dash

I spent the weekend on the slopes with Mason and returned late every night, retreating to my room as soon as I could. I’d hoped some time away from her would help, but by Monday morning, the thoughts I’d been trying to shake are all-consuming.

I still believe, deep inside me, that the two of us together would be catastrophic. Sure, we’d managed to keep our cool for the last few days, but I had no misconceptions that this would last forever.

She’s already started back up with her quips and her incessant bitching is driving me crazy. I thought avoiding her would help me get over the physical shit, but it’d been a bust. Not only was it stronger than ever, I was so tense from not having an outlet, we were fighting more than we ever had before.

That didn’t matter, though.

No matter how insane she was making me, I still couldn’t shake the need to be inside her again, the insatiable craving to taste her skin. Every time I shut my eyes, I saw her nipples, heard her soft moans, felt her lips wrap around my…

“Dash, did you hear me, honey?” Donna asks, pulling my gaze from Evie’s ass at the stove.

I meet her eyes, the guilt of having nearly been caught gawking at her daughter, remembering how she tasted…

“Dash!”

“Ma’am?”

Fuck. I haven’t blushed since I was nine, but my face is on fire right now.

“Are you hungry?” she repeats with a chuckle, thankfully stepping in front of me and blocking my view of the kitchen. “Evie and I are making breakfast before Mason and I leave for the conference.”

“Oh,” I shake my head clear. “I’m sorry, I’m still kinda waking up.”

I really need to get my shit together.

“You alright, kid?”

“Yes ma’am,” I smile nervously, clearing my throat. “Sorry, I’ve just got a headache.”

“Oh, I hope you’re not comin’ down with anything,” she sighs, reaching over to rest her hand against my forehead, her maternal instinct making me feel like even more of a pervert. “You don’t have a fever, but you look a little flush.”

Oh, fuck my life.

“I’m sure it’s just a headache.”

“There’s some aspirin in the kitchen,” she insists. “Evie Grace, hand Dash the aspirin. Keep an eye on everything and I’m going to finish getting ready.”

“Yes, ma’am,” she calls back, glancing over her shoulder to flash me an evil smirk as her mother disappears into her bedroom. “Well, well, well,” she taunts quietly. “Now, you do look a little flush, Dash. You sure you’re not comin’ down with anything? Hmm? Maybe a case of the I-drunk-shamed-your-daughter-and-now-I-can’t-stop-staring-at-her-ass-like-a-total-perv-long-enough-to-listen-to-you virus?”

“You’re an idiot,” I shake my head, tossing two aspirin into my mouth before washing them down with a long gulp from my coffee mug.

Her eyes dart to my Adam’s apple before they settle on my lips, watching me lick the stray drop away and swallowing hard.

“Hmm,” I hum mockingly, my voice husky. “You like that, baby?”

“Oh, shut up,” she narrows her eyes, redirecting her eyes to the skillet in front of her before shaking her head. “You call me an idiot? At least I can keep my shit together long enough to talk to people. You’re sitting over there drooling on the fucking table like a mental patient!”

“Well, maybe if you’d put some fucking clothes on and stop shaking your ass like you’re workin’ for tips, I wouldn’t be!”

“So, because you have zero control, I have to sweat to death?” she whispers harshly. “Maybe try being an adult for an hour and handle your shit. I can’t help how you feel…”

“Trust me,” I cut her off, my low voice shaking with bitter laughter. “This is completely chemical, Evie. There are zero feelings involved in this shit. If I had it my way, I’d avoid you until Satan comes to return you to your real family.”

“You’re so stupid,” she shakes her head, looking back up from the griddle in front of her and raking her eyes over me. “You know, I’ve always known you were capable of idiocy beyond most, but this time you’ve really outdone yourself!”

“You are unbelievable,” I snicker humorlessly as I shake my head. “You’re still trying to point fingers?”

“Yes, you!” she insists, turning on me. “You know, I’ve been thinking…”

“Oh, this oughta be good.”

