Twisted Mind (Chequered Flag #2)

by Mia Hoddell

  My lips parted at the electrical current humming through me from his touch, the anticipation of what he was going to do to me too much.

  Dustin pulled the dress off over my head and threw the garment to the floor. Surprise flickered in his eyes briefly at my lack of bra then was quickly replaced by hunger and pure need. His hand closed over my breast, rolling my nipple between his thumb and forefinger. I arched into him and his mouth quickly covered the sensitive peak.

  Dustin ran his hand down my body and dipped into my panties. When his fingers slid over my wet folds, I trembled.

  My gasp brought Dustin’s attention back to my face. Still stroking me, he stared down at me through heavy-lidded eyes which gleamed with desire.

  “I don’t want to hold back, Taz.” His voice was hoarse, a gravelly rumble that only intensified my longing for him.

  Keeping track of a conversation while his fingers brought me ever closer wasn’t easy. “Th-then don’t.”

  “I won’t be gentle.” Dustin nipped on my bottom lip, biting a little harder than normal to emphasise his point. The sting only had me bucking my hips against his hand, my muscles clenching around his fingers to try and push myself over the edge.

  “I don’t want you to be.”

  That was all he needed. With a primal growl, Dustin crushed his mouth to mine.

  * * *

  We lay on our backs, breathing heavily. Dustin had taken me hard and fast. There was no love making involved. What he had done to me could only be described as fucking. He’d fucked me hard and made me come until I could barely remember my name.

  I turned my head to look at him. His chest rose and fell rapidly, his gaze fixed firmly on the ceiling. I reached out to take his hand and brought it up to kiss it. The instant my lips touched his skin he smiled at me with contentment.

  Dustin lifted his arm and I shuffled to curl up against him. I ran my finger over his lean body, focusing on the smattering of hair on his chest.

  “Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

  I chuckled. “You did a lot of things, although hurting me was never one of them.”

  I snuggled back up against him. I desperately wanted to ask what had happened, but I allowed the silence to linger. He needed time to think, at least I presumed he did.

  “Elora never had an abortion.”

  I froze against him. “She’s still pregnant?”

  Dustin lifted us to the top of the bed and pulled the covers out from underneath us so we could slide in. He drew me right back under his arm, his fingers circling my hip.

  “Oh yeah. She’s showing and everything. The last person on the planet who needs more crazy hormones running through her body is that woman.”

  “So…you’re going to be a dad?”

  It wasn’t a deal breaker, even if the thought stung. He’d always have a connection to her and things were definitely going to be an adjustment. Dustin would no longer be solely mine, which was how it should be, but I couldn’t stop my scowl. Whenever I thought about the future, Dustin had kids with me. The fact he’d have one with another woman, although it didn’t make me love him any less, stirred my jealousy.

  “She cheated on me. The baby isn’t mine.”

  I bolted upright in shock. “Wait, she told you she had an abortion of a child who wasn’t even yours?”

  And I had thought Elora couldn’t sink any lower or become any more twisted. I would have been lying, however, if I denied a certain amount of relief calmed my pulse.

  Dustin flicked his eyes to me and nodded.

  “Shit, Dustin. I-I—”

  “You don’t have to say anything.” He reached for me and tucked me back underneath his arm. “Just lie with me.”

  “But—”

  He squeezed me. “I’ll be okay, Taz. I’m angry as fuck right now. She made me grieve a child who never even existed, yet this should be easier to deal with.”

  “Did she say why?”

  Dustin kissed the side of my head. “It’s not important. What’s important is I’m finally free of her. I have you, a Formula One contract, and my heart will finally be able to heal now.”

  Grief wasn’t an emotion that could be switched off, even in Dustin’s case. For months his baby had been real to him and now he had to come to terms with the fact it never existed. I wanted to tell him that, but stopped myself. Having learned from experience, I knew Dustin would deal with it in his own way and in his own time.

