Thrill Ride

by Breezie Bennett

  “Melody…” I finally reach her and instinctively slide my hands around her waist, wanting every sweet inch of her close.

  She wiggles out of my grasp and holds up a finger. “One sec, hang on.”

  “What?” I shake out my sweaty hair.

  “Over here!” She turns her head to the side and calls out, motioning for someone to come meet us. Whitney, maybe? Her yoga coworkers? I suppose she could have brought them…

  “Hey, son.”

  The field under my feet shifts and swirls and spins as the helmet I’m holding under my arm drops right to the ground. My jaw falls open as I slowly start to process exactly who I’m looking at.

  “Dad?” My voice breaks a little as the word comes out, but I don’t really care. “You’re…you’re here. How did you…why are you…”

  “That was one hell of a kick, my boy.” He reaches forward and hugs me tight. I notice his posture is straight and tall. His eyes don’t look so tired, and his smile is, well…radiant.

  “I can’t believe you made it.” I pull away from him to see my mom jogging up to us in an oversize jersey and a sunhat, flinging her hands through the air.

  “Did I miss the big moment?”

  I laugh and wrap my arms around her, and she squeezes me way too tightly in that special way only mothers can. “Wait a minute…” I look back and forth between the two of them. The two of them whom I haven’t seen in the same room in almost a year. The two of them who lost the best love story I’ve ever known. Or at least I thought they lost it. “Mom, you knew he was coming?”

  “We all came together, sweetie.” She grabs my hands and wiggles my arms around excitedly.

  Together?

  I look at my dad. “Mom convinced you to come to the stadium? But…how?”

  “Uh, no.” My dad chuckles.

  “Mm-hmm.” My mom purses her lips. “I’m afraid I can’t take credit for that. Or any of this.”

  My heart is still racing from the shock of seeing my dad anywhere that’s not his dark living room, and I’m so flooded by warmth and happiness, I feel like I could drown. “But, then…”

  My dad raises a brow. “Take a wild guess. Who do you know who’s way too damn headstrong for her own good and would stop at nothing to make you happy?”

  The truth of that smacks into me like a train.

  I turn to see Melody standing a few feet back, smiling at our little family reunion, beaming with joy and pride and bursting with love. Her soft smile, her wild eyes, her entire enigma of a being are wrapped up in a bundle of energy with a pink bow on top.

  “You did this?” My voice is barely above a whisper as I walk up to her, reaching my hands out to grab her and kiss her.

  “Yeah.” She shrugs and smiles brightly at my parents, who are holding hands now. “This was a big game, and I knew how much it would mean to you for him to be here.” A gust of wind blows her hair around her glowing face, making her look like a literal angel. “It was really all his own doing, though. He just needed a loving push.”

  I clutch her cheeks in my palms and savor the sweet, sexy, vibrant energy electrifying between us. I can barely stand how incredible she is. How selfless and wonderful and positive she is. I inch my face closer to hers, both of us laughing and smiling.

  “For God’s sake, son, kiss her!” my dad shouts at us, his tone half angry, half teasing.

  Her eyes widen at the command, and the second her tongue wets her lips, I know I can’t resist.

  I press my mouth to Melody’s and hold her against me as tight as I possibly can. My chest feels like a helium balloon, like I could just keep my lips locked on hers forever, and we’d float up into space or something.

  Melody giggles into the kiss, clutching my shoulder pads and arching into me. Passion and intensity and love course through me and mix with the high from that winning field goal, and I feel a wash of absolute joy.

  I pick her up in a quick movement and spin her around effortlessly, drawing cheers from my teammates and a holler from my dad.

  “Dylan!” She squeals with joy.

  I gently lower her to the ground, unable to tear my eyes away from that enchanting and electrifying deep-blue gaze. “You really are made of light, you know that?”

  “And love,” she whispers.

  “Yeah.” I slowly run my thumb along her lower lip. “And love.”

  I glance back at my parents a few feet away, who are sharing some sort of whispered exchange and laughing like a couple of giddy teenagers on a first date.

