ONCE EVERYONE CAME up from the basement, I headed outside. Angel went home to Jay. Coby and Brogan went to her room at the back of the building. And Dale was nowhere to be found.
My phone dinged.
Creena: How’s it going there?
Me: Busy.
Creena: Good.
Me: You spending the night there?
Knowing she was staying with Asher and Meeka for the moment, I wasn’t expecting to get the next text.
Creena: No. ;)
I wanted to laugh. Knowing it was the right reaction but the sound never left my mouth.
I sighed, put my phone away and was about to walk home when I heard deep voices coming from around the building.
Dale caught my gaze but stood off to the side, talking to Greyson, Lian, Henley, and other guys I didn’t recognize.
When I started walking down the parking lot, Dale caught up with me.
“You shouldn’t be alone,” he said. “But …”
I stopped, standing in front of him. I opened my mouth to speak when I caught something in his gaze. It had been the same darkness I had seen in Coby. Every time there was a mission or a fight, he went right to Brogan. It happened with Angel and Asher as well. Sex was a stress reliever. “What happened?”
Dale’s body was stiff, tense. With his hands clenched at his sides, he took several breaths before giving me a small smile. “I need a drink.”
“That’s all you need?” I asked, staring up at him.
He took a step toward me, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear. That touch had become so familiar, I craved it.
“I’ll take whatever you give me, kitten.”
“I don’t know what’s going on,” I told him, “but I really don’t want to be alone either … come home with me.” It was a dangerous suggestion. Knowing we had been taking our individual pain out on each other for the past several weeks, there was no doubt he would end up in my bed by the morning.
“I’ll sleep on the couch.”
A knot formed in the center of my chest but all I could do was nod.
We walked back to my place in silence. It was unnerving, the unanswered questions flowing around us.
“What happened tonight?” I asked, needing the sound of our voices to drown out the demons of my mind.
“Zane got what he deserved,” Dale muttered, brushing a hand through his hair.
“Because of you,” I said, noting the darkness surfacing. It billowed around us, both suffocating and intoxicating at the same.
“Yeah.” He met my gaze. “Because of me.”
“Are you okay?”
Dale stared straight ahead, his jaw clenching. “Yeah. I’m fine, kitten.”
“How about you and Angel? Are you two good?”
“We are. Avenging our brother and his girlfriend kind of helped.”
I inched my fingers around his forearm, holding him. It wasn’t much but I had hoped that small touch would let him know although we had our issues, I wanted him happy. Taking a life, no matter if it was deserved or not, was difficult. I had seen death and destruction. Living a MC life, it was a given. “I’m glad that’s over. I hope Coby and Brogan can move on now.”
“I hope so too but I think that will take a long time.”
“And therapy,” I added, my heart aching for them.
A couple more minutes in silence and we were standing outside my small house.
“Are you coming?” I asked Dale, walking up the porch.
“I wish,” he whispered.
My cheeks heated.
“I can’t go to bed yet. I’ll sleep on the couch. I’m fine with that. But …”
I turned to him. “What?”
He shook himself. “Nothing.”
But I knew that look. It was the same look Coby gave Brogan after she had someone in her chair. Dale needed to have sex and as much as I wanted to give that to him, with the revelations that came to light today, he would have to wait. I needed to be in some sort of control. Even if it was just for a little bit. A couple minutes. Hours. Days.
Brogan had been right. I had lost weight. All the baby weight disappeared in a matter of weeks. I was too focused on Dale instead of taking care of myself. And sadly, he had been the same way.
“Do you have any beer?” he asked, clearing his throat.
“In the fridge.” I kicked off my shoes and headed to the couch, pulling the blanket from the back onto my lap. “Can you grab—” A bottle came into my view. “Thank you.” I twisted off the cap and pulled back half the bottle before letting out a low moan.
Dale chuckled. “I love a woman who enjoys beer.”
My eyes widened over his choice of wording.
“I mean …” Dale blushed. “Fuck.”
“It’s fine.” I took another swig. Holy hell. “I know what you meant.”
“It’s been a long ass night.” He drank from his own bottle, his gaze flicking back to mine every so often.
“Don’t worry about it, Dale.” I shrugged. “No big deal.” Crossing my legs in front of me, I leaned my head against the back of the couch.
