by Cara Carnes
“You showered, too.”
“Yeah, two bathrooms.” He grinned. “I’m thinking I should’ve joined you.”
Kamren curled her toes and smiled shyly. The man was a temptation she had every intention of exploring. Enjoying. “We should go back to the house. What if the boys wake up?”
“The day they had, they’ll be out for hours. Jesse and Mom are there if they wake up,” Dallas answered as he lifted her up until her legs wrapped around his middle. “I’m gonna fuck you, sweetheart. I need you too much for it to be sweet and slow.”
Awareness tingled within her. She was okay with not getting it sweet and slow. She claimed his mouth as he carried her to the back bedroom. Something ignited within her, as if a part of her sensed the importance of this moment—her chance to have Dallas Mason. Every inch of him was hers.
He severed their kiss long enough to set her on the bed. He pulled back just enough to sweep the shirt over her head and toss it across the room. A flash of insecurity scraped her insides as his gaze swept across her naked torso, but then she saw the warmth there.
“I’m not all that…” She halted when he placed a finger atop her lips, the contact so soft that if she hadn’t been watching, she might have missed it altogether.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered.
She didn’t bother arguing. Her mind was too focused on the scars Dallas wore, ones she hadn’t ever gotten the chance to notice. She leaned forward and brushed her lips across a long white scar along his side. Knife.
A puckered white patch a few inches lower. Bullet.
Then she was done because Dallas tossed her deeper onto the bed and covered her. The move was swift and the result everything she needed. Dallas’s weight settled on her lower body as he claimed her mouth again. She ground against him, promising him with her body what she had no words to describe.
Even if she could speak.
Breathless, she looked up into his intense gaze.
This was really happening. Him. Her.
It’d been so long since she’d been with anyone. She swallowed the insecurity, somehow knowing Dallas would make it good, even if she somehow screwed up.
The next graze of lips was slow and sweet, exactly what he’d said he wouldn’t give tonight. She followed his lead; each stroke of her body was met with a touch of his. Pleasure sparked within her wherever he licked, tasted. An arrow of awareness shot southward on the same line as his hot mouth. He nipped, licked, and sucked. She held her breath as he stripped off the shorts and ran deft fingers along her slit.
“Fuck, you’re wet for me.” He growled the statement in an appreciative tone that shot awareness where his fingers were. Two thrust inside her as she cried out. She reached for him, but he pushed her back on the bed. “I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, sweetheart.”
Thinking about what?
A groan escaped her as his tongue and mouth replaced his hand. Pleasure replaced her initial shock as she threaded her fingers into his hair and held on. Every kiss, flick, and suck coursed sensation through her entire body. The world narrowed until all that existed was him. Her.
She floated in a sea of bliss so raw and wild, her eyes burned with unshed tears. She blinked them away as she tumbled into a crashing wave of ecstasy. But Dallas’s ministrations had only begun. The attention continued in a slow foray of tongue, mouth, and hands as he taunted, tasted and toyed with every inch of her body.
“Dallas,” she pleaded, unsure what she needed more of. She reached for his thick, hard cock. He severed the contact long enough to strip his shorts off.
She attacked. It was the only word for the speed she used to get what she wanted. Her hand on his cock. Her mouth around the thick shaft. His precum greeted her tongue as he emitted a groan so deep it was a growl. She reached between her legs, slickened her hand with her arousal, then returned it to his length.
“Fuck, that’s hot.” He grasped her head firmly as she sucked him off. His entire body reacted to the slightest touch of her hands. Her mouth. Every inch of him was hers to explore and enjoy.
And she did.
“Every night, every day,” she whispered as she popped his aroused flesh from her mouth.
“What’s that?” His voice was ragged, breathy as she looked up into his dilated pupils.
“Gonna suck you off every day. I want you fucking me so hard I pass out every night,” she demanded. “That’s what I’ve been thinking about, Dallas.”
“No way in hell I’d say no to that, sweetheart, on one condition,” he whispered as he yanked her hair. “I get to eat you out whenever I want.”
Her entire body trembled with need. “Fuck me, Dallas. I can’t wait any longer.”
