Candy King

by Christine d'Abo

  His hands moved into her hair, caressing and scratching her scalp as he pressed his body against hers hard. She became aware of his every muscle, his hard cock against her body. Letting her hands roam, she ran her fingers along his back and down to his ass, where she paused long enough to squeeze him.

  Dylan chuckled into her mouth. “We don’t have our toys here.”

  “That’s an oversight on our part. We’ll have to get another set.”

  “His and hers.” Without any warning, he scooped her up in his arms. “To the bedroom.”

  “The bedroom.”

  Simone closed her eyes and laid her head on his shoulder as he carried her. She was a fool to let herself get so attached to him, but she couldn’t help it. There was something about Dylan that fit with her, that filled a void she hadn’t been aware of. And she could tell from his touch, the way he looked at her, that he was feeling something as well. He might not be willing to admit it yet, but she could tell.

  When he stepped into his room, he didn’t bother to turn the lights on, instead letting the moonlight from outside illuminate their way. There was no tossing on the mattress, no giggles as he stripped her naked. Dylan instead set her on her feet next to the bed and dropped to his knees in front of her. Using his hands to push her shirt up, he trailed a series of soft kisses along her belly as he undid the front of her pants. Simone pushed her hands into his hair, massaging the scalp and encouraging him until her pants dropped to the floor.

  “Step out of them.” He helped her, moving them to the side once she’d complied. “Panties next.”

  The cold air in the room caused goose bumps to rise on her skin, down her legs, and across her ass. Dylan’s warm touch countered the chill and pulled a small moan from her as he ran his hands up and down the length of her legs. He pressed his mouth to the joint of her leg, kissing just beside her pubic hair.

  “You’re so beautiful.” He kissed her again, over and over along her mound, down her thigh, before finally kissing her clit. “Amazing.”

  “Dylan.” She sighed before leaning forward and kissing the top of his head. “Make me come.”

  He hummed and encouraged her to sit down on the edge of the bed, gently pulling her thighs wide, giving him better access to her. “Lean back.”

  She did, but only so far, so she could watch him. He didn’t look her in the eyes, instead focusing his full attention on her pussy. Using his fingers, he brushed aside her pubic hair, exposing her hot clit to the air. The difference in the temperature only lasted a moment as he moved his mouth to suck it into his mouth.

  Simone sighed not only at the sensation but at the look of pure bliss on his face. “You like that, don’t you?”

  “There’s nothing better than being able to make a woman come. The taste, the smell. Sweeter than any candy I could ever eat.”

  “You’re amazing.” Anything else she was going to say left her as he sucked her clit into his mouth and pressed a finger into her pussy. “Shit.”

  He hummed again but didn’t say anything else as he went to work eating her out. It finally became too difficult for her to keep watching, and she stretched back against the mattress and let the sensations wash over her. She’d never really been on the receiving end of someone who truly enjoyed giving oral sex the way Dylan did, and she knew that she’d have a hard time being with any other lover who didn’t have the same enthusiasm.

  Maybe she wouldn’t have to.

  Pushing that thought away, she closed her eyes and tried to ride the wave as much as she could. He was really fucking good, pressing his fingers in just the right spot inside her as he licked and sucked her clit. Her pussy, deeper inside her, began to feel warm, like a trickle of hot water surging inside her that brought pleasure wherever it went. Simone rolled her head from side to side as Dylan pressed a single spot harder than before. The sensations became overwhelming, and before she realized what was happening, her orgasm exploded.

  The intensity of her pleasure, combined with the feeling of wetness, were the only things she was aware of as her body seized up in response. Dylan continued to fuck her with his fingers, milking her body for every last bit of her release, until she finally fell in a heap on the bed.

  He slowly pulled back, removing his hand carefully from her. “Jesus, are you okay?”

  She cracked open an eye as she tried to get her breathing under control. “Yes. Why?”

  “Your come is all over my face and throat. I’ve never had anyone come that hard.”

  “You’ve got the magic touch.” You’re my Candy King.

  “Let me clean up and find a condom.” He placed a kiss on the inside of her thigh, before heading out to the bedroom.

  Simone lay there for a moment to catch her breath before she realized that she hadn’t even removed her shirt and bra. Wow. She’d never been so overcome with desire, with wanting to be with a man so badly that she’d been oblivious to her state of undress. With effort, she pulled the rest of her clothing off and tossed it onto the floor before climbing onto the bed to make use of the pillows.

  Dylan came back into the room, and with her eyes now adjusted to the low light, she was able to see the grin on his face. “You nearly drowned me.”

  “That would have been a wonderful way to die.”

  “Death by come. It would have made for an interesting story to tell at my wake.”

  “May that be many, many years in the future.”

  The thought of what it would be like to grow old with him flashed across her mind. They could travel, she could write stories about the places they visited, the food she ate. Dylan no doubt would want to scope out potential business locations, buildings he could buy and develop.

  She smiled and spread her legs. “I hope you found a condom.”

  He held it up as he moved to the side of the bed. “I have a whole box.”

