by Piper Rayne
“You’ve fallen for him again, haven’t you?” Hannah asks.
I shrug.
If I told them the truth, I’d be admitting it out loud. And that makes it more real. I’ve been dodging my family for the past few weeks because I know they’ll see it on my face.
“We aren’t going to judge you,” Hannah says, dipping her head to catch my eye.
I look up through my eyelashes and nod.
Hannah smiles.
“Am I the stupidest woman in the world?” My forehead hits my desk.
“No.” Victoria sets her coffee cup on my desk and comes around to my side. She puts her arm around my shoulders, propping herself up on the arm of my chair. “Not at all.”
“But Hannah said people don’t change.”
Hannah laughs. “What do I know? I barely know the guy except for the fact he’s a good tax lawyer.”
“What if he destroys me?” I voice my biggest fear.
“What if he doesn’t?” Victoria says, her lips pressing against the top of my head. “I know it’s scary, but if you’re already scared of being hurt, it’s too late. Now you have to jump in with both feet.”
“I’d rather put my toe in.”
Hannah laughs. “You already did. You’re going to feel the hit if it doesn’t work out anyway. Don’t stand in the way of working out yourself. Understand?”
“Kind of.” I shrug.
“If Dean called you right now and said he met someone else, how would you feel?” Hannah asks.
Her words send an adrenaline rush through my body and my chest constricts. “I’d be crushed.”
Hannah raises her shoulders, her lips pursed in a ‘see, you’re invested’ mannerism. I know she’s right. I felt it Saturday night. The pit of my stomach said I crossed the line. That he won and weaseled his way into my heart again.
“So both feet huh?”
Victoria squeezes my shoulder. “Yep, but don’t worry, Jade’s a really good judge of character.”
“She loves Pete.” I look up at her and roll my eyes.
Victoria laughs at me bringing up her ex-husband. “Every girl has the hero complex for her father.”
She’s right. “Has Dean really changed?” I ask the same question that kept me up last night.
Victoria’s hand lands on my chest, covering where my heart is. “Only this can tell you.”
Hannah rises from the chair and walks toward the door. “You know, Chelsea, when I hired you, it was between you and another woman. Do you know why I hired you?”
She stops in the doorway.
“Why?”
“You’re a fighter. I knew you’d go all in and get the job done. The same goes for a relationship. Let’s remember why we’re all divorced.”
Victoria and I say nothing.
“We’re divorced because the men we married weren’t all in. A successful relationship takes two people who will give one hundred percent. I know Dean disappointed you before, but he seems all in by everything you’ve told us. The question is, are you?” She leaves the room with a soft smile.
I look up to Victoria, whose lips are pressed together.
“She’s right. I never really did think of it like that, but she’s got a point.” She pulls me in for a hug and then stands.
“Yes, she does,” I mumble after everyone’s left.
I open my desk drawer, pulling out my jump drive. My stomach rumbles with nausea as I wait for it to load on my computer until the small thumbnail images pop up.
I click on the first picture. A selfie of Dean and I. Were we really that young once upon a time? His arm is slung around me, my lips pressed to his cheek, a million-dollar smile on his face.
I scroll forward to photos of us at his games, us at parties, out with our friends and the only constant is Dean is by my side. Even when I’m with my friends, he’s photobombing in the background. A smile comes to my lips remembering how much fun we had during those short months.
Checking the time, I see it’s eleven thirty. I grab my purse and phone off my desk.
“I’ll be back after lunch,” I say, not waiting for a response.
“Well then,” Victoria says but the door shuts and I press the elevator button before I hear more.
It’s always been Dean. I need to finally give him all of me.
* * *
I use my new key to open Dean’s apartment and I’m greeted immediately by Grover, his tail wagging and drool hanging from his mouth.
“Hey Grover,” I say, looking around for his leash. “Do you want to go outside?” I bend down and pet him, spotting his leash on the table by the front door. “Okay, let’s go.”
I drop my stuff, attach the leash and move toward the door. It opens before I can grab the knob.
Dean strolls in, his tie already loosened from his neck. A smile warms his entire face and I’m reminded of the pictures I looked at moments ago when I walked down the aisle toward Elvis at that small chapel in Vegas. I really wish I’d been more coherent, so I could remember marrying him better.
“I like this scene way too much.” Dean places his computer bag on a chair and bee-lines it right over to me.
“Grover needs to go out.”
“I pay a dog walker. He was here a half hour ago. He’s fine.” His head burrows into my neck and he lifts me into his arms, inhaling deep. “I need you more.”
“You spent all day Sunday with me.” I laugh, my head falling back, and his teeth nip along my neck.
“I need you every minute of every day.” He kicks off his shoes.
Grover’s leash slips out of my hands.
I cup his face between my hands, staring down at the man I’d convinced myself I loathed for the past five years.
My head drops, and I capture his heart-shaped lips, my tongue searching for entry. He opens as though he’s been waiting for this moment all day. Our tongues glide and explore one another’s mouth. He tastes like the mint he must have had on the way here.
He gradually releases me until my feet touch the floor. His forehead lands on mine and he searches my face, for what I don’t know.
