by Mandy Magro
‘Would you like to dance?’ he asked, not waiting for an answer as he took the glass from her hand and deposited it onto the table.
‘What happened to Miss Desperate?’ She regretted the question as soon as she’d said it, not wanting him to know Jasmine had bothered her.
His lips curled ever so slightly at the corners. ‘You mean Jasmine?’
‘Yes, Jasmine.’
He waved a hand towards the dance floor. ‘Probably out yonder, trying to woo her catch for the evening.’ He turned back and was smiling broadly now. ‘Did you think she and I were a thing?’
Charlize shrugged indifferently. ‘Maybe, maybe not.’
‘Trust me, hell would freeze over before that happened.’
Oh thank Christ …
‘Seriously? She’s pretty damn hot.’
He shrugged. ‘She’s nice enough, but not my type. Too look-at-me and wayyy too high maintenance.’
The way he rolled his eyes for effect made Charlize burst out laughing.
‘Come on, enough talk, let’s dance.’ He grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle tug.
As she stood, Charlize flicked her long hair over her shoulder, enjoying the feeling of the tresses splaying against her exposed back. She allowed him to lead her onto the dance floor, because there was nowhere else she’d rather be than in the arms of this beautifully hypnotic man, looking up at his gorgeous face—and having him smile back at her in the same way he was just now, with the hint of building hunger. It did things to her no man had ever done to her before.
The band changed pace and played a slow song, and she almost rolled her eyes at the uncanniness of it as Dallas pulled her into his arms, a little closer than she needed to be. Through the sheerness off her dress she felt the heat of his body seeping into hers and it sent her desire into overdrive. If they were alone, she might have given in to her yearning and ravaged him right here on the dance floor.
But they weren’t, and she was married, and he was from the middle of Woop Woop, and she loved the city, and blah blah blah. She mentally slapped the little voice in her head away as he began to sway her across the dance floor with all the pizzazz of a professional ballroom dancer. She swooned—a man who could dance was the biggest turn-on. It made her imagine how damn good he’d be in the bedroom and her womanly bits pulsed with longing.
‘This song is beautiful,’ she said a little breathlessly.
He leant into her ear, his breath sending shivers all over her. ‘I requested it. It’s called ‘She’s Everything to Me.’ By Brad Paisley. I told you you’d be hearing more of him tonight.’ And with that, his arm swept her possessively closer as he seized her gaze with his.
They remained like that for a few seconds.
Unmoving. Staring. Longing.
Charlize’s wall finally crumbled, and she felt every last bit of her resolve evaporate as she placed her cheek against the place his big beautiful heart would be beating and they moved in time to the song. Goosebumps rose on her skin, and the flame that had been burning inside of her ignited into an inferno, his body hot against her own. She really did care for this man—more than she’d like to admit. Did he really feel like the song was saying—that she was everything to him?
She’d never been a man’s everything, not even to her own husband. She closed her eyes, senseless to everything but Dallas, as the noise and chatter of the room faded away, just leaving the two of them, on the dance floor, wrapped in each other’s arms. She couldn’t help but marvel at the way their bodies moved in sync with one another, and seemed to meld in like two pieces of a puzzle clicking together. Why did he have to feel so good? She wanted more of him—so much more—but until she was officially separated, that wouldn’t be happening. And then it would probably be too late because she’d be back in the city getting on with her life, and he’d be doing the same back here.
And this, right here, would just be a beautiful memory.
His hand rested on the curve of her back and his touch was so soft, so intimate, and so suggestive. A voice in her head warned her about the treacherous territory she was teetering on the edge of, whispering for her to step back, to walk away from whatever this was and never look back. It terrified her, this attraction, as it went against everything she believed in.
But then the inner voice was silenced in the heat of the moment, engulfed by the blaze that was burning hotter and hotter between them. She knew she was playing with fire, but she liked the rush it gave her, loved the way it seared her skin and flamed her insides. Her self-imposed boundaries were getting very close to being crossed, and by the forceful look in Dallas’s eyes, she wasn’t the only one struggling to resist.
