“Some, but nothing drastic. Not right away.” Dax was sitting next to her, his long legs stretched out, his feet bare. He leaned over and took her hand, bringing it to his own mouth for cleanup.
He flicked his tongue over the pad of her index finger, and a shiver raced down her spine and spread across her body.
“I forgot napkins,” he said. “But I’ll keep you clean.”
“That’s thoughtful of you.” She fixed her gaze on his lips as he took hold of another one of her fingers. Instead of a delicate lick, this time he enveloped the tip of her finger in his mouth and sucked.
Her nipples went hard, scraping against the lace of her bra. Dax really did have a talented mouth. She loved when he kissed her, when he tasted her skin. Would he be as talented …?
Her cheeks flamed hot. Clearing her throat, she tried to bring them back on track. “So what will you change?”
He nibbled on the flesh at the base of her thumb.
Her breath stuttered. She licked her lips. “You know, for your business?”
“Update the website. Make it more modern.” His breath ghosted across her wrist. He kissed the inside of her elbow, making his way up her arm. “Maybe you can help with some of the design if you have time.”
Oh, that wasn’t fair. Any other time she’d have a million ideas about updating the look of Off-Road Adventure’s brand. But she couldn’t get her mind to focus. Not when he scraped his teeth over her shoulder, drawing the spaghetti strap of her top down her arm.
But she couldn’t be the only one to get stupid from lust. The little quirk to Dax’s lips looked playful, and if they were playing a game, she wanted to win. She wouldn’t be the first one to crack.
Reaching under his tee, she trailed his fingers up his obliques. His muscles jumped under the skin. “Sure, I’ll help. What website platform do you use? I’m familiar with—” She broke off with a shriek as Dax grabbed her hip and rolled her to the ground beneath him.
Well, that hadn’t taken very long at all. It was almost disappointing.
But victory tasted sweet. Or maybe that was Dax. He covered her mouth with his own, his lean body pressing hers into the thick rug at her back. His kiss was greedy, hot, and made her brain fuzz around the edges. No, disappointed was the wrong word. Nothing about Dax could disappoint her. Especially not his eagerness to love her.
Sliding one leg around his, she rubbed his calf with her foot. She threaded her fingers into his hair and scraped the nape of his neck with her nails. She just resisted scoring the flesh of his back. Something about this man made her want to dig in her nails, mark him in some way as hers. She wanted to imprint herself on him so no other woman would dare look at him when she was gone.
He must have felt something of the same. He nipped at her lip, making it sting before laving the hurt away. He scraped his teeth down her jaw, across her throat, before sucking her earlobe into his mouth.
Lissa stared at the ceiling, her chest heaving. A smile danced around her mouth. “No more shoptalk? And here I thought you were good at multitasking. Isn’t that supposed to be a merit badge for you Boy Scouts?”
He raised his head, his hazel eyes darkening to the color of wet moss. They glittered in the flickering firelight. “You want someone who can do two things at once? Baby, I’ve got you covered.” Those eyes went hooded as Dax flicked open the button of her shorts with one hand and lowered his mouth to her breast. His fingers drifted lower, lower …
“Oh my.” Lissa blinked. The dueling sensations at her breast and core made her shudder. Yes, Dax was very talented at multitasking. She’d go out and buy him every damn badge ever made. Later. She arched her hips, needing more.
Dax delivered. With his other hand, he dragged her top up and over her head. His gaze was reverent as he pulled the cups of her bra down below her breasts. The bunched fabric made her petite breasts spill over the lace, and Dax’s eyes flared.
She squirmed beneath his perusal. His fingers under her shorts hadn’t stopped moving, his mouth was lowering, dropping too damn slowly to her breast, and she wanted more. She wanted everything Dax had to give.
He swirled the tip of his tongue around her areola before sucking her nipple into his mouth.
Lightning arced between his mouth and his fingers. “Oh dear God.” She clutched the back of his head, not wanting him to move an inch. This, right here, was where Dax belonged.
