Loyal Hearts (The Barrington Billionaires Book 4)

by Danielle Stewart

  “Don’t stop,” she pleaded breathlessly, crying out as his finger plunged deep inside her, his thumb sweeping across the sweet spot that had been neglected too long. He moved his mouth to her ear as his fingers continued to work their magic.

  “You’re going to come all night,” he promised in a husky whisper. “I’m going to finger you until you come. Then I’m going to devour you. I’m going to lick you over and over until you scream my name.”

  The sound of his voice in her ear was nearly as exciting as his fluttering touch on her core. “Yes,” she breathed, unable to form anything more coherent.

  “But I won’t be done,” he grunted, grinding his firmness against her so she could feel how desperately he wanted her and how huge he was. She knew she’d be begging for every inch of it.

  “More,” she begged, writhing against his hand.

  “After you come, and I see your face, I’m going to fuck you. I’m going to fill every inch of you.”

  “Oh, Dallas,” she pleaded, his movements and his words carrying her to the edge of an explosive orgasm. “Yes, Yes, Yes,” she chanted as she reached climax, pulling at him, begging for more of him. Her core pulsed around his fingers as her body thrashed with pleasure.

  “Good girl,” he whispered into her ear. “I can’t wait to taste how sweet you are.” His mouth pulled away and slid down her body, kissing a trail across her breasts and straight down her stomach.

  “Dallas,” Harlan cried, half a plea for mercy and half to never stop. His tongue plunged inside her as he cupped her ass, and lifted her from the floor. Harlan’s legs were over his shoulders, and he had complete control of her.

  With precision Harlan had never imagined, Dallas unlocked the combination of her most intense pleasure. It was a tight pinch of her nipple, a flick of his tongue, his fingers working her spot to bring her again to ecstasy. “Don’t stop,” she begged, her throbbing sensitive sex about to burst. A few more swirls of his tongue and she fell over the edge of passion, grabbing a handful of his hair and tugging. There was a need to hold on, to anchor herself to something or she might actually float away.

  He slid out of his pants and exposed what she had been writhing against frantically. Wide eyed she drank in his perfection, punctuating her study of him with a wide smile.

  Before he could remind her what would come next, before he could pin her down and enter her, Harlan sat up. Moving him backward, she laid him back. “I want to ride you,” she asserted. “I want to feel every inch of you from up here.” Swinging a leg over him, she watched as his face lit with even more desire.

  “Yes,” he said, slapping her ass hard as she slid down on his firmness, crying out in pleasure. His hands were on her hips, guiding her at first slowly up and down, but that lasted only a few seconds. She was riding him wildly as he spanked her again. It was now his face that was washed with the promise of explosive release.

  Grabbing a fistful of her hair, he pulled her lips to his, his other hand clamping down tightly on her nipple.

  There was only heat, intense thundering of their bodies as they became one. They collapsed against each other seconds apart, clinging tightly as they pulsed and exploded, tightened and vibrated.

  “I—” Harlan breathed out, her face pressed to his neck, breathing in his scent as she rose and fell, riding his chest and feeling his panting breath.

  “Yeah,” he agreed. “I’m hardly done with you either,” he threatened playfully. “I’m going to show you what your body was made for, and what a man like me can do with something so perfect.”

  “It gets better than that?” Harlan asked in sheer disbelief. “What else could there be?”

  “Oh honey, that was like an appetizer, the main course will leave you speechless.”

  His arms closed in around her as she shifted to lie at his side. “You can’t possibly be real,” she sighed.

  “I was just thinking the same thing about you.”

  Chapter 20

  It had been far too long since Harlan felt the kind of warmth that could only come from being pressed against the muscled chest of a man. The fire crackled and popped, its orange flame tinting the ceiling and dancing left then right. She curled her leg over his, and when he squeezed down tighter Harlan closed her eyes and breathed the moment in. This was what letting go felt like. She’d spent the last year falling. Falling down, falling for bullshit, falling short of everything her life was supposed to be.

