Edge of Bliss (Love on the Edge Book 3)

by Molly E. Lee

  Dash’s arm slid over my hip, gently pulling my back against his bare chest. I sighed, reaching out for him while even half asleep, cradling his head from behind.

  “Where were you?” I asked, the sleep in my voice heavy.

  “John drank too much and spent the last half of the night in the bathroom. Had to take his spot playing pool with Paul. I didn’t mean to wake you,” he whispered, kissing the shell of my ear.

  “Is John okay?” I arched backward when Dash’s hand lightly traced down my side and back up again.

  “Yeah. He’s sleeping it off now. And he didn’t puke in the Tracker Jacker, so, win.”

  I smiled, unable to fully peel my eyes open. Heat flared in my core with Dash’s hands on me, his body behind me, doing nothing to settle me back into sleep.

  He kissed my neck before resting his head on the pillow behind me, holding me to him. “Go back to sleep, woman. I’ll be here for you in the morning.”

  The air went out of my lungs at his clear avoidance of what I wanted to do with him. The battle that had followed me into sleep returned to rage in my head, but I forced it from my mind. I focused instead on the way he felt behind me, so strong and warm and mine. I repeated that over and over in my mind until finally, sleep reclaimed me.

  Dozens of tornadoes and beautiful girls—all with their hands on Dash—haunted my dreams. I snapped my eyes open, blinking against the morning light filtering through the blinds of the hotel windows. Damn. My heart raced in my chest, and I chided myself for falling asleep thinking about all the twisted, plaguing questions the women and Daniel had put in my head. No wonder I had nightmares.

  “Hey,” Dash whispered, propping his head up on one elbow to look down at me. His green eyes were alert, as if he’d been waiting for me to wake up. “What’s wrong?” He pushed some hair off my face, which I now realized was flush from the exertion of my nightmare.

  Tears threatened to fill my eyes—the image of the last gorgeous bombshell raking her hands down Dash’s half naked body fresh in my mind. I forced them back, not wanting to be the girl who cried over a dream. Instead, I assaulted him, crushing my lips on his in a ferocious attempt to rid myself of all the negative I’d let myself be consumed by last night.

  He fell backward, holding me to his chest as he let me kiss him with a wild abandon even I didn’t realize I had in me. He groaned as I hooked a leg over him, quickly situating myself on top of him, flipping my hair to the side so I could catch his gaze before rolling my hips against him.

  He gripped my hips, his green eyes trailing my body before meeting my eyes. “Good morning to you, too.”

  I grinned, running my fingers over every inch of his chest and abs, rocking slowly on top of what was hard and ready for me. Dash hissed, closing his eyes as I upped my tempo.

  How could you ever question this?

  Dash clearly wanted me, and he let me kiss him before I’d brushed my teeth. That was true love.

  He fingered the hem of my shirt before pulling it over my head, and instantly massaged my bare breasts, arching up into me with every roll of my hips. I grinned at him before leaning down, trailing my tongue over his neck, alternating between biting and licking, relishing the way he growled the lower I got.

  How could I ever question this? I thought again as I hooked my fingers into his briefs and yanked them down, tossing them over my shoulder. I gripped his hard length, teasing his tip with my tongue. He hissed again, his hands in my hair.

  “Blake,” he growled.

  Yes. This is what I wanted. To prove to him that even though I didn’t have his experience or the experience his past line-up of bombshells had, I could still make him writhe with want. I could be enough.

  I took him in my mouth, pumping him as I sucked, and the way he gasped slammed me with the most intense desire I’d ever felt. My thighs clenched, but I kept my focus on him—on how much I loved him, how his taste made my mouth water that much more.

  Another growl and I was on my back, Dash between my thighs as he pinned me to the bed. His eyes were molten emeralds, the different shades of green churning with want. Not bothering to take my panties off, he pushed them to the side and entered me, his length filling me with the sweetest pressure I could do nothing but grind against it.

