by Imani King
Finally, my body began to relax. My senses began to return. Dylan slowly brought his mouth away from me, and I looked down at him. His dark hair was messy, and his lips glistened with my juices.
“That was...” I shook my head and laughed. “I can barely speak right now. I think you short-circuited my brain.”
“What can I say? You inspire me.” He moved himself up my body until his lips met mine, and I kissed him hungrily, tasting my desire on his tongue. I wanted more. I wanted so much more.
“I want to make you feel good too,” I whispered, pulling my mouth away from his. I reached down to undo his belt buckle, but he grabbed my hand.
“Later,” Dylan said, giving me that sly smile of his. “We have plenty of time. Tonight’s just about you.”
We fell asleep together, our limbs wrapped tight around each other, and I don’t think I’d ever slept so sound in my entire life. In Dylan’s arms, I felt safe. I felt happy. I felt like I belonged.
Chapter Fourteen
Dylan
I’ve woken up next to a lot of different women in my life, and not all of them look so great first thing in the morning. But Maya looked like a fucking goddess. I mean, her perfect brown skin practically glowed in the morning light. Her mascara was lightly smudged, giving her eyes a hot as fuck sultriness, and her messy hair looked deliciously naughty. I nuzzled into her neck and took in her scent and I heard her make a little moaning, cooing sound, which made me remember the noises she’d made the night before when I’d made her come with my mouth. I could’ve laid in bed with her all day, running my hands over her curves and making her come over and over again.
My cock stirred at the thought of my mouth between Maya’s legs again. I wanted her, bad, but I knew I needed to respect her boundaries. She needed time. She needed to trust me. I could tell that sex wasn’t something she just rushed into. For her, it needed to be special.
I’d never cared about sex being special before. In the past, it was just a thing I did. And I knew I was damn good at it. I could make women scream with pleasure. I could fuck them until they forgot their own name. But were any of those times special? Nope. Not a one. But with Maya, I wanted it to be special too.
This woman was doing a serious number on me, and I liked it.
Maya wrapped her leg around me and mumbled into my chest. “I should probably go. Tracy’s going to be worried about me. I had a... I had a really nice time, though.”
“I hope it was more than just nice,” I teased, wrapping a coil of her hair around my finger.
“It was amazing,” she sighed. I loved the sound of that sigh. And I didn’t want her to go. I wanted to have more time with her alone to explore that amazing body of hers. Then an idea flashed in my mind.
“Go on a trip with me for tonight’s date. One night only. To Eastern Pennsylvania.”
“What’s in Eastern Pennsylvania?” she asked.
“My country house,” I told her.
“You have another house?” She seemed surprised. I knew my wealth was strange to her, and I never knew how much I should mention it. I didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable, or to feel like I was flaunting my privilege, but hell, I was wealthy. I couldn’t exactly hide it.
“I do.” I decided not to mention that I also owned places in Texas, Colorado, Malibu and Hawaii. “I’ll think you’ll love it there, Maya. It’s only missing one thing.”
“What?” She looked at me with her big brown eyes and smiled.
“You.”
Chapter Fifteen
Maya
Dylan told me to meet him by the Chelsea Piers, and sent a car later in the day to pick me up. Tracy was still at work when I left, and she sent me a frantic text demanding to know all the details about the night before. I told her we’d have a proper girl talk later, when I got back from Pennsylvania.
I wasn’t sure why we were going to the piers to go to Pennsylvania – I mean, you couldn’t take a boat there. But when I arrived, I realized that going to the piers had nothing to do with boats. I was about to fly in a helicopter.
Dylan was waiting for me on the heli-pad, and seeing him standing in front of that huge beast of a flying machine made my heart jump up in my throat. “We’re flying in that thing?” I squealed.
Dylan took my overnight bag and threw it in the back. “It’s perfectly safe, Maya. I promise.”
“Yeah, famous last words,” I told him. My legs felt like jelly as I climbed in and took a seat in the cockpit, or whatever the heck you call the inside of a helicopter. Dylan buckled me securely in, then planted a kiss on my cheek before hopping in. “Wait,” I said, my voice shaky. “You’re flying it? Don’t we need a pilot or something?”
“I am a pilot,” he said. Oh, of course he was. “Now put on your headset. It’s about to get really loud.”
“Aye aye, captain,” I said, trying to calm my nerves with a dumb joke. He asked me if I was ready, and I gave him a reluctant thumbs-up. Then the next thing I knew, those giant propellers started spinning, and we were in the air, hovering over the Hudson River.
My stomach lurched as the helicopter banked to the right and shot up into the sky, and for just a minute, I thought I was going to be sick. But then Dylan leveled out the helicopter, and the ride actually started to feel smooth. And I had to admit, the view was pretty damn awesome.
We cruised over the river and into New Jersey, then headed west, the sun a bright flaming ball of orange in the distance. I looked over at Dylan, who was manning that helicopter like a fucking boss, and I felt a big cheesy grin slide over my face. I mean, this guy was cool. And sexy. And sweet. He was everything I could’ve wanted in a man.