  “That’s good.” She sat up and took it from him. “I haven’t put one on a man in a long time.”

  With the moonlight shining on him, it was easy to see his eyes grow wide as she gripped his cock in her hand to hold him steady as she ripped open the condom packet with her teeth and roll it down his shaft. “Fun.”

  “You’re going to be the death of me.” It didn’t sound like he minded much. “Mind if we do this face-to-face?”

  “God, that sounds horrible. How could you even suggest such a position?” She rolled her eyes before holding her arms wide. “Come here.”

  He climbed between her legs and lined up his cock with her pussy. With a single thrust forward, he filled her as he covered her body with his own. They lay that way for a moment, and Simone let her body adjust to the size and weight of him. She turned her face so her mouth rested against the side of his throat and let her tongue dart over his salty skin.

  “I—” She leaned harder against him, cutting off the words that she knew she couldn’t say.

  Dylan was either so wrapped up in his own pleasure that he hadn’t heard her, or else he chose to ignore the potential of what the two other words of that sentence might be. Instead, he began a slow, steady thrust as he pulled her body hard against him.

  They fit so perfectly together that she knew that he was the man who could make her life complete. Dylan’s bucking hips pressed against her clit, and it didn’t take long for her pleasure to begin to crest again. How could he do this to her when no other man could? She wrapped her legs around his waist and tipped her hips at just the right angle to ensure that she’d come again.

  Dylan rose up on his forearms so he could look down at her face. They held each other’s gaze, the moonlight splashing across their naked bodies as his thrusts increased. Simone lifted her face, kissed him hard on the mouth as a second, less powerful orgasm ripped through her. Dylan sucked in a breath before pounding into her, his body squeezing her so hard that for a moment Simone didn’t think she’d be able to breath
e.

  “Shit.” He curled his arms under her and thrust one final time as he cried out.

  Simone relaxed against the tension in his body, riding out his release. Finally, he collapsed down, pausing there only for a moment before sliding to the side of her. She wasn’t aware of anything for a long time as exhaustion and pleasure pulled her down into a light sleep.

  Eventually, Dylan moved to pull a sheet over them. “You were shivering.”

  “Thanks.” She nestled back against his side and settled her head against his shoulder.

  This was perfection. A man who wasn’t afraid to show her how much he cared for her. Someone who was kind, smart, and secure enough in his own skin to trust her to do things to him that she couldn’t imagine many other men asking. Things that it turned out she really enjoyed doing to him. She knew that neither of them had set out to have a relationship, but now Simone couldn’t picture her life without him in it.

  With her hand over his heart, she began to play with his chest hair. “Dylan?”

  “Hmm?”

  “I need to tell you something.”

  He yawned as he pulled her a bit closer. “What’s that?”

  She was many things—hyper, silly, a lover of food—but a coward wasn’t one of them. She knew that, for better or worse, her feelings were important. She owed it to both of them to be honest.

  Okay, Candy King. Let’s do this.

  “I love you.”

  Chapter 22

  Dylan had to force his body to relax as he released his grip on her shoulder. The weight of her head on his chest made it next to impossible for him to breathe. “What?”

  Simone pushed herself up on her elbow and looked down at him. “I said, I love you.” There was no hesitancy in her statement, no giddiness or hidden meaning. It was said plainly, with sincerity, precisely the way he’d assumed Simone would say something like this.

  He rolled away, swung his legs over the side of the bed, and braced his hands on his knees. Shit. He should have known that it was going to come to this, should have known that spending this much time with one person would end up creating an attachment on one of their parts.

  It wasn’t ever going to be with him. Seeing Jonathan and Sarah’s fight had only reinforced how horrible an idea being in a permanent relationship with another person really was. No, he’d been right to shun this intimacy. And there was no way he’d put himself back into harm’s way ever again.

  “Dylan?” The gentle brush of her fingers along his back had him cringe. “Did I do something wrong?”

  She wouldn’t know, wouldn’t be aware of the heartache that he’d lived through. That was on him. “I’ve never told you about Andrea.”

  He felt her shift on the bed, the tug of the sheet behind him as she wrapped herself up. “No, you haven’t. Who is she?”

  “She was my fiancée.” The words nearly got stuck in his throat, forcing him to swallow hard. “We’d been together for five years, since university. If you look at that rugby picture of me from the school, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was there in the crowd. Andrea was always around, almost from the first day I was on campus.”

  God, he’d loved her. She was nothing at all like Simone; Andrea was far more serious about everything in life. Everything had to have a deeper meaning, every person needed to have a purpose to live up to, something to give back to others.

  “What was she like?” Simone’s voice sounded small.

  “She’d studied philosophy and religion, and she’d had the intention of becoming a minister. After we graduated, and she started working toward that goal, something changed. We never fought up until then. Before I realized what was happening, we started having these…disagreements over little things. She started going on trips without me, which wasn’t a big deal seeing as I was getting busy with work.” He hadn’t even realized that she’d been pulling away from him at that point. Everything seemed to be in flux, as though they were both adjusting to the new normal of their lives.