  There are still waves of cheers and echoes of celebration throughout the crowd on the field. The sun is warm, and the air is breezy, and the reporters are buzzing around like bees.

  “I’m still trying to fully comprehend the fact that you got my dad to the stadium.” I grasp her shoulders and lightly shake them with happiness. “The fucking stadium! And now they’re all…” I nod toward my parents. “Getting friendly again. And he’s…and you…” I press my forehead to hers and hold her tiny body against me. Where it belongs. “You did this. For me.”

  “I told you.” She lightly brushes her nose against mine. “I’m a healer.”

  “You’re everything,” I whisper, touching her lips with another kiss.

  Twenty-four

  Melody

  “Let’s go to the beach,” Dylan blurts as we pull into the parking lot of his condo, a wild and reckless and happy spark in his eyes I haven’t seen before. I can’t get enough of it.

  “Right now?” I choke on a laugh. “Don’t you want to go to the Atlantic and celebrate with all the guys?” I nudge him playfully as he puts the gearshift in park.

  Dylan turns to me, his brown eyes beaming and his messy hair falling on his forehead. “No. I want to go to the real Atlantic. With you. Alone.”

  Warmth swells between my legs at his growly, hungry, commanding tone.

  I swallow hard and wonder how the hell I’m gonna say no to him tonight. I wonder if I even really want to. I’m trying not to get attached, but holy goodness, it can’t be worth it to deny my body and my soul the person it’s ached for more than anything ever.

  “Dylan, I—” My hand finds his leg, covered in gray Riders sweatpants that he changed into after the game. “Umm—” I stammer like a complete fool as I wiggle my fingers up his strong thigh and get dangerously close to the absolutely glorious bulge in his pants.

  “I just wanna talk. You know, hang out at the beach,” he whispers slowly, a note of playful tease lacing his tone. “You didn’t have any other ideas, right?”

  I slide my hand higher, grazing his hard ridge and sending spirals of need zipping through me. “No.” I shake my head. “No other ideas.”

  He shifts and jerks under my touch, and the entire cabin of the BMW gets steamy with heat.

  “But, actually.” He places a gentle hand on my wrist and gives me a stern gaze. “I want to talk to you. Let’s go to the beach.”

  “Come on.” He turns to me with that wild look again, and I feel my panties get a little wet. Oops.

  Get it together, Mel. He only wants to talk.

  I’m just feeling the intoxicating effects of a solid week of painful sexual tension, plus the fact that he just won an NFL playoff game, and I’m, well, human. Not to mention the passion and intensity and explosion of fireworks when he kissed me after the game.

  Which was nothing more than a hyped-up, won-a-playoff-game kiss. He would have kissed anyone, I’m sure.

  “Will you slow down?” I say through a breathless laugh as I follow Dylan’s broad frame down a wooded path through a bunch of shrubs and dunes. “I’m wearing a dress, in case you didn’t notice.”

  “Oh.” He stops in his tracks and turns around, his gaze burning into my skin. “I noticed.”

  I smack his arm teasingly as we weave our way down the little path. The sun is just about set, and the sky is clear and painted purple, with a sliver of moon already peeking out.

  I take a long, deep inhale of salty beach air as
we step onto the cool, damp sand. The ocean crashes softly, and there’s not a soul in sight.

  “All right, Mr. Spontaneous.” I slip off my sandals and leave them at the edge of the sand, running out onto the sand and twirling around so my dress swirls in circles. “We’re here. Now what?”

  He takes my hands and lets me spin him around, rolling his eyes but unable to stop himself from dancing with me.

  “Melody.” He draws my name out, holding my hands so I stop bouncing around and stand still. He pulls me close, and his eyes are flashing with yet another new fire. I can’t identify this fire. It’s not just sex or attraction or fascination. It’s not amusement. Dylan is looking at me with…love.

  “Yes?” My heart races a mile a minute as I inch closer to him.

  “I can’t believe what you did for me today. What you’ve done for me every day.”

  I laugh and tap his nose. “I told you. It was all Robert, seriously.”

