Chapter 12 #2
Twenty minutes later, I pulled off onto a side road I’d discovered years ago. It was a dead-end that led to a clearing overlooking the valley. The sun had set fully now, stars starting to appear in the darkening sky.
I killed the engine and we sat in silence for a moment, the view spread out before us.
“This is beautiful,” Leigh breathed.
“It’s where I come when I need to think.”
She looked at me. “Thank you for sharing it with me.”
“Thank you for dinner. For... all of this.”
“Dex.” She shifted in her seat, turning to face me. “I need to say something.”
My heart started pounding. “Okay.”
“I know we said we’d take this slow. That we’d just see what happens. But…” She stopped, took a breath. “I don’t want to take it slow. We have limited time, and I don’t want to waste any of it pretending we’re not exactly where we want to be.”
“And where’s that?” I asked, even as I found myself leaning closer.
“With each other.” She reached for my hand. “I want this. I want you. And I don’t want to wait.”
Every warning bell in my head was screaming. This was too fast, too intense, too much. We should take our time, be careful, protect ourselves.
But when I looked at her, at the certainty in her eyes, at the way she was looking at me like I was something precious, all those warnings died away.
“Are you sure?” I asked, my voice rough as my hand came up to trace my fingertips across the edge of her jaw.
“Very sure.” She leaned closer. “Are you?”
Instead of answering, I closed the distance between us and kissed her.
It was nothing like that first kiss outside the bar. Where that had been desperate and rushed and fueled by alcohol and attraction, this was deliberate, intentional. This was me choosing her, and her choosing me, with clear heads and open eyes.
Her lips were soft, warm, tasting like wine and something sweeter. She made a small sound in the back of her throat that went straight through me, and I deepened the kiss, my hands coming up to cup her face.
She kissed me back with equal intensity, her fingers curling into my shirt, pulling me closer despite the console between us.
When we finally broke apart, we were both breathing hard.
“My place?” I managed.
“Yes.”
“You’re sure…”
“Dex.” She looked me straight in the eye. “Take me home. Your home. Right now.”
I didn’t need to be told twice.
The drive back to Willowbrook was torture. Every red light felt like an eternity. Her hand was on my thigh, not moving, just resting there, and it was driving me insane.
“You’re killing me,” I muttered.
“Good.”
I glanced at her. She was smiling, but there was heat in her eyes that made my hands tighten on the steering wheel.
Finally, finally, I pulled into my driveway. The house was dark, empty, exactly as I’d left it.
I killed the engine and turned to her. “You can still change your mind.”
“Not a chance.” She was already opening her door.
We met at the front of the truck, and I pulled her against me, kissing her again because I couldn’t help myself. She melted into me, her arms winding around my neck, and I lost myself in the taste of her, the feel of her pressed against me.
“Inside,” she breathed against my lips. “Now.”
I fumbled with my keys, nearly dropped them twice, until I finally got the door open. We stumbled inside, mouths still fused together, and I kicked the door shut behind us.
“Bedroom?” she asked.
“Upstairs. First door on the right.”
We made it to the stairs before I pressed her against the wall, needing to taste her again. She arched into me, her hands sliding under my shirt, nails dragging lightly across my back.
“Dex,” she gasped when I kissed down her neck. “Upstairs.”
“Right. Upstairs.”
We climbed the stairs, stopping twice more to kiss, to touch, to learn the shape of each other. By the time we reached my bedroom, we were both breathless, desperate.
I flipped on the bedside lamp. I wanted to see her, needed to see her, and turned to find her watching me.
“Hi,” she said softly.
“Hi.” I crossed to her, slower now. “You’re sure about this?”
“Stop asking me that.” She reached for the buttons of my shirt, started undoing them one by one. “I’m sure. Are you?”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything.”
Her hands pushed my shirt off my shoulders, letting it fall to the floor. Her fingers traced the lines of my chest, my stomach, and everywhere she touched felt like fire.
“Your turn,” I said, my voice rough.
She turned, showing me the zipper at the back of her dress as she gently pulled her hair over her shoulder and out of the way.
When she glanced back at me, I nearly combusted.
It was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. I reached for her, pulled down the zipper as slowly as I could, watching as the fabric parted to reveal smooth skin.
