Chapter 16
Harley
Celine kept talking while I helped Amanda collect her things. She was especially chatty tonight, while all I really wanted to do was get out of there as quickly as possible.
Eventually, I had no choice but to interrupt Celine mid-sentence.
“Thanks for everything, Celine. But I really have to go!” I said, pulling Amanda up in my arms.
“Oh, yeah! Of course. I’m always happy to have her here,” she replied and pulled Amanda’s soft cheeks.
With my daughter’s bag hanging from my arm, I ran out of the house, while Amanda continued to talk about her day. She’d fallen asleep when I got there and I hated to wake her up, but I had no choice. Amanda didn’t seem to mind though, she was just glad to see me.
I crossed the street in the dark to the car where Dash was waiting for me. At first, Amanda didn’t see him and I settled her in the back. When I got in I saw in the rearview mirror that she was staring at Dash who had turned in his seat to look at her.
“Mommy? Who is this?” she asked.
I knew it would be a surprise for her, especially to come face to face with a big strong man with cuts and bruises everywhere. I expected her to be frightened of him, but she was being brave. She trusted me.
“Amanda, this is Dash. And Dash, this is Amanda,” I introduced them to each other. I was nervous about this first meeting. My daughter meant everything to me. If Amanda and Dash weren’t able to get along, I wasn’t sure how far this could go for us. No matter how explosive our kiss had been.
“It’s nice to meet you, Ma’am,” Dash said jovially, sticking a hand out to my daughter. Amanda blinked a few times, still in surprise.
“Hello,” she said in a low voice.
“What happened to your face?” she asked, straining in the dark to properly see him. I sat still in my seat, afraid of how this introduction was going to go. What Dash was going to say. It didn’t seem like he was the kind of guy who’d be good with kids.
“Someone tried to pick a fight with me so I showed them,” Dash replied. He continued to have a reassuring smile on his face.
“You fought them off?” Amanda asked. She sat up in her seat, now she was really interested.
“I had to, because standing up for yourself is the right thing to do,” he told her. Amanda nodded her head.
“Mommy tells me to always stand up for myself, no matter how much it hurts,” she continued. I smiled proudly at my daughter. At least I was able to instill some good teachings in her, even though I couldn’t practice them myself in my own life. I was going to make sure that my daughter avoided my fate.
“Well, your mommy is right,” Dash replied and they were smiling at each other like they were old friends. “So now that the bad guys are out of the way, we can finally go on our adventure!”
Amanda looked excited. Her eyes lit up and I couldn’t help but beam at the two of them.
“An adventure? What kind of adventure?” she asked.
“The kind of adventure when we don’t have to go home for many days, and we can eat what we want and go to bed when we want to,” Dash said.
I rolled my eyes at him because this was only going to get us into trouble with her. But I couldn’t resist seeing how happy that made Amanda. She jumped up from her seat, clapping her hands wildly.
“Mommy? Really? We don’t have to go home?” she asked and I nodded.
“And you get to spend all your time with your mommy,” Dash continued.
“And can I watch cartoons all day too?” she begged, to which Dash nodded again.
“Only till the adventure is over. Then we go back to our usual routine and rules, okay?”
Amanda nodded and I hugged her.
It was a task settling her back in her seat again because she was pumped up on adrenaline.
“We need to find a place to crash tonight,” Dash said and then he started the car.
I turned the radio on loud so that Amanda wouldn’t be able to hear our conversations.
“So, where are we going?” I asked and Dash looked over and smiled at me.
“I think I know just the place. Somewhere they won’t think of looking.”
***
Dash drove us to a hotel far off the highway, and it wasn’t just an ordinary hotel or a motel. It was a four-star place with fancy rooms and a pool at the back. When I was worried about how we were going to pay for this, Dash said he would take care of it.
He was on the phone with a friend for a while and then he returned saying the room was all taken care of. Somebody from his club had paid for it over the phone.
Neither Amanda or I had ever seen a place like this before. It was gorgeous and sophisticated, and I felt self-conscious of my clothes as we walked down the marble hallway towards the elevator.
But the staff at the hotel were treating us like royalty. Clearly, they had some connection with Dash’s MC. They knew exactly who he was.
Dash had booked one large double-suite for us which had two king sized beds in two separate rooms. Amanda was excited. She couldn’t believe her luck! Her little adventure had gotten off to a good start and I was glad she didn’t have a clue of what was really going on.