  “No. It was you. It is you. You’re like this confusing and captivating and ridiculously selfless angel of a person.”

  I feel my face flush and my chest tighten with joy. “You think I’m silly and weird.” My voice is tiny, basically a whisper.

  “I think you’re the most incredible ray of sunshine I’ve ever met. And…” He gazes at me with a burning certainty, a sizzling passion behind those deep-brown eyes that makes my heart flip. “I think I want you to stay.”

  “What?” I stammer.

  “No.” He shakes his head and pulls me closer. “I know I want you to stay.”

  I draw back, my world feeling like it’s melting and swimming and swirling with an ocean of confusion.

  “Dylan…” I try to breathe, but no air goes in. Is he seriously asking me not to go? “I’m supposed to leave the day after tomorrow.” I look out over the water, begging for some kind of answer or sign or magic formula to make sense of this. There isn’t one.

  He holds my chin and turns my face back to meet his eyes. “You don’t really want to go. You think you’re supposed to because of what some psychic told you.”

  “It’s more than that. It’s—”

  “You don’t want to go because you feel it, too. I know you feel it, too. You wouldn’t have done that for my dad, and for me, if you didn’t feel it, too.”

  My lips are quivering slightly, and I hold on to his strong arms to keep from completely collapsing. “Feel what?”

  “You. Me.” He gestures vigorously between us. “This.”

  “I know, I know. We certainly do take ‘opposites attract’ to new heights, but—”

  “This isn’t attraction, Melody. This is…it. You’re going on a boat because you want to find your destiny. Because you think it’s there, but it isn’t. It’s right here. With me.” He shakes out his hair and laughs as if the weight of those words just fell off his shoulders.

  The entire earth tilts under my feet as I pull in a sharp breath, locking my gaze on his and feeling the entire world disappear. My chest swells, and jittery chills ribbon down my spine.

  “Please stay.” He places his strong hands on my shoulders.

  I curl my toes in the sand and bite my lip, feeling more scared and confused and uncertain than ever before. If Dylan is right, it’ll mean ignoring every sign and message and the blatantly clear path that’s been leading me to that cruise boat. “Can I think about it?”

  He smiles sweetly and rests his chin on my head as he pulls me closer and tighter. “Of course.”

  My mind races a mile a minute as I stand there, wrapped in his loving arms, feeling the water spray up onto my ankles with every wave. Never in my wildest dreams did I think he would ask me to stay. I mean, holy hell!

  I run my hands up and down his back and close my eyes, breathing in the comfort and peace of this particular moment and knowing there’s only one thing I really want to do right now.

  I can’t give him an answer this second, but my entire body, every cell, is screaming for him to be closer. And after his stunning plea, I’m not denying either of us anything. Not now, not tonight.

  I tilt my chin up and kiss him, fire and passion crackling the second our lips touch.

  Dylan breathes in deeply and cups my face with his strong hand, sending ripples of weak neediness down my spine and to my toes.

  He deepens the kiss and slips his tongue between my teeth, and my body fills with a warm, floating sensation.

  We make out for a second, and Dylan lifts me up slightly. I splash the water under my feet and drink in the feeling like I’m literally flying while my lips are locked on his.

  He pulls away for a second, his eyes glistening with lust and moonlight. “Come here, beautiful.”

  I giggle as he picks me up and carries me to the soft bed of sand of the dunes.

  “You okay with getting a little sandy?” he asks through a breathless laugh between desperate kisses.

  “I love getting sandy.” I nod eagerly and let go of every last inhibition I’ve ever known as he lays me down on the beach and positions himself perfectly on top of me.

  My heart races, and butterflies soar through my chest. I admire every inch of him, his sharp jawline, his messy hair, his caring eyes, and his assertive but wonderfully gentle hands all over me.

  I pull his shirt off and drop my head back in the sand.

  Dylan slides his hands under my dress and takes it off slowly. Every part of my body that’s touched by him feels adored and cherished and loved. I want him to touch me forever.

  The waves roar and crash and spray, and it feels like there’s no one else in the entire world but Dylan and me.