  Dustin rolled over so we were face-to-face. He lay on his arm, staring at me in awe. Tracing my nose with his finger, he then moved onto my lips. When he reached my eyes I closed them. He swept over my eyelashes, his touch soft and gentle.

  Drawing me to him, Dustin barely grazed my lips with his. Mine curved at the touch and I hummed happily.

  “I love you, Taz.” He pressed his lips to mine harder. “I don’t know where I’d be right now if I hadn’t met you. I know I’d be worse off.”

  I kissed him back, holding him in place by the back of his neck. Rather than speak the words immediately I threw all of my feelings into the kiss, refusing to part until we were both in desperate need of air.

  “I love you too, Dustin.”

  He forced me onto my back to hold himself over me and I framed his face with my hands. “You’ve healed me without me realising it was what I needed, and I don’t want to consider a future without you.”

  He bit down on my thumb gently then kissed my palm. “You healed me first with those happy macarons.” He locked our fingers together and held them above my head while he supported himself on his other arm. He lowered his mouth to mine, and our lips were about to touch when someone knocked on the door.

  I jumped at the noise and Dustin chuckled. The sound was musical and relaxed, so different from how he had been earlier.

  “Ignore it, they’ll go away,” Dustin murmured, closing the gap between us to trail his lips over my jaw. Each kiss added more flames to the growing fire in my stomach.

  The knock came again, more insistent this time.

  “I don’t think they’re going to leave,” I whispered against him.

  As if to prove my point they knocked again and a man’s voice called out, “Dustin?”

  Dustin rested his forehead against my shoulder. “My brother has the worst timing in the world.”

  “Oh shit. I said I’d text Raine if I found you.”

  He kissed the nape of my neck, already pulling away from me. “You’re telling me all of this could have been avoided?”

  “It’s not my fault somebody distracted me. When was I meant to remember? Between orgasm one and four? I couldn’t remember my name, let alone your brother’s fiancée.”

  He smirked. “You couldn’t remember your name?”

  I pushed him off me. “Go answer the door before your head gets any bigger.”

  “It’s not my head that’s getting bigger, babe.” He ground his hips against me and I stifled a moan. Attempting to appear serious and knowing I failed miserably I pointed at the door.

  Once he’d slipped off the bed, pulled on his boxers, and was halfway towards the door, I headed into the bathroom to find a robe. I didn’t want to be lying naked in bed when Teo and Raine entered the room.

  Voices in the bedroom filtered through into the bathroom. I smoothed my hair and attempted to fix my make-up. Without time it was a hard task to get rid of the ‘just fucked’ look I had going on.

  With a sigh I gave up and exited the bathroom, realising there wasn’t much I could do about my appearance. Considering our clothes remained strewn across the room, the bed messed, and we were both nearly naked, nobody could miss what had been happening.

  “I’m fine, guys. Really,” Dustin insisted when Teo and Raine continued to eye him with suspicion. “Go and enjoy your night. Taz is taking care of me. You don’t need to worry.”

  “Yeah, we can see that.” Teo’s lips quirked as he took in the room. When he met my gaze I flushed. I drew the robe tighter around my body and
sidled up beside Dustin.

  Noticing my discomfort, Dustin took my hand and brought it up to his lips to place kisses over my knuckles. It did little to calm me or ease my embarrassment, if anything my blush deepened.

  “Sorry, Raine. I forgot all about texting you.”

  “It’s my fault,” Dustin said, “I kind of pounced on her as soon as she walked through the door. I didn’t know you were all searching for me.”

  I snapped my head to stare at Dustin incredulously. I couldn’t believe he’d said that to his brother and best friend.

  “Well, we’ll let you get back to…whatever you were doing. See you on the flight home.” Teo draped an arm around Raine’s shoulders to guide her from the room. As soon as the door clicked shut behind them Dustin spun me to him and his arms circled my waist. He drew me against him, the hunger in his eyes returning with a vengeance.

