Chapter 18
Rhylan
I brought Dakota out here as a romantic gesture—that was obvious, but I also wanted to show her a gentler side of myself, and I couldn’t have asked for the rain to fall at a more perfect time.
Dakota took the lead, controlling our pace as slow or fast as she wanted.
Deepening our kiss, her hand released the collar of my shirt to glide up the side of my neck, my heart beating rapidly at the caressing touch.
I flexed my arm around her waist, tightening its grip, and in return, she moaned her approval, the taste of fresh rain coating our tongues as they tangled together.
Within minutes, we were drenched from head to toe, Dakota’s hair clinging to her face in slick waves.
I never wanted this to end. I didn’t want to let her go, not even for a split second to come up for air. She was all the oxygen I needed. This woman could suffocate me, and I’d die the happiest man in the fucking world.
“Rhy…” Dakota interrupted our embrace with a deep inhale, catching her breath while lightly pressing a hand against my sternum, feeling the slow rise and fall of my chest beneath her palm.
“Don’t stop now, Dakota…” I wasn’t ready, uttering my words against her trembling lips, my voice cracking as I internally begged for her to bring them back. So fucking close, and yet I felt as far away as the moon is from the earth.
“Twice.”
“Hm?”
“You’ve said my name twice since I gave it to you…
and both times I’ve felt something threaten to break through my walls…
” She paused, rolling her lips together without breaking eye contact.
Studying. Searching… “I’m not entirely sure where this feeling came from, but I do know that I can’t keep fighting it; not anymore.
I’ve been trying my fucking damnedest to avoid you, and I—”
“Why?” I could think of a thousand reasons off the top of my head… but I wanted to know hers.
Dakota struggled to come up with a response at first, her irises blazing with a war that raged behind them.
She didn’t want to allow her heart to develop feelings; to fall for me, and that was fair.
Every man she’d ever been vulnerable with always ended up leaving, and in her eyes, I’d be no different—but I was, and I wanted a chance to prove it.
“Okay… you want the ugly truth that has scared countless men away? Then here it is…” She took a deep breath, bracing herself for the explanation she was hesitant to give, but felt safe enough to try.
“There was… a torturous period in my life where a man took too much from me without asking… he shattered my innocence into a million damn pieces right before my eyes. Ruthlessly and unapologetically.” He fucking what?
“I tried mending the scars he’d left behind, but building walls was the only solution I could handle. Shutting out the demons that haunted me instead of facing them and fighting back… that’s why no one stays…”
The blood began to boil beneath my skin, the rain feeling colder than before as I processed what she was saying. I let her continue sharing her story, even though every word left me unsettled, gritting my teeth.
“No one wants the broken and violently twisted woman who’s afraid of the monster that lurks between her sheets, and still, to this day, haunts her dreams…
That man took so much that I became nothing more than a shell of who I once was by the end of his year-long abuse…
” Dakota stared into my eyes as she spoke, searching mine for a sign that I wouldn’t turn away; reassurance that I didn’t see her as so many others had. Damaged.
“I’ve been trying to avoid you because I’m afraid that I’ll never be able to give you what you need. My strongest love language used to be touch; now it holds no deeper meaning… and I don’t expect you to understand that. No one ever has.” What she needs is someone with self-control.
“When?” It was the only question I had. How could I have missed this significant part of her life?
“I-I’m not sure? Four, maybe five years ago?
” Her voice cracked as she remembered a time she wished had never existed.
“He’s gone now, so it doesn’t matter anyway; I’m over it…
” The rain couldn’t mask the tears that had started running down her cheeks.
I wasn’t blind to the misery in her eyes. “I’m—”
“Shh, Dakota…” I pressed the pad of my thumb to her mouth, brushing it across her soft lips while biting my own in an effort to restrain myself from claiming them once more.
She wasn’t fine. But she would be. I’ll make sure of that.
The hardest part of knowing everything about her, or so I thought, was pretending that I didn’t know jack shit, and it hurt like hell to conceal the truth.
That I did understand.
That I knew her like the back of my hand.
That I’d been loving her from a distance for far too fucking long.
