“Yeah, Charlotte was the gatekeeper of Purgatory,” Zayn stated. “You are now that role.”
She was glad.
That would help them out. The danger…it was worth the reward in her book. She’d do anything to help keep Dakota alive, and her family too.
“Well, he had intel for me.”
They stared at her.
“You’ve had the bar a day.”
She laughed.
“Yeah, and people like me.”
Preston spoke up, “All of the men think my baby is pretty. She’s a lovely flower.”
Dakota got up.
“I’ll be back. Now, I have to kill all of the men.”
She laughed.
“Here.”
Dakota took the paper she was offering him. It was coordinates and nothing else.
“What’s this?”
“Rosemary is handing off Mercedes tonight, WITH CHESKY, and that’s the drop site. They called off the last one, but they want to unload the woman. It’ll be dangerous, and heavily guarded since Danforth went missing, but that should help.”
HELP?
That was un-freaking-believable.
They didn’t think Rosemary would risk it after they grabbed her brother, but she was showing signs of desperation and needing to bail out of New Orleans.
Perfect.
“Sarah, I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. I didn’t want to buy the bar because I wanted someone else, Dakota. I simply wanted a way to make your burden easier. Information flows, and I can pick some of it up to help our family.”
Yeah, he saw that now.
Gently, he placed his hand over hers.
“Thank you.”
She smiled.
“You’re welcome.”
“Speaking of family,” Preston stated, focusing on the one man. “Are you Rogue?”
“I didn’t touch her. I swear.”
Zayn laughed again.
“This is my best day ever,” he stated. “You two are due this.”
Preston ignored him.
“I want to buy the bar. I’ll pay you what you paid for it. I want to stay in New Orleans with my girl.”
“No.”
“Pardon?” Preston asked, a little shocked that he’d been turned down. “I can afford it.”
“I said no.”
They all stared at him like he was nuts. When a bus that size honked, you got the hell out of its way.
Preston was the father of all buses.
Literally.
“Is that your final answer?” he asked.
“No. I’ll let you buy half, but the deal was that Sarah and I were partners. I was going to be silent, and that’s the deal you can make. Pay her. Not me. If you’re buying her out, buy her out.”
That was Rogue being Rogue. Like with the engagement ring and dumping money into their operation. He was a generous soul and a good person.
She went around the bar and hugged him.
“Thank you, Rogue.”
“Anything, Sarah. You’re my family. Now fix this with Dakota,” he whispered in her ear. “He loves you so much. You’re meant to be his.”
She gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“I will.”
Preston was watching him.
“Question.”
“Yeah?”
“Are you by any chance single and have a thing for older men?” he asked, winking at him.
“Uh…,” Rogue said, swallowing.
“I promise to be gentle,” Preston teased.
Zayn couldn’t help it.
He laughed and laughed so hard, he nearly wept over how good this revenge turned out.
Yeah, best day ever.
“Be metrosexual, he said. What can it hurt, he said,” Zayn said through the laughter. “Maybe you should wear some jeans once in a while.”
Rogue was going out to buy some as soon as they left the bar.
Preston winked at him.
Sarah knew her father was busting his ass, but she couldn’t help it. It was funny.
Damn funny.
“Daddy!”
Since she was happy, Preston was too.
“The drinks are on me, boys,” Preston stated, heading back to the other patrons.
Dakota had to see her alone.
“Uh, can I talk to you?” he asked, kicking back his beer. He was going to need it while he ate crow.
Sarah knew it was time.
She was going to beg if need be. Dakota was the man she wanted to be with, and she’d apologize.
“Yeah, follow me.”
Yeah, he would.
God help him, but he’d follow Sarah into Hell and back.
Any damn day of the week.
Chapter Sixteen
Purgatory Office
Upstairs
I n the space above the bar, they could still hear the sounds downstairs, and it didn’t make Dakota any less nervous. He was worried about what she was going to say when he was one hundred percent honest.
He hoped her father didn’t kill him.
As she locked the door, he didn’t give her any time. He rolled right into it, nervousness and all.
“You were right.”
“About?”
“The bar, my grudges, and the team. I was wrong. On top of that, I’m not ready to be engaged.”
That hit her like a punch to the gut.
“Oh.”
Her voice said it all.
“Please don’t get mad, cry, or freak-out. This is hard for me. I need to get this out so I can let it go.”
Well, this was not the outcome she had expected. It looked like she wasn’t leaving the bar. He didn’t want to get married.
That said it all.
“Okay, Dakota.”
“I need to work on my shit. I want to be a good husband for you. I want to make sure the day we say I do, neither of us regrets it.”
This was getting worse.
Only, she had to stay calm. With Dakota, you couldn’t lose it, or he’d lose it too.
“I understand. I know you rushed with the ring. I know you’re a planner, and to you, we can’t do this yet. I am good with that. I don’t hate you, and I’m not mad.”
