Come To Me (Dare With Me Series Book 3)

by J. H. Croix

  “We’re not going anywhere,” I murmured, right before I leaned up, tugged on the lapels of his leather jacket and brought him back to my mouth.

  Another mind-melding kiss later, he lifted his head. “Fuck, Gemma, you make me lose my mind.”

  My body overflowed with sensation, and I shoved a palm under his shirt, letting out a gasp at the feel of his warm skin. His breath hissed through his teeth, and I saw the flash of a smile in the dim light.

  “Sweetheart,” he murmured when I rocked my hips restlessly against his arousal. “This—”

  I shoved his shirt all the way up and dipped my head to string kisses over his chest. I heard a muttered curse and then I felt his hands slide under my blouse. I let out a moan at the feel of his palms on my skin, his calloused touch sending sparks scattering. Every touch from him was its own experience, each one opening a doorway into another room of new sensations.

  It was a fumbled rush, but he got my blouse open and pushed my bra down, my breasts plumping over. He growled right before he dipped his head and caught one of my tight, achy nipples with his mouth. The suction had me crying out, as I pressed against the rough wooden wall behind me.

  I dragged my eyes open. I needed more. I wanted him inside me. I could feel the hard press of his arousal, and I reached between us, deftly undoing his fly.

  He curled his hand over mine, stilling it. “Slow down.” His tone was ragged, but soothing.

  He didn’t understand how much I needed this. How much I needed the frantic quality of it. “I don’t want to slow down,” I whispered.

  His eyes searched mine. We didn’t speak, but he seemed to understand what I needed. His hand moved away from mine, and I slid my palm into his boxers, curling around the velvety hot length of him. I savored the way he groaned, biting out, “Gemma, you’re killing me. You’re so fucking hot.”

  In another fumbled rush, I shoved his jeans down just enough that his cock sprang free. Meanwhile, he hitched my skirt up around my hips. His palm smoothed over the inside of my thigh as he pushed a knee out to the side. That simple touch was such a seduction, sending sparks flying over my skin. My insides were liquid, and I was needy, so very needy.

  Diego, being far more prepared than me, yanked his wallet out of his back pocket, producing a condom and smoothing it on, protecting us both in a matter of seconds. Then, he reached between my thighs, pushing my panties out of the way and let out a satisfied hum when he found my core hot, wet, and ready. I was so ready, more ready than I had ever been in my life.

  “Oh, sugar, so good.” He drew his fingers out and obliterated my brain cells when he lifted them and licked my arousal off, watching me the whole time. “You taste as good as I thought,” he murmured, just before dipping his head and catching my lips in a lingering kiss.

  He teased his cock at my entrance when his tongue glided against mine. I was on the edge of coming already, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted him inside me. My hips bucked against him, and I made a restless sound in his mouth.

  He lifted his head and tugged one of my knees up to curl around his hip. “Okay, sugar, this won’t be graceful.” A gravelly chuckle followed, and I thought I might melt on the spot.

  “I don’t care,” I whispered. Because I didn’t. I wanted it to be ungraceful and messy and hot, so hot that I burned in the fire of sensation.

  He lifted me against him, using the wall behind us as a brace. I felt his thick crown pressing and then he reached between us to adjust the angle, right before he filled me completely.

  I let out a tattered moan as my head thumped against the wall behind me. This, this, was everything. I was held in Diego’s strong embrace with his thick length filling and stretching me. Pleasure spiraled inside me, the force of it gathering with every resounding beat of my heart.

  Diego’s speech was almost slurred. “God, you feel so good. Hang on, sugar.”

  He held still for a moment before he began rocking into me with subtle shifts of his hips. Each stroke went a little deeper and stretched me a little more. We were pressed tightly together, and my clit was rubbing at the base of his cock with every nudge of him inside of me.

  My orgasm struck suddenly, almost surprising me. Everything pulled tight like a knot of pressure in my core before all the ropes snapped free. I cried out and trembled roughly against him.