The thought of the long, lonely nights ahead of her in Santa Fe clawed its way into her brain. When she left, she’d only get this every couple of months, if she was lucky. When Dax could get away from his new business. On the holidays when she would have breaks. Yes, she’d get to see Dax’s sexy smile if they FaceTimed, and she’d make sure they talked every day, but would that be enough? A tiny pit opened in her stomach.
Dax scraped his teeth over her flesh, and her worries melted away. Now wasn’t the time to get lost in a warren of her own making. Now was the time to enjoy what she had, here and now. And maybe bank some of these memories for the lonely nights ahead.
Placing her palm on Dax’s abdomen, she slid her hand down, leaving his hot skin and scraping over the rough cotton of his pants to cup his bulge.
His mouth stopped moving, his heavy breathing blowing hot over the curve of her breast. “Lissa …” he whispered.
“You’re failing at your multitasking.” She tsked and stroked him through the thick fabric. “I was expecting more from you.”
Dax growled. Out and out growled, and something deep inside Lissa quivered. He grabbed her exploring hand and pinned it to the floor by her head. “There’s only so much juggling a man can do when he’s distracted.” He ran his nose up from the hollow between her breasts to her throat, inhaling deeply. “Now behave, and I’ll show you just how well I can do two things at once.”
He shifted, settling his weight on one side of her body. He sought her lips with his own. Slowly, he plunged his tongue inside her mouth, possessing it, making the kiss slow and deep. The rasp of the zipper on her shorts met her ears moments before his fingers slid between her folds.
She moaned into his mouth. Feeling utterly connected, she squeezed his hand, the bond between their palms almost as intense as the sensations he was causing to spiral through her body with his wicked fingers.
He dipped his thumb into her channel, then brought it up to circle her aching bundle of nerves.
Lissa shifted, trying to give him better access. Her body worked on autopilot, her mind shutting down. She hungered for Dax, craved him with every ounce of her being. With her free hand, she clutched his back, holding him tight, until the sensations coursing through her became so intense she thought she would burst.
She broke away from the kiss, panting. Arching her neck, she gulped down air.
Dax took advantage. He gently bit down on the tendon running along the side of her throat, then sucked on the aching patch of skin. All the while, his fingers never faltered.
He truly was the master of multitasking.
“Dax!” She rocked her hips, her muscles going rigid, her heart pounding.
“I’ve got you, baby.” He pushed up onto his forearm and stared down at her, his eyes tracing her features.
She bit her lip, her peak looming ever larger but never seeming to come within reach.
Dax increased the pressure with his fingers, and she was lost.
She moaned, wave after wave of pleasure rolling through her from her curled toes to the roots of her hair.
“So damn beautiful,” Dax murmured, his voice sounding far away. He kissed her nose, her lips, then pushed up to kneel between her thighs. He quickly shucked his clothing, then peeled what was left of her outfit from her body. Plucking a condom from his wallet, he rolled it on himself. “Now, let’s see if we can make you moan like that again.”
* * * *
Lissa cupped his cheek as he pushed int
o her silky heat. Closing his eyes, Dax sighed.
Heaven. That was the only way to describe the feeling of being with Liss. Pure heaven.
She rubbed her thumb over his cheekbone, a tender caress, and Dax forced his eyes open. He didn’t want to miss a second of this. Of her. Not when their time together was so limited.
Her cheeks held a rosy flush, what he was coming to recognize as her afterglow. One side of her luscious mouth was lazily tilted up and her eyelids hung low over her beautiful eyes.
His heart squeezed. He wanted to put that look on her face every damn day. To laugh with her in his kitchen as they burned everything in his refrigerator, then make love all night.
It was going to hurt like hell when she left. Yes, they’d agreed to keep seeing each other. But every few months wouldn’t be enough. Without his steady presence, would she drift away, looking for the next wild adventure that wouldn’t include him?
Burying his face in the curve of her neck, he inhaled deeply and began to move. He rocked into her, slowly, inexorably, wanting to make this last forever but knowing that was impossible.
