Page 38

CHAPTER 38

EMILY

I t was nothing. He was just talking. He’s allowed to talk to people. He’s a professional athlete. It’s part of his job. It was nothing. Just… PR.

As I pace the length of the bathroom, I try to convince myself that what I saw was nothing. But as I close my eyes, all I can see is Dallas looking down at the beautiful woman, her finger trailing over his chest, her perfect breasts pushed out, and my self-doubt rears her disheveled head.

He went off with Logan. I was waiting for him. He looked at me like he’d be right back. But he was gone for so long. And then I see him, in the only darkened corner in this place, hidden by the wall of lush plants, with a goddamn supermodel all over him.

I turn, resting my hands on the counter, and as I look at myself in the mirror, I’m forced to take a few deep breaths because I can feel myself spiraling as Luke’s familiar voice taunts me from deep down in the murky depths of the tainted part of soul. You’re covered in scars. You’re disgusting. You’re better off dead.

Tears prick my eyes, and my hands tremble as I tuck my hair behind my ears.

I’m thirty-five years old. What am I even doing, thinking some hot shot twenty-six-year-old professional athlete would want me? If anything, I’m probably just some fetish. A conquest he’ll tire of sooner rather than later. Dallas is young, attractive, and successful; he should be with women like her . What the hell is he doing with me? Surely, it’s a joke. It might even be a bet. I’m probably something for him and his hockey buddies to laugh about in the locker room. God, I’m a fucking idiot.

The bathroom door opens, and I turn away from the entrance because I really don’t want to be that girl, crying in the bathroom of a bar, especially not at thirty-fucking-five. Sniffling, I wipe the tears that have fallen and wash my hands quickly, squaring my shoulders and turning to walk out. But I’m stopped in my tracks at the sight of Dallas standing there, arms folded across his chest, his hulking frame blocking the exit as he leans against the wall.

“Why are you crying?” he asks, his voice low and almost threatening.

I shake my head, dismissing his question.

“No, you tell me right fucking now—” he says through gritted teeth. “Why are you crying?”

The tears make a reappearance and my bottom lip trembles, and I hate myself for it because the last thing I want is for him to see me crying right now. Could I be any more pathetic? I wipe my cheeks with the back of my hand, stifling a sob, and Dallas stalks toward me, closing the distance between us with three easy strides.

“Look at me,” he demands, grabbing my arms and ducking low so I’m forced to see him. “Yes, I slept with her. Yes, she just tried to get me to go home with her again. No, I didn’t even hesitate when I told her I have a girlfriend and I’m in love, and that I am not fucking interested in her or anyone else, nor will I ever be.”

I sniffle, staring into his eyes, finding nothing but honesty in his blazing green gaze.

“I meant what I said, Goldie,” he whispers, crouching even lower, his hands cupping my face as he looks so deep into my eyes. “You’re it for me. There’s no one else. There’s never going to be anyone else. I love you. I’m so fucking in love with you. And whether you like it or not, you’re stuck with me, baby.”

“She was so pretty…” I say so quietly, I’m not even sure he hears me.

“Yeah,” he says, surprising me. “She was pretty. In fact, if I’m being completely honest with you, which I only ever want to be, they all were. Every single woman I’ve ever been with has been pretty .”

My brows knit together as my eyes bounce between his, confused where he’s going with this.

He flashes me the hint of a knowing smile. “Pretty. That’s all it ever was for me. Surface-level. But then I met you. And for the first time in my life, I saw what true beauty really is, inside and out.”

Dallas presses his forehead against mine, his voice a hushed whisper as he says, “Please tell me you believe me, Goldie. I don’t need much in this life, but fuck I need you to believe me.”

I close my eyes, nodding once.

“Talk to me, baby.” He strokes my cheeks with the pad of his thumbs, collecting the tears that have fallen.

“I got into my head,” I admit defeatedly. “I started to convince myself that I was a joke, or a bet… that you were just with me to laugh about it with the guys in the locker room.” I open my eyes in time to see Dallas’s throat bob with a thick swallow, his jaw ticking. “And then I heard Luke’s voice, reminding me that I’m disgusting, and that I’m better off de?—”

“Don’t!” Dallas interjects, eyes closed tight, tone steely. He inhales deeply, and I hear the breath rack through him. And then, when he opens his eyes again, I see nothing but determination in his gaze as he stands back to his full height.

“Turn around.”

Confused, I hesitate a moment before doing as he says, turning to face the mirror.

