“I wasn't always asleep in my hospital bed, and I have excellent listenin' skills.”
“What about off-hand weapon skills?” she tossed at him.
“That too,” he agreed with a slight nod.
She sighed. “Fine. I already declined. He gave me a hard time about it, and I was sure I'd done the right thing.”
“Then why?” he asked.
She stood. She needed distance between them before she said this. “There's a pull between us, and I don't know what to do with it.”
He carefully moved to stretch his legs out on the couch fully, propping his body in the corner. “You know my answer,” he finally said.
He'd said he wasn't looking for casual, but what else was there? “After you're healed, you'll go home.”
“Cassie, I live less than an hour away. You know this, you've been there. Twice.”
“I'm not built for relationships,” she whispered, turning to face the window. “I get too caught up in my work, ignore my partner. Before I know it, he's cheating and I barely care because I wasn't really invested anyway.”
“I don't cheat,” he stated plainly, the authority of his declaration ringing true. A few beats passed with no words spoken before he asked, “If you don't do casual, and you don't do relationships, what do you do, Cassie?”
Good question. What did she do? Finally, she answered him, telling the unvarnished and unhappy truth. “Nothing.”
“Come here,” he commanded gently.
“I'm afraid to come over there,” she admitted. If she went over there, it meant she accepted whatever was between them, conceding defeat, her body winning over her head. She stayed where she was.
“Just come here. I won't hurt you.” He blew out a breath and she knew she was frustrating the hell out of him. She stifled her own sigh; she was frustrating herself, too. Maybe he was different, maybe he was worth fighting for, but she wouldn't know until she took a chance. “Promise?”
He held out his left hand. “I will do my absolute best never to hurt you.”
She'd never had anyone promise that. She took the few steps to grasp his hand in hers. “Thank you.”
“Now, let's watch the movie,” he said as he pulled her into his lap.
She was sitting on his hard thighs, the heat of him seeping through her jeans, his spicy scent filling her nose, and he nonchalantly spoke about a movie that had completely slipped her mind. “What?”
“Aren't we supposed to be watchin' a movie?”
He wasn't even going to try anything? She wasn't sure if she was insulted or elated, so she went with ignoring it. “Let's watch the movie, then.”
~*~
Sunlight poured through the window the following morning, piercing Dylan's eyelids. Normally he would be out running before the sun was up like this, but that was before. This morning was interesting because there was a soft, beautiful woman across his lap, her head pillowed against his chest, her hand dangerously close to his morning wood. “Cassie, honey, you need to move,” he whispered against her ear. She moved, but not how he'd meant. Now she was practically straddling him, and while his brain was telling him to be a gentleman, his body had other plans. He felt her come awake and held his breath, his heart beating wildly in his chest.
“Dylan?” she questioned very quietly.
He clenched his jaw and left fist. He'd promised not to hurt her, and not to rush things. “I'm going to stay still while you climb off,” he instructed.
“What if I want to stay where I am?”
“Don't mess with me, woman. If you don't climb down right now, I am not responsible for my actions,” he warned.
She was moving, but not to get off. He held back a laugh at his thought. Getting off was exactly her aim, rubbing her mound against the hard ridge of his cock. He'd never wanted to be inside a woman more than he did right now, but he let her take the lead. He would be patient if it killed him.
She shifted her hips, curling her right hand over his left shoulder as she increased the pace, her breath coming in fast pants. It didn't take long before she arched her back, her breasts pointing skyward when she broke, his name on her lips.
Her chocolate eyes were still full of lust, but something else showed in them as well. She swallowed. “Are you okay?”
“I'm fine, Cassie,” he gritted. He was hurting—all over—but he'd suffer through it again and again to see the bliss on her face when she'd shattered. He would be fine, eventually. He closed his eyes. He needed to bury himself inside her, make love to her, but was ceding her control even if it killed him.
She tilted her head, and he knew she had not only caught his lie, but the real meaning behind it. “I can help with that,” she promised as she made her way off his lap.
He didn't doubt that for a minute, but he still managed to say, “You don't have to.”
“Oh, but I want to,” she promised as she perched herself on the coffee table.
“Are you sure, Cassie?” he asked. Her face went from sex kitten to Doubting Thomas in a flash, a line forming between her brows, and he knew her mind had taken her out of the moment. He shot her a look. “You think too much, Cassie.”
“And you think too little.” She stalked away from him. “Who jumps in front of bullets?”
They were having this conversation now? “I'm glad I did.”
She tossed her hands up. “I know. I am too, but that's not the point. I'm glad you saved my brother, but it wasn't the smartest thing to do.”
Now she was questioning his intelligence? Not two minutes ago, she'd been ready to suck him off, and now she was calling him an idiot? “So, if I were smart, I'd stay locked up in a house somewhere?” He shifted in his seat. “I did what was necessary to save your brother.” He pinned her with a glare. “I'd do it again in a heartbeat.”
“I know. You'd also do it for a stranger.” She spun away from him, her hair swinging behind her. “We're different, Dylan.”
Why was that a problem? “I like different.”
