The kiss began as a sweet searching exploration. At his urging, I opened, his tongue sliding inside. Quickly, desperation fused the kiss into a swirl of tongue and teeth. I allowed Beau the control, letting him guide us.
He released my hand to curve around my shoulders. He drew me closer to him. Oh yeah, my love wanted me. My arm tightened around him as my fingers moved through his lengthystrands. I loved the feel of his silky hair against my hand. I was finally home, again.
All the feels hit in a breathtaking kiss. My tummy tingled when he devoured me as if his life depended on our intimacy—mine apparently did too. A callused palm cupped my cheek and jaw. The teasing pad of his thumb stroked across my jawline, back and forth, while that wicked tongue delved deeper inside my mouth. Of course I followed his lead, matching him touch for touch as I absorbed the best kiss of my life.
Dash’s lips on mine were a beautifully enchanting thing. Everything wrong in my life melted away as I rediscovered the bond that held us timelessly in place. Dash’s soft, full lips and sweet tongue caressed against mine, giving me the chance to create the rhythm of our kiss. I didn’t hold back. I couldn’t. My life’s love was here in my arms, doing his best to wipe away the past.
The loneliness I lived with began to seep away at the realization that someone truly wanted me. My inner self-disgust vibrated quietly in the background but having Dash in my arms staved off its distraction. What he brought forward was a star-spangled banner style fireworks show exploding through my head. My body heated with desire.
Dash’s palm slipped past my open jacket to rest close to my heart, his deft fingertips stretching to caress my hard nipple. The simple touch set off a cascade of tingles rippling over me. Eventually, the need to breathe won, and I pulled away. His lips followed before his mesmerizing face filled my view. Both of hishands were now in my hair, one gently stroking another unruly lock off my face. The other weaving through the longish length.
“Let’s go home,” Dash said reverently. Every syllable was laced with the implication that it was now my home too.
“I’m not ready to go the distance,” I murmured, drinking him in. I was shit to do anything more than lay my palm on his shaven cheek. Dash grinned his gorgeous smile as my thumb traced his full bottom lip.
“Keep touching me like this at home.” He began to scoot from the circle of my arms, and I didn’t want to let him go. The further he went, the tauter our invisible connection became. My loneliness reared, creeping in around the fringes.
If I had smartness coded in my DNA, I’d reject whatever he offered. I’d be firm in the understanding that he didn’t want me, not really.
Turned out I was neither smart nor firm. Of course, a relationship was out of the question, but I had no choice but to follow his lead. However, I promised the scared guy within me this wouldn’t last much longer. Scott needed his truck, and I needed to begin my life.
I started the engine. The truck rumbled loudly to life. “Where do I go?”
“Take a right when you exit the parking lot, then take the central southbound on-ramp. My exit’s the third one down.” He swiveled in the seat to face me as he fastened his seatbelt in place. “You should know, today was the best day for me. I’m grateful you came. When I won the mock trial this afternoon, you were the only person I wanted to tell, but I was losing hope that you’d come back.”
Dash spoke like he used to, filling in the silence until he drew me out of myself. It wasn’t going to be that easy this time. My palms gripped the steering wheel tighter.
It bugged the shit out of me that I couldn’t manage my emotions better where he was concerned. In every other situation in life, I’d kept my feelings locked down. Tucked so far away that no one ever suspected that I had them. I’d been so effective at keeping them secret, I barely registered they were there anymore. I shouldn’t have kissed him like I did. It was just all his prettiness right there in my face. His lips alone were part of my wettest dreams.
My thoughts shifted to Dash’s cologne. Damn, he smelled good.
“Are you listening to me?” His sharp tone snapped me out of my reverie.
The last thing I remembered… I scanned the street signs, trying to gauge the distance I had covered. I didn’t know for sure. Dash caught me unaware, and I couldn’t conceal it.
“I said to take the next exit and turn right at the light.” His patience calmed me, and I did as he instructed.
“What else?” I asked.
“Oh, he speaks,” Dash teased good naturedly. “Stay in the far right lane and take the next two rights. They come fast. My place is the third one down on the right. Let’s see how well you listened.” His sarcastic humor, evident since our first date, spoke of lots of things. Mainly, a happy life, which comforted me. Joyful people were rare to find, and no one deserved it more than he did.
The house resembled Dash. I pulled to the curb and surveyed the neighborhood. It radiated grandeur and wealth. Dash’s home was two stories, maybe three, it was hard to tell.
The front yard was simply landscaped. Two expansive two-story windows took up a large portion of the front of the home. Designer stone, brick, and wood completed the façade. It looked magazine-ready in a contemporary rustic and expensive way.Nowhere near the squalor I’d lived in the last five and a half years.
“Can I park here?” I asked.
“Pull into the right side of the driveway,” he said absently, pulling out his phone. His thumbs danced over the screen at lightning speed as I maneuvered the truck into the driveway. Once parked, his phone vanished into his pocket, now forgotten. His full attention was back on me.
“Come inside. We have a lot to discuss.” Dash popped open the truck’s door then glanced back at me before stepping fully out. “Open your door, Beau. You’re here for a reason. Give us a chance.”
Something intuitive warned me that if I entered that house, I’d never want to leave. I glanced uncertainly at my hands spread on the steering wheel. They trembled. Fear of adding additional pain to my life began reinforcing the impenetrable internal barriers I’d created over my heart.
Nothing had changed except Dash was unaware of exactly how undesirable I’d become.
The sudden opening of my door startled the shit out of me. I clenched my fists as Dash approached, boldly reaching for my arm. “I understand you’ve faced unimaginable situations, but you’re here now. You came for a reason. Come inside with me.”
I looked him straight in the eyes—the hue of my dreams—and spoke my truth. “If I go inside, it’ll only make it harder to leave. You have to realize, I’m not the same person I used to be…”
