“Chris?” Her voice shook.
“Yeah?”
“Can you put your arms around me now?”
“OK. Slow and easy. You ready?”
“Yes.”
He raised his arms, wrapped them around her body. He held her, not tight, not hard, barely touching her. His one hand was on her upper back, the other on her lower back; neither one moved. He turned his face in to her hair, breathed in a sweet scent of flowers and sugar. She was just the most beautiful, amazing thing he’d ever held and he could stay here forever. He could die here.
Jenny. Jenny. Jenny.
Slowly, her body relaxed against his and he sighed with relief. He didn’t hold her any tighter, not wanting to frighten her by making her feel trapped, but he pulled her a bit closer. She went willingly, her body pliant and trusting.
Jenny’s whole world was here in his arms. She pressed herself up to his muscle, his strength. She had never felt so safe with a man, so cared-for by anyone, not even before the rapes. Chris was hard against her softness and his planes encircled her curves, protecting them and cradling them. Cherishing them.
Yes, that’s the word. I feel cherished.
She let out her breath and moved closer to him.
“How you doing, Jenny?” he whispered. “You OK here with me?”
“Better than OK,” she said. “I’m happy.”
He paused as the truth hit him. “Yeah. Me too.”
Chapter Six
At her restaurant the next morning, Jenny glanced up to see a large group of people enter. She blinked when she saw that it was her friends. They grinned at the look on her face as she approached.
“Hi,” she said. “You guys OK?”
“Sure are,” Dallas said. “We came for brunch.”
“Oh!” Jenny said. “OK. Well, we always leave a few unreserved tables, and you’re here early enough to snag one.”
“Yeah, we figured we’d have to get here early,” Jim said. “Believe me, babe, nothing but your buffet would get me out of my place at ten a.m. on a Sunday.”
She giggled. “Come on, then. This way.”
She led them over to a large table next to the window. “This OK?”
“Yeah,” Liv said as Dallas helped her take off her coat. “Thanks, Jenny.”
“Sure,” she said. “Coffee?”
“Many,” Chris said. “Many, many coffees.”
She looked at him now and their eyes met. His softened and he walked over to her, moved closer. She didn’t back away so he gently reached out and placed his fingertips on the generous curve of her hip. “You doing OK, baby?”
“Yeah.” She felt his heat over every inch of her. “I am.”
“You left early this morning,” he said. “I didn’t get the chance to give you a goodbye hug for the day… you want it now?”
“Yes,” she said. “I really do.”
He nodded and held out his arms to her. She moved in to them without any reluctance and he pulled her up against him, tighter than the day before but still not as tight as he wanted. She rested her head on his chest, closed her eyes, and sank in to Chris. She just gave over to him, let herself be surrounded by him. His arms, his scent, his strength.
The others watched quietly as Chris and Jenny held each other. They were still and silent in the bustling restaurant, and they looked like they didn’t know anyone in the whole world existed except for the two of them. Emma glanced at Kat and Liv and saw her own tears reflected in their eyes. Dean squeezed her hand and she smiled at him.
Chris pulled back first, not wanting to push it. He touched her cheek and she smiled at him. That was when she remembered the others and she glanced over at them, blushing.
“You’re amazing, Jenny,” Dean said softly.
She blushed more and looked at her feet. “Thank you.”
Chris sat down now and Liv winked at him. He winked back.
“Hey,” Dallas growled. “You winking at my girlfriend, man?”
“You know it.” Chris grabbed a roll from the bread basket.
“Huh.” He kissed Liv. “Can’t say I blame you.”
“OK,” Jenny said. “Help yourselves to the brunch, and I’ll have Deanna bring over the coffees. Enjoy, guys. I have to get back in to the kitchen now.”
“Back to work,” Kat said. “We’ll see you later.”
They watched her walk in to the kitchen and when she’d disappeared, they all turned to Chris.
“What?” he asked.
“You hugged her,” Liv said. “And no panic attack.”
