Dakota: Okay, honey.
Me: That’s my girl. See you later.
It was late when I turned the key in Dakota’s lock. The key she had given me after the night on my parents’ deck.
I was beat but we had gotten some cooperation from Uncle Elan and some decent insight as well. He definitely wanted his brother’s family to shut down the Golden Arrow Casino, regardless of the fact that his own son was employed there.
I padded through the dark apartment to her bedroom. Removing my jeans and shirt, I climbed beside her in bed.
I smiled to myself when I saw that she did exactly as I asked and worn my T-shirt to sleep. She turned to me in her drowsy state and my hand slinked to her hip. She wasn’t wearing any panties, either. I bit back a groan.
Fanned across the pillow, her dark hair was silhouetted in the moonlight streaming through her shades. I couldn’t tear my eyes from her pouty lips and carved cheekbones. She was so gorgeous, and she was all mine.
A need welled up from deep inside me, one that only she could fulfill.
“Hey.” Her eyes squinted open. I had a feeling she’d only just lay down herself. “It’s late.”
“Yeah, babe,” I said, my fingers stroking across her forehead and then down to her jaw.
“You didn’t have to come here,” she whispered. “You could’ve slept in your own bed.”
“And miss feeling you against me tonight?” I said, kissing her temple. “No, angel. No more nights apart if we can help it. We’ve had five years of that.”
I arched over her, pressing her to the mattress as she sighed into my kiss. My hands inched beneath her shirt and up towards her bare tits, and when I palmed them, she moaned.
Her fingers tugged my boxers down as I lifted her shirt over her head. We remained silent—the only sound, our shallow breaths—as I turned her onto her stomach and plunged inside. Her gorgeous golden ass was lifted in the air and my hands cupped her tits and then glided down so my fingers could swirl around her wet clit.
My lips pressed into the small of her back and then further down to her perfectly smooth cheeks. She thrust her ass toward me, silently begging for more and in another second I’d penetrated her warm body deeper, so much deeper that I was seeing stars.
It didn’t take long before she cried out and struggled to keep our position. My arm swung around her stomach as I continued thrusting inside, chasing my own release before I collapsed on top, careful not to hurt her.
I kissed her sweaty forehead, her nose, her eyes, her mouth, before standing up and discarding the condom in the trash. As I sank beneath the covers, I realized there wasn’t a more quieting feeling than being skin to skin with the girl of my fucking dreams.
Chapter Twenty-three
DAKOTA
Tonight there was a special guest performing in the casino bar, and according to Kai, she was good. He even planned on playing bass on a couple of her songs.
I knew that it was the once-famous Sydney Lancaster, though Kai had sworn me to secrecy, and I was excited to hear her new brand of singer-songwriter music.
Since our talk with our employees, the atmosphere in the casino had improved. A couple more workers—one from sales, another from housekeeping—had quit, but by and large the staff had stayed on our side.
Stuart was keeping his ear to the ground and even though we were shaken by a couple phone calls from Flint Thornfall trying to persuade us to change our minds, we felt more at peace. Now the only problems hanging over our heads continued to be the daily protesters and the upcoming vote.
It wasn’t like we could escape out a back entrance to avoid the scene on the streets, and even some of our employees were feeling the pressure. On certain days, the protesters, who appeared to be headed up by Herman, seemed to grow more restless as they shouted obscenities, pounded on windows, or threw plastic cups at the car.
The good news was that as the days dragged on, the news crews stopped covering the story. Shane and Grayson also enforced tighter security by placing a video camera aimed directly at the protesters, and once people knew they were accountable for their actions, the more aggressive tactics ceased.
Rachel was already sitting at a small table at the bar and since I hadn’t been out in so long, it felt nice to simply relax. Or almost relax, since this was my own casino. I looked around the room and saw that Grayson was perched near the bar entrance. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that he was also looking forward to the show.
“Can I get you a drink, boss lady?” Stuart asked and I nodded as he trudged off to get me the usual, which was always a cabernet. My staff knew me well.
I sat down in the chair across from Rachel, who was already nursing a Sprite. Since her spotting scare a couple of weeks ago, she was being careful on all fronts. We watched Kai set up with Sydney and the band my brother had arranged for her, which included his drummer friend, Cameron.
Stuart brought me my wine and I thanked him before taking a hearty sip. It felt good going down, but I needed to watch myself, especially in my place of business.
“I’ve got some news,” Rachel said in a hushed tone while twirling her drink straw. “We had our ultrasound appointment and heard the baby’s heartbeat for the first time.”
“Whoa,” I said, because if I was feeling heady from that information, I could just imagine what Kai and Rachel were going through. “That’s amazing! I’m so happy for you.”
I looked up at my brother, whom I admired more with each passing year, as he tuned his bass on stage. I’d given him a lot of shit when we were kids, but he proved me wrong at every turn. Plus he gave it back pretty good.
“So now that we’re heading out of the first trimester, the chances of miscarriage are much smaller.” I squeezed my best friend’s hand just as she looked over at Kai. His gaze was so full of emotion that my heart bloomed in my chest as I watched their silent interaction.
