The Impostor, A Love Story (24 page)

He just smiled.
“I
saw you didn’t eat at the reception.”

Dylan led me to our table and motioned to the
waiter. “Can I have a bottle of your finest wine to begin?”

As we dined, the restaurant slowly rotated to
reveal every angle of the beautiful city. No matter where you sat,
you would see it all. The city lights gleamed like diamonds
below.

“That is the Puget Sound, and over there in
the distance is Mt. Rainier.”

He put his hand on top of mine. The gentle
sound of a viola filled the dining hall as the breathtaking views
revealed themselves to us—each decorating the windows they appeared
through. The Cascade Mountains garnished the east and the Olympics
graced us to the west.

He hesitated for a moment, and then began.
“Nicole, I need to talk to you about something. I’m just going to
ask. There is really no easy way to say this. Tonight you flinched
when I got upset. You should have seen the look in your eyes. It
was like you were afraid of me. What happened to you Nicole? What
happened that would cause you to react that way? It’s not the first
time I’ve seen you do that.” He was silent for a moment to allow me
to respond.

“Jess’s dad, he . . . whenever he got mad, he
. . .” I fidgeted for words and then froze. A tear trickled out the
corner of my eye. Dylan stood, coming over to me, and wiped the
tear from my face. He pulled me in close, hugging me. He could tell
it was hard for me. I couldn’t speak; I held him tighter.

Dylan kissed my forehead and assured me, “I
will never hurt you, no matter how mad I get. I know I’m hotheaded
sometimes, but I will never hit you, Nicole. Never. I promise.” He
lifted my chin again. “Nicole, I’d die for you. I’ve never felt
like this about anyone.” He twisted a strand of hair that had
fallen out of my bun around his finger. “I will never lay a hand on
you, Angel.” His arms felt safe, strong. I laid my head on his
chest as he held me. “I won’t let anything happen to you, Nicole.”
He kissed my forehead again.

We stood there in the candlelight with a sea
of stars shining upon us. All was silent as we embraced. He then
stared into my eyes.

“I wanted tonight to be
perfect. I know I have been a jerk tonight, but . . . ” He paused
for a moment. “I really want to be the only guy in your life. I
know you get asked out almost every night, and I’m going to be gone
for awhile, but I’ll go crazy if I find out another guy touches
you.” He traced my lips with his fingers.“I will go crazy if
another man kisses your lips. I need to know that you are only
mine.” He brushed the hair from my face, gazing into my
eyes.

“Dylan, I have been only
yours since the moment you first kissed me.”

Dylan extended his hand. “May I have this
dance?” He held me tightly in his arms. We gently swayed back and
forth. When the staff noticed we were dancing, they raised the
music. The sky of stars and the city lights cast a glow of light
upon on our embrace.

Music played as we entered the enormous suite
in the hotel—lights off, candles flickering throughout. Only the
glow of the flames illuminated the room. A bottle of champagne and
chocolate-covered strawberries welcomed our arrival, elegantly
displayed on the coffee table.

Dylan took my hand, leading me over to the
bottle of champagne by the fireplace. The sound of the fire
crackled as the gentle blue flame warmed our bodies. He poured a
glass of champagne and handed it to me.

“To Nicole, a woman who has placed her
fingerprints on my soul and has changed me forever—your kiss, your
laughter, and your love. A part of you will forever be a part of
me.”

A gentle warmth covered my body and I
smiled.

“It’s true, Nicole. You are my everything. I
don’t know how you were sent to me. I only know my life will never
be the same because of you.”

“Dylan, I have never felt like this about
anyone. I don’t want you to go,” I sighed.

He picked up a chocolate-covered strawberry,
bringing it to my lips. My tongue could taste the sweetness of the
chocolate as he taunted me with it. Playing with it like a carrot,
he dangled it in front of me and then pulled it away, until we were
both laughing at my failed attempts to capture it with my mouth. I
could feel the heat from the fireplace. He ran the back of his hand
softly down my face, looking into my eyes, tasting the chocolate
from my lips.

