by Ali Parker
I wished I had my vibrator here, wherever here was.
I wanted those quick relentless pulses on my clit. It would solve everything. I was sure that if I came, the heat would pass, and I would feel normal again. I just needed that release.
So. Fucking. Badly.
Suddenly, the silence was broken by a voice. “Elise.” The voice was deep, masculine, and sexy. It made me shiver.
I clenched my jaw and looked around for the source of the voice. I spotted him standing at the end of the bed. He was watching me. It wasn’t disturbing. It was like I’d been waiting for him, and he’d been waiting for me, and all the stars had aligned perfectly for this moment in time. For us to come together.
He was tall with tanned skin and chiseled muscles. He was naked, too. Broad shoulders gave way to muscular arms. His forearms were wrapped with veins, and there were more veins below his navel and down, down, to the massive cock between his legs.
The aching inside me worsened. I whimpered.
“Elise,” he said again.
“Please,” I breathed.
He didn’t move. He stayed where he was, arms hanging by his sides and his cock curving up to nearly touch his lower belly. I looked up the length of his torso; abs, chest, throat. Dark hair rose up from his shaft, around his navel, and toward his chest. But I couldn’t see his face. I could make out the sharp line of his dark jaw, but then the rest of his face disappeared in shadows cast by the posts of the bed above and the gently swaying curtains.
My muscles spasmed. His face didn’t matter. All that mattered was that he was there, and I was here, and I needed him.
I rubbed myself for him, keeping my legs open so he could watch. He didn’t say anything, but I could feel the weight of his gaze upon me.
It didn’t take long for him to reach down and grip his cock with one hand. He began stroking himself slowly as he watched me play with my pussy.
My clit was more sensitive than ever. Just rolling my fingertips over it made me feel like I was about to burst apart. I bit down on my tongue hard as I inched closer and closer to orgasm.
Then he walked around the side of the bed. He came and stood right beside me, still jerking himself off.
I rolled to the side of the bed.
He reached out and grabbed a fistful of my hair. He used it as leverage to guide me to his cock, which I swear was growing by the second. I licked my lips, opened wide, and took him in my mouth.
He groaned as he pushed me down his length, forcing me to take all of him. I gagged once but kept it together, balling my hands into fists. I moaned around his girth. The vibration must have been some kind of wonderful because he groaned again and pulled me off him before working me up and down his cock.
One of his hands released my hair. He tightened his grip with the other as he reached down and pushed my knees apart. He ran his hand up the inside of my right thigh and paused when he reached my center. He cupped my pussy and pushed down with the heel of his hand.
I moaned again. This time it was softer. Sweeter.
“Yes,” he growled above me. His voice was hoarse and deep. “Deeper.”
He held me down. I closed my eyes and rode it out. The tip of his length was hard in the back of my throat. I pressed my tongue to the bottom of his shaft and puckered my cheeks.
He rolled the heel of his hand on my clit. Hot licks of pleasure raced through me. I moaned. He let his hand go lower, where he eased a finger inside me.
All that built-up tension and heat suddenly exploded, shooting outward like a wild explosion of euphoria.
My scream was muffled by his cock. He pushed himself deeper inside me, in my mouth and in my pussy. I melted into the mattress and went limp as my muscles trembled. He fucked my mouth but released my hair, running his hand along my cheek and down my throat.
It didn’t take long for me to recover. Soon, I was hungry for more, and he must have sensed this because he took his cock out of my mouth and flipped me over on my hands and knees.
“Stay where you are,” he grated from behind me.
But then he put his hand between my shoulder blades. He pushed down, hard. I was forced to lay my chest and cheek flat on the bed. He wrapped an arm under my hips and lifted my lower half up in the air.
Then he bit my ass.
I yelped.
He held me in place and kissed the spot he’d just bitten. Why on Earth did that feel so fucking good?
I practically purred as he slapped my ass and then ran his hand back down to my pussy. I could hear how wet I was as he rubbed me.
Then he stepped in between my legs, forcing them farther apart, and pressed the tip of his cock into my wetness.
“Oh shit.” I breathed in sharply and gripped the sheets beneath me, squeezing my eyes closed.
He pushed in. He didn’t relent.
I bit my bottom lip and winced as he stretched me. Then, when I had all his length buried inside me up to the hilt, I relaxed. He took my hips and gently began fucking me.
In and out in a steady rhythm.
I sighed with pleasure as he took his time working me over.
Soon, I was bouncing on his cock. I wanted more. I wanted him to be rough. To take what he wanted. I looked back at him over my shoulder. “Fuck me.”
The muscles in his arms bulged as he held on to me. He paused, and I waited. His grip on my hips tightened until he was squeezing my flesh. I relished it and rolled my hips. His cock pressed into my walls.
“Yes,” I moaned.
Then he pulled me against him. My ass slapped into him, and I gasped as he filled me up. Then he fucked me in earnest. Hard and deep and fast, over and over, until I was weak in his hands and building up to another orgasm.
He reached around and rubbed my clit. I came instantly. I shook and trembled and shrieked.
He pushed my face down into the bed, muffling my cries.