“I know.” He exhaled. “I can’t believe it myself. Maybe there’s some hope for this whole thing, huh?”
“I’d say so,” Emma said. “Now, let’s eat. I’m starving.”
“That’s good to hear,” Dean said. “Your appetite’s back…I thought you were going to inhale that entire pizza last night.”
“I know. My hunger’s like a wild beast, actually. I hope you’ll still love me when I’m three hundred pounds.”
“I know, right?” Liv said. “I’ve gained eight pounds in the past month. This not-dieting thing is kind of fun.”
Dallas stroked her long hair. “I love it. I think you look awesome with some weight on. Curvy and hot.”
“Yeah?”
“Hell, yeah.”
She waited until the others had gone to the buffet and then she leaned over to him. “Maybe you want to see how curvy I actually am? Like, first-hand?”
He raised his eyebrows, his blue eyes startled. “What?”
“I was thinking about showing you my curves. All of them.”
He inhaled sharply. “You sure, Olivia?”
She nodded. “I want to make love. Today.”
“OK, baby.” He ran his large hand down her back, praying for control. “Let’s do that, then.”
“So eat up, Dallas.” She grinned, her brown eyes sparkling. “You’re going to need your strength. Trust me.”
**
Dallas was sitting on the edge of his bed, wearing just boxer shorts and feeling incredibly nervous.
Jesus Christ. I feel like a virgin or something here. I haven’t been this worried about getting in to bed with a woman since… well, actually. I’ve never been this worried about sleeping with a woman.
He heard the bathroom door open and he turned to the hallway. There she was. Beautiful, brave, kind. His Olivia. She was wearing his long t-shirt, the one that she’d used as a nightgown since her stalker had sliced her up almost two months earlier. His heart squeezed at the look on her face. She looked tentative and afraid, and he didn’t want to see her like that. Not ever again.
“Olivia,” he said. “Baby, are you sure?”
She stepped in to the room and joined him in bed. “Can we take it slow?”
“Yeah. We can.” He lay back. “You set the pace here. You decide what we do, and when. You decide if we stop.”
“OK.” She bit her full lip. “But Dallas, I really want this. I miss you.”
“I’m right here, hon.”
“Yeah, but… I miss us.”
He was silent. He missed them, too.
She crawled on to his body, stretched full-length on top of him. He groaned loudly and she raised her head and met his blue eyes.
“What?”
“Oh, man,” he said. “You weren’t kidding about gaining some weight… you’re crushing me here, girl.”
She burst in to laughter then, and he grinned up at her.
That’s better. She looks like herself again.
“Sorry about that, tough guy,” she said. “Maybe I can make it up to you a bit?”
“Hmmm.” He thought about that. “What you got in mind?”
“How about I show you?”
“OK. Show me.”
&
nbsp; She lifted herself higher on his body and kissed him. He ran his hands up her slim back and clenched them in her hair. She gasped as he held her in place and slipped his tongue between her lips. He probed, licked, sucked. Gentle and hot.
Like a cat, Olivia rubbed her lower body against him and smiled when his erection pressed in to her pussy. She spread her legs and sat up on his body. She stared down at his broad chest and traced the curves of his muscles, the lines of his tattoos. Dallas lay still under her, watching her face.
“How you doing, Olivia?”
“Good.”
He reached up and cradled her cheek, his thumb running along her scar. “You sure you want to show me? We can make love without all your clothes being off, baby, if that makes you more comfortable.”
She shook her head. “No. I want you to see me… all of me. As I am now. As I will be forever.”
“OK. Whatever you want. You know that.”
She rolled off him and lay down on her back. He turned on his side, kissed her, sweet and soft and slow. She stared up at him, loving him so much, she thought she might actually explode from the heat and need of it.
He loves you too, Olivia. He’s not going to be disgusted; he’s not going to think you’re ugly. He’s going to love you anyway. Despite it all.
