Dearest Series Boxed Set (65 page)

I toy with the idea of saying something snarkier, but like I said, I shouldn’t care.

I’m tucking my phone back in my purse as I walk out of the bathroom when I turn right into Daren.

“Jesus Christ, you scared me.” I laugh as I press my hand to my chest.

He has his phone out, and he’s reading my text. He doesn’t look amused. Straightening my shoulders, I move over as a woman edges around us to walk into the restroom.

Daren takes my arm and walks deeper down the hallway and around the corner where an exit door stands open. It’s dark, the only light coming from the moonlight outside. A cool breeze blows in, smelling of ocean air and rain.

“What’s this about? What happened back there?” he asks, releasing my arm.

“It’s nothing. I needed to go. I told everyone goodbye, but you were busy talking, and I didn’t want to interrupt.”

His eyes travel over my face in a slow sweep, a small smile pulling at his lips. “Are you jealous?”

“No, not at all.” The lie comes out easily enough.

“You shouldn’t be. You invited me over to your table. I was talking to your friends.”

“That was very kind of you. I appreciate it. But they’re not my friends, I mean, aside from Sheri.”
Do it, Maddie. Say what needs to be said.
“Honestly, I’m glad we have a chance to chat because I really can’t do”—I wave a finger back and forth between us—“this.”

He tilts his head. “What do you mean,
this
? You don’t want me to take you back to my place, strip off all your clothes, and fuck you until you’re hoarse from screaming my name?”

My mouth drops open, and a pulse starts between my thighs.

He chuckles and steps closer, forcing me back against the wall. He tugs at the hem of my skirt. “Whatcha got down there, Maddie? I may have been talking to other girls at your table, but I can promise the only thing I was thinking about was what you have hiding beneath this skirt.”

I brace my hands on his chest—to push him away or hold myself up, I can’t decide. “We’re… we’re a bad idea, Daren.” I hate that my voice is shaky.

“Hmm. Or maybe we’re the best idea.” He brushes my hair away from my neck where he places a hot, open-mouthed kiss.

God. Damn.

My hands clutch at his shirt, and he nips at my delicate skin. I can’t stand it any longer and wrap my hands around his neck and pull him closer.

“You feel so good,” I whisper, shocked by my honesty. But Daren does that to me, gets me to say things I’d never dare utter.

He grabs my knee and pulls it up over his thigh and presses his hard body against mine. “I’ve had a hard-on all week thinking about you, and my hand isn’t doing it any justice.”

When he talks like this, I could melt on the spot. Hell, I
am
melting, my panties soaked, and we haven’t even done anything.

I burrow my face into his chest, his scent enveloping me. My heart is galloping in my chest, and I know I have a dozen reasons why I shouldn’t be hooking up with Daren, but I can’t think of a single one when he’s standing between my legs.

He tilts my face back until we’re nose to nose, his huge frame filling my vision. “Tell me later why we’re a bad idea. But tonight let me show you all the reasons we work.” And then his mouth descends to mine.

G
oddamn
. She’s sexy. Even with the doubt behind her eyes.

I could tell she wanted to call things off. But the way her eyes widened as I got closer—how her breathing shallowed, how her cheeks flushed without me even touching her—are signs I'm not crazy. Signs that she wants this as much as I do.

Her tongue strokes mine in a teasing dance, but her fingers tighten in my hair as I press harder against her.

I nibble her lip and tighten my hold on her hips. “Come home with me tonight.”

When our eyes meet, hers are wild and luminescent in the dim light.

Maddie’s a glowing ember, and doesn’t even know it. And I want to stoke the fire. So fucking bad.

The sound of voices down the hall makes her push away. Reluctantly, I let go of her.

She holds her fingers to her lips. “We shouldn’t be doing this here.”

I grab that hand and place a soft kiss on her wrist. “C’mon, sweet thing. Let’s take a walk on the wild side.”

And then I turn for the exit behind us, pulling her behind me. The parking lot is packed, but it’s dark in the back where my SUV is parked under the branches of a large tree.

Cold rain pelts us, and before I have a chance to worry she’ll be pissed she’s getting drenched, her laughter rings.

Spotting a large puddle, I pick her up with one arm around her waist and one under her knees. Her gasping breath energizes me, and I turn back toward my SUV and resume our run.

I’ve never heard her so relaxed, so at ease that she giggles. Yet, here she is, gripping my shoulders, delight and shock on her face.

When we reach my car, I release her legs, letting them dangle as I hold her to my chest. Her shirt is damp and sticking to her skin.

“You’re soaked.”

She nods, and something in her eyes tells me she’s admitting to more than just her clothes being wet. I set her down on the ground, pleased to see her as out of breath as I feel.

Reaching into my pocket, I hit the key fob and the locks to my SUV snap open, but instead of reaching for the front door, I reach for the back.

Confusion tenses her brows until she gets what I’m suggesting. Her eyes dart around the parking lot, assessing the risk.

“Let’s be young and stupid. For once.” I run my thumb along her lower lip.

In what seems like a split-second decision, she nods and lets me lift her into the back seat. Following behind, I slam the door shut and reach for her.

