by D. K Lake
"Dario, stop." I say but it doesn't sound convincing even to me.
His lips find their way to my neck and he kisses a trail up to my ear.
"Stop. We can't do this. I don't want this. I don't want you." I say, hoping it will deter him. He nibbles my ear in response.
"Stop fighting this." he murmurs in my ear.
"I'm not. I'm telling you to stop and you're not listening."
"Because you're not giving me a good enough reason to stop."
"Wh-" I don't know how to answer that. "Saying I don't want you to, should be a good enough reason." I say as he finds his way back to my lips.
"Stop," I whisper.
"Hmm."
"Rio," The nickname only I have ever called him falls from my lips as he slides a hand into my leggings and then inside my panties.
"What are you do-" He cuts me off with his lips again.
"Stop talking." he says with a smile.
"Dar-"
"Shh."
His fingers start working their magic and I try to pretend it's having no effect on me, but I'm not that good of an actress.
The last time he touched me like this we were in the motel and it was right before I gave him my virginity.
My hands slide up his biceps and I squeeze, digging my nails in. My head falls back and his mouth finds my neck where he kisses me so softly I can barely feel it but at the same time, I feel it everywhere. He slips a finger inside me and I let out a noise in surprise and he chuckles.
"Someone hasn't been telling the truth. Saying she doesn't want this with me, but she's wetter than a waterpark," he says, adding another finger.
I suck in a breath, fidgeting underneath him.
He lifts his head to look at me. "I don't get what you're doing."
"Me? I wanted to leave but you wouldn't let me, remember?"
"No. I mean, what are you doing with him?"
"Who? Maverick?" It's hard to think straight when he's got his fingers inside me.
"I don't get what happened? When we parted ways at the motel, we made plans, P. What changed?" he asks, sounding desperate.
"I don't want to talk about this right now."
I try to push him off. He doesn't budge.
"Fine. But we will talk about it." he warns, sliding his hand out of my panties.
I think he's done torturing me and will let me leave, but instead, he climbs off the bed and takes it upon himself to remove my boots. I watch him carefully, wondering how far this will go. How far I will let it go. He then leans over me and drags his fingers down my hips and peels off my leggings.
"Seriously?" I say, reaching for my leggings as he whips them off me, throwing them over his shoulder before I can stop him.
I ignore him and decide my leggings can wait. I’ll walk out of here without them if I have to. Who needs leggings anyway?
"Where's the key?" I ask, feeling around the bed and searching for it.
"You should be more concerned about where your panties are."
"What?"
He grins at me, and we both reach for my panties at the same time. I try to keep them up, but he's stronger than me, and he manages to get ahold of both my wrists in one hand, sliding my panties off with the other.
"Dario, you're going too far." I say as he pins my wrists above my head.
I struggle against him to free my hands.
"Don't make me tie you up." he warns, but his tone is playful.
"If you tie me up, we're going to have big problems."
"I've already got a big problem." he gestures to his crotch and I roll my eyes.
"Paige, one kiss and I'll let you leave." he says.
"You already kissed me." I remind.
"Not where I want." He brings his mouth to mine and kisses my lips.
I don't kiss him back. I can't believe this is happening. I'm not sure if I'm horrified or electrified. The truth is, I do want him. More than I should. But we can't be together. Not now. Not after what I did. He'd hate me if he ever found out. And I’m not forgetting he’s a drug dealer that works for the notorious Torres brothers. I can never forget that. We need to stay away from each other.
His hand slips underneath my sweatshirt and he brushes his fingers over my tummy.
"Kiss me back." he says softly, pressing his lips to mine again.
I pretty much give up at this point. He knows he's won this round. I can't escape without the damn key and I have no idea where he’s put it. Everything seems to be going missing.
First the key.
Then my boots
Followed by my leggings.
Then my panties were ripped off.
And somewhere along the way, I lost my sanity.
We're in the danger zone, and we both know it. I give up trying to say no to him. I don't want to. I want to feel him one more time before I walk away for good. That's what this is. Just one last taste. One last touch. One last kiss. One last memory and then I'll leave.
He lets go of my wrists when I finally give in and stop struggling against him. I start to kiss him back properly and he groans in response. His hand pushes up my sweatshirt.
"Take this off." he rasps.
I shimmy out of my sweatshirt and toss it away. He's still straddling me, taking in every inch of me. He runs his hand over my bra, his eyes finding mine again as he moves his mouth back to mine, cupping the back of my neck with his hand as he kisses me with more hunger. His tongue searches out mine and I moan into his mouth.
He tastes like old memories that I never want to forget.
His lips leave mine and he kisses me all over my chest and down my tummy as he slides off the bed and kneels on the floor at the end.
Oh, gawwd...
He wants to kiss me there.
He gently drags me to the edge of the bed and opens my legs. I feel totally exposed to him, almost to the point I want to tell him to stop. We've never done this before. Well, apart from last night. But that doesn't count. It was dark. I don't remember much. I do remember I liked it. A lot. I think.
What is happening?
