by Kate Hunt
I knew I was stepping into dangerous territory when I leaned in to kiss her.
But I couldn’t stop myself.
And since that moment, my life has felt incomplete without her in it.
What I need to find out, though, is whether she feels the same way.
I tighten the last of the clamps and evaluate the glued-together slabs. There’s nothing more I can do with this tabletop for now. It’ll need to dry overnight before I keep working on it.
I need something else to do, though. Something to get the rest of this damn unease out of my chest.
I head out of the shop, grab my axe, and spend the next hour splitting logs into firewood. Each swing—each satisfying crack of wood—dissolves some of the tension inside of me.
If she doesn’t feel the same way, she doesn’t feel the same way. You’ll just fucking deal with it.
Daylight is starting to fade when I swing the axe one last time and wedge the blade into the stump. As I head into the house, Bear catches up with me and barks eagerly.
“I know, bud,” I say as I open up a can of dog food and slop it into a bowl. Damn stuff smells like hell, but Bear eats it like it’s candy. “Dinner never comes quickly enough.”
I set down Bear’s bowl for him, then head upstairs to shower off the day’s sweat.
I didn’t think it was possible for Bailey to look more beautiful than when I first met her.
But I was wrong.
So damn wrong.
I’ve just walked into the Cohens’ house. A few minutes before, Alice answered the door, warmly welcomed me in, and lead me down the hallway to their kitchen. And that’s when I saw my sweet girl.
Jesus. Bailey’s eyes are even more mesmerizing than I remember, her smile even more magnetic, her curves even more excruciatingly perfect.
“Hey,” says Bailey, her cheeks slightly flushed as she looks up from getting silverware out of a drawer. “It’s, um…it’s nice to see you again, Dax.”
“You, too, Bailey,” I say.
Goddamn it, I need to lick those lips. I need to wrap those sexy thick thighs around my waist…
“Whiskey, Dax?” Ian asks, grabbing a bottle from the counter.
“Ah…sure,” I say, barely able to look the guy in the eye.
The four of us sit down to dinner a few minutes later. The meal Alice has made is incredibly delicious—a hell of a lot better than the stuff I throw together for myself. More than that, though, it’s just nice to sit down to a meal with others. My folks split up when I was really young, and this isn’t something I’ve ever really had.
To be able to have something like this with Bailey, though? To sit across from each other as husband and wife…and, later, as Mom and Dad to a bunch of wild kids?
I’d give anything in the world to have that.
Anything.
Bailey catches me looking at her and bites back a smile, another faint blush rising up into her cheeks.
“So…this is one of your tables, huh?” she asks, gesturing to the table we’re sitting around.
I nod. “It is.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
“You should see his shop, honey,” says her mom. “It’s really something.”
“We can go over there after dinner,” I say. “If you’re interested.”
I catch a gleam in Bailey’s eyes.
“That sounds nice,” she says.
An hour later, flashlights in hand, the four of us walk uphill to my property. It starts raining on our way over there, but it’s only coming down lightly, and no one seems to mind.
When we get to my place, I break away from the three of them to let Bear out of the house, and he immediately runs over and greets them all.
“Hey, buddy,” Bailey says as she crouches down and pets him. “Remember me?”
As if anyone could forget her.
I lead the way over to my shop and flip on the lights. When Bailey walks into the shop, her eyes widen, and she shoots a quick smile over at me.
“Is this what you’re working on right now, Dax?” asks Alice, standing by the slabs I paired together earlier today.
“It is.”
“It’s gorgeous,” she says.
“Thanks.”
“This is two pieces of wood?” Ian asks, leaning over to get a better look.
“Yep. It’s a bookmatched table. You get that mirrored effect from using two sequentially cut slabs.”
I look over at Bailey. She’s standing just a few feet away from me, still gazing around the space, taking it all in.
“Is it okay if we look around?” Alice asks.
“Of course,” I say, glancing back over at her. “Explore all you like.”
As Alice and Ian wander away to browse the shop on their own, Bailey finally looks over at me. She’s got the most beautiful smile on her face.
“This is such a great space,” she says. “When you told me about it, I formed a picture of it in my head…but this is way more incredible than anything I could have imagined.”
I take a step closer to Bailey. I’m standing close enough to her now that I could kiss her. Shit, how easy it would be to dip my head down and claim her mouth with mine.
“I need to see you, Bailey,” I murmur.
She gives me a teasing little smile. “You’re seeing me right now.”
“Alone.”
Her eyes flick over toward her parents, then back to me.
“When?” she asks, her voice dropping to a whisper.
“Come over tonight,” I say. “Doesn’t matter how late. I need to talk to you.”
She blinks and bites down on her lower lip. Her gaze penetrates me. I can make out every little detail of her gorgeous eyes.
“I’ll try,” she says, just before her mom calls her over to look at something.
Chapter Three
Bailey
The rain starts to pick up as my parents and I walk back to the house—and then suddenly it really starts to come down. The three of us run up the driveway, laughing as we scramble to get into the house before we’re absolutely drenched.