“And if it wasn’t for you, none of this would have ever happened, Dash. I may have kissed you, but you knew I was fucked up in the head. You should have scrounged around in the three brain cells you haven’t soaked with alcohol and tried to do the right thing and stop me from making the worst mistake of my life!”

“I’m the worst mistake of your life?” I ask in disbelief. “Whatever. Why don’t you try that with someone who hasn’t seen some of the losers you’ve fucked. Maybe they’ll buy it, because I’m sure as shit not.”

“Don’t judge me!” she argues, her chest sticking out defensively, her hard nipples pressing against the fabric making my dick strain against my jeans. “You don’t even know me.”

“I know you’re a spoiled little princess who’s had a stick up your ass since the day I met you. You think you’re better than everyone, but guess what?” I counter, my lips turning up on either side as I stare down at her. “You weren’t too good for me the other night, were you?”

“Shut up,” she whispers, her cheeks tinting pink just slightly as I hold her eyes.

“Oh, my God, Dash! I want it,” I husk, the pitch of my voice altered just slightly to emulate hers, the truth in my words making her freeze in place. “Please don’t stop, baby. I’m about to come all over your…”

“Shut. Up.” she demands as she whips her head around to face me. “God! You’re such a liar! You said you didn’t remember anything.”

“Oh, it’s all been coming back to me, sweetheart and judging by how you’ve been acting the last couple of days, I don’t think I’m alone.”

“You’re right, I have remembered a few things,” she admits, her eyes narrowing. “Like how I got drunk and you took advantage of...”

“You need to stop it with that shit, Evie,” I cut her off, my blood boiling as my cock continues to throb, further irritating me. I hate that arguing with her is becoming such a turn on. “You gave me the advantage and I was just as drunk as you were, so yeah, I took it. I bent your prissy little ass over…”

Her jaw clenches, her cheeks blazing as I take a step closer, the sound of her moans infiltrating my mind.

Dammit.

“I fucked you until you screamed so loud the whole floor of that hotel knew my fucking name…”

She bites her lip, squirming uncomfortably.

I can still taste her, still feel her clenching around me.

“I gave you exactly what you wanted…”

Fuck, if I didn’t want it, too.

“And you fucking loved it, Evie.”

“You’re so stupid,” she manages, her voice a whisper as she faces me. “Take your stupid insults and your stupid beard and your stupid, heaving tattooed chest…” her voice continues to falter as she meets my eyes and swallows hard. “You’re so stupid.”

I take the last long draw of my coffee, setting the cup onto the counter as I hold her eyes, taking the final step that separates our skin and bringing her chest flush with mine.

“Do you ever stop complaining?” I cage her in, gripping the edge of the counter behind her. “The relentless bitching and moaning that comes out of that mouth of yours seriously annoys the ever-loving shit out of me, Evie,” I husk against her lips. “I really wish you’d shut the fuck up.”

“Oh, my God,” she rasps, her voice a whimper as her nipples graze my chest, ripping the last of my resolve away. “I really hate you, Dash.”

“I can’t fucking stand you,” I husk, gripping the back of her head and pulling her lips to mine.

I kiss her hard, angry. She claws at my arms, forcing me closer for a moment before abruptly pushing me away. I stumble back a half step, matching her furious gaze.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” she pants, staring up at me.

I’m about to spit an insult back, but before I can, her palms press against my chest, pushing me into the wall behind me and crawling up my front. She grips the front of my shirt, pulling my lips back down to hers and kissing me just as furiously, her teeth biting into my lip hard enough to make me flinch.

I release a low growl against her lips, gripping her thighs and lifting her onto the counter, dropping her roughly before I wind her long hair around my fist. I yank it slightly, biting into the flesh on her collarbone and pulling a gasp from her chest.

“Dammit Evie,” I start, running my free hand up her front and palming one of her tits at the same time she runs one hand under the waist of my jeans, pulling me closer. “You’re driving me-”

“Fucking crazy…” she finishes my words, her voice wavering with the same desperation as mine despite the fact that she’s glaring up at me from beneath her thick, black eyelashes. “I can’t even think straight.”

