Chapter 52
~Deacon~
By the time Daley calls me back, I’ve gathered more information about the man who showed up at her house. Sid got me the guy’s name and his profession, and though the name meant nothing to me, the fact that he’s part of the molecular biology department at a university in Minnesota certainly did.
There’s only one biology professor Daley ever mentioned to me, and my hands clench into fists at the thought of that slimy jackass anywhere near her.
By the time my phone finally rings, I have to take a deep breath to calm myself before answering. She’s not the one I’m frustrated with.
“Hey. You’re free to talk now?”
“Yeah.” Her sigh whistles through the phone as she collapses onto a piece of furniture. I’m not sure if she’s on her couch or her bed, but I can hear it creak beneath her as she sits. “You’ll never guess who just showed up at my house.”
Thank fuck. I was worried I might have to try to drag the information out of her, but she’s going to offer it up willingly and spare me the trouble. “Who?”
“River’s dad. After all this time! Can you imagine?”
I really can’t, even though I’d already figured out that’s who it was. “What the hell did he want?”
“To meet River, apparently. Now that he can get something out of him rather than needing to provide anything.” She blows out another breath like she’s trying to shake off the whole encounter. “Maybe that’s harsh but the timing is suspicious.”
It’s nowhere near harsh enough, in my opinion. “What excuse did he give you for why he came now?”
“He said he heard my name thanks to the news about you and me, and that led to him reading up on River. Apparently, it hadn’t occurred to him to do that before.”
Her sarcasm is strong, but I can hear the indignation underneath it, an indignation on her son’s behalf. “Did you tell him to fuck off?”
Her low chuckle sends a zip of electricity straight to my groin. “Not as forcefully as I’d have liked to. No matter what my feelings on the matter are, it’s River’s call if he wants to talk to him or not. He left a letter for me to give to River, which I’ll do. Eventually.”
It doesn’t surprise me in the least that she’d put River’s feelings first, even at a time like this. “And that’s all he wanted? He wasn’t trying to get you back?”
Her snort of laughter brings a smile to my face.
“No, I don’t think even he would be that delusional.
His wife recently died, which was another reason he decided to turn up.
Apparently, he never came clean to her, but with her gone and him probably near retirement if not already there, it’s safe for him to claim his long-lost son.
Especially one that’s a successful, professional athlete. ”
“Selfish fucking bastard,” I mutter, and Daley laughs again.
“My thoughts exactly. How was your flight?”
She’s trying to change the subject, but I’m not ready to let it go just yet. “Hold on, I’m not done with this. How did he find you?”
Her hesitation is barely noticeable, but I catch the crack in her usual confidence.
Reluctantly, she tells me about her home phone number being linked to her address online and the dozens of messages she received. Although she tries to sound casual, there’s a tightness in her voice that makes my jaw clench.
She doesn’t want me to know she’s shaken.
I decide to come clean myself, hoping it’ll set her mind at ease.
“I was afraid something like that might happen. That’s why there’s someone from a security firm watching over your house right now.”
Daley gasps, her furniture creaking again as she shifts position. “What? Where?”
“In a car parked out on your street.”
The phone crackles as she moves, fabric swishing as she pulls a curtain aside. “Son of a… how long has he been there?”
“Since you got home.”
It only takes her a couple of seconds to connect the dots. “Did you already know Anthony was here?”
No point in lying about it. “I had some information, yeah.”
She exhales another long breath. For a second, I brace myself for an argument, but instead, she just says, “I should probably be angry, but to be honest, it does make me feel a little bit better. This kind of attention is weird, Deacon. I know you’re probably used to it, but it’s weird.”
“Oh, I still think it’s weird,” I assure her. “And I hate the idea of you feeling uncomfortable or unsafe in your own home because of me. That’s why the security is there, but I think there’s a better solution.”
“What’s that?”
I grip my phone tighter. Here goes nothing.
“You should move in with me.”
Silence is the reaction I was expecting.
I was braced for laughter, or a ‘hell no’. Even a ‘you’re out of your damn mind, Deacon.’
Instead, after a long, long, pause, she simply asks, “Are you serious?”
“Completely. We’ve been skating around in the middle of the ice for a while now, Mama. Hanging out between the lines. But I don’t need to waste any more time. I’m ready to take the shot. How about you?”
“Are hockey analogies part of the deal?” she teases, and my heart immediately soars. She didn’t say no.
“Damn right they are. As many of ‘em as you can handle.”
“You might have already hit my limit.”
I hear the smile in her voice, and suddenly, I need to see her.
