Come To Me (Dare With Me Series Book 3)

by J. H. Croix

  Diego slowed as we approached the road that led to my place, and I giggled to myself as we drove past the very spot he had stopped to help me when Charlie got loose. A moment later, he turned down my driveway.

  I reluctantly climbed off the motorcycle. Being plastered to Diego felt good. Not simply good, it felt freaking awesome. I took off my helmet and handed it to him as he opened the small compartment behind the seat where I’d been riding and stowed it.

  Charlie nickered softly from where he stood by the edge of the pasture fence adjacent to the parking area. Shasta joined him, looking expectantly toward us with his ears perked forward as Diego and I stood beside his motorcycle. I shifted on my feet to look over, my heel catching on a small rock. When I stumbled, just barely, Diego placed his hand on my shoulder to steady me.

  It was nothing more than an incidental touch. And yet, all of my attention swiveled to that spot, like he’d burned a brand on me. Heat radiated from his touch through my clothing, to my skin before sending a flash throughout my entire system.

  “Are they hungry?” he asked with a smile, the heat banked in his eyes sending the butterflies in my belly into a tizzy.

  His palm slid away from my shoulder, and I missed his touch instantly. I forced myself to focus and behave normally. He didn’t appear addled out of his mind with lust. As if to drag my mind back to reality, Charlie nickered again, this time with a touch of impatience.

  “Probably. My yoga class finished only half an hour before you picked me up for dinner, so I’m a little late with feeding them.”

  “I’ll help,” he offered, nudging his chin in the direction of the horses.

  “You don’t mind?”

  “Of course, I don’t mind. I like horses. Come on. No sense in making them wait any longer.”

  Diego caught my hand in his as we crossed the parking area into the barn. I gestured for him to follow me into the feed room. “We’re not just putting them to bed. I need to get their food in their stalls first.”

  As I turned, I caught him glancing toward the very spot on the wall by the door where I’d gone a little crazy and he had fucked me up against the wall. When his eyes met mine, my cheeks got hot.

  “Just tell me what to do,” he said, his lips twitching with a smile.

  It felt as if his words held a double entendre. However, because I was anything but cool, I simply told him what to do about getting the food ready for the horses.

  “Shasta gets some medicine in his feed,” I said, gesturing toward the buckets lined up in a row by the door.

  It had taken me a few weeks, but I settled on a system where after I fed the horses in the morning, I brought their feed buckets in here because it minimized me carting things back and forth. “The food for Hazelnut is high end,” I explained, referring to one of the boarding horses and pointing to a labeled bucket.

  “It’s vegan,” I added when Diego peered into it, his brows hitching up in question.

  “Vegan, it is,” he said with a shrug.

  After we got the feed buckets in the stalls, I let the horses in while Diego tossed hay into each stall. “What now?” he asked.

  “I usually leave them to eat for at least an hour. They might finish sooner, but then I let them out for a few more hours before bringing them in for the night.”

  “An hour is plenty of time.”

  Reaching out, he caught my hand in his, reeling me close. In a hot second, sparks were scattering through my body. I was pressed against his hard, muscled form, and he dropped hot kisses along my neck while I shivered all over.

  I was terrible at playing it cool, absolutely pathetic. And, apparently, when a man could really get to me, like only Diego could, I melted into a needy girl at nothing more than a few kisses.

  “Plenty of time for what?” I asked breathlessly.

  Diego lifted his head. “I’m reconsidering if it’s enough time.”

  “You didn’t answer my question,” I said as he turned.

  Disappointment sliced through me when he stepped away and reached for my hand. I wanted more kisses and more of, well, just more. He began to stride quickly out of the barn, making sure to pause and close the door completely behind us.

  “For me to ravish you.”

  “Ravish?”

  He flashed a grin at me, sending my belly into spins. “I’ve never actually used the word ravish.”

  I giggled, stumbling a little as we almost ran across the parking lot. We climbed the steps, and when I stumbled again, Diego steadied me with his palms curled on my waist.

