by Amelia James
“So close!” She jerked at his hair, but he corralled the pain and used it to drive his efforts. She’d never been able to withhold anything from him. Once they’d learned how to give her an orgasm, she’d come every time he touched her with his hands or his cock. Is something missing?
He pulled back from her clit to kiss her quivering thighs, soft but insistent. Then he moved to her wet lips, licking in circles while she sighed. His tongue slipped inside her and she gasped. He remained there, fucking her with firm licks until her legs slid from his shoulders and she bumped his head with her knee.
“Stop! Just fuck me.”
Well, damn it. He rose up on his knees and stroked his rigid cock in his fist. “You want this?”
She nodded and reached for him.
“It’s yours. All you have to do is—Whoa!” He gasped as she threw her body into him, knocking him back against a bookshelf.
“Take it.” She climbed on his lap and impaled her hot pussy on his cock.
“Damn right.” He grinned and let her ride him. Her hair spilled into his face as she leaned close to him, angling her hips as she thrust down. He gathered the shiny black spirals in his hands and kissed her. “Oh God, I missed you!”
She swept her fingertips across his cheek. “I missed you too.”
“I missed your breasts.” He bent and mashed his face between them, sneaking his tongue over a stiff peak while he nuzzled the soft, warm mounds.
“I missed your mouth.” She moaned and arched closer.
He caught her nipples in his teeth, and her flesh tightened around him. “I missed your tight pussy.”
“You always treated it right.” She reached behind them and stroked his balls.
Heat shot through his dick to the roots of his hair. “Fuck me! I missed your hands too.” He grabbed her hips and pounded into her.
“I missed your cock.” She grabbed his shoulders, falling on his chest. “You did such sweet and dirty things with it.”
“Do you remember the time…? Fucking hell.” He gasped and clung to the memories as a wave of pleasure rolled over him. “The bonfire after prom. You sat on my lap with your skirt spread over us.” Heat cascaded over his thighs like her skirt had that night.
She ground down on his throbbing cock. “You unzipped your pants.”
“You were wearing a thong.” He’d never seen it, but he’d caressed the flesh it left bare. “So easy to slip inside you.”
“Did anyone know we were fucking?” Simone changed to a rocking motion.
The shift in rhythm fried a few brain cells. “I talked to Micah the next day. He never saw or heard a thing.” Her cousin would’ve given them hell if he’d caught them. “How did you manage to keep quiet?” The woman could get loud when she came.
“How did you?”
He grabbed handfuls of her ass and buried his face in her neck. “Your hair muffled me.”
She moaned as his tongue swirled along her collarbone. “I bit my lip.”
“I remember that now.” He looked up and dragged his thumb over her lower lip. “It was swollen for a couple of days. I couldn’t kiss you.”
A sudden tremor seized her and she rose up on her knees, teasing the tip of his cock while he tried to wrestle her down again. He needed to possess all of her, take her deep and completely.
Dash wrapped his arms around her waist and shifted, lowering her to the floor and rolling on top. He rocked into her, plunging fully into emotions he’d put out of reach, including the fear he’d never been able to hide from her.
“Hold on.” Simone locked her legs behind his ass as he tightened his grip, but then she reached for his hand and laced her fingers with his.
“I’ve got you.” He grabbed her other hand and did the same, crushing her against the floor.
She gasped for breath. “Don’t let go.”
He pushed up on his knees and slid their entwined hands above her head, stretching his body atop hers. Naked, joined, nothing between them—not even the past. “I want this—you.”
She moaned and squeezed his hands while their sweat-sheened bodies slid and stuck. Her pussy clenched and heat flashed over her skin.
His cock stiffened and throbbed. This is gonna be good. “Come with me, darlin’.”
“Daschle Herbert Ryder! Watching your bare ass bounce on top of—good God, our boss!—is not in my job description.” Flynn’s indignant words brought their building climax to a crashing halt.
