Page 76 of Hard Rain Coming
“You’re a whole lot of things, Duchess. You’re opinionated and articulate. You’re smart, shrewd. And even though you prefer folks to think you’re distant and cold, you’re not. You have more love in your pinky than a lot of folks manage to muster in a lifetime. You don’t show it, but that’s okay. You stand up for yourself, you don’t give in, and you’re passionate. I’d want you in my corner when the shit hits.”
“You make me sound like Wonder Woman,” she said slowly, and he saw the doubt there. “But I’d bet every penny in my bank account most folks think I’m a cold-hearted bitch.”
He smiled at that. “You can come across as aloof. But not everyone is an open book, and I like the mystery, the challenge of peeling back all those layers. You’re like a hard rain coming, Viv. Fast and furious, with the strength of a storm at your back. You make things hard, and you push back, but babe, those are the things I love about you. You challenge me like no other woman I’ve known.”
“I don’t know if I can love the way a normal person does.”
“What the fuck is normal?” he growled, moving so close, their mouths were almost touching. “There is no normal. There’s you and me. There’s our past. There’s our present, and I’m hoping like hell, there’s our future. But you have to decide if you’re all in, because I’ve been all in since I walked into that bar in Wyoming.” He swept a kiss across her lips. “I just didn’t know it.”
Silence stretched between them. Long and thin and so damn loud, he wanted to hit something. Her eyes changed. They softened. Her pupils expanded, and her breathing increased.
“You kept the unicorn,” she said softly. “After I threw it in your face that last night at the Sundowner.”
Dallas reached for her. “I kept the damn unicorn.”
She opened beneath him, her mouth pliant and soft, and he kissed her until their heads swam. Until his heart felt like it would explode from his chest. Until she whimpered beneath him and clawed at his jeans.
“I need you,” she whispered hoarsely. “Inside me.”
His dick was hard, his body primed to go, but he worked like hell to put a leash on things because he had plans for this woman, and they involved more than one orgasm before he’d allow himself inside her.
He pushed her back and smiled. “We’re going to take this slow, Duchess.”
“I love it when you call me that,” she sighed, wiggling her hips.
He grabbed her jeans and pulled them down, then looked up at her with a grin. “Do you remember the first time I called you that?”
She nodded, biting her bottom lip when he pressed his mouth against her inner thigh. “You were mad because I said I wouldn’t take you to my cousin’s wedding unless you wore a suit and tie.”
He licked the spot he’d just kissed, eyes on the prize covered by the tiniest piece of red silk imaginable. “I had slacks. Had a button-up too.”
“Wasn’t good enough.”
He pressed his fingers against her, rubbing slowly as she began to gyrate her hips.
“For a duchess,” he replied, leaning forward. She was wet, the stain apparent through the fabric.
“I went with Mark Branson instead.” Her words ended on a squeal because he ripped her panties in two.
“And where’s he now?” Dallas kissed her there. His favorite spot.
“Who cares?” she said on a groan. “Mark who?” she gasped when he kissed her again.
“Exactly, Duchess.” Dallas covered her wholly with his mouth. Used his tongue and fingers until she began to quiver. He worked her over until she was panting.
“God, Dal. I’m so close.”
He grinned, loving the way she looked, half-dressed, hair everywhere, his mouth on her most private body part. He moved his fingers faster, curved them up to hit the spot that drove her crazy, and then he suckled, pulled, and teased with his tongue. When she came, he lapped up everything she had, then continued his assault until she shattered once more. Maybe twice. He stood back, chest heaving, so that he could watch her as she came down.
“It’s always so good with you.” A soft smile curved her lips. “Always,” she whispered hoarsely.
“Take off the rest of your clothes.”
Slowly, she raised her head, her skin flush and rosy, and grinned. “Now you’re being bossy.”
“I am the foreman. It’s what I do.”
She sat up and pulled off her top and bra, while he doffed his shirt and jeans. He dropped a hard, searching kiss, then scooped her into his arms and strode over to the rug in front of the fireplace. Vivian immediately rolled over and presented him with the sweetest view of an ass meant only for him.