Darkness Before Dawn (28 page)

"Sandra's safe," he replies quietly. "My other sister..." his voice trails off.

"She's the girl? The one you couldn't help?" I whisper.

He nods, his eyes looking grave, as if I opened up a wound he thought he'd covered.

"I'm sorry," I whisper.

"It was a long time ago," he responds.

"What does it have to do with me though? Why does Benny still want to get to me?"

When he exhales I catch a whiff of the cigarette he smoked before getting here. "Word is, Liam screwed Benny over and took the money. Benny wanted revenge and you were it...
are
it, really."

"Liam doesn't want me. He doesn't care about me," I say with an eye roll.

The side of Dean's mouth turns up. "Trust me, chick, he wants you. He raised you for four years—you don't have memory of that? That man loves you, B. I'm not a father, so I don't have firsthand experience, but even as an uncle, I know that once you have a kid under your wing, you're not gonna do wrong by them."

"Not everybody feels that way."

Dean shrugs. "True."

"Whatever," I mumble. "Are we done?"

Dean searches my face before tucking my hair behind my ear. "Yeah, we're done." My breath hitches when he leans in close to my ear. "Don't trust those cops, Blake. And be careful with your guard dogs."

I look from Dean's serious eyes toward Spencer at the end of the hall and shake my head, exhaling a shaky breath before saying goodbye to Dean. I head back inside my place and lock the door behind me. A cloud of doubt consumes me for the rest of the day as I think about everybody in my life and how little I can trust the ones I thought I was safe with. I decide to bury my thoughts in my law books yet again and forget about the world around me.

I pace around the bedroom taking a series of deep breaths before deciding to wake her up. I don't know why I'm so nervous. Actually, I know exactly why I'm so nervous. My plan could backfire on me completely, and if it does, I'll never forgive myself for it. Blake thinks I've been gone on business a lot lately, and I have been but not all of it has been business. Nobody told me remodeling a house was going to be so damn difficult. Well, nobody other than Aubry and what the hell does he know about remodeling homes? Apparently more than I do. He should've been a damn architect instead of going into advertising.

I close my eyes and relish the silence, the calm before the storm, if you will, before striding over to Blake and kneeling down beside her.

"Baby," I whisper, brushing her long unruly hair away from her face, "you need to wake up."

Her replying grumble brings a smile to my face, and I repeat the gesture a couple of times before placing a kiss on her nose.

"What?" she asks, clearly annoyed to be losing sleep, and I can't really blame her. I kept her up way past her bedtime last night.

"Wake up, babe. It's your birthday," I say quietly.

Her long lashes flutter open, and she pins me with that sultry gaze that does inexplicable things to my insides. As much as I'd love to continue my exploration of last night and find out how many times I can make her come in a row, I decide to stand and give her enough room to get on her feet. I consider going into her closet and picking out an outfit for her, but walk to the kitchen instead because I don't want to start a fight this early in the morning and definitely not on her birthday. Once the coffee is made, I take out a bowl and start making her favorite pancakes. As I'm flipping them, I hear the door of our room open and I turn around to watch her stumble out, still looking half asleep but cute as hell with her wet hair and short summer dress.

"Morning, birthday girl," I greet her with a smile that turns into a laugh when she glares at me.

"Thanks for breakfast," she says quietly, still pretending not to be impressed by my birthday wish, even though her eyes are smiling. I feel her eyes on me as I scribble down a little note for her. When I'm finished with it, I read it over twice for good measure:

I place the note on top of the counter and pull her close to me, looking her in the eye before I kiss her thoroughly.

"Eat, I'm going to get a few things for us."

Once I'm in my closet, I grab a bag and pack the clothes I'd set aside for the weekend before quickly sorting through the drawer where I keep my watches and grabbing one. I go into Blake's closet and grab a handful of her underwear, not caring which ones I choose since she won't be wearing or keeping any intact anyway. I get two of her dresses from the hangers and pack those as well, along with a pair of shorts, T-shirt, and bathing suit, just in case. I don't get any of her bathroom things, I figure mine will do, and worse case, we can always take a trip to Target.

When I turn around, I find Blake leaning against the door with her arms crossed and a huge smile on her face. My eyes trail her body slowly, from her cute toes in the open toe wedge sandals she's wearing. I continue up her calves and pause where the hem of her dress meets the top of her knees, visualizing myself slowly sucking and planting wet kisses past that. My heart beats faster in my chest and my breathing quickens as I stride toward her. I caress her cheek with one hand and bring it lower, brushing and parting her bottom lip with my thumb as I stare longingly into her clouded eyes. Her tongue darts out and she takes my thumb into her mouth, making my breath hitch.