Are you fucking kidding me? Dash’s brain screamed for him to put his pants on while his cock retreated like a frightened turtle.
“Back away from the bookshelf, Flynn.” Simone issued orders from underneath him as her body turned cold. “Turn around. If you look, I’ll dig your eyes out.”
Dash didn’t even look.
“He’s gone.” She pushed him up and grabbed her jeans.
“Where did he come from?” Dash jerked his pants on and reached for his shirt.
“The cruelest place in hell.” She pulled her shirt on, then jammed her arms into her jacket. “And that’s where I’m gonna send him.” She darted around the bookshelf and yanked the cowering assistant from his hiding place.
“Don’t kill the messenger!” Flynn crossed his arms in front of his face. “Save me.” He flailed as Dash moved behind Simone.
“No, I’m gonna let her deal with you.” Dash cackled with no humor while Simone slammed Flynn against a shelf.
“What message?” She snarled in his face. “Somebody better be bleeding or on fire.”
Flynn cringed. “Really? Don’t you think that’s in poor taste given the circumstances?”
“The message! Or I will make you bleed.” Her grip on his collar tightened like a vice.
“All right!” He pulled free and rubbed his throat. “A lawyer from the governor’s office is on my phone on Skype. He wants to talk to both of you.”
“We’re doomed.” Dash slapped his hand over his face. “This is worse than I could imagine.”
Simone scowled at him. “What’s worse than a lawyer?”
The smooth-talking, mind-fucking specter from their past. “My brother.”
“Mal works for the governor?”
“Lead counsel. We’re fucked.”
“I noticed.” Flynn clapped his hand over his mouth.
Simone’s fingers curled. “Transfer the call to the computer lab and put him on a monitor. I’m not afraid to face that bastard.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Flynn scrambled down the hall.
Simone started toward the door, but Dash pulled her back. Flynn had caught them at the worst possible moment. If he hadn’t walked in, would they have come together? Or at all? “Why couldn’t you come…again?”
“You’re still thinking with your dick?” She tried to pull free, but he held her arms and moved closer.
“My brain isn’t exactly firing on all pistons at the moment.”
She gave up struggling and sighed. “The first time we fucked—the angry sex—I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t stop it. The second time…” She shuddered against him. “Lord have mercy. I wanted to, but I couldn’t get past the obstacles in my head.”
“They’re gone now, aren’t they?” He stroked her cheek.
“Your ex-girlfriend is, but…” She hugged her shoulders and shivered.
He pulled her close again. “What are you afraid of?”
She fiddled with the buttons on his shirt, then pushed back and met his gaze. “Tomorrow. We put the past behind us, but what’s left? Mind-blowing sex…almost. But is that enough?”
“It’s a start.” Could they build on that?
“You haven’t told me that you love me.”
He puzzled over that, recalling his exact words. “I said I loved…” His words trailed off as their meaning became clear.
“Past tense. Now I know how you felt.” She brushed by him and walked out the door.
“I do love you.” But why didn’t he tell her before she left the room?
Flynn had followed her instructions a little too well. Simone walked into the computer lab and came face to larger-than-life face with Mal’s image glowering at her from a fifty-inch monitor on the wall. He’d aged well, but the impish smile and laughing eyes she’d known had been replaced with heavy responsibility and fierce determination.
“Simone Leveque.” His voice exploded across the room, and Flynn scrambled to turn the speakers down. “Not Simon.”
“No, not Simon.” She caught a glimpse of Dash slipping into the room. The big-screen monitor faced the door, looming over rows of computer desks. He moved to stand beside her at the front. Cassie followed seconds later, and sat at a desk behind them next to Flynn.
Mal glanced down and the sound of shuffling documents rustled over the speakers. “Cassandra Storm, Daschle Ryder.”
Dash grumbled.
“And me.” Flynn waved.
Mal’s scathing glance brushed him off like an annoying fly. “Why isn’t this wildfire under control?”