Dallas presses up against me from behind, his eyes staring into mine in the reflection. One hand grips my hip, and the other snakes around to my front, slowly releasing one button on my shirt and then another.

I suck in a gasp. “Dallas!”

“Shhh.” He leans down, lips skating over my neck as he whispers, “I locked the door.”

I swallow the apprehension that balls in the back of my throat, unable to ignore the heat that pools between my legs.

“Look at yourself, Goldie,” he murmurs, kissing my neck, his eyes still fixed on mine in the mirror as he continues releasing every button on my shirt until it’s hanging open, revealing almost all of me. “Look at how fucking perfect you are.”

My skin erupts in goosebumps as Dallas gently tugs the shirt off my shoulders, the air cool as it grazes my skin, contradicting the warmth pressed up against me from behind.

Big hands wrap around my waist, skating up over my ribs, cupping my breasts, gentle yet firm. And as he lays his tongue flat, licking the sensitive spot at the base of my neck where it meets my shoulder, I release a shuddering breath, clamping my bottom lip between my teeth to stifle my sounds.

“Feel how much I want you?” He tilts his hips, and I can feel his rock-hard length press into my lower back. “This is what you do to me, baby. This is all you. Only you. You’re all I want. Now and forever.”

The need swells deep inside of me, my center throbbing from his words, his touch, and the look in his eyes. Meeting his gaze in the reflection, I arch my back, pressing my ass into his erection and watching his throat work with a hard swallow as his hands move down to my hips, holding me right where I am.

“I want you,” I whimper. “Here.”

Dallas closes his eyes, his jaw clenched tight. “I don’t have a condom.”

“I don’t care,” I whine. “I’m clean.”

“I’m clean. I got tested at the start of the month. And I’ve never gone without a condom. ”

“Yes,” I demand impatiently. “Just pull out. Come all over my ass.”

He sucks in a breath, squeezing his eyes closed again and burying his face into my hair. “Fuck. Say that again.”

I grin to myself. “Come all over my ass… or wherever the hell you want, just fuck me… please .”

Dallas smirks, licking his bottom lip, and his gaze darts to the door before finding mine again in the mirror. “Can you be quiet, Goldie?”

I nod frantically, needing him more than I need air.

He chuckles lowly, and one hand disappears, followed by the sound of his zipper releasing. “We’re gonna have to be fast.”

I nod again.

“Are you… emotionally attached to these tights?”

“Huh?” I quirk a brow.

Without responding, I feel his fingers rip my tights, tearing them open and, sliding my thong aside, he swipes his thick finger through my folds, hissing through his teeth. “Jesus Christ, you’re fucking dripping.”

My head falls forward on a groan when I feel his fingers push into me. It’s torture because it’s exactly what I want yet not nearly enough. I press back against him, seeking more, and he chuckles again, nudging my knees apart.

“Bend over and hold onto the counter, baby,” he coos, smoothing a hand down my back to urge me forward. Grabbing my ass, he pulls my cheeks apart before sinking into me.

I gasp at the feel of his thick length stretching me in the most delicious way until he’s balls deep and filling me completely. Gripping the counter, I’m practically panting, pushing back a touch, willing him to move. Dallas holds me where I am, face twisted in a look of pleasure and pain, a vein protruding in his neck.

“Shit, baby, your pussy is a fucking dream ,” he mutters, his voice tight and strained. “I’m not gonna last long,” he warns, pulling out almost all the way, hazy, hooded eyes meeting mine in the mirror as he thrusts hard and deep.

“Yes, yes, yes,” I say on a moan, keeping my voice down as best as I can when he hits me in the one place that makes my whole body feel as if it’s on fire.

Dallas pulls out again, plundering me over and over, deeper each time, the filthy sound of his balls slapping against me seemingly amplified through in the bathroom, bouncing off the tile and glass. “One day I’m going to come deep inside of this perfect pussy. Claim you from the inside out.”

I bury my face into my forearm, biting down on my skin, edging closer and closer to the point of no return, my thighs burning as that coil of bliss tightens deep inside me.

“C’mere, baby,” Dallas mutters, wrapping his arm around my front and pulling me upright, my back pressed against his heaving chest as he fucks up and into me. “Look at us,” he grunts against the shell of my ear.

I rest my head back on his shoulder, watching us in the mirror.

“Look at you,” he utters, his hand snaking under the waistband and into my tights, into my thong, thick finger finding my clit and circling it with fervor. “Look how beautiful you are, Goldie.”