She reached for the hem of the t-shirt, slowly pulled it up her body. She watched his eyes as she did, and he held her gaze, not breaking it to even glance down at her exposed flesh. She paused, her heart pounding hard, then took the shirt off. She lay naked next to Dallas now, trembling.
He was still holding her eyes. As they stared at each other, Olivia felt her body calm, felt her heart slow down. He was looking at her with such pride, and adoration just poured off of him like a steady flow of water. Suddenly she knew that it was all going to be OK.
“You ready for me to look now?” he asked softly.
She nodded. “Ready.”
He dropped his eyes to her body. He looked at the small scars scattered around her stomach and hips. He looked at the larger, deeper ones on her breasts, where the knife had stabbed more than slashed her tender skin. And he looked at the one long scar, the one that stretched from her breastbone straight down the middle of her upper body, ending just above her belly button.
It was the angriest, the darkest. It was the one that she hated the most, because she knew that the others would fade to white as time passed, but this one would always and forever be purple. And she hated it because she remembered what she thought when he did it: she thought he was slicing her right in half. She thought he was going to kill her at that moment.
Dallas blinked back his tears. “Oh, baby.” He lifted one shaking hand, then hesitated. “Can I touch you?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
His huge hand settled on her stomach. He held it there, palm-down, unmoving; he felt her body rising and falling with every breath. Then he traced the long scar with the tip of his index finger, all the way up to where it ended. He touched the smaller scars on her body, one at a time, stroking them gently. He glanced up at her.
Her beautiful eyes were overflowing with tears, but they weren’t tears of sadness or fear. Her eyes were calm and clear as she looked back at him, and he knew she was there with him. Her eyes had trust and love and something very like hope shining out, so he didn’t move to hold her. Not yet.
“Can I kiss you?”
“Yes.”
His lips and tongue followed the path his fingers had just travelled. She closed her eyes and shuddered, her body turning warm and liquid under him. When his tongue flicked her nipples, she moaned and he smiled against her breasts.
“OK, Olivia?”
“Yes… definitely OK.”
She pulled him up on to her body, and he leaned down for a kiss. His cock was huge and hard between them and she reached down with both hands to stroke him. He rested his forehead against hers and let himself relax.
She’s OK. She’s made it through. Damn, she’s something else.
“Dallas?”
“Yeah?”
“I want you. Now.”
Startled, he said, “Now? Don’t you want to ease in to it a bit more?”
“No.” Her hands were still busy and he bit back a groan. “I’m ready… and so are you, I can tell.”
“Look at me, baby.”
She tipped her head back and met his searching gaze. Her eyes were bright now, not even one tear remaining in them. She looked happy and calm.
She looks like she’s exactly where she wants to be right now.
He smiled, relieved. “OK, darlin’. As you wish.”
He rolled off her to get the condom from the bedside table. She lay on her back, legs open to him, her face flushed with desire. He lay next to her for a second, not sure what position would make her feel most secure.
“What makes you comfortable, hon?” he said. “You think you’ll feel better on top of me?”
“No,” she said. “Not yet… I don’t want my scars to be so visible when we make love.”
“OK,” he said quietly. “You’ll be OK with me on top?”
She nodded and pulled him up on her again. “I feel safe like this. I feel like… like your body’s between me and the world. Protecting me.”
“Always, baby.” He kissed her. “Always and forever.”
She reached down now and guided him inside her. She lifted her hips to meet his cock, and he pushed gently, letting her take him slowly. She gasped and he paused.
“No, don’t stop,” she said. “More. Dallas, more.”
He pushed in farther, watching her face. She gripped his firm ass and pushed, hard, and now he gasped.
Oh, fuck. I’d forgotten how hot she is, how wet. Fucking heaven, man. Nothing better.
He was all the way inside her now, and they stared at each other, getting used to the closeness. She smiled and wrapped her legs around his hips.