  “Dash.” I sighed instead of saying the thank-you I wanted to. I needed this so badly after last night’s mental onslaught. Needed him inside of me, needed the confirmation that the passion we felt in and out of bed was unshakable. That no show or ex could ever come between us.

  His free hand roamed over my skin, before finding my ass and hefting me against him as he thrust.

  “You feel so amazing,” he said, pushing deeper. “Blake,” he groaned, the sound making my entire body tremble.

  “Dash,” I said again, having a hard time articulating words as he moved expertly inside me. I hooked my leg around him, pinning him to me as he increased his speed. “I love you,” I finally said, my heart overfilling with how much I did.

  He slowed his pace, pressing his forehead against mine. “More than you’ll ever know,” he said, his signature line making me swell.

  Every brush of his lips ignited an internal fire that licked my insides, making my muscles coil like a tightened spring threatening to pop. With each slow, agonizing thrust, Dash brought me closer and closer to the edge, before holding me there in the sweetest agony.

  I dug my nails into his strong back, his muscles tensing as he sank deeper. Gasping, I took everything he gave and threw it right back at him, our pace reaching a high that had my eyes rolling back in my head as I arched against him.

  “Fucking beautiful,” he growled. “I can feel you’re almost there, Blake. So wet. So tight.”

  His words made my insides melt another degree, and when he slipped his tongue between my lips, kissing me with an intense hunger, I flew apart beneath him. My entire body tensed before releasing in a secession of delicious explosions that rocked every inch of my skin.

  “Yes!” I screamed as he hardened to the nth degree inside me, gripping me to him like I was a lifeline.

  “God, Blake!” He moaned as he came, continuously moving in slow strokes until we both went still beside each other.

  I smiled up at him, my fingers fisting his hair.

  A loud knock on the door jolted us from our moment of bliss.

  “Supercell gathering in Nebraska!” Paul shouted as he pounded on the door.

  “Fuck off, Paul!” Dash growled, but the banging on the door amplified.

  “We need to leave now if we want to catch it at prime placement!” Paul yelled as if Dash hadn’t said anything.

  I giggled from my position underneath Dash, lightly pressing on his chest. “Come on,” I said, eyeing him when he didn’t immediately scoot off.

  “The only thing I’m interested in is right here.” He kissed my neck, trailing down to my breasts.

  My eyes widened before I jerked his head back up to meet my gaze. “Supercell. Now,” I demanded.

  “That only turns me on more, you know.” He nipped at my bottom lip and again I pushed at his chest, but he was beyond too strong for me to move him without him wanting me to. He grinned at me deviously, and I glared at him.

  “Don’t make me miss a storm.”

  He shook his head, kissed me again, and moved off me. I bolted from the bed and into the bathroom, cleaning up as fast as I could and getting dressed quicker than that. Thankfully when I was coming out Dash was slipping into his jeans. I couldn’t help but stop on my way to my bag, drooling over the ridges in his abs and how seconds ago they’d been pressed against me in the most delicious way.

  “Hey,” he said, snapping his fingers and pointing to his face. “My eyes are up here.”

  A laugh ripped from my throat, and I sprang back into action, shoving everything that had been out of my bag back into it before throwing over my shoulder. “How am I ready before you?”

  He pulled a white T-shirt over his head and jerked on his shoe
s. “Easy. You stole all my energy.” He jerked his head toward the bed and blood rushed to my cheeks, freezing me with my hand on the door knob.

  Dash grabbed his bag, stopping an inch away from me. “You coming?” he asked, brushing his lips over mine. “Again?” He cracked a grin and opened the door.

  Dash

  “ARE YOU TWO in position?” I asked, pressing the talk button on my earpiece. I was still getting used to it, but it made things easier as I was speeding thirty over the limit toward the supercell that had fully formed in small-town Nebraska.

  “You know it!” John’s voice was surprisingly upbeat despite the horrible hangover he must have. Nothing like the possibility of a tornado to get your blood pumping.

