Chapter 17
ESSENCE
After Dante, Lunchbox, and I have finished our breakfast, I check the time on my phone and realize that Evan will be waking up soon.
I texted my boss last night and called out of work, but I still need to go home and get some things for Lunchbox and me.
Now I’ll have to deal with Evan when I get there, but at least I have Dante with me.
Despite his injury, Lunchbox is happy as he sits in my lap. His mood changes, though, when we pull up to our house. He starts whining and tries to jump out of my lap. I set him down onto the backseat where he starts pacing around.
I reach back and pet him to calm him down. “It’s okay, Lunchbox,” I say consolingly.
Dante looks at Lunchbox through the rearview mirror. “Isn’t it crazy how much animals are able to understand what’s going on around them?” he asks quietly.
I sigh and nod. “Yeah. I hate that I have to bring him back here, but I can’t afford a doggy daycare right now.”
Dante looks at me, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Why would you take him to a doggy daycare when you can leave him with me?”
“Well… I just didn’t want to inconvenience you. You’ve already done enough for me.”
He leans in closer until the tip of his nose just barely grazes mine. “Didn’t I already tell you I would do anything for you, Essence?”
Speechless, I nod.
His eyes travel from mine down to my mouth. I chew on my bottom lip nervously, but he groans at the action. He keeps getting closer and closer, and now his mouth is just inches from mine.
“That extends to Lunchbox, too.”
He’s perfect. He’s so damn perfect and I don’t deserve him and—oh, fuck, he smells so good.
No, I do deserve a guy like him, and I’m grateful that he’s even stuck around this long while I try to figure out the dumpster fire that is my life.
The scent of his cologne envelops me, pulling me closer to him until my lips are on his, and he’s devouring my mouth.
I moan and reach up to run my fingers through his hair.
It’s so soft and silky that my fingers just glide right through to the ends.
Dante groans, and suddenly I’m being pulled into his lap.
I gasp and grab his broad shoulders to keep myself from falling over as I straddle him.
“Dante,” I breathe.
He smirks. “What, baby? Isn’t this what you want?”
I nod. “But…” I look out the tinted window towards my house, where Evan is inside and probably wondering where the hell I am.
“Don’t worry about him, Essence,” Dante says quietly, pulling me closer. When I look at him again, his amber eyes are dark and full of desire. “Just let me take care of you.”
I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. Words are hard when I’m this close to him.
He smells so good and feels so right. Although his touch is loving and soothing, his fingers grip my waist with the restraint of a man waiting impatiently for what he wants.
I close the small amount of space between us and kiss him again, exploring his mouth with mine.
The only sound in the truck is our labored breathing.
When I look into the backseat at Lunchbox, he’s lying down breathing steadily.
His face is turned away so I can’t tell if he’s asleep or not, but it’s almost as if he’s giving Dante and I some privacy.
Dante grips my chin and turns me back to him, claiming my mouth and running his hands underneath my shirt. I scoot my hips closer to his so my heated sex is resting right on his hardened cock. Even through both of our pants, we sigh in pleasure at the feeling.
Gripping my hair, Dante tilts my head back and bites my neck.
I moan pitifully at the feel of his teeth teasing my heated flesh, at the slight ache still there from where the masked man bit me last night.
I’d forgotten all about that until this morning, and thankfully there aren’t any bruises or marks.
Just a little redness, but it’s really easy to miss if you don’t already know it’s there.
My stomach dips when I think about what he did to me last night, and a part of me wants to push Dante away, but what he’s doing feels so good.
“Harder, Dante,” I pant, leaning my head back to give him a wider space.
Obliging my demand, he turns my head slightly and clamps his teeth down onto the exact same spot the masked man bit me. My fingernails dig into Dante’s shoulders until he grunts, but I don’t stop. Hurting him turns me on just as much as him hurting me.
The throbbing in my clit intensifies, and I start rocking my hips back and forth to get some kind of relief.
With his teeth still embedded in my skin, Dante groans and grips my hips harder, guiding me against him. We don’t even have our clothes off and I’m already on the brink of an orgasm.
“Fuck,” I breathe, grinding harder and faster against him.
Dante’s hips jerk upwards, and I gasp at how large he is. All I want to do is rip his clothes off and wrap my hands around his length.
My breathing quickens as the pit of my stomach begins to tighten, and pressure starts to build in my clit. Dante and I move against each other faster, harder, grasping at each other and holding on tight so nothing can separate us.
Dante’s saliva is warm as it drips down the side of my neck and into the collar of my shirt. With each thrust against me, his teeth grip my neck tighter and tighter, and I start to wonder if it’s actually blood.
“Oh, God,” I whimper, gripping Dante’s shirt as the last of the pressure builds and explodes, tipping me over the edge.
Dante finally lets go of my neck only to bury his face in my shoulder.
The enclosed space of his truck is filled with our moans of pleasure and pain.
His fingers are a vice on my hips, and I’m sure they’re going to leave delicious bruises even through my pants.
I grip his hair at the base of his neck and tug as I rock my hips faster against his, wrenching out every bit of our orgasms until we fall against each other in a sweaty heap.
That was… amazing.
I can’t remember the last time I came so hard, whether with myself or Evan, and I didn’t even have my clothes off.
Shit, Evan.
At the sudden realization of what I’ve just done, I jump off Dante’s lap and reach in the back to grab Lunchbox.
“I can’t believe I just did that,” I say breathlessly, grabbing my purse and opening the door.
“Essence, what’s wrong?” Dante asks as I drop down onto the sidewalk.
“I just cheated on my boyfriend.”
Twice.
And for some reason, I feel incredibly guilty about it.
Dante comes around to my side and steps in front of me to stop me from walking towards the house.
“Hey,” he says gently, running his hands up and down my arms. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not,” I say. Panic starts to make my heart race. “This was a mistake.”
For a moment, Dante doesn’t say anything. His eyes darken with anger, and I try to take a step back, but he doesn’t let me.
“Let me go.”
His grip tightens on my arms; I don’t feel any pain, but I know it’ll leave marks.
“Dante—”
“Are you really going to act like what we just did is wrong?” he asks angrily.
“No, it’s just—”
“Just what, Essence?” he asks heatedly.
Even though he’s angry, I can hear the hurt in his voice. I had no intention of hurting his feelings, but this is so hard for me.
Dante scoffs harshly. “So, you’re still choosing him over me? After everything he’s done to you? And to Lunchbox?”
I run a hand tiredly over my face and sigh. “I’m not choosing him over you, but you have to understand where I'm coming from right now. This isn’t like me. I just cheated on my partner for the first time ever, and it’s a lot for me to handle.”
My stomach tightens at the lie, because I didn’t feel bad about it last night when I was with him.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to go back to your house,” I say quietly, even though I don’t mean it. I’ve never felt so safe in my life, but until I can fix things with Evan, Dante will only complicate it.
He pulls me closer to him, but suddenly, the front door of the house flies open, and Evan storms out, nostrils flaring and eyes blazing.
I jump away from Dante and gather Lunchbox into my arms. “Thanks for the ride. I’ll call you later?”
“You’re out of your mind if you think I'm leaving you here alone with him,” he murmurs right before Evan stomps onto the sidewalk, grabs me, and drags me along behind him without saying a word.
When I look back at Dante, he’s still standing by the truck with a murderous glint in his eyes.