Right then Shane walked onto the floor and I couldn’t help the sigh that escaped my lips as my pulse increased in speed so dramatically, I could feel it thrumming in my ears.
“You’re in deep with Shane,” Rachel said. “I can see it all over your face.”
“I’m being stupid, aren’t I?” I said, not able to tear my eyes away from him. God, he was gorgeous in his loose jeans and muscle-hugging T-shirt. “He’s going to leave, and what will that get me besides more heartache?”
“I don’t know, Dakota,” Rachel said. “I think he feels the same way about you.”
Our eyes met across the bar and held while my stomach fluttered with the memories of him in my bed from practically every night this week.
“Just don’t be such a stubborn asshead this time,” she said, only half joking. Even Rachel and I had butted heads a few times in our friendship because of how strong-willed I could be, so she was definitely right to call me out. But I didn’t plan on trying to mess this up. This . . . whatever this thing with Shane was.
“Did you ever ask him to stay?” she said, her voice hesitant.
I stopped twisting the napkin in front of me. I knew what she was getting at, but still I pretended like I didn’t.
“When he was leaving for training camp five years ago, did your conversation ever include that option?” she asked, her voice shrinking with each word.
I was tempted to say what conversation, because essentially there hadn’t been one. Looking back, I saw how immaturely I’d handled myself, and I liked to think that I’d grown into a more reasonable adult. But the fact of the matter remained that I still might’ve come to the same conclusion.
“You know the answer to that. No way would I ever hold somebody back from what they’re determined to do,” I said, my jaw tightening. “Just like I wouldn’t want anybody to hold me back.”
“You mean to tell me that if he asked you right now to leave this town and go live with him in Atlanta so he could resume his Marshal duties, you’d turn him down?” she asked with a determined look in her eyes.
I felt a st
inging in the back of my throat because that was the ultimate crux of the problem. I couldn’t leave, especially not now. And secondly, I didn’t want to leave. My home was here, and I was doing what I was meant to do.
So I was doomed to be alone, without him. Again. And that hurt. God, it hurt so badly. The idea of being without him again. I felt gutted, like there was a huge black hole in the space where my heart used to be.
“You know I couldn’t do that,” I whispered, my lips trembling.
“I know right now is not a good time,” she said, her voice soft, her fingers gentle on my wrist. “You’d never leave your mom. But the bigger question is: What are you willing to give up, to sacrifice, to be with the man you love?”
“The man I love?” That word leaving my lips was foreign yet so perfectly described what I was feeling for him. How it was both heavy and light in my chest at the same time. I looked across the way at Shane, who had ordered a beer at the bar and was taking a sip of it. I watched his throat as he tipped his head back and remembered how his skin tasted when I kissed him right there.
Did I love Shane? Emotions slammed into me on all sides. I guess I always did.
“You love him,” Rachel said, emphatically. “You may not have named it, but that’s what it is.”
“It’s an impossible situation,” I whispered.
“It might feel that way,” she said. “But that’s why you guys need to talk about it, and soon, before he blows out of town and you’re left wondering why you didn’t just say how you feel. Believe me, I know all about that.”
She was referring to the time Kai returned to Amsterdam before she’d gotten a chance to tell him how she felt. Rachel had been in agony about it for weeks. At that same time, Shane and I were just fumbling through the beginning of our long-distance relationship—a relationship that never even got out of the starting gate.
Right at that moment, my pained gaze met Shane’s and the smile instantly dropped from his lips. He could tell I was upset about something and even when I tried to snap out of it and lift the corners of my mouth, he still arched his eyebrows.
I shrugged and shook my head and he mouthed, “Angel.”
I closed my eyes as the sentiment washed over me like a salve. I would never again be able to hear that word and not think of his gravelly voice whispering it over the landscape of my skin while he thrust deep inside of me.
The idea of being without him again made me feel inexplicably hollow, like nothing else could ever fill me up—not even this job, or this town. So maybe I was wrong. Maybe Rachel’s question held a lot more credence than I was originally willing to give.
Shane walked to the table carrying a couple of new drinks for Rachel and me. He leaned over and whispered, “You okay?”
I nodded, and in that moment, would’ve killed to feel his lips on mine. But Shane followed my strict rule of no affection between us in the casino. I looked around the bar and saw many pairs of eyes on us. I didn’t know if it was because Shane was sitting near me or if it was because I was the “boss lady.”
“We’re going to bring the ultrasound pictures to your mom’s for Sunday brunch. You going to be there?” Rachel asked and then looked between Shane and me. The little devil, I was going to smack her silly.
Shane grabbed hold of my knee beneath the table for a brief moment and electricity shot through me.
“Of course I’ll be there,” I said and then turned to look at the gorgeous man sitting beside me. “Would you like to come, Shane?”
I was just getting myself in deeper by inviting him. But it felt right to do so. He’d been to plenty of Sunday brunches at our house over the years, and now we were trying to carry on the tradition to make it as normal as possible for my mother.
He nodded. “I’ll be there. Especially if there’s news of the good variety—this family could sure use it. I’m happy for you.”
Rachel smiled and when she turned away to look for Kai, Shane leaned over. “Isn’t that the night of your benefit with Ridge?”