Inside the house, we hang up our coats and wind down for the night. I go into the living room and mindlessly watch TV for a little while, my mind still racing from the last few hours of being around Dax.
Earlier tonight, when he walked into my parents’ house, my earlier anxiety about seeing him vanished. I immediately felt so at ease in his presence; it was like I was taken right back to that night when we first discovered our connection.
But it’s one thing to enjoy seeing him again. It’s a whole other thing to sneak out of my parents’ house and go over to his place.
I can’t actually go over there, can I?
If you go over there, Bailey, something is going to happen.
How can I not go see him, though? He said he needed to talk to me. And if I leave here this weekend without talking to him…I already know I’ll end up regretting it.
I have to see him.
I say goodnight to my parents, head up the hall to the guest room, and lay down on the bed. Restlessly, I turn on my side and stare out the window. And I realize something as I stare out into the night: I can actually see his house from here.
I wonder if he’s looking out one of his windows right now, waiting for me to come.
Outside, the storm grows fiercer. Thunder rumbles in the distance; lightning flashes in the sky. The storm is beautiful, though, too—even romantic, in a weird way.
After lying there for what feels like hours, I finally hear my parents’ bedroom door shut. To be on the safe side, I wait a little while longer, then get out of bed. I pull on a pair of sneakers I had the foresight to shove into my weekend bag, then pull a sweater on. Ideally, I would go get my coat and put that on, too, but I don’t want to risk waking my parents.
Carefully, I unlock my window and push it up. The cold and wetness of the night is a shock to my system.
But nothing’s going
to stop me now.
I climb out, carefully lower myself down, and close the window behind me.
And then I run all the way to Dax’s cabin.
He answers within seconds of me knocking on his door, a frown turning down his mouth.
“Jesus, Bailey,” he says, pulling me inside. “You’re soaked.”
“You told me to come over tonight,” I say, laughing as I wipe water from my cheeks. I look down at the mess I’m making. “Oh, shit. Sorry. I’m dripping everywhere.”
“Stay here,” he says. He disappears for a few seconds, then comes back with a bath towel and some folded-up clothing. “This stuff’s going to be massive on you, but here. Bathroom’s just down the hall.”
I thank him, take the clothes from him, and quickly pad down to the bathroom, feeling horrible about the mess I’m making of his beautiful home. In the bathroom, I peel off my wet clothes and hang them up, dry off with the towel, and put on the dry clothes he gave me—which turns out to be a t-shirt and a pair of boxers.
Yep. He’s right. The clothes are massive on me—even with hips as big as mine. But I don’t even care. I love the way his clothes feel against my bare skin.
When I emerge from the bathroom, he’s got the rainwater all cleaned up from the floor. I hear movement in another room and walk through the house to find him in the kitchen pouring hot water into a mug.
“Thanks for the change of clothes,” I say. “I hung up my stuff over the tub.”
Dax nods and hands over a mug of hot tea. He gives me a once-over as I take it. “Not a bad look on you.”
“Yeah?” I say, grinning. “Think I could start a new trend?”
He laughs. “Come on. Let’s go sit.”
We go into his living room and settle down on the couch; I swoon a little when he wraps a blanket around me. God, do I ever want him to hold me in those huge arms of his.
“You good?” Dax asks. “Warm enough, I mean?”
“I am. Thank you.” I take a sip of tea, then set the mug down on the nearby coffee table. When I look at Dax again, his eyes are deeply focused on me.
“I’ve thought about you so much these past few weeks, Bailey,” he says.
My heart throbs. “I’ve thought about you a lot, too, Dax.”
“I’ve never connected with anyone like I have with you.”
“Me either.”
“And that kiss…” he says.
“Yeah. That kiss.”
He grins. “Exactly.”
We study each other for a few heated seconds. Then he moves toward me, and I move toward him, and when we kiss, the magic we experienced the first time happens all over again.
Instantly, my body aches like crazy for him.
When his hand slides up my thigh, it’s like electricity sparks every place he touches me. Dax’s caress reaches my breast and I moan softly into his mouth. Slowly, he rubs his thumb over my pebbled nipple.
Oh, God. I want him. I need him.
Above us, the rain keeps pounding down on the roof.
Dax pulls me onto his lap as we continue to kiss. His hard-on strains against me, the huge size of it sending a vibration to my core.
I know I shouldn’t be shocked. He’s a huge dude; of course he’s going to have a huge cock.
But actually feeling it beneath me, and thinking of all that thickness and length actually being inside of me…
I’m so wet at the mere thought of it.
My body is humming now. I’ve never felt so turned on in my life. And with every second that we keep kissing, with every second that his hardness strains against me, it almost feels like I could—
All of a sudden, I’m having a difficult time thinking. I’m having a hard time breathing, too.
Oh, God. It’s happening. I can’t stop it. It’s actually happening.
A high noise escapes my throat and I clutch at Dax’s chest as the intense little orgasm sneaks up on me.
As much as I try to save face, there’s no hiding it.