I reached out to him, a little timid. He
watched me as I unbuttoned his shirt, letting it fall to the
floor—his muscular frame
lit by the fire’s glow.
My stomach tickled as he took my hand in his. His thumbs fondled my
palm as he led me to the bedroom. The sheer fabric of the canopy
shimmered with the dance of the flames.
A tingle pulsed
through me as he lifted me up, laying me on the soft bed.

“This is our last night
together,” he whispered, laying down beside me.

I needed him.

“You are so beautiful.” His
hands glided over my skin.

The candlelight caressed
his muscular body. I let my fingers trace his biceps, exploring his
chest. He pulled my body close to his and rolled over on top of me
to kiss my lips once more. He pushed himself up, hovering above me,
consuming my lips. The muscles in his body flexed as he lowered
himself on me. His lips slowly left mine and began savoring my neck
and drifted downward toward my dress. Gently nibbling on the
buttons, he released my body from its restraints.

The silk, black-lace
lingerie was soon unveiled as the dress got thrown
aside.

“Mmm. You look
delicious.”

Slowly he slid down my
body, savoring every inch with his tongue. My body arched,
stimulated by his mouth. He made his way off the bottom of the bed.
One by one, he removed my high heels and, gently tickling me,
removed my silk, thigh-high stockings, letting them fall to the
floor.

As he kissed my calves. His
hands proceeded up my legs slowly tantalizing my calves and then my
thighs. My body became fully aroused, craving his. He slid back on
top of me, his tongue savoring my skin as he returned to my lips. I
could feel his desire as he pressed his body onto mine. Every
fragment of my body wanted him—every ounce of my being begged me to
surrender. Our heartbeats harmonized, my body overwhelmed by
desire.

Every place he touched me,
my body quivered. He slowly rolled me over him, lifting me up so I
was sitting on top of him. I could feel his longing underneath me.
I wanted to feel him inside me as he teased me with gentle
pulsations.

He pulled my body close to
his and rolled over on top of me to kiss my lips once
more.

I needed to feel him inside
me. My fingers dug into his back. I moaned, my passion growing out
of control. My
yearning, my craving, my
longing, accentuated.

Take
me
, my body exclaimed.

His hands started to enter
my panties, slowly lowering them.

I wanted to abandon my
inhibitions, but my hand stopped him. I could barely
breathe.

He rolled over next to me
still gazing into my eyes, running his hand through my hair, his
breath hard and irregular. He looked into my eyes, allowing the
back of his other hand to caress my cheek. “What’s wrong,
baby?”

“Dylan, I . . . I’m not
ready.” He gently kissed me, breathing heavily. He brushed the hair
from my face, taking another deep breath as he kissed me
again.

My heart was racing; our
bodies were glistening from the intensity. I laid my head on his
chest and heard it pounding with vigor; I traced it with my
fingertips. He put his hand on top of mine and kissed
it.

“I need to just hold you
for a while. If I don’t stop now, I know I won’t be able to. I know
I promised. It’s just so hard. I want you so bad,
Nicole.”

But I couldn’t handle the pain if I gave
myself to him tonight and never heard from him again. He wrapped
his arms around me, and I sighed, “Why do you have to leave me?” I
whispered. He made me
feel so safe. He made me
feel so loved. I never wanted to leave his arms.

“Is that what is bothering you, baby?” He
pulled away so he could look into my eyes. “Nicole, I will be back.
I promise.”

C
hapter Twenty-five

I slowly awoke to the gentle rhythm of Dylan
stroking my hair. Taking my face in his hands, he gently kissed my
forehead. He started to get out of bed.

“Don’t go.” I pulled him toward me.

“I could stay here all day.”

“Why don’t we?” I bit my lip.

“Because I don’t know how much torture I can
withstand.” He smiled. “You proud of me? I survived another night
bound in my pants.”

“Thank you,
Dylan
.
To be honest, it was really hard for me to stop. I wanted you so
badly.”

