Awakened

by HELEN HARDT

  “No turning back. I swear to God I’m going to use you up tonight. This is your last chance to say no. Getting in that car is your consent, and damn it, I will hold you to it.”

  She opens the door and slides her gorgeous body into the passenger seat.

  So be it.

  I get in the car, start the engine, and drive four blocks to the Carlton. I hand the key fob to the valet and race inside the hotel, dragging Ashley with me. No line, thank God. It’s a Monday evening, after all. Who comes to a hotel on a Monday?

  A man who wants to fuck, that’s who.

  I get a room as quickly as possible, tapping my foot impatiently. We head to the elevator, get in, and—

  I can’t take it anymore. I grab Ashley and force her dress above her hips. “God, I can already smell you.”

  “Y-You can?”

  “Fuck, yes. You smell just like you did that day in the office. Ripe and apple-y. Wet and ready.”

  She lets out a nervous chuckle. “You said apple-y.”

  “Apple-y. Sweet. Musky. Exuberant. I don’t fucking care.” I drop to my knees in the elevator, push her panties aside, and shove my tongue into her.

  “God! Dale!”

  Her cream is as delicious as I remember. More delicious even, because this time the emotion bubbling through me adds to my yearning.

  Ding!

  The elevator stops. The door opens, and a man walks in. “Oh, God. Excuse me.”

  I stand and grab Ashley’s arm. Fuck. It’s not our floor.

  She’s red all over, from arousal or embarrassment, I’m not sure.

  Don’t care.

  Don’t fucking care about anything right now except getting my cock into Ashley. The elevator stops again, this time on the right floor.

  I grip her arm once more and lead her out of the elevator and to our room.

  I let the keycard hover over the lock.

  Nothing. Just the fucking flashing little red light.

  “Fuck!”

  “Easy.” Ashley takes the card from me and taps it against the lock. The green light flashes, and she opens the door.

  I’m so tense, taut as the strings on a freshly tuned violin. Tense and full of rage and ready to fuck this woman into the next century.

  She pulls me into the room, and the door swings shut behind us.

  I should ask her. Double-check to be sure she’s okay with this.

  But she pulls me toward her, her back against the door. “Kiss me.”

  I clamp my lips to hers once more, still full of rage, still full of lust. Our tongues duel as if we’re fighting a battle for life and love.

  And perhaps we are.

  Perhaps—

  My thoughts cease, and those feelings—those feelings I’ve let lie dormant for so long inside me—boil over. I deepen the kiss, try to get closer and closer to her…

  But this isn’t how to get close.

  Getting close means getting inside her.

  Now.

  Right fucking now.

  I lift her dress again and pull her panties down over her hips. Before I can tell her, she steps out of them and kicks them a few feet away.

  I unbuckle my pants and unzip them. My cock strains against my boxer briefs, and I free it, holding it tightly in my fist, my balls already tightening and tingling.

  I hoist Ashley in the air and set her down on my cock, thrusting into her against the wall.

  Peace.

  The rage and anger and lust and passion culminate into peace.

  Except this peace is anything but peaceful. It’s the happy chaos after a war has ended.

  A war I was fighting in my own mind.

  Which makes me realize it isn’t actually peace at all. She’s awakened something in me—something I’m not quite ready to face.

  An awakening masquerading as peace, until its true nature is revealed.

  An awakening can be a walk through hell. That’s the chaos. The chaos of finding something I never knew I wanted…and knowing what it will cost.

  Finding something that will destroy the walls I’ve come to depend on. The walls I’ve surrounded myself with for so long. The walls I only let topple when I’m alone in the vineyards, and even then, they’ve never tumbled all the way down.

  Fuck.

  A walk through hell.

  That’s where my life is headed now.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Ashley

  He’s so huge, but he burns through me as though he was always meant to be there. He fucks me with his whole body.

  He thrusts.

  He thrusts.

  He thrusts.