He stooped down and pulled a condom from the pocket of his shorts. She snagged it, ripped the foil packet open with her teeth, then rolled it onto him. Protectiveness flared within her. No, it was way deeper than that. Possessiveness. He was hers. She would never let anyone hurt him again. Or take advantage of him. She was thankful Marla was dead. And Hailey? Well, Kamren could handle that cow.
“I like the way you look at me, my dick,” he admitted.
“Oh yeah?”
“Like you own me and it.”
“Maybe I do. You got a problem with that?”
“No, which terrifies the fuck out of me.” He lifted her leg and swatted her thigh. “Shimmy back, Kam. Gonna fuck you so hard you forget everyone’s name but mine.”
The slow and sweet Dallas was gone, replaced with a ravenous, all-consuming brand of passion that left her entire body shaking with the need to be fucked by him. She clawed, squeezed, and gripped whatever parts of him she could, but he was totally in control.
He powered into her in one thrust so hard and deep her entire body reacted. With her knees drawn up and spread wide, he looked down with a gaze so consumed with raw hunger she orgasmed. Her entire body shook from the release. A slow, smug satisfaction rolled across his expression.
“Glad I turn you on so much, but we’re just getting started.” He rolled a nipple between his thumb and forefinger, and pinched as he settled into an intense pace.
Kamren squeezed his cock, thrusting herself upward. But Dallas growled, pinned her down at the hips with both hands and increased the frenzied pace.
“You sure you wanna claim me, my cock?” He powered into her, staying seated deep in her, so deep she almost came again simply thinking about it. “You want me fucking you like this every day?”
“Yes, Dallas.”
“Then you gotta know that means you’re mine. In every way. Mine to pleasure. Mine to protect. Mine to make love to. Mine to fuck breathless.” He twisted her until she was on her knees. Then he slid into her, slow and deep. “Mine.”
“Yes. Yes.” Head down, ass in the air. “Fuck me, Dallas.”
“So fucking hot for me. Don’t ever guard yourself in my bed, Kamren. This is what we are together. Alone. Anything we want. Whenever. No boundaries. No defenses.”
God. Yes.
He pounded into her. Flesh slammed against flesh. The bed shook beneath them. Her cries filled the room as he whispered, “Come for me, sweetheart.”
She collapsed into his grip as she orgasmed again. He growled and followed her soon. His front to her back, he followed her into the floaty bliss of truly amazing sex, the kind that shook the foundation of everything she’d ever known or wanted.
She was in deep with Dallas Mason and couldn’t imagine being happier than in this moment, the one after he’d left the bed just long enough to dispense with the condom. The one where he dragged her against him and them to where they were fully connected. He sighed into her throat.
“Never had this,” she whispered. “No one ever came close to giving me this.”
“Fuck, sweetheart. So sweet after I fuck you.” He wrapped a protective arm around her.
“Glad you’ve got your boy. Now you can move on, scrape off what that bitch did to you.” She swallowed.
“Marla liked collect
ing playthings, toys. Making men like me, capable of ending anyone a thousand different ways, kowtow to her whims,” he said. “She’d angled to get me in her bed a while, but I’d dodged it, knowing she was a piranha that’d chew me up and not ever spit me out. She sent me on a mission with someone who set me up to take a fall, one big enough to rattle the foundations of a powerful ally. It’d leave everyone I cared about at risk ‘cause the people who’d come after me wouldn’t have stopped ‘til everyone I loved was dead.”
She squeezed his hand. She couldn’t imagine a life like that. All alone.
“It didn’t go the way she’d planned because I didn’t fall. I struck back in a way that left me standing and The Collective twisting in the wind. I can’t give you details. Even if I could, I wouldn’t. That level of nightmare haunts you every night, and I want you sleeping sweet against me.”
God. She squeezed her eyes shut. “Want you sleeping sweet against me, too, Dallas.”
“I will. ‘Cause the bitch is dead. She sent Jud to kill me. He was an assassin for them, way deeper than I ever was. The best around. He saw something in me; I never asked what. Never found out why, but he took my side in a way where the only maneuver Marla had was to let me walk away from The Collective. She gave me an out, one she’d never given to anyone.”