He tipped her chin up and held her eyes with intensity. ‘You look beautiful, Char, smoking hot in fact.’
His voice was low, and husky, and knee-buckling.
Her eyes were drawn to his delicious mouth as she ran her tongue over her dry lips. ‘Thank you.’ As the love song finished and was followed by a more upbeat one, she stepped back a little, leaving her hands resting on his shoulders, and eyed his suit. ‘You’re looking pretty damn handsome yourself.’ She wriggled her eyebrows.
‘Why thankya ma’am,’ he said, grinning, his playful side emerging once more and easing the tension in her belly. She’d only seen glimpses of the deeply passionate Dallas up until now, and he was so mysterious and dark and intense she didn’t know how to handle him. This side of him, the fun light-hearted side, was so much safer.
And she liked safe. It meant she wouldn’t be tempted to do the unthinkable while still basically married.
Basically being the operative word.
Because in her mind, she wasn’t anymore, not after hearing from Jasper that Alistair was still getting cosy with Samantha.
Did that count for anything?
Dallas tucked a tendril of hair behind her ear. ‘Come for a walk with me. I want to show you something.’ Without waiting for her response he placed his hand on her waist and guided her towards the back of the hall.
As they wove their way through the tables and people, Dallas kept them moving even when people motioned for them to stop and talk. Even when Jasmine went to grab his arm, he skilfully and subtly dodged her. It was as if he was in a hurry, eager to get her on her own, and Charlize liked that. Immensely.
Stepping out into the dark, with the millions of stars glittering like jewels amongst the velvety black, Dallas pulled her towards the side of the hall, and once there, he pushed her up against the wall, his hands gripping hers high above her head as he pinned her against him.
She gasped for air, partly out of excitement and partly because she was so close to doing what she knew she shouldn’t. Her blood pounded through her veins and she felt the world slow to a stop. The sound of the band playing inside the hall faded away until the only sound she could hear was her own breath. She could feel his longing for her pushing into where she also ached to be touched, licked, kissed, sucked by his delicious lips.
‘You drive me wild, Charlize, like no other woman has ever done. And I want you as my own.’
‘But Alistair …’ The words tumbled from her before she’d even had time to think about it.
‘Fuck him, he doesn’t deserve you. You’re not going to go back to him, are you?’
Unable to speak, she shook her head.
No, Charlize, don’t you dare…
Damn her little voice of moralistic reason.
‘Well in that case, I want you—all of you. And not just now, I want you forever.’
His words were so forceful, so demanding. She loved a man that knew what he wanted. And it blew her mind that he wanted her so desperately. Her stomach dipped as though she was on a roller coaster. Her body was screaming yes, but she couldn’t say it out loud.
‘We shouldn’t be doing this,’ she choked out. ‘Not until I tell Alistair the marriage is over.’
Instead of answering, he claimed her lips in a hungry, demanding, no-holds-barred kiss. Her body s
urged to life, awakening the feminine roar that had lain dormant deep down inside of her, and she arched against him as she tangled her tongue with his. He needed no further invitation as he picked her up from the ground and she wrapped her legs around his waist as her arms circled around the back of his neck. She clung to him, and she felt his need press harder against hers.
And at that very moment, she tumbled over the other side of reason, not caring what was right and what was wrong. She’d done the right thing her entire life and it had done her no favours. For once she was going to live for the moment, and to hell with the consequences. She wanted this man with every fibre of her being. She would forever regret it if she didn’t leave here knowing what he felt like from the inside.
***
As her body finally surrendered to his touch, Dallas watched her beautiful emerald eyes drift shut before he brushed his lips down her throat. She moaned, her skin growing warmer and warmer. He wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life, even more than winning Australian Bull Riding Champion. She arched her body further into him, her breath quickening as she gripped his back, her nails digging through the cotton of his shirt and leaving her mark upon his skin.
‘I shouldn’t be doing this, feeling like this,’ she whispered breathlessly. ‘But I can’t help it. You drive me wild.’
