by Ali Parker
"I don't know how to go easy." I leaned back and pulled him down to rest on top of me again.
His expression softened as he brushed my hair back. "I'm falling in love with you. I keep telling myself it's just your beauty, or your incredibly giving heart, but it's more than that."
I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled at him a little as he pressed just inside my body, stretching me in ways that were beyond delicious. I wanted to echo his thoughts, but I couldn't find the right words, so I stopped searching.
He ran his lips over my chest as he moved down to suck one of my nipples into the warmth of his mouth. A deep moan left me as he shifted back up and pressed himself deeper inside of me.
"Let me know if I hurt you, baby. Okay?" The look of love in his eyes was more than I could have asked for. It was everything to me.
"You're not going to hurt me. Let go like you asked me to do, okay?" I reached up and pulled him down, enjoying almost too much how well he fit against me.
"If that's what you want." He hovered above me with a naughty smile on his lips.
"More than anything else in the world." I lifted my knees a little to give him more room and cried out as he reached up and grabbed the headboard. The position opened me up farther and left me vulnerable to whatever he wanted to do.
"Then hold on tight, Dana. Don't let me go." He rolled his hips, impaling me and leaving me lost to the intense pleasure of being the center of his lust. He knew how to make me purr and he used every inch of his body to make it happen again and again and again.
Chapter 31
Kendal
"You know we're going to have to get up soon, right?" I leaned down and kissed the top of Dana's shoulder as she lay in the bed on her side, her back pressed against me. I'd come three times during our afternoon love making session. I should have been exhausted, but I was alive again, completely on fire for the woman beside me. She'd offered herself up for my pleasure in a beautiful way that felt natural and right.
"No..." She glanced over her shoulder and up at me. "Are you really falling in love with me?"
"Yes." I wrapped my hand around her throat lightly and leaned down to make love to her sweet mouth again. "But don't feel like you have to return anything, okay? Just ease into this with me."
"I'm already there." She pulled from me and turned on her other side to face me before cuddling back up. "I just didn't want to admit it to myself."
"Why is that?" I brushed her hair back and ran my hand down over her arm slowly. "Does love scare you?"
"No. I just can't imagine waiting eight months to be together like this." She tilted her head back and locked eyes with me. "Maybe I should honestly look at transferring to another school. There are lots of them in Dallas."
"Maybe I should go work for Damon. It's not like I'm ever going to get my reputation to the place I want it to be at UT. I'm fighting an uphill battle all the time." That she was willing to transfer during her senior year spoke volumes.
"You love it there, and you've worked really hard to get into the position you're in. You're not giving that up for me. It will be easier when I'm out of school."
"Will it?" I kissed her again before rolling onto my back and tucking one of my hands behind my head. "I'm dealing with Heather and her bullshit as well as several students that think flirting with their professors is not only normal, but accepted." I rolled my eyes. "Maybe I'm just living a pipe dream."
"Or maybe they are." She moved closer and leaned against my side. "You know every young girl dreams of having a sexcapade with their teacher. It's part of growing up from girl to woman."
I snorted and laughed. "Is that so?"
"Absolutely. The main problem is that most guy teachers aren't exactly attractive."
"No?" I lifted my eyebrow and worked to memorize the cute look on her face.
"Nope." She sat up and moved to the edge of the bed. "I would assume that's probably why you're getting so much attention."
I rolled on my side and watched her get dressed, grateful that she seemed to leave her modesty behind. She didn't need to be anything but herself around me.
"So it's not because I'm good looking. It's because everyone else around me is shit?" I chuckled as she glanced over her shoulder and gave me a look.
"That's not what I said, and you know it." She worked on her bra and picked up her panties, but paused. "Maybe I should go commando tonight."
"And give me a heart attack? No. Don't do that to me, please." I got out of the bed and walked toward the window to let my eyes run across the busyness of the city.
"I thought you might like the idea of me being risqué while we were out to dinner." She pressed herself to my back, fitting against me beautifully.
"I'd have a raging hard-on the whole time, so it's up to you." I turned in her arms and leaned down to kiss the tip of her nose. "Would you honestly consider transferring schools for me? For us?"
She didn't blink before responding. "Absolutely. If that's what we need to do... I'm all for it."
"It's not, but I love that you're willing."
"Would you think about moving from Dallas in a year or so if I wanted to attend medical school somewhere else?"
She assumed we were a long-term thing. I loved it.
"Like where?" I smiled as she swatted playfully at me and moved back. "What? I'm just asking where you're thinking about dragging me off to. I'm a Texas boy through and through."
"I'm thinking here." She shrugged and picked up her dress, shaking it out.
"I'd go anywhere you wanted to go, Dana. I just want to make this thing between us work. I can see you beside me in the future and it feels good. I wasn't sure I'd find anyone after all the shit that happened between me and Ana. It was like having someone rip my heart out and stomp all over it in front of me. She went from loving me like I'd never been loved before to denying me like I was a monster after her innocence. It was sickening."
"I'm sorry." She brushed her hands down the front of her dress and moved to stand in front of me. "That's not going to happen with me. I'm here for the long haul if you'll have me."
