DirtyBeautiful

by Jodie Becker

  With his elbows pressed by her shoulders, he cradled her head in his hands. Dylan withdrew, then rocked into her. Her oversensitized pussy zinged with every move. He licked her lips, his moan mixing with hers as he plunged into her. Her body was just a bundle of nerves, her whimpers piercing the night. The rhythm teased, and the wet sound of her sex clutching his filled the air. Thighs clenched over his hips, the sweat along his body making it slick. Bliss flowed through her womb and spread outward with every move. Gripping the hollow of his back, Erica clenched her teeth in an effort to forestall a cry as he thrust in relentless abandon. Fire circled her, licking at her flesh with every sensual move of his body within hers.

  Pastel colors seemed to explode behind her eyelids. With every thrust, he sent delight spiraling through her. His hand cupped her cheek and she opened her eyes to stare up into the dark swirling emotions in his gaze. His thumb skated along the edge of her mouth and she took it inside, showing him what she wanted to do.

  He whispered her name in taut desperation, his pace picking up with enough force to drive them along the ground. Flesh slapped against flesh and wonderful warmth glided through her. Thought drifted away and she simply felt. A scorching kiss caught her breath as an orgasm hovered beneath the surface. Like a tide it came in and out, teasing her until finally it crashed with a roaring wave over her.

  Her body bowed and lights swirled in her mind. Above her, Dylan moaned. Thrust once, twice and pulsed inside her.

  He collapsed against her and she wrapped her arms around him, raking her fingers through his sweat-laden locks. Above her stars winked knowingly and Erica could only smile.

  * * * * *

  Sunlight pierced Erica’s eyelids as she was roused from sleep. Languidly she ran her hand along the mattress and found it empty. Eyes opened, she propped herself up on an elbow and searched her room and found Dylan absent. Stretching out on the bed, she felt twinges in her body release, which reminded her of the many ways Dylan used her body and how much she enjoyed it. The sound of footsteps brought her upright and she scooted up against the headboard, sheet clutched to her chest. A moment later Dylan appeared, carrying a tray of toast, scrambled eggs and bacon.

  “Good morning.” His eyes radiated warmth.

  “Morning.”

  Dylan placed the tray on the bedside table and sat on the edge of the mattress. He flicked hair off her shoulder and kissed the exposed skin. “I made breakfast.”

  Erica giggled. “I can see that.”

  “I also have coffee here for you. Extra sweet. Just the way you like it.”

  She accepted the mug and blew on the top then sipped. Hot sweetness hit her tongue and she moaned. Dylan grinned, a secretive glimmer in his stare.

  “What?”

  “I think I’ll probably get hard every time you moan like that.”

  Erica swatted him playfully and he caught her hand and brought it to his lips. The kiss sent a pulse of need through her womb. “Speaking of getting hard,” she murmured.

  Dylan leaned back and shook his head, his smile easing the sting. “I don’t want to exhaust you. Besides, I’ve got a few things I need to see to next door.”

  The reminder of what, or rather who waited for him killed the heat like nothing else could. After last night, Erica felt their relationship had hit a whole new level. Perhaps this was the time to take the leap. “I was thinking, why not stay here while Ruby gets her feet on the ground?”

  The hand that caressed her thigh ceased and the subtle smile dissolved into a flat line. Erica’s heart thudded against her rib cage painfully. He rubbed the back of his neck, a sign of his discomfort. “Don’t you think it’s a bit…too soon?”

  Erica’s stomach clenched. “I thought that maybe with Ruby being there and me here you might want to…”

  Dylan’s gaze cut away from hers, his focus on her knee rather than her face. “She’s really fragile right now and I kinda think she needs someone to lean on at the moment.”

  “That someone being you?”

  He looked at her then and shrugged. “Well, yeah. We are friends after all.”

  Anger bubbled beneath the surface. “Friends who used to have sex.”

  A muscle leapt in his jaw. “You know I wouldn’t cheat on you, Erica.”

  “Actually I don’t know that.”