  Things were spinning again. The world was off its axis; things were out of her control, but in an entirely different way. She wasn’t plummeting toward the hard ground, waiting for the inevitable pain. It was a slow fall, a glide toward something soft. A feather on a breeze.

  “Sleep,” Dallas said, running a finger up and down her spine. “I know you said you don’t sleep, but after that you’ll need to.”

  “I’m not sure I could do anything besides sleep,” she yawned, closing her eyes. “I promise we’ll look at all the case files Melissa sent in the morning. I don’t want you to think I’m neglecting that. I meant what I said about helping. We can’t just eat, drink, and have sex for the next couple of days.”

  “About that,” Dallas hummed, his body getting slightly rigid beneath her grip. “I talked to Tim tonight, and he was adamant that I should not spend the next few days working on his case. He’s convinced I’ve ruined my life trying to help him. I lost my job, a relationship, and friends. He’s worried.”

  “Relationship?” Harlan asked, trying to ask in a way that didn’t make her sound like a petty jealous woman.

  “It wasn’t Tim’s arrest that broke me and Gabby up. Things had been rough between us for a while. The rest of the stuff that happened is more about my stubbornness and issues with authority than Tim’s case. Would I still have my job? Maybe.”

  “Gabby,” Harlan teased, “sounds little. Petite, I mean. A blonde?”

  “A nice girl who deserved better than I was offering.” Dallas sighed. “We weren’t good together.”

  “I bet she’s sweet,” Harlan continued teasing. “Like the kind of sweet that hurts your teeth.”

  “You’re awful.” He tickled her side, sending her into a tizzy. “I thought I told you to sleep.”

  When she settled back down against him she closed her eyes and thought on it all. “Is he right?”

  “Who?”

  “Tim. Is Tim right? Are you losing yourself to this?” The jokes were gone now. Their sentences didn’t run right into each other. Silence fell over them and the fire had started to dim. The question loomed heavily for a long moment.

  “I don’t know,” Dallas admitted, just slightly louder than a whisper. “If I was in there and someone out here was helping me, I’d have a hard time telling them to shove off. I’d take every ounce of help I could get. Something doesn’t feel right.”

  “You’re worried?” Harlan asked. Sleep starting to overtake her, but she fought it.

  “Maybe,” Dallas sighed, his chest working as her pillow, rising and falling under her head. “I feel like there’s something he’s not telling me. Something that could help him, but he just isn’t sharing it with me.”

  “Let’s make a deal,” Harlan said, another large yawn. “Sex, wine, eating, and working the case. I thought we might do a little hiking, but I’d be willing to give that up to make more time for sex.”

  “So you think we still should go over the case?” Dallas asked, sounding unsure.

  “I think your gut steers you the right way. I also think your life and your choices are not dictated by anything besides your own free will. There was a line in the sand with your job, with the way you were acting about Tim’s case. It was you who decided to cross it. Tim is taking way too much responsibility for your screw-ups. Next time you two talk, don’t let him do that.”

  “You’re smart,” Dallas said, kissing the top of her head and smoothing her hair. “How did you get this smart?”

  “I’m well read,” she boasted. “I have almost every fa
iry tale memorized. I even do the voices. Now you go to sleep. I can practically hear the wheels in your head turning. Everything will make more sense in the morning.”

  “Tell me a story,” he said, rolling on his side and locking eyes with her. “Do the voices.” He wore a wide smile and tucked her hair back behind her ears, looking desperate to see her whole face.

  “Once upon a time in a faraway land,” she began and his eyes closed, the smile fading, his body relaxing as she curled against him again, “there was a man so brave he swore to protect the people who needed him. Brave and charming, the man never stopped trying to make the world a better place for the people he cared about.”

  “What was his name?” Dallas asked through a smirk, his eyes closed, his body still.

