Chapter 35 Scene of the Crime
Calder
“Great speech, baby,” I say when I finally have Dakota alone in my truck. She was swarmed by people after the presentation
was complete, including my family and her friends, and I’ve been itching to tell her how much her words moved me.
“Thanks.” She offers me a wobbly smile that has me frowning back at her.
“I mean it. That speech... it was so inspiring. Did you just come up with that on the spot?”
She nods, not giving me much to work with.
“Well, it was fucking good and funny. Just the perfect mix of heartfelt and so very you. You should feel so proud.”
“Yeah, I am.” She licks her lips and wrings her hands on her lap, looking out the window and avoiding my eyes.
“And you looked so fucking beautiful up there.”
“Did I?” Her head snaps around, and she hits me with a curious look.
“Yes, I told you multiple times. Did you not hear me?”
I laugh, and she tilts her head, eyeing me with a look of contempt. “Oh, I heard you. Just still a little confused on why
you didn’t take me up on my offer.”
My hands tighten around the steering wheel as I release a groan of frustration. “I knew you were in your head about that.”
“I’m not in my head,” she snaps, her shoulders rising with tension. “I’m just saying for a guy who loves sex so much, why
would you pass up something like that?”
“I told you it was because I wanted the night to be about you.”
“Yeah, thanks for that.” She folds her arms over her chest. “You know what? If you just want to drop me at my house and go home, I’m good with that. It’s been a long night, and we could both use some sleep before we go to the sex club tomorrow.”
“You want me to drop you off?”
She nods, her eyes facing straight ahead. “Yeah, we can just forget about that last checklist item. I can still revise the
PowerPoint any time I like, right?” She reaches into her clutch and pulls out her phone like she’s actually going to edit
the file right now.
My jaw clenches at the flippant tone in her voice. Neither of us have brought up the PowerPoint in days. Last week we made
a loose plan for the sex club on Saturday night, but I guess I thought maybe things were changing. She still wants to go?
Dammit, this woman always keeps me on my toes.
And she’s not dumb. She knows what she’s doing. She’s backing me into a corner. Forcing me to call this what it is: more than
sex.
But a pressure builds in my chest every time I think of that. Flashbacks hammer into me of Robyn and her spiderweb of lies
and deceit and how she fucked with me and my brothers. I don’t want to go through that pain again. It’s not worth it. I’m
not worth it either. I’ll break Dakota’s heart and be just as bad as her shitty ex, and Dakota will break mine and be just
as bad as my shitty ex. Who needs that fucking trauma in their life?
For what? For some good sex? Why bother? I know what’s out there. I could reactivate my fucked-up dating apps and find a million
other girls that are ten times easier than the grumpy blonde sitting next to me. We could end this right here, right now,
and I could have someone else in my bed by tomorrow night.
A knot forms in my throat over that thought.
I’ve gotten too used to Dakota’s wants, Dakota’s needs, her noises, her curves.
Her softness. Her scent on my sheets. I know exactly where to touch her to get her revved up, and I like that I know that about her.
And she has absolutely learned what sets me off.
Who would have thought I’d enjoy being flogged?
I’d have never let a hookup try that on me. But her? Why the fuck not?
This connection we have? It feels like a secret between the two of us that no one else in this world knows. I could find someone
else, possibly, but if it’s not Dakota, I know without a shadow of a doubt I would be bored out of my fucking mind.
Dakota Schaefer and her stubborn, nagging, moody ass has ruined me for other women.
“Fuck this shit,” I growl and yank the wheel to pull my pickup over on the side of the road, checking the curb with my tires
as I do.
“What are you doing?” she exclaims, grabbing onto the handle above the door.
I throw the truck in Park and thrust a finger into her face. “You are such a pain in my ass sometimes.”
“The feeling is mutual!” she snaps back.
I unbuckle my seat belt and lean across the console of my car to grab her face with one hand.
“Let me go, Calder.”
“No, dammit. Not until you listen to me.”
“What?”
I exhale to contain my tension, my hand sliding down to her neck as I hold her possessively, forcing her to hear the words
from my lips. “For the past fucking month, I can’t think of you without getting hard. But for once in my whole damn life,
I cared about more than just sex. I cared about making you feel special. I cared about watching you shine. I cared about my
family and friends seeing you in your element because I was proud as fuck of you. So proud I felt smug... like... look
at this chick I get to call mine. Be fucking jealous, universe.”