“I still want to marry you. Please don’t think I don’t want that as the end result.”
Well, that was romantic.
She didn’t speak at first.
Then she did.
“When you’re ready, let me know.”
His fear was choking him. He could rush into something to lock her down or be honest and pray she’d wait for him.
“Sarah.”
“It’s okay, Dakota. I get it.”
No, he didn’t think she did.
“Will you wait for me, Sarah?”
His eyes were filled with fear. Sarah knew he was so freaked-out and risking it all.
The bottom line was she loved him and letting him hurt wasn’t an option.
“Please tell me that you’ll wait for me.”
She patted his cheek in reassurance. That he had to go there proved that he wasn’t ready. Marriage was serious. Her dads had been together until cancer won.
“I’ll always be by your side, Dak. You are the one. You just have your demons, and you have to beat them.”
Oh, he was aware.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out her ring, and it sat in the palm of his hand.
“Don’t lose it. I love it,” she stated. “When I was a little girl, my dads told me to dream big. That was exactly what I thought of when I thought of my ring. I hope I see it again. It was the happiest moment of my life,” she said, tears filling her eyes.
Yeah, and she blew it.
Dakota knew she loved it, and he loved her. Just because he wasn’t ready didn’t mean she wasn’t.
He couldn’t keep the ring from her. All he wanted was for Sarah to be happy.
Gently, Dakota picked up her hand and slipped it back onto he
r finger.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I meant what I said. I’d fight people for you. I’d fight the world for my Sarah—even that hulk of a father you have, to which a warning would have been nice.”
She laughed trying not to cry.
“Imagine being a teenage boy, the first one I had sex with…”
Oh, he could.
“As for the ring, all I’m saying is wear it for me, Sarah. Be my best friend and my partner. Be my fiancée, and one day be my wife. I’ll get there. It just may be a long engagement. I’m a slow mover. I can’t change you, and I can’t change me.”
She understood all of that.
Since coming here, she realized something. She was a good person who deserved to be independent from a man. She could be his fiancée and still be Sarah.
He continued, hoping to convince her.
“Marry me one day when our demons are defeated, and we have no other battles to rage. Marry me when I can be all yours, and know that we have nothing to lose.”
Her heart skipped.
“It was yes back then, Dakota, and it will forever be yes. You are the one. You’ve always been the one.”
There was that relief.
“I’m sorry I made you feel like you were only a team member beneath me.”
“It’s okay.”
“It wasn’t a lie.”
She stared at him.
“You are beneath me, Sarah. You are my foundation. You’re the only one holding me up. You are the MOST important person on my team. It’s a team of two. You and me. You come first. You’re my only reason to live.”
Her heart skipped.
It was perspective.
She hadn’t thought of it like that.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too, Dakota.”
He pulled her into his body and planted one hell of a kiss on her mouth. The kiss shared everything that was in him for her.
It shared his soul.
His heart.
What lay ahead for them.
Then, he set her mouth free.
“I adore you,” he said. “Life without you would be colorless. I love how Bunny kills, and how Sarah saves. You’re everything to me.”
“Wanna do it with Bunny on a desk over a totally illegal bar that’s taking kickbacks?” she asked.
It made him laugh.
“I promise you’ll never forget it,” she offered.
He wiggled his eyebrows.
“Oh, you know it.”
He pounced, grabbing her and refusing to let go. His mouth found hers again, and he dove in, trying to find a safe, warm spot inside her.
“Bunny or Sarah?” she asked, as he continued to kiss her.
“Sarah. I want my girl.”
She was so damn glad.
She dropped to her knees and yanked his belt buckle open like there was an emergency.
There was.
If she didn’t get to his dick, she was going to die.
“God! Yes!”
Her hands got him free, and his jeans dropped around his ankles and then his boxers joined them.
“Oh, welcome back,” she purred, as she licked his dick like she was going to savor every second of it.
His head fell back, and he stared at the ceiling as her mouth did its worse.
Oh, Sarah knew how to bring him to his knees. Dakota’s legs were shaking, and he was ready to lose it.
“Sarah, I’m going to cum. Please…”
She still didn’t stop.
Sarah wanted him to feel that need, feel that pleasure, and know that no matter what, it would always be there. They didn’t need a paper saying otherwise.
She was his.
Forever.
Dakota knew he was in trouble. He could feel the tightening of his body, and his erection reacting to every single stroke.
When she looked up at him with innocent eyes, and he wanted to cum in the worst way. Only, he needed her.
“Stop!” he ordered.
Sarah set him free as he yanked her roughly up his body and toward the desk.
Yeah, they were going to christen the business.
“I want you.”
“I want you too.”
“Well, then do something about it,” Sarah stated.
Oh, he would.
Dakota pulled her shirt from her body, revealing the pretty, feminine bra beneath. Sarah always wore girly things.
They made his blood boil.