“I didn’t know you had brothers,” he said, nodding toward the pictures on the mantel above the fireplace.
It was an easy conversation. One I could appreciate at the moment. “Yeah. Five of them.” I finished my beer, placed the bottle on the table, and sat back. With my hands in my lap, I turned toward him. “How about you? Any siblings?” I asked, remembering that I didn’t know anything about his family.
“No,” he mumbled. “Just me. Like Angel, I was thrown into the system at a young age. I bounced from foster home to foster home and enlisted in the Navy when I turned eighteen and …” He smiled. “You know the rest.”
“My brothers are older. I miss them but we’ve never been close. I was an oopsie. My dad was a douche and left when my mother was pregnant with me. She died of cancer when I was a kid.”
“Shit, kitten, I’m sorry.” He reached for me but pulled his hand back before he could link our fingers.
I shrugged, ignoring the sense of loss from him not touching me. “I was young. My brothers were affected more by it.”
“And you lived with your grandmother?”
“Yes.” My chest tightened. “When she goes, it will hurt but …” I laughed. “But she’s the strongest woman I know. I think she’ll even tell death off when it comes down to it.”
He smiled, drinking the rest of his beer.
We sat in silence for a couple more minutes before Dale said the dreaded words I didn’t want to hear.
“We need to talk but—”
“Right now, I need you to be an asshole,” I said quickly, the confession fumbling from my lips. I met his gaze briefly before looking down at my hands. “I can’t handle anything else.”
“You fell in love with me when I was nice, a good guy as you call it, and you fell in love with me when I was an asshole.” He pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. “We keep going back and forth. This isn’t healthy for either of us.”
But I didn’t want to know what could come next out of this. I didn’t want to know what tomorrow would bring or even what the next hour would consist of. Right now, I just wanted to feel. No fighting. No angry words. “I just want this. Every time we talk, it hurts. I need a night off. I don’t want to feel pain. I don’t want to hate you. I just want …”
“What, Max?” He grabbed my hand, kissing my inner wrist. “What do you want?”
My breath hitched. I chewed my bottom lip. “I just want to feel.”
***
(Dale)
Max was mere inches from me.
She was close but still thousands of miles away just the same. I could feel her before I touched her. Her breath on my skin. Her hands on my body. But we still didn’t touch. We didn’t talk. We only stared. I would do everything in my fucking power to have her come back to me. No matter how long it took, she would be mine again.
“Dale,” my name left her lips like a breathless kiss.
“Max,” I growled, pushing my thumb into the pulse point on her wrist. Her heart sped up the harder I pushed. Her mouth parted, her pink tongue peeking out to lick along her bottom lip.
My body vibrated, the remnants from the kill hours before still grated on my nerves. I didn’t enjoy taking a life, and I knew it would affect me mentally in the long run but at that moment, I just wanted to fuck away the tragedy. Sex after a mission had always been my thing. It was for all of us. We either drank, fucked, or fought. Not always in that order. And right now, my goal was to get back inside Max.
The longer we sat there, the more I wanted to drive my body into hers.
“I’m …” Max’s breath hitched. “I should go to bed.”
“You should.” I released her wrist, trailing my fingers up her bare arm.
“It’s been a long night,” she added, a rosy glow hitting her cheeks.
“It has.” I leaned toward her, my mouth inches from hers. A little further and I would be kissing her but I knew as soon as our lips touched, all bets were off. The obsession I had over this woman would turn into a full-on need to dominate and to own.
“Blankets are in the closet,” she whispered. “Whatever you need, Dale.”
I need you.
She stood from the couch, giving her body a shake. “Well, goodnight.”
***
(Max)
I wasn’t sure if Dale felt it but something had switched since we left the clubhouse. I couldn’t explain it. I couldn’t even fathom what it was that I needed but this driving force to demand for him to do whatever he wanted to me, was on the tip of my tongue. I didn’t care if this was unhealthy. I didn’t care if this was it and after, we both went our separate ways, right now I just wanted to feel him moving inside me. I wanted him to completely own me. In every way possible.
For the past hour, I had been pacing. Back. Forth. Back. Forth. The question of if I should head back downstairs or just sleep it off banged around in my head.