  “Texas,” Harlan continued. “His name was Texas, and he was handsome and smart. The only person in the world smarter than him was the princess he was sworn to protect.”

  “Smarter, huh?”

  “Light years smarter,” she giggled. “But that didn’t stop them from wanting to be together. The princess didn’t mind talking slow and explaining things a few times.”

  “This princess sounds like a pain in the ass,” Dallas interrupted.

  “You’re right,” Harlan sighed. “Maybe Texas should cut his losses and ride off on his trusty steed.”

  “He can’t,” Dallas said, throwing his warm leg over her and intertwining their limbs.

  “Why?”

  “He’s falling for her,” Dallas whispered. “He couldn’t leave her now even if he wanted to.”

  Chapter 21

  “Pancakes or French toast?” Dallas asked as they shuffled into the kitchen and rubbed sleep from their eyes.

  “Please don’t tell me you can cook. I’m not sure I can handle any more perfection.”

  “I can’t,” he admitted. “I just figured I could wing it once I got in here. What makes the toast French exactly?”

  “Sit,” she ordered, pointing at the stool in front of the kitchen island. “I’ll teach you how to make pancakes, then you can teach me something.”

  “Didn’t I teach you a few things last night?” Dallas teased coyly. “It felt like there were a few surprises in there for you.”

  “Pleasant surprises,” she agreed. “But I want to know something different. Teach me some self-defense moves. I’ll show you the basics of breakfast, you show me how to kick someone’s ass.”

  “You’re worried?” Dallas asked, concern flooding him. “I’m going to keep you safe, and I’ll make sure whoever Emmitt replaces me with is highly trained to do the same.”

  “I know that,” she waved off his argument. “I still would like to know a few moves. Unless you don’t think I’m capable.”

  “Oh please,” he laughed, “you’re the perfect example of mama bear strength. You know how they say a mom can lift a car off her child? They’re talking about a mom like you.”

  “So we have a deal then?” Harlan asked, shooting her hand out for a shake that would seal the agreement.

  “I’ll show you a few moves if you promise not to rely on them instead of calling for help. Don’t go grabbing a cape and tights and think you’re going to save the world just because I teach you how to break a windpipe.”

  She nodded, and he wearily shook her hand. “You take out the case files and start reading to me while I crack the eggs. If you think Tim is withholding something that could help his case, we need to find out why. I can’t imagine anyone would sit in jail if they had evidence that could free them, but I trust your gut.”

  “You jump in with questions if you have any.” Dallas thumbed through the boxes for a few minutes like he was following a long rope, trying to find its origins. “Here’s Larry’s testimony. I was in the courtroom that day, but my blood was boiling so much I could hardly hear. I won’t be surprised if some of this is news to me.”

  “Give me the highlights,” Harlan instructed as she grabbed an apron and a whisk.

  “Larry states that on that night Angus didn’t come home from the restaurant. Tim murdered him. He robbed the restaurant and it went bad, and Tim shot him. When asked how he knew this, Larry said a couple days after that Angus’s murder hit the news. While sitting in a breakfast place, Tim started to explain how he killed Angus. Apparently Tim informed Larry where the body was buried and asked for help burning his own clothes.”

  “It’s just so bizarre that Tim didn’t have a way to prove he had nothing to do with this. Justice is supposed to keep these things from happening.”

  “There is absolutely no forensic evidence linking Tim to Angus. His car was gone over thoroughly by investigators. No one could testify that Tim owned a gun. I certainly never saw him with one.”

  “And he was home?” Harlan asked as she sprinkled out some cinnamon. “No activity on his credit cards or his cell phone or anything?”

  “His cell had been disconnected for nonpayment. He was having some financial trouble, but he had it under control. With it being off, it couldn’t be used to confirm he, or at least his phone, was at home.”

  “He couldn’t find one person to say they saw him? A neighbor who could say his car was in the driveway?”

