Dillon's Claim (12 page)

She made a little humming
sound and kissed the side of his neck, flicked her tongue against him. Dillon
smiled and gave her a squeeze before drawing her upright. Her cheeks were
flushed, her long dark auburn hair tangled and mussed around her shoulders,
spilling over her breasts. The hungry glow in her eyes made his cock twitch.

As he watched, a slow, sly
smile spread across her face. She squeezed her pussy muscles around him,
milking him gently. Liked that, did she? He smothered a laugh and gripped the
curves of her ass to still her. She might think she had the upper hand right
now, but she’d realize the truth soon enough.

Straddling his hips, Charissa settled
fully onto Dillon’s thick cock with a sigh of pure enjoyment. He was so hot
inside her, so hard as he stretched the tender walls of her pussy. Her body was
relaxed from the incredible orgasm he’d given her, but already she wanted more.
The man was so unbelievably sexy, laid out beneath her like an erotic buffet. She
wanted to tease him, ride him until he was the one writhing and begging to
come. The thought made her smile.

Dillon’s eyes glittered hungrily
as he stared up at her, his hands holding her hips steady. The desire began to
build again, a heavy throb in her sex, in her nipples. He shifted beneath her,
his erection bumping against the sensitive spot inside her pussy and making her
gasp. With a smug smile, he leaned up to take a nipple in his mouth, his big
hands cupping her breasts, lifting them. Charissa moaned and let her head fall
back as her hands crept up to thread into his soft hair. He sucked at the tender
tip slowly, igniting nerve endings that only moments ago she’d thought were
satisfied.

“I love how you do that,” she
breathed, holding him to her breast, wishing he’d never stop.

He growled against her
sensitive flesh and proceeded to kill her with pleasure. He licked and tugged
at her nipples, sending sensation straight to her clit. The heat built inside
her until she couldn’t stay still. Her hips began to sway instinctively, trying
to find relief from the growing ache inside. Sighing at the feel of him stretching
and stroking her pussy, she planted her hands on his hard pectorals. He let her
ride him, which surprised her, but even on the bottom, Dillon didn’t look the
least bit submissive. She loved that about him.

His eyes glowed with sheer
male hunger as he stared up at her, his mouth sucking her aching nipples. She
was so lost in the driving need to come, she barely noticed when he let go of
her breasts and took hold of her wrists. He drew them behind her, and she froze
when she heard a faint metallic click. Shocked, she tugged against the cuffs he’d
clipped together at the small of her back.

She narrowed her eyes. “That
was sneaky.”

With a naughty smile, Dillon
guided her wrists back farther, making her spine bow, pushing her breasts outward
as he placed her joined hands on top of his thighs. “Ride me, Charissa.”

That deep rasp, the obvious
arousal on his face made her tremble. Leaning her weight on her bound hands,
she began to rock, sliding over the hard length of his cock. Dillon sat up and
placed one hand on her lower back to anchor her, his mouth closing over a hard
nipple. She whimpered and swiveled faster, swamped by the pleasure tearing
through her. He felt so good, but it wasn’t enough. She needed him to touch her
clit. Wriggling to press the swollen nub against his body, she whimpered in
frustration when she couldn’t find the contact she needed.

“Need some help, sweetness?”

He knew she did, the smug jerk.
“Touch me,” she groaned, riding him hard and deep, desperately seeking that
final caress that would send her over the edge.

“Where?” he asked in a low
voice.

She felt like yelling at him. “My
clit. Please, touch it.” Despite the edgy need flooding her body, the erotic
words, the verbal surrender turned her on even more.

Dillon murmured in consent and
rewarded her by lightly brushing his thumb against her throbbing clit.

“Ohh,” she whispered as the
pleasure spiralled out of control. “Yes, there. More.”

He held his thumb steady, forcing
her to rock and rub against him to find relief. She strained and twisted,
moaning when she found just the right spot. Oh, shit, she was going to come
again. She let sensation take over, guide her, as his cock stroked all the sensitive
places inside her. It was so good. Just a little more...

The broad hand at her lower
back drifted downward, smoothing gently over her ass before his fingers traced
through the slick wetness where their bodies joined. Charissa purred in
pleasure and rubbed her clit against his thumb, keeping her back arched so that
he wouldn’t stop sucking her nipple. She felt his fingers glide lower, lower,
to the taut bud of her anus.

A breathless gasp escaped her,
but she closed her eyes and allowed her body to relax. She shivered at the
decadence of what he was doing. Her hips moved faster, alternately rocking
against his thumb and the caressing fingers between her buttocks. They pressed
harder against her tight opening, one fingertip slipping inside. She moaned at
the erotic, delicious fullness of having both entrances invaded. The tender
penetration ignited new nerve endings that sizzled and sparked at his touch.

She whimpered his name and rode
him faster, mindlessly going after the orgasm she craved so badly. Dillon watched
her, gauging her reaction, still completely in control of himself. It catapulted
her into a new realm of pleasure. He growled low in his throat and she felt the
wide girth inside her clinging pussy swell.
Yes. Right there. More.

A shattered cry broke free as
the tension coiled tighter and tighter, centering in her pussy, her clit, the
nipple he was suckling. The orgasm slammed into her, so powerful it seized her
muscles as the waves tore through her. Beneath her, Dillon clamped a hand on
her hip as he stilled and let the sensations flow over him. A second later his
grip tightened and he drove deeper, harder, taking control of his own pleasure.

The thick muscles in his
thighs bunched beneath her hands as he neared the peak, his breathing rough, head
thrown back in ecstasy. “Charissa.” His strangled roar of release echoed in her
ears as his cock jerked inside her. He was beautiful, primal.

She slumped forward. He caught
her, quickly unclipping her wrists and gathering her tightly against his chest.