I look at myself, taking in my own reflection. And I must admit, he’s right. In spite of my scars, I am beautiful. He makes me feel beautiful.

“Say it, baby,” he rasps into my ear. “Say you’re beautiful.”

“I’m beautiful,” I manage through a whimper.

Dallas’s hand moves up to my neck, wrapping around my throat, not tight, just tight enough, and it sparks something deep inside of me, a neediness I never knew existed.

“Oh, God.”

“You like that, huh?” He grunts, his hand tightening around me just a touch. “You like my hand around your throat?”

“Yes,” I pant out .

“Tell me, Goldie,” he demands. “Tell me who owns this perfect fucking body.”

“You!” I moan, bucking when his fingers pinch my clit.

“And who do you love?”

“I love you.” My knees buckle and Dallas grins, holding me upright.

“Is my good girl going to come for me?” He thrusts hard, so deep I feel it hit me somewhere foreign, a wave of pleasure coursing through every limb, lighting up every fiber of my being.

“Yes, baby,” I whimper. “Make me come.”

“Are you gonna gush all over me?” He grins, his eyes lighting up mischievously.

I nod.

With a look of determination in his eyes, Dallas continues flicking my clit, his other hand moving from my throat, trailing down between my breasts, over my stomach and to my pelvis where he presses into me at the same time as he fucks me hard, his hips tilting in a way that makes his length rub up against my G-spot, causing me to cry out.

“That’s it.” Dallas grunts, his mouth falling open, watching me in awe like he knows what’s coming.

Less than a second later, my orgasm tears through me, exploding deep inside, my release gushing out while he fucks me through it, prolonging the euphoria. It’s like an out-of-body experience, Dallas holding me upright as I fall apart in his arms, the world around us ceasing to exist in this moment.

“There’s my messy, filthy girl,” he rasps, biting down on the shell of my ear as I keep coming all around him.

“Holy shit—” I pant breathlessly, unable to find my words. “So… fucking good.”

“Where do you want my cum, baby?” Dallas asks through gritted teeth, his thrusts turning sloppy and frantic.

“My mouth.” I turn in his arms, dropping to my knees in front of him. Wrapping my hand around his length that is drenched from my release and smells of me, I peer up at him, licking my lips. “I want you to come in my mouth.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he mutters through gritted teeth, gently stroking my cheek, his thumb hooking into my lips and pulling them apart. “Open wide and let me fuck this pretty little mouth.”

Gripping him tight, I wrap my lips around him, sucking him hard, and that’s all it takes. With a feral, animalistic groan, his thighs clench and buck, his dick thrusting so deep I almost gag, his warm release coating my throat in spurts that keep going. Humming in appreciation at the salty taste of him on my tongue, I swallow, taking every last drop until he sags over me, holding himself up by gripping the counter.

I wipe at the corners of my mouth, relaxing back on my haunches as I stare up at him, marveled by just how perfect he looks when he’s completely undone. He looks wrecked and ruined, but in the best possible way, and I can’t help but smile because I did that to him.

As if he’s just realized I’m still here, Dallas grabs me, pulling me up to my feet, holding me tight as his lips crash against mine in a bruising kiss that steals my breath.

“Come home with me,” he murmurs against my lips.

“Okay,” I say on a breathy moan.

“No, I mean—” He pulls away enough to look me in my eyes. “Come home with me. To Texas. For Christmas.”

I search his eyes, trying to process exactly what he’s asking.

“I want to take you home.” His gaze is imploring, hopeful yet tentative like he’s afraid of my answer.

I smile, cupping his jaw, my thumb stroking his stubbled upper lip. “Okay.”

A relieved grin curls his lips. “Yeah?”

I nod.

Wrapping his arms around my waist, he hugs me tight, burying his face into the crook of my neck and breathing me in. “Fuck, I love you so damn much, baby. ”

“I love you,” I murmur into his shoulder, breathing him in. “More than?—”

A loud bang comes from the door cutting off my words, and both Dallas and I freeze, gaping at one another.

“Can y’all hurry up and finish fucking,” an unfamiliar female voice sounds through the door. “There’s, like, five of us waiting to pee!”

My eyes widen as I gape up at Dallas. I want to die. I’m half naked, my tights are torn, and I’m covered in my own cum. But he just laughs and squeezes me a little tighter.

And I do love him. More than I’ve ever loved anyone. And it’s amazing and beautiful and terrifying all at the same time.