We’re panting against each other, staring each other down. Her fingernails are digging into my skin, mine tangled roughly into her hair as a rumble moves through me.

“We can’t stay locked up in this fucking cabin together for another ten days,” I admit. “We’re going to kill each other if we don’t work this shit out.”

“How the hell are we supposed to manage that?” she rasps. “Maybe if you would stay the hell away from me...”

“What the fuck do you think I was doing all weekend?” I confess as she lets out a frustrated groan against my chest. “Look where it got us.”

“Well, what are we supposed to do then?” she asks, risking a glance over her shoulder to make sure we’re still alone before facing me again. “If I tell my mom I’m sick one more time, she’s gonna have an ambulance in the fucking driveway.”

I lean over her in frustration, my head resting against the wall I’ve caged her in against as I take in our bodies, still mashed together, still throbbing with need.

“We have to just… we have to get it out of our systems.”

“What do you m… Wait a second,” she pulls away slightly, glaring at me. “You cannot be serious!”

“Well, can you think of anything better?” I demand, making her reluctantly shake her head. “I don’t like it any more than you do, but…”

“Shit! Get the hell away from me! Mason’s coming,” she cuts me off at the sound of his radio blaring out of the now open bathroom door, biting down on her lip and releasing a sigh as she pushes me away and slips off the counter. “Watch the food for a second, will you?”

“Where are you going?”

“They’re gonna be walking in the kitchen any second,” she whispers harshly, her eyes wide in annoyance. “I can’t have them coming in here seeing me like this, can I?”

“Well, what about me?” I demand, turning the heat off beneath our finished breakfast and covering it.

“What about you?” Mason asks as he makes his way to the coffee pot. “Dude, what’s up with your hair?”

“Bad headache.”

“You, too?” he asks.

“What? What about us?”

“What?”

“You said ‘you two.’”

“No, I said, ‘you, too?’ Like, you also?” he clarifies, making me internally kick myself. “Why, is there something going on with you and Evie? Y’all aren’t fighting again are you?” he asks, his features falling. “I wasn’t gonna say anything, but now that you mention it, you’ve both been acting weird for the past couple of days. Well, weirder than usual anyway,” he muses, his cup stopping in front of his lips when he sees me. “Something up?”

“No, man,” I manage, diverting my eyes when he looks at me crazy. “Everything’s cool. Breakfast is ready. I’ll be right back, I need to take a piss,” I say as I slip out of the kitchen, moving toward the same bathroom I’d watched Evie disappear into.

She opens the door, looking just as annoyingly perfect as usual, jumping when she sees me hovering outside the door, hands gripping the frame.

“Oh, my God!” she gasps, clenching her chest before smacking me hard. “You scared the hell out of me, you ass! Would you stop fucking doing that to…?”

“Mason just asked me what was going on with us,” I cut her off. “We need to figure this shit out, Evie.”

“What?” she asks, louder than intended before she glances over my shoulder for a moment before her eyes come back to mine, finally settling on my lips.

Is it possible to loathe and crave the same person simultaneously?

Between our mini-romp in the kitchen and the way we react every time we’re near each other, it must be.

“What did he say?”

“Nothing, just asked what was going on with us,” I tell her. “He said we were acting weird.”

“Dammit!” she hisses, biting down on her lip before her eyes meet mine. “He’s smarter than both of us put together. Especially you,” she whispers, making me shake my head in annoyance. “He’s going to figure it out.”

“Not if we get our shit together,” I offer. “I don’t think we have another choice here.”

“Dash, I get what you’re saying,” she admits. “But don’t you think this is just asking for trouble? Don’t you think it’s gonna make everything worse?”

“This time it’ll be different,” I shake my head. “Before, we were drunk, didn’t know what the hell we were doing. We both ended up with some diluted memory of what actually happened and it’s fucking with our heads. That’s gotta be what’s causing all this, because there’s no way…”

“Right, but if we’re sober,” she whispers, nodding in agreement. “We can just work out our aggression, see things for what they actually are and move on.”