  “I think we should take his advice.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Dustin

  England

  I hadn’t expected to tell Taz I loved her over the weekend. In fact, the first time I had admitted it even to myself had been when I left her in the garage with Anthony. As I’d lain in bed with her though, I knew it had been right. It wasn’t the sex talking, although seeing her writhe beneath me only helped solidify the thought that she was it for me.

  After everything she’d done for me, I couldn’t hold it back any longer. Elora’s admission, whilst painful, partly released me from the past. Although a shock, it didn’t feel like before. This time the change in me was positive. I no longer felt tied to Elora or what could have been. As if someone had cut the string on a helium balloon, I now drifted towards a future where Tazia was the only option for me.

  Since we’d arrived back in the UK I had no intention of letting her out of my sight either. Not until Anthony had the results back from his friend in the lab on the notes Tazia received. It hadn’t been until Elora left that I registered her dig at Taz, but I stuck with Anthony’s plan and forced myself not to go asking questions. Now we were home, it was all I could think about.

  “Pull my keys out of my pocket will you, babe?” I didn’t want to let her go for even a second.

  Taz dipped her hand into my front pocket, and I was sure she stroked my dick on purpose. It stood to attention under her touch then Taz removed her hand and opened the door to my flat, leaving me disappointed.

  The head appearing over the back of my sofa drew a squeal from Tazia. She leaped behind me, poking her head out to peek around my arm. If I hadn’t been tense myself I would have laughed at the over the top reaction. With where my thoughts had been, Nadine’s appearance scared the shit out of me.

  As the only other person who had helped me care for Raine when her life went to hell, we’d grown close so that I thought of her as more than just ‘Raine’s friend’. While we were all in Abu Dhabi, I had trusted her to look after Michael and Ralf.

  “Sorry, Dustin. I didn’t know you weren’t going to be alone. I wanted to say hey and that there were no problems. I fed them half an hour ago too.”

  “Hey, Nadine. Don’t worry about it. This is my girlfriend, Tazia.”

  I couldn’t contain my grin at finally being able to say it out loud to another person.

  The girls smiled at each other and Nadine picked up her bag. “I’ll get out of your hair. Let me know if you ever need me to watch them again.”

  Nadine gave me a quick one armed hug and whispered, “She’s pretty. I approve.”

  With a chuckle I hugged her back. “Wasn’t looking for it, but nice to know. Thanks again for feeding the seahorses.”

  Once we were alone I focused on Tazia. I had expected her to say something to Nadine, yet all she’d done was move over to the tank to study Michael and Ralf.

  “Want to tell me what has you so spooked, babe?” I rested my chin on her shoulder. “Or do I have to start guessing?”

  “I don’t think you’ll need many guesses. It’s probably the same thing that has you scouring the corridors and not letting go of me since we walked into the building.”

  I forced a laugh. “You noticed, huh?”

  “It’s not like you were subtle about it.”

  “We’ll find whoever’s doing this, all right? I won’t let anything happen to you. I’ve seen what this kind of shit did to my brother’s relationship. No way in hell is someone coming after you to get to me.”

  “Is that what you think this is?”

  What was I meant to say? I had no idea what was going on. All I based my assumption on was Aston’s vendetta against Raine because of Teo. It sounded egotistical to even speak it, but why else would someone go after Taz? She wasn’t a person who appeared to have enemies. Even the situation with Max had turned out to be something totally different than what I had thought so it had to be connected to me somehow.

  “I don’t know, Taz. I wish I could give you an answer, but I can’t. We’ll get them though, okay?”

  She sank back against me with a yawn. “I know, I trust you.”

  My heart swelled at her words. To hear her putting so much faith in me was surprisingly moving. What worried me, however, was that maybe she put too much faith in me. My schedule was booked solid for the next few weeks to learn the ropes with Sabre. I had a few photo shoots coming up and they wanted me gaining experience with the car as soon as possible. All of that would take me away from Tazia a lot.

