Dane's Return Read online

  Her fingers roamed lazily up her thighs until the nightgown was bunched around her waist. Her fingers trailed higher, dipping along her belly before she reached the swell of her breasts. She cupped the heavy globes and gasped at the sensation, and when her fingers grazed across her cotton covered nipples she couldn't help the moan that escaped.

  She imagined Dane's mouth suckling at her breasts, teasing a wet path lower until he reached the junction of her thighs. She was damp with need and it didn't take long for her fingers to become slick with her essence. She twirled her finger around the taut bud, wishing it were Dane's tongue. Her breathing grew heavy and she felt the familiar weight of release settle in her loins.

  Whimpers escaped from her throat and she tossed her head back, just on the cusp of explosion. A car door slammed outside her window, and she pulled her gown down with a guilty start. The first thing that went through her mind was that Jayden and his friends had gotten in a fight and he'd demanded to come home. She pulled on a robe and hurried to the front door, but when she opened it, it wasn't Jayden who stared at her with anger and hurt radiating from his body. It was his father. She opened the screen door and stepped toward him before she remembered she wasn't going to get attached.

  "Dane," she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.

  "Were you ever going to tell me?"

  It took her a minute to realize what he was saying. Jayden. She felt the blood drain from her head, and tiny spots danced in front of her eyes. The screen door slipped from her fingers, and she must have looked as unsteady as she felt because all of a sudden, Dane was there, his arms holding her up.

  "Jesus, Charlotte. You know I'd never hurt you. You don’t have to look at me like that." He picked her up and walked into the house, not waiting for an invitation.

  "I know you wouldn't,” she said. “You just took me by surprise."

  He sat down in one of the overstuffed chairs she had by the fireplace. She tried to move out of his lap, but he tightened his grasp on her and positioned her so she was snuggled against his chest.

  "You didn't answer me," he said. "Were you ever going to tell me that I have a son?"

  She lifted her gaze so she could look him in the eyes. Her eyes burned, but they were dry. She'd cried the last of her tears, and she wasn't going to be anything but honest with Dane now that he'd pinned her down.

  "No, I wasn't going to tell you."

  It was hard not to flinch at the hurt that came into his eyes. "Why? Do you think me such a monster that I wouldn't want to be a part of my own son's life?"

  "For how long, Dane? Until the next story comes along? Until you figure out that you're tired of small town living? Until you figure out what you want in your life? He's a child. I can't do that to him. I won't do it to him. It's cruel. And I'm going to ask that you don't say anything to him either."

  Dane dropped his head on her shoulder and she felt his breath shudder against her neck. "I'm sorry I left you, Charlotte. I'm sorry I left you to deal with everything on your own. You should have had my brothers contact me. I would have come home and helped you. Supported you."

  "I didn't need your support. The thing I needed from you, Dane MacKenzie, was something you were unable, or unwilling, to give. You had to leave Surrender. I understand that. I didn't always understand it. But seeing you again, seeing what you've made of yourself, I do understand. You would have been trapped here. And you would have hated it. And eventually, you would have hated me for holding you back. We were too young to think of such permanence."

  He shook his head. "I wanted that permanence with you. I just wasn't ready for it so soon. I still want it. I've never stopped loving you, Charlotte. You have to believe that."

  Charlie smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. She brushed the hair that hung down on his forehead back in a maternal gesture.

  "My mom." He stopped and cleared his throat before continuing. "I left partly because of her. Partly because of you. I wasn't ready for her to go so quick. She was the only person in my life who knew all my dreams and encouraged me. My brothers would have made fun of me if they'd known I'd wanted to be a writer." He smiled at her appalled look and shrugged. "It's what brothers do.

  "She was the biggest fan I ever had. And she wanted me to do something with my life. If I'd stayed in Surrender I would have ended up like everybody said I would. Looking for the next fight. Making trouble just to pass the time. And I'd have disappointed the one person in my life who had complete faith in me."

  Charlie cursed the tears she was unable to keep from falling down her cheeks. "You're wrong, you know. I had complete faith in you too. There was a time when I would have followed you anywhere. I loved you, and I would have kept loving you if you'd given me the chance."

  "I know that. But after she died I felt like I was alone in the world, and the walls of Surrender were pushing in on me. I knew you loved me. And I left because I was young and stupid enough to think that love would last until I came back. I had a lot of growing up to do, sweetheart. We both did."

  Charlie knew he was right. Who knows how things would have been between them if he'd stayed in Surrender. Would they have married? Had more children? Would it have ended in a bitter divorce because Dane had been forced to give up his dreams for a woman-child and an infant?"

  "It's okay, Dane," she said, touching his cheek. "Really, it is. I understand why you left. You don't owe me any more explanations."

  Dane couldn't help but lower his lips to hers. The temptation was just too great. She sighed against his lips and tasted the saltiness of her tears. Her body was lush and warm and fit perfectly against his.

  "I need to make love to you again. I need it like I need to breathe," he said, pushing her gown over her hips like she'd done earlier. He groaned when he saw she wasn't wearing panties.

  "Yes," she moaned.

