ROMANCE_A Tempting Bride

by Vanessa Rose

  “I… I could go right now,” he said. “You shouldn’t have to… I don’t want you to…”

  I sensed the sob catching in his throat, and I curled my fingers under his chin as I kissed his lips and smiled.

  “Tell me all of it, Dylan.”

  Chapter 3: Every Inch of Dylan

  Dylan didn’t speak as he turned his head away. I held him tighter and murmured for him to keep going when he fixed his eyes on the ceiling, gaze glassy.

  “We… we landed at night,” he started. “Locked and loaded and moving through the dirt. Just under the trees. They… we were after aid workers.”

  A shred of the story from my daily news flashed into my mind, but even though I knew how this tale ended, I kept quiet and just held his hand.

  “After we parachuted, we hit the ground running and found the tents. Bullets… they fired. But we got our people out. I… I took the girl under my arms and started to run.”

  “And what did she say?” I asked.

  “She… she clung to me and like tugged at my shirt,” Dylan said. “Thanked me for almost getting her back to a place where she could share her good news.”

  I imagined that surviving weeks in captivity was something that would give the woman a kind of strength as soon as she came out the other side.

  “So you are a hero,” I said. “Let me give you a reward.”

  Kissing him hard, I savored the feel of his lips melting into mine when he suddenly pushed back and scampered to the edge of the couch as his hands ran down the back on his neck.

  “But she didn’t make it,” he said in a heavy, thick voice. “There… she got an infection or whatever. And we were too late to…”

  And I had heard that, too, but it didn’t mean that his efforts were anything but worthy. I tried to kiss him when he pushed me back and stepped away.

  “They all say that. But I… I can’t stop thinking about what might have been if… if we’d just made it there sooner.”

  Dylan’s voice trailed off, and I leaned forward to touch him again.

  “Just stop!” he cried.

  As he turned, the back of his hand just caught my face, and I fell to the cushions with my face in my hands. Weeping without wanting to--the blow still hurt--I started to crawl back to the pillows when Dylan returned to my side and gathered me in his arms.

  “Shit, I’m… Gabrielle?”

  Glancing up at the sound of my full name leaving his lips, I saw his face screw up in pain as he rested his brow against mine and spoke softly.

  “I’m… I’m so sorry,” he said. “Last thing I want to do is hurt you.”

  A single tear streaked down his face, and I kissed it away quickly as I returned his hold and whispered into his hair.

  “I’m okay,” I assured him. “Guess we both had a long day.”

  But hours spent hocking pills were nothing compared to the long months Dylan had to have spent with this guilt weighing on his heart. Wanting nothing more than to push the shadows from his soul, I eased him back to the couch and stripped off my every scrap of clothing below my waist.

  “I can help you,” I said. “Just… you just lay still.”

  Dylan curled his fingers behind his head. He didn’t fight as I pulled his jeans from his legs, and as soon as I saw his cock primed and poised, I bent down to kiss the taut tip. Moaning, Dylan kept me close to his cock, and I opened my mouth wide, thinking of nothing but calming the waters raging in his soul, and I took him between my lips, licking and sucking up his length.

  “Gabrielle, you…”

  His voice went soft as I took his cock into the back of my throat. Feeling his throb, I gripped his hands, ready to drink in the stream of his lust when he suddenly pulled back and held my face before his eyes.

  “No,” he said. “I’m tired of it.”

  “Of what?” I asked, still fingering his cock as it pulsed between my fingers.

  “I… I want to be the one…”

  Dylan wrestled my arms over my head, and he kissed me gently as fell between my legs.

  “The… the one what?” I asked.

  Any hope of speech left me as soon as he filled me. His cock on my tongue was nothing compared to the feel of him inside of my cunt, and I arched my body to take more of him as Dylan stroked my hair and kissed his cheeks.

  “How they talked about you in the bar,” he said. “The way they tried to touch you…”

  When he couldn’t finish the thought, I kissed him hard as I curled my arms around his neck.

