Chapter 28 ROSE
ROSE
The night air is crisp as the boys walk back to the car, animated after the game and talking about the goals.
With no clue who is who, I just enjoyed watching them enjoy the game.
I couldn’t care less about football, but I care about them.
Even if I won’t admit I care about Dan, I do.
Tonight was a glimpse of how our life could be.
It’s a nice reality, one I could be happy in.
But fairy tales don’t exist in my world.
The drive back to the boarding school falls quiet with nothing but the sultry sounds of the radio at this late hour. I wish we could take Angelos home with us. Sometimes I want to keep him with me all the time just so I know he’s safe. But he has school tomorrow.
Dan slows as he pulls up to the iron gates of the elite boarding school, only affordable with my brother’s money.
I tap in the code, then turn back to Angelos, who’s fast asleep on the back seat. “Dan, look.”
He turns his head and smiles. “Shall we just take him home?”
He’s thinking the same as me.
Angelos stirs. “Are we here already?” He unclips his belt and climbs out of the car.
“Well, you fell asleep.” I wrap an arm around him. “Want to stay here tonight or come home?”
“I’m here now.”
I walk him to the halls and sign him in. My heart always aches when I have to leave him. “So what do you think of Dan, then?”
“He’s cool.” His head tilts looking up at me. “Is he your boyfriend?”
“No.” I swallow, twiddling the strap on my bag. “But I like him.” I hold my breath, waiting for his response, shocked at my own admission.
Angelos’ brow furrows. “What about Dad?”
I close my eyes for a brief moment. The mention of Magnus sends a frigid chill through my bloodstream. “I’m never getting back with him. I thought you knew that.”
Angelos shrugs as we stand outside his room. “I thought when he got out we’d be a family again.”
“That’s never going to happen.” I grit my teeth, wishing I’d been truthful with Angelos from the start, but I never wanted him to think his father was a piece of scum who deserved to be in prison.
Instead, I told him he was set up, hailed him a hero.
So many lies have been told that I’m stuck in a tangled web of deceit and deception and I can’t seem to find a way out.
“Dad won’t be happy. Does he know?”
“I haven’t spoken to your dad in years.”
“Maybe you can send him a letter.”
I give him a fake smile, words clogging up my throat.
Those bloody letters have been the bane of my existence.
I should have just let Angelos know when he was little that it wasn’t his real father, instead of sending him fake letters at birthdays and Christmas because I never wanted my son to feel unloved by a father like I was.
“Yes, I’ll do that.” I give him a hug. “Want me to tuck you in?”
“Mum. That’s so cringe. Nobody has their mum in the rooms.”
“Okay. I’ll leave you to it. Love you.”
“Love you.”
I rub at the ache in my chest as I walk past the check-in and nod to the house leader. I don’t know what’s going to happen or how we’re gonna work this out, but all I know is that right now, the only place I want to be is in Dan’s arms.
My steps quicken as I rush back to the car, holding my cardigan closed over my breasts to block out the chill.
Cool air nips at my face, but it’s nothing compared to the ache in my heart.
Leaving Angelos always does this to me. Thunder sounds in the distance, and my heart thumps, as if keeping pace with the building storm.
I run the last few steps before the rain starts.
A shiver goes through me as I get in the car just as the rain patters against the window. The smell of the leather interior and Dan’s aftershave surrounds me, grounding me, even as my emotions whirl like a brewing storm in my head.
“Everything all right?” Dan extends a hand, squeezing my shoulder, his touch warm and steady. “You cold?” He turns the heat up in the car and sets the wipers going.
“I hate leaving him.” My voice cracks, and I swallow, pushing down my swelling emotions. I hold my hands against the blowers.
Dan takes one of my hands in his and brings it to his lips, his mouth lingering against my knuckles with the softest brush of warmth that sends a shudder down my spine. “We’ll come back Friday and pick him up after school.”
I nod and smile, our eyes locked for a beat too long. The air shifts, thick and heavy, full of unspoken words I’m not ready to say. “We need to get home before the storm starts.”
“I think it’s already started.” Dan turns the ignition, his gaze flicking to my lips as if he’s fighting the same pull I am.
He drives out of the school grounds, his hand gripping the wheel, ink rippling on his forearm as he changes gears. It’s enough to have me salivating between my thighs.