Lissa wrapped her legs around his back. Reaching down, he grasped her hip and smoothed his hand up and down her silky thigh. He dug his fingers into her skin and thrust deep. Bliss rolled from his sensitive nerve endings through the rest of his body.
“Dax?” she whispered.
He raised his head. Her mouth was inches away. He couldn’t help but kiss her.
Her lips curved beneath his. “Dax. I love you.”
He stilled. He could feel her heart pounding against his, knew the risk she’d taken in saying the words. His mouth went dry and he swallowed. “Do you mean it?” Two of his past girlfriends had told him they’d loved him. It hadn’t mattered. They had been throwaway lines. Something to say when you were in a relationship with someone you cared about. Dax had cared about them, too, but he’d never realized how hollow those casual “I love yous” had been. They hadn’t held any weight.
Lissa’s words were as heavy as boulders.
She dug her teeth into her lower lip and nodded. Her curls scraped against the rug and billowed around her head like a halo.
Her words might have been heavy, but the effect on Dax was just the opposite. He felt so light, he thought he might float to the ceiling.
His cheeks stretched wide with his grin. “I love you, too.”
She gave a cry of victory and stretched her arms to the ceiling. “‘To love and be loved in return’. Who said that? Shakespeare?”
Dax chuckled. She was just too damn cute. “Not Shakespeare. I don’t know who wrote it, but it was in a Nat King Cole song.”
“Whatever. It’s frickin’ awesome!”
That it was. “Yes.” Dax shifted to his forearms, his hands threading into her hair, cupping her head. “You know what else is awesome?”
“What?”
“This.” Trailing his lips over her neck, he began to thrust. “Being with you,” he murmured over her pulse point. “Feeling your heart race. Hearing you moan.” Yes, he definitely loved the sounds she made. And it was up to him to draw them out of her. He started a strong, pounding rhythm. Sweat beaded on his forehead and back, but he kept his pace. The base of his spine tingled, the urge to speed up nearly overwhelming. But he wasn’t leaving Lissa behind.
He ran income projections for Off-Road Adventures for the next year in his mind. Tried to recall the name of every dog at the shelter.
When Lissa’s breathing sped up and her sheath clutched at his length, he nearly cried tears of relief. His motions grew rough, jerky, and his mind blanked.
Her scent enveloped him. She smelled of heated honey, and he bent to lick her collarbone, needing to taste that sweet skin. Her breathy groan took him over the edge. As he threw his head back, his orgasm barreled out from deep in his gut, drew his balls up tight, and exploded through his body. He trembled above Lissa, pouring himself into the condom, shuddering each time one of her own tremors milked his length.
“Sweet Jesus,” he muttered. His arms lost their strength, and he rolled to Lissa’s side, exhausted.
Their breathing slowed. Lissa reached for his hand, and he entwined his fingers with hers.
“You’re right,” she finally said. “That was better.”
He nuzzled her cheek with his nose. “I didn’t say better.” Not much was better than hearing Lissa say she loved him. “But that was pretty damn amazing.”
And he was determined to keep it. Owning Off-Road was going to take a lot of hard work, but he couldn’t make it his sole focus. He needed to make time to visit Lissa. To keep them together.
Because now that he knew what real love felt like, he wasn’t going to let it go.
Chapter 19
Dax clicked to another picture on the Bruggard-Tayo School of Visual Arts website. It showed a smiling man throwing a bowl in an outdoor pottery class. The patio he was photographed on was surrounded by the typical desert fare of small cacti springing from red stone landscaping, but the wall behind him was draped with heavy swaths of ivy and wisteria. Large pots bursting with ferns, birds of paradise, and red ginger flowers lined the interior of the wall, making the campus look like a desert island dream.
The school must spend a fortune on water.
Dax sighed. It was beautiful. Lissa was going to love it there. It was only an eighteen-month program, he reminded himself. They could make it work.