She let the dress fall, pooling at her feet, and turned back to face me.
I stopped breathing.
She was perfect. Curves and softness and everything I’d imagined but somehow more real, more incredible than any fantasy.
“You’re staring,” she whispered.
“I can’t help it. You’re beautiful.”
Color rose in her cheeks, and she reached for my belt. “You’re also wearing too many clothes,” she said, her voice turning breathy with desire.
I helped her, and soon we were skin to skin, standing in the middle of my bedroom, just looking at each other.
“Bed,” I managed.
She nodded, and I guided her backward until her legs hit the mattress. She sat, then scooted back, and I followed her down, covering her body with mine.
“God,” I breathed, feeling the full length of her against me. “You feel incredible.”
“So do you.”
I kissed her again, Slower this time, deeper. Taking my time to learn her, to memorize every sound she made, every place that made her gasp.
My hand traced down her side, over her hip, and she arched into my touch.
“Dex,” she breathed. “Please.”
“Please what?”
“Touch me. All of me. I need…”
I kissed her before she could finish, my hand sliding between her thighs. She was so wet, so ready, and when I touched her she made a sound that nearly undid me.
“Like this?” I asked, finding her clit and circling it slowly with a restraint I didn’t even know I possessed.
“Yes. God, yes.”
I worked her slowly, watching her face as pleasure built. She was beautiful like this. Her head was thrown back, lips parted, completely lost in sensation. I wanted to memorize this, wanted to remember exactly how she looked when she came apart.
“Dex.” Her hand gripped my shoulder, nails digging in. “I’m close. I’m so close.”
“Let go,” I murmured against her ear. “I’ve got you.”
She shattered with a cry, her body arching against mine, and I held her through it, gentling my touch as the waves subsided.
When she opened her eyes, they were glazed with pleasure, a satisfied smile on her lips.
“That was...” She trailed off.
“Yeah?”
“Incredible. But I want more.”
“More?”
“You. All of you. Inside me. Now.”
Every drop of blood in my body headed south.
“Are you… do we need… “
“I’m on birth control. And I’m clean. Got tested after...” She stopped. “You?”
“Clean. Haven’t been with anyone in over a year.”
“Then stop talking and make love to me.”
I didn’t need to be told twice.
I settled between her thighs, the tip of my cock pressing against her entrance. “Tell me if anything’s too much.”
“It won’t be.” She wrapped her legs around my hips, pulling me closer. “I want every single part of you.”
I pushed in slowly, watching her face for any sign of discomfort. She was so tight, so perfect, and it took everything in me not to lose control.
“Okay?” I asked when I was fully seated.
“More than okay.” She rolled her hips experimentally, and we both groaned. “Move. Please move.”
I started slowly, long deep strokes that had both of us gasping. She met me thrust for thrust, her nails raking down my back, and I knew I was going to wear those marks tomorrow with pride.
“Harder,” she breathed. “I’m not going to break.”
Something snapped in me. I gripped her hip, pulled her leg higher, and drove into her with more force. She cried out in pleasure, urged me on as her lips found mine in a desperate kiss.
“Yes. Like that. God, Dex, just like that.”
I lost myself in her. In the feel of her around me, the sounds she made, the way she said my name like a prayer. This was everything I’d imagined and nothing like it at the same time. Better. More intense. More right.
“I’m close,” she gasped. “Come with me, Dex. Please.”
My hand slid between us, finding that bundle of nerves, and she detonated.
“Dex!” She came with a scream, her body clenching around me, and I followed her over with a groan, burying my face in her neck as pleasure whited out everything else. Nothing existed except the woman in my arms.
For a moment, we just lay there, both of us trembling, hearts pounding together.
Then I carefully pulled out, rolled to the side, and gathered her against me.
“Wow,” she breathed.
“Yeah. Wow.”
She turned in my arms, looking up at me with soft eyes. “That was...”
“If you say nice, I’m going to have a complex.”
She laughed. “Not nice. Perfect. That was perfect.”
“Yeah, it was.”
We lay there in comfortable silence, her head on my chest, my hand running through her hair.
“Dex?”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t want to leave.”