“Exactly,” I sigh, raking my palm over my face. “We just have to do it. Hate fuck this shit out of our systems. Otherwise, the drunk-mistake-fuck is going to haunt us forever.”

“You’re right,” she groans, giving me a look of disgust. “God, just agreeing with you feels wrong on every level.”

“Once they leave for the day, we’ll be alone and we can just do it and get it over with,” I shift uncomfortably, glancing over my shoulder and facing her once more. “Then we can move on with our lives, go back to hating each other.”

“Okay,” she nods, releasing a long sigh. “Okay, fine. Come to my room when they’re gone.”

“Why your room?”

“Because you’re a pig,” she spits. “No way I’m taking my clothes off in that shithole.”

“You’re an idiot,” I roll my eyes, watching her shut the light off and move back toward the kitchen.

“Yeah?” she hisses over her shoulder. “Why don’t you eat me?”

“Ha!” I rasp low, her glare burning into me as I give her ass a sly smack. “Careful what you wish for, Dark One.”

evie

For the rest of the morning, we avoided each other at all costs. Aside from another slightly awkward ‘family meal,’ there was really no reason or expectation for us to spend any time together, so it wasn’t difficult.

I hated that Dash had consumed my every thought. I hated that someone I had such a distaste for had somehow corrupted my life in such an unexpected way and for reasons I would never be able to understand.

Sure, he’s insanely good looking. Sure, the very thought of that night had me clenching my thighs together while I silently cursed his very existence.

That was no excuse for my current reality.

This kind of torture should be outlawed.

Once I can, I wish my mom and Mason a good day and retreat to the much needed privacy of my bedroom, stomping quietly as I throw myself onto my bed dramatically.

“There has to be a loophole,” I whisper to myself, flipping over onto my back and staring up at the ceiling, coming up with nothing.

Not just because I couldn’t think of a loophole good enough to get us out of this mess, but because deep down, I know I don’t want one.

I shake my head angrily, the harsh truth of my desire simultaneously making me insane as it heats my core.

God, I hate him. How dare he put me through this! I mean, yeah, if I’m being honest, I asked for it, but still. Fuck him and his stupid face. I’m a good person. I don’t deserve this shit.

I should be lying here waiting to have sex with that hot MMA fighter I keep running into at the coffee shop, but nope.

Instead, I’m waiting for this jackass.

“That motherfucker,” I hiss out into nothing, raising up slightly and resting my chin on my knees before I wrap my arms around my legs.

Prickly… I need to shave.

No! I will not shave for Dash Hunter.

I refuse.

I slide my hand into my shorts and feel the same tiny hairs coming up between my thighs and smile wide, unable to stop the low, maniacal laugh from escaping my lips.

Yes! I’ll give him road rash. That’ll teach him to rock my w…

“Ah!” I exclaim, slapping my palm over my mouth, internally kicking myself.

I’m about to continue my childish rant when a noise from downstairs halts my movement, revealing another truth.

I’m nervous.

The noise had just been Mason rooting through a coat closet, but the very thought of the front door shutting fills me with a combination between dread and intense excitement I know I’ll never speak of. After fifteen minutes of staring at my bedroom door like a mental patient, I start to get antsy and I move toward my small, private bathroom. I take my time in the shower, admonishing myself when I shave my legs twice and use my best soaps and lotions.

I tell myself it’s to get the upper-hand, but even as the words sound off in my mind, I know they’re bullshit.

I want Dash Hunter.

I crave him so badly I can taste it and that admission alone has me angrily flicking the light off and shaking my head in annoyance as I slip back inside my bedroom.

The clock reads nine. By ten, they’d be gone, sitting inside the main banquet hall, hopefully none the wiser. They’d be gone until the sun was hiding behind the mountains, leaving Dash and I to defile every inch of this bedroom if that’s what it took to fend this insanity off.

One more hour and the ache between my thighs would be satiated.

By my enemy.

The thought filled my mind with venom, my belly with need.

One more hour and Dash Hunter would be in my bed.

One more hour and I’d be free.