***
“I’m so glad you’re back,” Dylan said with a groan as he shut the door to the bedroom behind him.
“But you wish I’d come alone?” she teased, grinning at him as she stripped off her clothes.
“No, well, maybe. At least he’s staying at your place.”
Dare had decided to stick around in the city for a few days. She’d figured that was his plan when he’d stuck a duffel bag in his truck this morning. Luckily, she’d convinced him to stay in her apartment. He hadn’t even argued. Which meant he was finally warming to Dylan or else he would be here, annoying them both.
Dylan had hired people to tidy her place up and had replaced the curtains, mattress, and sofa.
“He’s not the easiest of my brothers to get along with, but once you’ve got him on your side he’ll be your best ally.”
Dylan strode towards her, turning her to face him. She had stripped off her t-shirt and bra. Her jeans were halfway down her thighs.
“I don’t want to talk about your brother anymore,” he said in a low voice. Reaching up, he cupped her breasts in his hand. Tilly groaned, arching against him. “God, I need you. I’ve dreamed about you every night this last week. About these full, beautiful breasts, your pale, smooth skin,” he ran his hands down her stomach, reaching around to squeeze her butt, “this delicious ass.”
“Turn around.” He held her steady around the hips. “Lean forward, put your hands flat on the bed.”
She arched her back, pushing her ass out without being told. He stripped her panties down. “Damn, that’s a beautiful sight.”
Dylan smacked his hand down on her ass heavily. It stung and she sucked in a deep breath. “Don’t move your hands from that bed.”
He continued to spank her, moving methodically over her butt. Tilly relaxed into the pain, embracing it. Her head swam as delicious pleasure filled her.
Dylan watched as her ass went from a pale white to a light pink then a burning red. By the time he was finished, her ass was crimson, heat radiating from it and they were both breathing heavily.
“How you doing, baby?”
“Green, Sir.”
Quickly, he stripped off his clothes, throwing them aside. He groaned as soon as his cock was freed. He was hard, aching and desperate to be inside her.
But he had a more pressing need. Kneeling, he pulled her jeans and panties down her legs and pulled them over each of her feet. Then he ran his hands up her legs.
“Spread your legs wide. Good girl.” He pulled the lips of her pussy apart and took a long, lingering lick of her sweet juices. “Hell, yes. Even better than I remembered. I was so close to coming down there and dragging you back here like a caveman.”
She giggled then groaned as he returned to playing with her pussy. He used a finger to flick her clit. Drawing back, he kissed her hot ass. “Come whenever you like, baby.”
“Oh God. Thank you.”
He stood and, reaching over into the bedside drawer, grabbed out a condom. He had never put a condom on so fast. Reaching around to play with her clit, he pushed himself inside her with one large thrust. They both groaned as he paused, trying to gain some control back.
Dylan drew back as slowly as he could manage, then he let himself go. His thrusts were deep and fast. He played with her clit, flicking it with sure, quick movements then circling it slowly.
Tilly cried out, the sound loud and filled with bliss as she came, clenching around him. Dylan couldn’t hold back, her orgasm triggering his own and gave a final thrust before following her over into ecstasy.
Tilly lay on her side, snuggling into Dylan. “I missed you so much.”
He brushed a hand over her hair. “I missed you as well, a mhuirnín.”
“I didn’t know it was possible to love someone as much as I love you. I thought I knew what love was, but it wasn’t even close to what I feel for you.”
Dylan kissed the top of her head. “I know exactly what you mean. I’ve hardly slept this week; I’ve missed you so much.”
He ran his fingers up and down her arm. “Just before you arrived this morning, Roarke was here with an interesting proposition.”
“What was that?”
She listened as he explained Roarke’s offer. “Do you want to do it?”
“I’ll have to have a look at the package, but yeah, I think I do. It means more pay and better hours. A bit of travel, but I don’t think that’s a problem. You could come with me if you want.”
“Well, I don’t have a job anymore, so I have plenty of spare time,” she joked. Her boss had to hire another waitress, and she hadn’t blamed him. He’d been good to her and held her job as long as he could.
“Have you thought about what you’d like to do?”
“Yeah, and I think I’m going to go to college. I was hesitant before because I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I’ve decided I’d really like to help women who have been abused. So I’m going to study to become a counselor.”
He was quiet as she nervously waited.
“I think that’s a fantastic idea. It will be tough, though.”
“I know. Especially with my past. Which is why I’ve decided to go to counseling. When I first moved to Austin I went to some counseling sessions but I had to give it up because of my finances, not because I had worked through everything I needed to.”
“That’s a great plan.” He ran his hand over her hair. “I’m here for you. Whatever you need, you let me know.”
“Well, Daddy is going to release my trust, so I don’t need to worry about supporting myself financially. I don’t think any of this is going to be a walk in the park. But this is something I really want to do.” She just lay against him for a long moment. “Have you heard from Rogan? Do you know how Miller is doing?”
When she wasn’t thinking about Dylan, she’d been worrying about her friend.