Dash bristled. “Tell the damn governor to send me back out there, and I’ll whip this thing myself.”
Simone laid her hand on his arm and stepped forward. “Unprecedented circumstances have prevented our crew from containing it.”
“Unprecedented?” Mal raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“Hurricane Opal was forecast to make landfall well south of here, but it changed course overnight.”
“And no one noticed?”
Cassie stepped toward the monitor and opened her mouth to speak, but Simone cut her off.
“Ms. Storm warned me that the hurricane would come here, but I relied on the National Weather Service’s forecast. It turned out to be wrong.”
Cassie placed herself in front of Simone. “Simone issued an evacuation order as soon as I gave her the updated warning. She saved a lot of lives.”
Dash and Flynn looked at each other like they’d witnessed a miracle.
Documents shuffled again. Mal’s face darkened. “And yet, the Wilhelm Hotshot Crew lost two firefighters, and the fire department has reported civilian deaths.”
“Civilians too?” Simone turned to Dash as he sank into a chair. His eyes hardened for his brother’s benefit, but fresh grief trembled his lower lip. She sat beside him and slid her arm behind his back, hoping he’d take the comfort she offered, knowing he’d see it as his failure. “I’m so sorry.”
***
Dash leaned against Simone as pain gripped his heart. “I take full responsibility for the loss of my men.” He squeezed her shoulders and from the corner of his eye, saw Cassie cross her arms with a huff.
“Of course you do.” A flicker of a smile twitched Mal’s lips. “Have their families been notified?”
He should’ve done it already, but dealing with the women in his life had occupied all his time. “I haven’t located them yet.”
“Do it, then report back to me with their intentions.” A stone-cold attorney sat in his brother’s place.
“Their intentions?”
“Whether or not they’re going to sue the state. I need time to prepare a defense.” Mal opened a file and picked up a pen.
The death of two good men hadn’t grieved the bastard at all. Dash stood and squared off against his brother. “Is that why you called? To cover your ass?”
“To cover the governor’s ass, specifically.” Mal rolled his eyes. “I suppose I’ll have to defend you two as well.”
Simone stood and slid her hand down Dash’s arm, lacing her fingers with his. “We’ll take care of ourselves.”
Cassie turned her back and stomped down the hall.
Mal’s gaze locked on their entwined hands. “Isn’t that sweet? So you two are finally back together after that stunt I pulled?”
Flynn covered a fake cough with his fist. “Library sex.”
Dash backhanded him. “Get out.”
Flynn scrambled out the door while Mal chuckled.
“What stunt?” Dash stalked toward the monitor.
“Jesus, you haven’t figured that out?”
“Tell us, Mal!” Simone moved to stand beside Dash.
He tossed the pen down and leaned back in his plush leather chair. “I made it all up. Simone never slept with me. I stole her necklace because I thought it would sell the story.” He laced his fingers behind his head as if impressed with his performance. “Wow, I guess it did.”
Dash staggered back a step as the room spun. His throat tightened and blood roared in his ears, heating his face. “I left her because you lied?”
“I expected you guys to kiss and make up. That’s what you did. I never thought your breakup would last.”
“Thirteen years!” I gave up on Simone because Mal lied. “I hated her for thirteen long years because you played a prank?” He is an asshole!
Mal grinned. “Pretty damn good one.”
“Fucking hell! You’re lucky I can’t reach through the screen, or I’d rip your head off and stuff your balls down your throat!” He made a few rapid signs with his hands, including a rude one Simone snorted at. Mal signed back with equal gusto.
Simone grabbed his arm, sinking her fingers into his rigid muscles with fury that matched the fire in her eyes. She glared at Mal. “Why’d you do it?” Her voice rasped.
Mal laughed without the humor he’d enjoyed as a boy. Then his eyes darkened and he snarled at Simone. “Revenge.” A cell phone rang and he pulled it from his pocket. “I need to take this. Have fun making up.”