  “Wait.”

  It was one word from him, a simple request, but it felt like a command. I obeyed instantly, stopping and glancing over my shoulder at him. He was one step below me, and I began to turn.

  “Stay right there,” he ordered.

  His hands slid down, coming to rest on my hips just below the curve of my waist. I held still, almost vibrating with need. I could feel the slick arousal between my thighs and was almost startled to notice it. I didn’t even usually get too turned on, much less when I was climbing up the stairs.

  One of his hands shifted, stealing under the hem of my blouse and pushing my camisole up slightly. I felt a hot kiss land at the base of my spine, that one touch feeling like a drop of warm honey on my skin. Another one followed and then another, as he pushed the fabric up. My knees felt rubbery, and I could hardly catch my breath as my pulse spun off wildly, like horses let out to pasture with their hooves pounding on the ground.

  I distantly heard myself whimper when another hot kiss landed on my skin. He drew back, and I missed his touch acutely. “Diego.” His name was a whispered plea.

  Then, we were moving swiftly, stumbling through the front door. The next few moments were a jumble of my senses absorbing one thing after another. The front door slamming. Our clothes falling in a mixture of sounds—the thump of a shoe, my blouse whooshing through the air, and its almost silent rumple on the floor. Diego’s palms on my skin, his lips impatient and teasing on my neck.

  I was barely conscious, made of nothing but sensation and the intense craving for more, more, more—more of everything, and all of it related to Diego and his magic touch.

  Somehow, we stumbled into my bedroom. The motion sensor lights flicked on, casting the room in a soft, ambient radiance. Diego spun me around right as we reached the foot of my bed. My breath was coming in ragged, shallow heaves. I stared at him, feeling a little wild inside, like a stream rushing over a cliff after the first thaw of spring.

  “You’re so fucking beautiful,’ he growled, dipping his head and giving me a rough kiss. One of his hands splayed across my belly possessively and the other cupped a breast, his thumb teasing over my achy nipple. I was a little surprised to discover I was already completely naked.

  I wasn’t so out of it that I hadn’t known we were getting undressed, it’s just I’d lost track of the details. Diego was naked too, and I felt the velvety brush of his arousal, hot against the edge of my hip. The core of me clenched, and I wanted him inside me. Now.

  Impatient, I reached between us, curling my palm over his silken shaft. His cock pulsed under my touch, and a thrill raced down my spine at realizing my touch affected him that way.

  “Slow down, I don’t want to rush this time,” he murmured against my skin, his words and the motion of his lips another sensation that ricocheted through me.

  My need was a bonfire with each sensation another match thrown into the raging inferno inside. I made a sound of protest, but he chuckled. “I’m in charge this time.”

  Impatient though I was, I would surrender to Diego because I trusted him that completely, and I wanted him that fiercely.

  He spread me out on the bed, his lips blazing a meandering trail over my breasts and my belly. Sparks scattered over the surface of my skin as he pushed my thighs apart with a slow, almost lazy pressure. Then, he trailed lingering kisses on the inside of my thighs, and I trembled with an anticipation so intense that by the time he licked in
to my folds, I cried out sharply.

  I felt one finger and then another sink into me, and my hips rocked restlessly into him as he made love to me with his mouth and fingers and drove me completely out of my mind. I didn’t know how long I lasted before the pressure gathering inside me crashed like a wave, pleasure rolling through me in intense spasms.

  I was still reverberating from that first climax when I felt him shift and rise up. My eyes flew open. “Where are you going?” I asked hoarsely.

  “I have to find my jeans. Need a condom.”

  He was gone in a flash. Back before I could protest any further, he was smoothing a condom on, protecting us in a moment of liquid intensity.

  I welcomed his weight coming down over me, savoring the press of his thick crown at my entrance and then the slow slide when he filled me.