  “I’m safe now,” I told him. “With you.”

  Dylan still appeared unconvinced, and I kissed him again as I wrapped my legs around his, my toes grazing his ass as I looked into his eyes and nodded my head.

  “Give me more,” I begged. “I want… I need to keep feeling safe with you.”

  He wavered as I caressed his cheek, but as soon as our lips locked, Dylan kissed me fiercely and lowered me down. As his cock pulsed and his fingers moved through my hair, I clung to his frame, licking the sweat from his arms when he suddenly forced his palm to my shoulder and pressed me into the cushions.

  “Safe?” he nervously asked. “How else… does it…?”

  Following the line of his question, I drew his face close to mine and kissed him hard. Dylan’s lips took hold of my tongue, and as he slipped past the line of my teeth, I leaned up, wanting nothing more than to consume his entire cock when he slowed and brushed the few strands of fallen hair from my sweating face.

  “I’m happy, Dylan,” I said as I took hold of his hand and kissed his trembling fingers. “And I want you to be---”

  The force of his thrust cut into my speech, and as I lifted my head in search of fresh air, there was nothing but his moan. Sighing into his stream as it spilled down my throat, I let his hands go and laid waiting, wanting.

  “What do you want me to be?” I asked.

  Dylan rested his kiss to my shoulder. As soon I felt him there, I grabbed his face and focused my stare on his eyes. His gaze softened as he leaned in to make me his again, and he stopped just before meeting my mouth and curled his fingers around my hair.

  “Could you be happy with me?”

  His voice trembled around the question, and I stilled him with a sharp kiss when Dylan rocked his hips. I smiled into his eyes and fought to take hold of his cock when his push relaxed all of my muscles. Lacking the strength to seize his hair, I melted into the feel of him filling me. I arched my body to relish his entire flood, and I went limp. Completely under his strange, secret power, I felt as if I was bound with invisible rope. The confines were warm as I focused on his eyes and parted my lips.

  Dylan leaned down for another kiss.

  “Oh!”

  My mouth was still on his when his cock claimed my cunt, and I reached back with a contented moan as soon as my body went warm. Wanting more of this, more of him, I curled to his chest and stroked him softly as he kissed my damp hair and settled at my side.

  “Was that sweet for you?” he asked.

  As soon as I nodded my assent, Dylan twirled to his back, and I kept inside him as he made another move for my mouth.

  “So sweet,” I said. “Come closer.”

  Savoring even the softening of his cock, I wrapped him in my arms and held him as I raked my fingers down his face and bowed my head.

  “I like you,” I whispered. “I don’t care what you were. You… you looked out for me tonight. Even when you didn’t have---”

  “Of course I did,” Dylan said. “Because it’s you.”

  Smiling as he leaned closer, I rested against his mouth and stole another kiss when Dylan pulled back and traced the line of my lips. Grinning into his touch, I stroked his cheek and smiled into his eyes.

  “That goes both ways,” I said. “Come here.”

  I dragged my lips down his cheek and pressed my fingers into his back. His lean lines were like steel against my hands, but when I smiled into his eyes, his flesh melted. I cupped his cheeks in my hands, m
y body growing even warmer under the weight of his smile.

  “You… you got someplace else to be?” I asked.

  Dylan’s eyes darkened, and his faraway stare threatened to send him away now that I had him so close. But he just sighed as he gently fondled my breasts.

  “Not that I can think of,” he said. “Why? What did you have in mind?”

  “Hmmm… I don’t know,” I said. “Thought you could use a good night’s sleep? I’ll make you breakfast in the morning?”

  “Breakfast?” he asked as he shifted his head away. “You cook?”

  “Yes,” I smirked as I pinched his pecs and brushed my hair against his chest.

  “Flapjacks. Bacon. Seasoned potatoes and the works,” I promised.

  Dylan appeared intrigued at my suggested feast, and he licked his lips before smiling.

  “I could go for that,” he finally said.

  “So you’ll stay?” I asked.