  His lips pressed on my neck, open and hot on the underside of my jaw, as I felt him begin to shudder before his entire body went taut as tremors rippled through him. It was all over but for the pleasure spinning through me in echoes. He held me there against the wall in the dusty, almost dark storage room in the barn, the sound of our heaving breaths filling the space. I was awash in sensation, coasting on eddies of it as pure joy drifted through me. I had forgotten myself enough for this to actually happen.

  Eventually, Diego withdrew and helped me put my clothes back into place. His gaze coasted over me. I probably looked like a giddy fool, and I didn’t even care.

  “How are you doing?” he asked, his lips kicking up at the corner with a slow smile.

  “Awesome. I’m doing awesome.”

  “Well, that makes two of us then.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Diego

  I should’ve gone home after that. That was usually my cue to leave—a satisfied woman, and me replete with pleasure. But I didn’t want to leave. Gemma had this easy joy to her that I wanted to savor. Admittedly, I didn’t quite understand it.

  We went back inside, and she offered me some ice cream. There was absolutely no reason to turn that down. Then, she curled her hand around mine and tugged me into her bedroom, announcing, “We’re gonna go to sleep.”

  This was the second chance I had to slip away. I didn’t.

  Sleep wasn’t hard to come by after that. Hell, she’d blown my fucking mind in the barn. I didn’t know how, but I’d known she didn’t want to experience some kind of orchestrated seduction. She wanted that rough, messy coupling in the barn, so I gave it to her. I hadn’t expected her, in her raw, primal pleasure, to reach in and set a hook deeply into my heart. I sensed it wouldn’t be easy to dislodge.

  I fell asleep beside her, listening to the even gusts of her breath. Just when I thought my own brain was going to kick on and keep me awake all night, she hooked her leg over my knee and curled up warm and soft against me. I fell asleep.

  When I woke up the next morning, I was disoriented until I looked around. I smelled bacon and maple syrup. The bed was ridiculously comfortable with a lightweight down quilt and tons of fluffy pillows. Gemma was nowhere in sight.

  Rolling over, I reached for my phone on the table by the bed to discover it was only six in the morning. I had plenty of time to get back to the resort if I chose, or to shower here. I decided to play it by ear.

  After I got dressed, I walked down the hall when I heard Gemma say, “Neal, I’m not sure I want to be involved in the case. I need time to decide.”

  There was a pause, and I kept on walking because I didn’t know how else to play this off. When I stepped into the kitchen, she replied to whatever Neal said with, “I promise I’ll think about it and let you know. I love you.”

  “Good morning,” I called when she set the phone down on the counter.

  She turned back, her brow puckered and tight lines around her eyes. “Oh, hey. That was my brother.” She paused, closing her eyes and shaking her head slightly. When she opened her eyes again, her brow smoothed, and she smiled slightly. “I’m making breakfast. Pancakes and bacon. Would you like some?”

  “I’ll never say no to that.” Because I couldn’t resist, I crossed the living room into the kitchen where she stood by the stove and dipped my head to drop a kiss in the curve where her shoulder met her neck. Her hair was pulled up in a haphazard twist, and she wore an apron over her T-shirt and leggings. She looked adorable and absolutely delectable.

  She flipped the bacon in the pan and angled her head up. Before I knew what I was doing, I was kissing her and she tasted deli
cious. By the time I lifted my head, I felt as if I’d tripped and fallen inside. My heart gave a tricky twist as I looked into her eyes. “Good morning,” I repeated.

  “Good morning. There’s some coffee ready,” she said, pointing to a coffee maker with an almost full pot and an empty mug sitting beside it.

  I helped myself to coffee, and she told me where the creamer was. I watched her finish making pancakes, and we sat together at the table to eat breakfast. It occurred to me that this was the most domestic morning I’d ever had, at least since I’d been a kid in my parents’ house.