  It was all the encouragement he needed. He stripped her gown over her head and stood, lifting her in his arms. "I want to take you in a bed this time."

  She laughed against his chest. "If I remember right, we've never had very much luck finding one." She gave him directions to the master bedroom and he set her to her feet at the foot of the bed.

  "I'm going to love you all the ways I dreamed of over the last ten years," he said. "Get on the bed and close your eyes."

  She gave him a saucy wink and crawled across the bed, her ass presented perfectly to him, and she settled herself in the middle of the pillows, closing her eyes as he'd directed. He stripped out of his clothes quickly and went to rummage through her drawers for what he needed.

  He moved quietly across the room, his years of sneaking in and out of hostile territories serving him well.

  "Do you know what I was doing before you got here?" Charlie purred.

  He stopped with his hand on the knob of her dresser drawer and turned to look at her. She ran her finger across the rigid peak of her nipple and he could see the chills that pebbled her flesh from where he stood.

  "Tell me." His voice was hoarse with desire, and his fingers finally found what he was looking for.

  "I was so close." She tweaked her nipple once before sliding her hand down between her thighs. "I was thinking of you. Wishing it was your mouth on me instead of my fingers."

  "Show me."

  He walked closer to the bed just as she parted her folds. They were wet with the dew of her arousal, and he watched as she circled the tight bud with her fingers. His breath came in shallow pants and he wanted nothing more than to join her on the bed. Silvery moonlight filtered through the curtains and cast a soft glow across her body.

  He waited until she was just on the edge of fulfillment before he joined her on the bed and crawled between her thighs. His tongue took the place of her fingers, and he brought her quickly over the edge with just a flick of his tongue. She tasted sweet, like ambrosia and sweet cream, and he kissed his way up her body, paying special attention to each peak and valley.

  “You are so beautiful,” he whispered.
r />   She laughed nervously. “The stretch marks are new.”

  “Battle scars, baby. There’s nothing sexier.” He kissed the marks in question and made his way back to her lips. “I want you to feel everything I do to you tonight," he said, taking the black stocking he'd found in her drawer and tying it over her eyes. "Tonight is all about the senses. Do you agree?"

  "As long as I get to taste you,” she agreed. “I want to feel you in my mouth. It was always one of my greatest pleasures."

  "Why don't we trade places and you can see if it's the same as you remember?" He helped her sit up and then lay flat on his back. She used her hands along his body to help her find her way, and he groaned as she took him into her hand.

  "So heavy and full," she murmured, leaning her head towards his straining cock.

  Her fingers were her eyes, and she made sure there was no part of him that went undiscovered as she stroked his cock and massaged the taut sac beneath.

  "Stop teasing me, woman."

  Her throaty laughter told him she knew exactly who held all the power. And it wasn't him. His fingers grabbed the sheets when he felt the warm wetness of her mouth surround him.

  "You taste of me," she said, licking him from shaft to tip and then taking him down completely.

  Dane felt her throat open and the subtle undulations of her tongue against the underside of his cock. His balls tightened, and he knew if he didn't stop her now there would be no turning back.

  "Enough, baby. Come here." He helped her move up his body and straddle his waist. She grabbed his cock and slowly lowered herself down on his rigid shaft. "Do you know how sexy it is to see you above me with that blindfold on?"

  She whimpered in her throat as she impaled herself, bit by bit. And when she sat on him fully her head dropped back in a moan of pure sensation and pleasure. She caressed her breasts, holding them together so they sat plump in her hands, and the sight was nearly his undoing.

  He grasped her hips and began to move, alternating between grinding their hips together and thrusting in full strokes into her tight pussy. To watch her above him with no inhibitions was one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen. It was a dance to some unheard music that controlled her hips and hands, and he nearly spent himself too soon when he felt her reach around and cup his balls.

  Dane sat up so they were entwined together, as close as two lovers could possibly be, and he bit down on the offered nipple, causing her to gasp and her pussy to tighten around him.

  "Mmm, you like that, do you?" He soothed the nipple and then moved to the other, repeating the process. She clamped around him like a vise and threw her head back in surrender. The pulses from her orgasm were almost enough to send him over the edge.

  When she lay limp in his arms, he slowly pulled out of her and let her slump back on the bed. "I'm not finished with you yet."

  "God, Dane. I don't know if I can take anymore."

  "I love hearing my name from your lips," he said, kissing her softly on the mouth. Their tongues entwined and the lazy caress built swiftly into heat. He pulled away and moved off the bed.

  "Where are you going? I thought you weren't done with me yet." Her smile held challenge, and he was more than ready to answer it.

  "Far from it." He positioned her so her feet were on the floor and her body was bent over the bed. He placed her arms above her head and made her stand so her legs were together. He tied the other stocking around her thighs so she couldn't spread her legs.

  "This is going to be challenging. Or have you changed your mind? Am I too much for you after all?"

  Dane growled low in his throat, the sight of her ass in the air waiting for him and her body displayed like an erotic offering gave him the instincts of an animal. He wanted nothing more than to claim her.

  "Do you know what you look like?" he asked, running a finger down her spine. "Your skin is so smooth and pale. Your hair is tousled around your shoulders. And your sweet ass is mine for the taking."

