Dirty, Dark, & Dangerous: A Contemporary Romance Boxset

by Luciani, Kristen

  Daxton squinted in the darkness. Only a small sliver of moonlight crept into the room through the closed curtains. It must be the middle of the night. Time didn’t matter, though. Sara shifted farther into him with a deep sigh. Her bare skin was so soft and smooth against his. She looped her ankle around his, pulling herself even deeper into his embrace. His hands refused to behave, his body way to sensitized to drift off again. Her firm backside slid against his cock, now rock-hard, fully awake, and in desperate need of some recognition.

  It was impossible to keep his hands away from her supple skin. He brushed the back of her neck with his lips. God, he was hungry, and Sara was the only sustenance his body would consume. When his hand traced a very determined path down to her navel, she let out a soft moan and guided it right between her thighs. His cock twitched as his fingers plunged into her slick opening, pausing only to rub her swollen clit.

  “Dax, don’t tease me anymore,” she breathed, her body shuddering against him. “I need you. Now.”

  As if he needed any more prompting.

  He grabbed a condom from the nightstand and rolled it on before sinking into her heat. Her walls clenched, sucking him deeper. It was impossible to form a coherent thought. Her movements muted every functional brain cell. He nipped her shoulder, trailing his tongue across her neck to the sensitive area behind her ear. Their bodies slapped together, her juices flowing over his fingers with each stroke of her nub. She thrust backward, faster, and harder, her body begging him for release.

  His cock throbbed, unable to be sated. Adrenaline coursed through him. He needed more, everything that she had to give. He slid out, separating the globes of her perfect ass then rubbing himself around the rim of her hot channel. He groped around in the dark for the jar of coconut oil on the nightstand. With a flick of his wrist, the top spun off, and he dug his fingers into the thick consistency. The warmth of his skin liquefied the oil. With slow strokes, he massaged her tight hole, rubbing the oil around the rim before inserting one finger.

  She gasped, her back arching, beckoning him.

  “Does that hurt?” he murmured, his lips nuzzling her neck.

  “No, just don’t stop touching me.”

  He opened her with a second finger, stretching her, making her whole body clench until she was ready for him. Another scoop of the scented oil, a few strokes of his dick, and it was time. He rubbed the swollen head along the opening before removing his fingers and sliding inside her. Christ, it was erotic as all hell, knowing she fully trusted him with something so intimate, yet so taboo. She moved against his cock, allowing him deeper access. Her body grew frenzied with every pulse, gripping him tighter as the minutes passed. Tremors shot through him, and his eyes squeezed shut, as blood rushed to his groin. He was on the brink, grasping her hips, barely able to squeeze out a breath. It didn’t matter. He could die right then; the sensations were that incredible.

  Her cries pierced the silence. Each thrust of her body against his brought him closer to the edge, and he wanted nothing more than to leap. His breath stilted until the explosion from deep within his core erupted, firing every nerve ending. The release was like nothing he’d ever experienced. He filled her with all he had, all she’d dragged out of him. The passing seconds were mind numbing. Being with Sara, falling in love with her, and connecting with her on every possible level was all he’d ever needed, and everything he’d ever wanted. Forever.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  “MMM. DON’T MOVE, OKAY? JUST ignore it.”

  Sara’s ringtone blared again. “It’s Kat. You know she won’t stop calling until I answer.”

  Daxton pulled her closer. “I don’t care.”

  “You say that now.” She snuggled against him, her velvety soft skin blanketing him in warmth that he could never get from blankets alone.

  Goddamn chimes sounded for the fiftieth time. Who would’ve thought that an innocuous enough ringtone could make someone want to hurl a phone against a brick wall?

  “Ahh! Fine! Get it already!”

  Sara giggled. “Told you.” She grabbed the phone from the nightstand. “Hey, Kat. What’s up?”

  The call meant one thing – playtime was over for the foreseeable future. It was back to the real world, where fun with coconut oil was put on hold; at least, until after tonight’s show. He let out a deep sigh, trailing his fingers down the smooth column of her spine, reveling in the way she shivered against him. Well, his cock definitely enjoyed it, rubbing along the crack of her perfect ass. It was so tempting to fling that phone across the room and plunge himself deep into her heat.

