Next to Never: Shattered Innocence Trilogy

by Long, A. L.

  Placing his hands on the bottom of Dylan’s sweater, he swiftly lifted it up over her head, breaking their contact for only a split second. Each movement of his tongue with hers fed her need for him more and more, to the point of no return. Every touch fueled her body to want more. Rade unhooked Dylan’s bra and slid the lacy straps from her shoulders. As the material fell down her arms, he trailed soft kissed in its path. Reeling in her own uncontrollable demands, Dylan began undoing the buttons on Rade’s shirt, slowly exposing each line of his muscular chest, revealing the washboard perfection of his abs until the dark trail of hair just below his navel was exposed. Soaking in his beauty, she began her own assault on his body. There was no more anger, only the need to feast on him. Gently placing butterfly kisses from the base of his neck stretching to the curve of his right pec, she softly began sucking and licking the firmness of his erect nipple. “God, Dylan, What are you doing to me?”

  With a small smile, Dylan continued working the belt of his pants. Lowering the zipper, she eagerly guided her hands under the waistband of his boxer briefs and slowly slid them down his lean muscular legs. When Rade’s hard shaft popped free, she gently took hold and stroked her hand up and down the impressive erection. Feeling the hint of his first arousal, she smoothed the milky liquid over the tip. Looking up, Rade was staring down at her. Without hesitation, Dylan lowered her body and seized his length in her mouth. Taking her time, she started kissing and licking the underside of his shaft while moving her hand up and down his length.

  Dylan could feel the pressure of Rade’s hands as he began gripping her hair between his fingers. The tighter his grip became, the more she sucked and licked. He began taking control of her movements as she guided her mouth to take more of him. Rade began thrusting harder until he felt the back of Dylan’s throat. She took everything he gave her. When his cock hit the back of her throat once again, she heard his plea of pleasure. “God, I love your mouth, but I need to be inside you more.”

  She felt Rade begin to tense with his imminent release. With a pop, he pulled his shaft from her and lifted her, pulling her body tightly against his. With one sweep, he clenched her ass and lifted her off the ground and walked to his bed. Gently laying her on his bed, he removed her pants, flinging them to the floor. He then took hold of her lacy underwear and ripped them from her body. He was losing his control with her. All he wanted was to be inside of her sweet cunt.

  “What are you doing to me, Sweetness?” His voice rang as he placed his mouth on the soft spot below her ear. The vibration of her soft moans brought him to his knees. Powerless, he brought his mouth to hers as he submitted to his desperation. Their tongues frantically played together like a dueling match had just taken place. He knew there would be no losers as the heat between them grew hotter and hotter.

  Taking hold of her wrists, he slowly lifted them above her head as he continued his assault on her. Drawn to her, he took in her scent as he caressed her body. Grabbing hold of her leg, he placed it over his shoulder and positioned himself between her legs. In this position he knew he would be able penetrate her deeper, allowing him to consume every inch of her tight channel. When his shaft was where he needed it, he began moving his hips, slowly driving in and out of her until the head of his cock was fully submerged inside her. Craving more, he increased his movement until he could feel her tight walls clinging to every motion he made. When he hit her sweet spot, Dylan’s hips surged forward, lifting and lowering as he moved rhythmically in and out of her. Her panting became more climactic as she got closer to her release. Denying her, Rade pulled from her. He needed to show her control. “Not yet, Sweetness. Your orgasms are mine.”

  Dylan’s eyes shot open at Rade’s torment. Trying to escape his hold, she was becoming more furious at his arrogance. “Let me go, you bastard.” Straddling her body to hold her down, he chuckled at her brassiness. “Not going to happen.” Planting his lips on hers, he could feel her resistance. Taking hold of her bottom lip with his teeth, Rade began nibbling harder until she had no other option but to part her lips. Thrashing his tongue with hers, he felt her surrender to his invasion, letting him continue pleasuring her. When her body finally softened beneath him, he released his grip and began worshiping her body. Her little moans drove him crazy. She knew exactly what set him off.