He doesn't say anything or make any crude jokes. He just glances back at me once more before lifting my leg and burying his face between my thighs.
"Ah, Rio-" I forget what I was about to say.
His tongue glides over my sensitive flesh. It's a strange feeling...but in a good way.
He strokes the inside of my thigh with his fingers as he works my little nub with his tongue.
I'm in way over my head. There's no way back from here so we might as well go all the way. I let my head fall onto the pillow and close my eyes. It feels so good. So much better than last night. I must have been super drunk not to remember this feeling.
He stops for the briefest of seconds and I open my eyes to look at him.
"You look beautiful." he tells me, his fingers now teasing my folds.
I just smile at him and he dives back between my thighs. He unexpectedly pushes two fingers inside, and I can feel myself stretching around them. With only two fingers he's filling me up. I've only had sex once and that was with him so I'm not used to the way it feels to have something inside me, but it feels good.
I reach across the bed and twist the sheets between my fingers as another moan escapes my lips. I chew on my lip to try and keep my moans to a minimum.
"No one's here, P. You can be as loud as you want." he reminds.
He continues licking me and working me with his fingers. I know I'm close and when he starts sucking on my clit I cry out. My orgasm hits me hard, washing over me in rocky waves, and I let it take me. After I come back down, I lay still to catch my breath, my heart racing a million miles a minute and my insides feel all tingly. Dario kisses the inside of my leg and I tilt my head to the side to see him better.
"What are you thinking?" he asks, tracing circles on the inside of my thigh with his finger.
"You don't want to know." I tell him.
If he knew I was planning to walk out of here and never
speak to him again, I don't think he'd be too pleased.
"Paige, about all that stuff we talked about at the motel-" he starts and I shake my head. "I still want that. All of it. I still want you." he says quickly and before I can say anything I hear a key in the lock and the door bursts open.
Spencer steps into the room and sees me on the bed with Dario between my legs and he immediately bursts out laughing. Next Em walks in and covers her mouth at the sight of me. I sit up and clamp my legs shut and Dario grabs the sheets and quickly covers me over.
"What the fuck, man?" Dario growls, standing in front of me to hide me from view.
"I'm sorry. I came back for my wallet. I heard noises...but I thought you were just watching porn." Spencer says, trying to control his laughter.
Em peeks around Dario at me with a big smirk on her face but I just shake my head at her.
"Get out!" Dario barks.
Spencer grabs Em and pulls her out the door as she continues to gawk at me. Dario closes the door after them and then comes back over to me.
"Paige, I'm so sorry. I didn't know he'd be back."
"No, it's okay. I need to be going anyway." I say, putting on a brave face. Inside I'm mortified that Spencer and my best friend just saw my lady parts up close, legs spread and everything. Ugh.
"You're leaving?"
"I think it would be best if I just go." I reach for my panties and slide them on under the covers and then I pull my sweatshirt over my head and stand up, searching for my leggings.
"No, you can't leave yet." he says, scooping up my leggings off the floor and holding them away from me.
"Please give me my leggings." I hold out my hand.
"No."
"Look, I don't know what just happened, but it was a mistake."
"Right. Another mistake?" he says with a gruff laugh and I snatch my leggings from him. "Funny how they keep happening. Are you saying all those kisses behind the drop-off point at work were all mistakes?"
"I don't know what they were, but this thing between us isn't real. I'm sorry, okay?" I tug on my leggings and sit on the edge of the bed and pull my boots on quickly. I find my phone and pull up the app to order an Uber.
"I'll give you a ride back." he says, grabbing a set of keys off the desk.
"No, that’s not necessary. I’m going to get an Uber back."
"It wasn't a suggestion, Paige. I'm not letting you ride with some stranger back to the dorms. It's late."
I stare at him and decide it's easier not to fight him on this.
"Fine."
I pick up my tote bag and follow him out. He pats Wolfgang on the head and tells him that he'll be back in a minute and the dog trots into the office area. Dario leads me outside to the side of the auto shop where there’s a white van parked up, and he opens the passenger door for me to climb in.
The drive back to the dorms is awkward and neither one of us says anything. He switches on the stereo and something rocky plays in the background. I check my phone and see two messages from Em. I'm afraid to even look at them. I open one message and see a bunch of random Emojis. I have no idea what they mean but knowing Em they probably mean something rude.
Dario pulls up outside the dorms and I grab my bag and slide it onto my shoulder.
"Thanks for the ride." I remember to say as I reach for the door handle.
"I'm not going to stop, P." he says evenly, looking straight ahead out the window.
"Stop what?" I ask, turning to look at him properly.
"He's not right for you." he says.
"And you are? You're a drug dealer for crying out loud! Just stay away from me." I push the door open and hop out.
"You know I can't do that."
I stare at him for a moment while holding the door open.
It would be so easy to fall into his world…but we're too different. He lives in a world where selling drugs is considered the norm, and I live in a world where I was brought up knowing drugs are bad and you shouldn't take them, sell them, or have anything to do with them unless the doctor prescribes them for you.
