Chapter Nine
S aturday morning, Dante arrived at Holden’s with Noah and a lot less pep in his step than previously. He gripped the phone in his pocket, his mind on the text and photo Carter had sent him last night. A photo of Amanda having drinks with some white dude with dimples. They looked really cozy, too.
His chest tightened and stomach clenched.
Granted, he’d never claimed they were exclusive, but he hadn’t thought it necessary. He believed it was a given. So technically, this was his fault. He should’ve been clearer. Which meant he had no right to feel betrayed or upset.
But he did, and he had the tightening in his body to prove it.
He might’ve hidden his discomfort from his son, but his buddy was another story. The guy missed nothing. So, Dante wasn’t surprised when Holden pulled him aside after Noah disappeared into the kitchen to make pancakes with Emily.
“What’s going on?” Holden asked, cutting right to the chase. “What’s in your pocket that’s got you so wound you look ready to snap?”
He blew out a breath and showed his buddy the text and photo.
Holden’s brows rose then lowered. “What did she say when you asked her about it?”
“I didn’t,” he replied. “Haven’t seen her since I picked Noah up at daycare yesterday.”
He’d heard her come home last night and when he saw it was a truck, he shut off the light and went to bed. Then tossed the entire night.
“Then you need to talk to her first. Don’t let your suspicions get ahead of you. I’m betting there’s a perfectly good explanation for this.” He tapped the phone. “And it isn’t what you think.”
God, he hoped so, because what he was leaning toward wasn’t good.
“Look, I’ve only known Amanda a few months, but she isn’t the type to cheat. So, you can get that out of your head right now,” Holden said. “Talk to her.”
He nodded. “I know. My gut is telling me she didn’t do anything, but did this guy have to be white with dimples?” He shook his head and shoved his phone back into his pocket.
Holden laughed.
Dante frowned, aggravation prickling his spine. He didn’t see what was so funny. “Glad you’re amused.”
“Oh, I am.” His buddy continued to smile at him.
It wasn’t like the guy to be so callous.
“Why?”
“You haven’t met her parents yet, have you?”
He blinked at the smirking idiot and shook his head.
“You will. They’ll be here later, but first,” Holden said, fishing out his own phone from his pocket, before tapping on the screen.
Dante assumed his friend was going to show him a photo of her parents, but the unmistakable sound of keys and the swoosh of a text, and then an incoming reply echoed between them.
Now Dante was completely confused.
“Okay. It’s all set,” Holden said, shoving his phone away.
Dante blinked again. “What is?”
“Amanda is waiting for you to go pick her up.”
His stomach tightened and his pulse rocketed. “What the hell did you do?”
“All I did was ask her if she’d left to come here yet. She said no, so I told her to stay put. That you were on your way.”
“Holden—”
“I know, I know. Don’t thank me.” The bastard grinned.
“Thank you?” Dante ground out between clenched teeth. “If this wasn’t your house and my son wasn’t around, I’d throttle you.”
Holden’s grin widened. “You’d try, but it is. He is. And you’re wasting time. Go talk to her, Dante. Don’t put stock into an unexplained photo. Even Carter’s text said he wasn’t sure what was up. So don’t assume. Go find out. Or trust your gut.”
“Daddy, come on. We’re making pancakes,” Noah said, rushing into the room with a smile as wide as his little face.
“Your dad has to leave to go pick up Miss Amanda,” Holden said. “You don’t mind hanging out with us until he gets back, do you?”
Noah immediately shook his head. “No, I don’t mind. After pancakes, I’m a play with da pigs. And when Miss Amanda gets here, we gonna play with da goats. Dere silly.”
“They sure are.” Dante smiled. His son’s enthusiasm was infectious enough to cancel his anger. “Okay, I’m going to go. I’ll be back.”
“With Miss Amanda.” Noah smiled.
He nodded. “You be good.”
“Okay. Gotta get pancakes. Bye, Daddy.”
A second later, his galloping son disappeared around the corner toward the kitchen.
Holden set a hand on his shoulder. “All right. Go have your talk. We’ve got things covered here. And, uh, take all the time you need.”
Before Dante could reply, the guy vanished around the corner almost as fast as his son had a minute ago.
Feeling manipulated but grateful at the same time, Dante left Holden’s and drove the ten minutes back into town where he pulled into Amanda’s driveway…in the same spot as that truck had parked last night.