Her muscles quaked with
exhaustion as she huddled in his arms. Her skin was damp, and a delicious fatigue
stole through her body. After a moment, Dillon gently rolled her onto her side
and kissed her before he got up to dispose of the condom.

When he came back and slid in
beside her, it was the most natural thing in the world for her to wrap around
him and cuddle in as close as she possibly could. A hard lump settled in her
throat, the sting of tears burning beneath her eyelids. She held them back,
battling the sense of vulnerability settling over her. He’d been patient and
gentle, yet it felt like he’d just stripped her down to her bare essence in
this bed, leaving her soul exposed, desperate for his acceptance. How was she
supposed to go on without him?

Pushing the unsettling
feelings aside, she concentrated on the steely muscles surrounding her, the
soothing rhythm of his heartbeat. She would not allow herself to spoil the
moment by blurting out something she could never take back. But the words were
there, crowding her throat until she thought she’d choke on them.

“You okay, sweetness?” His low
murmur brushed against her hot cheek.

Not trusting her voice, she
nodded and continued to cling, starving for every inch of contact between them.
His reassuring embrace helped chase away the chill inside her, but not entirely.
A tiny voice in her mind whispered that this was the last time she’d ever get
to breathe in Dillon’s delicious scent or feel his naked skin against hers. She
soaked up his affection like a dry sponge, hungry to maintain that intimate connection
with him as he wrapped around her like a protective blanket.

Part of her wished she could
stay like this forever. “I should get going, but I’m too tired to get in the
car and drive home,” she mumbled finally, half asleep from the lull of his body
heat and the way his hands smoothed over her naked back. Lying with him like
this was sheer heaven. She dreaded the thought of leaving him later on, but she
had no choice.

“Good,” he answered, pressing
a kiss to the top of her head. “Because I’m not ready to let you go.”

She didn’t know if he meant
for now or if there was something deeper for him, but she was too tired to
analyze it. Wouldn’t do her any good anyhow. As much as she wanted to stay, for
them to have a shot at a future together, she couldn’t let herself think like
that. Come nightfall, she’d be back in Austin, home in her lonely bed with a
giant piece of her heart missing.

Chapter Six

Standing at his kitchen
counter just as the first golden rays of sun touched the distant horizon,
Dillon checked the call log on his phone again. The last call it showed was the
one he’d made to Charissa yesterday afternoon. No incoming calls since.

She’s not going to call,
dumbass.

He set it down on the counter and
picked up his steaming mug of coffee, taking a bracing gulp as he tried to
decide what to do about the situation. He knew Charissa had been busy with work
and the renos she and her parents were finishing up at her place, but all week
she’d been giving him the brush off.

It was already Saturday. Six
days since she’d climbed into her car and driven back to Austin. Six days since
he’d made love to her in a way that had rocked him to his foundation, then
kissed her goodbye and watched her disappear from his life yet again.

A mourning dove cooed from
outside in the branches of the mesquite tree that overhung the roofline. The
silence in the empty house began to grate on his nerves. Normally he liked the
quiet, especially in the morning, but now it just made him feel more alone. If
Charissa had been here, the place would have been filled with her chatter, her
laughter. Just...
her
.

Fuck this shit.

He grabbed his keys, stalked
out the front door to his truck, and fired it up in the cool dawn air. What the
hell had he been thinking, letting her take off again without setting things
straight between them? Shaking his head, he headed for the lodge, passing a
small group of longhorns that stopped grazing to raise their heads as he drove
past, no doubt hoping for a treat he always kept in the back of the truck for
them.

Sorry, guys, not today.
He couldn’t get to
the lodge fast enough.

He should have told Charissa point
blank how he felt and what he wanted while she was in bed with him, relaxed and
sated in his arms. While her damn guard was down. For fear of spoiling the
moment, he’d held back. He’d thought about telling her when he walked her out
to her car later, but the hint of trepidation he’d seen in her eyes stopped him
cold. He’d told himself that if he gave her some space, enough time to think,
to realize what they meant to each other, she’d reach out to him.

In reality, all he’d gotten
this past week when he called was excuse after lame excuse for her to get off
the phone. And she hadn’t called him back. Not once.

While he understood why she
was afraid to trust, the frustration was tying him in knots.

Parking at the back of the
lodge, he opened the side door in time to see Ashley stumbling toward the
coffee pot. Her eyes were still groggy-looking. “Mornin’, Ash.”

“Mornin’,” she replied. “You
come to check on the new batch of guests due this morning?”

“Nope.” God, the last thing he
cared about right now was making nice with a bunch of strangers. Guests might
be the ranch’s life blood, but considering how twisted up he was over Charissa
at the moment, he was better off not being around when they arrived. “Came in
to tell you I’m going to be unavailable until Monday morning.”

Ashley whipped around so fast
her coffee sloshed over the side of her mug. She winced and shook her scalded
hand, then gave him a stunned look as if she wasn’t sure she’d heard him right.
“You mean,
all
weekend?”

“All weekend. Dusty or Deke
can handle any problems until then.” Or Dane. Hell, any of them. Let someone
else shoulder the responsibilities around here for a while. He had more important
things to take care of. Like convincing a certain stubborn woman he loved her
and to give them a shot at a real relationship. The distance thing was an
issue, but they could make it work. If they were both willing to
make
it
work.

He wasn’t sure if Charissa was
or not. But he was going to find out.

Ashley nodded, eyes wide. “Where
are you going?”

“Austin,” he said over his
shoulder on his way out the door. He climbed into his truck and drove down the
long driveway. Someone had ripped the iron “N” off the gate again, but right
now he didn’t give a fuck if it read
Do-me
instead of
Dumen
.