“Something’s changed,” he says, his fingers feeling for the zipper on the back of my dress.
The zipper sliding down is the only sound in the condo while our gazes remain locked.
“Nothing’s changed.”
“The imaginary wall that was between us isn’t there anymore,” he says with a touch of wonder in his voice, like he can’t believe it.
His hands glide up my back, slowly lowering the dress off my shoulders.
“I’m just happy.” I close my eyes and inhale as my dress falls from my shoulders.
He helps it find its way to the floor and I stand there wearing only a black bra, panties and heels—not a self-conscious bone in my body.
He wants me, and I want him. End of story.
“I’m happy, too.” He smiles and cups my breasts, teasing my already erect nipples.
I arch my back into his hands and he tugs the cups of my bra down, brazenly admiring my breasts. Sliding my hands to my back, I unhook my bra and let it fall between us.
“I should spank you, it’s my job to strip you.” He steps into me, my naked chest rubbing against his suit jacket and vest.
“Let’s get you undressed before you start getting kinky on me.”
He takes off his jacket and tosses it on the couch. My fingers go to work on his vest as he stands there watching me undress him.
“I could get used to this,” he says with a smirk.
The vest joins my dress on the floor. Since his tie is already loosened, my manicured nails make quick work of finishing the job. I lay the striped tie across the back of my neck, letting it hang over my breasts.
He inhales a deep breath. “Now you go and cover up? You’re playing a game you aren’t going to win.”
I smile seductively, working all the buttons on his shirt. Soon it slides off his strong shoulders and pools on the floor.
“
Just a few more items, Mr. Bennett.” My lips press to the warm skin of his chest. Cedarwood and melon overwhelm my senses. Since when did this man start wearing cologne?
As though he’s testing himself, he doesn’t let himself touch me. My skin aches for his rough handling.
I unbuckle his belt, unbutton and unzip his pants all while my mouth sprinkles kisses along his chest. Still, he hasn’t placed a hand on me. Is he trying to tease me until I’m dripping wet?
I slide my hands to his backside, pushing his slacks until they drop to the floor along with his belt, landing with a thud.
His rigid length bulges out of his black boxer briefs and my mouth waters. I’d never tell him, but he was right. I do love his cock. But what he doesn’t know is that I love his reaction when I go down on him more than the actual act.
Slowly, I slide down his body until my knees land on his hardwood floor. Teasingly, I run my finger along the waistband, staring up at him through my eyelashes.
His eyes are locked on me, heat radiating from the dark depths of his irises. Rubbing him through the thin fabric with my palm, I watch his chest rising and falling with fast breaths. His mouth hangs slightly ajar, but his hands have yet to guide me.
Dipping down the front of his boxers, his dick springs out as though saying ‘play with me, lick me, suck me.’ Finally, a groan erupts out of him and his hands move, but he doesn’t allow himself to touch me and the ache between my legs grows more intense.
I use my tongue to lick up his length, my hand wrapped around his base so I can cover his tip with my mouth.
“Fuck,” he murmurs, fisting his hands at his sides.
I love the way he’s about to lose his self-control.
It’s easy with Dean, I know what to do to get him off, but today I want to do other things, so after sucking up and down a few times, I let his cock pop out of my mouth and slide my tongue down his long length. Twisting my head, I suck his balls into my mouth as my hand continues to stroke him up and down.
He leans forward, his hands landing on the edge of the couch, which only spurs my thirst to drive him wild. I use my thumb to rub the pre-cum around his tip.
“Please Chelsea,” he begs.
As though I was waiting for those words, I move my mouth up and fill it with his length once more, bobbing, sucking. He flexes his hips and the tip hits the back of my throat.
Still the same Dean.
Releasing my hand, I allow him to fuck my mouth as my hand cups his balls. With a loud groan, he erupts in my mouth and finally his hands touch my skin, one hand on my shoulder the other on the back of my head.
An electric current travels through my entire body. My eyes locked with his, I swallow and let him fall from my mouth. He’s still hard.
Dean holds his hand out to help me up and when I do he pulls me into an embrace. “I told you. You love my cock more than me.”
I smile and let him think that. Although I really can’t complain, he does have a wonderful dick.
“Come to my bed.” He grabs my hand and leads me down the hall.
“I should get back to work.”
He stops, stares at me for a few seconds. “It’s not an afternoon delight if you don’t get off. Let big daddy please you.”
“Yeah, that doesn’t do anything for me.”
He chuckles, not letting go of my hand. Not that I’m pulling away anyway.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The sun is spilling into his bedroom when we enter. Dean doesn’t pull me to him but guides me to the bed and nods his head for me to sit.
I’m waiting for him to be the dominant he usually is and dictate exactly how he wants me—tell me what he’s going to do to me, ask me questions about how much I loved sucking him off.
That’s us. We fuck. We fuck rough and we both get off on it.
That doesn’t happen.
As baffled as I was in his family room that he never touched me until he came, I’m even more so now.
Gradually he lowers to his knees, his eyes on me, his hands resting on my knees. Without ever tearing his gaze off of me, his palms run along the length of my inner thigh, and he inches forward into the space between my legs.