  Grasping her legs, he quickly flipped Dylan over so she was face down on the bed. Lifting her hips slightly, Rade began his descent into her opening. He never felt anything like her before. It took everything he had not to come the minute he entered her. Pushing gently inside her, he moved his hands down her spine until they reached her hips. With one hand on her hip and the other on her clit, he began thrusting harder and faster inside her. While moving his finger across her hard nub, he continued his assault on her tight pussy. He knew she was close. Moving faster to satisfy his own release, he thrust deeper inside her. Losing control, he summoned her release. “Let go, Dylan.” Feeling her climax, he was met with his own freedom as her back arched, crying out his name in pure ecstasy.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Dylan was met with a glorious morning as a hint of sunlight poked through the silk curtains. Reaching beside her, she was saddened to find the feel of an empty bed. Although she was alone, she couldn’t remember the last time she had slept so well. Pushing herself from the bed, she went to the bathroom and pulled on Rade’s plush bathrobe, which hung on the hook just inside the door. His scent filled her as she left the room.

  Smelling the aroma of coffee, she padded to the kitchen. Rade was nowhere in sight, but coffee was the only thing she needed for now. Pouring a cup of Java and adding her favorite creamer, she decided to investigate the penthouse to locate Rade. The most likely place he would be was his study. Climbing the stairs, she could hear his faint voice. The closer she got to his study, the louder his voice became. She could tell by the sound of his voice that he was not happy. Whomever he was speaking to was getting his fill. Since he was on the phone, she couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation.

  As she approached his study, she pushed open the door, finding Rade standing near the window. He was wearing silk pajama bottoms hanging perfectly on his hips. As he pressed his hand on the window, she could see the muscles flex along his shoulders and down his back. Watching him was better than anything she had ever seen. His body was godlike. She never thought a perfect specimen of man could be created. She could see the tension in his face as well. As she turned to leave him with his call, Rade turned around and looked at her, displaying his sculpted chest and abs. If his backside wasn’t perfect enough, his front was beyond perfection. Taking in his beauty, she didn’t realize her mouth dropped open in amazement until he walked up to her and placed his hand on her chin and gently closed her mouth. Embarrassed by how she must have looked, Dylan whispered, “Sorry” as she lifted to her toes and gave him a soft peck on his cheek.

  Rade motioned for Dylan to have a seat as he continued his conversation. “Like I said, I don’t care what it takes. Find out and find out now.” Throwing his cell on his desk, he walked over to Dylan and took a seat next to her. Taking her hands in his, he brought them to his lips and softly kissed them. “Dylan, about last night. I know you don’t think having protection is necessary.” Dylan opened her mouth to disagree, but was stopped when Rade lifted his finger to her lips suggesting that she stay quiet. “Let me finish. Until we can figure out who has such an interest in you. I would feel a lot better if someone stayed with you. Please humor me on this, Dylan.”

  Dylan knew Rade was right. She had no idea who was following her or threatening her life. She still felt Rade was going overboard on the protection, but maybe he was willing to compromise. “Okay, on one condition. Peter can protect me, but only from a reasonable distance. I don’t want him tagging along with me wherever I go. So when I go to lunch with Lilly, he can wait outside the restaurant, out of sight, and when I go to the office, he can wait in the lobby until I am ready to go. I will let him know when I’m on
my way down.”

  Dylan drove a hard bargain, but Rade knew he needed to give in, or at least let her think he was. With her stubbornness, he knew another man was a must. The less she knew the better. Getting in touch with Richard would assure his request would be carried out. With hesitation, he submitted to her wishes with his own conditions. “I will agree to this, Dylan, but if at any time you feel something is off or doesn’t feel right, you will let Peter know immediately. Deal?”

  Dylan could accept that, so she shook her head in agreement. “I’m going to get ready for my lunch with Lilly. I will be ready to go in about an hour.”

  Getting up from the couch, Rade stepped over to his desk where he dropped his phone. “I’ll let Peter know.” When Rade saw Dylan leave his study he also called Richard to make arrangements to have another man in place for her.