“Hang on, I’m calling you back on video.”
Not wasting a second, I hang up and video call her instead. A second later, her beautiful face appears, and just like I hoped, she’s grinning at the screen. “Better?”
“A hundred times better, yeah. I want to see your face when you accept.”
She bites her lip, like she’s trying to keep her smile from getting too big. “There are a dozen reasons I shouldn’t,” she warns me. “My job and my friends are here. I don’t know anyone in Sioux Falls besides you and River, and I don’t know what I’ll do with myself.”
My stomach twists, just a little, but I force myself to stay calm. “You can do anything you want. Or nothing at all. Between me and River, we’ll have your back.”
“Let me finish.” Her eyes are dancing, her smile teasing.
“The thing is, when I moved here, I was in the same boat. I only knew my grandparents, I had no job, and I was pregnant and broke. Things were a lot bleaker then, but I took the leap, and everything good in my life now is because of that decision. And this feels a lot like that moment. It feels right. So even though I probably should say no… I’m going to take advantage of your impulsiveness and say yes instead. ”
Real happiness swells in my chest, filling in cracks I’ve been trying to ignore for far too long. “You can’t take advantage of me when I’m already taking advantage of you. I’m making you trade your independence for safety.”
She keeps right on smiling. “Guess we’re taking advantage of each other, then. And given how well it tends to turn out when we focus on each other, I’ve got a good feeling about this.”
So do I. A fucking fantastic feeling.
“Speaking of focusing on each other, I wish you were here right now,” I tell her, my voice turning huskier as my memory wanders back to our night together at the hotel in Vegas all those months ago. “I want to see your beautiful face when I make you come.”
Her body shifts within the frame, a clear sign of her arousal. “Even when I move in, we’ll still have a lot of nights apart.”
That can’t be helped, but it doesn’t mean we’re completely out of luck. “We should get creative, then. I seem to remember you have a pretty decent dildo in that hidden drawer in your cupboard.”
Daley’s lips part in surprise, her eyes widening and her pupils dilating. She’s getting turned on all right, and so am I. My free hand moves to the front of the pajama pants I threw on after my shower, rubbing along my wakening cock.
Thankfully, she doesn’t offer any kind of resistance to my suggestion. Taking the phone with her, Daley moves from her living room to her bedroom, unlocking the drawer and pulling out the silicone dildo I used on her the night I gave her a massage.
“Set up the phone where I can see you while you use it.”
She does as I say and I follow suit, balancing my phone on the hotel’s bedside table while I prop myself up on the pillows, yanking my pants down far enough to pull my cock out. When Daley gets into position and looks back at the camera, she lets out a little whimper at the sight of it.
“Pretend that’s me,” I instruct, tugging on myself slowly while keeping eye contact with her through the phone. “Fuck yourself with it like it’s my cock. Let me see you come all over it.”
Better than any porn I’ve ever seen, I watch as Daley shimmies out of her pants and spreads her legs for me to see. She’s wet enough that the soft toy slides into her pussy with little resistance, and when she flips on the vibrator, her eyes close in satisfaction. My cock throbs in response.
I’m sure Erik mentioned to me once during a drunken conversation that there were toys that could be controlled remotely.
That’s something I’m definitely going to investigate for the future, but for now, I sit back and watch as she controls the rhythm and strength of the vibration, the ears pressing against her clit while the dildo slides in and out.
The friction of my hand against my cock begins to chafe, and I spit roughly into my palm, unwilling to look away for even a second as she inches closer to her climax.
The pace of my stroking increases the same time Daley’s does, her movements growing more frantic as her need rises.
Pink colours her cheeks as she presses the toy firmly against her clit and holds it there, and I swear under my breath as her body convulses in pleasure.
“So… fucking… hot… Mama,” I gasp out as my body jerks out its own orgasm, leaving a string of cum down the leg of my pajamas.
I didn’t think that through very well.
Daley’s husky laugh lets me know she noticed my predicament. “Look at you making a mess of yourself, Captain.”
Fucking hell. I could get behind her using that name for me more often.
“Next time I’ll be making a mess of you,” I promise. “Go and get some sleep now. You’ve got a busy week ahead of you.”
“I suppose I do,” she murmurs, looking sated and satisfied in her post-orgasm state. “I’ll start making a moving plan and we can discuss the details tomorrow.”
“Perfect. Good night, Daley.”
“Good night, Deacon.”
She brings the camera close to her lips to give me a kiss before hanging up, and even though I’m alone, I’ve never felt less lonely in my whole life.
Because when I go home, I’ll be going home to her.