“This is incredible,” I yelled into the headset microphone as I looked down over the hills of Pennsylvania. “I didn’t think I’d enjoy riding in a helicopter, but I really like it. Thanks for taking me, Dylan.”
My headset crackled, then I heard Dylan speak. “Anything for my girl,” he said.
His girl. Was I his girl? I supposed I was. It felt like it had happened so naturally, like it was just meant to be. Yes, I had resisted at first. I’d resisted hard. But Dylan had won me over quicker than I could’ve ever imagined.
Chapter Sixteen
Dylan
I took a chance, calling her my girl. I didn’t know if she’d scold me, tell me I was moving too fast, that she wasn’t my girl, not yet. But out of the corner of my eye I caught a big smile spread across Maya’s face. She wanted me, just as much as I wanted her. I knew it.
The ride to my cabin didn’t take long, and in no time I had Maya safe on the ground in Pennsylvania. She still looked a little green around the gills, as my old man would say, from her first helicopter ride, but she assured me she’d enjoyed it.
I carried her bag and escorted her inside. “Hot tea?” I asked.
“Please,” she said, rubbing her cold hands together in front of the crackling fireplace. Then I saw a puzzled expression cross over her face. “Wait, how is there already a fire going?”
“I have a caretaker who looks after this place for me. I called him earlier and asked him to come out and get the place ready for us,” I explained. I put a kettle of water on the stove and joined Maya in front of the fire.
“There are just no bumps in your life,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s like everything just falls into place for you.”
“There have been plenty of bumps in my life, Maya. Just because I have money doesn’t mean I don’t have problems.”
“You’re right,” she said. “There I go being blunt again. That was rude of me. I didn’t mean to suggest that your life was perfect. It’s just hard for me to understand the way you live. I’ve never experienced it. I mean, houses, helicopters, castles, fires that you don’t even have to start yourself...”
I looked at Maya, the firelight bouncing off her smooth skin, and pulled her to me. I knew that we were from different worlds, and I knew that it made her feel strange. Hell, it made me feel strange too sometimes. Falling for a pre
school teacher was definitely out of left field for me. But as different as we may have appeared to the outside world, when I held her in my arms, we didn’t feel different.
“That’s all just stuff,” I said. “And stuff isn’t what life is about. Stuff can’t make you happy. People are what makes you happy. And you, Maya Hamilton, make me very happy.”
Maya smiled, then parted her lips to speak. But before she could get a word out, I clasped my lips over hers. My cock stirred at the very first taste of her tongue, and I pulled her closer to me. As I kissed her, I ran my palm down the sexy curve of her hip, then followed the curve around to her delicious ass. I squeezed it tight as Maya sighed into my mouth. I’d wanted to touch that beautiful ass of hers since the second she slid into my helicopter that afternoon. But before I’d had a chance to fully enjoy my much-needed handful of Maya Hamilton, the tea kettle on the stove started to whistle.
“Damnit,” I murmured into her mouth.
Maya pulled away and gave me a naughty smile. “Saved by the bell,” she said.
“Remember where we left off,” I said, pointing my finger at her. “We’re coming back to that later.” Then I shuffled into the kitchen to get the screaming kettle, my cock painfully straining against my jeans.
Chapter Seventeen
Maya
Somehow, I’d expected a billionaire’s “country house” to be a bit more ostentatious. I figured it would be a palatial estate with more rooms than you could shake a stick at, and everything would be covered in gold or something. But Dylan’s cabin was unassuming and cozy. It was big, yes, and I didn’t know how many acres of land he had, but it was enough to not be able to see a single house in the distance.
I stood on the front porch, looking out at the snow-covered landscape in front of me. This was some real winter wonderland stuff, straight out of a postcard. I heard the floorboards creak and turned to see Dylan walking across the porch toward me holding two steaming hot mugs of tea. I took a mug from him and wrapped my fingers around it, letting the heat warm my hands.
“So, what’s on the agenda today?” I asked.
“I was hoping we could return to our activities in front of the fireplace,” Dylan said.
“In due time,” I told him. “But it’s so beautiful outside, I feel like we should take advantage of this winter wonderland. I don’t know, make snow angels or something.”
“You wanna go sledding?” Dylan’s eyes lit up with excitement. I, on the other hand, was more than a little hesitant. I told him I’d never gone sledding before, and his mouth dropped open. “Really? Never?”
“I’m a city girl, Dylan. I don’t sled.” I cut my eyes at him.
“Well, you’re not in the city anymore. Come on, it’ll be fun.” The thought of speeding down a hill in some rickety old sled made me a little nervous, but it was hard to say no to Dylan when he flashed that billion dollar smile at me. He ran off around the side of the house and came back a few moments later with a sled under each arm. I sucked up my fears and followed him out across the snowy lawn, my boots sinking into the fresh snow.
“I’m not going to get hurt, am I?” I held my sled in front of my body and stared down the hill.
“Only if you hit a tree,” Dylan said. “It happened to one of my brothers once, when we were kids. He broke his leg. Sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned that.”