When he let me up, he flipped me over onto my back. I spread my legs and watched as he leaned over me, leaving the shadows at the edge of the bed.
“Dallas,” I whispered.
Of course, it was him.
He leaned over me, planting his hands on either side of my head as he knelt between my legs. I hooked them around his waist as he rested his cock on top of my pussy. Ever the tease.
I lifted my hips, begging him to fuck me. I needed more. I couldn’t be like this, empty. It was unbearable.
He smiled at me before pushing his hips forward to ease himself back inside. Then he came lower down, resting on his elbows. He stroked my cheek and traced my jaw with his fingers. “This is how it always should have been,” he said.
His lips sealed over mine, and his tongue plunged into my mouth. I clung to him as he worked his cock in and out of me.
“This is a dream,” I whispered.
“That doesn’t matter.”
I stared up at him, at those dark eyes of his. Eyes that had seen more of me than I ever wanted them to. “Why?”
Dallas gave me a sweet kiss. And then another. “Because you want me, Billingsly. You want me bad.”
I sat bolt upright in bed and sucked in a panicked breath.
My heart thumped wildly, and I pressed my fingertips to my throat, feeling my fluttery pulse. Droplets of sweat covered my body and had soaked through my sheets.
“Gross,” I muttered, pulling the blanket off and rolling to the edge of the bed. I stood up. My hardwood floors were pleasantly cool on my bare feet.
My panties were soaked.
“Damn it.”
I looked at the ceiling. It was still dark in my room, probably no later than two or three in the morning. And there I was, standing beside my bed, trying to pull my thoughts away from having my brains fucked out by Dallas Jansen.
The words he had spoken in my dream chilled me.
You want me bad.
I shook my head. “No. No, you don’t. You’re fine. You’re just… a bit deprived of sexual intimacy. You can handle this yourself.”
I p
added around the bed and opened my nightstand drawer to pull out my vibrator. There was nothing wrong with taking care of things myself. Although I knew, deep down, that my vibrator could not replace the emotional connection I’d felt with Dallas in the dream. The lust. The intimacy.
Surely, I didn’t need that. Not really. I could get by being on my own. I had to. Because if I caved, I’d be opening a whole new can of worms. The sort of worms I couldn’t deal with. Dallas Jansen-sized worms.
I collapsed back down on my bed with a sigh and draped one arm over my forehead. Having Dallas back in my life was going to be a problem, no matter what way I looked at it. He was haunting me in my dreams as well as my waking hours. I’d caught myself staring at him, thinking dirty things more than once over the last couple of days.
And that was the kicker.
It had only been a couple days.
“You’re screwed, Billingsly. Totally screwed.”
Chapter 15
Dallas
Elise was waiting for me at the curb on Thursday morning. I was more than a little surprised. I’d been expecting her to make me wait again. I’d been planning on going up to her apartment and forcing her to hurry her ass up.
I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to go upstairs and get a look around. I was curious how she lived. I wanted to see with my own two eyes where she curled up to go to sleep at night. Where she wrote. Where she read.
I opened her car door for her, and she got in. The weather was a bit warmer than yesterday, and she had dressed with that in mind. She had on a dark denim jacket. Beneath was a black button-up that she had left open. And beneath that, a red T-shirt. A gold necklace winked at her throat and matched the studs in her ears. Her hair was gathered up on top of her head in a messy bun. Loose strands hung around her cheeks and over her forehead. One was caught in her eyelash, and I stared at it as she looked down to buckle her seatbelt.
“So,” she said, glancing up at me as the buckle clicked, “where are you taking me today?”
I shook my head. “I’m not spoiling the surprise this time. You’ll just have to wait and see.”
“Diva.”
I pulled out into traffic. “Have you had breakfast yet?”
She nodded. “Yes, but early. Around six.”
“Six?” I asked, appalled. “Why the hell were you up so early?”
She blinked at me. Her lashes were long and dark. “I get up at five thirty on weekdays. I write best in the morning. So I get up, do some stretching, have a shower, and write. I had a piece of toast and a cup of coffee.”
“That’s not enough food,” I said simply.
She shrugged. “I could eat again.”
“Good. I’m starving.” I wasn’t lying. I’d slept through my alarm this morning—something that I never did. In a panic, I’d rolled out of bed and hurried to wake up Roy. He was not a morning child. I doubted any kids really were. Or teenagers for that matter. It took some time to get him up and dressed and ready for school. I’d whipped up a quick breakfast but hadn’t had time to cook myself something.
It wasn’t so bad, though. Now I got to have breakfast with Elise.
I took her to one of my favorite spots in town. It was an old retro diner right across the street from the ocean. The harbor sprawled outside the window of the booth the waitress seated us in.
Elise and I both ordered a cup of coffee and then peered down at our menus. Elise decided what she wanted relatively quickly, so she folded her menu and slid it to the edge of the table. I was still perusing through my options, so she rested her chin in her hand and stared out at the twinkling blue water across the street.
I didn’t want to waste another minute looking at pictures of eggs and toast when I had a beautiful woman sitting across from me, so I closed the menu, settling on the breakfast special. “It never gets old, huh?”
