Chapter 25
TWENTY-FIVE
HAVEN
It’s past ten o’clock at night by the time we’re drying off after our shower together.
Normally, I would have been asleep hours ago, but with neither of us having practice or class tomorrow, I don’t see a point in going to bed early.
Besides, Dallas said the night was still young, and I have a feeling sleep isn’t really in the cards for us.
And that would be fine with me.
My hair smells like whatever shampoo and conditioner he used on it, and I can’t wipe the stupid smile off my face because the man literally washed. My. Hair. I mean, who does that? It was by far the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.
“Do you have an extra shirt?” I ask, holding the towel snugly around myself. “You sort of soaked mine by making me wear it in the shower.”
He looks unbelievably delicious with his towel draped low on his hips, his hair still wet from the shower. I swallow back an embarrassing gulp after openly checking him out.
Turning toward me, his eyes twinkle. “I do,” he drawls, taking a few steps in my direction and closing the gap. “But you won’t need one. Not tonight, anyway.”
A shiver runs down my spine as he reaches for my towel, resting his hands on my waist.
“Fuck, Short,” he utters, running his hands up and down my sides. “You are so fucking beautiful this way. Fresh from the shower with no makeup on and your hair not done.”
My chest warms, though there’s a voice inside telling me he’s just being nice and doesn’t mean it.
I’m the girl who doesn’t usually leave my house without at the very least some mascara and lip gloss.
I appear confident to everyone—and I am, in some ways.
Like on a softball field. But when it comes to my appearance, I’ve never seen myself as one of those naturally pretty girls.
The ones who can just wake up looking beautiful.
I look up at him, feeling his erection growing through his towel and nudging against my body. “Why did it take you so long to say something?” I blurt it out, though my voice is only a whisper. “I wish you’d told me sooner. It would have saved me so much heartache.”
I’m not lying to him. For years, it’s tortured me to have him so close while also not close enough. Close enough to have to watch him day in and day out, but distant enough that he wasn’t mine to hold.
Emotion cascades over his face, and for a split second, his eyes dart down away from mine before he lifts them.
“Since I’ve known you, I’ve known damn well you are too good for me.
” He says the words like they are the honest to God truth, even though I know they aren’t.
“You are so … whole. And real. You know what you want. You come from a good family—people who have taught you to be good. People who have loved you since before you were born. Taught you how to give and receive love.” He almost flinches.
“I’m lucky that Lane and Memphis found me.
Trust me, Haven, I know I am. But before that—” He stops, hanging his head and dropping his hands from my waist. “I don’t talk about my past because I’m afraid that if I do, I’ll be taken back to that part of my life.
The part that I’ve tried so fucking hard never to return to. ”
My heart hurts, seeing him this way. I can remember for the first three or so years of him living with Lane and Memphis, I’d overhear Memphis whispering to my mom that he had a lot of nightmares.
Ones that were so bad that he didn’t just wake himself up with the screams, he woken his entire household.
I don’t know everything he’s been through, but I know that it’s more than anyone should ever have to—especially a kid.
Reaching upward, I cup his cheek.
“You can tell me anything—always,” I whisper. “And I’m not too good for you, D.”
He squeezes his eyes closed upon my touch before his sad gaze stares into mine.
“I think about things like genetics and how your parents gave you the best ones. You’re caring like your mom, intense like your dad.
Funny like both your parents and so many other things.
Things you got from them because you are a product of them.
And I see that. So many times, I see pieces of you that I know you got from your parents.
Good things.” He shrugs, growing quiet for a moment.
“What does that say about me though? That I’m a product of a woman who stayed in an abusive relationship, neglected her child, was addicted to prescription drugs, and could hardly get out of bed.
” He swallows, looking away from me again.
“Or worse, the product of an absolute asshole who would abuse his wife and kid, break things, and then take off for days at a time?”
“Dallas,” I whisper, keeping my hold on his cheek. “You are not your parents.”
“You don’t know that, Short,” he murmurs. “And that’s what scares the shit out of me. I can deal with me ruining my own life, but I would never let myself ruin yours too.” Finally, he looks me in the eyes. “So for years, I kept you at an arm’s length to protect you.”
“From who?” I whisper.
“From me,” he says sadly. “From the guy I’m afraid I’ll one day become.
” His hand reaches for my waist again, and he grips my skin through the towel.
“And I was doing okay with it. It sucked every single time you’d bring a new guy to a family event.
I don’t know what was worse, watching you fall for someone or seeing you cry when he hurt you.
Either way, it was my own living hell.” His fingers dig deeper into my flesh.
“But then I needed help with school. And you needed someone to protect you from Tabor. We were pushed together in a way I have always been able to avoid.” He drops his forehead to mine.
“But I couldn’t avoid it anymore—it was inevitable. ”
He sighs, swallowing.
