DARE: A Bad Boy Romance (23 page)

That not only made her feel safe, it gave her a groundswell of confidence that seeped into her womanhood. The kind that aroused her in ways that wouldn’t have been possible with those inhibitions she’d worn like a flak jacket since the incident.

“Do me a favor,” she whispered.

“Mm?”

“Clear the bed?”

He waited a few moments, then slowly kissed her forehead. After dragging her luggage onto the floor, he flattened the duvet behind her, then gave her hand a light squeeze. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t have to, you know.”

“I know.”

“I’ve not pressured you?”

She shook her head. “Quit stalling. We both need this. Unless I’m pressuring
you
?”

Cradling her in his arms, Dare slowly lifted and carried her around the bed. He set her down on the pillow and began to kiss her. But they were not the dominant, urgent kisses of a guy ready to conquer a woman. He hadn’t brought the fighter; he’d brought Dare instead, the gentle giant inside the bad-boy ring god. Unless she reciprocated, he would not move forward. Again, knowing that gave her the confidence to make it happen.

She determined this was her chance to finally take hold of her life, her future, and make it into something beautiful.
If
she wasn’t too damaged.

There was only one way to find out.

At first she was stiff, unyielding on the bed. The place where Trey had…no, she had to stop thinking backward. Dare was here to make her feel good, make her feel safe. And the more she latched onto his desire, the way he looked at her,
wanting
her, waiting for her permission, the more she moistened. Holly began to rub his stiff cock through his jeans. He grunted, then smiled at her.

Dare’s kisses ventured further down her neck to her shoulder. He slid her dress straps down her arms and kept pulling, slowly exposing her breasts. Holly arched her back to help him complete the reveal, baring herself even more. Electricity soaked into her as he nipped at her tits, and even more when her upper body writhed slowly, in rhythm with his searching touch. Her hands were now all over his shoulders and back, orchestrating desire straight to her pussy. She kissed his lips, pouring everything she’d denied these past few weeks into making Dare want her even more. To her delight, he gave back tenfold, but not aggressively. No, it was
her
nails clawing at his shirt, insisting he take this as far and as deep as he possibly could.

“Take me, Dare.”

Oh God, yes—
She helped him rip his shirt over his head. Tracing her fingers over his dark, swirling tattoos and his many hidden scars. She looked up at him and gasped. “Poor baby,” she said. “Let me help you forget.” She roved her hands across his rock-hard abdominals. Pleasured his nipples with slow kisses and quick bites. Then with a rapacious curl of her lips, eyes locked on his, she undid his jeans and pulled them down to his ankles.

He grunted again and rolled his head back. She stroked his shaft, peeled back his foreskin, and lapped at his pre-cum, the taste and the warmth sending shudders of delight right through her. Everything she wanted and that they could be together was concentrated on the tip of his cock. She pursed her lips around it…and began to move…in rhythm, insatiably.

He couldn’t contain himself, she could tell. All those weeks of waiting, wondering, agonizing over the right time to ask her here, maybe even lying awake at night frustrated by the memory of her that night in the Jacuzzi, or on his sofa downstairs—now he could let it all out. And she could have him any way she wanted.

“I said
take me
.” She pulled him down by his hips.

He sank next to her on the bed and kissed her again, gripping her waist with his hands. Then he slid her dress all the way down. He glanced down, licking his lips. One of his favorite things was to handle both her breasts at once, cupping them together. She gasped as Dare sucked and bit at her nipples until they stood erect, and again when he tongued the areolae until they pebbled. All the while, her aroused body curled under him, and she indulged in every groan of pleasure he elicited from her.

She bit her lip in anticipation as he slid her panties down below her knees…

It wasn’t just that he had a stunning body—broad-shouldered, cut, and rock-solid—or that he could restrain his enormous strength even when his blood was up. Dare radiated something else, the fumes of an electric charge she craved more than breath itself.

He gently spread her legs, placed his palm flat on her stomach with one hand, and began to rub his fingers against her clitoris, slowly and sensuously. She helped him pinpoint her sweet spot, and a wave of pleasure washed viscously through her, clenching her backward until she was fully splayed for him. He hoisted her thighs and pulled her in. Rubbing her again, he slid his cock inside her without breaking the momentum.

Oh God.
He stopped rubbing with his fingers and began to penetrate her deeper, still slowly, as her back and shoulders inched across the soft bed sheet. Her moans were now audible, her eyes closed and swimming in anticipation. The deeper he went, the closer she felt to that blissful place where letting go did not mean opening herself up to be hurt; it meant pure joy. An existential craving deep in her being. Trust and pleasure and love all rolled into one.

He desisted for a moment and eased her onto her side, lifting her right leg high onto his shoulder. When he resumed, it was with an even slower, more restrained rhythm, and it wasn’t enough.

