Dakota

Two Years Later

It’s a cold, clear night, and I’m glad I went against the sleeveless cocktail dress I had my eyes on for tonight. The boat is heated, but when the real show starts at midnight, it will mean stepping out onto the deck to watch the fireworks kicks off the New Year.

“This is perfect. I can’t believe you got reservations!” I look around as Trent enjoys a sip of his after-dinner cocktail.

“Someone dared me,” he says with a smirk, and we both laugh.

I smile at him. Sometimes, I can’t believe this is my life. That anyone could be this happy. “Yeah, I know. You’re a big deal.”

He raises his glass in my direction before taking another sip of the amber Scotch. “Hey, you have no idea what a big deal I am.”

“Oh, I think I know,” I reply.

“No. You don’t. I’ve been keeping it a secret to surprise you tonight.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Uh-oh. What didn’t you tell me?”

“It’s good, I swear.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll be the judge…”

“You’re tough.” He smiles. “Okay, be the judge. What if I told you that you are now looking at the sole owner of the company Firedog?”

My jaw nearly hits the table. I search his face for any sign that he’s pulling my chain. He’s not. “How?” I gasp.

He shrugs. “Bought Sukie out. We signed the papers this morning. That’s why I couldn’t go out of town this weekend. And you were so pissed,” he reminds me.

I lean forward. “Not pissed. Just really disappointed. I had a surprise for you.”

His eyes light up. “You did?’

“I did.”

“Can I still have it?” he asks eagerly.

“You can have it tonight.”

He grins broadly. “Well, now that I know what I’m doing tonight.”

“Actually, you don’t. I told you it’s a surprise,” I say, pretending to be scornful.

His eyebrows rise up. “Now, I’m really intrigued.”

“You can stay intrigued. Now back to your surprise. You should’ve told me!”

“Like I said, I wanted it to be a surprise.” He sits back, smiling like the Cheshire Cat. “So? Surprised?”

“Extremely! I still can’t believe she went for it!”

“Eh, she knew it was time to move on. She jumped on-board after the game show aired, when she saw what I was willing to go through to get the capital, but two years have passed and she’s happy to cash out. She’ll made ten times what she put in two years ago.”

“I’m so proud of you. I wish I could jump you right now,” I murmur. I’ve done some crazy things with him, but attacking him in the middle of a New Year’s Eve dinner cruise might be too much even for ex-Dare Me contestants. Funny thing, we’ve never been able to live that down. Even now, we are often recognized. Sometimes, people want our autographs or just to shake our hands. They tell us that we are the best contestants that the show has ever had. All the others are pale imitations of us. Once a couple even pretended to fall in love like we did to boost up their likability score with the audience. The audience, which Trent had first thought were sheep, saw right through them.

“Ooh. Save that thought for later after my surprise.”

Trent growls.

It’s making me giggle. I think of my surprise and color floods up my face.

“You’re blushing,” he notes in wonder. “Wow, that must be some surprise you have in store for me.”

I turn my attention to the beautiful skyline as we glide down the Delaware. “It looks a lot different from this angle,” I murmur.

“You mean, as opposed to looking down at it from a helicopter?”

“Yes. But also…from two years later. If that makes any sense.” I look at him again. “Everything looks different on this side. Like, at this time, I was desperate. I had no idea how to pay for Mom’s treatment. I didn’t know if she would survive, how much time we had left. I was alone except for her and Jenny. I didn’t have another person in the world to lean on, or even share the happy times with.”

“And now, look how everything’s changed,” he agrees. “Your mother’s out on a date tonight, probably having a wilder time than we are.”

“Oh, I doubt that very much. Mom is not doing to any guy what I am planning to do to you.”

Trent laughs.

I laugh too. I know what she will be doing. She’ll be dancing until dawn with her latest conquest in a Center City ballroom. Just one of a string of men falling over themselves to earn an evening with her. Beating cancer gave her a new lease on life in more ways than one. I’ve never seen a woman so determined to squeeze as much out of every day as she is.

“There’s nothing but good times on the horizon for her,” Trent says

“And if there isn’t?”

He frowns. “Not the time to be negative.”

“I can’t help it. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and my heart’s pounding out of my chest because it hits me that everything is way too perfect. Doesn’t that ever strike you as odd? How perfectly everything worked out?”

He shrugs. “I mean, it’s not like things fell into our laps. We both worked hard before the show came along, and now we’re enjoying the rewards of our hard work. We both deserve it. Besides, it’s not like we’re resting on our laurels now. We’re still working to build our life.”

