Page 56 of Never Stay Gone
That was the real reason he wanted to head out to the truck stop. Shane loved that fake milk and sugar shit. And Dakota loved taking care of Shane, doing a hundred little things that would make him smile.
Smile just likethat. Shane’s cheekbones had turned red as he bit his lip, and the tips of his ears were a solid magenta. He grabbed on to Dakota’s waist, holding him like he didn’t want Dakota to pull away, even though they were exposed, out there for anyone to see against the side of Shane’s truck. “You don’t have to. There’s coffee at the office.”
“I know. I wanna.”Let me love you, Shane, all the ways I can.Big, small, and everything in between.
It was Shane’s turn to kiss him, pull Dakota tight against him and smash his lips against Dakota’s. Dakota had kept his own kiss light and chaste, but Shane seemed to be trying to dig for Dakota’s soul. Dakota wrapped his arms around Shane, slid his hands into Shane’s hair, and knocked Shane’s Stetson from his head.
“Keep this up,” Dakota said, when Shane gave him a moment to breathe—another kiss, and Dakota pinned Shane’s hips to his truck door, ground his stiffening cock against Shane’s crotch, “and we’re gonna be even later than we already are.”
For a moment, he thought Shane was going to say,Then let’s be late, that he was going to take Dakota and lead him right back into the motel room. He was kissing Dakota like he didn’t want to stop, like he wanted to make the morning a whole lot more interesting than it already had been—and Dakota was saddling up for it. When was the last time he’d had this much sex in so few hours? Never mind that. His body wasn’t quitting on Shane.
But no. Shane slowed, his kiss turning from hungry to sweet, then ending with a smile.
“Goddamn, Shane.” Dakota sank his head against Shane’s shoulder. “Warn a guy before you go and kiss ’im like that.”
“Warning.” Shane kissed his temple. He was still grinning. Dakota could feel it. “I’m going to kiss you like that every day.”
Dakota dug his hands into Shane’s back pockets, squeezed his ass, thrust their hips together, and kissed Shane again, thoroughly, deeply, until they heard the distant rumble of tires crunching over the hot pavement on the highway. He stepped back, righting his Stetson as he bent to grab Shane’s from where it had rolled beneath his tailgate.
Shane turned and adjusted himself. Pressed his palm against the swell of his crotch and closed his eyes.
“Serve you right,” Dakota groused. “Kissin’ a man like that when we gotta get goin’.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Shane unlocked his truck and swung into the driver’s seat. “I’ll see you in a bit?”
“Yep, just a lil bit. I’ll head out, talk to Jared, and then bring you your coffee. Not that you should need any caffeine afterthat.”
“Keep up your complaining, Ranger, and maybe you won’t get any more at all.”
Dakota made a show out of locking his lips, throwing away the imaginary key. His heart squeezed, though. It was too soon to be joking like that. He climbed into his own truck as Shane started his up.
“Hey,” Shane called, shifting into gear.
Dakota rolled down his window. “Yeah?”
“I love you.”
He had to drop his face to the steering wheel and blink fast. Goddamn, all his dreams were nothing compared to the reality of Shane saying those words to him. Three little words, words you heard all the time on TV and in movies and on the radio, but when they came from the lips of the one you loved, well…
It was like they’d never been said before at all.
Shane roared out of the parking lot, waving to Dakota as he passed, and turned down the highway to head in to the sheriff’s department. Dakota watched him go, then put his truck into drive and followed. He stayed on the highway, though, not veering down Main.
He watched Shane’s taillights slow at the stop sign. Saw those damn desert willows blooming again. The sight didn’t cut as deeply as it had before, though. Funny what a man saying “I love you” could do.
We’re going to be good together for the rest of our lives. I swear, Dakota: I’m never letting you go.
Please, please. Dakota hadn’t ever really prayed. Not even in Afghanistan, when everyone in his platoon had been throwing out prayers and curses in the same breath in the middle of their firefights. Now, he threw a glance at the heat-stifled sky, not a cloud in sight.Please, God, let this keep goin’. Give us a real chance to make this work. Please.
* * *
When Shane pulledup outside the courthouse, he thought Brian and Deputy Fletcher were on the front steps shooting the breeze. Or maybe smoking. He didn’t think they smoked, but there was a first time for everything.
He called a hello as he parked at the curb, then strode up the walkway to the big double doors. His good mood made his footsteps light, as if he were walking on water. His good mood, or the amazing sex, or finally, finally being able to exorcise his past and his demons and tell Dakota the truth. The truth about himself and about what he’d done all those years ago.
Maybe this was the first few steps of the rest of their lives. Finish the case. Get gone. Go wherever, as long as he and Dakota were together.
“Shane.” Brian stepped in front of the doors, blocking his way. His lips were hard and thin. His eyes were bloodshot.