I throw the duffel bag on the floor and run my hands along both sides of her body, reaching behind her and grabbing a handful of her ass while I lift her to me. She wraps her legs around me, throwing her arms around my neck before pulling my hair at the nape of my neck. I groan, closing my eyes as she bites down on my bottom lip before sliding her tongue into my mouth. She squirms in my hold as my grip tightens and I take a step forward, crushing her back onto the wall behind her. Our mouths break apart long enough for us to look at each other and relay the weight of our love, our need, our lust, before our tongues meet again in a wild dance.

Placing the majority of her weight on the wall behind, I place my hands on her toned, silky thighs before sliding them under her hitched dress where I massage over her thin cotton underwear. I nuzzle against her neck and relish in the quickness in her breath, placing soft kisses along her jaw while drawing circles over her core. She squirms, arching her back and pushing into my hard on, cutting all coherent thoughts from my head.

"Want me to take you here or on the bed?" I manage to groan out through an intake of breath.

"I don't care," she whimpers. "I want you."

Using my left arm as a bench under her ass, I back away and deftly unbuckle my belt with the other hand, quickly lowering my zipper.

"Take off my pants," I murmur against her lips, lowering the V of her dress and sucking a nipple into my mouth, making her gasp loudly. "Take them off," I demand as I nip her softly, making her groan.

"Can't," she pants. "Can't do it."

I let go of her breast with a pop and place my face in front of hers—her eyes look as wild as I feel. And even though I had her last night and the night before that, and many nights before that; in this moment, I can't think of anybody I've wanted more than this woman. I know there never will be anyone else because she's it for me, always has been. I place both hands below her and walk to the bed, throwing her back on the mattress, kicking off my shoes and lowering my pants quickly before springing free from my boxers. She sits up on her knees licking her lips, looking at me through hooded eyes as she crooks her finger for me to step toward her. My heart pounds loudly against my chest as I walk up to the bed. The side of my mouth turns up when she places her head against my chest, right under my chin where she reaches as she kneels up completely. I dip my head to kiss her lips, but she stops me by placing a finger on my lips and shaking her head and mischievously bites down on her pouty bottom lip. Her fingers slide over my shoulders and down my body. The way she admires my body makes me glad I hit the gym so damn hard, even though I know Blake doesn't care about any of that shit. When her small hand grips my dick and squeezes, I feel the air leave my body and rush back.

She leans forward on the bed, placing her weight on her on her elbows and leaving her ass exposed as she looks at me through her fluttering lashes, still holding my cock. I throw my head back when she draws circles around it with her tongue before taking some of me into her mouth. She continues to rock her body to and fro, my dick hitting the back of her throat every time she leans toward me. I fist a handful of her hair, trying to control myself from holding her face onto my dick, which is hard to do when I feel her hot mouth on me one second and going away the next. I take hold of her, sliding slowly out of her lips and back her up, pulling the hem of her dress and throwing it to the other side of the room to leave her completely exposed, only wearing a tiny pair of blue panties. I slide my fingers into them from the top, scrunching them in hand and ripping them off.

"COLE!" she yelps, looking at me in disbelief.

I return with a wolfish smile before pressing my lips roughly against hers. "Turn around," I say gruffly. "You taunted me for a little too long with the view of your perfect round ass and I want to enjoy the full thing."

"Wha..." she begins, but I cut her statement short by grabbing her by the hips and pulling her close before flipping her body so that she's facing our wooden headboard.

As she positions herself on all fours, I take advantage and bring my hand around her, sticking my pointer and middle finger into my mouth before lowering it to her clit. She lets out a low moan as I rub against her before sticking them inside her and bringing them back out, repeating the process a couple of times until she arches her back and moans loudly, letting me know that she's close. I take my hand away from her, placing one on her shoulder and the other on my dick to lead it inside of her before I slide into her slowly.

"Cole," she gaps.

"Yeah," I rasp before picking up the pace.

She yells out my name again as she clenches around me, her desire coating me more than I already was.

"Shit, baby," I growl, letting go of her shoulder to rope her hair and pull it back toward me so that I can lean forward and suck on her earlobe.

"Oh my GOD!" she shrieks as I pound into her quickly, feeling my balls tighten with every thrust.

"I'm gonna come, Blake. I'm gonna come," I groan. "Are you ready?"

"YES! YES!" she screams, making me grip her hair tighter.

"Tell me you're mine, Blake," I murmur, feeling her shiver at my breath against her ear.

"I'm yours," she pants.

"Fuck yes," I growl, dropping my hand from her waist and bring it around her to pluck her nipples, taking her over the edge.

"Only mine," I groan as I unload inside her while she screams profanities.

She sags against the bed when I let go of her hair. I push inside her one last time, before leaning down and kissing her neck and down her back.

"Did I hurt you, baby?" I whisper against her spine.

"No," she says, muffled against the sheets. "I think I'll survive."

I smile against her and slide out, picking her up and walking her to the bathroom.

"Shit, we're so late!" I mutter when I look at the time on the nightstand.

"So worth it," she replies against my chest. "Thank you for helping me start off my birthday with a bang."