“It wouldn’t have made a difference,” my dad assured me. “The accident still would have happened.”
My mom sat down in the chair next to me and took my hand in hers. “You can’t play the what if game, Dillon. You’ll just drive yourself crazy if you do.”
But how could I not? So much had changed, and I felt like it had only been a blink of an eye.
“It’s really been a month?” I asked. One of the nurses had mentioned how long I’d been in a coma, and I was still trying to wrap my brain around it.
My mom nodded, gulping back a sob.
“And Declan? Did he suffer?” I was tortured by the thought that I’d been in a coma, feeling no pain, while my brother endured hell for both of us before dying.
My parents shared a look before my dad answered, “No, he died on impact, and so did the driver of the semi. Declan didn’t suffer.”
I couldn’t have cared less about what happened to the driver who’d killed my brother, but the relief I felt at learning Declan hadn’t suffered was immense. For years, I held onto that fact each time my grief threatened to pull me under. It wasn’t much comfort, but at least it was something.
1
Dillon
Five Years Later
“You feeling okay?” I murmured in Faith’s ear as I pulled her closer. We were watching a movie, cuddled on the couch together. I was leaning back against the cushions in the corner, and she was between my legs with her head on my chest. But she wasn’t relaxed like she should be after a day out shopping with my mom. She was so damn tense she was practically vibrating with it.
I slid my palms up her arms, pleased as fuck at the goosebumps that followed in the wake of my touch. There was no denying that she still responded to me with the same fierceness she had since we first met. But there was also no denying that something was wrong with Faith. She’d seemed off ever since we got situated on the couch a few hours earlier. I wasn’t sure what was bothering her, but it felt like she was pulling away from me.
When she’d moved in with me a couple of weeks ago, life had seemed as close to perfect as it could get. We had our college degrees. My dad gave me a week off before I started my new job at his company. Living with me meant Faith could continue on with her master’s degree without worrying about money. It was a big fucking deal that she was willing to let me take care of her that way since she was so damn self-sufficient.
My tough girl had finally taken down some of her walls and let me in. She’d even found the courage to admit she loved me.
Out loud.
Repeatedly.
But no matter how often she said those three little words, I still felt like she hadn’t let me all the way in. I figured it’d take time, and I needed to be patient with her. To remember she wasn’t used to being loved by anyone and didn’t know how to handle it.
Normally, I was okay with that. But tonight it was almost as though she was scared. And if my tough girl was afraid of something, then it was my job to make her feel safe. Which would be a hell of a lot easier if I knew what I was up against; only Faith wasn’t giving me much to go on.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired.”
I stroked my thumbs along the muscles running across her shoulders, digging in to try to relieve some of the tension. “Is the new bed making it hard for you to sleep? I can order a different mattress if that’ll help.”
She tilted her head back, her dark hair spilling over my arm as she offered me a smile. “Don’t you dare replace that mattress. It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever slept on in my entire life, and I’d have to seriously hurt you if you got rid of it.”
“Hmm, and here I thought I was the most amazing thing you’d ever slept on.” I changed the direction of my massage to work on her neck, switching to vertical rubs along her spine. “Should I be worried you’re only with me for my bed?”
Her brown eyes filled with humor and she laughed softly. “You can’t possibly be jealous of your mattress. It’s an inanimate object, and one you sleep on next to me at that!”
“Don’t you get it yet, baby?” I slid my fingers down her spine, and she arched into me. “I’m a little bit jealous of anything that gets to touch your perfect skin.”
Her smile grew bigger, turning a bit smug. “You are, huh?”
“Yeah, and you look pleased as fuck by that.”
She twisted in my arms and rose to her knees as her hands went to the bottom of her shirt. “Maybe I am.” Then she winked at me and whipped the material up and over her head. “Or maybe I just want you to show me how much you enjoy touching my so-called perfect skin.”
I knew we had shit to talk about, but all my brain cells headed south to my dick at the sight of her tits. I’d already been at half-mast, but with that move, she had me fully hard. I licked my lips, my mouth watering with the need to taste her pebbled nipples. Any serious conversation was going to have to wait because it looked like Faith wanted to work through it in a different way. With sex. And I was just the guy to help her with that—the only one who’d ever get the chance.
Her breathing picked up a notch, and it made her tits bounce a little. “Are you going to give me what I want?”
“Always,” I swore.
“Then show me just how perfect you think my skin is.”
She didn’t have to ask me twice. “It’d be my pleasure.”
I stood with her cradled in my arms and strode to our bedroom, tossing her onto the mattress that’d prompted our conversation to head in this direction. She lifted her hips and wiggled out of her yoga pants, making me groan when I realized she’d been commando under them the entire time we’d been chilling on the couch.
“No bra or panties tonight?” I asked, pulling my shirt over my head and shoving my shorts down my legs.
“I guess you’ve rubbed off on me in more ways than you know.” Her dark eyes filled with heat as her gaze dropped to my cock. “You’re always running around without any boxers on under your athletic shorts, with your dick practically hanging out. I figured I might as well be as comfortable as you are since I live here too.”
