Vanishing Dreams: Vanishing Dreams (Devil's Bend #2)

by Nicole Edwards

  Without much room to gain traction, Dalton had to make do with what he had, so he began to thrust up inside her while digging his fingers into her hips. He didn’t hold back, fucking her hard and fast as she moaned and whimpered, her head falling back.

  She was the sexiest woman he’d ever met in his entire fucking life, and taking her here in the backseat of his truck was the hottest thing he’d ever done. Only because he was with her.

  “Dalton, yes. Oh, yes! Fuck me!”

  Dalton nearly exploded. Seriously.

  Those words from her lips nearly launched him into the ether, but somehow he managed to keep himself grounded, unwilling to come until she did.

  “Come for me, Katie. Come on my cock, darlin’.” He was testing the waters, unsure how she would take him talking to her like that, but he didn’t worry when she dug her fingernails into his shoulders, meeting his upward thrusts with her own.

  “Oh, yes! Dalton! You’re gonna make me come. Oh, yes! Please make me come.”

  He found her clit with this thumb, making small circles over the little nub until she was whimpering again.

  “Come for me, darlin’.”

  And then she did. Her scream would’ve been heard for miles around had they not been inside his truck. That mixed with the sight of her straddling him, her beautiful breasts bobbing in front of his face, and the way her pussy clamped down on him sent him right over the edge.

  As his dick pulsed inside her, Dalton wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against him, never wanting to let her go. They were both struggling to breathe, their rapid pants causing the windows to fog up. Or maybe that was from the heat they generated.

  Fuck. He didn’t know, and he didn’t care.

  “Please tell me we can do that again,” Katie whispered against his ear.

  “I hope you don’t mean now,” he said lightly.

  “Ten minutes?” she asked and he could hear the teasing in her voice.

  “Thirty and you have a deal.”

  Katie laughed and the soft, sultry sound made his heart swell.

  Yeah, this woman had wrapped him around her little finger, and he doubted she even realized it. Tenth date or fiftieth, Dalton knew it was inevitable… He was falling for her. And he was falling hard and fast.

  And for the first time in his life, he didn’t care. He wasn’t scared of what might happen; he was just ready to experience it.

  One incredible day at a time.

  Chapter Four

  Two hours later and still no regret.

  Huh.

  Interesting.

  Katie was sitting in the front seat of Dalton’s truck, leaning against him while he sat behind the wheel. They were once again in the parking lot of The Rusty Nail, and the sun was just beginning to turn the sky a resplendent shade of orange as it made its ascent.

  They had spent the entire night together, making love — in Dalton’s truck, no less — and then holding one another in the aftermath. The former should’ve been the reason for her regrets or at least the reason she was questioning her sanity. But she wasn’t worried about either.

  Instead, she was just wishing she didn’t have to leave him, but she really did have to get home. She’d shucked her responsibilities for the first time in as long as she could remember, and Katie knew she would pay the price later.

  “I wish you didn’t have to go,” Dalton said.

  Katie wished the same. She also wished she could’ve invited him back to her place, but there was a plethora of reasons why that wasn’t in the cards. Dalton wouldn’t be going back to her apartment. Not today, not tomorrow. Probably not ever.

  But she wasn’t going to ruin their time together by telling him that or by thinking about the repercussions of her actions tonight.

  Rather than dwell on all the things she had to do when she left him, Katie decided to blow them off for just a few more minutes, because kissing him had become her new favorite pastime, and their time together was slowly coming to an end.

  Looking up at him, she smiled, and his beautiful brown eyes returned the smile without his lips even moving. Then she was kissing him, turning so she could get closer. His tongue plunged into her mouth, and she wished they were naked and somewhere a little more private once again.

  Preferably, somewhere they could have more space as well. Having sex in his truck hadn’t been the most comfortable place to be, but her orgasms hadn’t been all that particular. He’d made her body burn on more than one occasion, and she had the feeling she was going to crave him the instant they were apart.

  She’d have to think on that a little later, too, because as much as she enjoyed being with him, Katie knew their time together was limited. But that was something she’d considered before this had all begun, and for what it was worth, she was going to ride it out for as long as possible.

  Her body craved him. Needed him. And she didn’t want to fight it anymore.

  “I really need to go,” Katie said, mumbling against his lips.

  “Me, too,” he told her. “I’m heading back to Nashville in a few hours.”

  “Really?” There was no way to hide her surprise at his admission. “I didn’t know you were goin’ back.”

  “Won’t be for long. A week at most. I’ll be back.”

  Katie forced a small smile. It wasn’t that she wasn’t happy to hear he was coming back, she was just sad for the time they would have to be apart. But maybe that was a good thing. More time to think.

  Great. Just what she didn’t need.

  “Will you call me while you’re gone?” she asked, feeling a little needy.

  “Every day.”

  This time her smile was genuine, and she pressed her lips to his. “Well, in that case, what am I wastin’ my time here for?” she teased.

  When she tried to move away, Dalton caught her, his heavy arms wrapping around her, solidly holding her in place against him. He pressed his lips to her forehead, and she fought the urge to sigh in complete contentment. She hadn’t felt this safe, this cherished in … far too long.