The next task was for me was to get her into bed. It was very late at night now and she needed her sleep.
“I’m going to wash up,” Dash told me in a whisper while I forcibly carried her to the other room. I nodded.
***
It took me over half an hour before Amanda had finally drifted off to sleep. I had to tell her story after story until she closed her eyes and then I kissed her forehead and turned off the light in her room.
Now that Amanda was asleep and I was less worried about her—the realization of the situation finally hit me. I stood at her doorway for a few moments, allowing that feeling of freedom to sink in.
I was indeed free.
I wasn’t back at my small apartment, crying myself to sleep on the couch tonight. I was in a beautiful hotel room with Amanda asleep peacefully in bed. I wasn’t alone, I had the protection of a strong and brave man. A man I could trust.
A thrill ran down my spine at the thought of that.
Dash and I were finally alone. And neither did he have the handcuffs on his wrists. Which meant he could actually touch me. Kissing him, feeling his hands on my body—wasn’t just a fantasy anymore. It could actually come true.
I gulped nervously and walked into the other room.
Dash was just stepping out of the bathroom. He looked different now. He’d showered and scrubbed himself off from all the dirt and grime of his imprisonment. He even shaved but he still had a sexy stubble on his cheeks. Those cuts and wounds weren’t going away that easily, but he’d cleaned them and he looked fresh. Like a whole new person.
I stood stock-still, staring at him, while he dried his hair with a towel.
“It’s me. Dash,” he joked and it made me smile.
“You don’t look that different,” I said and he smiled too.
“I have an idea. Why don’t we go down and check out the pool? It’s late. Nobody’s going to be there, and it’ll give us a chance to talk away from Amanda,” he suggested.
“But I don’t have clothes for the pool,” I told him and there was a pleased gleam in his eyes.
“We don’t have to get in if you don’t want to,” he said and I nodded.
I checked in on Amanda again and then we stepped out of the suite together. The hall was empty and quiet, smelling great. It felt crazy that I was going to spend the night at a place like this.
How many nights were we going to spend here?
Dash led the way to the elevator and I followed him in silence. With him, I felt safe and strong. Like I was capable of anything. I was glad to see how well he was getting along with Amanda too. It was like magically, things were beginning to fall into place.
But I wasn’t that naive. I knew it wasn’t over yet. Once Caesar found out that I’d given him the slip, he was going to come looking for me with all guns blazing. And that wasn’t going to be fun.
***
Dash and I found our way to the pool at the back of the hotel. It was the most exquisite thing I had seen. I wished I had a swimsuit because I would have loved to dive into that serene pool right now. But I was fully clothed and not quite confident enough to strip in front of Dash yet.
He pulled up two deck chairs and we sat down in them. It was a peaceful night and I didn’t feel like I was in any threat. Even though I knew there was a storm brewing somewhere out there.
Dash was beside me, leaning his head back to look up at the clear night sky. I could feel my whole body on fire already. Just being this close to him, knowing we were all alone. Remembering the way he kissed me.
It was hard to believe that just a few hours before, we were both in that clubhouse. That he was cuffed to a pipe in that dingy cellar. Now he was all fresh and clean, but he couldn’t be more handsome. He was the hottest guy I’d ever met. This was not how I’d felt about Caesar when we first met. This was not how I’d felt about anyone before.
“What are you thinking, Harley? Are you afraid?” I heard his voice. It was calm and smooth, like velvet. Every time he spoke, he soothed something inside me. It was a constant reminder of why I trusted him.
I looked over at him and Dash’s gaze dropped to my body. He looked down, his eyes running down the length of me.
When he looked at me, it felt so different from when any other man did. I knew he wanted me but I wanted him too. I was staring at him with that hungry look in my eyes too. We were both in the same position.
“No, I don’t think I am. Like I said, I trust you,” I told him. Dash smirked.
“That is a huge responsibility. Your trust. Amanda’s trust. And I have every intention of making sure that those monsters never get anywhere close to you again,” he continued and I nodded.
“I know you will.”
We fell into silence again while we stared at each other. I was holding my breath. Trying to predict what he would do next.
“Do you know what they will do once they find out you’re gone? Once they find out I’m not in my apartment and neither is Amanda?” I asked.
“They’re going to lose their shit. They’re going to try and find us and hurt us. Especially you and Amanda, because Caesar will take it personally.”
I gulped when he said that. He wasn’t trying to sugarcoat it for me. It was all out there in the open.