“Okay, my turn.” She lifted herself free, barely supporting her own weight on arms shaking with adrenaline. “Lie back, Dare.” His piercing eyes stopped her heart for a moment as she shoved him down.
Christ,
what was it about him that stirred her insides into a maelstrom by virtue of proximity alone? Beyond chemistry. She’d been deep in lust before with him, but she’d never felt anything like this.

“Aren’t you glad you came—?” He stopped mid-sentence and sucked in a sudden breath when she maneuvered his cock into her crouching sex. His next grunt excited her, reminding her of that first time on his sofa, easily the best lovemaking experience she’d ever had. A man like Dare wanted to be surprised in bed, and she had the natural assets and
the appetite to give even a macho god like him a run for his money.

“Holy shit.
Holly
…”

As low as she could crouch, she slid up and down on his shaft, letting him flare against her until she felt the momentum return to their lovemaking. Then, perhaps greedily, she changed position again, swiveling to lie on top of him so that they could kiss as he drove up into her, his cock at its full height.

“I don’t want to take it slow any—” She didn’t get to finish before he accelerated into rapid action, his deepest, most accurate surges drilling right through her bliss, again and again. He gripped her hips and used her whole body to feed the motion. Finally, he gathered her breasts together with strong hands and had her utterly, soul to womb, in heaven. One more thrust and she splintered into a rainbow of colors.

***

Later that evening, while they were on their way home after walking Penny in the park, Dare reached into his rucksack. The first thing he got out was a chewy treat for the dog, which she promptly devoured. While Penny was occupied, he retrieved a Taser gun, letting Holly hold it briefly before he put it back.

“It’s yours,” he said. “I want you to carry it with you wherever you go.”

Holly didn’t know what to say. She looked around to see who might be watching. “Is that legal?”

“Put it this way: when it comes time to use it, you won’t care if it’s legal or not. And I want you to be able to defend yourself at all times. This one’s a little more…intimate.” He retrieved a small, silver flick-knife that, when collapsed, was no bigger than his index finger. “Use it as a last resort. Don’t ever let them see you’ve got it until you’ve stuck it in whoever makes a move against you. Preferably in the jugular. Here, I want you to keep it with you at all times.”

“Uh, you’re the boss.” Holly squirmed as she put the knife in her pocket. Then she took Dare by the arm and held him close, hoping like hell he’d be there with her if anything bad like that did happen. “But what about you? Are you armed when you go out?”

“Don’t worry about me. I can handle myself.”

“Yeah, I know
that.
But what if someone came at you with a gun?”

“It’d be the last thing he ever did.”

Holly believed every word he said. If he was half as good around weapons as he was at dismantling people in the ring, it was woe to any mugger who made a move against him.

“And one more thing,” he went on. “I want you to have this.” The final item he retrieved from his goodie bag looked more her style. It was a slender silver bracelet of some kind, with a peculiar-looking clasp that screwed together to adjust the tightness. He put it on her wrist and fastened it so that it felt secure.

“Wow. Thanks.” It wasn’t like the jewelry Trey had borrowed for her, even bought her on occasion, but it had a pleasant enough Celtic floral engraving. Not flash, but elegant, cool. She could tell from his demeanor, however, that it wasn’t as romantic as it seemed. “That’s sweet. Does it go with the Taser?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Okay. Where do the poison darts go?”

He chuckled. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Because you were never a secret agent. Me, on the other hand…”

“In that case, you’ll be used to wearing a panic button.” He ran his hand up and down the back of her coat, then leaned in and spoke softly in her ear. “Don’t worry, it’s not activated. But if you ever get into trouble, press the screw head twice in quick succession and it will send out a GPS distress signal. I’ll be able to monitor it from my laptop. Just for emergencies.”

“Oh, okay. Well, I hope I never have to use it.”

“Me, too.”

“But I feel safer already,” she lied. Actually, it made her feel a little paranoid. “You did promise to look out for me.”

“Always.”

“You’re adorable. Come here.” But when she went to kiss him, Penny got between them and glared up at Holly. “Okay. I see
you’re
already well-protected.”

“What can I say? Girls can’t help but fight over me.”

“Hmm. Wait till we get to know each other better,” she replied. “Then we won’t need your conceited ass anymore.”

“Maybe
I
should keep the Taser,” he said.

“Okay. And I’ll take the dog treats. We’ll be feeding them to
him
before long, won’t we, Penny?”

The dog cocked her head to one side, then spun to face the opposite side of the street. She started to bark—cute, girly barks that wouldn’t scare a mouse. There was a man running with a Rottweiler across the road toward them. He was Hispanic and looked like a gang member with his low-waist jeans, hoodie, and goatee. Holly suddenly felt glad Dare was with her. The man nodded as he passed, and that was that.