  “What are you saying?”

  Erica pushed away from him, tugged at the sheet, then abandoned it when it wouldn’t budge from beneath his body. She slipped into an oriental dressing gown and cinched it tight around her waist. Dylan latched on to her shoulders and twisted her around, his features lined with concern.

  “I will never cheat on you. What we have is precious to me. You are everything I’ve ever wanted in a woman and I’m not about to throw it away on something that wouldn’t even touch what we have.”

  “I…I just can’t go through this again.”

  “Go through what?”

  Erica wanted to walk away. To forget she even opened her mouth and allowed the past to control her. Dylan cupped her cheeks, his expression earnest. “What is it, Erica? Why are you so certain I’ll cheat?”

  She swallowed hard. “Because it’s happened to me before.”

  Fury stiffened his lips and he sucked in a hard breath. “It was that Greg guy, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  “I should’ve pounded his ass into the ground.”

  Erica shook her head. “No. It’s all in the past.”

  “But it’s making you doubt me.”

  Too ashamed to look into his eyes, she nodded. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be.” Dylan kissed her on the nose then pressed his forehead against hers. “Tell me.”

  Erica let out a ragged breath, the old hurt throbbing inside. “There isn’t much to tell. He lied to me for months while he was seeing another woman behind my back. I never felt so fat and frumpy as I did when I saw a picture of her. She was so…skinny and I’m just…not.”

  “Jesus. I’m gonna kill him.”

  “Don’t.”

  Dylan wiped at her cheek with the ball of his finger, catching a tear she didn’t know had broken free. “That man didn’t deserve you, Erica. You are sexy as hell and he was a fool to let you go.”

  Erica threw him a watery smile. “You think?”

  “Hell yeah. I’m glad though. That means that you’re all mine.”

  She placed her hands over his and nodded. “All yours.”

  “No more secrets?”

  “No more.”

  He grinned and kissed her, reminding her of all the passion he felt for her. His hand clasped her ass and brought her flush against him as he teased her with his mouth. After a sensual foray, he broke off, his chest heaving and an erection pressing against her stomach.

  “How about we continue this in the shower?” He wiggled his brows.

  Erica smiled. “All right.”

  He led her into the bathroom and turned on the shower, then shucked his jeans. Steam wafted outward and he stepped under the spray.

  “Coming in?”

  She unknotted her kimono and eased it off her shoulders. It fell to the floor in a soft whisper and goose bumps rose on her skin. Dylan followed the move with a ravenous gaze.

  “Damn, you’re so sexy.”

  Erica smiled. She did feel sexy. With Dylan. Only with him.

  As she stepped toward him, a knock drifted up the stairs. She hesitated, but the knocking persisted. “You start without me. I’ll get rid of whoever it is and be back soon.”

  He pulled her up against his wet body and nuzzled her neck. “All right, but don’t be too long.”

  Giggling, she pushed him under the showerhead and pulled on her kimono. Hurrying down the stairs, she answered the door, ready to make her excuses and return to Dylan. The words froze in her throat at the sight of Greg on her doorstep.

  She tried to slam the door in his face, but his hand slapped over it. “Erica, I have to speak to you.”

  Giving up
on trying to shove the door closed, she glared at him. “Well I’m not interested in anything you have to say.”

  “You will be. It’s to do with your…with Drake.”

  “It’s Dylan. I’ve already heard it and I don’t care. He told me everything.”

  Greg’s brows lowered in consternation. “You think he told you the truth? Whatever he told you is a lie.”

  “What do you know about truth, Greg? I’m done talking to you. Now leave.”

  Greg’s focus drifted beyond her, anger drawing his lips downward. “He’s here, isn’t he?”

  “That’s not any of your business.”

  “It is my business. I made a mistake, Erica, but you can’t let what happened between us let you make the biggest mistake of your life.”

  “My biggest mistake?” she said on a laugh filled with derision. “My biggest mistake was giving you the time of day.”