“But I’m not going to let that happen. He can try as much as he wants but he won’t get to you,” he said. I nodded.
***
Sometime after that, Dash stood up from the chair and walked over to the edge of the pool.
“The water looks good,” he said and I smirked. If he was trying to get me to go into the water fully clothed like this, it wasn’t going to happen. But he didn’t say anything, instead, he started taking his own shirt off.
I sat up in my chair, watching him while I felt a wetness between my legs.
Inch by inch as his shirt came off, Dash’s chiseled torso came into view. I’d anticipated he was muscular, but I wasn’t expecting this. He was burning hot. His muscles looked like they’d been carved into him. Six pack abs. A flat stomach and tattoos covering his arm.
He barely even looked at me, but I knew he was aware of me staring at him. I watched as he ran his hands through his thick dark hair. Then, before I realized what he was going to do next, he jumped into the pool. He was still in his jeans, but he didn’t seem to care.
He made a big splash and I gasped and giggled when the water hit me. He dove in under water and emerged several seconds later, shaking the drops out of his hair. I stood up from my chair, tempted by him now. I wanted to get a closer look at him.
“That’s right, come over here!” he called out to me and I went to the edge of the pool.
“I can’t get my clothes wet, it’s the only thing I own right now,” I complained and he walked in the water towards me.
“Just dip your legs in. This feels amazing,” he said.
I sat down on the edge and took off my shoes, then gently, I dipped my legs in the water till the water reached above my ankles. Dash was in front of me now, standing in the water with a big smirk on his face.
“Right?”
“Right,” I said. He scooped up water and splashed me with it and I giggled and splashed him too.
“You think you’re getting away with that?” he mock-scolded me and splashed some more, till I was ducking and trying to hide myself from his attack.
Then I felt his arms around me. Dash had come up close to me and was enveloping me in his arms. My heart seemed to leap out of my chest. He was warm, his body was slick with the water and his hair was damp. He pressed me up to his chest and I looked up at him, needing him to kiss me.
And that was exactly what he did. Dash leaned forward and took my mouth in his. I gasped, inching closer to him so I could kiss him better. His tongue in my mouth, my nails digging into his back—we were nothing more than two bodies, hot and sweaty now, desperate for each other’s mouths.
Dash had wedged himself between my legs as he kissed me. I could feel the weight of him now as he started to lean me back. Slowly, he pushed me down till my back was on the ground. My legs were still dipped in the water.
He pulled his mouth away from me and I gasped. I was staring right up at the stars in the night sky.
I felt his hands move up and down my legs. With his damp hands he was rolling my dress up, exposing my thighs. His hands on me felt good. I liked being touched by him. Touched like this. His fingers left a trail of goosebumps down my legs.
He parted me wide while he stood between my legs. Just as quickly as he’d rolled up my dress, he was rolling down my panties too. He threw them somewhere, far out of my reach. I was naked from the waist down, but still in my dress and denim jacket.
I should have been embarrassed but I wasn’t. I was thinking of all the things he could do to me now.
Dash lowered himself down in the water, I heard him. I gulped, my heart beating fast in my chest. Was he really going to do what I thought he was?
He used his fingers to touch me first and I gasped a little louder. He could feel the stickiness of my pussy. He slipped one wide finger into my pussy and I moaned.
“You want this?” he groaned and I nodded, pressing my eyes close.
Then his mouth was level with my pussy. He grabbed my thighs with both hands and lunged forward. His tongue slid quickly into me, parting my folds and I cried out with pleasure.
“Oh my God!”
His tongue swept in, moving inside me, licking and sucking my folds. That feeling was overwhelming. He knew exactly what to do. In and out, his tongue slipped in and then out, while he used his fingers to start stroking my swollen clit.
How did this happen? How did we so quickly go from splashing water at each other to his mouth stuck on my pussy? Lapping up my juices. I was going to come.
I writhed and moved, moaning while his mouth did all the magic. He didn’t stop for a second, not even to breathe it seemed. I had no control over this force anymore. I could feel my orgasm building up.
His fingers played havoc on my clit while his tongue sucked me up.
I moaned his name again, this time accompanied by a shockingly forceful orgasm. No man had done this to me before. I knew it was supposed to feel good, but this good?
I couldn’t hold it back. My juices came flooding out of me and straight into his mouth. I tightened my thighs around him, pinning him to myself. I was never going to let him go.
This felt too good to give up.