  *****

  Dylan saw Lilly as soon as she entered Border Line. The restaurant was hopping. Dylan waved to Lilly as she weaved through several occupied tables to get where Lilly was seated. “Wow, this place is really busy.”

  Lilly gave Dylan a quick hug. “I know. They have the best sandwiches and the service is crazy good.”

  As Dylan and Lilly were breaking their hug, a young waiter came to their table. Waiting until the two girls got settled in their seats, he began running off the specials for the day. Dylan and Lilly placed their lunch orders and requested ice teas with lemon.

  Lilly reached over and grabbed Dylan’s hand in a friendly manner. “I’m really concerned about you, Dylan. You seem so distant lately.”

  Dylan placed her free hand on top of Lilly’s, reassuring her that she was fine. “I’ve been really busy, Lilly, with work and everything. I didn’t mean for you to feel left out. Everything has just been so crazy.”

  Lilly had a hard time believing her friend. “Is it because of him?”

  Dylan raised her head to Lilly in disbelief that her friend would be so rude. “Of course not. Rade has nothing to do with me being out of touch. He has been wonderful to me. He would never keep me from you or anyone.”

  Lilly could feel the defensiveness in Dylan’s tone. The last thing she wanted was to get in a fight with her best friend, but she was concerned about Dylan’s relationship with Rade. Dylan hardly knew the guy, and even though Lilly pushed her into meeting someone, she wasn’t convinced that Rade was the right guy for her friend. Lilly blamed herself for allowing Rade to take Dylan home. If she would’ve left with Dylan when she wanted to go, then maybe Rade wouldn’t be in her life.

  “What do you really know about him, Dylan, other than he’s a control freak?” Lilly muttered.

  Dylan’s mood was becoming more agitated by her friend’s interrogation. “Look, Lilly, Rade has been nothing but kind to me. He may be controlling, but I honestly believe he cares about me. I can’t explain how he makes me feel. I have never felt this way about anyone. Not even Michael.”

  Lilly looked up at Dylan. “Oh my God… Dylan, you’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

  Dylan knew her friend didn’t want to hear what she was about to say, but maybe once she knew, she would be able to understand how she felt.

  “Maybe what I feel for him is love, Lilly. I don’t know. All I know is when he isn’t near me, my heart hurts and I hate every minute we’re apart… but I accept it because I know every minute that passes means one more minute closer to being with him… and I’m scared when we’re together, Lilly, because when he’s touching me, kissing me, I can’t get enough of him. Do you know how that feels?”

  Lilly knew exactly how it felt to be totally consumed by someone, and the feeling of emptiness when they’re not near you. “I’m sorry, Dylan, I had no idea how you felt. I want you to be happy, and if Rade makes you happy, then it makes me happy too. You’re my best friend.”

  Lilly’s words hit Dylan, and between them the tears came down. Lilly and Dylan hugged each other, with tears and all. Once they pulled it together, they exited the restaurant. Dylan saw Peter waiting in the Mercedes as she and Lilly hit the sidewalk. As Peter got out of the car, Dylan looked to Lilly. “Do you need a ride anywhere?”

  Pulling Dylan in for another hug Lilly said, “I’m good, girlfriend, but you can introduce me to your driver. He’s really cute.”

  Dylan knew her friend was back. Lilly would never miss the opportunity to meet a hot guy. Peter was a good looking guy. His build was like a linebacker. He had sandy blond hair and blue-green eyes that would melt ice on a cold day. He was definitely a head turner, but nothing like Rade. After Dylan introduced Lilly to Peter and said goodbye to her friend, she climbed in the back seat of the Benz and waited for Peter to get behind the wheel. “Where to, Ms. Adams,” he asked.

  Gazing out the window watching her friend grab a cab, Dylan said, “Take me to Northgate, I need to catch up on some work.” Peter accelerated into traffic and proceeded to Dylan’s office.

  Peter pulled in front of the Northgate building minutes later. Dylan told Peter she could see herself out and would let him know when she was ready to leave. Peter smiled at her and did as she requested.

  Once Dylan was in the building, Peter called Rade. “Mr. Matheson, I just dropped Ms. Adams off at Northgate.”