Her brows furrow as she tries to look away, but I clutch her jaw, holding her eyes as her breathing picks up pace.
“But make no mistake, baby,” I murmur while pressing my fingers into the back of her neck to angle her face up at me.
My thumb lifts and drags down her pouty lower lip, a harsh breath escaping her lungs as I add, “I’ve wanted to fuck you all night long.
On the drive to your house I wanted to fuck you.
I wanted to fuck you the moment you stepped out of your house.
And I desperately wanted to fuck you when you were on that stage making your big speech.
You, Ace. It’s all about fucking you, because despite being a pain in my ass, you are all I want. ”
I pause, releasing her jaw as our eyes hold each other with a million unspoken words.
“If you want me to go home tonight, I will. If you’re done with me, that’s fine. But if it’s up to me, I’d rather you just
sit on my face until I leave this great magnificent world because I can think of no better way to go.”
Her serious expression morphs into one of irritation as her eyes roll to the roof of my car. “You are so dramatic.”
She shoves me away, and the tension in my shoulders instantly lifts as I lean on the console and hit her with my dazzling
smirk. “I learned from the best.”
She glares at me while fighting back her own smirk that makes my cock hard. “Just drive the truck, Tomcat.”
A smug smile spreads across my face as I put the car back in Drive. “You got it, Karen.”
Dakota
“Take off your clothes for me,” Calder commands, his voice deep and husky in the dim lamplight of my bedroom. “But do it slowly.”
My heart flutters in my chest as I turn on my heel and offer my back to him. “Little help here?”
He chuckles, and his breath is heavy as he steps up behind me and slowly drags my zipper down. The cadence of it in this moment
is one of the most erotic sounds I’ve ever heard.
When he’s done, he walks around me and sits down on my bed. He ditched his suit coat and shoes downstairs, and now he’s before me in his black slacks and white dress shirt. He slowly loosens the tie around his neck, his legs spread wide as he stares expectantly at me. “Now strip.”
I jump slightly, my nerves tingling as I ease my dress down my shoulder. It’s a tight, formfitting fabric, but luckily it
has stretch, and I manage to wiggle it down over my hips. I kick out of it and stand in a pair of black panties, a black strapless
bra, and my heels before this inky mountain man.
“Such a good fucking girl.” He lets out a deep, audible noise while his eyes score over my entire body and cause heat to flood
into my core. He stands up and walks toward me, reaching out to brush his fingertips along my belly as he circles me. Goose
bumps follow in his wake and my entire body vibrates toward a needy ache right between my legs which is all his damn fault
after those heated words in his truck.
I can’t think of you without getting hard.
Make no mistake, baby. I’ve wanted to fuck you all night long.
You are all I want.
Those words alone are the best aphrodisiac. Not to mention the way he held my neck—as if he couldn’t help but control me.
I could melt into the floor just thinking about it.
His breath is hot in my ear when he whispers, “Do you think you’re beautiful?”
I twitch at that question. I know what my answer should be. It should be a resounding yes . I just gave an acceptance speech about confidence. And after what Calder just said to me in his truck, the word yes should tumble out of my lips without pause.
Yet, the word doesn’t come.
Calder growls as he steps up behind me, his fully clothed body brushing against my sensitive flesh. “Do you feel this?” he
asks, pressing his groin into my back.
The hard ridge of his cock digs into me, and I gasp as the yearning shoots straight to my core.
“You do this to me. No one else.” He grabs my hand and pulls it behind me to grip his shaft. My fingers squeeze his hard length as I rub him over his pants, my body trembling with need.
I want more. I want skin on skin, I want him inside of me, wrapped around me, everything.
“I’m not going to lick your beautiful pussy until you tell me you’re beautiful.”
I wonder why I’m fighting to answer this so much. Yes. It’s just a word. A short word that I believe.
I do think I’m beautiful.
But a realization dawns on me... one I’ve never had before.
“I don’t have to tell you I’m beautiful,” I croak, my voice thick with arousal.
Calder stops in front of me and stares intently back at me.
I bite my lip and narrow my eyes at him. “I don’t care what you think.”
The corner of his mouth twitches, but he remains silent as I press my hand to his chest and walk him back toward the bed.
He flops down, bouncing on the soft mattress as he looks up at me.
“Whether I’m beautiful or not is irrelevant.” I reach back and unclasp my bra, the cool air causing my nipples to pucker in