He's the bad guy. The guy your mother warns you about. The guy you shouldn't fall for, but you fall hard for anyway. The kind of guy that would break your heart and there'd be no coming back from it. He's dangerous. He's a liar. He's not a good person. And sometimes I think back to that day in the hospital parking lot when we said goodbye, the day he was acting off and he smelled of disinfectant and had what looked like blood under his nails, and I wonder if he's a killer as well. I don't know Dario. I only know the guy he lets me see. I don't know what goes on behind closed doors. But maybe it's better that way. And if he ever found out what I'd done he'd never forgive me.
"Well, try!" I say firmly, slamming the door and storming back to the dorms.
It's only when I'm back inside my room I realize I still have Dario's shirt in my tote bag. The only reason I went to see him in the first place was to return his shirt. I open my bag and search for my phone, wanting to message Em and find out what time she'll be back, but my phone's not in there.
I remember looking at my messages in the van. I must have left it on the seat.
Dammit.
Chapter 16
One year ago...
"Is this okay?" Dario asked, looking around the motel room, sounding a little nervous.
"It's fine. At least it's clean." I smiled.
I set my bag on the floor beside his and sat down at the end of the bed. Dario slid his hands into his pockets and sat down next to me.
"Is this weird?" I asked.
"Why is it weird?"
"That we're in a motel room?"
"No. Why? Are you having second thoughts?"
"What? No. I just meant it's weird that you suddenly wanted to meet up. I hadn't heard from you in months then out of the blue, you got in touch."
"I know. I'm sorry. I've had a lot going on." He frowned as he stared at the carpeted floor.
"Too much you couldn't even send me a text to let me know you were alive?"
I hadn't planned to get into this right away but there's no point in messing around. The last time I saw him he said he would ring me once I got to Nebraska. It took him months before he finally got in touch. Months of me stalking him online and not finding anything. I sent him countless messages, eventually giving up. Then one day he randomly sent me a sad face Emoji and told me he missed me.
What am I to think?
"I know, I know."
"Do you?" I got up off the bed and started to pace the room. "You said you'd call. You never called!" I cried, raising my voice.
"Paige," He got up off the bed and came over to me.
I was annoyed at myself for even bringing it up. He wasn't my boyfriend. He didn't need to report back to me. But not knowing what he had been up to all these months was bugging me.
He reached for me and I hugged my arms around my body and pulled away.
"Okay. What do you want to know?" he asked in all seriousness.
"I want to know what happened after I left. You said you'd call, and you never did. I sent you hundreds of messages. I felt like an idiot when you never replied to any of them. I waited for months for you to reply."
" I know, P. I'm sorry."
"Stop saying that! It doesn't make it any better. I thought...I thought you liked me...I don't understand."
"God, Paige, I do like you." He ran his hand over his head. "Just sit with me for a minute," He held out his hand and I reluctantly let him take mine and lead me back to the bed. "When you left a lot was going on," he started.
"What do you mean a lot was going on? Do you mean at home with your stepdad?"
"That's part of it, but not all of it." he sighed.
"Does this have anything to do with the night before I left Nebraska?" I asked.
He looked away and stared at the painting on the wall of daffodils, a frown forming on his face.
"Well?" I probed.
"Some of it...but I can't talk about it."
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"Why not? What happened that night?"
"Paige, please don't ask me about that. Ask me anything, just not that."
"Just tell me!" I plead, wanting to know the truth.
"It's not a good idea for you to know. It's safer if you don't."
I had a million thoughts whirling through my head. I wanted to ask so many questions, but I knew he wouldn't give me any answers. All I had to go on was the memory of him from the last time we saw each other. He was acting strange, he smelled of disinfectant, and I'm sure he had blood under his nails and he tried to tell me it was paint.
I swallowed down the lump that was stuck in my throat.
All of those things didn't look good. He had asked me not to ask him about it for my own safety, but I worried about his.
"Is it over? Whatever happened that night, is it over or is it going to come back? Are you safe?"
"It's over. No one is coming after us." he responded.
Us? As in the Torres brothers. I hated the way he had tied himself to them. They're dangerous and God-only-knows what they've got Dario into. At this point, I'm even worried about my sister. The only good thing about moving to Nebraska is we're no longer in Radley Springs and she's not in contact with her psycho ex, Mitchel. At least, I hope she's not.
"Okay. So, what else has been going on?
"Well," He rubbed his hands together with a smile on his face. "I bought a repair shop. It's the old mechanics place down on Burberry Street. The owner was an older man and he wanted to sell."
"How did you afford it?" Was one of my many questions.
Dario worked part-time at the grocery store. He didn't have any money stashed away or a rich uncle or anything. How had he been able to afford to buy a business?
"Borrowed it."
"From who?"
Who would give an eighteen-year-old with a part-time job enough money to buy a garage?
"Um, JT got the money and sorted it out. My name's on everything though, so legally it's all mine."
"Jacob Torres?"
"Yup."
I hate those damn Torres brothers.
"I didn't even know you liked cars?"
"I used to help my dad out when he worked on his car." he said quietly.