Muttering a curse, he got out and pushed those thoughts aside, determined to take his buddy’s advice and just confront Amanda about the photo.
Talk to her. Don’t jump to conclusions. Trust your gut.
Good advice. Advice that he’d never needed before. And he knew it was, because he hadn’t cared enough about the other women for it to matter.
“Hey, handsome,” Amanda said, opening her door before he even knocked. “I missed you last night.”
Smiling, she stepped aside for him to enter.
“Hi,” he said, moving away from the door so she could close it. Several questions sprang to his lips, but he didn’t voice them.
He knew he was stalling.
Was he afraid to ask because he was afraid of her answer? Or because he didn’t want to be suspicious of her?
And he s houldn’t be suspicious of her.
He needed to trust in his gut. Trust her. And his gut told him he could trust her.
No. He was not going to confront her about a damn thing. He was going to take that leap of faith and trust her.
“I had a nice time last night until both of my sisters split.” She chuckled, shutting the door. “Luckily, Olivia’s ex-boyfriend was there. He was nice enough to give me a ride home, although, I think I was helping him out too.” She moved in front of Dante, and he automatically set his hands on her hips. “Josh is a famous rodeo star,” she said, placing her palms on his chest. “And there were some groupies hanging around. So, by sitting with me until I thought you and Noah might’ve been back from Hunter’s house, it appeared like he was busy. And he was happy to take me home because it got him out of the restaurant…uh…unmolested…I guess you’d say.”
Thank God he’d gone with his gut. He was a damn fool for even considering she’d cheat, and even worse for allowing Carter to plant that seed of doubt.
No. That wasn’t fair. Carter was just trying to have his six. They’d all seen too much of that crap going on at the base. Unfortunately, it was deeply rooted in their psyche.
Still, it was unnecessary.
“I wore a special dress and boots for you last night,” she said, a wicked gleam entering her eyes that sent heat blasting through his veins. “I was going to come over, but I didn’t see a light, so I went to bed instead. Although, I’m not going to lie, I did consider knocking for a late-night booty call.”
He muttered an oath and tightened his grip on her hips as his zipper bit into his full erection. Dante wouldn’t have deserved that visit last night.
“You mean much more to me than a booty call.” He released one of her hips to lightly caress her cheek, basking in the adoration warming her gaze. The urge to kiss her was so strong it practically consumed him. But he knew if he did then, he’d never be able to carry out his intent. “Come next door with me. I want to take you to my bed.”
Sheri was the only woman he ever slept with in his bed, and that had only happened after they were married. This was a new house. A new bed.
But Amanda? He wanted to share his space with her. Share everything with her, starting now.
She inhaled and her wicked gleam returned. “Are you going to take advantage of me in your bed?”
He shook his head, running a finger over her lips. “Never. But I will make you come with me there.”
“Damn, Dante.” Her fingers curled around his shirt as she gripped it tightly. “What are we waiting for?”
Good question.
He released her other hip to take her hand and together they walked out of her house and into his, and once his door shut behind them, he kissed her long and thorough against it.
When they broke for air, he swept her into his arms and carried her up the stairs and straight to his bedroom, where he set her on her feet and slowly began to remove her clothes.
He drew her T-shirt over her head, then dropped it on the floor before he pulled her close and kissed her trembling lips. She opened up for him, kissing him back, slipping a hand under his shirt to skim her fingers over his abs then lower to brush just beneath the waistband of his jeans.
Heat skittered down his spine and just like that, he was rock hard.
Damn, she was good. The woman knew exactly how to touch him and where to touch him to take him from zero to six hundred in less than half a second.
“I need to taste more of you,” he said when they broke for air.
Dragging his mouth down her throat, he reached behind her to unhook her bra, then stepped back enough to tug the straps down her arms and watch her beautiful breasts bounce free as the blue silk hit the floor.
“So perfect.” He cupped what he could in his hands and kissed the parts that spilled over.
She moaned and arched her back. “Mmm…so perfect.”
Need burned through his veins with vigorous force. He released her and dropped to his knees and slowly unbuttoned, unzipped, then tugged her jeans to her ankles, taking his time to push the denim slowly down her legs with his hands leisurely caressing her supple curves along the way.
“Hold on to me,” he told her as he lightly kissed her thigh.