“You need to be naked too,” she stated, as he tugged his polo off.
Immediately, she saw his injury. It caused her heart to kick in her chest as she realized how close they’d come. Had that knife shanked his liver or spleen…
“Oh, Dak. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to have your back.”
“I’m glad you weren’t. It could have been you, and then what? I never want to see you hurt.”
She knew he meant the bar.
“That’s why I’ll sell out to my dad. He can hold his own, and he won’t betray us.”
Yeah, he was aware.
He laughed.
“He’s a beast,” he offered.
That made her laugh.
“Focus, Dakota. Let’s fornicate.”
Well, since she put it that way.
“You drive me wild, Dakota. I love every inch of your body,” she said, running her fingers down his chest.”
He shared what he was thinking.
“I don’t know how I got so lucky with you, Sarah. I’m old. You’re my treasure. I can’t imagine touching anyone like this.”
Oh, she would kill anyone who touched him.
“Show me how much you want me, Dakota. I need you,” she said, teasing his earlobe with her teeth.
His body shook.
“Jesus, Sarah,” he muttered, as she stroked his dick and tormented him with whispered words of such sexy profanity. It was enough to make him throb.
“So make it happen,” she offered.
He could do that.
Dakota pulled her mouth to his and locked them together. That was the best way to show Sarah how much he felt for her. Hopefully, she’d never doubt it.
When they came together, it was fire.
Pure.
Fire.
The kiss was explosive.
It filled her.
“Oh, Dak,” she whispered when they broke apart. “You make me crazy, but I can’t be away from you.”
He was glad.
“Never leave me,” he said, leaving kisses across her throat as he cleared the desk with his hand.
The things crashed to the floor.
“Promise me, Sarah. We can fight, but you won’t leave. Fight fair. Fight for us.”
Oh, she would.
“I promise I’ll never leave or take off your ring again,” she whispered, as his face moved down her chest to her breasts.
He teased her nipples through the fabric.
Then he bit her.
Sarah moaned.
“Let’s seal that deal,” he suggested, forcing her backward and onto the desktop.
“Do your worst,” she whispered as he throbbed against her. “Show me what you have,” she teased.
He would.
Dakota ripped off her panties and stole her breath when he forced her to her back. He dropped to his knees and found her wet, ready, and needing him.
All he wanted was for her to want him like this. To need him. It completed him.
He dove in, and she shouted his name as he roughly tormented her.
Dakota drove her up, to the top, and over the edge in one hell of an orgasm. As she fought to recover, he kept going.
“More,” he muttered, swirling his tongue over that swollen, delicate bud. “More, Sarah.”
He didn’t give her time to think.
To feel.
He pushed her back into the pleasure and took her on a wild ride back up the climb and to the edge. When he bit her, she came again, this time practi
cally screaming his name.
It gave him that rush of masculine pride.
He was claiming his woman.
As she fell into the orgasm, he stood. Staring down at his sexy woman, he stroked himself.
Dakota was ready.
Grabbing her hips, he slid her to the edge of the desk, spread her legs, and drove himself into that wet, beckoning heat.
She gasped.
“That will never get old,” he said, filling her. “Now I take what’s mine.”
She stared up at him.
“Tell me you’re mine, Sarah. Tell me that no one will ever touch my woman.”
“I’m yours.”
It wasn’t good enough. He needed all. Dakota needed all she had to offer.
“Tell me what you want.”
“You, Dakota.”
He shook his head, and with his thumb, he rubbed her clit, teasing her.
“God! Fuck me, Dakota! Just fuck me!”
And there it was.
Any control he had was gone.
Dakota began moving, his dick throbbing at the pleasure he was finding and sharing. He was wild with lust, and into rutting. That fear of losing her had made him an animal.
The desk shook as he drove himself into her.
There was no mercy. Grabbing her hands, he trapped her beneath him as her legs wrapped around his hips.
Dakota was lost in it.
“Harder,” she begged.
Oh, he could do that.
Dakota climbed onto the desk, keeping that driving motion, as he buried himself in his woman.
“More!” she hissed.
Dakota increased the speed, the pressure, and the heat. The desk was jerking in their lovemaking, sliding across the wood floor.
“Jesus!” he muttered, burying himself to his balls. “I need you, Sarah!”
She couldn't believe the incredible, delicious feelings she was experiencing.
The need to explode was there, but he couldn’t give up the pleasure. Dakota needed more.
What he wanted was her trapped. He wanted Sarah screaming his name in ecstasy.
Quickly, he pulled out of her.
She stared up breathing heavily.
“Dakota.”
He got off the desk and stared at her.
“Get up.”
She did what he asked.
Yanking her toward the stained-glass window, he shoved her against it, bare breasts to the chilly glass.
She gasped.
Then he pressed her between him and that cold view out into the word.
“Dakota, there are people…”
Absolution: The Hunter Mercenary Series (Book Two) Page 42