Justice (2 page)

“Hi yourself,” he replied, and handed her the roses.

“Thank you.” She opened the door wider. “Come on in.”

He stepped inside and smiled. “You look beautiful.”

“You do too.” He wore dark jeans, boots, and a black button-up rolled to his elbows. She licked her lips. “Is this okay? Since you didn’t tell me what we were doing, I had to guess.”

He chuckled, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “Your OCD’s working double-time, huh?”

“What? I don’t have OCD.”

Dallas laughed. “My mistake.”

“I’ll just put these in water,” Macey said, and moved toward the kitchen.

Dallas closed the door and followed her, leaning over the counter and grinning. “Are you dying to know what we’re doing?”

“A little,” she admitted.

“I thought we’d start with a walk through the Pearl, then dinner, maybe a stop at a bar before we head to the Doug Fir to see Mirage, then back here around midnight. What do you think?”

Macey forced a smile, her feet already screaming at her
not
to walk the Pearl. She’d need to change shoes. Then there was the problem with Mirage. She hated that band. With a passion. But Dallas loved them. They were hipster to the core, which was so outside of Dallas’s normal taste in music, she was surprised he even gave them a chance to begin with.

“That all sounds… ah, great, Dal,” she said. “I’ll just change my shoes.” He chuckled and she looked at him. He wore a shit-eating grin and she sighed. “You’re joking.”

“Babe.” Dallas laughed then. “I’m totally joking. You hate Mirage. We’re going to Serratto and then back here.”

She moved from behind the counter and threw herself into his arms. “Thank God.”

He gave her a gentle squeeze. “I can’t believe, one, you’d forget I know you, and, two, you’d actually go along with it. Who are you and what have you done with Macey Gilbert?”

She smacked his shoulder. “I was trying to be
nice
.”

Dallas kissed her. “Which is also unlike you.”

Macey sighed. “Hey, I’m nice… just maybe less so to you.”

He grinned. “True. Okay, we better go, or I’m going to bend you over your sofa right now.”

“I’m okay with that.”

“Mase,” he said with a groan. “Let me wine and dine you first.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine.”

He chuckled and led her out to his truck. Opening the door, he helped her climb into the seat, then closed her in.

CHAPTER TWO

A
S SOON AS they arrived home after dinner, Macey rushed to her front porch and unlocked the door. Dallas was close behind her, and she virtually threw their leftovers in the fridge before heading upstairs.

“I’ll be right up,” he said.

She stripped down to her bra and panties as she heard him moving around downstairs. Knowing him, he was probably making sure her place was secure. She’d heard him complain enough about her apartment’s location in the Sullivan’s Gulch area of Portland.

“First order of business, babe, is to move you somewhere safer,” he called, reviving their old disagreement. Then she heard his heavy steps on the stairs.

“I like this place,” she called back. “It’s cheap, which means I don’t need a roommate.”

His footsteps stopped and then, “Damn,” was rasped from the doorway. She turned to find him grinning, his gaze raking over her. “You’re gorgeous,” he said.

Macey bit her lip. “Really?”

“Hell, yeah.”

“You’ve seen me in my bikini before, Dal.”

“Can’t see your nipples through your bikini, babe.” He closed the distance between them and cupped her breasts. “Perfect.”

“Not too big?”

“Babe, no.” He frowned. “Who the hell ever said they were too big?”

“No one,” she said quickly, not wanting to interrupt the moment. She waved a finger toward him. “Your turn.”

He unbuttoned his shirt, slipping it from his arms and then reached behind him, pulling off his V-neck T-shirt, revealing the chest she’d dreamed about most nights, particularly after summer trips down the Columbia, or to the beach. His lithe teenage form had gotten taller and bigger, but no less cut, and Macey bit back a fangirl sigh as she stared at him. His chiseled chest had just a smattering of dark hair between his pecks that formed a line down his stomach and under the waistband of his jeans.

She reached for him, pulling him forward to unbuckle his belt and unbutton his fly. Dallas slid his hand behind her neck and kissed her, his other hand pulling her bra down to reveal her breasts, her nipples puckered in immediate response.

He moved his hand to her back and unhooked her bra, yanking it from her arms and pulling her close, chest to chest, as he continued to kiss her. Macey was grateful he’d had the wherewithal to remove his boots and socks before he came upstairs. He stood barefoot and sexy as hell in just his jeans, which she made quick work to slide from his hips, boxer briefs and all.

Dallas slid his hand down her back to cup her bottom and push her panties off with one stroke. She stepped out of them and he broke the kiss briefly to pull down her comforter and lay her on the bed. Stretching out beside her, he ran a finger across her collar bone. “You’re beautiful, Mase. I love you. Do you have any idea how much?”

She shook her head, her breath escaping her as she stared into his eyes. “I love you too.”

He grinned and slipped his hand between her legs. “So wet, baby.”

“It’s been a while.”

“Good.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Good?”

“Yeah, good.” He pushed her onto his back and knelt between her legs. “I’m it for you from now on.”

“Oh, really?”

Dallas grinned and kissed one knee, then the other. “Hell, yeah.”

She raised her head in order to look at him down the length of her body. “Those are kind of final words.”

Without response, he leaned down and covered her clit with his mouth, shifting her leg over his shoulder, and slipping two fingers inside of her. She couldn’t think after that, because he sucked and licked and pumped her into a mind-blowing orgasm. She registered the tearing of foil, followed by a delicious shiver when he drew her nipple into his mouth and slid inside of her, slowly filling her with his girth.

“Ahhh,” she rasped.

“Too much?”

“Not enough,” she complained.

