by Lynn LaFleur
Opening the refrigerator, Dylan stared at the meager contents. He wanted something, but didn’t know what. Maybe a beer would taste good. He reached for a bottle, then changed his mind and selected a Coke instead. He glanced at the clock on the stove as he downed half the can. The Cowboys played at three-thirty today, so he still had almost two hours to kill before the football game.
Dylan crushed the empty can, tossed it in the recycle container. He didn’t want to be here, alone in his house. He wanted to be with Talia. She hadn’t looked well when he left her. He should drive over to see her and make sure she’d made it home safely.
The decision made, Dylan grabbed his cell phone and keys and headed for his pickup.
Talia lived three blocks from the downtown courthouse, in a small, two-bedroom house that she rented from Janelle Hunt, her boss. Dylan made it there in under ten minutes. He pulled into her driveway, parked in front of the closed garage door. He noticed the drawn living room curtains. Perhaps Talia had gone somewhere else instead of coming home.
No, as badly as she felt, he had no doubt she’d come home and probably gone right to bed. Dylan didn’t want to bother her if she slept, but he had to know she was okay. He turned off the ignition, got out of his truck, and walked to her front door.
He smiled at the sound of Westminster Chimes when he pressed the doorbell. She’d had the new doorbell installed shortly after she rented the house. Talia had said several times she wanted to visit England.
When the door didn’t open in a minute, Dylan pressed the doorbell again. Another minute passed with no Talia. Deciding she must still be asleep, he turned to walk back to his pickup.
He’d taken no more than three steps when he heard the front door open behind him. Turning toward it, he saw Talia leaning against the doorframe. She didn’t look quite as green as she had a few hours ago, but still didn’t have the appearance of the friendly, perky woman he usually saw. “Hey.”
“Hey. Sorry I took so long to answer. I was in bed.”
Just as he’d suspected. “I’m sorry I bothered you. Go back to bed.”
“No, it’s okay. Actually, I was awake, but too lazy to get up. Come in.”
Dylan stepped over the threshold into Talia’s neat living room. He’d often teased her about being such a neat freak and needing to have everything in its place. She’d told him she kept what people saw in order, but he could never look in her closets or cabinets. She didn’t know what might be growing in them.
“I made fresh tea after my shower. Do you want a glass?”
“Yeah, that sounds great.”
Dylan admired the way her ass looked in her denim cutoffs as he followed her to the kitchen. She had her hair pulled up in a ponytail on top of her head. The end swept across her upper back as she walked, drawing his attention to the scooped-neck purple tank she wore. No shoes, no jewelry, no makeup.
She didn’t need makeup to be gorgeous and sexy.
“Do you want to sit in here or in the living room?” she asked, taking two glasses from the cabinet.
“Wherever you want to sit is okay with me.”
She took ice trays from the freezer, filled each glass, then added tea. “The couch will be more comfortable.”
And give him the chance to sit closer to her. “Works for me.”
Dylan accepted the glass from Talia, then followed her back to the living room. He waited until she sat in one corner of the couch before he took the other. He sipped his tea, admiring the slight taste of lemon in the sweet beverage. “Good.”
“Thanks. Although I doubt if you came over to compliment my tea.” Talia drew her knees up on the couch. “Why did you come over?”
“To check on you. You look so much better now than when I left you this morning.”
Her lips twisted to the side. “Thanks a lot.”
Realizing he’d insulted her without meaning to, Dylan quickly backtracked. “I mean, you weren’t feeling well this morning, so your complexion was a little green. You aren’t green anymore.”
She smiled. “I knew what you meant and you’re right. I was a mess this morning. It’s amazing how much good a person can get from a shower and a nap.” She placed one hand on her stomach. “I’m even starting to think about food.”
“You haven’t eaten anything yet?”
Talia shook her head. “Food didn’t appeal to me at all when I got home. The only thing I wanted was to shower and sleep. Now I think I’m ready.” She swirled the ice cubes in her glass. “Have you had lunch?”