  My back scrapes against the door, but I don’t care. I don’t care if he abrades my entire layer of skin, as long as he keeps fucking me.

  Fucking me hard.

  Fucking me fast.

  He pants and grunts, sweat emerging on his brow. He grips my buttocks, holding me in place, and his corded muscles tense with each movement.

  His pants and briefs are midway down his thighs, which should hamper his movement.

  But not Dale.

  He pushes all the way inside me until his huge cock is completely embedded in me.

  I can’t think.

  I’ve been with so many men, but never has one left me completely devoid of thought.

  Only raw emotion courses through me—need, lust, pure aching want.

  “Dale,” I moan softly. “Yes, Dale. Yes.”

  He thrusts harder, harder, pushing against my clit and sending sparks hurtling through my body.

  I’m close. So close, and—

  “Dale! God!”

  The climax explodes in my pussy and radiates out from my core to every nerve in my arms and legs, fingers and toes. My whole body tingles as I rise into a foggy high the color of Syrah wine.

  The burgundy red envelops me, becomes almost visible as a bubble surrounding us.

  And when he releases inside me, giving himself to me, the hue darkens, deepens, yet becomes even more vivid.

  It’s a paradox of color and emotion.

  And I’m in ecstasy.

  Pure ecstasy.

  A climax like never before.

  A climax that seems almost impossible in its fierceness and strength.

  A climax I know I’ll never forget.

  A climax I’ll want again and again.

  “Fuck, Ashley,” he groans. “Fuck!”

  He stays embedded inside me, still holding me against the door, for a second or an hour. I’m not sure, as time seems suspended. Suspended in the garnet haze of our lust.

  Breaths. Rapid huffs of air. Sweat. Drops of beaded sweat. His grasp so tight on my ass. Will he leave a mark? I don’t care.

  That’s a lie. I do care. I want the mark. I want to be branded like one of the Steel cattle. Dale’s mark on me.

  Still, he stays inside me.

  Still, he pants, holding my hips and ass, until he lowers his head and takes my lips.

  It’s not a gentle kiss. It’s not a kiss of release.

  God, no.

  It’s a kiss of what’s to come.

  And I can’t wait.

  I meet his tongue with my own, and we thrash and moan as we kiss each other hard, our lips sliding together.

  He bites my lower lip, and then I bite his. He swirls his tongue over my chin and around my mouth before diving back in.

  No turning back. I swear to God I’m going to use you up tonight. This is your last chance to say no. Getting in that car is your consent, and damn it, I will hold you to it.

  His words—the words he hoped would scare me away but instead turned me on.

  No. Turned me on is too tame.

  His words inflamed me. Lit a fire in my loins like nothing I’ve ever known.

  Gentle? Who the hell needs gentle?

  I only need Dale Steel, and I’ll take him as he is.

  He deepens the kiss. Our mouths are now fused together, our tongues banging against the inside of our mouths. I breathe as be
st I can through my nose, the whiffs of air from him like a mini-hurricane against my cheek.

  He’s no longer inside me, and now we’re moving. Moving toward the bed in tiny steps because Dale still has his pants around his knees. He holds me in his strong arms, and I wrap my legs around his waist. Finally, he sets me—more gently than I expect—on the edge of the bed.

  He pulls his boots off and then gets rid of his pants, underwear, and socks lightning fast. Then his shirt.

  And I see him.

  For the first time, I truly see him—naked and splendid and fucking majestic.

  He’s a god.

  I never doubted it, but to actually experience Dale Steel in all his glory takes my breath away.

  Literally.

  I gasp, sucking a balloon of air into my lungs.

  He’s that resplendent.

  “Take off your dress, Ashley.”

  That voice. That gorgeous red-wine voice. The color surrounds me, infuses me, and I know, at that moment, that I’ll do whatever he asks. Whatever he wants.