He slid in deeper and her head dropped back as he kissed her pulse. “Better?”

“Mmmm.”

Slipping his hand between them, he stroked her clit and she whimpered. “Do you want me to stop?”

She shook her head. “I will kill you if you do.”

He grinned and covered her mouth with his as he moved, each thrust harder and faster as their pleasure grew.

“I can’t wait,” Macey said.

Continuing to work her clit, he rolled her nipple with his other hand, and surged into her.

“Dallas,” she whimpered.

“Come, baby.”

She let the climax take over and felt his orgasm as he surged once more and came inside her. He held her for several minutes, no talking, just ragged breathing as they floated down from their high.

“Sorry, baby.” He grinned, kissing her quickly. “That was faster than I would have liked.”

“That was amazing,” she said.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She giggled. “Do you know that… um…"

“What?”

“No, never mind.”

“Tell me,” he said.

“I don’t really want to bring my exes into bed with us.”

Dallas chuckled. “What were you going to say?”

Heat crept up her neck. “Just that you’re the first man I’ve known… as in,
known
… who could actually find my clit.”

He threw his head back and laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

“Babe, Tommy was a douchebag. I’m surprised he was even able to find your vagina.”

She snorted and shook her head. “He wasn’t a douchebag.”

“Macey. Tommy Mathers was the CEO of the Massengill Corporation. The only thing that kid had going for him was that he played guitar. Badly, I might add, and he saw your sixteen-year-old ass coming from a mile away.”

Truth be told, Dallas was right, but she wasn’t ready to admit that yet. “Tommy was cute.”

“I can’t accurately comment on that, as I can’t say I’ve ever found another guy cute, but he was skinny with long, stringy hair and piercings, so he looked like a bad boy. And you were in your rebellious stage, trying to piss me off.”

She gasped. “I was
not
.”

“You were so.”

“For your information, you didn’t really factor into it.”

“Hmm-mm.” He grinned as he slipped out of her, took care of the condom, and pulled her back against his chest. “You told Payton you wanted to find “the one” to lose your virginity to. I was arrogant enough to offer myself up, which totally backfired since I kind of did it in a dick way, and drove you to Tommy. Admit it.”

She ran her finger over his chest. “Well, no, you didn’t drive me to Tommy. Tommy just happened to be there.”

“With a bottle of Jack Daniels and a shoulder for you to cry on.”

She covered her face with her hands. “Yes, I suppose that’s true.”

“Fucking bastard got you drunk and took your virginity.” Dallas scowled.

“I chose to get drunk, Dal. It’s not like he forced the stuff down my throat.”

“But he should have made sure you were okay, not take advantage of you.”

“He didn’t take advantage of me.” Mace frowned. “I wanted to have sex and I told him that. Stop looking for monsters where there aren’t any.”

“Mase. He took advantage of you.”

“Who says?” she snapped. “Look, I’ll admit that I was a little too young and he definitely
wasn’t
the right guy, but I knew what I was doing, and I refuse to be one of those girls who makes a bad choice and then tries to blame someone else.”

Dallas smiled. “I’m not trying to start a fight, babe.”

“Well, you’re kind of pissing me off, so how about you backtrack and explain yourself.” She crossed her arms. “Because you’re making it sound like I’m the poor little victim here.”

“Which is not my intention.” He sat up and cupped her cheek. “Whether you chose to have sex with him or not, I personally think that had you not been black-out drunk, you would have come to your senses.”

“Let’s not overdramatize it. I was
never
black-out drunk. I knew what I was doing the whole time. And it was wholly forgettable.”

“Whatever,” he said, and lay back down on the pillows. “Little fucker squealed like a girl.”

“Because that’s not sexist on any level.”

“Okay, he squealed like the pig he was.”

“And why did he squeal like a pig, Dallas?” she asked.

“No reason,” he grumbled.

She leaned forward. “What did you do?”

“Nothing much. I just made sure he never did that to you or anyone else again.” Dallas settled his hands behind his head. “And I continue to keep an eye on him.”

She gasped and jabbed a finger toward him. “You’re the reason he came to school with a broken nose, black eyes, and bruised ribs? He told me he laid down his motorcycle and got caught in gravel.”

He grabbed her hand and tugged on it. “Tommy didn’t own a motorcycle.”

“He didn’t?”

“No, he didn’t. The guy could barely manage a bicycle.”

Macey sighed and flopped onto his chest. “So he lied.”

“Yeah, babe. He lied. He lied about owning a motorcycle and he lied about the girl he fucked the day before you and two days after.”

“What?”

“He had a harem, Mase. He was sleeping with three other girls at the same time.”

Macey groaned. “He was? He totally pledged his undying love to me.”

“Well, that might have been true, but his undying love wasn’t enough to keep it in his pants.” He raised an eyebrow. “Does that surprise you?”

She rolled her eyes. “Honestly, no.”

“Did he ever bug you again?”

“Well, no. He said we’d just get to know each other before we had sex again, but he was distracted and kept disappearing…" She covered her face with her hands. “Oh, never mind.”

“But, what, babe?”

“You’re right.” She sighed again. “He was a douche. I couldn’t stand him by the time the week ended and all we’d done was talk. I was also sober, which made him way more boring.”

Dallas laughed. “I rest my case.”

“Did you really beat the crap out of him?”

“Brock helped,” he admitted.

“Of course he did. Neither of you can do anything without the other.” She grinned. “Hence the academy and then the FBI.”

“I plead the fifth,” he said. “However, it could be that to Brock, you’ve always been like another sister.”

“Yeah, like he needs another one of those.”

Brock had three. Two older and then the baby… Payton.