“You don’t have anything to fear with me. I’m a patient man, Wildcat, with all the time in this god-forsaken world. Time to earn your trust and every valuable piece of you that you have to offer.” I dragged my thumb to her chin while curling my index finger underneath it.
“What is it about you, Cowboy…” Dakota’s brows creased in disbelief, the hint of a smile curling the corner of her mouth ever so slightly. “…that makes this soooo easy?”
Leaning my face in a little closer, I tipped her chin back until our lips just barely grazed one another’s, and my forehead pressed against hers.
“Trust me, darlin’. There ain’t nothin’ easy when it comes to me.” No one, not even Trent, got to see this version of me.
To them, I wasn’t soft; I held no sympathy for any fucker who held an appointment with the barrel end of Louie. No, this side right here was the one I reserved, solely for her, and only her.
She was my vulnerability.
We took our time under that tree; caught up in our embrace, neither of us wanting to peel away from the other until we had no choice.
The storm had rolled in quickly and hit hard, forcing Dakota and me to hop in the truck and head back to the house. By the time we pulled up to the front porch, the rain had gotten strong enough to persuade her to stay one more night.
She was still here; still choosing me.
We barely made it out of the truck and through the front door before wet clothes were being stripped off our bodies and abandoned on the floor. Hands exploring, mouths fighting for dominance, skin heating as passion surged through our veins; the feeling of being struck by lightning.
I guided Dakota into the master bathroom and pinned her against the glass panel of the shower, a squeal leaving her lips as a cold chill seeped into her back. Reaching over, I turned the handle to start the hot water, and steam quickly filled the space, fogging the tile walls and mirror.
Dakota chuckled as my hard cock pressed into her belly, “Easy there, Cowboy. Whatever happened to enjoying the ride? Taking things slow?”
“Oh, I’ll enjoy you all night, darlin’. Don’t you worry about that...
Now, spread those legs, and mount this cowboy’s saddle.
” I lifted Dakota by her thighs, wrapping them loosely around my waist, the head of my dick just barely entering her pussy.
She gasped as I slowly opened her up, teasing half an inch at a time.
“What if—fuck—what if I want to take the reins this time?” Her moans were so fucking intoxicating; addictive to hear. I pressed my lips against the side of her neck, and she tilted her head in the opposite direction, exposing more with a thick swallow.
“You can take ‘em in the bedroom, Wildcat, but right here, right now, I’m gonna fuck my girl up against this wall until you can’t think straight.
” I plunged myself deep, her walls instantly cinching around my cock out of surprise.
“Fuck me… Look at you, babygirl, already fittin’ me like a damn glove. ”
If I could sink myself further, I would’ve, unable to get enough of Dakota’s tight pussy. I moved with slow-paced thrusts, letting her body stroke me as she dug her nails into my shoulder and back, hips rolling for more friction than I would allow.
“You said you wanted me to slow down and enjoy the ride. What’s got you so riled up, Cowgirl?” I couldn’t help but mock the earlier statement, having said it myself before.
“You’re being a goddamn tease, Rhy. Quit holding out and fuck me like a man.” Her words were laced with a tremble from the exhilarating build-up of desire.
“Say please. Like a lady.”
“No.” Sharply spoken through her teeth.
“C’mon, beg me for it, darlin’.” I toyed with Dakota one more time, pulling out completely just to see her squirm at the loss as I reached between us and forced her to watch me edge myself.
“Oh fuck, pl-ease…” She whimpered, legs tensing around my waist. One thorough, rough thrust was all it took to have me buried all the way to the base of my shaft.
“There we go, that wasn’t so hard now, was it?” I gave Dakota exactly what she’d demanded; fucking her hard and fast, syncing my rhythm with hers as she ground her clit against me.
Already wound up like a tight fucking spring, it didn’t take long for Dakota to come, shuddering with a release that coated my dick and dripped down my thighs; the water making quick work to wash away the evidence of her pleasure.
I shifted my grip to lightly pull on her hair, a ‘good girl’ praise lingering on the tip of my tongue. But my wildcat was already eager for round two, ready to take exactly what she wanted.
Dakota raised a hand to grip the sides of my chin, pinching hard while bringing my face toward hers. She captured my attention, settling her breath before uttering two simple words that had my balls tightening at the thrill of their promise.
“My turn.”