Chapter Nineteen
A fter another kiss.
He had zero control where she was concerned.
As Dale’s lips brushed against Sadie’s, he could feel her tension quickly dissolving and replaced by a growing heat. He wanted to take her out of herself, sort of reboot her psyche, and make her feel so good, it overpowered the negativity taking up too much space in her mind. Just as he was about to deepen the kiss, a thought occurred, and he reluctantly drew back.
“Can I borrow your phone for a second?” he asked, his voice low and husky.
She blinked at him, her eyes wide with surprise and a hint of curiosity. “My phone? What for?”
He held her gaze and smiled. “I need to disable the apartment cameras. I don’t think our… content is something you want to share with an audience.”
A pretty blush filled her face, and she quickly reached for her phone on the counter-height desk. While she was unlocking the device, he pulled his phone out and shot Coop a quick text, warning him he was about to turn off the apartment cameras.
“Here.” Sadie handed her phone over, and Dale swiftly moved his fingers over the screen as he accessed the security app. The thought of those cameras watching them wasn’t exactly conducive to the moment he wanted to create.
“Done. No more audience,” he said, setting both their phones aside before meeting her gaze. “Now, where were we?”
Without giving her a chance to respond, he leaned back in, capturing her lips in a kiss that was filled with a renewed urgency. The world outside faded away as he pulled her closer, determined to make this moment about just the two of them, with no interruptions and no distractions.
He kissed her long and deep, running his hands up her arms then over the beautiful swell of her chest. Sadie moaned and kissed him back, cupping his face before brushing his bottom lip with her wicked tongue. Heat instantly spiraled through his body. He grunted and crushed her closer. The wildfire of intensity consumed his thoughts and actions, and he got the sense she needed this as much as he did.
By the time Dale broke the kiss for air, Sadie had his shirt balled in a death grip.
“You okay?” he asked, tipping her chin so he could see her eyes. They smoldered with desire, and his body throbbed in response.
She nodded. “Except we need to get naked. Fast.”
He loved that they were on the same naked page. He also loved how she didn’t even wait for him to respond. In less than ten seconds, she was on her feet and her “Eat. Sleep. Craft. Repeat.” T-shirt and a sexy navy-blue bra hit the floor by her discarded sandals.
Appreciation twitched through Dale’s groin, and a smile tugged at his lips. “Keep going,” he encouraged, folding his arm across his chest to watch the sexy Sadie show premiering before him.
A matching grin stole across her lips as she slowed her movements and seductively wiggled out of her jeans and black panties.
God, that was hot.
Longing rolled through him, reducing the space behind his zipper in a mere heartbeat.
She inhaled and reached out to grasp her desk. “Dale, you have to stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?” he choked out.
“Like you want to eat me up.”
His grin returned. “But I do.”
This time she muttered something and reached out to grip her desk. “You’re making my legs weak.”
“That’s okay,” he reassured.
He had a great remedy in mind.
A second later, Dale swept a delectably naked Sadie into his arms, and her startled giggle warmed his neck as he gently set her on her desk. “I’ll take care of you.”
“Here?” She blinked at him as he removed a condom from his jeans and set it next to her phone.
The desk was more like a kitchen island with cubbyholes full of crafting tools, video equipment, and colorful yarn. It was sturdy and solid. Perfect for what he had in mind.
“Yes. Right here.” He winked, then locked the door, removed his boots, and pulled off his shirt before losing the rest of his clothes.
Her gaze was dark and heated, looking like she wanted to eat him up as she watched his approach. “Mmm…I love it when you stand at attention.”
Oh, she had him rock-hard and jutting out, all right. “Just for you,” he said, stopping in front of her.
“Don’t you forget it.” Her gaze grew possessive as she reached out to stroke his length.
“Roger that.” The urge to press into her touch was so strong his body shook, but he resisted. Not yet. “Got to move your camera out of the way.”
Reluctantly extracting himself from her touch, he nodded at her camera set-up. “We need to move this out of the way.”