  “What does your brother do?” I asked conversationally while we ate.

  “He’s an attorney in Portland.” She regarded me as she took a sip of coffee. Setting her mug down, she added, “I’m not really the black sheep, but maybe the gray sheep of my family.”

  “The gray sheep?” I prompted.

  “I don’t really fit in, but I’m not a bad kid. My parents are brilliant attorneys and my brother’s also a brilliant attorney. I was supposed to be brilliant, but my dyslexia got in the way. It made for some difficult times in school before we figured out what the problem was. My family is great, so I only complain a little bit.”

  I nodded slowly as I absorbed that detail. “Families can be challenging, even when you love them. You met Harley, and she’s not even the most outspoken of my sisters. I love all of my sisters, but sometimes they drive me nuts. I hope she didn’t say anything out of turn when I wasn’t paying attention last night.”

  Gemma laughed softly before taking another sip of her coffee. “Harley was great, and she didn’t say anything out of turn. It’s clear she wants to see you settled and happy, and I’m sure you’d like the same for her.”

  I considered that observation. “Maybe so, but my sisters tend to be bossier about what they think I should do with my life.”

  Gemma smiled, her eyes sympathetic. “Family is a good thing, even if they drive us crazy sometimes. It’s hard enough not to feel alone in the world.”

  She stood from the table, glancing down toward my completely empty plate. I grinned and pushed it toward her and stood. “I’ll help you clean up.”

  “You don’t—” she began, quieting when I shook my head.

  “You cooked me breakfast, and it was delicious. I’m going to help you clean up, so don’t even try to stop me.”

  She cast me a wry smile. “Putting dishes in the dishwasher is tough work. Have at it,” she teased.

  I did put everything in the dishwasher and then followed her out to help her deal with the horses that morning. The second I stepped into that storage area room where the feed and hay were kept, my mind spun back to last night.

  When I had her in my arms, against the wall, while I was buried inside of her silky, clenching channel. Fuck me. Merely thinking about Gemma coming all over my cock nearly made me spin her back against that wall all over again.

  A few minutes later, I stood beside my truck and her lashes lifted when she looked up at me. “Last night was…” Her words trailed off, and her cheeks flushed pink.

  “Incredible,” I offered helpfully.

  Her flush deepened, and she bit her lip as she nodded. “It was incredible.”

  “Was it incredible enough that we’ll finally have that dinner?”

  I watched doubts pass like clouds in her eyes before she took a quick breath and nodded. “Definitely. When would you like to go?”

  “Any night I’m back early enough from flying, I’m all yours,” I said, meaning it completely.

  Gemma slipped her phone out of her pocket and tapped open the calendar, scrolling through it quickly. “How about this Friday? I’ll see you at the class at the resort next week after that too.”

  “This Friday works. We don’t do late flights on Friday, so I should be on the ground before five. I’ll text you my schedule and meet you here.”

  Gemma nodded, and we stood there for a moment. I wasn’t accustomed to the feeling I was experiencing. I wanted to kiss her. Hell, I wanted to kiss her and take her back inside and stay in bed all day. This was definitely not usually how I felt about a girl. But I already knew the truth—Gemma wasn’t just any girl to me.

  Stepping closer, I leaned down for a lingering kiss. When I lifted my head, my cock was rock hard and my heartbeat thumped out a driving fast pace in my chest.

  “Until Friday,” I said as I forced myself to step back, climb in my truck, and drive away.

  Halfway back toward the resort, my mind got stuck on the conversation I overheard when I walked into the kitchen. What court case was she talking about?

  None of this should’ve even mattered. It’s just that Gemma was starting to matter, and secrets didn’t sit well with me. I told myself that she didn’t owe me any explanations and that it was probably nothing. But I didn’t quite believe it because there’d been a thread of tension in her shoulders when I saw her talking to her brother.

  I remembered Harley telling me that just because Deana pulled a fast one on our parents didn’t mean everybody would do something like that. I tried to remind myself that was true. I didn’t need to create a problem in my mind where there wasn’t one.