“No.”
“I forgot to bring my barbecue leftovers home. I usually shop on Monday, so I don’t have a lot of food in the house. I can order a pizza.”
“Do you think your stomach is ready for something spicy?”
“Yeah. Pizza sounds really good. Does that work for you?”
“I can always eat pizza, but don’t feel like you have to feed me.”
“I’m not. I’m having it delivered.” She grinned. “I like sausage and onion and green pepper. Will that work for you?”
“Add some mushrooms and extra cheese and it’ll be perfect.”
Her grin widened. “You have a deal.”
7
Dylan had many traits that Talia appreciated, including his ability to keep a conversation lively and entertaining. They’d spent time with friends, laughing and talking, so she’d already learned a lot about him in the last two years. But only about his adult life. She knew little about his childhood since he never talked about it. She knew he had no siblings, and his mother died during his early teens, but that’s all she knew. Whenever she would steer the conversation toward his growing up years, he would promptly guide it back to her or to something that concerned one of their friends.
Obviously, something happened during his childhood that had hurt him and he didn’t want to talk about it.
Talia understood that. She never talked about losing her father, or about how her mother married and divorced two awful men before she realized she could live better without a man in her life than with the wrong one. Once she realized that, she met her Prince Charming. Talia adored her stepfather, yet sometimes she still yearned for one of her daddy’s hugs.
Even with the ease of conversation while they devoured most of the large pizza and several bread sticks, Talia felt a weight on her chest from what they didn’t talk about—their lovemaking last night. She’d caught Dylan deep in thought several times and assumed he would bring up the subject. He never did.
So she had to do it.
Talia tossed her piece of crust into the pizza box and wiped her hands on her napkin. “Are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?”
Dylan froze with a new piece of pizza raised halfway to his mouth. His eyes widened when he looked at her. Then, slowly, he lowered the piece back to the box. “I, uh, didn’t notice any elephant. It must be hiding in the closet.”
His attempt at a joke fell flat. “Don’t play dumb with me, Dylan. You’re far from dumb and so am I.” She lifted her feet to the couch, wrapped her arms around her raised knees. “We made love last night. Don’t you think we should talk about it?”
He wiped his hands on his napkin, laid it next to the pizza box on the coffee table. Turning toward her, he stretched his arm along the back of the couch. “It was incredible,” he said, his voice soft and low.
“Yes, it was. So why last night? We’ve spent time together. I’ve asked you out, but you always said no.” Now that she’d started this conversation, Talia decided to be completely honest. “I fell for you the first time I met you, Dylan. That’s the reason I joined the fire department. Yes, I wanted to help people, but more than that I wanted any opportunity I could get to be close to you.”
He remained silent for several seconds. “Talia, I …” He stopped.
“You what? What?” she said again, more forcefully, when he didn’t respond to her question. “Tell me what you’re thinking, what you’re feeling. Be honest with me.”
&n
bsp; A look of anguish crossed his face. “I can’t.”
“Why not? Why can’t you talk to me?”
“I just … can’t.”
Every time Dylan had turned her down, a little piece of her heart broke off. That heartbreak couldn’t begin to compare to the pain now. It engulfed her entire body, until she wondered how she could breathe with the crushing weight on her chest.
She swallowed twice, pushing aside the lump of tears in her throat. She refused to cry in front of him. “Then I guess there’s nothing else I need to say either.” She stood, picked up the pizza box and her empty glass. “You know your way out.”
Without looking back, Talia walked to the kitchen. She’d barely set her items on the counter when Dylan grabbed one arm and spun her around. Before she could say or do anything, his other hand cradled the back of her head while his mouth slammed down on hers.
He couldn’t expect her to melt at his feet just because he kissed better than any man she’d ever kissed. She put her hands on his chest, intending to push him away, when his lips softened against hers. He slid his hands across her shoulders, up her neck, to frame her face. His lips glided over hers, coaxing a response from her.
