Chapter 19

Dalton

I must be turning into a girl. Fuck, I should just hand my man card to the closest fucker around with how jealous I’ve been feeling over the last hour.

A call came in from Shane that I had to take, so I left my sister and my…well, my Devolin.

My Devolin?

My mind froze as it stuck to those two words, my body feeling a calm I hadn’t felt in far too long.

Yes. My Devolin.

Fuck it sounded good.

See?

Man card.

Gone.

What was odd about that was the fact that I didn’t give two shits about that single factoid. So I left the women on my back deck for a visit, while I took my cell to my office to see what Detective Peters had to say.

 

By the time I made it back to the women, Skylar and Devolin were up on their feet, their arms wrapped around each other giggling. I hadn’t realized, until then, how long it had been since I’d heard my sister laugh. Of course she had laughed, but there always seemed to lack genuine happiness, or more like there was an underlying melancholy to her bouts of humor, over the last little while. To hear her laugh like she means it filled me with warmth.

Grinning at the sight before me, I asked. “What’s going on?”

The women turned toward me, their smiles intact, both sets of eyes twinkling.

“Ask your woman,” Skylar said cryptically.

“Sky, I’m not—” The moment Devolin’s eyes met mine, she found herself unable to finish her sentence.

She’s getting it.

Truth be told, whether we wanted it to happen or not, despite the time in our lives where it took root, no matter all external circumstances, she was mine. To even contemplate another man laying his hands on her, to be kissing on her, made me see red. Even if a relationship was the furthest thing from my mind; the way she gave me bits of herself since we met, putting her trust in me, something she rarely did with anyone, meant the world to me. Let’s not forget how electric we were together earlier. As ridiculous as it sounds to me, I have no doubt that Devolin Taylor was going to end up in my arms again. And in my bed. She was already firmly routed in my head, and I couldn’t ignore the fact that she was slowly creeping into my heart, too.

“D?” This came from Skylar, knocking me out of my thoughts and back to the present. “Did you hear anything I said?”

“Huh?”

Skylar’s mischievous smile came out to play. I swear she could read me better than anyone else I knew. “Never mind,” she said, turning to Devolin, who was biting her bottom lip as if trying to prevent herself from laughing. “I’m glad you’re moving on, girl. I’ll see you on Wednesday night.”

“Yeah, but I’m not cooking,” she smirked.

Skylar turned to me once more, then approached. “I’m out of here.” Wrapping her arms around my torso, I gave her a squeeze back. “Any chance you’ll be back by Sunday?”

“Sky…” I groaned. I knew what that meant.

“You haven’t seen him in a month, D,” she said about our father.

“So long as she’s not there, then yeah, I’ll be there,” I tell her about her mother.

“Okay.” Her eyes reflected her relief. “I’ll let him know.”

“Love you, squirt.” I kissed the top of her head.

“Love you, too.” She gave me one last squeeze before backing away with her usual warning. “Be safe.”

I grinned at her words. “It’s just a routine meeting.”

She studied me for a while longer than felt comfortable. I didn’t give away any of the apprehension I felt about the resulting trip that would come out of visiting our country’s northern neighbor.

Once Skylar was happy with what she saw, she gave Devolin a quick finger wave, saying, “Wednesday, doll,” as she made her way off the patio, to the side of my house, toward the front yard.

 

I didn’t waste time. As soon as Skylar was gone, my feet set me toward Devolin, whose gaze resembled that of a deer caught in headlights.

The moment my arms wrapped around her, her taut body relaxed, and her hands came to rest on my chest.

“I should go,” she whispered. “You have an early flight tomorrow.”

“Stay.”

“But—”

“I want you to stay.” I pressed my lips to hers. “Just for a bit longer.” I pulled back to find that her eyes had changed to that dark forest green again. Smirking, I flicked the tip of her nose. “And not for that, sweetheart. I’d be happy if we just talked.”

“Talked?” she squeaked.

My nod was curt. “Talked,” I repeated, as I pulled her toward the patio door, leading the way toward the living room couch.

Instead of taking a seat beside me like I thought she would, she surprised me by hitching her skirt up to straddle my thighs, a self-assured smirk on her face.

My eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What are you doing?”

“Do we really have to talk?” She leaned forward, nipping my jaw.

I groaned. “Dev.”

“I’d rather keep going where we left off earlier.” Her fingers reached into my hair, pulling at the strands, thus keeping my head hostage.

“Sweetheart,” I tried again.

She nuzzled just below my ear before whispering, “Don’t you?” as she settled her crotch nice and tight against mine.

“Baby,” I hissed out. “We really,” she nipped at my lips and I let her, “need,” her tongue snuck out, “to,” I pecked her mouth, because I couldn’t help myself, “talk,” I finished on another peck.

Releasing the hold she had on my hair, she pulled back to cup the sides of my neck, avoiding my gaze.

By this point, my hands were fisted at my sides. This was reason one why we needed to talk. By now, had she been any other woman, I would have been all over her. But because of her tendency to freeze up, even though she had been fine earlier, I really needed to find out where my boundaries lay.

“Dev—”

“What are we doing here, Dalton?”

“We’re trying to feel things out for an us, sweetheart.” I slowly wrapped my arms around Devolin’s torso, letting my hand settle on the small of her back, my fingers itching to reach into the back of her skirt and grab a handful of her ass. “I—”

Her irritated expression softened and her eyes met mine as she surmised, “You’re scared you’re going to push me too far.”

“Yeah.” I swallowed. “I’m not exactly what they call a gentleman,” I confessed. “I know what I want, how I want it, and I’m not above taking it.” My eyes searched hers. “Baby, I don’t know what I’ll do that’ll set you off,” I explained further. “I guess, what I’m saying is that I need to know where your head is at with this. It’s new to you, sweet—”

She shut me up with a tender press of her mouth to mine that ended too soon. “I can’t say I’m not scared too, Kip.” She nuzzled my nose. Normally, I hated being called by that shortened version of my last name; Devolin using it, however, I found that I loved it. “But what I can say is that for tonight, I want your arms around me.” Punctuating the latter with a quick peck, she continued, “Your lips on me.” Another peck. “Maybe a few less articles of clothing.” Another. “And some heavy petting?” she whispered the last over my lips before pulling back, her eyes hopeful.

“Christ, woman, you’re a wet dream come to life,” escaped in one long breath before I leaned forward, snagging her mouth with mine.