Chapter 27 – Dakota #3
He traced a finger across my right pec, circling my nipple over the hoodie. “You’ve sighed like three hundred times in the past ten minutes.”
“What—how long have you been awake?”
“The past ten minutes,” he said with a little smile. “What’s wrong?”
So he’d heard me whisper I love you like the lovesick dog I was. I locked my arms around his back as my stomach flipped. “I…can I ask you something?”
Wariness crept into his eyes, but he stayed on top of me, watching me with those green-gold eyes. “Sure. About what?”
I traced a pattern on his back. “About us.”
He hummed, and it vibrated across my chest. “Sounds ominous. What about us?”
“I just…” Where did I start? I sighed—again—and let my head fall back into the grass, staring up at the gently swaying leaves of the willow tree.
Reese’s palm on my chest was a hot weight, and I focused on that.
“When I—when I liked you,” I began, “or when I realized I liked you, had a crush on you, whatever you wanna call it. When I realized that I had feelings for you that I was pretty sure were one-sided, I felt like I had nothing to lose. But now that you—now that I have even the smallest bit of your heart—” Reese’s hand stilled on my chest. “—I’m terrified of losing you.
That I’ll do something to drive you away.
I just have all these worries that keep popping up, and now I’m freaking out that even just this conversation was too much and you’re gonna think I’m too m—”
“Dakota,” Reese said softly, crawling up my body until he was straddling my chest. He splayed his hands on my face and smiled down at me. “Don’t freak out.”
Too late.
I placed my hands over his and stared up into those gorgeous eyes that I wanted to look at forever.
“I tried talking to Val and even though he told me everything was fine and I didn’t need to worry, it didn’t help.
I love him, but I don’t care what anyone else says or thinks about this.
I just need you to tell me not to worry.
That everything will be okay. That what we have is special, that it’s not just something… temporary.”
That you won’t get tired of me soon, that this doesn’t mean half as much to you as it means to me.
Something flashed across his eyes, but it was gone before I could pin it down.
“You don’t have to worry. What we have is special.
Everything will be fine, alright? The way I feel about you…
” He let his eyes slowly trail across every inch of my face.
When they came back to mine, there was a fondness in them that no one had ever looked at me with before.
“You have made everything I’ve been through bearable, somehow.
I’ve spent every moment of the past ten years feeling like I was being punished for something, but now it feels like I’ve been rewarded. Hell of a reward, too.”
For once, he wasn’t lying to me. The fact that he was being so honest so easily reassured me as much as his words.
But I could see in his eyes that there was something he was leaving out. A lie of omission. A truth he was too afraid to tell me.
“And now you have me, too.” He tipped forward and touched his forehead to mine, kissed the tip of my nose, then drew back and brushed his fingers over the marks on my neck. His eyes were filled with a fierce emotion as he stared at the imprints of himself he’d left on my skin.
They were his way of telling me what he was too afraid to say out loud.
These marks on my body were words, everything he wanted to say but wouldn’t. Couldn’t. They were a declaration, a vow, a promise. They were him, pledging himself to me. Giving me the deepest parts of himself. Every part of himself.
They were his love. I’d bet my life on that truth.
“Here. I got you this.”
“Huh? What?” His eyes narrowed in suspicion, like he thought I’d gotten him a scorpion or something.
I pulled the box out from under my bed, and his eyes darted down to it. He frowned, which wasn’t the reaction I was going for, but I set it on the bed next to him and watched him stare at it like there really was a scorpion inside.
“It’s not a scorpion,” I said.
He gave me a confused look. “What? Why the hell would it be a scorpion? Is it actually a scorpion, you weirdo?” He started to stand, like he was going to leave the room, and I grabbed onto his arm and pulled him onto my lap.
I tucked my chin onto his shoulder and laughed.
“No, it’s not a goddamn scorpion. Just open it, Reese.
There’s nothing living in there that’s going to jump out at you.
I’d never get you anything that could hurt you, dummy.
” I turned and bit into his neck, holding him against me as he jolted and cried out.
His cry turned into a moan when I started to suck on the soft skin of his throat.
He pushed back into my growing erection, that soft little ass moving slowly against me.
Fuck.
I nipped at the spot I’d just sucked on and murmured, “Open it before I come in my pants, you animal.”
His hands were on my thighs, fingers flexing, and he growled when I grabbed his hips and stilled his erotic little movements.
“Asshole,” he muttered, sliding his hand over to the box. He slowly lifted the lid, paused when he saw the tissue paper, then flung the lid gracelessly away and started clawing into the paper.