I cover my face with my hands and pull away from him. “Oh my God. I can’t believe that just happened.”
Dax pulls me back to him. “Are you kidding? That was so fucking hot.”
I peek at him through my fingers. Slowly, I drop my hands.
“You don’t think I’m a freak?” I say.
“Not in the slightest.”
“That’s never happened to me before. Not like that.”
“Should we see if we can make it happen again?”
I blush. “You’re teasing me.”
“I’m not, sweetness.” He kisses me. “But let’s try it a different way this time.”
He lifts me up off his lap and lays me back against the couch. When his hands find the band of the boxers I’m wearing, I lift up my hips; he pulls them off and drops them onto the floor.
“Damn,” he says, his eyes roaming over my naked lower half. “Baby, you’re so beautiful.”
“You’re supposed to use compliments to get my pants off, you know,” I tease.
“I’ll compliment you whenever I damn want.”
I bite my lip and smile.
He pushes my knees open wide. As he kisses his way up my thighs, I swallow with anticipation.
The moment his mouth comes in contact with my clit, I let out a high gasp.
He licks me slowly, exploring me—tantalizing me—with his tongue. It’s so damn good that I feel like I’m on the edge of passing out.
Outside, a bolt of lightning cracks, and it feels like it shoots right through me.
I push up my hips and Dax increases the intensity of the magic he’s working down there, sucking my clit and then dipping his tongue inside of me in a way that takes my breath away.
“Holy shit,” I moan, digging my fingers into the couch. He moves his mouth back to my clit and sucks it harder and I can’t take it any longer.
Another crack splits open the sky outside as I cry out Dax’s name. The orgasm overtakes me; I don’t even feel like I’m in my body anymore, I’m just pleasure. Pure pleasure.
“That was…incredible,” I gasp, panting as I come down the other side.
“You taste like heaven,” Dax says as he climbs up on top of me. He plants hungry kisses along my neck. My body tingles everywhere his body is in contact with mine.
“I want you, Dax,” I whisper.
“I want you, too, sweetness.” He kisses my lips. “I want to fucking marry you.”
My eyes widen. My heart skips a beat. Two beats, actually. He didn’t really just say that, did he?
“What?” I gasp.
“I said I want to marry you.” Dax moves his kisses to the other side of my neck and I let my cheek drop to the side. I feel like I’m in a dream.
But as I hazily look out across his living room, basking in how good this moment is, I notice something in the distance through the big window.
A light.
There’s a light on in my parents’ house.
“Shit,” I groan.
“What, baby?” Dax says, then follows my gaze. “Oh. Fuck.”
He moves off me. I scramble to get dressed, then rush over to the door and stuff my feet into my rain-soaked shoes.
Before I leave, Dax pulls me to him for one last kiss of the night.
Chapter Four
Dax
I keep my hands fisted by my sides as I stare out into the storm that’s still raging outside.
Ever since Bailey left, I’ve been standing here at the living room window, keeping an eye on the single glowing light coming from her parents’ house.
I refuse to go to sleep until I see it go out.
After Bailey left, I had the hard-on of the fucking century. But as easy as it would’ve been to take care of it myself, I wasn’t about to waste a drop of this seed.
No. It belongs in Bailey’s womb.
Lightning flashes again against the clouds. A few seconds later comes the booming rumble. But then I hear another noise—something that sounds like a knoc
k.
No. It doesn’t sound like a knock. It is a fucking knock.
Jesus, is that Bailey’s voice calling my name?
I bolt over to the front door and fling it open. On the other side of it stands my sweet girl—looking back up at me with wide, worried eyes.
“It’s my dad,” Bailey chokes out. “There’s something wrong. I think it’s his heart.”
I don’t need to hear anymore. The two of us rush outside and get into my truck. The tires slip over the mud as I spin the truck around and fly down the driveway. With a reassuring hand on Bailey’s thigh, I get us over to her parents’ house as fast as I can. I leave the engine running as we jump out of the truck and race into the house.
Inside, in the front room, Ian is on his feet but is slumped against Alice, who is barely able to keep him upright.
“Let me take him,” I say. “Come on. Let’s go. I’ll drive.”
Ian mutters a few broken-up words as I help him out to the truck. I tell him everything’s going to be okay as I get him into the passenger side.
Not gonna lie, though. He looks bad.
With Alice sitting in the front between Ian and myself and Bailey in the back seat, we tear through the storm toward the hospital. The thunder sounds like it’s closing in on us. Rain splatters violently off the windshield, the wipers barely able to keep up.
I keep glancing in the rearview mirror to check on Bailey, but every time I look back at her, she’s either looking at her dad or staring out the window with tear-dampened eyes.
“Almost there, buddy,” I say, glancing over at Ian.
Finally—fucking finally—we reach the hospital. The next several minutes seem to move in sped-up time: I pull the truck up to the emergency entrance, I help Ian get out of the passenger side, a couple of hospital workers take him from me, asking Alice a rapid set of questions.
After that, though, everything slows way, way down.
Now all we can do is wait.