Chapter Eight
“I still can’t believe why you’d want me,” Lori said.
Dawg smiled, tracing a finger down her back, curving across each hip. “And why not?”
“You know. I’m not in your line of work, nor have I ever showed you any real attention.”
“I’m going to cry because of that.” He winked at her.
“I’m being serious.” She rested her head on her hand, turned toward him. “Come on, be real for, like, a minute.”
“I’m real for a long time. You’re a beautiful woman, Lori. You were … different.”
“How?”
“Are you searching for compliments?” he asked.
“No. I’m curious. I want to know why you picked me.”
He sighed. “Women are … interesting creatures. Some women want me because of who I am.”
“The crime lord?”
Dawg winced. “I hate that name.”
“That’s what you are.”
“Sounds like some kind of superhero.”
“A crime lord is nowhere near superhero,” she said. “Far from it, in fact.”
“Okay, they want me for my badass reputation.” He moved so that he straddled her legs and began to knead her ass, spreading the cheeks wide and catching sight of that puckered hole. He knew what he wanted next. “Then of course you’ve got the women after my money. I happen to be very rich.”
“You are, are you?”
“Yes, very rich, and I’ve got excellent taste in jewelry.”
She giggled.
He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the base of her back. She released a little whimper, and he didn’t stop. Sliding his fingers between her slit, he slid them inside. Their combined release coated his fingers as he brought them back to her ass, covering her anus. She tensed up but didn’t ask him to stop, so he kept on going, teasing her as he did.
“Then of course, there’re the women who just want to use me. To fuck me, and to say they fucked Dawg Hampshire.” He’d not been a saint before he met her. “Then I saw you. For a long time, you didn’t even look at me, and when I spoke to you, you didn’t seem impressed. In fact, you looked shocked and scared. Even as women have thought that in the past, they’ve always wanted my attention. You didn’t giggle. You didn’t try to get my attention, and in doing so, you got it. I knew you were different. I saw the darkness within your gaze.” He pressed against her asshole, and she whimpered.
That tight ring of muscles kept him out, but he pressed forward, and she took him. Moving to the knuckle, he began to pump his finger in and out, letting her get used to the feel of him inside her ass.
“For three years I waited for you. I employed your father, knowing he was a thief and not to be trusted. I had eyes on him at every point, and I don’t regret that.” He leaned forward, still fucking her ass with his finger. Pressing a kiss to her neck, he flicked his tongue across her pulse. “And I don’t regret this either. You, in my bed. Knowing the truth of what you had to do. You’re a strong woman, Lori. You’ve got to learn to give yourself more credit.”
He added a second finger, and she moved, surprising him as she reached behind her, gripped the cheeks of her ass with each hand, and held herself open to him. Pulling his fingers from her channel, he grabbed the tube of lubricant and smeared plenty all over his cock, coating his dick.
He coated her asshole, sliding some of the gel within her ass.
Once he was finished, he tossed the tube aside and pressed the tip of his cock against her asshole.
Slowly, taking his time, he worked his dick past her tight muscles, and she took him, inch by inch.
With each thrust within her ass, she moaned but didn’t protest. When she’d taken every single inch of him, he gripped her hips and began to fuck her long and slow. He took his time, feeling her ass tighten around his cock.
She held herself open to him, and he reached between her thighs and began to tease her clit. Her ass tightened around him, and he didn’t move until she came again, screaming his name as she did.
He smiled as he grabbed her hips and began to fuck her ass, going deeper with every single thrust.
Lori had no chance of ever getting away from him now, and he was never going to let her go. She belonged to him.
Dawg had been wanting her for a long time, and he didn’t intend to lose her. He’d do everything in his power to protect her, to love her. To give her what she needed.
In the past three years he’d fallen in love with her. Finally having her in his bed was just the icing on the cake.
He felt his orgasm begin to stir and he picked up the tempo, thrusting into her ass one final time.
They both cried out as he came, filling her ass with his cum.
Only when it was over did he pull out of her.
Picking her up in his arms, he carried her to their bathroom and cleaned them both up. Lori didn’t fight him, and the blissful smile on her face was something he never wanted to lose.
His life was dangerous, but he knew there was a chance for them, and he wasn’t about to lose it, not ever.
****
“You’re looking a lot happier than I can ever recall,” August said.
Lori looked up at one of the men she worked for and smiled. “I am. I’m very happy.” August was a family man in his late sixties, and willing to show anyone pictures of his grandkids just so long as they’d listen.