When he pulled the shoes out and didn’t say a word or make a sound, just stared at them, I was pretty sure he hated them.
My heart sank, but that was fine, we could get him a different pair. I still had the receipt.
“You don’t like them?” I slid my hand beneath his shirt and palmed his stomach, and he leaned back into my body.
“No, I—”
His voice hitched, and I felt the muscles in his stomach clench. And then he drew in a sharp, stilted breath and I knew he was about to cry.
And I knew he hated crying in front of anyone, so I didn’t draw any attention to it, just let him work through his big emotions and held him tight.
He dropped the shoes back into the box, then turned in my arms and wrapped all his limbs around me, burying his face in my neck as his entire body was racked with sobs.
I cradled the back of his head, brushing my fingers through his hair and sliding down to knead the muscles at the nape of his neck while he let it all out.
“It’s been a really—l-long time since someone got me a p-present,” he wailed into my skin.
Fuck, my heart couldn’t take this. I squeezed him to me, rubbing my hand up and down his back in slow, hard strokes as he clung to me.
“So what you’re saying is I just need to get you presents to make you cry? Darling, your life will be filled with gifts and I’ll be horny all the time. That’s dangerous knowledge.”
He choked on a laugh, then punched my arm—so weakly it was like a bee bumping into me.
“You’re already horny all the time,” he sniffled.
“Jizz rag for your tears?” I murmured. “Actually, what about cum cloth? That has a nice ring to it. Val would be proud of me for that one.”
“So ridiculous,” he whispered, and I pretended he’d said I love you, that he would’ve said it in the same soft and reverent tone.
“Ridiculously turned on,” I whispered back.
He bit my neck like the animal he was, which only seemed to turn him on because he moaned and started grinding his cock into my stomach.
“Does crying turn you on too? Fuck, Reese, we’re meant to be.”
He laughed again, then squeezed his entire body around mine so tight I couldn’t breathe for a second. He loosened his grip when I made a choking sound, then sagged into me like he’d spent all his energy for the day.
That was fine, I’d carry him around for however long he needed.
“So do you like the shoes or what?”
He scoffed. “Yes, I like the shoes.” There was a pause, and then he said softly, “I love the shoes. Thank you.”
“Come to my family’s house for a party.”
“Is that a command?” he asked wryly, drawing back to arch a brow at me.
“Come to my family’s house for a party?”
“Wow, you’re horrible at this.” He hid his smile behind his hand.
I cleared my throat. “Will you, Reese Walker, come to my family’s house, the Voss family, for a party to celebrate Val winning the NPA competition?”
“You’re doing way too much, Dakota. How about Hey Reese, I’d love to invite you to a party we’re throwing for Val. What do you think?”
I tried not to smile and failed miserably. “Hey Reese, I’d love to invite you to a party we’re throwing for Val. What do you think?”
“Mm. I’ll think about it. Your family kind of sucks. Except Val.”
I sighed. “Yeah, I know. It was a long shot. I’d just love to have you there. Besides, there’ll be a lot of other guests, not just my family. And I won’t let Everett bother you. I’ll be there in case he tries.”
“I’m not really worried about Everett.”
“What are you worried about?”
He was quiet for a moment, biting down on his bottom lip. Then he shrugged. “Nothing,” he lied.
Was it Albert?
Should I tell him I already knew? About everything?
But…what if he decided to end things right here, right now if I did? I didn’t think I could handle that. Just the thought made me nauseous.
Waiting just a little longer wouldn’t hurt, right?
“I one-hundred-percent believe you,” I said with a smile, kissing him aggressively on the cheek. He shoved my face away, then changed his mind a split second later and dragged it back, closed his mouth over mine, and slowly slid his tongue past my lips.
I groaned and pulled him closer, tilting my head and threading my fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck. He bit my bottom lip with his sharp little teeth, then pulled back and blinked at me with a dazed expression.
I was pretty sure I looked the same.
“So will you come with me?”
His eyes flitted down to my mouth, then back to mine. There was fear in those eyes, but I didn’t know what exactly he was afraid of, and calling it out wouldn’t do any good because he’d deny it. Finally, he said, “Yeah. I’ll go.”
I grinned and pressed a hard, close-mouthed kiss to his lips, smacking obnoxiously when I drew away. “You have no idea how happy I am right now.”
“I mean, I have some idea,” he said, lips twitching. His hand slid between us and curved over my hard-on, making me groan. “Bet I can make you even happier.”
I grinned like the goner I was. “Okay. I’ll play, darling.”