  “Look, you can be angry at me if you want, but in time I’m hoping you’ll forgive me and give me a second chance.”

  “I would never give you a second chance. You cheated on me. Repeatedly. You gave me an STD and you made me feel worthless.”

  Nostrils flared as two rose plumes appeared on his cheeks. “You think he won’t cheat on you? Because you’re deluding yourself if you think so. You’re a novelty to him. A man like him will never be faithful.”

  Erica slapped him before she could even register the movement. Tense silence stretched between them. “You know everything there is about faithlessness, don’t you? How dare you come to my house and say nasty things. You don’t know anything about him.”

  “I know enough.”

  “What, because you saw him in some obscure adult magazine years ago?”

  His eyes narrowed. “He hasn’t told you, has he?”

  Erica folded her arms, not liking where this was going. “Told me what?”

  “He makes pornographic movies.”

  Erica’s mind went utterly blank. “I don’t believe you.”

  Greg pulled something from his jacket. A DVD case with a picture of Dylan caught in an erotic pose with his hand down the sheer panties of a woman. A roar began in her ears and numbly she reached for it. She turned it over to see various images of men and women caught in some type of sexual conduct. Her focus moved to the year of production to find it a recent release.

  “This…this can’t be right,” she mumbled.

  Greg thrust yet another DVD at her. “Your Dylan is Drake Van Wulf. He has been fucking women for a living.”

  Erica shook her head in disbelief. All the women in the pictures had sensual bodies and a knowing look in their eyes. Her fingers tightened over the newest DVD, the title coming into focus. Dungeon and the Dragon. This time Dylan stood beside a woman on her knees with her torso bound in rope. The profile looked familiar and she scrutinized the model with growing apprehension. It was Ruby.

  The ground disappeared and she heard a cry of despair from a distance. Greg was speaking, but she couldn’t focus. Her knees wobbled and she stumbled to the nearest chair, the DVDs falling at her feet. Words of dissent whispered in her mind and she wished that all this was just a bad dream.

  Chapter Twelve

  Dylan switched off the showerhead and exited the bath, wondering what took Erica so long. He donned his jeans and exited the bathroom. He could hear a muffled voice below that was definitely male and instantly went on high alert. Taking the stairs two at a time, he found Erica in the living room. She sat on the couch, her face in her hands, shoulders hunched in misery with a man before her, his back to Dylan.

  “Erica?”

  Her head shot up at the sound of his voice and his gut dropped at the disbelief in her gaze. He’d seen that look before and feared history was about to repeat itself. The unknown man stood, and Dylan recognized him. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  Greg thrust his chin up. “Stopping Erica from making a big mistake.”

  Oh shit. Dylan clenched his fists, fighting back the acid panic that bubbled up his throat. “Is that right? We’ll see about that. Erica?”

  Her pale features struck him like a punch to the gut and when she shook her head slowly, it tore his insides out. “I…I…”

  Desperation propelled him forward, but Greg stepped in front of him. Rage churned. “Get the fuck out of my way.”

  “She doesn’t want to see you.”

  “This has nothing to do with you.”

  “It has everything to do with me. You lied to her.”

  Dylan sneered. “Like you haven’t before? You fucking let her go and now she’s no longer your concern. She’s mine. Now back the fuck off!”

  “You think Erica wants to speak to you after knowing your cock has been dipped in every available pussy in LA?”

  Dylan punched him in the face. The impact sent the snide little ass into the coffee table. Greg rolled onto the ground and touched his lip, grimacing at the sight of his own blood. With a roar, Greg launched himself at Dylan, wild fists swinging through the air. Dylan dodged one and suffered a clip from the other. Ringing started in his ears and he snatched at Greg’s shirt to hold him still to deliver a body blow.

  “Stop it!”

  Dylan’s attention snapped to Erica and he took a dirty strike in his kidneys. Grimacing, he pushed Greg from him and stepped back, his eyes on Erica. Greg approached Erica and Dylan resisted the urge to rip his arms off. Erica evaded Greg and hugged her body.

