Page 17 of Vendetta
Jason waited, still listening.
“I guess…” she started, then stopped.Took a breath and tried again.“A few months ago, I walked away from a five-year relationship.We weren’t married, but it kind of felt like it sometimes.Lived together, built a life together… or tried to.I don’t think he ever really saw me.”
“Was he as young as you?”Jason asked.
Dylan shook her head.“Maybe that was the problem.I’m into older men, but he wanted to control my every move, my every thought.”Her voice went soft.“When I left, I told myself I was done shrinking to fit inside someone else’s expectations.I came back here because I needed space to figure out who I am again.And yeah, part of me wanted to prove I could handle this job.That I didn’t need anyone telling me what I could or couldn’t do anymore.”
She looked up at him, her gaze steadier now.“I didn’t come back to be reckless.I came back to be me.I just didn’t expect ‘me’ to feel this damn complicated.”
Jason held her eyes for a long moment, something unreadable flickering behind his own.Then he nodded, quiet.“Complicated’s okay,” he said.“So long as it doesn’t get you killed.”
“What else am I going to do?”she asked.She’d posed the question to herself dozens of times with no answer coming.“Working at the bar is what I’m used to.I don’t really want to work as a checkout girl or in an office.That’s just not me.”
“There are more options than that, you know.”Laying his arm along the back of the couch behind her, his fingers started toying with a lock of her hair idly.“Why not a waitress?”
Dylan had to laugh at that.“Yeah, you thinkweget treated like shit sometimes?Waitresses have it much worse, believe me.”
“I don’t know,” he said, studying her now.“There’s a family-owned Greek restaurant near where I’m staying.Nice place.The waitresses there look like they do pretty well.”
“Where do you live by the way?”She hoped it wasn’t too forward a question.She wasn’t trying to scare him away.
“Renting a room by the day,” he explained.
Oh.Wait.He was just here temporarily?
Now his entire hand was playing with her hair, and he smiled.“I’m here temporarily.For now.If things go the way I want them to, I could make a case for staying here or staying next door in Mercy.”
That was better.Still, she hated that he saw her reaction to the news he mightnotstick around.It made her look desperate.Fuck.
“Get out of your head, pretty girl,” he told her.“Why worry about tomorrow?I try to live in the moment.”
Dylan wanted to think that way, but she just couldn’t pull it off.Maybe it was because she was in a place of transition with her relationship ending and moving back to Oak Grove.
Jason’s hand cupped the back of her head, pulling her in for a kiss.Dylan went along.It wasn’t a half-hearted effort to move things along to what he really wanted.He took his time, kissing her softly.She liked the way his hands moved in her hair or over her body.She loved that he kissed like it was the best part of his day and he’d been looking forward to it all day.
Yeah, shewished.
But for now, he was hers.And he was gorgeous so why not enjoy it while she could?So far, they’d only had one night together, and the next day she’d barely wanted to get out of bed, she was so sleepy and sated.
He wasn’t wearing a cap today and his hair was down, just touching his shoulders in thick locks of rich brown.She got her hands in his hair as he deepened the kiss.His beefy arms wrapped around her, dragging her close to him and she was here for it.He kissed her breathless, until she was running her hands over his body as much as he was hers.When her hand finally settled over the bulge at the front of his jeans, the deep groan that earned her was so satisfying.
Dylan pulled out of his grip to stand, taking his hand and trying to get him to her bedroom.But he didn’t look like he had any intention of going anywhere.He shook his head, wrapping his hands behind her knees and pulling her in until she straddled his lap.
He was as breathless as she was as the center of her dropped snugly over him.“You really like cowgirl, huh?”she teased.
“When the view’s as beautiful as this one?Yeah,” he told her, claiming her mouth for another heated kiss.
“I’ve got another idea,” she told him, grinning.
A flash of disappointment crossed his features as she pulled out of his grasp.It faded as she got on her knees between his spread thighs.He huffed out a laugh as she worked at his belt and finally got his jeans open.He was more than happy to push them all the way down for her, his dark-eyed gaze heated as he watched her.
“I’m still fucking you after this,” he said bluntly.
The scent of him rose as he offered his cock to her.Dylan loved that he was just a little longer, just a little wider than she was used to.And she’d been looking forward to this.Working him carefully with her hands, she gripped the base firmly with one hand, stroked the shaft with the other.As if he needed to be worked up.He was so warm and hard in her hands.
When she pressed a kiss to the head of his cock, she felt his gaze on her.She took her time, teasing him.When her lips spread around the head and she teased him with the tip of her tongue, his head dropped back onto the sofa, his breath rushing out in a hiss.
He liked that, huh?Dylan really got to work then.She broke out her best moves, working him further into her mouth until he hit the back of her throat.Just as he settled into that, she changed it up, tracing his shaft, all his ridges carefully with her tongue.The way he huffed impatiently had her smiling around him.The way his hands sank into her hair as she continued teasing him had her plenty wet, hoping he’d keep the promise he made about later.