I may have broken out the dirty talk a few minutes ago in the restaurant, but I don’t know what I expect from her tonight. Maybe nothing. Maybe everything. I’ll do whatever she wants or nothing at all. I just know I need to be in her space and breathe the same air. I’ve been daydreaming about this girl all damn week.

No sooner do I think to say we don’t have to be physical than she’s hiking her skirt up so she can straddle me. Let me just say that a pleated skirt never looks so fine as when Maddie McDermott wears one. She has this naughty schoolgirl vibe going
on that has me instantly rock hard.

My hands dip under her skirt and grip her gartered thighs. The fact that Maddie wears garters is seriously hot as fuck.

“I’ve been thinking about you,” I murmur as she grinds against my lap. She stares down at me, her hair damp and tangled. Her fingers slowly unbutton the top two buttons of her blouse, the sight of which has me wanting to rip off every button in a race to see her creamy skin.

Her hips keep a silent rhythm in what’s turning out to be the world’s best lap dance. Thank you, Jesus.

I kiss her neck as the fabric falls away to reveal a white lace bra that pushes her perfectly rounded breasts into my face. So I do what any red-blooded man would do. I bite one. Not too hard. Just enough that she grinds down harder and moans. I grip her other breast in my hand and squeeze before I push the lace down around both lush mounds. Goddamn. What a sight.

Latching on to one nipple, I suck and tug and pull. Her hands pull me closer, like she’s cradling me, while a breathy little pant escapes her lips.

When I break away to inspect my handiwork, a droplet falls from her damp skin. “You’re wet.” I glance up at the raindrops still glistening on her cheeks as I snake a hand between us to push aside her soaked panties. “Everywhere.”

But I can’t give her what she wants. Not yet. So I tease around her soft, pouty skin until her eyes screw shut and her head falls back. “Harder, Daren.”

“Not until you tell me you want this.”

Her head snaps up, and as she begins to shake her head no, I reach for the one place on her body I know will make her say yes.

“Say it, Maddie. Tell me you’ve thought about this all week like I have.”

Choppy breaths escape her mouth as I rub faster, slicking the moisture along her swollen folds. Her eyes shut for a moment and she nods her head. “I did. I do. I don’t know why I want to lie about it. Why I can’t just admit this.” Her hips tilt, grinding harder into my erection. “Yes, Daren. I want you. It’s making me a little crazy, in fact. But I—”

“Shh. Now let me make it better.” I grip her hair and pull her down, and our mouths collide in a frenzy of tongues and lips and groans.

Before I get her to ride me—because, please, God, let her ride me—I have to see this. I have to watch her fall apart.

When I flip her onto her back, she gasps. Her legs fall open, and seeing this gorgeous girl with her breasts surged up over her lace bra, garters dressing the sexiest pair of legs ever to grace this good Earth, and a face that makes angels weep, I know that whatever happens between us, I am one lucky bastard.

R
ight now
, with Daren pinning me down, looking at me like I’m the only meal he’s had all week, I feel like one lucky girl.

Maybe it’s crazy. Maybe this is the dumbest thing I’ve ever done, but when he asked me to do something young and stupid, every part of me screamed to let go. To be with him. To take a chance.

And right now, with him tossing my leg over the back seat and pushing my other leg farther apart with his shoulder, I’m both embarrassed to be this exposed to him and so turned on, I could come if he blew on my wet skin.

I’ve never been with a man like this, someone who just told me what he wanted and pushed me to go there. Someone who saw my desire and urged me to seek what felt good.

Why haven’t I? I’ve had lovers. But nothing has ever come close to the way my body feels when it’s being tugged apart by Daren Sloan.

Yes, we had all kinds of sex last weekend, but I’d drunk too much. The memory of what we did came to me in waves all week. But I couldn’t appreciate it in the moment like I am now.

He kisses his way down my body, and I feel dizzy. From the sound of rain beating down on the roof of the car. From Daren pressing me into the damp leather. From his cologne and the scent of his skin. Dizzy and falling. Fast.

When he reaches my now bare skin, a wicked smile lights his eyes. “Your hot little pussy is going to feel so good like this.” And then his mouth reaches me in the most erotic kiss I’ve ever seen.

My hands tangle in his soft hair, and he angles lower. His eyes find mine as he takes a long lick. That’s all it takes for me to shatter apart, but then he sticks two large fingers in me, and I’m coming harder, so hard that white spots dot my vision.

His name leaves my lips in a sharp cry as I arch my back off the seat. “Fuck. Fuck!” My head thrashes as I writhe beneath him. “Come here. Get in me. Right. Now.”

When he gets up, I can barely stand the loss, but I hear a zipper, and a wrapper tears, and then he’s back, pressing my legs wider.

He angles at my entrance, and I hook a leg around his hips and pull him in.

He’s so thick and hard, I almost can’t take it. But I want it. The pressure. The way he stretches me to the brink. He sinks deeper and my breath catches.

“This. God, this,” I gasp. My hands claw at his back. I’m lost, so lost in how he feels. In how I feel when I’m with him.