  A wave of weariness wafted off him as he settled close to me again. Wrapping my arms around his shoulders, I kissed his hair. How many nights had he tossed and turned in a lonely bed with thoughts of lost chances permeating his thoughts? I did as much, and I hadn’t lived through half of what he…

  “You should rest,” I said. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

  Would he ever be able to believe that?

  “You’re the boss,” he finally said. “Guess I’m in your hands now.”

  His next kiss put my mind, my heart, at ease, and, as I swirled into his body, I silently vowed that I was going to make this right. For both of us.

  Chapter 4: Breakfast Out of Bed

  “This morning? French toast.”

  Far more than I could do in the span of the workweek when duty called. Then it was Pop Tarts and Frosted Flakes doused in milk that somehow hadn’t spoiled. But Dylan kept coming back for seconds, thirds. Could it mean forever? Grateful for Friday spilling into Saturday again, I doused the fried bread in syrup and set a heaping plate before his eager eyes.

  “You’re gonna turn me into a fat man at this rate,” he said as he speared his food and plopped a piece of French toast into his mouth. I watched him chew, smiling when he swallowed.

  “Can’t say I want you fat,” I teased as I flopped into my chair and pushed it closer to his side. I danced my fingers against his thigh, and stopped when he took hold of my hand.

  “But you want me here, right?” he asked,

  “In every way,” I assured him. “Got a little syrup on your lip.”

  Kissing the sweetness away, I felt his arms tighten around me, and I wanted to stay there forever when I had to come up for air.

  “Tastes even better than usual,” I said. “What am I gonna do with you, soldier?”

  “Seal,” he corrected as he took another bite. “It’s not exactly the same thing.”

  So he told me. So I sensed when he woke up in a cold sweat, thrashing about the bed as my arms worked to keep him calm. He always settled when I whispered into his hair, and last night was the first night that he moved around me without nightmares. Good for me. Better for him.

  “I get it, Dylan,” I said. “But it’s the past. You need to look ahead.”

  “That how you stay sane?” he asked he pointed to my plate. Following his unspoken command, I took a bite and smiled as I dabbed a napkin to my mouth.

  “When it works, it works,” I said.

  “Really?” he challenged? “Old times never get to you?”

  “I…”

  Wanting to be honest with him, I carefully nodded my head. There was the day my mother walked out on us for a younger man, her children be damned. And sometimes my frustrated father resorted to fists when I stepped out of line. But to stay like that when I had pulled myself out of the muck with buyers begging at my fingertips? I wouldn’t do it.

  “Take the good memories with the bad,” I told him. “More good if you stop and think about it.”

  “That’s all I’m thinking about,” he purred.

  I started to speak when he spun me out of my chair and pressed my body to the countertop. Smiling as his hands moved under my robe, I held my breath as he caressed my legs, his touch drifting towards my thighs. Pausing between my legs, I spread my hips wider.

  “That all you got?” I playfully asked.

  “What’s wrong with this?” he challenged. “Feels just fine from where I’m standing.”

  His caress stayed gentle as he moved his fingers down the length of my legs. Clasping his face in my hands, I started to push him when he sank away from my mouth.

  But there were other lips.

  “What are you going to down there?” I asked. “Flapjacks weren’t doing it for you?”

  “Think this’ll be much sweeter,” he said.

  Dylan eased my robe from my body. I sighed at the feel of his hand exploring my back, mirroring the fall of the fabric until he reached under my ass. As he kneaded my soft flesh, I stretched closer to his hand and flattened my palms to his chest. The rhythm of his breaths, the beat of his heart, pulsed through my fingers, and I tried to bring his lips to mine when he raised his hand to my hair.

  “Do you feel this?” he asked.

  One hand moved gently through my locks as the other trailed down my legs. Which touch was more enticing?

  “Dylan, I…”

  “All of it’s good,” he crooned. “I’ve got you.”