“That’s true.” Only it doesn’t quite settle the nervous fluttering in the pit of my stomach.

“Listen.” He leans close, taking my hand over the table. “Life happens. We can never predict what things will look like, even a year from now. There will always be twists and turns, but the one thing you’ll never ever have to worry about is us, you and me. We will always be the most important thing in my world. I am always here for you. I know we can get through anything.” He chuckles. “Look what we’ve done so far.”

His words and his smile are like a balm on my soul. He’s right. We can get through anything together, so long as we’re on the same team. And I know I’ll always be on his team. That’s something I never have to question.

He looks down at his wrist watch. “It’s almost midnight. Come on. I want to see the fireworks.” He gets up and tugs me out of my chair before draping his suit jacket over my shoulders.

I turn and look into his face. Mom said be grateful for the small things. Right now, I’m grateful that he never asks if I need his jacket to stay warm, or his arms to help me. It’s there if I want it. The feeling of always being protected, of always being the first thing on his mind, is one I know I’ll never take for granted.

He brushes his hand over the back of my neck, exposed because of the twist my hair is swept up in. He bends his and kisses the nape of my neck lightly.

A shiver runs up my spine. Even two years later, he still has that effect on me. “Can you feel the energy in the air?” I ask as we step out onto the deck. We reach the rail. Other passengers are joining us, lining up and facing in the direction of the waterfront, where the fireworks are set up.

“What does it feel like to you?” he asks, standing behind me with his arms around my waist.

Between the jacket and his warmth, I feel completely comfortable and safe. “Promise,” I decide. “The promise of a fresh, new year. Anything can happen. Miracles, even. I wouldn’t have guessed you were about to come into my life two years ago at this time.”

“Same here,” he murmurs in my ear, and his mouth brushes against the diamond earrings he bought me for Christmas.

I close my eyes for a moment and make a wish. Please, more of this. More of him, more love, more happiness, more adventure. Whoever you are up there, please, give me more of this and I’ll never be anything but grateful.

“Ten…nine…eight…seven…” we count together, all of us on the boat and everybody standing along the water on both sides of the river. Our voices rise up like a chorus. The second we hit ‘one’, the first firework shoots up into the air.

“Happy new year!” I shout, turning to him for a sweet kiss. There’s cheering all around us, laughter and music. It’s like standing onstage during the finale of the show all over again. Or at Eva’s concert. The world is celebrating and it’s the two of us, kissing in the middle of it, in our own world.

“Hey. I have something to ask you,” he shouts over the noise from the fireworks when he pulls back from the kiss.

“What is it?” I look into his eyes and I see something there that I’ve wanted to see for a long time. A spark of nerves and exhilaration. This isn’t going to be any old question.

He glances to the left and right, at all the people around us, and smirks. “I could’ve done this in the middle of a crazy scenario. A sinking ship, maybe, though that has nothing to do with the status of our relationship,” he adds quickly when he sees the look on my face. “I mean, something that would reflect how we started out together. A crazy stunt. Skydiving? Bungee jumping?”

I giggle. “Oh, right. Because I would ever jump off anything after that helicopter.”

“You said you loved it and wanted to do it again!”

“Yes, but that was two years ago. A lot of time has passed and I realize now that I was insane.”

He chuckles. “I hope you don’t feel the same way about us. That you were insane back then.”

“How could I ever think that?” I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my whole life.” This is something I tell him pretty much on the regular.

“That’s good to hear, because I have something to ask you.”

I forget how to breathe. I swear, this man is going to kill me one of these days because I keep forgetting to breathe around him.

He drops to one knee, slowly, drawing it out, teasing me a little.

My startled gaze drops down to him. “What are you doing?” I whisper, even though I know very well.

“What do you think?” He slides a hand into his pocket and pulls out a velvet box.

It’s all happening. Everything I’ve ever wanted, right here in front of me. The most perfect man, somebody who loves every part of me, even the rough patches and the things I’d rather not let anybody else see. He wants to see those parts. He wants to love all of me, and I couldn’t ask for more than that.

Well. Maybe a little magic. But he gives me that, too. Like right now, right in this moment, with the fireworks going off overhead, the music playing and the sparkling light reflecting in the water. Reflecting off the diamond, he reveals when he opens the box.

Holy crap, is that thing real?