“But it came with a price,” she guessed.
“Yeah. A big one.” He sighed. “I’m man enough to admit I was terrified and exhausted, so deep over my head and missing my family I couldn’t imagine staying another single day. I looked that bitch in the eye and gave her the best damn weekend of her miserable life. Never knew the fallout until she was dying.”
“Kam.” She moaned, snuggled against the warmth, then realized Dallas wasn’t behind her. She blinked and heard his voice again. “Need you to wake up, sweetheart. We gotta get moving.”
“Huh?”
“Get dressed, baby.” Dallas moved. He dragged on cargo pants. A shirt. Sat on the edge of the bed and had shoes and socks on before she had wiped her eyes. That’s when she felt it.
Tension.
“What’s wrong, Dallas?”
“Something happened, an attack on the Marville Dog compound. Need to get you to your girl.”
Dani. Kamren bolted out of bed. She snagged the clothes Dallas held out for her. Fear crawled through her throat. He wasn’t offering up any more information which either meant he didn’t know anything else, or it wasn’t good.
No. No. No.
Years. For years she’d begged and pleaded with Dani to leave that life behind, let the Dogs have their patch of the world. She needed to move on, even if it meant leaving Marville and Kamren behind in her dust.
“Look at me, sweetheart,” Dallas ordered.
Watery-eyed, she peered up as he cupped her face. “Your girl is okay. That’s all I know. Our man inside the Marville Dogs wanted me to wait for more, but I’m not ever gonna be the guy standing between you and what you have the right to know. You don’t need me fighting your fights.”
Wow. He totally understood her. “She’s okay.”
“Yeah, sweetheart, she’s okay. Marcus was there. You remember him? The guy who was the last one standing in your one-woman war.” Marcus was a good shooter. He’d lasted longer than anyone. “He kept her safe.”
“Who…?”
“We’re assuming Dom, but we’ve gotta get to Marville, sweetheart.” He set her shoes on the ground. “Get dressed.”
They left as soon as Kamren got dressed. Dallas drove like a madman. Each minute that ticked by on the illuminated clock increased her worry. Shouldn’t Marcus have called back or something? Why hadn’t Dani called?
Police lights and headlights flooded the area. Shadows moved within the lights as people walked around on the lawn of Dani’s childhood home. Dallas parked closer than Kamren expected. She exited just as he arrived at her side. Arms around each other, they walked toward the line of police tape strung around the gate.
“Mason, turn your ass around and leave. This isn’t your business,” Haskell ordered. His gaze raked over Kamren. “It sure as shit isn’t yours, unless you’ve got a lead on who did this. Was it you?”
“Step aside, Haskell,” Dallas ordered. “Not fucking with you or your shit tonight.”
“I’m Sherriff in this county. I’m the law. Get lost.”
“You might be the law tonight, but we both know it won’t last much longer,” Dallas said. “We’re here to check on Daniella. We’ll stay out of your way.”
“She’s around the corner sitting on the truck bed. I need her to give me a statement. So far she’s had some guy dragging her off every time I try and get one.” Haskell glared in the direction he’d pointed. “Ten minutes, then I’m coming over. Either she gives me a statement, or I’m hauling her in as an accessory.”
“On what grounds?” Kamren asked.
“Pissing me off.” The bastard walked back into the house.
Kamren let her gaze sweep over the area. Blood and carbine. Her sensitized smelling picked the scents up easily. She clung to Dallas as he guided them around to where the sheriff had indicated.
Dani was wrapped in a blanket and sitting on the tailgate of a brown Ford truck. Marcus did a half a head turn and lifted his chin as they approached. Kamren raced to her best friend.
“Kam. I wanted to call, but he wouldn’t let me go get my phone.”
“Told you I called her, woman. There’s no way in hell you’re going back into that house.” Marcus looked at Dallas as he crossed his arms. “Thinking Dom reacted to your visit.”
Dani tightened. “You saw Dom? When?”