Instead of pushing him away, Talia curled her fingers into his T-shirt and parted her lips. Dylan moved his mouth over hers one way, then the other, then back. His tongue tickled the corners of her mouth, swept across her bottom lip, before he kissed her again. His kisses moved from sweet to passionate and returned to sweet. She felt dizzy from the bombardment of sensations he generated.
“I’m sorry.” He kissed the side of her neck. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.” He kissed her jaw again, then her cheek. “I never want to hurt you.” He pressed his forehead against hers. “I love you, Talia,” he whispered. “I love you so much.”
She couldn’t stop her tears at the sound of his precious words. She wrapped her arms around his waist, laid her cheek against his chest. “I love you, too.”
Dylan held Talia close to him, savoring her nearness and her declaration of love. He hadn’t meant to tell her of his feelings. He’d planned to keep them deep inside so she wouldn’t expect more from him than he could give her. But it tore him apart to see the pain in her eyes when he wouldn’t talk to her. He had to be honest. Talia deserved nothing less.
“Will you talk to me now?” she asked.
With one finger, he lifted her chin so he could look into her eyes. His heart lurched in his chest to see her eyes glittering with tears. “Yes. But let me make love to you first. I need you.”
“I need you, too.”
She interlocked their fingers and guided him to her bedroom. He smiled at the sight of at least a dozen throw pillows in various colors and sizes propped against her headboard. How very much like Talia. He could easily imagine her making her bed every morning, arranging the pillows just so.
Now, he didn’t want to imagine anything. Reality stood before him, looking at him with love shining in her eyes.
She tugged his T-shirt from his jeans, pushed it up until it bunched under his arms. Dylan sucked in a sharp breath when she kissed the center of his chest. Her lips skated over each nipple, her tongue followed the same path. Wanting more of her luscious mouth on his skin, he pulled off his shirt and let it fall to the floor. Talia kissed her way up the center of his chest, his neck, until she reached his mouth.
Dylan reached behind Talia’s head and pulled out the band holding her hair. He tunneled his hands into the long strands, releasing the clean fragrance of her shampoo. Every time he’d gotten close enough to smell her hair, desire had curled in his stomach. He’d pictured that mane spread over a pillow while he thrust inside her. Or spread over his stomach as she took his dick deep in her mouth.
She reached for his belt buckle. Dylan laid his hands over hers to stop her. “I took off my shirt. I think it’s only fair that you take off something now.”
He took a step back to give her more room. Grasping the bottom of her tank, Talia pulled it over her head and tossed it on top of Dylan’s shirt. She wore a lacy purple bra almost the same shade as her tank. She looked into his eyes as she reached behind her.
“Wait. Let me.”
Talia turned her back to him. Dylan unhooked her bra, slid his hands beneath the cups. Her warm breasts filled his palms.
“Mmm, these feel good.”
“They aren’t very big.”
“They’re perfect.” He nudged aside her hair so he could kiss her shoulder. “Your whole body is perfect.”
He dropped kisses along her shoulder as he removed her bra and unfastened her cutoffs. He tugged down the denim enough so he could slip one hand into the front of her panties while his other played with her breasts. His cock jumped at the feel of her smooth, creamy pussy. He danced his fingertips across her clit and along the slit. One finger ventured inside her channel. “You’re so wet. I love that.” He pushed his finger farther inside her, pressed against her G-spot. “What do you need me to do? I want you to come.”
Her head fell back to rest on his shoulder. “You’re doing fine.”
He smiled at her breathless tone. “I could do better. Maybe you’d rather have my tongue than my hand?”
She whimpered. Dylan nipped her shoulder. “How about hand now and tongue later?”
“Stop teasing me.”
“A slow buildup is nice. We didn’t have that last night.” He added a second finger inside her. “I want to make love to you for the rest of the afternoon.”