“We, Haven … we are inevitable.” He peers at me, his eyes burning into mine. “I’m still terrified. All my fears are still there. But it doesn’t matter because I can’t escape you.” He kisses me suddenly and roughly, sliding one hand to my cheek. “And I don’t want to anymore either.”
I want to tell him that I love him. That I’ve loved him since practically day one when he showed up, broken and standoffish. But even when he was pushing me away, I knew one thing …
He trusted me. He has always trusted me.
My mouth is on his, attacking his lips hungrily like it may be our last kiss ever even though I’m not about to let that be the case. My tongue glides against his before his hands rip the towel from my body, leaving me bare.
Reaching down, I unwrap his towel, instantly sending his swollen, hard length free. Lifting me up, my legs slide around his waist, pushing his dick between us straight upward before he sets me onto his bed.
He looks down at me, not saying a word, and yet, the way his eyes drink me in … I feel so beautiful.
His fingers graze between my legs as wetness pools from my body. “Fuck, you’re so wet for me,” he murmurs, dragging a finger over my slit, sinking it deeper.
“Fuck me, Dallas,” I whimper. “Please. Right now. Fuck me with nothing between us.”
I don’t need anything fancy or a bunch of foreplay. I’ve waited so long for this, and right now, all I want is to feel him inside me, making me his own.
Making me perfect for him.
His brows knit together. “N—nothing between us?” He swallows roughly. “No condom?”
“No condom.” Rushes from my lips. “Just us.”
His arm wraps around my body to lift me higher on the bed just before he crawls over me. Taking his hands, he pushes mine down against the mattress as he laces our fingers together. His cock nudges into my heat, creating just enough friction that a low, desperate moan slips from my throat.
I need this. I need this so fucking badly.
I’ve had sex before, but this feels like the first time because of who it’s with.
I want to cry, not from pain but instead utter fulfillment because finally, all seems right in the world.
He’s mine. Dallas Rivers is finally mine.
DALLAS
When I imagined this earlier, I had planned to light candles, maybe get some flower petals to put on my bed.
Anything to make her understand how much it meant to me.
Then we got out of the shower, and she was so beautiful and bare.
She was letting me see her for one hundred percent of who she is, and I knew there would be no big, elaborate planning.
Not when neither of us could wait any longer.
I look down at her, not fully believing that this is finally happening. It could have happened so long ago if only I would have let it, but maybe the waiting makes it that much better.
I thrust my hips, pushing my dick deeper inside her, and a tiny whimper squeaks from her parted lips as a sheer layer of sweat gathers on her forehead. Her fingers pull from mine, reaching for my back as she digs her fingernails into my skin.
“You’re so tight. So fucking perfect,” I whisper, thrusting again, feeding her pussy inch by inch as she squeezes around me.
“Your dick …” she chokes out. “Feels so fucking good inside me.”
I groan, eating up her filthy fucking mouth. “That’s because it’s all yours, baby. Every inch belongs to you now.” I push myself deeper, my cock fully buried inside her now. “And you’re taking it all.”
I bury my face into her neck, fucking her harder and faster now that her pussy is stretched to accommodate me. Her nails dig deeper into my flesh, and I bite gently onto her neck.
Her pussy is soaked, making me slide easier with each thrust. My balls slap against her, sending a wave of pleasure through them and making me bite her neck even harder.
She glides her hands lower, down to my ass before she pushes against it, forcing me all the way into her pussy just before her legs fall even further apart.
“Fuck … D,” she practically screams. “Don’t … fucking … stop. I’m—I’m so—”
She’s not just telling me she’s close; I can feel it as her pussy begins to pulsate too. Pulling my head up, I look down at her as my balls draw up so fucking tightly that it sends a shiver down my spine.
“Can I come inside you,” I barely choke out, focusing on not coming until she’s answered. “Fill you right up with my cum?”
“Yes,” she whines. “Please … yes.”
She throws her head back slightly but keeps her eyes on mine as she comes on my dick. She grinds her hot little pussy back and forth greedily, rocking as my cock explodes inside her.
My cock jumps with each release, and I grind my back teeth together as a hiss erupts from my throat.
“I love you,” I rasp, my body still convulsing. “I love you, Haven.”
Her pussy slowly stops convulsing on my dick, and her brows pull together just before her eyes fill with tears.
“I love you.” She croaks the words, her lip trembling as a tear spills down her cheek.
My movements slow, and I roll onto my back, pulling her right along with me and keeping my dick still inside her heat. She buries her head into my neck and shudders gently against me.
“I’ve wanted this for so long,” she whispers, sniffling. “Thank you.”
I don’t say anything back because in this moment, in this quiet, calm house, I don’t need to. She knows now, and that’s all that matters.
I have loved her for years, and finally telling her feels like a weight off my chest. I just hope that with her light around me, the dark thoughts won’t come in.
I’ve waited for this for so long too. And I’m not going to let anything come between us.
Not even myself or my fucked-up genetics.