My hand stilled. “You don’t have to. Stay. Tonight. Stay with me.”
She lifted her head, studied my face. “Are you sure?”
“Leigh, I just had the best sex of my life with you. Of course I’m sure.”
“Best sex of your life?”
“Don’t let it go to your head.”
“Too late.” She was grinning. “But for the record? Same.”
“Yeah?”
“Definitely.” She kissed me softly.
I pulled her closer, contentment settling in my chest for the first time in years.
This was dangerous. This was supposed to be temporary. This was going to end badly.
But right now, with Leigh in my arms, her skin warm against mine, I didn’t care.
For tonight, this was enough.
For tonight, she was mine.
And that was everything.
The next morning, I woke to sunlight streaming through my bedroom window and the warm weight of Leigh pressed against my side.
For a moment, I just lay there, taking it in. Her hair spread across my pillow. Her arm draped over my chest. The gentle rise and fall of her breathing.
This was real. Last night had happened. She’d stayed.
And I had no idea what came next.
She stirred, made a soft sleepy sound, and blinked up at me.
“Hi,” she murmured.
“Hi.” I brushed hair back from her face. “Sleep okay?”
“Mmm. Best sleep I’ve had in weeks.” She stretched like a cat, and the sheet slipped, giving me a view that had my body responding immediately.
She noticed, grinned. “It must be a good morning.”
“I can’t help it. You’re in my bed, naked. It’s a natural response.”
“I should probably go.” But she made no move to leave. “I’m supposed to meet everyone at ten for the dress fitting trip.”
I glanced at the clock. Eight-thirty. “You have time.”
“Do I?”
“Well.” I rolled, pinning her beneath me. “Maybe not if we do what I’m thinking about doing.”
Her legs wrapped around my hips. “What are you thinking about doing?”
“Tasting you. Making you come with my mouth. Then maybe round two because only having you once could never be enough.”
“That sounds like it would take a while.”
“At least an hour.”
“I’ll text Delaney. Tell her I’m running late.”
“Good plan.”
I kissed my way down her body, determined to start the morning right. And from the sound that she made as my lips kissed gently over her clit, I knew there was no other way I ever wanted to start a day again.
By the time Leigh left—thoroughly satisfied, freshly showered, wearing yesterday’s dress with slightly mussed hair—it was nine-thirty and she was definitely going to be late.
“They’re going to know,” she said at the door, looking anxious. “They’re going to take one look at me and know exactly what I did last night.”
“So what?”
“So we said we were keeping this secret!”
“From the brothers. The girls are different.”
“Are they?”
I pulled her close, kissed her forehead. “They’re going to be happy for you. For us. Trust me. Besides Blake has this weird second sense, you could have gone home, slept in your own bed and had all the time in the world to get ready, and she’d still know.”
“You could have warned me before,” she said with a laugh and then looked up at me. “Last night was...”
“I know.”
“And this morning was...”
“I know that too.”
She smiled, stood on tiptoes to kiss me. “I’ll text you later?”
“You better.”
I watched her climb into a cab and leaned against the doorframe, watched it drive away. The stupid smile on my face would have made it obvious to anyone who saw me that I’d spent the night with the most incredible woman I’d ever met. That had to mean something.
When I went back inside the house felt emptier than it had in years. I looked around confused. This place had felt like a refuge when I was a kid, and I couldn’t remember when that had started to change.
My phone buzzed. A text from Leigh.
Leigh: Thank you for last night. And this morning. Both were incredible.
I smiled, typed back.
Dex: Thank you for saying yes. To all of it.
Leigh: See you Monday? Florist meeting?
Dex: I’ll be counting the hours.
Leigh: Me too. Now I have to go face the interrogation squad. Wish me luck.
Dex: Good luck. Remember: you’re a terrible liar. Just own it.
Leigh: How would you know? Besides I’ve never told a lie in my life!
Dex: Yeah that definitely needs work. Have fun today.
I put my phone down, still smiling.
This was real. We were doing this.
And for the first time in a long time, I was letting myself hope.
Even if it was just for the summer.
Even if it ended in August.
This could be enough.
This woman who already occupied my every thought.
Just how hard would it be to let her walk away?