  “Can I tell you somethin’?” she asked before she thought better of it.

  “Sure.”

  “This has been the best night ever.”

  Dalton turned her in his arms and their eyes met. There were no shadows to hide behind now, because the sun had breached the horizon, and the brilliant orange glow was lighting up the world around them.

  “I agree,” Dalton admitted, his eyes seemingly looking for something in hers.

  “No regrets?” she asked.

  His chuckle made her insides sing. “Not a one.”

  “Good.” A quick glance at the clock and Katie knew she was pushing her luck at this point. “I really do need to go.”

  Dalton nodded, his lips finding hers once again. The kiss lingered for longer than she intended, but she had a hard time pulling herself away from him.

  “I’m building a house here,” Dalton said, his statement taking her by surprise.

  “That’s what I heard,” she replied, her anxiety level ratcheting up a notch. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the idea of him being there in Devil’s Bend, but that presented a problem on several levels. Problems that she didn’t want to face.

  “Yep. When the equestrian center is up and runnin’, I’ll need to be close.”

  Equestrian center. Right.

  Cooper was building an equestrian center, and Dalton had mentioned that they were going into business together. Which meant he’d be there for extended periods of time. “What about your music career?”

  “It’s still in full swing,” he said easily. “That won’t change. But I’ll be here when I’m not on the road.”

  Katie nodded, doing her best not to start worrying about what that meant. A few hours ago, when this had been just a fun little fling, she’d been fine. Now that she knew he was intending to be around more often, her fears were starting to flood her mind.

  “When will you be back?” she asked, try
ing to force her thoughts back to the present. Tomorrow didn’t matter. What mattered was right this minute. Before the day was out, Dalton would be gone again, and she’d have plenty of time to figure it all out.

  She hoped.

  “Next Monday at the latest.”

  That was a solid week away. Plenty of time.

  Katie leaned forward and kissed him, keeping it playful this time. She would not ruin this moment. “Good. Well, I’m expectin’ a phone call,” she said softly.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Katie could see the exhaustion in Dalton’s eyes. She’d kept him up all night, and although she was used to being up until the wee hours of the morning, sometimes making it on just a couple of hours of sleep, she wasn’t sure he was.

  “Bye, Dalton,” she finally said after staring at him for longer than was probably appropriate.

  “Bye, darlin’.”

  She really did love when he called her that. She’d heard Cooper call Tessa that, and she figured it was one of those country things, but regardless, it gave her a sense of comfort that she hadn’t known before.

  Reaching for the door handle, she forced herself to look away from him. Grabbing her purse from the floorboard, she slipped out of the truck, offering him one last smile before she shut the door and walked away.

  That was the moment she realized just how much trouble she was in.

  And it wasn’t only due to the fact that she was pretty sure she’d fallen in love with a man she knew she couldn’t keep.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Dalton tried to be quiet when he snuck in the front door of Cooper’s house at dawn. The last thing he wanted to do was either interrupt or wake Tessa and Coop. The first would result in him getting a stern “be quiet” from his buddy, which in turn would make him laugh; the second might require him to have an actual conversation with one or both of them.

  He much preferred a quick shower and then hopefully a solid two hours of sleep before he had to get on the road. Or hell, maybe he’d just sleep in, catch a good four or five hours of shut-eye, and then be on his way.

  That was if he could sleep at all.

  His brain was still trying to break down the events of the night. Or more accurately, the early-morning hours.

  Katie.

  Holy fuck. The woman had blown his mind in every way imaginable.

  Truthfully, he wished he were at her place, falling into bed with her so he could hold her for the rest of the day. Having to drop her off at her car had felt oddly like they were teenagers sneaking around.

  He didn’t like the feeling, either.

  But he couldn’t very well change the outcome. Considering everything else that had happened tonight, he could easily overlook that minor detail. Since his brain was more interested in reliving the moments when Katie was riding his cock, it was easy to forget the way she’d looked when she’d slipped out of his truck anyway.

  “No more,” he told his dick as he made his way to the bathroom in the hall.

  Cooper would just have to deal with the water running, and he knew from experience that the pipes in Coop’s old house were loud enough to rouse the dead. In an effort not to piss off his host too much, he shed his clothes before turning on the water and then hopped into the tub slash shower before the water even heated.

  Not that the cold splash bothered him. He’d sweated off at least three pounds from the incredible sex and the warmth from the heater flooding his truck, but he wasn’t complaining.

  It didn’t take long for him to soap up and rinse off, and then he was traipsing into the guest room he’d commandeered with a towel wrapped around his hips. The door had barely clicked shut before he was flat on his face, giving in to sleep.

  Unfortunately, two hours of sleep only left Dalton with scratchy eyes and an oncoming headache.

  Forcing himself out of bed, he was met by the alluring smell of bacon and eggs. Cooper was at it again. The man loved being in the kitchen, which was amusing, although somewhat satisfying when you woke up hungry in the man’s house.

  Dalton pulled on his jeans and a T-shirt, not wanting to stumble into the living room undressed. Cooper was rather protective of Tessa, and Dalton couldn’t very well blame the guy.