Insomnia was a bitch and tonight she was making me her unwilling slave. Forcing me to submit to the madness of the thoughts racing through my mind, I headed downstairs. I needed to know if Dale felt it too.
I blamed my lack of sleep on the nightmares invading my dreams when really, it was because of Dale being in the same house as me. It was a stupid decision on my part. I should have just stayed with Angel and Jay like they suggested. But the masochistic side of me wanted Dale close.
The closer I got to him, the more intense the need for him became. My body vibrated. The bones beneath my skin trembled. The desire I had for the man unfurled deep within my soul. I needed us to fuck whatever this was out of our systems. I needed him to destroy me and put me back together because sleeping alone wasn’t doing shit.
As soon as my feet landed on the main floor, I glanced around the living room and didn’t see him anywhere. Maybe he left. No, he wouldn’t. Not when Angel demanded that none of us be alone.
When I was about to enter the kitchen, Dale came out.
Topless.
His grey sweatpants hung low on his hips, showcasing that dark trail leading to the treasure beneath. His hard, chiseled chest was nothing like I had seen before. He was big. Much larger than I remembered. His abs twitched, hinting for me to lick them. And when he took a sip from the water bottle in hand, his bicep bulged.
Dale was a fucking God.
He raised an eyebrow, a knowing smirk splaying on his beautiful face. He knew I was checking him out but I didn’t care. The plea for him to take me was on my lips but even then, I couldn’t get it out.
Every nerve ending in my body came alive at the sight before me. I wanted to fight. I wanted to run and for him to chase me. I wanted rough and fast and then slow and passionate.
Dale’s bright blue eyes darkened with lust. He threw the water bottle on the couch and leaned his head from side to side. The tendons in his thick neck cracked. With a slow sweep of his tongue, he licked his lips, taking a step toward me.
I stepped back, my heart hammering against my rib cage. Not sure how this would go, I wanted to turn around and run back up the stairs to my bedroom in hopes that he would chase me.
The sheer look of hunger from him made me nervous yet excited. It made me realize that no matter how hard we tried denying it, whatever we had was far from being over.
When he took another step toward me, a wicked grin spread on his handsome face.
I turned, running up the stairs when I was tackled from behind. I landed with an oomph, the excitement I felt seconds before growing at a billowing speed.
No words left Dale’s mouth as his hands roamed up and down my body. His pelvis pushed into my ass. His erection grew the more he rubbed himself against me.
I bit back a moan, dug my fingers into the carpet on the stairs, and shoved out of his grip. Crawling up the stairs, I attempted to go as fast as I could on all fours when my ankles were pulled out from under me.
A gasp escaped me, my feet kicking out and landing against his stomach.
Dale grunted.
I rushed up the stairs but when I reached the top of the landing, Dale was on me.
He wrapped a hand around my throat and tugged my head back. “Fight me.”
Oh, I planned on it. I kicked and shoved, prying out of his grip but he was too strong for me.
His fingers dug into my flesh. His hands tore at my clothes. It was violent but delicious, everything we had needed.
Dale licked his tongue up the length of my neck and ripped my panties in half. With two fingers, he thrust them inside of me. “Your pussy’s soaked for me,” he snarled in my ear, hooking an arm around my chest. “You like running from me.”
Yes, I screamed in my head but no sound left my lips. All I could do was breathe as he took control. When he took from me what he wanted, I gave in completely. It was the only way I knew how to submit. The only thing I wanted as he pushed himself against me.
My breathing picked up. I panted. I moaned. I gasped for the air I hadn’t breathed since meeting him for the first time months before.
“Tell me you need me,” he demanded on a hard growl, pushing his hand roughly between my legs. “Tell me.”
“I need you,” I whimpered, rocking against him. “I need you so damn bad.”
He kissed my temple, inserting a third finger. “Nice and deep, baby. Take me. Fuck my fingers, kitten.”
I cried out, shaking in his arms. “Dale, please.”
“What do you need?”
“You,” I sobbed, moving my hips in tune with his hand.
Dale moved behind me, spreading my legs, and kissed my tailbone. He inhaled, brushing his nose along the length of my spine. Massaging his fingers into my ass cheek, he sunk his teeth into the flesh.
I whimpered, shaking beneath him. When a tinfoil package ripped behind me, I tensed, “No,” I said. “No condom.”