  He slips a finger into my panties and guides them off, giving me a blistering gaze.

  I’m already totally soaked as he grazes my flesh, aching and swollen for him.

  He keeps his eyes fixed on me, and my body feels like it turned to liquid and melted right into the sand.

  “You’re…” He kisses my neck and chest and breasts. “Amazing,” he slurs. “Perfect.”

  I smile through my breathless panting, my heart tugging and my head swimming.

  “You’re…” He draws back, running a gentle thumb over my cheek and looking at me with a mix of raging hunger and pure admiration. “Mine.” His expression turns serious. His brown eyes flash and widen.

  I draw in a breath and hold him closer.

  “I don’t care what happens,” he grumbles into my mouth as he kisses me again. “You’ll always be mine.”

  The words race through my head, and I know in the depths of my soul that he’s right. I close my eyes tightly and shake away the conflict in my mind, giving myself wholly and completely to my body. To this moment on the beach. To him.

  I slide my fingers down his solid, defined abs and yank down his sweatpants.

  He pulls them off and lies back down on me, shifting his hips against mine and teasing me with his rock-hard length.

  My heart pounds even harder, and my back arches against the beach as I wrap my naked legs around his hips.

  His muscles throb against me, and more heat pools between my legs.

  He magically pulls a condom out and rips it open.

  He enters me slowly, rocking his body into mine like the ocean waves behind us. I pull in a sharp breath as he fills me.

  We moan in unison, both drinking in the blissful perfection of him being inside me. It’s like he belongs there. Satisfaction washes over us, and we smile, holding each other’s gazes and savoring the sizzling heat between us.

  Dylan thrusts a little faster, holding me intensely and tight.

  “You feel so good,” I whisper, writhing underneath him in the sand, waves of hot pleasure surging through me, and begging for more of him every second.

  He kisses me and makes love to me, hard and gentle, slow and fast, every stroke more perfect than the one before. Fireworks explode in my head and my heart, and my body tightens around him.

  Every neuron in my brain is firing with electricity, and my legs are quivering on
either side of his hips, and he’s pushing harder and faster. Pleasure rolls over me, and my heart slams in my chest.

  He kisses me softly, feeling me about to come and filling me even deeper, sending chills down my spine and making my toes curl.

  “Dylan.” His name slips out of my throat as everything in me contracts and releases, the orgasm hitting me like a train.

  I gasp and moan and look deep in his eyes. He looks at me like I’m the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. His lips are parted, and his breathing is rushed, and his dick is throbbing inside me as he picks up his pace.

  I’m still seeing stars, but I can already feel that he’s going to make me come again.

  He wraps an arm under my leg and presses it up by my face, moaning sharply with pleasure as he opens me wider.

  I feel myself spiraling again as his eyes glint with hunger and love.

  “One more for me, baby?”

  His soft command is all it takes for me to fall over the edge and gasp with pleasure as another orgasm rocks me to my core.

  Dylan smiles and wets his lips, leaning down to kiss me and driving harder. His dick rages between my legs.

  “Holy shit,” he groans into my mouth as he releases, heat and pleasure surging through us and between us.

  “Wow,” I whisper as he collapses onto me, his hard body wrapping me in warmth and love as we both struggle to catch our breath.

  “Melody.” His lips tickle my ear, and I wrap my arms around his back, wanting him even closer, hoping this moment will never end. “Promise me you’ll think about it.”

  My heartstrings tug hard. I hold the back of his neck, feeling his chest rise and fall against mine, knowing damn well I’ve never felt anything like this. But also knowing Dylan and I are way too different to be together. I can’t just blatantly ignore my destiny because I fell for him.

  Can I?

  I shut my eyes and let the moonlit, crashing ocean waves drown out the confusion in my head.

  I promise it’s all I’ll be thinking about. But everything is so mixed up, and I’m running out of time to change my mind, and this man I’m intertwined with has somehow become everything.

  I turn my head and kiss his cheek. “I promise,” I say, barely above a whisper.