“He called the other day. He said she’s doing well and that he’d let us know when we could visit.”
“It’s so hard to stay away. She must be so lonely.”
“I’ll take you to see her on the weekend,” Dylan told her. “Remember, you can’t talk about any of this to anyone. Including Dare.”
“I won’t,” she promised.
“In the meantime, I’ll try my best to keep you distracted.”
“Hmm, I like the sound of that,” she said as he ran his hand down her body.
***
A week later, Tilly gathered up the mail from the mailbox. She’d just had her first counseling session and she was feeling rather vulnerable and raw. She wished now that she’d taken Dylan up on his offer to take her. But she’d thought she wanted to do this alone.
She’d forgotten how hard it was to open up to a stranger. Her old counselor had moved out of town, so she’d had to start all over with a new one.
She emptied the mailbox, pulling out the two envelopes and a box addressed to her. She walked toward the house. Dare had left three days ago. Thank God. He’d been trying to convince them to take him to Dylan’s nightclub and he’d been growing really suspicious at their refusal. They were going to have to tell her family what sort of nightclub it was eventually. But not before Dylan had her father’s permission to marry her.
They planned to head back to the ranch in a few weeks. She guessed Dylan planned to approach her father again then.
Dylan pulled up the driveway. Tilly paused and smiled at him as he climbed out of his truck and strode over to her. She clasped him tight around the waist as he took her into his arms. She held on when he would have pulled back and after a brief moment he wrapped her up in his arms again. His injured arm had almost completely healed now, and he said it only gave him the occasional moment of discomfit.
“Tough appointment with the counselor?” he asked.
“Yeah. I’m feeling a lot better now, though.”
“You should have let me come,” he scolded gently.
“I know. I didn’t realize how tough it would be. Now I
know.” She smiled up at him, desperately trying to keep the tears away, she’d cried enough today.
She let him steer her up the stairs to the house. He unlocked the door and gestured for her to enter. After he’d turned off the alarm, she moved through to the kitchen and grabbed a knife to slice open the tape on the box. The item inside was well protected with bubble wrap. She tore off the bubble wrap to find a jewelry box.
Dylan came up beside her. “What’s that? Who is it from?”
“I don’t know. There was no return address.”
She opened the box, her jaw dropping as she spotted her grandmother’s ring within.
“What? How?” She gaped up at Dylan, who just shook his head as he studied the ring with a grim expression. He pulled his cell out of his pocket.
He tapped at it then held it to his ear. “Rogan. Did you send Tilly a parcel?” He listened for a moment and then hung up.
“Well?” she asked.
“He’s going to call me back in a minute.”
“These stones are fake, right? He had someone make a replica of the ring.” That was the only explanation. Rogan had given her grandmother’s ring to Iker.
Dylan’s phone rang and he answered it. His face grew even more serious.
“Are you serious?” he asked sharply. “And you sent it through the mail? Are you mad?”
There was a pause while she tried to calm her nervous stomach.
“All right… yeah, okay… well, I’m not happy about it… how is she? Okay, bye.”
Dylan placed his phone on the counter with a sigh. He glanced at the ring then at her.
“It’s real, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Yep.”
“He sent a ring worth over a million dollars through the mail?”
“Yep.”
“Why?” she asked with frustration.
“Because the Vipers gave it back to him as compensation.”
“Compensation?” she asked.
“For their role in trying to overthrow him.”
“So that makes everything all right?” she asked. “That makes it okay that they hurt Miller?”
“No, but it does mean that he could negotiate her safety. No one will touch Miller. Apparently, Rogan’s been in meetings for the last few weeks making sure that some sort of peace is maintained. This is the agreement that was reached. He wouldn’t retaliate, and in return they gave him compensation, the ring and guaranteed Miller’s safety.”
“So why give it to me?”
“Because it’s yours.”
“I can’t keep it,” she said. It was tainted now.
“The band is original,” he told her.
“What about the diamonds?” She couldn’t keep them. No way.
“Maybe you could find something good to do with them. Take them out, put fake stones back in and do something good with the money.”
Tilly thought about that for a long moment. Javier had made her life hell for two years, but she’d gotten out. Maybe she could help other women in a similar situation.
“You’ve had an idea,” he said.
“I have. I think I’ll donate it to a shelter for battered women.”
Dylan kissed her forehead. “I think that’s a great idea.”
“Yeah, and it would really piss Javier off.”
He let out of a bark of laughter. “There is that as well.”
She slipped her arms around his waist and held tight. “Dylan?”
“Hmm?”
“Do me a favor?” she asked.
“Of course.”
“Tell Rogan thanks for the gift but that I hope it’s the last one I ever receive from him.”
Dylan chuckled. “I’ll tell him.”
“It’s been a crazy few weeks,” she said. “Think things will be calmer now?”
“Well, between my friends and your family, I don’t think our life will ever be boring.”
“As long as I have you, I don’t care,” she said.
“You do, a mhuirnín. Always.”
Sinfully Yours, Sir Page 20