“You’re not exactly filling me with confidence here, Dylan.” I tossed the sled down and looked at it like it was a poisonous snake.
“You’ll be fine, I promise. Look, there are no trees anywhere near this hill. If you crash, you’ll just crash in soft snow.” He put his arms around me gently, trying to calm my nerves. “You were a little scared of that helicopter, but you ended up enjoying that, right?”
I had to admit, he was right. What was this guy doing to me, getting me to take these chances? Helicopter rides? Sledding? “Ok,” I said. “Let’s do this. I trust you.”
“What was that? I didn’t quite hear you.” Dylan bit his lip and grinned.
“I said I trust you.”
“Did you hear that, Pennsylvania?” Dylan cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted at the top of his lungs. “Maya Hamilton finally trusts me!” His voice echoed in the crisp winter air.
“Very funny,” I said, giving him a playful shove on the arm. “Now let’s sled.”
Dylan gave me a quick primer on the basic sledding do’s and don’ts, then helped ease me into the contraption. I felt my heartbeat quicken, but I was surprised to find that I wasn’t so much scared, I was excited. “Ready?” Dylan asked. I nodded and gave him a thumbs-up, and right before he pushed my sled down the hill, he leaned down and planted a huge kiss on my lips.
Then the next thing I knew I was zipping down the hill, cold air hitting me in the face. I went way faster than I’d imagined, and it was totally freaking thrilling. I yelped and hollered like a fool as I sped down the hill, the sled kicking up sprays of powdery snow all around me. When I reached the bottom the sled skidded to a stop and I tumbled out, laughing like a maniac. I turned my head and saw Dylan speeding toward me in his own sled, and in an instant he was tumbling into the snow next to me.
“Ok, I admit it, that was really fun,” I said, rolling over and giving Dylan an out-of-breath kiss. “Can we do it again?”
We sledded down the hill a few more times, then we had a snowball fight like a couple of cheesy teenagers, lobbing globs of snow at each other until our faces felt numb and frozen. I loved seeing that side of Dylan—the fun, playful side. I liked that he could be drop dead sexy in a suit one minute, and goofy and fun the next minute. He’d make an excellent father, I thought to myself. He was so confident and so sure of himself that he wasn’t afraid to act like a dork. I could imagine him getting in snowball fights with our kids and building snowmen.
Our kids. The thought had come so naturally to me that it took me a moment to register it. Somehow, this man had broken through my barriers and had me fantasizing about our future children. And I didn’t feel scared of the thoughts. They felt, in a word, right.
Eventually we got too cold and came back inside. While I warmed myself by the fire, I heard Dylan clanking around in the kitchen. “What are you doing in there?” I called out.
“I’m making you dinner,” he said.
“Seriously?”
“You don’t have to sound so surprised.” Dylan brought me another cup of tea and planted a kiss on my cheek. “I love to cook. So you just sit here and get warm. I’ll have dinner ready soon.”
So Dylan Corbett cooked. And flew helicopters. And gave great orgasms. Was there anything this man couldn’t do?
Damn, but that dinner he made was good. He made breaded veal medallions over linguine with a lemon, butter and wine sauce. I was so hungry after our sledding and snowball fight that I sopped up every single drop of that delicious sauce with pieces of fresh French bread. We both had extra helpings, then after dinner we snuggled together on the couch in front of the fireplace.
We talked until late into the night. He told me more about his family and I told him more about mine. We talked about our childhood. We talked about our first kisses, our first crushes, our first heartbreaks. We talked about anything and everything, and the conversation came easy, just like it always seemed to. The fire crackled and burned in front of us, and every so often Dylan would get up to put another log on. And every time he returned, he’d kiss me again. Each time he got up and came back, the kisses would get deeper and longer, until eventually we were doing way more kissing than talking.
“I’m not going to try to have sex with you tonight,” he said, pulling his mouth away from mine. “I don’t want you to think that’s why I brought you here.”
“I don’t think that, Dylan.” I reached up and ran my finger over his dark brow as his green eyes cut into me.
“I’ll wait as long as it takes. But right now, I just want to enjoy you.” He slid his hand under my shirt and moved his palm up over my breast. “I
want to enjoy this. I just want to feel your body next to mine. I don’t understand what it is you do to me, Maya.” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “You destroy me.”
“I don’t want to destroy you, Dylan.”
“No, I want you to.” He brushed a stray hair from my forehead, then leaned down and kissed me gently on the lips. “I didn’t like who I was before I met you. I was a pig. But you make me want to be better. You make me want to earn you. Earn your trust. Earn your...” He stopped short. Was he about to say love?
We looked into each other’s eyes, and I could feel that there was so much we both wanted to say. But how to say it? Telling someone you loved them seemed easy in theory, but in reality it felt like jumping off a cliff. I squeezed Dylan’s hands, feeling their strength, their power, and I felt that same pull that I always felt when I looked into his eyes. He moved an inch closer to my mouth, then another inch, then another. My heart fluttered and I felt a hot flush rise up on my neck.