  “Okay. Yes, give me about twenty minutes. I’ll take care of it.” Sara clicked off the phone and flipped over. Her lips were deep pink, courtesy of his early morning nibbling.

  “What happens in twenty minutes?”

  “Kat needs some promo pics to blast out on social media. I need to get everything staged, which means you need to get your butt up, too.”

  “Speaking of butts…”

  Her cheeks flushed a deep shade of purple. He smirked. Kind of reminded him of her prized grape-flavored gum. Was it possible to be insanely sexy and adorable at the same time? Guess so.

  “How are you feeling? Are you sore?”

  “A little, but it’s fine.” Her eyes dropped. “I really liked it.”

  Oh, fuck yeah. Her tight, hot channel, squeezing his cock as he slid in and out, playing with her clit, making her scream with each thrust…it was nothing short of amazing.

  “I’ve got plenty of coconut oil.”

  She giggled. “I’m not surprised. Maybe we can do something with it later?”

  “If you keep talking like this, there won’t be a later. There will only be a right now.”

  His fingers tangled in her blonde waves, lips pressed against hers. “Open your legs for me. I need you right now,” he murmured against her ear.

  Her legs fell open, inviting him to sink into her depths. He stroked himself a couple of times and rolled on a condom. She let out a gasp as he slid inside her slick, velvety walls. His cock throbbed with each thrust into her tight pussy, his balls tightening with each passing second. He grasped the globes of her ass, squeezing the plump cheeks, forcing himself deeper. Unable to breathe, drowning in lust…love…some combination of both. Whatever it was, he never wanted to be resuscitated. Her muscles clamped around him, forcing him deeper.

  Thump, thump, thump!

  Her soft whimpers turned into cries begging him to make her come.

  Thump, thump, thump!

  What the fuck was that pounding?

  “Dax!”

  Sara clapped a hand over her mouth.

  “Finn, what the hell? I’m busy!”

  “Yeah, I know. So does everyone else on the bus. Including your dad.”

  His dad? Fucking Tyler?

  “Um, you might want to come out here.”

  If Sara’s eyes bugged out any more, he was pretty sure her eyeballs would just pop out of her head. “It’s okay,” he whispered.

  “But your dad is here! And I was just screaming for you to make me come! And I’m naked!”

  He grinned and brushed his lips against her forehead. “This is all true. Just relax, okay. I’ll take care of everything. Just don’t get dressed. I want that pussy to be screaming for me again, got it?”

  “I’m pretty sure that won’t be an issue.”

  A pair of basketball shorts had been flung over a corner chair. He grabbed them and yanked a tank top over his head. Where the hell was his baseball cap?

  “It’s on the night table,” Sara whispered, pointing to where it sat, right next to the jar of coconut oil.

  He flipped the cap around before putting it on his head. “Be ready.”

  Just seeing that jar of coconut oil made his cock twitch. Fucking blue balls. Damn Tyler. Why the hell was he here, anyway? He clenched his fists as he walked into the common area. Did Sam go to the press?

  “What are you doing here, Dad?”


  Tyler stood against the bar, his face clouded over with a mix of emotions Daxton had never before witnessed - pain, remorse, regret. Why now, when everything was upside down? Why hadn’t he displayed any degree of feeling before, when he had every opportunity to make things right between them? “Sam called. He told me he spoke to you. I guess he didn’t want to take a chance that the press might find out first and run with a story before I found out.”

  “That was big of him. So now, after all this time, you decide to drop by for a visit. To do what? Make sure I’m okay? Like you ever gave a shit before?” The fury he’d been bottling up for the past twenty-four hours burst from deep within his soul. “Were you ever going to tell me the truth? Mom left, and you never told me why. She died and you never said a word!” He hurled an open bottle of water across the room, liquid splashing out of the top, soaking the carpet. “Why? Make me understand why, goddammit!”