“Okay,” she said, and before he could protest, she slid off and moved to the other side of the desk. “It just clamps on,” she informed, already loosening her end to slide it to the front edge of the counter.
He mimicked her movements and had just finished retightening the clamp when she hoisted herself back onto the desk.
“Now, where were we?” she asked, using his earlier words.
The delectable sight of her bouncing breasts and tight peaks had heat rushing through his veins and his erection right back to full tilt.
Letting out a low growl, Dale cupped those still swaying beauties with his hands as he leaned in and captured her lips, claiming, devouring everything she had, and giving her all she demanded in return.
The amazing woman matched his hunger and wanted everything he had, too.
Dale was happy to comply, but unfortunately, they needed air. He drew back and brushed her lower lip with his thumb, staring into her flushed face. “I can never get enough of you.”
She smiled, her gaze open and happy. “I know the feeling.”
He may not have been as swept away by her as she had been by him back in high school, but he sure as hell was now. He wanted to be with her. To love her. Protect her. Be loved by her.
And damn, he knew she felt that way about him. It was in everything she did. The way she smiled at him, teased him, touched him, made him coffee, and the simple act of saving him cookies. But the most telling sign was the way Sadie looked at him, like now, all tender and adoring. Warmth spread through his chest and his heart shifted into place.
Hell, he hadn’t even known it was ajar.
Leave it to the crafty woman to stroll right past his walls and set his heart straight.
“You are amazing,” he said, gently pushing her onto her back before gliding his hands down her sweet curves. “And perfect. So damn perfect.”
Grasping her ankles, he set her feet flat on the desk and took in the site of her spread wide open. His mouth watered, and his need for Sadie was overpowering.
Leaning over her, he kissed a path down her throat, over her collarbone to her gorgeous breasts. Her nipples instinctively hardened, sending a thrill down his spine. He’d never stop marveling at the way her body responded to his touch and how his body responded to hers.
Unable to resist, he closed his lips over one of her tight peaks and used his tongue to roll it against the roof of his mouth. Soft, sexy sounds ripped from her throat as she arched up in a silent invitation for more.
Not one to disappoint, he moved his attention to her other tight peak, capturing the beauty with his mouth before sucking hard.
“Mmm…magic,” she murmured, gripping the sides of the desk, and when he released her nipple, her eyes drifted open to stare at him with blazing need.
Dale groaned and placed his lips on one of her bent knees then dragged his mouth downward to her trembling thigh. His heart pounded hard in his chest as he neared paradise.
Acknowledging he was lucky as hell to have the privilege to be in her life, to taste and touch her, Dale leaned down to lick her mouthwatering center.
Sadie sucked in a breath, and her hips lifted off the desk.
“Easy,” he murmured against her. “I’ve got you.”
“Dale,” she whispered on an indrawn breath, and his dick twitched in response.
The hot woman always tested his control.
He loved testing hers right back.
Putting his mouth back on her, he slowly slid a finger inside her slick warmth. Sadie moaned and rocked her hips. Dale knew her needs, knew what she wanted, so he adopted her rhythm, gliding in and out at an angle that ripped one of those sexy sounds from her throat that he loved…craved. His whole body tightened, but he did it again and again, loving how she released the sides of the desk to grip his head and thrust into his touch.
Damn, that was hot.
“Don’t stop,” she ordered breathlessly, still holding him in place, as if afraid he’d leave without finishing.
“Never,” he murmured as he explored and nibbled, delighting in her gasps. They drove him out of his mind. And when her throaty pleas turned to needy little pants, he knew she was close.
He upped his pace, and she arched her hips, straining.
“Yeah, Dale. Harder…”
Barely holding onto his control, he answered her demand and in the next heartbeat, she bucked wildly, climaxing with his name on her lips, and the sweet sound echoed around the room, spiking his pulse.
After several hot seconds, her body went limp against the desk, and only then did he release her.
The beauty still quivering in front of him was exquisite, and the thought of something happening to her ripped through Dale’s heart…the very one she owned.
He couldn’t, wouldn’t lose her.
She was special, and he never needed to be inside her, to lose himself inside her more than he needed to right now.