  My dress is still around my waist, so I lift it over my head and toss it onto the floor. My boobs wiggle free. No bra. My plan to hold the girls captive while here went with the wind the minute I decided on this dress.

  This time he sucks in a breath.

  I tingle all over, my body still shaking from the explosive orgasm. Dale’s hard again. I can’t even believe it, but he is, and that majestic cock jutting out from his blond bush is an amazing sight indeed. A sight I’ll never tire of.

  He’s a god. A Dionysus that looks like Adonis, come down to pluck me like he plucks grapes from his vines.

  And I can’t fucking wait.

  He gazes at my pussy, a strip of hair several shades darker than the hair on my head. Does he like it bare? I’ll run to the bathroom and shave if he tells me to. Anything to please him.

  Freaking anything.

  All he has to do is ask.

  Hell, he doesn’t have to ask.

  He can command me. Demand anything, and I’ll obey.

  And I’ll never regret it.

  Even if he never talks to me again after this night.

  “Fuck, Ashley.” He grits his teeth, his jawline rigid, even more so than usual.

  “What?” I say breathlessly.

  “I swear to God…”

  “What?” More emphatic this time.

  “If I have to walk through hell, you’re coming with me.”

  What? His words ring in my mind as I try to make sense of them through the burgundy haze.

  His voice. His husky and beautiful and garnet-tinged voice…

  “I fucking swear.” He pushes me down on the bed so I’m lying on my back, and he hovers over me, his gaze penetrating mine. “It’s all chaos. Pure chaos.”

  Chaos? What does he mean?

  I open my mouth to ask, my body still thrumming from the orgasm and from his nearness, but he crushes his lips to mine in a fiery kiss.

  His lips and tongue are still tinged with the sweetness of the tuna tartare, the spiciness of the wasabi, and the toastiness of the Cristal. And then the flavor of Dale himself—that irresistible mixture of darkness and delight.

  How he’d hate that description! He’d call it subjective, but I can’t describe it any more vividly.

  Darkness.

  Delight.

  Dale Steel.

  The three are synonymous in my mind.

  If this is a walk through hell, then may I burn.

  He breaks our kiss and inhales a deep breath. Our gazes lock, and his eyes blaze with the fire of hot lava, the perfect green of Helenite from Mt. St. Helen’s. Music plays in my mind—vivid green music of violins and clarinets.

  He stares, his lips parted, and for a moment, I think he might speak, might veil me in the garnet cloak of his voice, but instead, he lowers his head and takes one of my nipples between his lips.

  “Oh, God,” I moan.

  My nipples are no strangers to a man’s lips, but Dale’s lips are in a class by themselves. Sparks shoot through me and gravitate swiftly to my pussy, culminating in my clit.

  With each tug of his lips, my clit throbs, and for a second, I wonder if I can come just from his mouth on my breasts.

  His fingers find the other nipple, and he pinches it gently. And then…not so gently.

  I’m on fire. I’m bursting into flames, my hips undulating on their own. I thrust upward, searching.

  Searching for what I crave. Anything to fill that achingly empty void inside me. That void he filled so completely when we fucked against the door.

  Still, he concentrates on my nipples, and as much as I want him in other places, I can’t bear the thought of him leaving my breasts.

  As if reading my mind, though, he slides his free hand down my body, caressing my side and hip and then swirling a finger through my folds. I gasp as he circles my clit once, twice, and then jams two fingers into my pussy.

  “Dale!” I push upward, trying to get his fingers farther and farther into me. He circles them inside me, slides them, glides them, all while continuing his rapturous assault on my nipples.

  I’m wet. So wet and ready for him to push his hard cock back into me. For him to use me as he threatened.

  Only it wasn’t a threat.

  It was a promise—a promise I yearn for him to fulfill.

  For though he gave me a good hard fuck, I’m far from used up.

  And the night has just begun.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Dale

  Her walls clamp around my fingers, those same walls that hugged my cock so perfectly only moments earlier.

  My cock.