  His hand brushed my tangled hair away from my forehead as he murmured, “I want to see you.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Diego

  Gemma’s eyes opened slowly, her lashes swinging up. She stared at me, her gaze dark. I could feel the pounding of her heartbeat against mine. Her body still trembled from the aftershocks of her climax moments earlier, clenching slightly around my cock.

  Her tongue darted out, and she dragged it slowly across her bottom lip before she took in a ragged breath. Then, I was kissing her, taking slow sips from her sweet mouth as I began to sink into her snug, satiny core.

  Being inside her had me cast adrift in a river of pleasure. I felt fire licking at the edges of me with every stroke into her. Her legs tightened around my hips, and her skin was damp as I pumped into her. I needed air, so I lifted my head. Her eyes opened, and I felt the tension gathering in her again, every muscle tightening and rippling. It was all over but for the shuddering then.

  Reaching between us, I teased my fingers over her clit, savoring the ragged cry of my name as she trembled through an abrupt orgasm. My own was hovering, like a snake waiting to strike. The pressure tightened at the base of my spine, followed by a fiery sizzle upward, and then finally my release slammed through me as I shuddered inside her.

  I fell against her roughly, barely aware enough to roll us to the side and hold her tight in my arms as I tried to catch my breath. As my awareness filtered in fragments, I savored the feel of her soft curves against me and the gust of her breath against my shoulder. I let my fingers trail through her hair and shifted so I was propped against the pillows with her still in my arms. I felt greedy and didn’t want to let her go.

  Eventually, she lifted her head. “Do you think that was an hour?”

  It took me a minute to catch up to what she was referencing, and then I chuckled. “I doubt it. When it comes to you, finesse is not my thing, nor is taking my time, apparently.”

  She bit her lip, her cheeks going a little pink. “You sort of took your time.”

  I leaned forward, kissing her again. My cock, still inside her, twitched slightly.

  Much too soon, she reminded me she needed to let the horses back out. We took a quick shower, tugged on our clothes and went out to let them back into the pasture.

  After we returned to the house, I learned she loved sci-fi movies. We watched one before we put the horses away for the night. I considered ravishing her in the feed room again, but I decided the bed was actually more comfortable.

  I had another best sleep of my life after that. I could get seriously used to spending more nights with Gemma.

  The next morning, she was on the phone again as I came down the hallway to the kitchen. Yet again, my curiosity perked its ears.

  “Neal, I appreciate your help, but I’ve got this. I’m going to call the DA’s office and let them know I’ll be willing to testify. If I need more support, I’ll let you know.”

  Why the hell was she talking about attorneys and testimony? I hated the doubts that pricked my thoughts. I didn’t want to be nosy, so I didn’t ask. I sat down and had another nice breakfast. I couldn’t resist giving her a lingering kiss when she stood beside my motorcycle before I left.

  I returned to the resort, wondering about texting Gemma and asking if I could see her that night. With my current living situation, it wasn’t that I couldn’t bring someone out here, but it was a guaranteed way to make anyone feel like they were under the microscope. I had three nosy guy friends, and an even nosier sister living with me.

  I had barely gotten into the kitchen at the resort to grab another cup of coffee when Harley came barreling out of the pantry. “Why the hell is an attorney calling me?”

  “How should I know? And why the hell are you asking me?” I finished filling my coffee and set the pot back on the warmer. Turning, I rested my hips against the counter and took a swallow.

  “Some attorney left me a message about a matter pertaining to Gemma.”

  I lowered my coffee, and icy dread slid down my spine. “What?”

  Harley handed me her phone, tapping the screen to open her voicemail and hit play.

  “I’m looking for Harley Jackson. This is Tom Johnson, an attorney based in Portland. I understand you’re familiar with Gemma Marlon. We have a question about a legal case pertaining to her and are hoping you might be able to provide some information.”

  “What the fuck?” I muttered as she hit the stop button and closed her phone.

  “That’s my train of thought,” Harley said dryly.

  I pulled my phone out and was about to call Gemma when Harley placed her hand on my forearm. “Don’t call her yet. We need to find out what the situation is.”