“Dakota,” he whispers, looking up at me with a faint smile. “You’ve made these two years the happiest of my life. You’re the missing piece I didn’t know I was missing. With you, my life is finally complete. I have a real reason to get up every day, because it’s our life I’m working to build. Along with you. We’re a team, the best team I could’ve asked for. You’re everything in the world, my reason for being. And I love you with all my heart.”

I cannot breathe, I just can’t.

He looks down at the ring, then back up at me. “I swear to you on this ring that you’ll always have every bit of me for the rest of our lives. I’ll strive every day to be the man you deserve, because you deserve my best and nothing less. You will always have my devotion, support, respect, and adoration. Will you marry me?”

I can’t even see anymore, my eyes are so full of tears. I’m crying so hard, I can barely move. But I can nod. I can whisper, “Yes.” Once the ring is on my finger, I wrap my arms around his neck and hold onto him because my legs are too weak to support me.

As always, he holds me up. Whenever I don’t think I have it in me to stand anymore, when I’m tired, frustrated, hopeless, he’s the one who holds me up until I feel strong again. And he just promised to do that for the rest of his life. This wonderful, wonderful man wants me to marry him. I still can’t believe I’m the one he chose, or that he chooses me everyday. The way I chose him.

“I love you,” I whisper in his ear.

“And I love you,” he whispers back.

It’s only then that the sound of even more applause filters into my consciousness. We’re surrounded by cheering passengers who slowly but surely became clued into what was happening. I hear our names called out too, which reminds me there are still people who remember us from the show.

“I guess we should be used to this by now,” he whispers in my ear.

“We did sort of get our start in front of the entire country,” I whisper back, holding him tighter than ever. We stay that way for a long time, wrapped up in each other, as the new year starts and we sail into it together.

Later that night…

She comes into the room wearing the little black babydoll nightie that always gets me hard instantly and holding a silk scarf. I lie in bed naked watching while my dick gets harder and harder. She stops at the bottom of the bed. Her hair is freshly washed and shiny.

“So where’s my surprise?”

“You have to wear a blindfold first,” she says.

I grin. “Okay.”

“No taking it off until I tell you to,” she says sternly.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

She gets on the bed and knee-walks towards me.

Fuck, her surprise—I just want to grab her and devour her pretty pussy.

As if she can read my mind she says, “You’ll regret it, because I can tell you now that you are going to love your surprise.”

I let her blindfold me and fuss around checking that I can’t see from under the silk.

“Right,” she adds. “Remember. You can’t take it off no matter what. Until I tell you to.”

“Got it.”

“I’m going to go out of the room and when I come back, you’ll get your surprise, okay?”

“I’ll be here waiting.” I hear her go out and head out in the direction of the kitchen. What the hell kind of surprise has she cooked up? Intrigued, I listen until I hear her footsteps come back. I say nothing while she gets on the bed. I feel her straddle my thighs. Instantly, I’m hard again.

“My, my, you’re eager,” she teases.

“I’m always eager for you, sweetheart. Are you going to use that sweet little tongue of yours?”

“Maybe.” She takes my cock in hand and gives it a few strokes.

Then I feel her warm tongue on the tip of my dick. She’s licking my pre-cum. I groan.

I hate the blindfold, because I want to watch her. I never tire of her little cat-like licks. Her tongue moves to lick the underside of my cock and the thick vein underneath pulses. I feel thick cum dribble out of me. Suddenly, something weird happens. Whoa? Whoa! What the fuck is that? Her warm mouth is still sucking my cockhead, but something else incredibly juicy is happening too. It is wet, and wild, and fucking weird, but in a good way. In a very good way.

“How are you doing that?” I ask.

“Take your blindfold off,” she instructs.

I don’t need a second bidding. The blindfold is off and Goddamn, I’m staring at my woman using a grapefruit that she has hollowed out to simultaneous jack me off with while she greedily sucks my cockhead.

For a moment, I’m too surprised by the sight. I might give into the strangely fleshy pleasure or I’ll laugh. I decide to give in to the fleshy-pleasure, because hell, nobody gives head like Dakota, I could lose my soul right out of my dick.

She moans around my tip as I come deep in her throat. I watch her swallow everything. She lifts her mouth from my cock and pulls the grapefruit from my dick. We have made an enormous mess. I pull her hand and she falls on top of me. I touch her cheek and she smiles at me. Her face is so innocent it makes my heart ache. I have never felt so utterly protective over any other woman before.

She looks at me from under her lashes. “And that was the grapefruit blowjob. Was it a good surprise?”

“Spectacular. Just spectacular.”