  He sank deeper and started nibbling my soft flesh. Dylan’s hands stayed firm on my thighs as he disappeared between my legs. Gripping the edge of the counter, my head started to fall back his tongue began a slow, smooth pursuit. Fearing that I would fall without something stronger to take hold of, I ground my fingers into his shoulders, inhaling the musky scent of his hair as my breath caught in my chest.

  “You’re… you’re going to get me into trouble,” I managed to tease.

  “Only the good kind,” he said as he muttered into my thighs. The feel of his tongue searching my clitoris sent a sharp shiver up my spine. I wanted to cry when he pushed back only to lick every fold. Sometimes he moved with like a fugitive fleeing capture; other times his tongue was like a river swirling just beyond the true point of…

  “Don’t… don’t stop,” I pleaded when his search came to a sudden halt. I tugged at his hair, and my hands quivered as I reached for the wet warmth coating his lips.

  “Why, Dylan?” I painfully asked.

  “Give a guy a break,” he said. “Who could drink this down all at once?”

  He stretched up and presented my fingers to my mouth. Pressing his brow to mine, he silently commanded me to suck. My mouth parted without protest, and I savored the taste of my own cum, damp and delicious with just a hint of perfume. But it was nothing compared to what he could still do.

  “Take care of me,” I whispered. “You… you said you wanted to.”

  “All I really want,” Dylan responded.

  He fell back between my legs, and he bathed my cunt with soft kisses, never slackening his rhythm. Slow and steady and more sure of himself than I had ever seen or felt, I quivered underneath and around him, thinking that I would split in two when my body rocked towards his mouth.

  “My God,” I moaned. “Where have you been?”

  With my hands at the back of his neck, the explosion never came. Only a quivering under my flesh, seeping out in waves of tears and sweat. I lost all sense of time and space as a moan caught in the back of my throat, and I trembled against his tongue until my shivering stopped and my body went warm. My cunt no longer quaked as it absorbed his kiss, and when he finally lifted his eyes, I smiled at the sight of his lips shining as they curled into a smile.

  “Give me… I want… I need another taste.”

  Shifting away from the counter, falling from my perch, Dylan took me in his arms, and I curled into his chest as I kissed my lust from his lips. His hands still played about my back, and I settled beside him on the smooth tiles as he stroked my back and kissed my brow.

  �
��You’ve had enough,” he moaned as he kissed my neck and cuddled my cheeks. “For now at least.”

  “But Dylan, I---”

  “Gabrielle?”

  He pushed his fingers under my chin and titled my face towards his eyes.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” he swore.

  “You mean that?” I asked. “Because I’m going to hold you to---”

  “And I’m holding on to you,” he said. “This… with you is safe. No way I’m running away.”

  As his arms surrounded me, I believed him and lightly kissed his cheeks. All I had wanted was a drink after a long day. But was it possible that I had somehow found everything that I could ever want?

  Chapter 5: Family Reunion

  “You okay with this?” I asked.

  Dylan shifted uncomfortably in the back of the cab, looking like he was riding towards the gallows as he loosened his tie and emitted a low groan.

  “Just didn’t think you’d be bringing me around to meet the folks so soon,” he said.

  “Not folks,” I said. “My sister. And she’s harmless.”

  Betty hadn’t had much time for me since her big news. Maybe a baby on the way meant that she’d want to find her way back to the moments when we huddled together under quilts, wondered where our mother was at and hoped for our father to hold his temper for the next day into forever. But Betty did more than marry. She found a new family, a mother-in-law cherishing her, calling her the daughter that she had never had and always wanted. She was happy to hide away from the memories with them. I could fault my sister for the move, but I chose to dwell on the sweet moments that were as she longed to look to the happy times ahead. It was just how we coped.

  But no way she was going to leave me out in the cold when my first niece finally entered the world.

  “Dylan?”

  Over and over again I told him that he didn’t have to make the trip with me. He could have waited for me in bed. I was always coming back. But he seemed excited to sneak a peek at my life before.

  Until the reality obviously weighed down on his soul.