The screen clicked off, and Dash ripped his arm from Simone’s grasp. “What’s he talking about?”
“Revenge?” She slid her fingers across her forehead, circling the desks as if trying to think. “It’s been so long. I didn’t think anything of it at the time.”
“What did you do?”
“What did I do?” She whirled and advanced on him. “It’s what he did to me!”
He stood his ground. “Quit arguing and tell me!”
“Let me think.” She pressed her fists to her temples, circling again. “It happened months ago.”
“Months?” That recent? Is she lying too? “You’re still seeing him?” His heart pounded and he stalked after her.
“Don’t be stupid!” She stopped in her tracks and collected herself. “I meant it happened months before we split up. We all went swimming at Conifer Lake—you, me, Wyatt, some girl, and Mal. Do you remember that?”
Some girl. Probably Wyatt’s. Why am I focusing on that? “Yeah. Is that when you fucked him?”
“Are you listening at all?” She threw her hands up. “We never had sex!”
Nothing made sense. “Right. Go on.”
She balanced against a desk. “When we got ready to leave, I went to the campground to change. Mal caught me taking off my swimsuit and he made a play for me.”
That’s how he knew about her birthmark! “What did he do exactly?”
“He asked me out and I laughed it off. Then he kissed me and tried to stuff his hand in my bikini bottoms. I told him go to hell and punched him, not very hard. You hadn’t taught me how. I had no idea he’d hold a grudge.”
His brother. His closest friend until he met Simone had molested his girl. And both of them kept it a secret. “Jesus, Simone! Why didn’t you tell me about this? We could’ve avoided all these years apart!”
“I didn’t think it was a big deal!” The desk she’d been leaning on slid back as she jumped up, slamming her feet to the floor.
“What about after he accused you of cheating?” A stray chair tripped him as he stomped after her. “Or didn’t you think that was a big deal?”
“You wouldn’t speak to me! And you sure as hell didn’t listen.” She jabbed her finger in his chest. “If I told you, he’d deny it, and you’d already convicted me.”
He kicked free of the blasted chair, sending it scooting across the room. “He told me he’d seen your birthmark. He described it in detail. The only way he could’ve known was if h
e’d seen you naked.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that?” She made the sign for dumbass. “I could’ve explained it right away.”
Why was I so stupid? “I was so pissed. I couldn’t see straight. Sure, you denied it, but you never said you loved me. Ever. I always had to say it first, and I was never sure how you felt about me.”
“Damn it, Dash! We weren’t keeping score! I loved you from the moment I saw Wyatt making rabbit ears behind your head and I fell down the stairs. I couldn’t put it into fancy words like you did.”
He sank down on a desk. “I needed to hear the words. We knew everything about each other. How could you not know that?”
“I’m sorry. I failed. I was desperate to hear it from my family. I didn’t know you needed it too.” She sat across from him and reached for his knee. “You were always so sure of yourself. I never thought you needed anything.”
He laid his hand over hers. “Only you.”
“And now?”
He stared at their contrasting hands. Easy to tell where she ended and he began, separate and yet bound together until…
“I hated you for…” Damn it, where are my words? “Writing saved me. But knowing that Mal…” He lied. He fucking lied!
And I believed him. The depth of his stupidity left him unable to speak.
She jerked free from his grasp and spun away from him. “Spit the words out! Write them down if you have to, but make up your fucking mind.” She turned to face him, shoving a chair out of her way. “Love me or hate me, damn it! Either way, I win.”
“You win?”
“If you love me, I’ll own your heart. But if you hate me, I’ll own your head.” She raised her chin and squared her shoulders, gloating as if she’d won a gold medal.
He expected her to take a bow. Goddamn it, I love her! Even when he hated her, he loved her. She owned him—heart and soul and everything in between. He rose and applauded. “All right, I’ll surrender my heart and my head.” The clapping ceased and he stalked toward her. “But I’ll own your body. On top of that desk. Bent over that chair. On the floor—again.”