However, she’d been flippant about the precautions Dare wanted her to take. But she knew that if she’d had a Taser and a panic button that night when Trey had come to abduct her, things might have turned out differently. She might have fended him off. Or Dare might have gotten to her sooner, before she’d almost clocked out.

There was a fine line between caution and paranoia, she decided. And after what she’d been through, Holly was going to listen to the Marine.

The sound of shoes squeaking on the polished hallway floor kept Holly on edge, not that she wasn’t already. Offices and boardrooms on the third floor of the district courthouse building were leased to various discretionary bodies that mediated legal disputes, took informal depositions, and oversaw civil tribunals. In other words, this was the last place in the world she wanted to be right now.

Trey’s suicide, and his attempted murder of Holly, had rightly sent shockwaves through the IMMAF. Not least because Dare Bowden had testified that something like that could, and probably would, happen if they didn’t step in and give Trey a complete evaluation, which they had not done. Therefore, they were all about covering their asses now. Dare couldn’t
wait
to demand a full criminal investigation, and they probably knew it. But too much was at stake, too many reputations and careers were on the line for them to just roll over and expose their wrongdoings. Dare was playing with fire, and by mere of association with both him
and
Trey, Holly was likely to get burned as well.

They’d discussed it thoroughly with Dare’s lawyer, Richard Shelby. Trey’s autopsy had revealed extensive use of steroids over a prolonged period of time, as well as the testosterone treatment he’d been given to combat the damage. The question now was: who in the IMMAF had known about his doping? And whom had he paid to cover it up? The paper trail
should
be easy enough to follow—drugs testing in sports had become highly scrutinized in recent years—but, again, the wrongdoers wouldn’t be stupid enough to put their names on anything incriminating. At least she didn’t think so. Dare’s lawyer agreed. And without that kind of hard evidence, a smoking gun, it would be tricky to collar those responsible.

The most important thing now was for Holly to tell the truth, they all agreed. The truth was on her side. She’d done nothing wrong. Indeed, if it weren’t for her patience and loyal support, Trey would have probably gone off the rails a lot sooner. So what if she’d known about his doping and a little about the cover-ups; he’d frightened her into silence. She was not to blame for any of it, they assured her. The doctor or doctors who’d facilitated his drug abuse were the culprits here.

“If only I knew for certain who they were,” she said to Dare, as he put his arm around her on the wooden bench. “All I have are two names, and they might not have anything to do with it. Christ, if I knew for certain, we could nail them and put this whole thing behind us.” She watched the anonymous, suited people walking by and wondered if the real villain or villains were here today, keeping tabs on her and what she said. “Until we know for sure who they are, we’re not safe,” she added.

“Neither are they,” he assured her. “Remember, the spotlight is on them, too. You never know—we might get lucky. Your names could lead them right to the documents that prove the whole thing. It could be that simple.”

“Get real, Bub. They covered it up this whole time. They know how to be invisible.”

“There’s no such thing,” he assured her. “Everyone slips up somewhere along the way. I don’t care how careful he is.”

“Or she.”

“Yep.”

Holly fingered the bracelet he’d given her. It was something she’d done more and more, ever since she’d received this summons. Trey might not be around anymore, but he could still make her life a misery. The people he’d colluded with, whether inside or outside the IMMAF, more than likely had a lot of influence. Bribing doctors, ring officials, and God knew whom else: she just didn’t know the connections, the sneaky trail of corruption which had enabled him to keep fighting when he should have been banned outright from the ring.

“Are you coming in with me?” she asked Dare.

“Do you want me to?”

She nodded. “I’d feel better if you were there.”

“Okay, let me ask someone and see if it’s allowed.” He got up, scanning the corridor. “They can be weird about who they let in. But if not, at least you’ll have Richard in there.”

“I’d rather you both be there.”

“Okay. Wait right there.” He spotted a woman carrying a folder, who appeared to be giving orders to a security guard at the far end of the corridor. He made his way over to her.

Holly crossed her legs and fingered the bracelet. A group of several youngish, well-dressed men cracked jokes as they passed. A few of them checked her out, but only discreetly. She chewed her bottom lip. Waiting was always the worst part of these things, she decided. Better to just breeze in there and get it over with. Let the bureaucrats take it from—

“Hello there, Holly.”

She looked up at the speaker. It took a few moments for her to recognize him under his glasses, but when she did, she cracked a quivery smile. “Barrett? Hi. I almost didn’t… How are you?”

“Can’t complain. It’s been a long time, huh.”

It sure as hell had. Barrett Silva had been Trey’s best friend for years. Before he’d moved to New York, the two of them had spent one weekend a month together. Whether fishing, mountain climbing, or gambling in Vegas, Trey had always had good things to say about their adventures. Barrett had supported him in the early days, when Trey had been desperate to break into the UFC rankings. Come to think of it, he’d been there at every step of Trey’s career, the good and the bad, always ready with a bit of advice or a sure way out of trouble.