  “Good. Is the additional security in place?” Rade asked.

  “Yes, Josh just pulled up. I’ll let him know to stay on her.” Peter hung up with Rade and called Josh. Josh was the other bodyguard assigned to Dylan, without her knowledge. Rade wanted to make sure he was in sight of her at all times, but not close enough for her to suspect anything.

  When the elevator hit Dylan’s floor, Dylan saw a different person at the reception desk. It was a young woman. She could have been Dylan’s age or younger. Her hair was dark brown and pulled into a sleek ponytail high on her head. She had brown eyes, but it was her lips that Dylan noticed. The lipstick was fire red and with her full pouty lips, she looked like she just stepped out of a porn magazine. Everything about her screamed, “You don’t have to hate me cause I’m sexy.”

  Trying to gain her composure, Dylan held out her hand. “Hi, you must be new? I’m Dylan Adams.”

  Giving Dylan an evil look like she was an insignificant being, the young woman ignored Dylan’s kind gesture. “I know who you are, Ms. Adams. My name is Bianca, I’ll be filling in for Mr. Moreno, Alex, indefinitely. If you need anything, just let me know.”

  Dylan was almost afraid to ask her where Alex was, but she pulled her shoulders back, stood straight and asked, “What happened to Alex?”

  There was no way this woman was going to intimidate her. “Hell if I know. I was assigned here until further notice. It’s not my job to keep tabs on him.”

  Oh boy. Dylan had her work cut out for her with this new pain in her side. She knew she wasn’t going to get any work out of Bianca, and given her friendly introduction, she wasn’t going to ask for any.

  Once in her office, she decided to give Veronica a quick buzz. “Hey, Veronica, I hope I’m not interrupting, but I just wanted to let you know that I will be working for a little bit to get caught up.”

  Veronica didn’t mind Dylan coming in even though Rade told her she wouldn’t be in for a couple of days. “No worries, Dylan, I just thought you were going to take a few days. Glad to see you back.” Dylan let Veronica know that she would be in the rest of the week and she shouldn’t be missing any more work.

  Dylan was working through her files when she came across some figures on a couple of files that didn’t look right. The numbers just didn’t match up. She double checked and triple checked the entries on the invoice copies in the files. She added and re-added the numbers, and still they didn’t match. Dylan was pretty confident something was wrong. She thought it best to bring it to Veronica’s attention. When she got to Veronica’s office with the files, she was met with an empty office. Looking at her watch, she realized she’d lost track of time. It was already after eight. She was so engrossed by these two files that time got away from her. Locking the file
s in her desk drawer, she decided to call it a night. Maybe tomorrow would bring a solution to her dilemma. At the very least Veronica would be able to come up with a solution.

  Dylan called Peter to let him know she was ready to go and she would meet him in the lobby. Everyone else was already gone when she got ready to leave. She made sure all the lights were turned off and only the security lights were shining on the floor. Just as Dylan entered the elevator, her cell phone pinged Where the fuck are you? Even though Dylan had worked a lot longer than she planned, she felt she didn’t need to explain herself to Rade. She was pretty sure Peter let Rade know they were on their way to his condo. Somehow Dylan needed to find a way to get out from under Rade’s control. She was tired of being told what she could and couldn’t do. Controlling her in the bedroom was one thing, but to control her every move was another. Another thing that bothered her was her continued efforts to be taken to The Castle. She felt like he was putting her off. With everything he had shared with her during their lessons in D/S, she was ready to explore this other life of his. She wanted to be able to give him everything he needed. Just thinking about it made her tingle. It was time she confronted him and let him know how it was going to be.

  Peter pulled into the parking garage of Rade’s penthouse at exactly nine-thirty. Dylan stepped out of the Mercedes before Peter opened his own door. Riding the elevator together, Dylan asked Peter, “How well do you know Rade?”

  Peter kept his eyes straight ahead has he answered, “I don’t know Mr. Matheson that well at all. Matter of fact, it was Richard who said Mr. Matheson needed my service.”