Her hazel eyes flicked to me, and her lips curled in a sleepy smile. “No, it doesn’t. Not ever. And I can see it from my living room window and everything.”
“A place with a view? Nice.”
She opened her mouth to say something, but our server returned with our coffees and a poor attitude. “Do you know what you want?” she drawled.
I looked to Elise to order first. She smiled at the server. “I’ll just have the veggie skillet, please. With no mushrooms.”
“No mushrooms?”
Elise nodded. “Yes.”
“Are you sure?” the server asked. She leaned to one side, popping her hip out. All that was missing was a piece of gum she could smack her lips on and blow into an obnoxious bubble as she waited.
Elise glanced at me. I could see she was trying not to laugh. “Yes. Pretty sure.”
The server sighed and wrote down Elise’s order on her notepad. Then she looked at me expectantly. When she widened her eyes at me impatiently, I placed my order. She wrote it down, collected our menus, and sulked away.
“Somebody shit in her cereal this morning,” Elise said under her breath.
I snorted into my cup of coffee and had to pound my fist on my chest to clear my throat. Elise was giggling at me all the while.
“Don’t say things like that when I’m drinking.”
She shrugged. “Sorry. I wasn’t trying to drown you in your own coffee. But seriously, what’s her problem?”
I shook my head. “Customer service will take a lot out of a person. The public sucks.”
Elise wrapped both hands around her white coffee mug and took a sip. Like yesterday, her upper lip puckered. She was so damn cute.
She put her coffee down. “That’s why I want to be a writer. So, I can hole up in my place and avoid people at all costs. Until, that is, you came along and insisted I go out and do things with you.”
“It’s just business. You can’t grow a successful author platform without ever leaving your apartment.”
She nodded. “I know.”
“Good. That means we’re on the same page.”
“Sort of,” she said.
“Don’t play coy.”
“I’m not,” Elise said with a small smile. “I think ‘same page’ would mean I’m ready to sign and go all in with this. But I’m not there yet. So, we’re not on the same page.”
She always did like playing hard to get.
We talked for a while longer, and she asked about Treo and how big it had gotten over the last few years. We joked about Winzly and mused over how crazy it was that she was the one responsible for forcing us back together like this.
“It really is amazing that we’ve managed to avoid each other for so long in a town like this,” Elise said after the server dropped off our food.
“I haven’t been avoiding you.”
She shrugged one shoulder. “No. I suppose only one of us has been doing the avoiding. But still. You’d think we would have run into each other at some point.”
“We run in different circles now,” I said. “I think that has something to do with it.”
I didn’t want to point out the glaring differences between our lifestyles that made it this way. Her parents had lost it all while my father climbed the steps of wealth and success. After our split, we had grown into more and more different people. That was just life. She frequented the parts of town that I did not. That was all there was to it.
I spread jelly on my toast, took a bite, and watched her sprinkle her skillet with pepper. I cleared my throat. “You can tell me if it’s none of my business, Elise, but I’ve wanted to ask you something this whole time.”
She glanced at me as she placed the pepper back in the middle of the table. I picked it up and put a dash on my over-easy eggs.
“What is it?” she asked.
“How are your parents doing?”
Elise paused with her fork halfway to her mouth. It was loaded with hash browns, onions, green and red peppers, and tofu.
“I’m sorry,” I said immediately. “I shouldn’t have asked. It’s none of my business. I just… I always liked you
r parents. They’re good people.”
She put her fork down and nodded. “It’s all right. I don’t mind that you asked.” She went quiet for a minute, and I didn’t press her. Her father losing his job had hit her hard when we were young. Even then, when I was an arrogant asshole who only cared about myself, I’d felt for her. She and her family lost everything in a matter of weeks. The guilt her father must have struggled with was incomprehensible to me, and the weight of it was so much more intense now that I was a father myself.
I had no clue what I would do if that ever happened to me and I was suddenly unable to provide the same lifestyle for Roy that he had now. If it all fell apart, what would I do?
I sure as hell wouldn’t go to my father. That was simply not an option. I’d have to start over, just like Elise’s father and her whole family had been forced to do.
Elise took a deep breath and wouldn’t look me in the eye when she answered. “Things are hard. They got better for a while there. A few years, maybe. It looked like things might be getting good and like my parents had gotten back on top of things a bit. But my dad is getting old. His health is compromised, and the cost of medication is ridiculous. They’re strapped pretty tight. Kate and I are—” She broke off and shook her head. She had decided not to tell me something.
That was all right.
She finally looked up at me. “And your dad? How is he?”
I stuffed my face with a couple bites of hash browns before answering. “He’s exactly the same as he used to be. Sour. Grumpy. Hell-bent on micromanaging everything I do with my life.”
Elise smiled. “How is he with your son?”
“Surprisingly great.”
“That’s good.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Roy has no clue his grandpa is a jerk.”
“The joys of childhood.”
“Yeah. Delusion.”
Elise shook her head and laughed softly. “I wouldn’t call it that. It’s like Santa. Preserving innocence is important. That’s all you’re doing.”