Dallas’s jaw twitched. Kamren squeezed her best friend. “Look at me, honey. Don’t go there. Don’t lay blame where you know it’s not gonna settle. You know. You know this is on Javier. He set this into motion the day he stood in the yard with Dom’s crew and said my mouth was only good for Marville Dog. Your cousin saying that about me while he’s supposed to be protecting you? No way Dom would let that ride. Disrespect.”
Dani sniffled. Her shoulders trembled as she buried her face in Kamren’s neck. Unsure what to say beyond what’d already been said, she remained quiet and let her friend cry it out. She could count on one hand how many times her best friend had cried.
The first and last had been the night they arrested Dom.
Once.
Before tonight.
“Are you okay? Do you need a hospital?”
“No.” She shook her head. “It all happened so fast. One minute I was getting a beer from the fridge, then I heard noises. And this brute tackled me. Then gunfire. Glass everywhere.”
Kamren looked at Marcus as she pulled Dani back into a hug. “Thank you.” She mouthed the words and got a chin lift in response.
“I’m thinking someone didn’t realize she was in the house,” Dallas said.
“He’d better not ever find out,” Dani growled. She stood, wiped her face off, and glared up at Dallas. “He doesn’t ever find out.”
“He?” Haskell asked. “Dare I hope you know who did this?”
“Afraid not. I was minding my own business, having a beer when gunfire exploded around me. I fell to the ground to protect myself and didn’t see a damn thing, Sheriff.”
“Afraid I’ll have to bring you in for questioning then, ma’am.”
“That’s not happening,” Dallas said. “You want to chat with her, Haskell, you phone out to The Arsenal. We’ll arrange it. Until then, no one gets near her. Understood?”
“You don’t run this county, boy.”
“No, but you sure as shit don’t either. She’s done. You want a conversation with her, call The Arsenal.” Dallas waited until the man backed away.
“I’ll be in contact in the morning, Ms. DeMarco.”
“She’s coming with us,” Dallas said.
Dani tightened. “No, I’m not.”
“Don’t be loco,” Marcus said. “You aren’t staying here.”
“I’ll go to Sylv
ia’s.”
“That the same Sylvia whose brother was just whacked inside?” Marcus asked. “That Sylvia?”
“He’s right, Dani. I know you’ve got your issues with the Masons, but you’ve gotta have a safe place to crash.”
“Not going out there. Don’t ask me to go there, Kam. I can’t, not tonight.” She swallowed. “You know Sylvia wasn’t tight with her familia. She wasn’t. She’ll let me crash.”
Marcus cursed in Spanish. Long, loudly, and rather creatively. “Fine. You go to Sylvia’s, I go to Sylvia’s.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Mamita, you’re chewing through my last nerve. I’d pick your battles. This isn’t one you’re winning.” Marcus stared Dani down.
“Okay, I suppose you can come, too.”
God. Kamren squeezed her friend closer. “I’ll come too, make sure you’re settled in.”
“Sweetheart, I need you back at The Arsenal where you’re safe,” Dallas whispered in Kamren’s ear.
“I can’t leave her. She’s my best friend, Dallas.” She looked up at him. “We’ll be with Marcus. Just a few hours, then you can come and get me.”
“Fine, but you call if you need anything.” He kissed her lips, then looked over at Marcus.
“She’s covered,” the man said. “Both of them are.
With that, Dallas left.
The phone.
Kamren rose and raced after him before he could leave. She saw headlights from another reflect on the truck, which was odd because it was typically one lane road. Then again, it was probably an ambulance or cop car. She shifted to the side.
Brakes grinded. Pain exploded along her side as she was yanked hard. She landed headfirst into the back of a large cargo van. Tires spun.
She looked up into the eyes of Henry Mills. He grinned down, then put a smelly rag over the top of her nose and mouth.
22
“Fuck!”
Dallas slammed his fist into the wall of the compound’s waiting room. Whoever had taken Kamren was smart enough to have a plan in place. They’d had a total of four white cargo vans fan out at the Y leading out of Marville. By the time Dallas had realized what the hell he’d witnessed, the van was far enough away for the diversion to work. He’d given chase to one while Marcus and Dani took another.