"I don't want anyone else." I cupped her face and leaned in for a soft kiss. "You'll have to get used to Damon though. He's part of the deal."
"He's back with Bethany now though, right?"
"Yes, and thank God for it. He's much more like his old self."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Her cheeky grin caused me to chuckle.
"A bit of both?"
Dana's friend Olivia was beautiful and seemed like a sweet girl from what I could tell. She'd gotten home about an hour after Dana and I finally pulled ourselves from the sweaty sheets and made ourselves presentable. I'd rather have stayed in the bed for the rest of the evening, but Dana seemed pumped over getting to hang out with her best friend again.
"Olivia. This is Dr. Kendal Tarrington. He's a professor at UT in Dallas." Dana moved back with a huge smile on her face as Olivia extended her hand toward me. If I didn't know better, I'd say Dana was rather proud of my accomplishments, which just seemed to make me love her all the more.
"Just Kendal, please." I shook the busty blonde’s hand and gave her a warm smile. "Dana says you guys grew up together."
"We sure did." Olivia shook my hand firmly and moved back. "We ran the town and the school back in the day, didn't we?"
Dana chuckled. "Something like that."
A knock at the door interrupted the conversation.
"That's Luke. You guys grab whatever you need, and let's go to dinner. Luke got us reservations at this exclusive steakhouse. The man knows everyone who is someone." Olivia turned and walked toward the door as I reached for Dana's hand.
"Should be fun. I love a good steak almost as much as I love hearing you moan." I wagged my eyebrows at her as she gave me a “behave” look. As if.
I was just starting to breathe again. There was no way in hell I was forcing myself into submission just yet. It felt too good to let the more passionate pa
rts of my soul out for a stretch.
We moved toward the door as Olivia opened it wider. The guy standing in the doorway was a little shorter than me, but didn't look at all like someone I'd associate with. He had a cocky look on his face that resembled every frat brother I'd ever encountered. The night was sure to be interesting if nothing else.
"I'm Luke Taylor. Partner at Taylor, Taylor and Barden." He extended his hand and I smiled. Of course the guy introduced himself by what he did. Most people who craved significance did.
"Kendal. Nice to meet you, man." I shook his hand and introduced Dana to the prick. We made small talk for a few minutes before Olivia shuffled us out the door and into the hallway.
Dana and I walked hand in hand behind them, but I couldn't help but overhear their conversation.
"Why didn't you wear the blue dress I like?" Luke sounded put off.
"Because it's at the cleaners." She pressed the button on the elevator and turned toward us. "I wish you guys were going to be in town longer. I'd love to show you the city."
"It's New York, Olivia. I'm sure they've seen it." He snorted and held the door opened as we walked in.
"Actually, I've never been here." I threw in my two cents. "Maybe we can come up over the holidays and spend a little more time looking around. I think Dana was just being nice to one of her nursing friends and came up to support her."
"Yeah, my friend Jackie that I mentioned." Dana moved closer to me, wrapping her arm around the back of my waist and tucking herself to my side. It was so natural to play the couple we both wanted to be. How hard was it going to be back home to have her beside me and not be able to reach out and claim her as my own anytime I wanted to?
"And what was Jackie wanting to do in New York this weekend?" Luke eyeballed me and Dana before reaching out and taking Olivia's hand. She looked a little surprised by his actions. Sad.
"Some hotshot doctor came down to Dallas a week or so ago and she fell for him hook, line and sinker." Dana shrugged and smiled up at me. "Never know where lust might turn into love."
"What is hook, line and sinker?" Luke's tone was slightly demeaning.
"It's a southern term that refers to catching a fish." Olivia pulled her hand from Luke's and walked out of the elevator in front of us.
I let them get a few feet ahead before glancing down toward my girl. "They're tense."
"Hell yeah they are. Order a bottle of wine at the restaurant?" She wagged her eyebrows at me.
"Liquor makes me horny." I kissed the side of her head as we paused by the front door.
Olivia turned to face us as Luke walked out to talk with the valet. "I'm so glad you guys are here. This place is honestly one of the best places to have dinner in the whole city. And we're buying. No fussing about it."
"That's not fair." Dana pulled from me and put her hands on her hips. "You're already giving us a place to stay. I'll pick up the tab for dinner."
"Nope. Luke will just charge it to the company. He always does." She glanced over her shoulder and I couldn't help but notice the way her smile faded as she watched him. She wasn't in love. Hell, she wasn't in lust from what I could tell.
"You're not going to give on this are you?" Dana reached out and took Olivia's hand.
"Nope." Olivia pulled her into a tight hug and glanced up at me. "I haven't had time to check into you, but you better be a good guy. This girl is a gem and a half."
I smiled, liking the woman even better for her stance to protect Dana. "I'm well aware. I don't deserve her, but fate’s obviously smiling down on me for the time being. Now to keep her is the challenge."
"Oh, you're stuck for sure." Dana moved back into my arms. It felt almost too right with her in my arms. As if she was supposed to be there. Just having her close left my thoughts on the present and not locked in my painful past.