  Chapter Twenty

  Diego

  Gabriel attempted to slam the door of the passenger side of the small plane. It was a weak effort because the doors were lightweight and didn’t give a satisfying slam. I put my headset on and ran through all the pre-flight checks quickly.

  Only after we were in the air did I ask, “Why so cranky?”

  Gabriel slid his eyes sideways to meet my gaze, irritation evident in the tense lines at the corners and the set of his mouth. He put his headset on. We had a private channel where we could chat when we were flying. “Nora and I had a fight.”

  That was the closest Gabriel had come to admitting out loud he and Nora had a thing going. They kept it pretty well hidden from Flynn, but not so much with the rest of us.

  “About what?”

  He was quiet for a minute and then finally offered, “I told her I never planned to get serious. I thought that was already obvious. She got really fucking pissed off with me about it.”

  “Ah, I see. You were planning for this to be a long-term friends with benefits situation?”

  His sigh filtered through the headphones. “I guess I wasn’t really planning. That’s part of the problem.”

  “That, and you two are sneaking around like kids trying to hide from their parents,” I offered with a chuckle.

  He groaned. “I know. This whole thing came up because she told me she was tired of sneaking around and wanted to be open about our relationship. She also said she had feelings she hadn’t planned on. I said we didn’t have a relationship. That set her off.”

  “Nora’s pretty awesome. Why wouldn’t you want to consider something more with her?”

  “Dude, you know my deal. After what happened with Greg, I’m all set with commitment and relationships.”

  I angled the plane, watching the sunlight glittering on the bay below us, spread out in its sparkling glory with the mountains hugging its edges. “Seems pretty cynical to me,” I offered. “So, Greg screwed around with Elias’s ex and yours. Elias has moved on. Why can’t you?”

  Gabriel chuckled. “Really? You’re as cynical as me. Out of all of us, you’re the most likely to fall in love and settle down like your parents. And yet, because your first serious girlfriend pulled a fast one on your family, you won’t even give it a second thought.”

  Okay, that stung a little, but I absorbed the sharp blow. “Fair point. Maybe I’m trying to see past that.”

  “With Gemma?”

  “Sure. Obviously, I don’t know what’s going to happen with her, but I like her.”

  “Well, that much is obvious,” Gabriel replied with a sly laugh.

  Our conversation was interrupted with a radio in about an extra pickup for some passengers who needed to get across the bay to Diamond Creek for a doctor’s appointment. After that, ou
r day was flat out busy, and we didn’t dwell on our respective relationship issues. I did wonder just how tense things would be back at the resort when Nora and Gabriel were in the same room. But that wasn’t really my problem. My only problem was curbing my impatience to go see Gemma.

  My old habit of keeping my distance reared its head though. We landed earlier than expected, and I didn’t know if Gemma was free. I didn’t give in to my impatience and went out to the resort that night. I did make an appearance at dinner there, and Gabriel and Nora were icy-cold to each other. I wondered how long that would hold.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Gemma

  I walked around the studio, putting away the yoga mats for students who’d borrowed them for class after wiping them down thoroughly with a disinfectant. The bathroom door opened, and Daphne stepped out, smiling over at me. “Thank you. That class was great tonight. I’m on my feet so much with cooking that my lower back gets really tight,” she said, rubbing her palm over the area.

  “I’m glad it helps.”

  “Would you like to grab some coffee and lunch with me?” she asked.

  After a quick glance at the clock, I looked back at her and nodded. “Sure. I don’t have another class for a few hours.”

  Daphne’s green eyes twinkled with her smile. “Perfect. Let’s go to Misty Mountain. I need to check in with Cammi about the new system we’ve set up for deliveries.”

  We walked out to the parking area together after I locked up the studio. “New system?” I asked as we crossed over to our vehicles. I tapped my key fob, and my car made that soft dinging sound.