He kissed me. “But then you would be upset
with yourself today when I had to leave. I want our first time to
be perfect, and I don’t want you to have any uncertainty.” He
gently kissed me. “
I hate that I’m leaving, I
wish I met you before I took this job. I’ll be welding on the oil
pipeline. It’s really remote up there, you won’t be able to contact
me. I’ll have to call you.”

“Wait, I can’t call
you?”

“I will have to share a
phone. It sucks, my cell won’t work up there. I wanted to get you a
cell so it would be easy to contact you, but I know they don’t work
in a lot of areas of Wasilla, so it depends where you live. I
figure you could check into it and I’ll give you the money for
it.”

“I already told you I
don’t need you to get me a phone, besides; there is no cell service
at Steve’s house. Katie was complaining about it yesterday. She
can’t call Alan when he’s there.”

“So, did you like it? How did everything go
with the basement apartment?”

“Oh,
Dylan!
” I sat
up on the bed and crossed my legs. “It’s perfect. There’s even a
playhouse in the back that has running water and electricity. And
the nanny, from what I hear, seems amazing.”

“And you are sure you’ll be safe?”

“I’m positive. He comes in with Officer
Statton all the time.”

“So, when will you be bringing Jessica
up?”

“As soon as I make enough money.”

“You should have enough with what I gave
you.”

“I gave it to Trevor at the wedding and told
him to give it back to you.”

“Why did you do that? It’s yours. I’ll make
sure he gets it back to you. You need that money.”

“You are so sweet, but I really need to do
this on my own. I don’t want you to think money has anything to do
with the way I feel about you. I had a crush on you when I thought
you were a poor struggling musician.”

“You had a crush on me? And when exactly was
this?” He started tickling me.

“I don’t know.” He kept tickling me.

“When?”

“Stop.” Laughter consumed me.

“I don’t know, maybe when you tripped me at
Brad’s.”

“Oh my god, that was almost month before you
went out with me. You looked so delicious when you landed in my
lap. I wanted to kiss you so bad.”

“I was so embarrassed, I couldn’t believe it.
I felt so stupid.”

“You’ve liked me since then?”

“It was just a little crush. I loved the way
you stared at me. And your smile—you have a sexy smile.”

“Sexy, you thought I was sexy?”

“Stop.” I was blushing.

“Wow. A month. You sure do play hard to
get.”

“I’m not into musicians, and I could see you
were a player.”

“You could, could you?”

“Yep.” My smile grew really big.

“Maybe I was, but then you ruined me. How am
I going to survive a month without you?”

“You could always sneak me in your suitcase.”
I lifted my eyebrows, widening my eyes.

“Trust me; you don’t want to go to the North
Slope. It’s pretty barren—nothing like Anchorage.”

“I’d love to be anywhere you are.” I could
feel it already happening to me. He was a drug I couldn’t get
enough of.
How was I going to survive this month without
him
?

“I want to warn you. It’s really hard to get
in touch with me there; I share a line with all the guys on my
floor. I will have to call you. I’ll call you in the next few days
so you can give me your new number.”

“I wish you didn’t have to go,” I sighed.

“This job is the only way I can break free
from my family’s control of me. I don’t need their money. I don’t
need their rules.”

I wondered if his mom gave him a hard time
for seeing me at the wedding.

He changed the subject. “We should get going
so I can get you that money before I leave.”

“I’m serious. You have done enough for me. I
can’t take your money.”

“Chris is gonna be out of town, and be gone.
I need you to take it for emergencies. And you need it to bring
Jessica here. I won’t take no for an answer. I don’t want you
moving into this strange guy’s house. But if you do, I want you to
have a little money in case you need it. It will give me peace of
mind. Once you know you’re safe there, and once you and your
daughter are settled in, maybe I won’t insist anymore.”

“Dylan, I’m sure I’ll be fine.” I thought
about his mother’s accusations.

“I am insisting. I won’t take no for an
answer. I’m pretty stubborn when I want to be. If you don’t take
it, I will just give it to Emily or Brad and pretend it’s from some
anonymous tipper or something.” He began tickling me again.

“You are such a brat.”