Her hands shook as they gripped his shoulders, and he wasted no time helping her out of her jeans the rest of the way.
He glanced up, and his heart rocked at the sight of her standing in nothing but a tiny scrap of blue silk. So perfect. Then he reached up and slipped his fingers under the blue silk and tugged it all the way down and off.
His heart raced and his body throbbed as he stared at the naked beauty before him.
“God, Amanda, you are so beautiful.”
He nudged her backward until she was sitting on his bed. The wobble of her breasts and perky pink nipples had him leaning forward to capture one in his mouth.
“Mmm…” she moaned and grabbed his head and held on tight.
Pressing her nipple to the roof of his mouth with his tongue garnered him another moan.
He liked that. A lot.
But he was aiming to hear his name, so he released her nipple and drew back as he grasped her knees and spread her legs wider.
His heart caught at the sight before him.
Amanda leaned back on her elbows, and her breasts were still rippling from the action. Her nipples were puckered and aroused, and he felt it to the very tip of his own arousal. And her gorgeous green gaze was hungry, trusting, and willing, and he felt blessed to be the recipient.
His gaze skimmed south over the sweet swell of her hips and trembling thighs, and his mouth watered, needing to taste her again.
She grunted, and the frustration and need in her tone spurred him on.
Dipping down, he pressed his mouth to her thigh and kissed his way up, letting his hand trail ahead to caress and stroke, finding her deliciously wet.
She gasped.
His groin fisted tight. Not yet. Not until he tasted her and made her his. Made her burst with his name on her lips. He stroked her again, then again and again, before he removed his finger and blew a breath over her heated flesh.
“Dante…” she murmured on a hitched breath as she stared down at him, desire hooding her incredible green eyes.
And while he held her smoldering gaze, he leaned closer and licked.
She cried out his name once more and lifted off the mattress.
“Easy, babe.” He set a hand on her belly and gently held her in place. “I’m just getting started.”
Dante ran his hands up the back of her knees then he draped her legs over his shoulders, stopping a beat to meet her gaze again before he put his mouth back on her and stroked her with his tongue.
She let out a low, sexy moan that throbbed straight through his erection.
“Dante,” she rasped, gripping his bed covers tightly in her fists as she thrust her hips. “Don’t stop.”
Not a chance.
With his mouth too busy to reply, he held onto her sweet ass and curled his tongue to give her a different angle. That was it. She burst and his name echoed around his room in a sexy, sensuous tone he craved. Wanting to give her more, he lapped at her, drawing out her orgasm until she finally stopped rocking.
He brought her down slowly before he released her and drew back, setting her legs back onto the edge of the mattress.
Satisfaction was warm in her eyes and her chest rose and fell with her labored breathing. “Dante…that was…amazing.”
“I agree.” He kissed her thigh before he rose to peel off his clothes as fast as humanly possible.
He fished a condom from his discarded jeans. Her lush, glistening curves beckoned. If he didn’t get inside her warmth soon, he was going to explode.
After rolling on the condom, he returned to her. She hadn’t moved. She remained where he’d left her, legs draped over the side of the bed while she lay back on the mattress and smiled the most satisfied smile he’d put on her face to date.
“You look comfy.”
She sighed. “Mm-hmm. I am.”
But he wasn’t done.
Dante slid his hands under her and shifted her sweet body up higher on the bed. Then he started at her ankles and kissed his way up her beautiful body, paying extra attention to her gorgeous peaks, sucking the one he’d neglected earlier into his mouth and pressing it against the roof with his tongue like she loved.
She moaned, and when he released her to kiss a path up to her throat then bit the curve of her neck, she gasped and arched up, clutching his back.
So soft and warm. He’d never tire of worshiping her body. Never.
“Dante.” She squirmed and ran her hands over his shoulders. “How can I need you already?”
He lifted up and stared into her heated gaze. “Because we’re good together.”
It was crazy, like she was made for him and him for her. They fit perfectly.
“Very good.” She smiled, and he wondered how it could be so sweet and so wicked at the same time.
Dipping down, he captured her mouth for a deep, hungry, frenzied kiss. When they broke for air, he entwined their fingers and positioned their hands on either side of her head on the mattress. As if reading his mind, she spread her legs, making room for him in silent invitation. Holding her gaze, he settled between them and slowly thrust inside her sweet warmth.
