Page 95 of Dark Horse

“What are you doing?” My tone is harsh even to my own ears, but I hear the sounds of her fingers slipping through her wetness.

“Getting off to the sounds your brother’s making if you don’t do something about it soon,” she answers, and I can see the wicked little smile forming on her lips as she looks back at me over her shoulder.

“The fuck you will.” I make quick work of my sweats and boxer briefs, and then I grab her panties, wrenching them down her thighs. I slip inside her easily a moment later, a groanripping from my chest when I feel how wet she is. “That better fucking be for me.”

“It is.” She lets out a muted cry as I start to fuck her slowly. “The way you talked to me in that mirror that day is one of my most reliable fantasies. It just ends a little differently in my head than it did in real life.”

“Hellfire, fuck.” I pull the collar of the T-shirt she wore to bed to the side so I can kiss the crook of her neck as I ease in and out of her at a tortured pace. “You can’t tell me things like that. It gives me fucked-up thoughts.”

“So I shouldn’t tell you that I used to get off after our arguments, imagining you hate fucking me up against the wall?”

“I thought that was a given. That’s my favorite fantasy.” I grin against her neck as I go to kiss her again.

“You feel good like this. I needed this after everything,” she murmurs quietly as she rubs a circle over her clit and lets out a soft gasp.

“I needed this too,” I whisper back, sucking a small mark onto her neck as my hand slides over the soft skin of her stomach. “Something about you makes the rest of the world fade away.”

“Same,” she sighs as I shift to a new angle. She adjusts her position, which lets me take her deeper, and I run my hand over her hip and down her thigh.

“How does your fantasy end in your head?” I ask. “Because I want to know them all. Give them to you.” I dot kisses down the curve of her spine and over the top of her shoulder blade.

“You bend me over the bed and take me, fast and hard, like you can’t control yourself while you tell me what a good girl I am for taking your cock.”

“Youaregood, you know. Underneath all the fight. You’re so fucking good I don’t know if I’m worthy of it.”

“Honestly, Cowboy…” she starts, the words faltered by her gasps as she gets close. “You’re the best man I’ve ever known in my life.” Her voice fades into a soft cry as I hit her just right.

“That’s right. Come for me, work that perfect little clit for me while I fuck you full.” I bury my face in her neck, groaning as I come inside her and listen to her soft murmured curses as she comes all over my cock. “Fuck… That’s my girl. Just like that.” She rocks back against me, and we both fall into a quiet silence as I wrap my arms around her, and she leans into me.

“I don’t know if you’re a devil or an angel sometimes,” she breaks the silence after a few minutes.

“For you? Both.” I smirk and kiss the side of her cheek. “Let’s get you cleaned up.” I stand and hold my hand out for hers. If I ever needed a reason to live, her happy, sated smile as she stumbles out of bed and into my arms would be it.

FORTY-ONE

DAKOTA

The next morning,in the wee hours when we’ve both barely had coffee, and I’ve got Vendetta and the few belongings I have left packed and ready to head to the airport, we stand in the kitchen to say our goodbyes. His face is pained, and his eyes shift to the floor again as he nervously palms his cowboy hat. The man from last night is gone, and he’s doing his best to be all business this morning.

I can tell he’s trying to gather words together, and I know it’s not his strong suit to say how he feels, especially when it comes to emotions in the bright light of day. So I wait patiently, doing my own mental inventory of my feelings. One where I try to tell myself not to blurt anything out or beg him not to do what we both know he has to. I can’t ask him to ignore his obligations for me, and I can’t cry. Not now.

He pulls a key out of his pocket and holds it up before he presses it into my palm.

“This is the key to a safety deposit box down in Colorado Springs, the bank on Tejon Street. It’s yours.”

“Mine?” I take the key, my brows knitting together as I try to figure out how I could have a safety deposit box I didn’t know about.

“It’s in your name, but I’ve been a key holder. I opened it after Jesse died.” He takes a breath, and his eyes raise to meet mine. “There’s just under a million dollars in it. It’s yours either way, okay? But if something happens, you take it and run.”

“I can’t take your money, Grant.” I hold the key back out to him.

“It’s not my money. It’s yours.” He presses it back into my palm and closes my fingers over it.

“Mine? How can it be mine? Did Jesse leave it?” I can’t imagine I wouldn’t have seen that in the paperwork. Grant reluctantly let me help go through all of it.

“It’s all the rent from the bar. I’ve been putting it in there. I needed it somewhere safe, so if anything ever happened with me… RICO or something, they couldn’t touch it.”

I’m struggling hard with the promise I made to myself not to cry. He sees how glassy my eyes look, and he turns away, running his teeth over his lower lip and glancing down at the floor.

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