  He continued the path of his finger down the cleft of her buttocks, into the sweet nectar that coated her pussy, and then back up to the tiny rosebud of her anus. "Someday I'm going to take you here," he whispered. "But not today. I wouldn't last with your tight ass clamped around me. And I'm not sure I could be gentle enough that first time."

  She moaned at his words, and he watched her arousal coat the inside of her thighs. She lifted her ass to his roaming finger and he gave her what she wanted. He pushed just the tip of his finger into the tight bud, and she closed around him, tightening her muscles to take him in further. She tried to spread her legs and take more of him, but the stocking tied around her thighs kept her from achieving her goal.

  "Don't be so greedy, sweetheart. I'll give you what you want. Eventually." Dane dipped his fingers back into her wetness, coating his fingers, and then he took his throbbing shaft in his hand, making sure he was lubricated enough.

  He took a pillow from the bed and shoved it under her hips so the angle was better, and he groaned at the sight of her wet pussy lips, closed tight together, just waiting for his cock. He pushed into her slowly, the fit so tight in this position that sweat popped out on his brow, and his hands shook with anticipation. It was the most erotic sight he'd ever seen—his cock disappearing between the tight folds that were wet only for him.

  When his was buried to the hilt he took a deep breath and held still, fighting for control. She was tense beneath him, her nails digging into the bed.

  "Am I hurting you?"

  "No, I'm just so close. So full."

  He took her blindfold off and said, "Look at us. Look how we fit together." Her dresser mirror sat in front of the bed, and he watched her eyes adjust in the reflection and take in the sight of them together. She tightened around him even more, and she couldn't hold back the fine tremors that shook her body.

  Dane held her gaze as he began to move in and out of her, slowly at first to make the adjustment of such a tight fit easier. But when she began pushing back against him, he couldn't help but move faster. Their eyes never wavered off each other. His hands clamped around her waist as he felt her pussy grasp him tighter. Her whole body shook with pleasure and she screamed out his name as she came to pieces around him.

  Her pleasure was all he needed to let go. He bent over her and thrust deep. One…two…three times before his come shot deep inside of her. He collapsed over her back and nuzzled at her neck.

  "I love you, Charlotte. I always have."

  Chapter 6

  Dane pushed away from her and untied her legs. His own limbs were unsteady as he lay down beside her and gathered her in his arms. She stirred against him and opened sleepy, wary eyes.

  "Dane," she said. "Please don't make this harder than it is. Can't it be enough that I still want you? That you're the only man I've ever wanted?"

  He sighed against her hair and felt his heart clutch. "Come with me," he said, pulling her up by the hand and leading her into the bathroom.

  He sat her down on the edge of the sunken whirlpool tub and went about turning the water and jets on. And when the temperature was just right, he picked her up in his arms and lowered them both into the frothy water.

  He sat her between his thighs so her back leaned against him, and he went about the task of washing her. Paying homage to her body, and leaving her no doubt that she was adored. He reveled in her gasps and sighs of pleasure and shifted his body so his erection nestled between her thighs. He pushed into her slowly, her swollen tissues and the water washing away her natural lubricant making the entrance difficult.

  When he was inside her to the hilt he propped her legs over his thighs and brought his arms around her middle. Just holding her. Just touching her. He poured soap in his hands and slicked them across her breasts and down her stomach. She clenched around him in anticipation.

  "I want to know our son, Charlotte." She stiffened in his arms, but he kept up his gentle massage until she relaxed again. "I can't change the past. I'm in a position now where I
can provide for you both. Give you the things you deserve to have. I couldn't offer that to you before."

  "Those things never mattered to me, Dane. You were all that mattered."

  "Being able to provide them mattered to me. I've had an offer from a publisher to write a book on some of my experiences as a journalist. Some of the things that never made it into my columns. I wouldn't have to travel if I took him up on it. I could write from here. Be with you. Get to know our son."

  He lifted her body up and down with his soapy hands so his cock stimulated her swollen folds. He moved a hand between her legs and rubbed her clit in slow circles while massaging a nipple between two fingers with his other hand.

  "I love you, Charlotte. Please forgive me. Let me back into your life. Into our son's life. I'll beg if I have to. And I promise to never leave you again."

  Quiet sobs shook her body even as she writhed against him in pleasure. Water splashed over the edge of the tub as his thrusts became harder. His fingers moved faster and his balls tightened with impending release. He buried his face in her neck and licked and nibbled at the skin just under her ear. Charlotte screamed out his name and pulsed around his cock just as he thrust one final time and spilled out his own orgasm.

  He stifled a curse as she pulled away from him, but he let her go. There was nothing else he could do to plead his case. He'd told her the truth about staying in Surrender. It was time to come home and put down roots. Whether or not he put them down with Charlotte would be her decision.

  He drained the water from the tub and followed her out, accepting the towel she offered him with a wary look. Her hair was damp at the ends, so she put it up in a clip and dried the rest of her body in silence. Dane followed her back to the bedroom and watched as she got in the bed. He was just about to start looking for his clothes so he could get dressed when she finally spoke.