He plucked at her nipple until it peaked. More cream oozed from her channel. He spread the moisture over her clit, circled the swollen nub with a fingertip. Her breathing grew heavier, more labored. She spread her legs and arched her hips toward his hand. “More,” she breathed.
Dylan pressed his denim-covered cock against her ass. It ached from being so hard, but Talia’s needs came before his own. He rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger while he pushed two fingers back into her channel as far as he could. “Come for me, darlin’.”
He’d barely uttered the words when the walls of her pussy clamped onto his fingers, milking them with each contraction of her climax.
“Ohhhhhhhhhh.” Her entire body shuddered. “Dylan. Yes!”
He held her as she came down from the heavens, his hand on her breast, his fingers still inside her. He kissed the side of her neck, beneath her ear. “You okay?”
“No. All my bones melted.”
Dylan smiled. He liked that she could tease even while the aftereffects of her orgasm flowed through her body. “Then it’s a good thing I’m holding you.”
His fingers slipped from inside her when she turned to face him. Running her hands into his hair, she tugged his head down for a kiss. She swiped her tongue across his lips, plunged it inside his mouth to touch his. Dylan clasped her ass and pulled her tight against his shaft. He didn’t know how much longer he could wait to be inside her.
The abrupt end to their kiss surprised Dylan. Talia pushed hard on his chest, hard enough that he lost his balance and fell back on the bed. Before he could move, Talia removed her shorts and panties and straddled his hips.
She gave him a wicked smile. “Now it’s my turn to tease.”
Dylan had given her a staggering orgasm with his fingers, but she desired more. She wanted to see his body, touch it, feel his hard cock slide into her pussy the way it had last night.
But first, she planned to play.
She stared at his wide shoulders, broad chest, muscled arms. Between fighting fires and his work at Clay’s station, he’d developed a lot of strength in his upper body. He tanned easily. The light brown tone of his skin proved he’d been outside a lot this summer without a shirt. Dark brown hair sprinkled over his chest and narrowed down his belly to swirl around his navel. Talia ruffled it with her fingertips. “I love hair on a man’s chest. It’s so sexy.”
She moved her hands over his stomach, his chest, and up to his shoulders. Starting at his collarbone, she dragged
her fingernails down his body to his belt.
Dylan hissed and arched his back. “Hurt?” she asked, even though she knew she hadn’t scratched him hard enough for pain. The heat in his eyes proved that.
“You told me you like to scratch.”
“I do.” Once again, she dragged her fingernails down his skin, this time journeying across his nipples. They beaded beneath her nails.
“Damn, Talia.”
“Too much?”
“No.” He cradled her breasts in his hands, thumbed her nipples. “Not enough. I need to be inside you.”
“You will be. Soon.”
She scooted back on his thighs, which caused him to release her breasts. “Hey! I wasn’t through touching you.”
“Tough.”
“You realize I outweigh you by a hundred pounds.”
“Yes, I do. I don’t care.”
She unfastened his belt and button on his jeans. His chest rose and fell with his deep breathing as she reached for the zipper. Instead of lowering it, she laid her hand over the hard bulge behind his fly. She ran her palm along the impressive width and length, reached between his legs and gently squeezed his balls. “Very nice. I’m going to enjoy playing with this.”
The fire in his eyes almost scorched her. He clenched his fists at his sides when she slid down the zipper. “Lift your hips,” she commanded as she moved to his side. Jeans, shoes, and socks landed on the floor. He lay on her bed wearing nothing but a pair of black briefs that outlined his shaft and left nothing to her imagination. Not that she needed imagination. She remembered every vein, every curve, every texture of his luscious cock.
She straddled his hips again, slowly lowered her torso until her breasts grazed his chest. She leaned down until her lips were a whisper from his. “Your body is amazing.”
“So is yours.” He gripped her ass, lifted his hips to rub his cock against her mound. “The most beautiful I’ve ever seen.”
Talia doubted that, but thought it sweet for him to say so. She brushed her breasts over his chest again, earning her a soft moan from Dylan. “You like this?”