She turned around and made her way to him, her expression once again seductive, belying nothing of her earlier outburst. “Different,” she said again as she arranged herself between the coffee table and the couch. Eying the thick erection encased in his jeans, she whispered, “I don't want to talk anymore.”
He swore under his breath. They were having an important conversation but she wanted to stop to attend to his aching cock. Worst part of it was he was going to let her. “We'll talk later,” he promised with as stern a look as was possible when a woman was unzipping a man's pants.
“Wow,” she murmured before taking him into her mouth slowly. She worked him with her tongue, her small whimper when he wove his fingers in her hair making him impossibly harder. She moved up and down his thick shaft as she held herself up with one hand, the other finding its way into her panties, teasing them both to near oblivion before he was able to say, “Enough.”
She pulled her mouth from him, her right hand still inside her jeans. God, he wanted them in his mouth, he wanted her in his mouth. He tugged her fingers free and slid them between his lips, barely suppressing a groan as he sucked the tangy essence from her hand. “Let me,” he asked.
She pulled her hand from his, her full lips twisting into a small frown. “It's a little late to ask this, but please tell me you're clean.”
For once in his life, it had slipped his mind. “Of course.”
She stripped out of her jeans and panties, her t-shirt coming off quickly as well. “Good. I am too, and I'm protected,” she promised as she straddled him again.
He wanted to feast on her, but she had other plans. She wasted no time impaling herself, her dark eyes widening and her breath coming out in a hiss as she adjusted to take his full length, and he hoped the stretch was only slightly uncomfortable. God, she felt amazing wrapped around him, hot and slick and just as tight as he'd imagined, it was all he could do not to just shift his hips and slam into her.
“Dylan?”
H
e cupped her face with his left hand. “You're driving, darlin',” he told her before he kissed her again, taking possession of her mouth as easily as she had his cock.
He appreciated that she was mindful of his still-healing wounds and bound arm as she rose and fell on the hard length of him. She took him deep with every down stroke, her left hand toying with herself as she rode him hard, her mouth barely leaving his as she worked herself into a frenzy. He felt his climax coming and clenched the hand on her hip. He wasn't about to blow before he felt her lose control, and drove himself into her furiously. His side and back protested, his arm was pinned between them and the couch and was falling asleep, but nothing mattered except for the woman riding him like a bronco. She let out a scream when her muscles clamped him tightly, milking him, and he finally let himself come, pouring himself into her.
He'd just been ridden hard by Cassidy, his name a barely discernible scream on her lips, and although he didn't regret it emotionally, his body was wracked with pain. “Cassie,” he rasped. “Darlin', that was some of the most explosive lovin' I've ever had, but I need...” his voice faded away and black spots floated in his vision. Damn, he wanted to see her, too, her luscious body bathed in sunlight. She was still above him, he was still inside her, but something was horribly wrong.
Chapter Three
“What happened?” Doctor Caleb Everett questioned his sister, his dark eyes assessing his patient.
Good question. Just last night she had vowed to stay away from him, and this morning she had thoroughly fucked Dylan, resulting in his current unconscious state. Just what had come over her? She gave herself a mental kick. She knew exactly what had come over her—lust. She'd wanted the man since she saw him lying in a hospital bed after putting his life on the line for a stranger. The fact that he had turned out to be even sexier than her fantasies had made him irresistible. Dammit. The rash decision to give in, to live the fantasy just for a moment had hurt him. She needed to stay away, to listen to her rational self and not the romantic one who had taken control.
She felt her brother's stare and shifted on her feet. It was one thing to have amazing sex with a still-healing man, another to hurt him in the process, but to tell her brother? She swallowed. “We...um... and now he's...”
Caleb turned his gaze to his sister, one dark eyebrow raised. “It's like that, is it?”
Oh, God. It was so like that. It shouldn't have been, and she was trying to regret the mind-blowing sex that had made Dylan pass out cold. She'd hurt him, and now her brother was there with his eyebrows practically in his hair. She managed a nod. “Uh-huh.”
Caleb finished his initial examination of his patient, stifling a chuckle in the process.
“You've worn him out, dear sis. It doesn't look like he's been taking his pain meds, and it's very likely you just overwhelmed his system, with the,” he paused, a knowing smile on his lips,“exertion.”
She pulled in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. She needed to stop being embarrassed and suck it up. She coughed. Sucking was something she had done just this morning. Maybe if she'd stopped there, they wouldn't be here right now. What if she'd made his recovery longer? “I didn't set him back did I? He's going crazy cooped up with only one working arm.”
“I think rest is what he needs.” He pinned her with a chastising look. “No more fun and games for a while, either.”
She was seriously having this conversation with her younger brother. She knew he was a doctor, and that was all fine and dandy, but he was still her baby brother. She squared her shoulders and ignored her embarrassment as well as she could, giving him a nod. “Noted.”
~*~
“Can a person go crazy with boredom?” Dylan asked aloud to no one. Cassidy had been called into court, and she wanted him to stay in bed—a frilly, girlie bed she refused to share with him. She didn't want to wear him out again. Dammit. He hauled himself out of the lacy bed covers and made his way to the bathroom. Cassie didn't want him to shower while in the house alone, didn't want him to be alone, period, but she had work to do—good work—and he wasn't an invalid. Yes, he had passed out after lovemaking, but that was almost two weeks ago now, and he was much stronger now than he had been even then.