  “Was she cheating on you?”

  “No. God no. Andrea wasn’t like that. But she wasn’t happy with her life. It didn’t matter that I was rich and could have given her anything she wanted. One day she came home from work, sat down at the kitchen table, and told me that she was leaving me.”

  Andrea had placed her engagement ring on the table. Dylan hadn’t been able to look at her, his gaze locked onto the diamond between them.

  Simone placed her hand on his back again. “I’m so sorry.”

  Now that the dam had broken, there wasn’t any way he could stop the words from coming. “It wasn’t about me. That was the problem. I couldn’t fix what was wrong or change the thing that was bothering her. This was about her and what she needed. She ended up working with Habitat for Humanity building houses in Haiti. The last I heard, she was working with Me to We building schools in Tanzania.”

  “She sounds like an amazing person. No wonder you’re still in love with her.”

  He turned around to see tear tracks on Simone’s face. She hadn’t made a noise the entire time he’d spoken, leaving him with no idea that he’d broken her heart. He reached over and wiped some of the tears away. “I’m not. Not anymore. She went and did what she needed to do to make herself happy. I’m not so selfish as to stop someone from doing that. But it also made me realize that love isn’t enough for most people. If anything, our love was hurting her, holding her back from accomplishing what she wanted with her life. What kind of person does that make me, for wishing she’d pick me over her life’s purpose? Believe me when I say that I wanted her to choose me.”

  He’d been so fucking angry for so long, not just at her but at himself. It had been the driving force behind him setting up the sugar daddy site to begin with. When he took love out of the equation, everyone’s lives were the better for it.

  Taking her hand in his, he ran his thumb across the tops of her knuckles. “I can’t love you. I know you’ll think that I’m horrible and stupid; most people do. But I’m never going to put myself in the position where I’m the reason someone isn’t happy. Where I’ll fall into a sense of security and comfort and then have my heart shattered into a million pieces for something I had no control over. I can control sex. I can control who I give my time and money to. I can’t control what other people want, how their lives change. I’m not going to be my brother, who spends his life trying to make women happy, only to have their world fall apart.”

  Simone gently tugged her hand from his and, taking the bedsheet with her, stood up and walked to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

  This was the inevitable conclusion to their relationship. From the moment they’d first started talking on the app, he’d told her that he had no intention of ever becoming involved with another person beyond a transactional arrangement. He hadn’t lied to her, not once. It wasn’t his fault that she’d let her emotions get involved. It wasn’t his fault that she’d encouraged him to take things further than he’d typically allow with someone.

  It was his fault that he’d gone along with it.

  Because there was a not-so-insignificant part of him that was in love with Simone. He’d allowed things to continue because he’d liked being a part of a we instead of only being me. That part of him that he’d long thought dead and shriveled to dust had burst back to life the first time Simone had looked at him with love in her eyes and smiled. It had been so tempting to fall into her arms and never let go.

  But she was ambitious. She wanted more for her life and her career than she had right now. He didn’t blame her and wanted her to succeed. The best thing he could do for her was to end things, to let her walk away so she could become the best person she could be.

  The bathroom door clicked open, and Simone stood there, now dressed. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, giving her a severe look. “I should probably go.”

  H
is body was a bit sore from the sex, but he ignored it as best he could, stood up, and walked over to her naked. There was no sense in hiding anything from her now. “Simone, I’m—”

  She held up her hand and took a half step away from him. “Stop. I need you to listen to me, and then I’m leaving.”

  He nodded, ignoring the way his heart pounded hard in his cheek and neck.

  She licked her lips, her gaze dropping to the floor for a moment before she straightened up and looked him right in the eye. “You’re a coward.”

  “Simone—”

  “Let me finish.” She took a breath and let out a little huff before continuing. “You’re a coward. I understand that your fiancée hurt you, and I know that was hard for you, but you’ve reacted by shutting the world out. You don’t want to be single. Or, at the very least, when you’re faced with the option of having something more with another person, you’re too chicken to take a chance. Do you think the world is full of guarantees? Do you think that somehow you’re better than the rest of us and don’t need to put yourself out there? Do you think that every other person is going to be so selfish that they’re not going to take your feelings into account?”

  “Andrea wasn’t selfish.” His throat tightened, and for a moment, he thought he might cry.

  Simone’s eyes widened. “Yes, she was.”

  “She’s off helping the less fortunate.”

  “And if she truly loved you, she could have done that and still married you. Can you stand there and honestly tell me that if she’d wanted to go to Haiti or wherever else she’s been in her life that you wouldn’t have supported her?”

  “I would have gone with her.” He couldn’t stop the tears this time. “I would have gone anywhere with her.”

  “Like I said, you’re still in love with her. That’s the real reason you can’t have a relationship with anyone else. It has nothing to do with you enjoying being single, or not believing in relationships. You gave her your heart, and she took it away with her. There’s nothing left for anyone else.” She sucked in a sharp breath. “There’s nothing left for me.”