  Daphne came walking in the kitchen, her alert gaze whisking around the room. “What’s up?” she asked, making a beeline for the coffee and pouring herself a cup.

  “I got a really weird message about Gemma,” Harley explained. She replayed the message for Daphne.

  Daphne’s brow furrowed as she divided her concerned gaze between us. “This seems really weird. You’ve only known Gemma since you’ve been here, right?” She directed her question to Harley.

  “Yeah, why would they call me? All I know is Diego has the hots for her, and she teaches a really good yoga class.”

  I hated the way I felt, confused and filled up with questions.

  “I think we need to talk to Gemma,” Daphne said firmly.

  “I don’t think so,” Harley interjected, shaking her head quickly. “What do you know about her?”

  Daphne wasn’t easily cowed and gave my sister a sharp look. “Not a lot, but I trust her. This strikes me as odd. There’s no sensible reason for someone to call you unless it’s not on the up and up.”

  Harley wrinkled her nose and blinked. “Okaa-ay. Should we tell Gemma about the message?”

  “Are you going to call her?” Daphne asked, looking to me.

  The lingering feelings of amazing-ness that had been clinging to me after my night with Gemma had dissipated. I felt as if someone had dumped ice water on me. Obviously, Gemma had no way of knowing this about me. I had a giant button about trust when it came to women, and it had just been pressed. Hard.

  “I don’t know if I should,” I finally replied, feeling kind of like an asshole.

  Daphne stared at me, a hint of confusion swirling in her eyes. “I thought you were seeing her.”

  “We’ve had two dinner dates,” I said, now feeling like even more of an ass. While that was technically true, what had passed between us was far more than casual. That was my whole problem now.

  Daphne’s brows hitched up, and even Harley looked askance at me. Daphne shrugged. “Well, I consider Gemma a friend, so I’ll be calling her. Since apparently this is none of your business, you don’t need to be a part of that call.”

  Daphne walked off with a dismissive flick of her fingers over her shoulder. Every now and then, she reminded me precisely why Flynn had given her the nickname princess. I wanted to run after her and tell her I’d call Gemma about it, but now I felt like a heel. Annoyed with myself and the situation, I lifted my coffee mug and drained it quickly
before leaving the room. I didn’t have much time this morning before I needed to get out to the airport. I’d needed a change of clothes and my gear bag, so I’d come home. I was regretting it now.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Gemma

  “I’m sorry, can you say that again?” I asked, adjusting my phone in my hand.

  “Harley got a really weird message,” Daphne explained. “Here’s exactly what it said, I wrote it down. ‘I’m looking for Harley Jackson. This is Tom Johnson, an attorney based in Portland. I understand you’re familiar with Gemma Marlon. We have a question about a legal case pertaining to her and are hoping you might be able to provide some information.’”

  Bitter dread coated the insides of my stomach, and I felt a little sick. “Do you recognize that attorney’s name?” Daphne pressed.

  I swallowed and that familiar panic-laced anxiety tightened around my chest. I took several deep breaths before managing a reply. “I do. Now I have to explain an uncomfortable situation.”

  “Do you want to meet to talk? Would that be better?”

  “Actually, it would. Should we grab coffee at Misty Mountain?”

  “I can be there in a half hour,” Daphne replied.

  I took a swallow of coffee, needing the strong flavor. I nervously traced my finger along the edge of the table, wondering when Daphne would arrive. I felt exposed as I sat alone at the table. As if somehow everyone in the café knew my past and the events that left a lingering stain on my life.

  Cammi had been sweet as always and had my coffee ready in a jiffy even though she was chatting with another group of customers. Although she hadn’t commented, I sensed she noticed I was feeling out of sorts. I didn’t know if “out of sorts” could accurately capture how I felt. It was more that an old wash of shame slid through me, followed by a sense of weariness and chaos. I couldn’t control the events, and I hated the sense of helplessness.