"I'm thrilled to be stuck." I leaned down and brushed my nose by hers.
Luke's chuckle caused me to glance up. "You guys just start dating or what?"
"Yeah. Why?" I moved back and took Dana's hand.
"Just asking seeing that you can't keep your hands off each other. It's cute." He didn't look like he thought it was cute.
"I'm pretty sure we'll be doing this forty years from now."
Olivia nodded with a look of approval on her face. "I want that in my life too."
"Then don't pull away every time I reach for you, woman." Luke pulled her into an awkward hug and kissed the side of her face before releasing her and popping her butt. "All right, come on. Enough of this lovey-dovey bullshit. We're going to be late."
Dana glanced up at me and rolled her eyes before we followed the odd couple out to the car. Thank God we spent the afternoon wrapped around each other. It was all I'd be focusing on for the remainder of the night. Surely after I played a good boy during dinner with her friends I'd be rewarded in some way or another. I wanted only one thing.
Her... naked and panting again.
Chapter 32
Dana
Luke hadn't shut up about his firm from the time we got into his overly pimped out sports car until they served dessert at the high-end restaurant. I couldn't tell if Olivia was as over him as I knew Kendal and I both were, but either way, I felt like shit for my best friend.
"I'm going to run to the ladies’ room." I stood up and glanced down toward Olivia, trying to give her a look that would urge her to join me.
"Yeah. Me too." She stood up and put her napkin on her plate.
"You girls are weird." Luke shook his head and turned back to Kendal, bringing up another point about his firm.
"Does that guy ever stop talking about himself?" I mumbled as we walked toward the back. I hated to dump on Olivia's man, but there was no way in the deepest parts of hell that she was happy with him. If she was, then she wasn't at all the girl I'd grown up with.
"He's pretty proud of his accomplishments." She pushed the door to the bathroom open. "He keeps trying to get me to come work for him, but I just can't see that being a good idea."
"That's because it's a horrible idea. I think you putting up with him being your boyfriend should get you sainthood." I paused by the mirror and leaned in to check my teeth.
"So you and Kendal seem to be really into each other." Her smile was sweet and yet I could tell she was hurting behind it.
"It's been a roller coaster so far. I met him at the hospital. His sister Amanda was one of my patients. I think I told you that already, right?"
"Some of it, but tell me more. What was wrong with her?"
"She had MS."
"Had?" Olivia's expression tightened.
"She passed away about a week ago." I stepped back from the mirror and turned to face my oldest friend. "He's been having a rough time with it, but I think that's because he lost his mom and dad when he was younger. The poor guy doesn't have anyone but his best friend."
"At least he has that." She ran her hand through her hair and turned toward the mirror. "I didn't mean that the way it came out."
I moved up behind her and wrapped her in a hug before pressing my cheek to the back of her shoulder. She was more of a sister to me than my own sister was. We'd been through so much shit, but her leaving Texas caused a fissure between us. Proximity was power, and I missed her like crazy.
"I miss you too."
"I'm sorry." She let out a shaky breath. "I just keep thinking that I need to get over everything and move on. It's been fucking six years since all that shit with Caden went down. We were just kids for God's sake and yet I look for him everywhere I go."
I moved back and waited for her to turn to face me. "That's because he's living up here in New York now."
"I know." She glanced down and closed her eyes. "I can't shake the fact that he's right around the corner. That if I just keep my eyes open, I'll find him again."
I touched her shoulder gingerly. "Do you really want to open all of that back up?"
She glanced up and shrugged. "I don't know. He's a man now, not a boy. Who kno
ws who he really is or what he's up to? Best to stay with the evil you know than go seeking in the dark for something that could turn out to be bigger and scarier."
I snorted. "I'm not sure Caden would turn out to be anything but a country boy with a great smile in a suit, trying to pretend to be someone he's not."
"Like I'm doing?"
The sadness in her tone tore through me. There had to be something I could do to help.
"So come back home. Move in with me and we'll find you a job in Dallas. There has to be investment firms worth your time down in the south."
"There are, but I can't just up and leave, Dana. My whole life has been built here."
"So rebuild it." I knew she wasn't going to budge until the pain of being stuck in a life that didn't really fit her became overwhelming. How it hadn't for the last six years was a mystery to me, and yet here she was - enduring.
"Maybe in the future." She pulled me into a quick hug. "So you and Kendal just started dating, but things already seem to be going so well."
"He's a professor at UT, remember? I'm a student, so the honest truth behind all of it is that he's not supposed to be dating me. We used this weekend to get away and enjoy each other like we wish we could at home." I shrugged and turned to wash my hands. "We'll get back to Texas on Sunday and things will go back to normal. I think that's why we can't keep our hands off of each other. Back home we really don't have much of a choice. He could lose his job over us being together."
"Oh. Wow." She rubbed the top of my back. "Well, you know that you're welcome to come up here and hang out at my place any weekend you're free."
"I appreciate that." I dried my hands and nodded toward the door. "You ready? They probably thought we fell in."
She chuckled. "I wish. It would be a better ending to the night than having to tell Luke that I'm not sleeping with him."