“How did you—”
“You talked about it that day you met him for lunch, remember?”
How had I forgotten? Shane had me so worked up that day.
“So, you need me to drive you?” he said low in my ear, making me shiver.
“I was wondering if it might just be easier to have him pick me up.” I had been considering Ridge’s previous offer and given our recent safety measures, it only made sense since we were heading to the same place.
Shane stiffened beside me. “You tell him that?”
“He called after hearing about the protesters and I told him we had tightened security,” I said. “He extended the offer again.”
“The answer is no.”
“Excuse me?” I said. “Pretty sure I don’t need your permission to get a ride from a friend.”
His mouth moved closer to my ear and in a controlled voice that verged largely on anger, he said, “You might not want anybody here to know what’s happening between us, and it’s fine if that extends to him, for the time being. But you will not give him the opportunity to be alone with you.”
My cheeks heated up faster than a forest fire and I was nearly rendered speechless.
“Him picking you up? That’s a date,” he said, eyebrow lifted, teeth clenched. “That gives the impression that you’re available and you’re not. You’re mine.”
I sucked in a breath and crossed my legs, unable to control how turned on I felt in that moment, even though I wanted to thoroughly smack him. “I’m yours?”
His eyes met mine in near defiance and I couldn’t look away even if I tried. “That’s right. And I’m yours. We clear?”
I bit on my trembling lip. “We’re clear, chief.”
He must’ve liked that because his thumb briefly trailed over mine beneath the table.
We watched Sydney and Kai’s impressive set. The bar clientele seemed engrossed by the music and clapped heartily after each song. As if he hadn’t just ordered me around thirty minutes ago, Shane coolly leaned over and told Rachel and me how he’d heard Sydney sing one night in Kai’s studio, and I couldn’t help feeling a stab of jealousy. Maybe much like he just felt over our previous conversation.
I wondered just how many women he’d dated in these past five years, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask. To make matters worse, our server was flirting with Shane, smiling and touching his arm while taking our dinner order. She was new enough to not have known Shane from all his summers at the casino and I had the urge to claim him as mine right in front of the whole damn bar.
But instead, I watched as he chatted with her, a smirk pulling at his lips every single time for my benefit, while his leg faintly brushed and at one point entangled with mine beneath the table. I was on edge, sexual tension buzzing through all of my nerve endings as he’d subtly made his point.
I couldn’t have it both ways. Sooner or later, something had to give.
Chapter Twenty-four
DAKOTA
“You were jealous tonight.” He threw me down on the bed and stood above me, his eyes scanning down my body. “Admit it.”
I was breathing heavily, my nipples already tightening to the point of pain.
His hand braced my neck, his lips hovering close. “Admit it.”
His fingers traced across my collarbone and then slid downward, between my breasts.
“Yes,” I cried out as he peeled my shirt over my shoulders.
“Fuck, you’re beautiful, angel.” I whimpered as he slid my straps down my arms.
“I’ve missed this gorgeous skin.”
“You just saw me last night,” I said, breathless.
“And I’m not allowed to touch you all day long,” he growled. He had more than made his point. But now I just needed him to fuck me, but I had the feeling I was about to be tortured even more, given his mood.
My gaze met his in a challenge. “So what are you waiting for?”
He stared at me hard and goose flesh aro
se over my skin. My nipples were already taut and they hardened even further when he trailed his knuckles across them. His fingers worked to unhook my bra, and then he flung it over his shoulder.
I had difficulty waiting as my fingers slid beneath his shirt to his solid abdomen, and it hardened reflexively as I pressed further up his defined chest. He lifted his shirt over his head and threw it to the ground as my breath caught. He was a gorgeous specimen of a man.
I pushed up to my knees, my fingers already working the button and zipper on his pants, my desire to taste him strong. I wanted to show him exactly how crazy he made me.
He kicked out of his jeans and boxers and then groaned as my palm clasped around the underside of his shaft. My thumb swiped over the bead of precome on his swollen head and I nudged him onto his back, my hand clutching his thigh as I settled between his legs.
At the first drag of my tongue, his fingers dug into my scalp. “Ah, hell. Just having your mouth wrapped around me, Dee.”
My lips swathed his head, my tongue laving his shaft before sinking down further as he nearly hit the back of my throat. His come tasted salty, his skin musky. I would never ever get the scent of him out of my head. Even years after he was gone. I stripped that thought from my brain as I continued working him up and down, my fingers reaching to lightly squeeze his balls.
I loved hearing his moans, his pleas—his raspy voice urging me on. Bringing him pleasure made me happy beyond measure. I continued bathing him with my tongue until suddenly he grasped at my cheeks, forced my mouth off of him with a pop, and then heaved me up to straddle his thighs.
His head lifted to flick my nipple with his tongue. My bottom arched off his stomach as his teeth scraped over my flesh on the underside of my breast. I wiggled my hips to get closer to his erection, which curved upward toward his belly button, swollen and ready for me.
Moving to the other side, his teeth and lips and tongue pulled at my nipple. As his hand came up to clutch my other breast, I diverted it from its destination and sank one of his fingers inside my mouth.
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