“Hell, baby. Feel free to skip the yoga pants and shirt if you want. I’m certainly not going to complain.”
She fell back against the pillows in a fit of giggles. “I’m sure you wouldn’t.”
I grabbed a condom from the bedside table and dropped it on the mattress beside her before crawling over her body. “Naked Sundays sound like a damn good idea to me.”
“We’d never get anything done.”
“Being productive on the weekends is overrated.” I trailed a finger between her breasts. “I’d much rather fuck like bunnies than get random shit done.”
Her rosy nipples pebbled, and I bent low to suck one into my mouth. She made a breathy noise, and my hips rocked against her core. I instantly felt the wetness of her pussy coating my cock where we were pressed together and let her nipple go with a pop. “And it feels like you would too. Admit it. You’re soaking wet for me.”
“It’s not like I can deny it.” She lifted her legs and wrapped them around my hips. “When the proof is all over your dick.”
I switched to the other peak and her hips rotated until I nudged her entrance. “I need to put the condom on, baby.”
She whimpered at the reminder as she dropped her knees from my sides and I twisted to grab the foil packet. Ripping it open, I pulled the rubber out and quickly rolled it down my hard length. As I bent over Faith again, I got distracted by the sight of her pussy. It was pink and puffy, glistening with her juices. As much as I wanted to sink into her, I wanted to get my mouth on her more. “But first, I need a taste.”
Scooting onto my stomach, I threw her legs over my shoulders and dove right in, tracing a path with my tongue through her center.
“Holy shit,” she breathed, her fingers gripping my hair and pushing me closer. When I licked back up again and circled her clit, she squirmed. I pressed one of my palms against her belly to hold her in place while I drove her crazy. I
nipped and sucked at her pussy lips, flicked her clit, and licked up and down her slit. I kept at it until she was bucking hard against my hold and pleading for me to let her come. Only then did I stab my tongue into her entrance while pinching her clit. She flew over the edge, screaming my name and shuddering beneath me as I surged to my knees and wrapped her legs around my hips.
“You’re so fucking gorgeous when you come, baby,” I breathed. I glided my palms up to cup her creamy swells. “Your skin gets flushed, all the way down to your perfect tits.”
“I thought it was my skin that’s perfect.”
“Your skin, your tits, your ass, your pussy...it’s all perfect.” Holding the base of my cock, I pumped it a few times before tracing the tip through her folds and lining it up with her entrance. “And mine.”
“Yours.”
Her easy agreement hit me, just like it did each time she told me she loved me. My focus narrowed to one thing—getting inside her tight pussy. I held her hips steady and drove deep, fully seating myself in her wet heat with one powerful thrust. “Like I said, perfect.”
“More than perfect,” she panted. “I swear it gets better every time.”
“Just think what it’ll be like years from now, when we know each other’s bodies better than our own.”
I could have sworn her eyes filled with fear, but she quickly masked whatever emotion it was before I could be certain. Then her pussy walls clenched around my hard length, and the pleasure obliterated my concern. I pulled out and slid back inside, setting a steady rhythm as the tell-tale tingling started to build in my spine. It only took the feel of her pussy wrapped around me to bring me close to the edge, but I never let myself go until I got her off first—even if she’d just come on my fingers or mouth. I needed to feel her come around me before I allowed my own orgasm, no exceptions.
“Tilt up, baby,” I demanded, gripping her hips to get her into a position where I could go deeper. “Yes! Fuck!”
Her hands slid around my shoulders, her nails digging into my skin. “Dillon! Yes, please. Harder.”
I pushed one hand into the mattress next to her side and kept the other on her hip as I began to pound into her. The pace turned furious, with the headboard banging against the wall with each of my deep thrusts. My gaze was locked on Faith’s face, watching as her dark eyes turned glassy and her plump lips parted with each of her gasps of pleasure. It wasn’t long before she flung her head back against the pillows and closed her eyes.
She was close, but that wasn’t good enough. I needed her to explode because I didn’t think I was able to hold out much longer. Releasing her hip, I slid my hand between us and plucked at her sensitive clit. My body was taut with restraint, the pressure building as I got closer and closer to the brink. Dropping my head low, I sucked one of her nipples into my mouth at the same time as I pinched her nub. It was exactly what she needed to drive her over the edge, and she screamed out my name. Her pussy walls clamped around my cock, and I had to fight against them to plunge inside twice more before anchoring myself deeply. Overwhelming pleasure roared through me as my cock pulsed streams of come into the condom sheathing it.
When the last wave rolled over me, I collapsed on the mattress next to her. I rolled the condom off my dick, tied it off, and tossed it in the trashcan in the corner of the room. Then I pulled her against my chest and ran my fingers through her long dark hair, brushing it away from her face. “You won’t be able to distract me with sex forever. You know that, right?”
She tilted her head back to look up at me, her eyes dazed and hooded by her lids. “What do you mean?”