“The last time I saw a smile like that it was on the face of my wife when I asked her to marry me.”
“I’m not getting married. At least not yet.”
“But there is a man in your life?” August asked.
She thought about Dawg, and yes, he was the man in her life. “Yes, I have a man in my life.”
“Clearly, it’s love.”
Averting her gaze, she stammered over her next words. “I-I-I w-wouldn’t go that f-far.”
“And you’re in denial. Listen to a man who has been around for nearly seven decades. When a man makes you smile the way you’ve been doing all morning, there’s a reason for it, and it has nothing to do with being happy in the bedroom.”
Her cheeks heated this time.
He waved his hand in the air. “That, my dear, is love. You’re in love with this man, and you don’t even know it. I sure he knows what a treasure he has on his hands.”
August had always been nice to her.
He went to move away, and she panicked.
“What if I … what if I don’t tell him, and he doesn’t feel the same way?” she asked.
She would never go to her father, and ask for his advice. Her relationship with her father had never really begun. When she was younger, she loved it when he actually stayed home, but that was mainly because her mother always looked happier when he did. For herself, she didn’t care if he stayed or went.
All she ever really cared about was her mother.
“Honey, life is … so short. I could tell you that it feels like yesterday that I met my wife. That I fell in love with her instantly. Too many young people think they’ve got so long to live, but believe me, it goes by so fast, and no one really has enough time. Don’t waste a moment doubting yourself. Put yourself out there, and if he doesn’t like it, then you’ve lost nothing.”
“What about a broken heart? They hurt.”
“Broken hearts can be glued back together. A lifetime of regret cannot.”
He tapped her hand, and she watched him go. She released a breath and closed her eyes. It was lunchtime, so she excused herself, leaving the building where she worked and breathing in the fresh air as she left.
She loved Dawg.
As she stood watching people pass, she thought about the way he was always there. She saw him in the kitchen cooking for her, being teased by herself and by Paul. Then she thought back to the sex club, then to the nights they’d gone dancing. He was different with her. He smiled for her, and held her close. Whenever his arms were around her, she felt safe, warm, comforted.
“Lori.”
Turning to her left she saw her father limping toward her. He had several bruises on his face, and she noticed his hand was bandaged up. He also held a crutch, which helped him to walk.
Aware that her bosses were just past that door a few feet away, she became nervous. She tried her hardest to always avoid Sean.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“I was hoping we could go and get a coffee.”
“Why?”
“You’re still my little girl.”
She scoffed. “Wow, seriously.”
“It’s what your mother would have wanted.”
This made her hands clench into fists. Her anger rushed to the surface, but she didn’t lash out. “You’re right. Let’s go and get coffee.” She stood beside him and let him take the lead. It was still warm, so they sat outside at one of the tables.
Taking a sip of the scalding liquid, she wondered, not for the first time, what he wanted.
“So, you clearly wanted to talk, so talk.”
“I wanted to make sure you’re okay,” he said.
She raised her brow. “You want to know if I’m okay?”
“Yes.”
“Cut the crap, Sean. What is really going on here?” She wasn’t used to him playing the fatherly role, nor showing any concern for what she’d been through when it came to him, and to be frank, she wasn’t interested either.
She just wanted to move on with her life and one day forget about him.
Sean bowed his head. “I know I’ve not been a good father to you.”
“Really, you’re just thinking that through.”
“I know you’ll never forgive me for what happened to your mother.”
She glared at him. “You have no right to talk about her.”
“She was my wife.”
“Who you cheated on time and time again, and she knew it. She knew what you did, and all the times you did it. I had to sit and watch her wish for you to come home. When you did, you barely showed her any attention.” She gritted her teeth, wanting to hurt him.
“You’ve never forgiven me.”
“I stopped hoping you were a better man a long time ago,” she said. “Long before that monster came to our home. You’re my father. I share your blood, Sean, but to me, I have no father. He died a long time ago because there’s no way he’d have ever let anything bad happen to his woman.”
“Is Dawg treating you right?” Sean asked.
She shook her head. “You come near me, wish to see me again, I will tell Dawg that you’re bothering me.”
He smiled. “You two are a very good match. I’m pleased you two finally found each other.”
After that, she didn’t even stay to listen to any more. Without looking back, she sent up an apology to her mother, but her time of protecting her father was over. She was done being the person he could rely on.