As if seeing him with our son tonight wasn’t enough to make my ovaries pop, then this’ll do it.
I know it’s reckless and maybe it’s wrong, but right now, logic doesn’t stand a chance against this need.
I’m probably gonna be pregnant before the week’s out.
I don’t know how much longer I can resist him or why I even need to resist him.
It’s clear my body craves this. I should just give in to the temptation.
We drive down the motorway, the rain coming down hard and the wipers on full. Lightning flashes, zigzagging across the night’s sky. Each crack of thunder vibrates through me, amplifying the pounding in my chest.
“Pull over.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve driven in worse.” Dan reaches over the centre console and holds my hand. His thumb strokes slow circles against my palm, soothing yet igniting all at once. “I won’t go above fifty.”
“It’s not the weather.” I move his hand to my thigh, my skin burning beneath his touch.
My breath comes out in short bursts. I slide his hand under my dress, inching farther up my thigh until he reaches the apex.
I’m so turned on, it’s unbearable, a tension coiled so tight inside me, it’s about to snap.
Dan’s jaw slackens. He glances sideways. “Really?”
I gulp and nod. No more overthinking or hesitating. “Pull over onto the hard shoulder.”
“Fuck.” He swerves into the slow lane, the car slows down as he slips onto the hard shoulder, flashing his hazards.
As he pulls the handbrake, I unbuckle my seatbelt and climb onto his lap, straddling him like I belong there, because maybe I do. The steering wheel digs into my back, but I don’t care.
“You’re gonna get us arrested,” he says with a grin, then slides his seat back, giving me more room between him and the steering wheel. “I’d gladly have a night in a cell if it means I get to fuck you.” His voice is rough and strained, like he’s barely holding himself together.
Sultry late-night music plays through the stereo, barely audible with the rain beating against the roof. Headlights blur through the rain-streaked window. The world outside fades, leaving just the two of us and the crackle of electricity between us.
“Thank you for today.” I take his face in my hands, his short beard soft beneath my palms, his breath warm and ragged as it falls onto my lips.
“You don’t have to thank me for doing something nice for my own son.” His arms wrap around my waist, holding me tight as if he’s afraid I’ll disappear.
“But I want to.” My lips brush against his. Our noses kiss. Every touch sparks against my skin and ignites something deep inside me. “I want you.” I press my lips to his mouth briefly, then pull away to read his expression.
His eyes darken, his hold on me tightens as if I might change my mind. “Kiss me again,” he says with desperation in his voice, as if he’s been waiting for this just as long as I have.
I lean down, this time, my lips linger against his, soft as I probe with my tongue.
My body quivers on his lap, tingles fire off in my centre and it’s everything I’ve craved, but not allowed myself to admit.
I let my fingers roam through his hair, closing my fist and tugging on the short strands, not wanting to let him go.
My tongue slips farther into his mouth, tangling with his.
This is more than lust, more than just need. It’s home.
D’Angelo deepens the kiss, his tongue dominating now.
His hands are all over me, tangling in my hair, sliding up my dress, we’re a frenzy of teeth, hands and tongue as I try to take over the kiss, but he’s not letting up as his fist scrunches my hair at the back of my head, keeping my face planted against his and at the angle he requires.
My hips rock against him, the zipper of his jeans catching against the lace of my knickers.
He breaks the kiss, only to inhale a lungful of air. “I want you too, fiore mio.” His tongue licks at my mouth. “I need you.”
“I need you, too.” Reaching between us, I unbuckle his belt. “I need you inside of me.”
“I don’t have a condom.”
“Good. Let me feel you spill inside of me.”
“Oh fuck. Keep talking like that and I won’t last long enough, baby.
” Dan growls as if he’s in pain as he unzips his jeans and pulls his dick free of his boxers.
It’s difficult to see with my dress bunched around my belly, but I feel everything.
And when the head of his cock and the metal bar slides through my folds, I shudder.
“Move your knickers to the side more, before I tear them from your body.”
The anticipation makes me dizzy as I do as I’m told. “Dan…” My voice is barely a whisper. “You’re making me fall for you all over again.”
He stills, fingers flexing around my waist. “I never stopped thinking about you.”
Lighting sparks as the metal piercing hits my clit again.