  “Good. Blake thinks the northeast portion of the cell has the highest probability of dropping a funnel on us, so we’re heading that way. I want you two to cover the cell from further back. And Daniel,” I said, keeping my tone even, “make sure Travis focuses on the southeast portion.” The two were behind us in their truck, and I was grateful Daniel had taken me seriously when I said he couldn’t ride with Blake and me ever again. “The rest of you,” I continued, encompassing the van of cameramen that hung back near the Tracker Jacker, “stay alert, watch for debris, and take cover if needed.”

  I took my finger off the talk button, happy to hear nothing but everyone’s compliance. I didn’t particularly like exercising authority like that, but after the disaster of the last chase, I wasn’t taking any chances. I glanced over at Blake, who had her eyes locked on the cell before us, and a rush of heat crashed over me. We’d made it to Nebraska in a little over three hours, which put us here at the perfect time to catch this cell, but damn if it hadn’t been a battle to make the chase at all.

  With Blake in the bed, me inside her, nothing had mattered to me outside her. The way she’d assaulted me that morning—with an almost desperate edge to her attack—made me wonder where her head was at, but I couldn’t exactly complain. If I woke up every morning like that I could die happy, hell, I already could. She made me that happy.

  Watching her take stock of the cell before us, I was glad she’d forced me into action. There was something incredible about watching her when a storm was in the sky. Like this otherworldly goddess with a knack for prediction. The perfect woman. My perfect woman.

  “Rotation,” she said, her voice calm and steady as she pointed her camera toward where she indicated.

  I followed the trail, spotting it exactly where she’d predicted it to be. I smiled at her, never surprised by her abilities, just proud as hell.

  Rain pelted the windshield as I forced the truck farther down the thankfully paved road. Lush green grass bordered either side of us, a few sparse trees scattered around the wide open expanses. The sky was gunmetal gray, but the sun was out behind it, illuminating the area in the eerie way that preceded a storm, coating the vivid colors of the grass and storm clouds with a light that made every dangerous detail that much clearer.

  The rotation picked up speed the closer we got, and I was shocked Blake didn’t tell me to stop at the four-hundred-yard marker. She let me blow right by it, and I wouldn’t have noticed just how close we’d gotten if the funnel hadn’t snaked downward, the early development of a tornado right before us. I slammed on the brakes, wondering where her voice of reason had gone. I’d grown used to stopping when she made the call.

  “Here good?” I asked, tilting my head at her.

  She bit the corner of her lip. “It’s your call.”

  “Is this too close, Blake?” I asked, needing us to be on the same page before I let her out of this truck.

  She nodded. “It’s good.” She opened her door and rounded the front of the truck, her handheld expertly pointed at the tornado working its way down to the ground.

  The rain lightened considerably, improving visibility. The cell itself was white, making the tornado a dirty white as it snaked down, churning up the beige earth beneath it. The contrast against the dark sky behind it was sharp, which made it easier to determine its width—an EF-3 and growing.

  “Beautiful,” Blake said, her voice carrying over the wind that whipped her ponytail back and forth.

  This tornado wasn’t as loud as the others, offering an almost lulling sound like that of a powerful fan, and I stepped closer to her, pointing my camera at the storm’s head.

  “Look at that,” I said, gesturing to the top of the tornado where another funnel had developed right on top of the existing tornado. It looked like a mini-tornado was trying to take over the much larger beast that whirled ahead of us, the colors—white vs. a now dark brown—allowing each to stand out on its own.

  “You think they’ll converge?” she asked, not taking her eyes off of them.

  “It doesn’t look like it.” I squinted, trying to ascertain the actual distance between the developing funnel and the already fully formed EF-3 tornado. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, my heart pumping hard against my chest. “But it may drop one of its own next to it.”

  “Nice!” she said, the excitement in her voice not lost on me. She reached out and gripped my forearm, all but bouncing on the balls of her feet. My heart doubled in size, as it did every time I recognized myself in her. “Aren’t you glad we didn’t skip this one?”