Dallas sucked in a breath, trying to curb his desire for her because he knew deep down they shouldn’t be doing this either, but the match had been thrown and the fire was now blazing out of control. He was losing control.
He wanted to slip that sexy dress from her shoulders and kiss his way across her thumping chest, trail his lips across her erect nipples, and then down the suppleness of her stomach, until he reached her sweet pleasure spot. He wanted to feel what she felt like against him, naked flesh against naked flesh, wanted to feel her wrapped around him in the grip of ecstasy when she came. He wanted to hear her moan as he slipped deep inside of her, feel her muscles tense around him, feel her quiver as they moved their hips in unison, feel her fingernails rake down his back and then catch her when she fell hard into the land of sexual ecstasy with him. Then lay with her in his arms for a lifetime.
He just wanted so damn much from her, wanted to give her so much pleasure, wanted to discover everything there was to know about her.
‘I know it’s wrong, but this just feels so damn right.’ He exhaled the words as he ran his hands up the silky soft flesh of her thighs. ‘You feel so damn right.’
Her eyes flew open with his words and in the depths of green he saw the same passion he was feeling, the same longing and hunger, and something else that was teetering on the verge of love. But there was also reluctance there, and confusion, and fear, and he knew no matter how much he wanted her, he couldn’t have her. Not like this, and not here. He couldn’t take advantage of her when she was feeling such a mixture of emotions. He didn’t want to be the man she regretted sleeping with because she was a married woman. If they were ever to make love, it would have to be when she felt free to do so. And that might be never. He was well aware of that.
Never was a long time when you craved something so delicious, so beautiful, so enthralling. But he would withstand the longing. He just had to. He dropped his hand from where it rested on her cheek.
Sensing his hesitation, Charlize seemed to snap back to reality, her body now tense instead of soft and yielding. ‘I’m so sorry. We can’t do this.’ She dropped her arms from around his neck, and her legs from around his waist. She sniffled as her eyes filled with tears. ‘I want to, but I just can’t. Just because Alistair did this to me, doesn’t mean I should do it to him.’
Dallas nodded. This woman was beyond amazing. She was strong, and funny, and smart, and kind-hearted, and enrapturing, and virtuous—and he loved her.
He placed both his hands on her cheeks and wiped the tears away from her eyes with his thumbs. ‘Please don’t cry. It breaks my heart to see you upset.’ Gently, he turned her face so she was gazing into his eyes. ‘I understand. And as much as I wish it wasn’t this way, you’re right. You need to tie up the loose ends of your marriage.’ He leant in and placed a kiss against her forehead, lingering there for a little longer than necessary. He didn’t want this to end, but it had to. Stepping back, he took her hand in his, and then pointed up to the sparkling country night sky. ‘Do you want to go and lay on my bonnet for a while and we can figure out the constellations together?’
‘You know the constellations?’
‘Nope, but the app on my phone does.’ He grabbed his iPhone from his pocket and held it up to the sky. The screen burst to life with glittering shapes, the names of the constellations in view written on the screen.’
She smiled through her tears. ‘Wow, that’s really cool.’
‘I got a blanket to make it cosier.’
Concern flashed across her pretty features.
He held up his hands. ‘No hanky panky, I promise. Just good company and peace and quiet.’
Charlize exhaled loudly as if she’d been holding her breath. ‘Sounds perfect.’
CHAPTER
25
Hangovers sucked. Big time. Getting home at four-thirty in the morning hadn’t helped matters much either. The hum of life outside, sounds that usually made Charlize want to get stuck into the day —birds chirping, cattle bellowing, Levi barking and the four-wheel motorbike tearing past the house and then skidding to a stop—were now all too much.
Groaning, she pulled the doona up and over her head. She wished she could stay in bed and sleep the day away, not only because she was exhausted, but also because she didn’t know how she could face Dallas after what happened last night. But her belly was rumbling as if she hadn’t eaten for a month—a trip to the kitchen was in order. How was Dallas going to be around her? Would he act like nothing had happened? Should she act like nothing had happened? It was so wrong of her to become romantically involved with him, not only because she was still a married woman, but because he was the subject of her article—it was very unprofessional of her. She sucked in a breath and then blew it away. There was only one way to find out.
