Page 57 of Dash

Start developing a love language, Dagger. You’re gonna need it to show Thena you’re ready to move up the evolutionary chain.

What I really wanted to do was crush her to me, rip off her dress, and kiss every inch of her body until the sun rose again. But I couldn’t. Not until I regained her trust and repaired what remained of our precarious relationship.

As King negotiated the curves of the country lane and eased the limo through the hills, her silence lengthened. The air between us crackled with something akin to electricity. I wastongue tied and still furious at LeBlanc. In the end, it was she who broke the silence.

“I didn’t know you had so many security assets inside the ballroom,” she said.

The muted sound of her voice in the cabin stroked my ears, sensual and velvety. It sent goosebumps to pebble my skin and my blood rushing south. The way my body reacted, she might as well have caressed my dick with her voice.

Get a hold of your horny, Marine.

I craved her body like crazy, but more than that, I craved her, the whole of her, the complete physical, emotional, and spiritual connection we’d once shared.

“Those assets are my friends,” I said, instead of drowning in her kisses as I wanted.

“You’ve got good friends and they show up.” Her smile reminded me of the young girl I’d adored. “I’m happy for you, Dash. I am.”

Leave it to Thena to soothe me without trying. Her words touched me with tenderness I hadn’t felt in a long time. I wasn’t exactly Romeo incarnated, but I seized the opportunity.

“I’d offer you champagne, but Dr. Jacob would have my nuts on a platter.” I reached across for the bottle sticking out of the silver ice bucket. “How about some fine water, straight from Fiji?”

“Sure.” She giggled, much to my relief. “I’ll take a double.”

“A double it is.” I cracked open the lid and filled a pair of flutes. Wary of saying all the wrong things, I handed her one of the glasses then lifted my flute in the air. “To better days.”

She clinked her glass against mine. “To better days.”

She sipped on the cool, crisp water, dainty draws that left the imprint of her lips on the edge of the glass. My body wanted to be her flute just about now. Damn if I didn’t have to call my unruly dick to order. I took a deep swig and tightened mycontrol.

I ventured. “Thena—”

“Dash,” she said at the same time.

“Go ahead,” I mumbled.

“No, you go,” she offered.

“Ladies first,” I insisted.

“Okay.” Holding on to her glass, she took a deep breath and crossed her legs, a movement that widened the slit of her skirt and exposed her skin all the way to her thigh.

The gods of lust were taunting me tonight. If this was a test, I was failing it. I drew on my glass again, hoping the water would cool me off. No such luck.

“I want to say that I’m sorry,” she started, shocking the hell out of me. “I’ve thought about the things you said yesterday. I made a huge mistake. I know my actions hurt you.”

“You don’t have to—”

“Yeah, I do.” She took a deep breath, and her lovely breasts strained the hold of her gown. “I know that your dignity, pride, and honor are very important to you, but I need you to understand that, on the day we broke up, I wasn’t thinking straight. Ever since then, I’ve been working based on the wrong assumptions.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. She was right about most of my feelings, and yet she wasn’t the only guilty party.

“I’m not stupid—”

I spoke over her. “I never said you were—”

“Please, let me finish.” She lifted a hand in the air then dropped it slowly to her lap. “I’m not trying to make up excuses, but back then, I was overwhelmed, grieving Nix, and worried about you. You were so busy looking after the survivors and you seemed… different.”

“Different how?”

---