“Slow, babe,” she whispered. “Make it last…”
He withdrew from her tight heat, slid back in. They both groaned, and Olivia buried her head in his muscled chest, her mouth open and panting already. He gripped her hair, pulled out, pushed in, again and again, his pace slow and steady and Olivia started to lose her mind. He was pushing on that magic spot deep inside – that spot that Dallas always seemed to find without any problem and every single time – and she could do nothing more than hold on to his shoulders and let him take her there.
Dallas didn’t thrust hard or fast, but he thrust deliberately. He knew he was pressing down on her g-spot, and all he had to do was nudge her to orgasm… one inch at a time, on the tip of his cock. He held himself back, feeling her whole body tense around him, listening to her breathy sighs.
He twisted his hips now, plunged a bit deeper. Her reaction was instantaneous.
“Oh,” she gasped. “Dallas… please, babe. Please. I’m going to come if you do that again.”
“Then I guess I’d better do it again, huh?”
She felt him probe her sweet spot, and her orgasm started deep inside. It built and spread outward, like a flower opening or a firework sparking. She dug her fingers in to his back and she bit down on his shoulder, her moans and sobs coming fast and hard now.
“Again, baby?’ he asked her.
She nodded wildly, beyond speech. She was trembling on the edge of climax, the tiny ripples starting, but that giant, explosive wave still not reached. Dallas withdrew slightly, then pushed in, rolling his hips to rub up and down, deep inside her sweet body. That was all it took.
Olivia gave a loud cry and went right over the edge, falling and tumbling through space and time. She couldn’t do anything except come, except feel. She couldn’t hear her own incoherent words, or Dallas’ murmurs; she couldn’t feel her fingers or toes, or his muscled arms holding her close and tight. All she felt was plea
sure, white-hot, blazing pleasure, and it blasted through her, leaving her shaking and weak in its wake.
When she opened her eyes again, Dallas was looking down at her. He touched her face.
“You here, baby?”
“Yes.”
“OK?”
She nodded, then she felt him inside her. “Dallas… you didn’t come yet.”
He grinned. “Nope.” He pushed her hair back off her face with both hands and kissed her, still hard inside her trembling body. “I want you to give me one more.”
She half-groaned, half-laughed.
“You think you can?” he asked. He started to move again, deeper now, and her hips lifted helplessly to meet his cock. “Can you come for me again, Olivia?”
“Yes,” she moaned. “Yes… make me come again.”
“With pleasure,” Dallas said. “Give it to me, sweetheart. Give me another one.”
Feverish with need now, Dallas withdrew and pushed inside her, slowly at first, thinking she might be too sensitive to take it. But when she arched her back and begged him for more, he held her in place and thrust and thrust and thrust, harder and deeper and faster. Far too soon, her pussy walls started to clench and release on his cock, and he knew that she was seconds away from coming again.
“Jesus Christ, Olivia… you feel so good.”
“Now, Dallas. Now, now.”
She stiffened under him, and Dallas felt her pussy muscles tighten on him, impossibly tight, tighter than he’d ever felt before, and he couldn’t take it any longer. He thrust harder and she moved with him, stayed with him. Her orgasm set off his, and he buried his face in to the pillow and shouted his release, his cock pulsing and straining deep inside this amazing woman.
Nothing better.
When her tears started this time, he did hold her, close and safe. And Olivia shut her eyes, weeping as she fully realized for the first time that she really was going to be OK.
Chapter Seven
For Jenny, February passed quickly. It was a month of surprises, and she mostly surprised herself.
Every morning, she got up and had breakfast with Chris. Every morning, he hugged her goodbye, holding her closer and tighter and longer as the month went on. Most nights, when Jenny wasn't working late, they ate together then spent the evening on the sofa. Talking, watching movies, reading. Jenny was always curled up next to him, held against his body, her head on his shoulder or chest. His warm breath on her skin, his large hands gentle in her hair. And every single night, he hugged her goodnight before they went to their separate bedrooms. She had panic attacks and nightmares, but they were becoming less severe and less frequent.
Enemy Mine (Unseen Enemy Book 3) Page 8