Yes, Doctor Barrett Silva had been a good friend.

He was also one of the two names Holly was about to give in this inquest. The guy was now a big shot in the IMMAF. His promotion to the New York office had taken him out of medical surgery and into sports politics. But the fact that he was here, today, talking to her, suggested he had things he wanted to be kept quiet.

“You’re not here by coincidence, are you?” she said, readying her alarm.

“No. I’m not.” He glanced up to see where Dare was—still chatting to the woman at the end of the corridor. “And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep my name out of this.”

“I can’t do that, Barrett.”

“You can and you
will.
I’ve always liked you, Holly, but Trey said you were a Mary Sue. He said you’d never understand what he did.”

“Screw you! I understand what a psychotic asshole you helped turn him into. For all I know,
you
got him hooked on steroids. Then you covered it up personally. Am I getting warm?”

“This is a one-time warning,” he said, checking his cell phone. “Either keep your mouth shut or we’ll be forced to do it for you. Believe me, you’ve no idea what’s at stake, or what we’re capable of.” He turned and walked away.

Holly thought about shouting to Dare; she even looked to where he was. But she stopped herself. It would only put him in the firing line with her, she reckoned, if he chased after Barrett and tackled him.
Jesus.
It wasn’t so much that he’d threatened her; it was the word he’d used—
we—
that filled her with dread. Whom was he working with? Whom was he working
for
? Powerful people who would stop at nothing to silence her, and Dare as well, if she went through with this.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Dare gave her the thumbs-up as he approached. She nodded back, unable to summon even a fake smile. This inquest had suddenly gone from being an ordeal to an outright nightmare.

The truth is on your side,
Dare had told her innocently.
It could be that simple.

But it was never that simple, she now knew. The truth carried a high price in a world where everything was for sale. Including lives.

An usher invited them into the room. The first thing she saw was an empty chair at the head of a long, cedar conference desk. There was a microphone standing on the desk.

The truth is on your side.

Holly slung her purse over the back of the chair and prayed that it was.

***

“Well? How did I do?” she asked Dare, as they stepped outside the building. Her nerves had finally begun to settle. It helped that it was such a warm day; the sunlight acted like a balm as she descended the stone steps, glad to be away from that claustrophobic room.

“You did well. Brief and to the point.”

“That was Richard’s advice.”

“You hesitated over the second name though,” he pointed out. “Like you were having second thoughts about giving it up.”

“Did I really?” Holly shrugged. “It was a little unnerving in there.”

“Anything I should know?”

“Like what?”

“Like who that guy was you were talking to just before we went in?”

“I don’t know. You…you
saw
that?”

“Uh-huh. Keep walking.”

“Why?” She tried to look behind her, but Dare cupped the back of her head.

“Because that guy you were talking to…he’s following us. And he’s not alone.”

“Oh crap. What should we do?”

“First tell me who he is.”

Holly’s heel snagged on one of the steps. Her stomach leapt into her throat, but she somehow managed to keep her balance.

“Take it easy,” he told her. “I’ve got you. But I need to know who he is. Quick.”

“Goddamn it. It’s him. It’s
him.
”

“Who?”

“Th-the second name! Barrett Silva!”

“
Doctor
Barrett Silva?”

“Yes. He was Trey’s best friend for years, and now I’m pretty sure he was his go-to man in the IMMAF.”

Dare gripped her arm a little tighter. It didn’t hurt; it was more…firm, reassuring. “Why didn’t you tell me that last part before?”

“I didn’t put it together until he threatened me just now!”

“Just before we went in?”

“Huh? Yeah, yeah. Just before.” She told him exactly what the good doctor had said.

Dare flashed Silva and his accomplices a hateful glance, then quickened his pace. “Bastard must have been waiting for his chance. See? I was gone a minute and he
still
got to you. I’m gonna have to put a stop to this.”

“How?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, at the end of the sidewalk, rather than letting them follow indefinitely, he turned to face them, shielding Holly behind him. Barrett and his two accomplices slowed their walk on cue and strolled up to Dare.

“Can I help you?” Dare asked.

They stopped several feet short. Not that she could blame them; Dare wasn’t exactly someone even three of them would want to tangle with.

“I want a word with Holly,” Barrett said, glaring at her. He took his glasses off to sharpen the effect.

“What about?” Dare shot back.

“It’s between me and her.”

“No,
I’m
between you and her. So either say what you came here to say or fuck off!”

Barrett Silva, hardly a weakling himself—he’d fought amateur MMA to help pay his  tuition for medical school, which was where he’d met Trey—took half a step forward. It surprised Holly. She hadn’t expected a confrontation like this, not with Dare Bowden protecting her.

“I thought I made myself clear. I
told
you not to mention me.”

“Too late, asshole,” Dare replied. “Your name’s in the soup. Better get used to it.”