It took every bit of effort to peel open her heavy eyelids. And when she did, the smashing inside her head became more forceful. Very slowly she sat up and rubbed her throbbing temples. As well as food, she needed painkillers, and fast. Climbing out of bed, she stumbled into her slippers, tugged on her robe and made her way to the bedroom door, not caring how bad her bed hair looked.
Walking into the kitchen she was met with two sets of eyes that looked as tired as she felt. Her belly flipped with the sight of Dallas. ‘Morning,’ she mumbled.
‘Morning, love,’ Kath replied with a smile.
‘Morning, Char, looks like you had a bit of a rough night.’ Dallas gave her a cheeky grin as he eyed her wild hair.
How could he look so damn good after a big night was beyond her. Charlize grimaced as she tried to pat her chaotic curls into some sort of order, Dallas’s lingering gaze making her heart skittish. ‘You could say something like that.’ She looked to the clock above the oven. ‘Holy crap, it’s almost lunchtime.’
‘Yup, you’re lucky you can sleep in. As usual I’ve been up since sparrow’s fart. Damn body clock won’t let me sleep past six.’ His eyes locked onto Charlize’s and stayed there.
Charlize felt her body engulfed with heat. She looked away before her legs gave way beneath her.
Seemingly oblivious to the sparks, Kath sighed as she leant forwards and rested her chin on her forearms. ‘Tell me about it. I lay there for almost two hours trying to go back to sleep but just ended up getting annoyed that I couldn’t. So up I got, and I’ve been wandering around the house aimlessly ever since.’
Flicking on the kettle, Charlize leant against the kitchen bench as she waited for it to boil. ‘Do you have any ibuprofen handy, Kath? My head feels like it’s going to explode.’
‘Sure do, love.’ Katherine reached into her robe pocket and pulled out a s
leeve of tablets. She handed them to Charlize who downed a couple with a glass of water in five seconds flat. ‘Even Dad’s a little under the weather, which isn’t like him at all. Bruce is over with him at the cottage, by the way.’
‘Oh cool,’ was all Charlize could choke out. Dallas’s presence seemed to be making her giddy, or was it because she was so dehydrated?
‘It was good to see Gramps having so much fun last night,’ Dallas said between sips from his black coffee.
‘It was the happiest I’ve seen him in ages. I felt like a teenager again, clambering through the door at some ungodly hour.’ Katherine smiled dreamily. ‘Boy oh boy, it was a ripper of a night, wasn’t it?’
‘Uh-huh,’ Charlize and Dallas said in unison as they now looked anywhere but at each other, both of them suddenly appearing guilty as ever.
‘Okay then.’ Katherine eyed them both curiously over the table, a cheeky smile on her lips. But she said nothing more—her look saying it all.
With heat rising on her cheeks, Charlize tried to think of something, anything, to say. But thankfully, Dallas beat her to it.
‘So what are we sorry lot going to do for the rest for the day, because I sure ain’t going to be doing any more work. Just checking the fences made me want to pass out.’ All this was said a little too loudly.
‘I reckon we have ourselves a movie afternoon,’ Kath said, grinning.
Dallas nodded. ‘You might be onto something there, Mum. Should we grab Gramps too?’
‘Why not? As long as we watch westerns or comedies, he’ll be up for it I’m guessing.’ Katherine turned to Charlize. ‘You in?’
‘With bells on. I love the sound of a lazy afternoon in front of the telly. To be honest I don’t think I’m capable of anything else right now.’
Katherine clapped her hands. ‘Excellent. I’ll go get Gramps. You two set the lounge room up and pick some movies.’
Dallas gave her the thumbs-up. ‘Deal.’
With Katherine vanishing out the back door, the mood of the room intensified tenfold. Not knowing what to say, or do, Charlize spun around and busied herself making a cup of tea, until a pair of strong hands came to rest on her hips. She sucked in a breath as Dallas turned her around.