The metal buckle on William’s collar jangled as the dog rolled to his other side beside Dax’s desk at Off-Road Adventures. Bending down, Dax stroked his back, but William only sniffed and coiled into a tighter ball.
Still not forgiven, then. Dax didn’t know if the dog hadn’t liked being left at the shelter last night or resented the shots Gabe had given him. Either way, he blamed Dax, and had been giving him the cold shoulder all day.
“You may not like it, but they’ll keep you healthy,” he told the dog. “It was for your own good.”
William growled.
Dax held up his hands. “Fine. Be that way. I don’t need your approval. I’ve got other things to do.” He wheeled his chair back to his computer and pulled up a map. It was a twenty-one-hour drive to Santa Fe. At least a six-hour flight with the connections he’d have to make. Too damn far. But he’d take the trip, and often. If he hired another good adventure guide, he could handle the administrative work on the road.
“Would you like to go on a road trip to Santa Fe?” His voice was high-pitched and annoying to his own ears when he spoke to William. Why was he trying to get back into the dog’s good graces? He was a dog. It didn’t matter if William didn’t like him. Besides, the Bluetick would probably be adopted out soon anyway.
Dax frowned and turned back to the computer. Only to raise his head when an obnoxiously loud voice filtered past his closed office door.
“I’ve talked with a business broker,” Christian said, his words slightly muffled. “He can have a contract drawn up within the week.”
What the …? Dax shot up and made it to his door in three long steps. He yanked it open. Christian and Jesse were walking down the hall away from him, headed for Jesse’s office next door.
“What’s going on?” Dax asked their backs. “Christian, I told you I got the loan.”
His coworker turned. “And my loan was approved as well.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s only fair Jesse consider all his options. I think he’ll find that my offer will be better. After all,” he said, nudging Jesse with his elbow, “you have to think about your future.”
Jesse’s smile was tight. “Dax, I was going to tell you that Christian put a proposal on my desk this morning. He put a lot of time and effort into it.”
“I see.” Bile rose up Dax’s throat. He did see. That verbal agreements didn’t mean a heck of a lot anymore. He’d thought if he got the loan, this deal was in
the bag. “Do I get to make a counteroffer?” he asked, his jaw tight.
“I’ll just keep outbidding you.” Christian smirked. His smug face just begged to be punched. “What would be the point? I want this business more than you do.”
That was a load of BS. But Christian probably had the funds to make the higher offer. He came from a well-off family, had inherited some investments from his grandmother, and was one of those guys who probably balanced his check book every week. Why wouldn’t Jesse take the most money he could get? It was the logical move.
Dax clenched his hands and shoved them deep in his pockets where they wouldn’t get him into any trouble. He stared at his boss evenly and forced his voice to remain cool, steady. “I hope you’ll let me know what number I need to outbid. If it’s within my power to pay it, I will.”
“Of course.” Jesse shifted his weight. “I want to be fair to both of you.”
Dax nodded and escaped back into his office. He took extra care to avoid slamming the door. What. The. Hell? His head was starting to spin from all the ups and downs his emotions were taking. From the near perfection of last night and his celebration with Lissa to today, when his dreams were again slipping through his fingers.
“Damn it!” He picked up a length of climbing rope from his desk and hurled it at the wall. It struck with a soft thunk and fell to the ground.
William jumped to his feet and trotted over to investigate. Dax let him take the rope as his new chew toy. If it was going to be Christian’s inventory soon, he didn’t much care about the damage.
Dax paced the room. How much more could he offer and still stay in the black? He wanted to use part of his loan to invest in the business. If he had to spend more for the down payment to Jesse, or pay a higher interest rate, that would mean fewer upgrades. A smaller marketing budget. Not hiring a new adventure guide.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Dax considered his options. He really wanted to go get a beer and blow off steam. But that wouldn’t get him any closer to his goal. And until the contract was signed between Jesse and Crapface Christian, as that ingratiating toady would be known to Dax forevermore, he wasn’t going to give up.
Forever Wild Page 19