SIXTEEN
DYLAN AKA RIFT
The limo left me at Gwyn’s apartment building where I had parked, but instead of going to my SUV and driving back to the hotel, I stood outside her apartment and contemplated going to her door.
My body felt weak with want, and my mind ran in circles with different scenarios. This wasn’t supposed to be happening. I wasn’t the one who was supposed to be going through this step.
She was.
She was supposed to be upstairs contemplating being with me.
Thinking about me.
Yearning for me.
Giving in to a temptation I’d never dealt with before, I went against my gut and started toward the elevator and to Gwyn’s apartment.
I stood outside her apartment, thinking of what I would say when she opened the door, but my brain wasn’t functioning. Thinking with the head beneath my belt, I knocked and waited. I wasn’t going to think. I wasn’t going to talk. When she opened the door, I was just going to go for it.
Kiss her.
Touch her.
Feel her.
The door swung open, but instead of Gwyneth, it was Mitchell. His eyes lowered, and his jaw went tight.
“What the hell, man?” he hissed, throwing a glance over his shoulder. “I practically handed her over to you tonight.” He moved into the hallway with me and closed the door behind him.
I looked past him as the door was closing, hoping to get one more glimpse of Gwyn.
Acting calmer than I was feeling, I shook my head and chuckled. “This shit takes time, Mitchell. I need to woo her, not overwhelm her. Gwyn is a harder egg to crack. She seems determined not to cheat on you, but don’t you worry. I just need a little more time.”
He sighed, running his fingers through his hair, his other hand on his hip. “I should have known this would be a problem.”
Not knowing where he was going or what he was thinking, I held my breath when I asked, “What are you talking about? What would be a problem?”
He looked at the door of the apartment for a second before answering. “Gwyn’s mother. She cheated on Avel and disappeared on them right before her sister died. It did a real number on Gwyn and practically destroyed Avel. I’m sure she doesn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Shit!” He cursed up at the ceiling.
I was annoyed that I hadn’t found this in my search and even more annoyed that Mitchell had failed to mention anything about it. I was going about this all wrong.
Of course, Gwyn wasn’t going to be like her mother. I already knew Gwyn would be a harder mark to crack, but knowing this, she might just be the unicorn of marks.
How in the hell was I going to pull this off?
“You know, you might have told me this at the beginning.” I kept the annoyance in my tone at bay. “This is just a little setback. Knowing this now, I can readjust my game plan.”
There was no way in hell I would let Mitchell know this might not ever work the way he wanted. I wasn’t a man who gave up easily, and until I had exhausted every option, there was no way I was calling it quits now.
“If you can pull this off, you will officially be a fucking legend in my book. Besides, whatever you’re doing is working a little. I found her fucking touching herself right after she came home.”
I nearly broke my neck as my head snapped in his direction. Luckily, he wasn’t looking at me to catch my surprised reaction. So many things were running through my mind the second the words left his mouth, but I didn’t say shit about it to Mitchell.
“Well, that’s good. See? It’s working.” I should have won an Oscar for being able to keep my cool.
“Okay, let’s do this. Only a few weeks left until the wedding, and you’re going to be with her for every appointment until then. She has a dress fitting this weekend. Can you be there?”
“I’ll be there.”
And I would be.
Whatever it took.
Twenty minutes later, I climbed into my SUV and slammed my palms against the steering wheel.
What the fuck was I doing?
This was my job!
Gwyn was just the fucking job!
I didn’t need to be longing for her.
Thinking of her.
But after Mitchell dropped the bomb about Gwyn touching herself, how the hell was I supposed to think of anything else?
It didn’t matter. This was my job.
The only thing I needed to be thinking about was fucking her into oblivion just as her douchebag fiancé walked in the door. That was what he was paying me for. Except … I wanted more than just a quick fuck with Gwyn. I wanted to feel her on my shaft the way I had never felt any other woman.
The glide of her body as she moved up and down on me.
The warmth as she took me inside and held me close to her core.