  Tyler sank into the couch, holding his head in his hands. “Daxton, I—”

  “You what? You were afraid of getting your ego pricked because your wife was screwing another guy, so you paid him to disappear and adopted the bastard son? Did you ever want me? Why did you make him give me up? Maybe he would have loved me, treated me like a real son. But you made sure that didn’t happen!”

  “Dax, I never wanted you to find out like this. Yes, it was hard for me to deal with your mother’s infidelity. But dammit, I loved her and wanted to make things between us work. Sam didn’t have a pot to piss in when she got pregnant. I adopted you because I wanted to give you everything he couldn’t. I did the best I could to hold things together, but after Jase died, your mom wanted to leave. I found out later that she got sick. She didn’t even tell me until her days were numbered.”

  “Sam wanted me to forgive him, so we could start fresh.” Daxton gritted his teeth.

  “What did you tell him?” Tyler looked up, his face drawn and haggard, almost as if he’d aged ten years in the past five minutes.

  “I told him he missed his chance when he walked away. I have no desire to start a relationship with the man who gave me up. I don’t care what his reasons were.” Daxton scrubbed a hand down his stubble-peppered face. “But you? You’ve always had it out for me. Is it because I was a constant reminder that she’d cheated? Is that why you never gave a shit?”

  Tyler rose from the couch. “Dax, stop it. I know I haven’t always been the best father, but you’re not free from blame in this. You were the one who pulled away. You were so goddamn stubborn through the years, rejecting every attempt I made to have any sort of relationship with you. I’ve given you everything. And when Jase got sick, yeah, it was devastating, and yes, he was my focus; not because he was my biological son, but because he needed me. You have no idea how it feels to lose a child. I hope you never find out. I was emotionally gutted when he died. Things were already hard, then your mom left and you just kept twisting the knife. I was angry, guilt-ridden, and heartbroken.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I should have tried harder. I regret my past actions every day. It was my responsibility to take care of you, and I let you down. We let each other down. That’s why I’m here, Dax. When Sam called, it killed me to think you’d choose to have him in your life over me. I knew I needed to make things right between us. At least, I had to try.”

  Daxton pressed his hands to his throbbing temples. He’d been difficult. Hell, he’d been a complete asshole. But it was his way of coping with the nagging feeling that he didn’t fit, that he wasn’t good enough for Tyler. “I could never make you happy, no matter what I did. Do you have any idea how miserable I was, how worthless I felt?’

  “I’m sorry.”

  “That’s all? That’s supposed to erase all the bad shit, Dad?” Daxton pounded his fist against the wall.

  “I can’t change the past, Dax. I can’t take back all the pain I caused you. But I want to fix this, to fix us.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me all this before?”

  “Because I was hurt and angry, too. You’ve taken every opportunity to tear me down - face to face, in the press. I know I made a lot of mistakes over the years, but I want to move forward. You’re my son, and I love you. We’ve never seen eye to eye, and maybe we never will, but we’re all we have left. Isn’t that worth anything to you?”

  Rejection and spite had corrupted him for so long, too long. Love made him realize what he’d been missing, but it couldn’t fully heal the still raw wounds. No, only the truth could mend him and make him whole again.

  “Yeah.” His throat tightened, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes. God, it hurt so bad. Losing his mom and Jase…the grief was crippling. He needed Tyler, his father. They needed each other. Enough time had been wasted.

  Tyler pulled him into a tight hug. “I’m so sorry for letting things get this far. Give me a chance to be the father you deserve, Dax.”

  “I’m sorry, too.” Daxton pulled away, expelling a deep breath. “We were both pretty shitty to one another.”

  Tyler nodded slowly, a pained expression etched into his features. “Please, Dax. I’ve already lost so much. I can’t lose you, too.”

  Hope flickered in Daxton’s heart. He’d lived without it for so long, and now that it was alive once again, he never wanted to lose it. “We have a lot to catch up on, Dad.”

  “Yes, we do.” Tyler smiled. “I’m glad we finally agree on something.”

  “Maybe we can have dinner after the show. There’s someone I want you to meet. Someone really important.” He glanced at the closed bedroom door and then back at Tyler, a grin lifting his lips. “Later.”