Dale stiffened behind me.
“Please.” I looked at him over my shoulder. “I need to feel you.” I craved every inch. Every hard vein and throbbing surface as he took complete control.
In a smooth move, Dale entered me.
I swallowed hard, biting my bottom lip to keep from crying out at the unexpected but intense pleasure. He felt so damn good it took the air right from my lungs.
Dale kissed my cheek, squeezing my throat, and began to thrust hard and deep.
With each move, my breath quickened. Our bodies were fused together, moving as one.
He whispered over and over how good it made him feel but all I could focus on was him thrusting hard inside of me.
“Dale,” I sobbed, digging my fingers into the carpet. The pleasure turned into a roar of undying need. The possession for this man became dark as I started moving back against him.
“That’s it, kitten. Fuck my cock,” he groaned, landing a hard swat against my ass. “Shit,” he snarled, digging his fingers into the cheeks of my rear. “Harder.”
“Oh, God.” I met him thrust for every pounding thrust. My body shook, the onslaught of ecstasy forcing spots to dance in my vision.
He didn’t say anything as his hips sped up. With each rough thrust, he opened me completely. He took all the pain I had felt for months and unleashed that ultimate pleasure inside of me.
“Dale,” I repeated on a hard moan.
His hot breath scorched the side of my face. His mouth moved along my skin. His hand moved to my shoulder, squeezing it tight. “You want to feel me,” he eventually said, his hips slamming hard against my rear.
I whimpered, pushing back against him. “Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m … I’m addicted,” I confessed. Not exactly sure what kind of answer he was looking for, I pushed against him every time he slammed his hips into mine.
Dale reached a hand in front of me, spreading my legs wider and dug his fingers into my thigh. “You feel damn good, kitten,” he breathed against my neck.
Leaning my head back against his shoulder, I gave him everything he expected of me. My body. My soul. My feelings. My fucking heart.
“Please,” I begged. “Fuck, Dale. Make me come,” I screamed, my words turning into a plea for his control.
Dale grabbed my wrists, holding them tight behind my back, and drove himself even harder inside of me. “Feel my cock, baby. Feel me destroy this hot body.”
“Yes,” I cried out, pushing back against him until he growled.
“Fuck, Max.” His fingers dug into my hip. His hot breath washing over me until all I felt was this man making me feel every damn inch of him.
“Come for me,” I told him, pulling my hands free from his grasp, and cupped his heavy sac between my legs.
He jumped, pushing me against the stairs. “Fuck. Stop teasing me,” he snarled in my ear and brushed a thumb over the tight area between my ass cheeks.
I jumped, a hot shiver racing down my spine.
“Remember the first time I took you here?” he groaned, rubbing the puckered area.
“Yes,” I breathed, pushing back against him.
“You were so damn tight.” He licked up the side of my face. “Your body makes me fucking hard.” Suddenly, he released me, falling free from my body.
“What are you doing?” I asked, shivering at the loss of his cock inside me.
In a quick move, he had me over his shoulder.
I gasped. “Dale, put me down.”
Landing a hard swat against my ass, he rubbed the spot soon after, repeating it until I writhed against him.
Once we reached my bedroom, he threw me on the bed and flipped me onto my stomach. “I’m taking you everywhere. Every inch. Every damn part of your body. I want you so sore tomorrow, every time you move you think of me. You’re going to forget every man that’s fucked this hot little body.”
“One,” I whispered, arching beneath him.
“One what?”
“I’ve only been with one man before you.”
“Look at me,” he said, his voice rough.
I met his gaze.
“You will forget him.” Dale landed a hard swat on my ass. “You will forget everything about him. Every inch of him that was inside of you.” Dale thrust slowly back into my body. “Feel that?”
I nodded, chewing my bottom lip.
“That’s me taking control.”
“Oh, God,” I whimpered, fisting the sheets in my hands.
Dale ran the back of his hand down my spine, his fingers inching between the cheeks of my ass before pumping into my pussy nice and slow. It was pure torture the way he controlled my body. Every touch forced me to arch like a cat.
Pulling me to all fours, Dale knelt behind me. “Are you ready for me, kitten?”
I swallowed hard, nodding.
“Good.” He kissed my cheek. “’Cause I’m about to make you fucking purr.”