  Scratching his five-o’clock shadow, which actually was more of a two-day beard, Dalton padded to the kitchen in search of food and coffee.

  “Thought you were headin’ back to Nashville today?” Cooper said by way of greeting.

  “Mornin’ to you, too,” Dalton grumbled as he headed right for the coffeepot. Caffeine would go a long way to clearing the fog and, if he was lucky, driving the throbbing in his temples away.

  “Nashville?” Cooper asked with a chuckle, reminding Dalton of his question.

  “Headin’ back in a bit.”

  “You were out late last night, huh?”

  Who was he, his mother?

  Okay, so the pissy mood had set in early. Dalton purposely thought of Katie as he poured coffee into a glass mug, one of the newer things in Cooper’s recently renovated kitchen. And as the memories from last night made a reappearance, he forced them into slow motion as he took the first sip of caffeine heaven.

  “That good, huh?” Cooper asked.

  At first, Dalton thought the man was referring to the coffee, but then he realized he’d plastered a smile on his face, so either the coffee was the best he’d ever had or those memories were the cause. Dalton would have to go with the memories.

  Katie.

  Damn.

  He wished he could stop by her place on his way out, but he didn’t even know where she lived.

  At that moment, Tessa came waltzing into the kitchen, a smile on her face. She looked as though she’d been thinking, too, which was probably the reason her smile looked a little forced.

  “Hey, do you know where Katie lives?” Dalton asked before he could think better of it.

  Tessa glanced at Dalton, then to Cooper and back again. “Me?”

  “Well, I’d hope he didn’t know where she lived,” Dalton said, nodding his head in Coop’s direction.

  “Sorry, no,” Tessa said, shaking her head and pushing her way past Dalton.

  Clearly, coffee was the breakfast of champions these days.

  Dalton stepped out of her way, moving a foot or so down and then leaning against the counter as he studied the pair in the kitchen. Cooper had busied himself at the stove, and Tessa appeared to be trying to avoid him.

  Interesting.

  These two had overcome some major issues, but really, that was none of his business. He’d thought they had worked things out, considering Cooper had proposed, but truth was, Dalton wasn’t privy to a lot that went on between them. Not to mention, it was too damned early in the morning to try to psychoanalyze his buddy’s love life.

  With her coffee poured, Tessa turned to look at him.

  “She uses a post office box as her official address.”

  A post office box? Really?

  That seemed a little odd.

  “You’ve never been to her house?”

  “Not a house, an apartment. At least that’s what I’ve gathered when I’ve talked to her. And to answer your question, no, I haven’t been there. We’re friends, just not that close,” Tessa explained, both of her hands wrapped around her mug as though it were the only source of warmth in the world and she was trying to wring out every last bit.

  Dalton shot a look at Cooper.

  All right then. Time to get going.

  “I’ve gotta head out,” Dalton said to no one in particular. “I’m plannin’ to be back in a week. Think you can keep it together while I’m gone?”

  Cooper shot him the finger, accompanied by a grin.

  “Remember that benefit concert we talked about?” Dalton asked before he headed toward the guest bedroom.

  “Yep.”

  “I wanna do it.”

  “I’m in,” Cooper added.

  Returning his thoughts to the woman who’d sent his world
spinning in crazy directions last night, Dalton decided it was time to get back to Nashville.

  And the sooner the better. Because, quite frankly, he wasn’t sure his mind was actually going to leave Devil’s Bend.

  Chapter Five

  Saturday morning

  Katie had just slipped into bed when her cell phone chirped, notifying her of an incoming text. She knew without looking who it was. At four o’clock in the morning, it could only be one person these days.

  Reaching for her phone, Katie rolled over to her back and slid her finger across the screen to bring it to life.

  Mornin’, darlin’

  Katie smiled to herself, tempted to hug her phone to her chest, just to bring Dalton that much closer to her heart. She missed him.

  Although she’d talked to him every day since he’d left town on Tuesday, she still longed to hear from him. In fact, she thought of little else besides him when she wasn’t busy doing other things.

  She quickly typed up a return message: Hey, cowboy.

  Waiting to see if he would respond, Katie stared at the ceiling. Her room was dark, just enough light coming in through the slats in the blinds from the yellow street lamp in the parking lot to see the outline of her furniture but not much else.

  The phone chirped again and she smiled as she looked at it.

  Miss me yet?

  Very much.

  How was your day?

  Katie smiled at the phone before she typed in her reply: Better now.

  For the entire first day he’d been gone, Katie had told herself that she needed to break things off with Dalton, let him go on with his business so she could go on with hers. But that had lasted until he’d called her later that night from his house in Nashville.

  Somehow, she had managed to convince herself that being with him for a short time wasn’t going to hurt. Not her and not him. They could give in to this fling, and no one would be the wiser.

  Strange how her feelings for him had intensified over the course of a few days when she hadn’t been able to see him. Now, she feared she was getting in too deep, but she had come to enjoy hearing his voice, and she worried she may not be able to give that up as easily as she had originally hoped.