The groan that rumbles in his chest makes me more frantic, but he sinks even deeper and then stills.

In a pained voice, he asks if I’m okay. I nod and nudge him with my hips. He chuckles and then pulls up on his arms so he can look down where we’re joined, and I’m mesmerized by the sight of him pulling out of me. Back and forth. So slowly. Wow. That’s… hot.

He’s almost all the way out when he faces me again and presses a soft kiss to my lips. “How do you want it, babe?”

“Hard. Please, hard.”

And then he moves, pushing into me so swiftly that my body slides up the seat. His hands grip my hips, holding me down as he sinks in and out, but what sets me off again is when he leans down to bite my neck. I can’t help the cry from my lips or the way I clutch him to me. Because nothing has ever felt so good as when he brings me to this breaking point.

He must agree because he’s swelling inside of me, and a minute later, I can feel the pulse of his release as he collapses on my body.

Holy mother of orgasms.

After a few minutes, he pulls me on top of him, where I listen to the strong beat of his heart. The rain comes down, a soothing pattern on the roof of the car that lulls me into an even drowsier state.

“We should get going,” he says as he draws lazy circles on my back. “Come back with me. Stay the night.”

“Mm. I have an early morning.” My head is still blissed out.

“I’ll set an alarm. Stay with me. We can just sleep, but I want you in my bed tonight.”

I close my eyes, unprepared for the fluttering in my chest. I should tell him no. I should go home, sleep between my own sheets. But there’s something vulnerable in his voice that makes me want to tell him yes.

Clearing my throat, I ask, “So you want me to choose young and stupid again, huh?”

He chuckles, the rumble beneath me satisfying. “Yeah. That’s probably what this is, but I don’t care. You feel too good to care.”

I have to agree.

* * *

I
t’s still dark
when the alarm goes off. When I open my eyes, I recognize the dark gray comforter and the arm wrapped around my chest. A small bolt of fear races through me, but as I think about the night before, about how sweet and caring Daren’s been, my apprehension melts away.

He loaned me a BC t-shirt last night, swearing that’s all he had, but I know he was just making me pay for all of those “friends don’t let friends go to BC” jokes I’ve told him. I thought coming back here would be awkward, especially since I let him violate my body six different ways in a public parking lot, but he was so easy-going and fun, I forgot to be uptight. Thank God for tinted windows.

When we got to his place, he made me hot chocolate and snuggled me up on his giant bed and then tickled me until I was laughing so hard, I snorted. Yes, so ladylike. But that only made him laugh harder and then he kissed me until I was practically begging him to have sex with me again. What kind of girl does that? Me, apparently. And the jerk made me say, “Pretty please, Daren, stick your big dick in me.”

Of course, I said it.

Rolling my eyes at myself, I try to scoot out from under his arm, but it just tightens.

“Where you going, Wildcat?” he asks gruffly in my ear.

“To work out, remember? And then I have to get to the studio. Sorry to wake you up.” My whole body aches, and my girlie garden is still having aftershocks from last night, but I need to stay on schedule. I roll into him and brush his bangs off his forehead and lean down to kiss him between his eyebrows before I can second-guess the gesture. “Go back to sleep.”

“Wait. I’ll come with you.”

“What?”

“I’ll go running with you. That’s what you do in the mornings, right?” He rubs his eyes and then gives me the sweetest smile.

“Don’t you have practice later? And a game Sunday night?”

“Yeah. So? Today is a light practice, and I’m probably only gonna play one quarter.”

He starts to get up, but I put two hands on him to hold him back. “No. Nope. You can’t do this.” I’m suddenly wide awake. “You’re on a very specific workout plan. I don’t care what you think you’re playing on Sunday. You don’t know for sure. What if you end up playing half of the game or more and you’re tired from running with me today? I can’t have that on my conscience.”

The grin on his face is so adorable, I make a mental picture of it.

“That’s really considerate of you. But I assure you I can handle it.”

Then he pulls me down on top of him, and I laugh. He kisses my neck, and I groan. “No. No, you aren’t coming with me.”

He nips my skin, and I feel him harden between us.

“Let me give you a workout. I promise you’ll use your leg muscles. On all fours.”

Then he slaps my ass before he rubs the offended skin. A throb grows between my legs as he moves my thighs down to straddle him.

“Did… Did you just spank me?”

He grunts in my ear. “Yeah, and I’m fully planning on doing it again if you try to get out of my bed right now.”

I sit up on him and his grip on my thighs tightens. Bracing my hands on his chest, I laugh. “So you think you’re the only one who gets to punish around here?” I rotate my hips in a slow circle, the thin fabric of his boxers separating us.

His eyes darken and his fingers sink deeper into my skin.

Pulling my shirt up so he can see my bare skin grinding on him, I say, “What if this is as close as I let you get this morning?”

He watches as my thighs pull his boxers taut over his impressive length. If I had any shame, I’d be embarrassed that he can probably feel how wet I am, but I’m pretty sure I left my modesty on the floor of his car with my underwear.

He laughs. “I’d say it’s still one hell of a way to wake up.”

And then he pulls me down to him and gives me my morning workout.