He hooks each side of my black panties and drags them down my legs. A tingling starts at my ankles and runs up my legs. When the tips of his fingers move closer to my center, he runs them along the outside of my pussy, building an ache in me that I’m not sure can ever be quenched.
“So beautiful,” he says, and all expectations fade from my mind.
His tongue dips between my legs, up through my folds until he sucks my nub into his hot mouth, twirling it with his tongue.
I spiral into a state of passion. Wanting his body over mine. Needing his hands on every inch of me. As though he’s channeled my thoughts, he slides his tongue up my stomach past my breasts and kisses me. Slow and deep, and the pit of my stomach quivers.
Without a word he encourages me to climb up on his bed, his lips not leaving mine. I fall into the softness of his mattress with his weight on top of me, his thigh pressed to my core, my hands gripping him, not wanting him to leave me.
We kiss, we caress and for a brief moment, it’s just us, in our happy bubble like we used to be. There are no bills to pay, no job to go back to, no pressure of our past mistakes. It’s Dean and I in our purest and most honest state and a tear drips from my eye when his knuckles run along the side of my ribs.
All I want is him. For him to never stop touching me, never stop kissing me, never stop being the man I need.
From tight grips to softer touches, we explore the bodies we’ve grown into over the past five years, finding new places that illicit sounds of pleasure instead of falling into the routine we mastered years before.
His hands are warm and gentle as he flips my body over and hovers over top of me, his lips not letting one part of my flesh go untouched. All the insecurities about us disappear and a newfound love for the man he’s become buds inside of me.
He brushes my hair to the side, his kiss on the back of my neck spurring a line of goose bumps along my spine. Flipping me to my back, he hovers over me, ready between my legs. Our eyes lock and he shifts, his arm stretching out toward his dresser.
I grip his wrist and he freezes in place, questions filling his eyes. I shake my head once and he comes back to me, laying his forearms on either side of my head.
“I love you,” he whispers, his lips sealing the promise he made on my skin.
Inch by inch he sinks into me. I’ve never felt fuller in my entire life. My heart and my body are filled with Dean from my head down to my toes. He leads us to the brink with lingering kisses and unrushed touches that add fuel to my building orgasm.
He pulls back, his eyes locked with mine and suddenly we’re lost to one another. It’s only us. He grinds into me and I meet every thrust as my feet slide along the sheets, his thighs pushing my legs farther apart. Deeper and deeper he plunges until a wave ripples on the surface and I tighten my core to stop myself from coming. I never want this moment to end.
My fingers cling to his rounded shoulders and my back arches, pushing my breasts to his chest.
He leads me farther into the abyss until the ripples turn into small waves that cap at the ocean’s edge. My toes curl and he thrusts deeper to the point you’d think it’d hurt, but it only sends my pleasure soaring higher until I’m in a raging sea near the middle of a hurricane. Wave after wave pounds at my willpower, begging for release. I clench around him and a strangled groan erupts out of him.
My fingernails scrape his skin until there’s too much pressure to hold back. I can’t control my impending release any longer.
His lips crash into mine, his tongue taking what he wants, and I lose all control, the water breaching my levies and flowing over. I descend into my climax and it’s like being caught up in a whirlpool as bliss thunders through and around me, dragging me down until this feeling is all I know. He stills inside of me finding his own release.
> All my muscles feel like Jell-O and I lay on the bed amazed at what we just experienced.
He lays on top of me and then slides to the side of my body. His hand turns my head and he kisses me softly on the lips and then kisses my nose. “I’ll be right back.”
When he disappears into the bathroom, I don’t move.
Returning only seconds later, he has a towel and cleans me up.
“I’m assuming you’re covered?” he asks, folding the towel over and wiping my thighs.
“I am.” I languidly sit up and swing my legs over the bed. “I have an IUD.”
“Figured.”
I stifle a smile. I bet if I asked him he has no idea what an IUD is, but it doesn’t matter. I kiss his lips. “Thank you.”
“I should be doing the thank yous.” He pulls me into his chest, kissing the top of my head. “Thank God I came before that otherwise, I would’ve lasted about two seconds.”
I giggle into his chest.
“I have to go back to work,” I say, even though it’s the last thing I want to do right now.
“Me, too.” He backs up from the bed, offering me a hand. “Sleepover tonight?”
I giggle as I head to the living room where my clothes are. “What are we, ten?”
Before I can even slip on my panties, his arms are around my waist, his head in the crook of my neck. “I liked rediscovering you today.”
My head falls back to his firm chest and my hands cover his forearms. “So did I.”
His lips press to my temple and my eyes fall closed. Pure heaven.
“Come on, I’ll take you back to the office.” He lightly taps my ass before backing away.
Can I stay here forever?
* * *
“I have a drawer at my place for you,” Dean says with his classic smirk on his face as we exit the elevator and head to the RISE offices.
“How very kind of you.”
“Are you going to accept it?” he asks, holding out his arm for me to exit first.
“I don’t know. It’s awfully quick.” My voice is light because let’s face it, he just gave me the best sex of my life. Am I really going to deny being able to keep a few fresh pairs of panties and a toothbrush in a drawer? No.