  Damn. I want her again, and I—

  Fuck.

  I let her nipple drop and withdraw my fingers.

  A soft whimper curls out of her throat. “Dale?”

  “Please tell me you’re on the pill.”

  “Yeah. I would’ve stopped you if—”

  “Clean?”

  “Yeah. Absolutely.”

  “So am I. Why didn’t you ask?”

  “Because you wouldn’t have fucked me if you weren’t.”

  I cock my head. “Really? Are you always so certain?”

  She cocks her head this time. “No, I’m not.”

  “Then why were you so certain about me?”

  “Because…” She shrugs. “I just am. I mean…you didn’t know how to hold my hand.”

  “That doesn’t mean I’ve never fucked a woman before.”

  “I know. I just… There’s something about you, Dale. You’re never going to put someone in harm’s way. I just know that.”

  “How?”

  “From stuff Diana’s said. From the way you take care of your dog, tend to your vines. You care, Dale.”

  She’s not wrong. Even the casual fucks I’ve had, I’ve made sure to keep the woman safe, even if I didn’t truly care for her.

  If I can help it, I’ll never see another living thing suffer.

  Not after what I had to endure.

  Have I ruined the moment?

  My hard dick and her slick pussy convince me I haven’t.

  I still yearn for her. Still need her. Still ache for her to silence the demons within me.

  The awakening. The chaos.

  It’s like being trapped in a funhouse with no escape.

  And I don’t want to escape.

  No. I only want to fuck her until dawn.

  I thrust my cock back into her beautiful pussy.

  Yes, I wanted to taste her again. Eat her cream until she screams for me to stop. But I couldn’t wait. Had to have her once more.

  “We have all night,” I say, more to myself than to her.

  “Yes.” She sighs softly. “All night. You feel so good inside me, Dale.”

  “Fuck.” I let out a long groan. “I’m going to fuck your sweet body all night, Doctor. All fucking night.”

  I slide in and out of her again and again, and then I withdraw, flip her over
, and pound into her from behind. That gorgeous rosy ass beckons, and I grip her tightly, still thrusting quicker and quicker.

  This is far from a walk through hell. No, that will come later. This is heaven. Pure heaven. Paradise itself can’t be any better than Ashley’s sweet body welcoming me. Letting me in.

  Loving me.

  Love.

  That all-encompassing fucked-up word.

  I love this woman. This woman I’ve known less than a week. Will I tell her? Hell, no. Because this is a one-night engagement, and I’m a one-trick pony.

  I don’t do love.

  I don’t do relationships.

  I don’t even know how to hold her fucking hand.

  But God, I know how to fuck her. To pound into her and sate my deepest desires. She’s milking me, and I’m ready to come again.

  “Fuck, Ashley,” I say through clenched teeth. “Come. Come for me.”

  “Almost. There,” she says, her voice muffled because her face is crushed into the comforter. “You feel so good inside me. Like a flame. A flame of wildfire.”

  “I can’t…” I pant. “I’m going to come, Ashley. I’m going to—”

  “Dale!” She clamps around me, her climax contracting her walls and milking me with just the right squeeze.

  I release into her body.

  Into her.

  I love you.

  The words play in my mind like a broken record.

  I love you.

  I love you.

  I love you.

  The climax flows from my balls and cock throughout my body, zinging through me at laser speed.

  Damn the peace.

  Damn the chaos.

  Damn the awakening.

  And I’m not even close to done.

  I grab a handful of Ashley’s blond locks and pull, trying to get even deeper inside her as my release begins to fade.

  To fade.

  And I don’t want it to fade.

  I want it to go on and on and on. Forever.

  I never want to be outside this woman’s body.

  And it’s frightening.

  I haven’t been this scared in a long time.

  Not since that fateful day twenty-five years ago.

  God help me.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Ashley

  Dreams of old-vine Syrah—the taste, the aroma, the sound of Dale’s deep and delicious voice.