I didn’t want it.
I needed it.
And I hated myself so much for that need.
I had kissed her before I dropped her off, and then I had gone after her like a lovesick fuck.
No.
Never again.
It was time I got things back on track and realized what it was I was doing in this situation. It was my job to cheat with Gwyn, and I wasn’t supposed to enjoy it as much as I was.
It was time I moved back into my role. The cock that gets caught inside Mitchell’s fiancée’s hot spot. His way out of his engagement. His ability to keep his job and keep moving up the corporate ladder of Petrova Technologies.
I drove back to the hotel with more determination than I’d ever had over a job. I’d get in and get out … literally, and then I’d make sure I never saw Gwyn and all her temptation ever again.
The next day, I found myself following her. I felt like a fucking stalker, which was a first. I followed my marks all the time. It was just a part of the job, but again, it was different this time.
When was I going to get used to the fact that everything was different with Gwyn?
After my vow the night before, I woke with a different outlook on this job. I dressed, then checked the planner where I had recorded all of Gwyn’s schedules for each day of the week, and realized she would be at the hospital most of the day.
I was determined to treat her like any other mark and finish this job as soon as possible so I could take a long and much-needed vacation. Somewhere tropical where the women dressed half naked and would be all too willing to make me forget the dark-haired beauty who haunted my dreams at night.
Lost in thought, I almost missed it when Gwyn switched directions on me. We were supposed to be going to the hospital, but when she took a left instead of a right, I realized she wasn’t heading back to the city like she normally did.
I frowned when she took the off-ramp to Jefferson Street.
“Where the hell are you going, Gwyn?” I whispered as we made our way just outside of downtown.
She pulled off suddenly, parallel parking in an open spot across from a run-down apartment building, and I cursed as I drove past her, trying to remain unseen.
It took me five minutes to find a parking spot, and by the time I made my way on foot to where she had parked, she was nowhere to be seen. I growled every curse word in the book, even making up a few of my own as I searched for her. An uneasy feeling settled inside my muscles, making them tense as I thought about her roaming alone in this part of town.
I rounded the corner of one of the buildings and bumped into something soft and sweet smelling. The scent was familiar right away, and I reached out, pulling her to me before she lost her balance and fell.
“Hey, you,” I said, letting my palms slide down her smooth arms.
Goosebumps formed beneath my fingertips, letting me know I was affecting her just as much as she was affecting me.
I shook those thoughts away and let my new determination take control.
“Hey.” She looked flustered and confused. “What are you doing here?”
“I was just about to ask you the same thing. Why are you on this side of town?” I asked.
Gwyn and her crowd weren’t the kind of people to wander the rougher side of town. It wasn’t the ghetto, by any means, but it wasn’t the rich roads of the world where she belonged either.
“One of the patients is asking for his mother. She hasn’t visited in two days, and I took it upon myself to come to their address and check on her.”
Anger drilled through me.
“That’s not very safe, don’t you think?”
She pulled away, finally realizing I was embracing her.
“I’m a big girl, Dylan. I can take care of myself.”
My name.
The way she said it in whispered anger lit the fire simmering in my center, making my entire body burst into flames. Heat swarmed across my face, and I had to shake myself when I realized I was blushing like a fucking schoolgirl.
No one made me blush.
No one.
Reaching out, I wrapped my fingers around the top of her arm.
“I’m sorry. You’re not wandering unsafe streets by yourself. Look at you.” I nodded toward her. “Your purse costs more than some people’s rent out here. They’ll eat you alive.”
Again, she tugged her arm away. It was then I noticed the picnic basket in her grasp.
“No one’s getting eaten alive. I’m not some meek little creature just waiting to be pummeled. I know how to defend myself.”
Her words rushed through me, forcing me to move before I could think. I wanted to prove to her she couldn’t protect herself from me, much less some crazy fuck on the streets begging to pawn her three-thousand-dollar purse.
I pressed my body into hers, pushing her against the brick wall of the building at our side. People were all around us, but I didn’t see any of them.