  Tyler cocked an eyebrow. “Judging by the sounds coming from there a little while ago, I’ll take that to mean much later.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  HOT WATER EXPLODED FROM THE shower head, doing nothing to relieve the ache deep within his groin. Fuck, he wanted to feel those lips clamped around his throbbing cock, sucking him dry. And that ass…plunging into the hot, tight channel, burying himself inside that forbidden area, filling it with his hot seed…

  He pumped his hand faster, shivering against the chill. His body shuddered against the tile, balls tightening, imagining only those lips pressed against his. He’d been waiting so long…too long to taste. All those days and nights spent watching, wondering, and longing for his chance. Waiting was no longer an option. He craved too much.

  White light exploded behind his eyes as the orgasm consumed him. His heart thrummed, the sensations coursing through him blunted the reality that the one he so desired was in love with another.

  He climbed out of the shower and grabbed a thick towel. After tonight, no obstacles would remain. He’d have exactly what he wanted, on his terms. Nobody would ever stand in his way ever again. Didn’t he deserve to be happy with the one person he loved more than anything?

  Soon, the whole world would know they were destined to be together. And as best friends, was there a better way to start a relationship?

  Merrick smiled at his reflection in the fogged up mirror. The one remaining loose end would be tied up soon enough. Then, Dax would be his. Forever.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  “STOP BITING YOUR NAILS. THERE isn’t any more nail polish on them, and pretty soon you’ll be chewing your fingers.” Daxton pulled a grape-flavored Capri Sun juice pouch out of the refrigerator in his green room and handed it to Sara. “Will this make you feel any better?”

  If the room had been dim before, it was now illuminated with Sara’s megawatt smile. “A tiny bit. Thank you.”

  “Why are you so nervous? It’s just my dad.”

  Her cheeks flooded with color, matching the shade of juice she sucked from the straw. “Um, yeah, just your dad, who happened to overhear me screaming my friggin’ head off while we were making love. No reason for me to feel anything other than confident and self-assured. Slutty? Never.”

  Daxton placed his hands on her shoulders. “Would it make you feel better if I told you he’s caught me i
n much more compromising positions?”

  Her eyes widened, as she sputtered out a very emphatic, “No! Oh my God, I can’t believe…no, wait. I totally can.”

  He snickered. “What does that say about you?”

  “Oh, it speaks volumes about me.” The deep flush lightened, her tone turning serious. “But how are you doing?”

  “Hey, don’t worry about me. You’re my priority now.” He trailed a fingertip over her cheekbone and over her purple-tinged lips. Earlier that day, he’d told Sara everything about Sam, his mom, and the blowout with Tyler. He’d never opened up to anyone like he had to Sara. Hell, he’d never had someone to confide in, someone who actually cared enough to listen. She had the power to heal him, to comfort him, and to piece him back together. “Nothing else matters right now.”

  “Dax, don’t you think you need time to grieve? You can’t keep everything bottled up. It’ll destroy you. Let me help you through this.” Her eyes searched his, begging to see what hid deep within the recesses of his soul.

  What Sara didn’t realize was that she’d already saved him from drowning in his own sorrow. Nobody could ever take the place of family he’d lost, but his love for Sara was all-consuming, and hope for their future propelled him through the grief.

  “I miss my mother, Sara. She left, and it devastated me. Every day, I got angrier and angrier that she could abandon our family. I understand now that she was trying to protect me from having to watch her suffer like Jase did. And even though I resent her for making the decision to walk away, I can move forward because I know she’s not ever coming back. I’ll never get closure, and I have to accept that. She’ll never know how much worse it was to lose her while she was still alive, when I could have been with her every step of the way, loving her and taking care of her until the very end. It still hurts really fucking badly, and that pain isn’t going away any time soon.” He smoothed back her hair, the glossy waves so soft against his skin. “But it also makes me want to take advantage of what I have right now. I’m not willing to waste even a second with you because each one is precious. I’m crazy about you, Sara. You’ve already helped me more than you know.”