  “Yes, but the decision was definitely a difficult one.”

  She whipped her head to me, her eyes finally meeting mine. “You’re crazy,” she said, as if the idea of choosing her over a tornado was so far-fetched it didn’t even deserve mentioning.

  “I’m serious!”

  “Even if you are,” she said, returning focus to the massive beast that churned before us, “I would never, ever let you miss this.”

  And that is what made her different from every other woman I’d ever been with in my life. She lived for chasing storms as much as I did. She understood the unexplainable need that rushed through my veins when a storm was anywhere within driving distance. She knew what it was like to stand in front of a monster like the one we currently filmed and see beauty.

  I hooked my free arm around her neck and yanked her to me, crushing my lips on hers. I slipped my tongue between her lips for a kiss that wasn’t nearly long enough to show her how amazing she was—I wasn’t sure there was enough time in the world to show her that. Pulling back, I looked down at her. “That’s what makes you perfect for me.”

  A smile shaped her full lips as she returned focus to the tornado that now barreled south of us. We held our ground, watching it in silence as it twisted away from us, catching every movement on the cameras we kept focused on the ever-changing clouds.

  We were in sync in so many ways, and yet, there were pieces of her I couldn’t access. Pieces where she thought she had competition, or when she’d withdraw into herself when a portion of her past was brought up. I wanted to dig up everything in her that I didn’t already own, and either erase it or sooth it until there was nothing left in her but the brightness she’d brought to my world. I wanted to make her see how even a storm like this couldn’t take my mind off her. I wanted her to know without a doubt that I would always choose her.

  As the tornado started to dissipate, I shoved my free hand into my right pocket, my heart in my throat as I dropped to one knee. Blake was focused on the tornado which was breaking up and disappearing back into the cell above it.

  She jolted, grabbing her cell from her back pocket and bringing it to her ear.

  How the hell does she have reception out here? I remained on my knee, just waiting for her to turn and realize what I was about to spring on her, every single one of my nerve endings twisting themselves into knots, screaming the doubts I still had about whether or not she’d be open to the idea of marriage now.

  “What?” she said, the tone of her voice switching from the elation the storm had given her to a cold fear I knew could only mean one thing.

  The caller was either Justin or someone calling about Justin. He was the only one capable of making my strong
woman scared. Even a fucking EF-5 hadn’t terrified as much as he continuously did, and she hadn’t seen him in a year.

  The heart that was once in my throat plummeted into a pit of fiery anger. Damn him for stealing this moment from me. I pushed off my knee, pocketing the ring I’d held in my closed hand. There was no way in hell I’d propose to her after she’d just spoken to him.

  “I understand that, but you can’t expect me—” Blake wrapped her arm around herself, not even realizing the awkward angle it placed the camera. I took it from her, flipping it off and setting it on the bed of my truck. She nodded at something the other person had said, the hand holding the phone trembling.

  I stepped up behind her, placing my hand on the small of her back to support her despite not knowing what was making her so tense.

  “Okay,” she said on an exhale like it had taken everything in her to utter that one word. “Yes,” she continued. “I believe we’ll be passing through there at that time.” Shaking her head, she muttered a quick goodbye and hung up the phone.

  After she’d stood there, frozen with her back to me for three minutes too long, I finally moved in front of her. “Who was that?”

  She blinked slowly like she had forgotten I was there at all. “Charlie.”

  I raised my eyebrows at her, but she gave no further explanation. Gently clutching her shoulders, I forced her to look at me. Her gaze caught mine, and she came out of herself, sucking in a deep breath.

  “Justin’s sponsor.”

  The anger already simmering in my gut sputtered. “So he’s in rehab now? Not prison?” I raked my hands through my hair.

  God, when was this guy going to get his hooks out of her?

  An entire year had gone by, and a couple of calls kept setting Blake back to a time when she didn’t know who she was. When she’d been crushed day in and day out until she was merely a shell of the woman I knew today.