Her eyes went wide, her breath hitching with the contact of our bodies.
“What are you doing?” she asked, her voice breaking over her question.
“What do you think I’m doing? I’m being a predator. What do you think, Gwyn? Do you think you can fight me off?”
My cock grew hard, the length pressing into her, and instead of hiding it, I thrust my hips into her warmth. Again, she gasped, biting her bottom lip in what I knew was pleasure.
“Stop it, Dylan. Please.”
Her words came out weak as if she didn’t actually mean them. I dipped down, letting my lips slide against her soft cheek before moving to her neck. She shook in my arms, and her breathing grew louder.
“The way you say my name,” I whispered against her neck. “It makes me crazy. Say it again.”
“Please,” she whispered once again, attempting to ignore my words.
“Please what?”
“What would Mitchell think?” she asked.
But while her words were saying back away, her body moved into mine and warmed me.
I was learning Gwyn’s triggers. Figuring out what made her body melt for mine.
“What Mitchell doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
I’d used that line before many times, but somehow, this time it held a different meaning.
“I can’t deny it anymore, Gwyn,” I said, letting my lips glide across the soft skin of her neck, back and forth. Soft breaths against her skin.
She swallowed, the movement shifting my lips.
“You can’t deny what?”
I almost chuckled to myself.
She wanted to hear me say it.
Her body moved closer, melting into my heat and sending her sweet cinnamon scent all around me.
“I want to feel you from the inside. All warm and soft … wet. I know I make you wet, Gwyn. You want me just as badly as I want you.”
I had also said those words before, but this time, it was different. The steps my target was supposed to be taking, I was taking.
Need.
Want.
Crave.
“I … Dylan, I think ...”
I had her right where I wanted her, but suddenly, I felt sick with guilt. She didn’t stand a chance, and honestly, I thought so fondly of Gwyn that I didn’t want her to give in to me. She was too sweet.
Too kind.
Too everything good in the world.
I pulled away just as her irises expanded in pleasure. I could have had her at that moment. I could have taken her back to her apartment and filled her to the hilt with all of me, but I didn’t. Instead, I reached down and plucked the picnic basket from her grasp and held it up.
“I think we should eat,” I said, cutting her off before she could finish the sentence I’d been working toward from the start.
“Eat?” she asked, the wonder-filled look in her eyes fading away.
“Yes. It’s a beautiful day,” I said, putting more distance between us. “And you have this beautiful picnic packed. There’s no way I’m leaving you alone out here. So let’s go find this patient’s mother and check on her. Then we squat in the closest park and eat whatever’s inside this basket.” Again, I held the basket up, keeping it between us as a barrier.
She nodded, all the fight leaving her at once.
I followed her just around the corner and watched as she went up the steps of a run-down home. An older lady came to the door, and I watched as they talked, nodding with a sad expression on their faces, before Gwyn made her way back to me.
“Everything okay?”
She nodded. “She’s been sick, and her son’s immune system is suppressed right now. She was staying away to keep him safe. She didn’t call because her cell service was turned off. Hopefully, she’ll be able to visit him once she feels better. He’ll be glad to hear that.”
“I can’t believe you,” I said.
Her brows lowered as if she’d expected a rude remark to follow. “What do you mean?”
“You came all the way out here for that boy. You’re truly a remarkable person, Gwyn.” I was in awe of her.
She chuckled, pushing the hair at the side of her face behind her ear. “I assure you, I’m not.”
I knew she was referring to what had happened between us, and all the guilt of it was probably eating her alive. I thought about her mother, and I wanted to ask about her, but I knew now was not the time. “Well, I’m calling bullshit. Now, you can argue with me, but then I’ll just have to kiss you again to shut you up.”
She looked like she wanted to argue, badly, but instead, she took the basket out of my hand and started back toward the way we came.
“Let’s go eat this before it goes bad,” she called out over her shoulder. “Also, I’m starving.”
I was starving, too, but nothing in that basket she carried would sate my hunger.