  “What would you say to me hiring someone?” I knocked her legs out from beneath her and carried Tazia back over to the sofa bridal style. When I’d settled her on my lap she regarded me suspiciously.

  “Hiring someone to do what?”

  “A bodyguard of sorts. Someone to watch out for you when I’m not around.”

  Her nose crinkled in annoyance. “I don’t want someone following me around, Dustin. I think you’re going overboard.”

  “It would only be until we find out who’s doing this.”

  Tazia shook her head defiantly. “I don’t like it. I don’t want to be followed around. It’s not like I go anywhere besides work and I’m around people all of the time there.”

  I blew out a frustrated breath. “Even if it would put my mind at rest?”

  “I said no. It’s not worrying me enough to warrant that, and how would I explain it to everyone?” She crossed her arms.

  I knew when I was fighting a losing battle. For a split second I considered going against her wishes and hiring someone behind her back. However, I really didn’t want to misplace the trust she’d put in me. We were both finally in a good place, and I couldn’t bring myself to jeopardise it.

  “Okay, I won’t. What do you want to do for the rest of the day then?”

  She considered my question for a minute. “I want to bake.”

  * * *

  Two hours later I sat in Tazia’s kitchen while she piped whipped cream on top of the black forest gateau we’d made.

  Well, when I say ‘we’, I meant Tazia did majority of the work. The most she allowed me to do was cover cherries in chocolate so I spent the rest of the time distracting her by covering her in chocolate so I could lick it off.

  She huffed and puffed at my antics, but her eyes always gave her away. She enjoyed the attention as much as I enjoyed giving her it.

  “You know, I can think of a lot better places to put that cream.” I plucked a cherry off its stalk with my teeth.

  Tazia glanced up at me but said nothing. She resumed covering the sides of the cake with a steady hand.

  “Really? You’re not even slightly interested?” I stepped behind her, bracing my arms on the counter to trap her in. I pressed my body into hers, rolling my hips, and Tazia’s hands shook. The line she had been piping wobbled. I lowered my lips to her ear. “I’ll tell you anyway.”

  “Dustin.” My name slipped from her lips in a husky protest, the growl she’d intended dampened.

  “First I’d start at your mouth.” I raised a hand, my finger brushing over her bottom lip. “T
hen I’d move down here.” I trailed my finger over her throat and felt her swallow beneath my touch. “I would then circle these.” I covered her breasts with my hands, flicking my thumb over her nipples to feel them harden to pebbles.

  Tazia gasped and this time the line she’d been piping slipped right across the cake.

  I chuckled in her ear. “Do you want that, babe? To feel my lips sucking it all off?”

  Tazia spun, her nose barely inches from mine and her body pressed against me.

  She gazed at me salaciously. “I’d rather play my game.”

  “What’s your game?”

  Taz stretched up onto her tiptoes and dropped her voice to a sultry murmur. “It involves your cock, this cream, and my mouth.”

  A jolt of pleasure shot straight to my dick. It leapt in my jeans, straining even further against the denim. I hadn’t thought it possible to become harder.

  I grabbed Tazia by the ass, lifting her up. She wrapped her legs around me with a giggle as I carried her to her bedroom, the cream still in her hands. “Did my game win?”

  “Your game wins every fucking time, babe.”

  Chapter

  Thirty-One

  Tazia

  I hadn’t been able to quit humming to myself in happiness throughout work the next day. It didn’t help I’d been filling various pastries with whipped cream either. Every cake sent my mind soaring straight back to the gutter as images of what I had done to Dustin the day before consumed me. Even while I walked home I couldn’t stop grinning.

  I loved flipping the tables on Dustin. He thought he was the only one who could tease with his words and I’d never tire of proving him wrong.

  I did still have to finish that gateau though. For obvious reasons baking had ended up as the last thing on my mind.