  “It was because the body went undiscovered for so long. Getting people to recall a normal day in any kind of detail is difficult. Tim had an unusual schedule, working odd jobs at different hours. He couldn’t be nailed down on a regular day. Angus was seen by his customers at the restaurant when it closed at eight that night. They always closed early on Sundays. But he never arrived home.”

  “This guy you talked to at the restaurant, he thinks this could be some kind of extortion thing?”

  “It’s called a protection ring.”

  “Like the mob?” Harlan asked, skeptically. “Are we really thinking this could be some old-school hit?”

  “I don’t,” Dallas said. “The landscape of organized crime is unrecognizable compared to a few decades ago. It’s not a bunch of guys with slicked back hair and gold chains threatening to put cement shoes on people. It’s about technology now, importing counterfeit products and muling drugs. Drugs rule the world right now, and you know Massachusetts is seeing epidemic levels of it. Angus could have been paying to keep the drugs off his corner. To keep the drug dealers or addicts from robbing him.”

  “So you have to pay the people who are causing the problem to keep the problem from landing on your doorstep?”

  “Basically, but some businesses feel like it’s worth it. If they are robbed the protection money buys them some kind of follow up. People start to understand that your business is not one to cross. It’s flawed obviously, but it’s been around a while. A guy like Angus probably didn’t want to make waves, so he paid. He had a family to think of.”

  “Do you think he broke some kind of rule? Didn’t pay or something? Would that be reason enough to kill him?”

  “Twenty years ago I’d say yes, but none of these guys are trying to go away for murder. They’re creating empires. Not to mention that it’s harder than ever to get away with something like that. Between forensics and cameras on every corner, they’ve found other ways to get what they want. Other threats and tactics. It would be out of the ordinary to think lack of payment would result in Angus being killed. They get nothing now. They aren’t collecting from the daughter.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know,” Dallas shrugged, paying close attention to the batter Harlan had whipped up. The pan was popping and hissing with the butter she’d dropped in. “Compassion might be a factor. Losing the patriarch of the family might be enough for them to back off. That’s why it doesn’t make sense that they would kill him for nonpayment if they never intended to collect from the family after. From a business standpoint it makes no sense.”

  “They were ready to kill the patriarch of my family,” Harlan challenged, her nostrils flaring with sudden anger. “The guys who took my daughters and me seemed like they were lacking that compassion.”
<
br />   “Actually those are the exact tactics I was talking about. You were leverage, and the kind no one in your family would be able to ignore. The likelihood they had actually killed your father was probably low.”

  “We should have just rolled the dice then,” Harlan snapped. “We’d have a bag of money back now, and my girls wouldn’t be scared of bad guys.”

  “I’m sorry,” Dallas hurried. “I know it was bad. It was real. I shouldn’t have said that. Only with Angus, I don’t think the theory of some kind of crime organization killing him for money works. It’s a weak theory.”

  “What’s a strong theory then?” Harlan asked, her voice filled with impatience and frustration.

  “Larry,” Dallas said flatly. “He led the police to the body. He knew details of the case no one else would. Look,” he flipped a file toward Harlan who gave it only a fraction of her attention, “the day he was arrested and decided to tell this story of the murder, he was picked up at a building three doors down from Angus’s restaurant. Someone saw him kicking in a back door.”

  “Maybe he was trying to rob Angus?” Harlan guessed, dropping perfect circles of batter into the pan. “You said his parents had cut him off.”

  “Could be motive,” Dallas said, scribbling down some notes.

  “But why wouldn’t the cops assume Larry was involved in some way? Who has that much information about a murder and doesn’t get added to the list of suspects?” Harlan furrowed her brows.

  “Open cases are a drag on the system. Closing a murder is a top priority. Doing it quickly keeps it out of the papers as an unsolved crime. People worry, they press the cops, and it goes up the chain. They’re highly motivated to arrest someone. Tim couldn’t account for his time.”

  “Innocent until proven guilty goes out the window huh?” Harlan skillfully flipped the pancakes with some flare that made Dallas laugh.