  “Is it true?”

  Dylan knew what she wanted to know, and made one last-ditch effort to avert disaster. “Is what true?”

  Erica’s features contorted. “Don’t lie to me. Were you a porn actor?”

  Dylan struggled to swallow. “Yes,” he rasped.

  She shook her head, her face paler than before.

  Unable to stop himself, he ate up the distance between them and cupped her face, forcing her to look into his eyes. “That’s not me. Not anymore. You have to believe that.”

  The sheen of tears stabbed him in the chest and he caught a tear with his thumb. “Erica?” he begged on a broken breath.

  “I can’t think right now.”

  “Please. Don’t listen to what he said. I’m not some perverted guy who likes to fuck everything that moves. It’s different. I’m different.”

  She pulled away from him then and he let her. Wordlessly she retrieved something and handed it to him. He stared down at the cover and struggled to draw in air. Every part of him screamed in internal agony as he felt everything he wanted slip through his fingers. The dark BDSM cover portrayed him in a way he had never revealed to Erica. Ruby was at his feet and he knew now the depth of betrayal she felt. He was now slotted in the same category as Greg.

  He looked at her then, his throat working to pull out the words he needed. “If you’d just give me a chance to explain.”

  Dylan waited in silence, watching every nuance on Erica’s face. He could hear the fast thundering of his heart in his ears and it felt as though it would leap from his chest at any given moment. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and tell her that he would never hurt her. But the fact was that he had. By the choices he made, he’d hurt yet another person he cared about.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I can’t.”

  Dylan sucked in a harsh breath, his chest seeming to constrict against the motion. He’d lost her. He knew it and couldn’t think of anything more to save what had already died right before his eyes. Shoulders slumped, he turned and exited her life, wondering how he was going to live with her disdain.

  As the door clicked shut, Erica jerked as though he’d slammed it. Guilt and misery sat in her stomach like a black mass. She struggled to draw breath, but the pain in her chest made it difficult. The nights with Dylan played out in her head. The way he expertly brought her to orgasm. She thought they shared something unique and full of meaning. But she was wrong.

  Still…the look of devastation on Dylan’s face… It hurt her heart.

  Movement behi
nd her caught her attention.

  “Please leave,” she whispered.

  “You can’t be serious,” Greg said with incredulity.

  She faced him then. “I am. Please. Leave.”

  Greg straightened his shoulders. “I came here to protect you and this is the thanks I get?”

  Anger rose to the fore. “You came here to satisfy your ego. This had nothing to do with me.”

  His eyes narrowed. “How can you think that? You want him after all I’ve shown you?”

  Erica turned away. She didn’t know what she wanted. All her emotions tumbled inside in a cyclonic mess. The path unclear. She felt the agony of betrayal, made sharper by the woman now currently residing next door. But she also yearned to seek Dylan out and comfort him. Confusion ran riot within.

  “That type of man will never love you like I do, Erica.”

  She stiffened and turned on Greg, emotion clogging her throat. “Love? You lied and cheated on me. Countless times. How is that love at all?”

  Greg pointed to the door. “And what he did is different?”

  “I don’t know. But what I do know is that I don’t want you!”

  He closed the distance between them and Erica moved away. He stopped, fists clenched at his sides.

  “You only started to call me when Dylan moved into Templeton, didn’t you? I know your mother wouldn’t be able to keep something like that from you.”

  His lips pursed into a thin white line. “That’s not true!”

  “Isn’t it? Did you like it, Greg, thinking that I pined over you? That I was alone and no man in this town had any interest in me?”

  A muscle jumped in his jaw.

  “You thought you could sow your wild oats and I’d still be here, ready to take you back?”

  She saw the truth flash in his eyes and she wanted to scratch his face off. How could she have not seen it sooner? “Get. Out.”

  He glared at her. “You’re going to regret this. Don’t expect me to take you back when you realize your mistake.”

  She laughed, a sound without humor. “I regret many things, but leaving you isn’t one of them. Now leave before I call the sheriff.”