sat up and reached for him. She dragged him on top of her, reveling in the heat and weight of him pressing down on top of her. But wanting her chance to be the aggressor, she wrapped her thighs around his waist and shoved on his shoulders. “On your back.”

He laughed and rolled into position, taking her with him. She straddled his thighs and pulled off her dress, tossing it carelessly aside. She attacked his clothing, yanking at his belt and jeans while he toed off his boots. Her bra was the last thing to go, and he groaned appreciatively at her naked body.

“Darlin’, look at you,” he said hungrily.

“I’m just getting started,” she said breathily. He’d awoken a feral need inside her, stoked the fire of her lust and left her raging with desire. He gripped her waist and inhaled sharply as she stroked his shaft. Thick, hard and hot, he filled her hand. She enjoyed the way his body twitched as she touched him and couldn’t give up the chance to taste him.

He swore as she licked the head of his cock and damn near bucked her off the bed when she swallowed almost all of him. He threaded his fingers through her hair, lifting it out of her way. His legs flexed beneath her, and she could tell he was fighting against the urge to thrust into her mouth. She used her hand to add to the stimulation, making him growl with each downstroke.

“Enough,” he begged. “I want inside you.”

She eased off his cock and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Do you have a condom?”

He grimaced. “No. I wasn’t planning on this.”

“Hold on.” She climbed off the bed and strutted back toward the door where she’d dropped her clutch. She put a little extra swing into her hips as she moved, wanting to tease him and keep him interested. She crouched down, grabbed her clutch and removed one of the condoms she’d tucked inside before leaving her hotel suite.

“I like a woman in control and prepared,” Steve drawled in that sexy Texan accent. “Should I be flattered that you picked me tonight?”

“Yes,” she answered matter-of-factly before tossing the condom at him and crawling back onto the bed.

Steve laughed at her candid reply and made quick work of rolling on the condom. She shifted atop his lap, lining up their bodies before sinking down onto his cock. She was so wet he glided in effortlessly, and she moaned at the delicious stretch. He filled her perfectly, and she bit her lower lip at the sensation.

Steve caressed her body with slow, sensual movements. He mapped out her curves his big, rough hands, and she shivered under his affectionate touch. He wasn’t in any hurry, and he let her set the pace, rocking slowly back and forth in a way that pleased her most.

He sat up, wrapping one arm around her waist and letting the other brace her back. He tangled a hand in her hair, holding the back of her head, and kissed her until she was breathless and trembling. The man had the most skilled mouth she’d ever experienced. He was effortlessly erotic.

Although she enjoyed being on top, she craved more from him. “Take me from behind?”

“Whatever you want,” he eagerly promised. “I’ll give you anything you want.”

She was used to men trying to be the dominant one with her. It was refreshing and exciting to have a such a big, strong man willingly following her lead.

Maybe I’ve been chasing the wrong type of man this whole time.

Once she was on her knees, Steve kissed his way down her back while petting her bottom and thighs. When he finally thrust inside her, she cried out with pleasure and pressed back against him, desperate for more. He gave her what she wanted.

Hard. Fast. Wild. Wicked.

When he grabbed a fistful of her hair, angling her head back, she clenched around him, squeezing his shaft and making him growl behind her. She felt that first fluttery warning of orgasm and reached between her legs to touch herself. With her fingers and his thrusts, she climaxed so quickly that it shocked her.

And it was good. So good. Leaving her lightheaded and shaking and gasping for air.

Steve drove her down into the bed, pressing her flat onto her belly. She lifted her ass just a bit, giving him a deeper angle, and he latched onto the side of her neck, kissing and biting while thrusting slow. She felt on the verge of some kind of wonderfully wild new experience. Her body thrummed with post-orgasmic bliss, and she was so sensitive that each time he thrust, she felt like she was coming all over again.

Steve moved a bit faster, a little shallower, and she lifted her hips higher, changing the angle ever so slightly. He was rubbing against a spot inside her she’d never been able to find, and it was driving her insane. “Please don’t stop,” she begged. “Please don’t stop.”

He pressed his forehead into her hair and kept giving her what she wanted, thrusting and rubbing that spot until she thought she was about to have a heart attack. She climaxed with a shocked gasp and felt her entire world tilt as wave after wave of honeyed ecstasy crashed over and through her.

Steve made a choked sound behind her before shuddering as his own orgasm finally hit. She barely registered him finishing and carefully pulling out and away from her. Boneless and limp, she fought to catch her breath while her body vibrated and throbbed.

He came back to bed a short while later with a hand towel. He kissed her back and shoulders while tidying up the mess they’d made together. When he was done, he pulled the covers out from under her and slipped into the bed. He started to reach for her but hesitated. “You okay with cuddling after?”

“Please?” she asked, her eyelids heavy and her heart beating at a slightly normal pace now.

“Didn’t want to assume,” he explained before dragging her into his warm embrace. He was like a cozy furnace, and she couldn’t get close enough to him, wrapping her leg around his and burrowing her face against his chest.

“You may have to wake me up and kick me out of here,” she warned sleepily.

“Wouldn’t be very gentlemanly of me.”

“The things you did to me weren’t exactly gentlemanly,” she teased lightly.

He snorted. “I didn’t hear you complaining.

“Five stars,” she said and yawned. “Would do again.”

He laughed. “I like your sense of humor.”

She smiled against his chest and relaxed further as he played with her hair. It was the sort of tender intimacy she’d been missing. If only this wasn’t a one-night stand in a foreign city, and she didn’t have a whole life back home waiting for her.

“What’s with the tattoo?” she asked, trying to keep the conversation light.

“My grandparents,” he explained softly. “There was a fishing hole by their cabin. We used to spend hours there together, picnicking in the wildflowers.”

“It sounds beautiful.”

“It was.” He drew loopy shapes on her shoulder. “You sure you have to fly home in the morning?” Steve asked guardedly.

“Yes.” She ignored the little voice that urged her to stay another day. “I have responsibilities.”

“I understand.” He didn’t push or ask what they might be. They’d kept things light during their shared drink at the hotel bar. Occupations. Where they lived. Nothing too heavy. “Maybe we could—.”

“Steve, I can’t,” she said, hating the tension that followed. More than anything, she wanted to see him again. Yes, the sex was incredible, but there was something about him, something special. Almost as if their meeting had been kismet. “I’m a single mom. My priority is my daughter, and after her, everything else I have is focused on my family and our business.”

“I get it,” he assured her. “Still, I had to ask.”

She worked up the courage to lift her gaze to his. He had the most honest eyes she’d ever seen. This was a good man, a real man, and she wished she could be the sort of woman he deserved. “If my circumstances were different...”

“Yeah.” He tenderly kissed her forehead. “I know.”

Nothing else was said, and eventually, he fell asleep, still holding her tight. She allowed herself a short nap with him, but only a short one. Carefully, she extricated herself from his embrace. His bigger, heavier frame was soothingly warm, and she would have happily stayed tucked up beside him all night.

As quietly as possible, she got dressed. She left off her shoes, worried the heels would click against the floor and wake him. She wanted to avoid any awkwardness as she slipped out of his life.

When she reached the door, she found his wallet on the floor and the keycard next to it. She picked them both up and carried them to the table next to the bed. As she placed them down, his wallet flipped open—and revealed a badge.

He wasn’t a Texas Ranger baseball player as she had stupidly assumed.

He was a real Texas Ranger.

A police officer.

And she was the ex-wife of a cartel hitman.

Heart racing, she backed away from the handsome man who had given her a night she would never forget and fled the hotel room.