A low, sexy sound of elation escaped from her throat and mingled with his own.
Nothing was sweeter than the feel of her slick heat surrounding him. Nothing.
This was where he belonged. With this woman. This beautiful, giving woman. Even though it was only two weeks since they met, it felt as if he’d known her forever. Waited for her. Was meant for her.
This amazing woman and her total acceptance of him.
“You feel so good, Dante,” she whispered, closing her eyes. “So right.”
Then she started to move.
He wanted it to last. To relish the incredible feeling, but he’d barely held on when she climaxed before. He was functioning on borrowed time.
Dante squeezed her hands. “Amanda, look at me.”
Her eyes fluttered open, and the impact of the pleasure and need spilling from her gaze funneled straight to his heart. He began to move with her, using long, slow thrusts to take them higher, carrying them to a place he’d never been.
“Dante…I…” Wonder softened her features and mixed with the volume of emotions filling her eyes.
“I know,” he said, brushing her lips with his while he continued to hold her gaze, letting her see he felt exactly the same.
But then a deep-seated craving took over, and he upped their pace. She moaned and arched up, as if needing to touch him everywhere.
He needed it too.
The incredible slide of their bodies in perfect sync coupled with her soft, sexy, little noises rising from her throat was pure heaven. He was done. She felt too damn good. Heat skittered down his spine while a tell-tale tightening in his groin signaled he was close.
And the flush on her skin and the tight grasp she had on his hands told him she was right there with him.
With no secrets between them and their feelings out in the open, he watched her gaze glaze over as he lifted up, shifting the angle of his thrusts to how she liked it the most. He liked it too.
A second later, Amanda called out his name as her walls clamped around him tightly. He drove in hard and completely lost his breath and mind as he followed her over into bliss.
When his vision returned along with some strength, he lifted a hand to stroke her face and watched her come back to herself. Then he rolled onto his side, and as he held her against him and they worked to catch their breath, he knew his life had just changed for the better.
“Keeps getting better and better,” she said between breaths, and he smiled at her word choice.
“I know.” He tightened his hold. “I’m glad I moved here, and that you moved back to Harland.”
She nodded. “Me, too.”
“Why did you go to England…if you don’t mind me asking?”
He felt her smile against his chest. “No, I don’t mind,” she said, tracing circles on his chest as she spoke. “I took that job because there were no teaching positions here or in our neighboring counties. And it seemed like it could be fun, and perhaps look good on my resume.”
True.
“Why did you decide to come home? Not that I’m complaining,” he added.
For a split second, her fingers stopped stroking his chest before her sweet touch resumed. “My mom told me there were two teachers retiring this year and possibly a third, so I decided to come home over the Christmas break, so I’d be settled and ready when they opened up the application processes.”
Made sense, but for some reason, he felt as if there was something more.
Or it could just be a lack of brain cells.
“And in the meantime, you took a job at the daycare,” he said.
“Yes.” She tipped her head back and smiled at him. “I can’t sit idle. Missed teaching, and even though it’s not exactly what I was used to, I took the job, and I have to tell you, I’m glad. Working with those very young minds has opened mine. One of the teachers retiring is my old Kindergarten teacher, and that’s the position I now know I want to aim for.”
He smiled. “You’d be perfect for that job.”
“Thanks. And I think you’re perfect for me.”
“I know you’re perfect for me,” he said, placing a kiss on her nose. “And as much as I’d like to show you...”
“Again.” She smiled. “As much as I’d like you to prove that to me, again, we should probably get back to Noah.”
His heart squeezed, partly because he’d momentarily forgotten about his son, and partly because she hadn’t. The woman kept proving more and more that they were exactly what the other one needed.
Twenty-five minutes later, they returned to Holden’s, but this time, Dante was in a much better frame of mind. He felt a contentment he’d never known.
And he liked it.
So much so, that when they got out of his car and began to walk toward the animals, he automatically reached for her hand.
She glanced at him, and as he watched the surprise in her eyes turn to pure warmth, he felt surrounded by it. Engulfed.
Grounded.
She didn’t say anything. There was no need. She just squeezed his hand and they continued to walk toward the sanctuary.
They were halfway there when a car approached on the long driveway.
“Oh, hey.” She squeezed his hand. “Here come my parents.”