He was more worried about her than himself, but she promised to stay close to Easton. The pretty boy might not offer much in the way of protection, but he was better than nothing. She made a good point that the courthouse was both adjacent to the Aylesford PD and populated with bailiffs and other officers, but he was still uncomfortable. Cars weren't blown up for no reason, and prosecutors were targeted regularly. While she was sure someone had it out for him, he knew that wasn't the case.
After his shower he would pull up what he could on her past cases, try and piece something together. He wished she would just hand him the files, or make him a list, but she was so convinced he was the intended target she hadn't been forthcoming, deflecting and side-stepping whenever he brought it up
Tonight was her brother's wedding, and Mason had asked him to stand up beside him with Caleb, and he was determined to do just that. Aside from the sling he'd wear over his tuxedo, he refused to look like a man who couldn't take care of himself, or his woman. He shook his head. Just when had he decided Cassidy was his woman? He stared at himself in the mirror. Not only that, but his beard made him look like he spent his time felling trees. He'd have to have Cassie run him by for a haircut and a trim before the wedding. Lumberjacks and tuxedos didn't mix. He shook his head at himself. He might not be looking forward to spending hours in a monkey suit, but if it got Cassie back in his arms, or arm at least, it would be worth it.
~*~
“Cassidy, if you look at the clock one more time, you're going to give yourself whiplash,” Rochelle said with a laugh.
She forced herself to laugh along with her right-hand woman. “I know, I just have to leave today by four.”
“I understand. James and I were invited.” She looked at the clock herself. “It's only two. Let's hammer out this plea agreement and call it a day. James is supposed to make sure Felicia and Jordan are ready to go to his parents, but I don't have a lot of faith in that man's child wrangling skills right now.”
“Tough time?”
“Felicia is fourteen, Jordan is eleven. Do I really need to explain more?”
She laughed. “Nope. I remember Cam when she was in high school. That girl made us all crazy.”
“Exactly.” She rubbed her hands together. “I love James, but he's ready to murder her most days. I don't know what I'm going to do with them.”
“It'll work out. It always does.”
“What's this about refusing police protection?” Rochelle asked, the abrupt subject change jarring Cassidy.
“That was nearly two weeks ago,” she answered with a shrug. “Dylan is staying with me, and although Blue is now in the great junkyard in the sky, nothing else has happened.”
Rochelle smirked at the younger woman. “Nothing has happened, huh?”
“Is it that obvious?” She wasn't supposed to be an easy read, but the two of them had worked together for a long time now. She was surprised when the other woman broke into great gales of laughter.
“No, Cass, it isn't that obvious, but you're normally much more guarded.” She grabbed Cassidy's hands in her own then, pulling her around to face her fully. “You haven't let yourself open up to a man since Adam, and I'm happy to see you are finally letting your walls down.”
She jerked her hands from her friend's grasp. “Dylan's nothing like Adam. He'd never cheat.” She bit her lip. “I mean, it's not like that. He's just here to heal, and then he goes back home.”
“And home is where, exactly?”
“Outside Aylesford.”
“So, forty minutes from you?”
“When you put it like that...” she trailed off, not sure where she was going with the thought.
Rochelle shot her a scathing look. “Cassidy Everett, I have never known you to be a coward.”
With a sigh, Rochelle sat back down at her desk. “Fine, but ignoring the problem never makes it go away.”
“I'm ignoring you anyway.”
“Me, you can ignore. Six and half feet of muscled white man at your house? Honey, you can't ignore that.”
“I can sure try.”
~*~
Dylan sucked in a breath. Cassidy looked amazing in a dress the color of the walls in his room, her hair piled atop her head. “You look good enough to eat.”
“You clean up well, yourself,” she replied with a smile. Her voice was husky, lusty, and he shot a thank you heavenward. Maybe she wasn't going to ignore the heat between them tonight.
If they didn't have to be at her parent's house in half an hour, she'd find herself tossed on a bed, his arm be damned. “You okay driving the Bronco?”
“I've been driving it all week,” she replied with a tight smile. She bent to slide her feet into high-heeled sandals and let out a sigh. “We need to buy a new car.”
He was distracted by her amazing backside covered by soft fabric and almost missed her use of “we”. Instead of pointing it out, he merely used her words, “What should we buy?”
“I loved Blue, so I might just replace her.”
“You do whatever makes you happy, darlin'. I'll be able to drive soon.”
She turned, her smile bright. “I hope so.”
“Tired of chauffeuring me around?”
“I know you hate being confined.”
She was right, but he didn't want to travel this road of conversation. “We're gonna be late, darlin'.”
~*~
“Can you believe Mason picked out these dresses?” Camryn Everett exclaimed when she saw her older sister.
Cassidy ran a hand down the celery colored chiffon dress held up by one floral strap over her left shoulder. Her bubbly baby sister was dressed to match, her auburn hair twisted into an elegant updo. “I helped.”
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