“You’re going to have to tell me what’s bothering you eventually.” She shook her head, and I knew she was going to pretend nothing was wrong. After what we’d just shared together, I didn’t want there to be any lies between us. I stroked my thumb over her lips to stop her before she could deny what I knew to be true. “I’m not going to force you to share. Not yet anyway. But the time is going to come when I’m going to need more than sex from you—as fantastic as it is. I’m going to want to know what’s bothering you.”
She heaved a deep sigh and snuggled against me, closing her eyes as she drew shapes against my skin. “I know.”
It wasn’t a lot, but those two words confirmed I wasn’t imagining things. And that even though she didn’t want to talk about it yet, she was willing to admit there was a problem of some kind. I’d take it...for now.
2
Dillon
I spent the next week doing everything I could think of to make Faith feel comfortable enough to share with me whatever it was that was bothering her. I brought her all of her favorite things—food, flowers, wine. Opened up to her more about Declan. About the gambling. But it didn’t seem to matter what I did, she was still keeping the problem to herself.
All day long, I’d been reminding myself that I needed to give her as much time as she needed. But it didn’t help. I was officially at the end of my rope. I was all out of patience and wasn’t sure if I could last long enough for her to open up on her own without me pushing.
“You look like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders.” I looked up and found my dad standing in the doorway of the office he’d given me. He was leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest and a worried look on his face. “I didn’t throw too much at you too fast, did I?”
I shook my head. “It’s not that.”
He moved forward, shut the door behind him, and crossed the floor to drop down onto one of the chairs in front of my desk. “You sure? Because I can adjust your workload if you’re having a problem keeping up.”
I pulled three reports up on my computer and swiveled the monitor so he could see them. “These aren’t due until tomorrow, and they’re already done except for triple-checking my numbers to make sure I didn’t make any mistakes.”
He scanned the reports, running his finger down the last column on each of them before nodding his head. “Don’t waste your time checking these again. Everything looks good. You can go ahead and send them to me now, and I’ll make sure you get some new assignments to work on in the morning.”
I opened my email and wrote a quick note, attaching the files before I hit send. “Sent.”
“Great.” He tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. “If it’s not a work problem, then it must be personal. Is it gambling or Faith?”
“I haven’t been to a casino in months, Dad.”
His dark brows rose. “How many months?”
I did a quick calculation in my head. “Almost seven.”
“Before you met Faith? Or sometime after?”
I looked down at my desk as I answered, “The last time was when I got the black eye. I haven’t been back again.”
“That would be before, then.” He flashed me a big grin. “Which means your mom was right to get the two of you together.”
“Like she isn’t always right?”
“You make an excellent point,” he chuckled. “But you not gambling in that long is more than even she could have hoped for.”
I leaned back in my chair and shook my head. “I’m not sure about that. Mom isn’t afraid to dream big.”
“That she isn’t.” He shook his head and chuckled again. “It’s one of the first things that made me fall in love with her, how much hope she has in her heart. And I quickly learned to work hard to make sure all those dreams come true.”
I’d been a witness to the lengths to which my dad was willing to go for my mom my whole life, but it didn’t help me much when it came to my woman problems. “Faith’s the opposite. She doesn’t dream much and is happy with what she’s already got.”
“But?”
“But what?”
“Dillon,” he sighed, shaking his head. “We both know there has to be a but in there somewhere.”
Of course there was, but that didn’t mean I was going to admit to it so easily. “Why?”
“Because you looked worr
ied about something when I walked in here, and we already ruled out that it’s not work or gambling related. That leaves Faith.”
Talking to my dad about my relationship felt a little weird, but I’d already admitted to myself that I was at my wit’s end. It wasn’t like I had a lot to lose, and maybe he’d even have some good advice. He and my mom had certainly made their relationship work better than most other couples did. “She’s been a little distant over the past week, ever since she and Mom had their shopping day.”
“Your mom said they had a blast. She had a little too much to drink with lunch, and Faith drove her home.”
I thought back to that day and nodded. “Yeah, I remember. You guys stopped by before dinner to pick up the car. I’d only been home for a little bit, and she seemed okay. I didn’t notice anything off with her until after you guys left. She was tense. Moody. But she didn’t want to talk about what was bothering her. Said she was fine.”
“You do realize that ‘fine’ is usually code for ‘you should know what’s bothering me and you’re going to be in big trouble if you can’t figure it out yourself,’ right?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. Not with Faith. She’s complicated and has her fair share of issues. But she doesn’t usually play games like that. If she was pissed at me about something, I’d know it.”
He didn’t look too convinced I was right, but he didn’t argue with me. “Then what do you think it is?”
I heaved a deep sigh as I considered my answer. “She seems…almost scared.”
“Montgomery men do whatever it takes to make sure our women have nothing to be afraid of.” He rose from his chair and stared down at me. “So figure it out and fix whatever it is.”
“If only it was that easy,” I muttered, tapping my fingers against my desk. I’d been trying to figure out what was bothering her for the past week without much luck.
“Nothing worth having comes easy.”
The Fortuity Duet Page 15
