Page 64 of Rise & Fall

“So, you let him stay here. Because you have a big heart and despite you being hurt by him, you’re not the kind of woman to hurt back.” I whisper into her hair as she grips me a little tighter and nods.

The air around us settles a little, the reality of what I’m actually doing here dawning on me, but it’s impossible to fight this with her. I am drawn. And I trust what she’s saying.

I push her gently out of my embrace, wanting to look at her face. I rest one hand above her at the top of her door frame, my six-two to her five-seven giving me all of the control when I reach for her chin with my other hand and tilt it up to look at me. I lower my head to level with her mouth, almost touching but not quite.

“It was killing me all morning knowing that he was in there with you,” I whisper, and I feel her body writhe beneath me. Her breathing gets heavier. “I trust you. But this piece of shit hurt you and he deserves to have been left out in the cold if you ask me. He also deserves to know how good you look when you’re being taken care of by someone else. Someone who can treat you better than he can.” I let go of her chin as she tries to regain her breathing patterns. She looks up at me and presents me with a small, perfect smile.

“Fuck, you turn me on,” she admits, practically pudding against her front door.

“Trust me, baby girl. The feeling is mutual.”

She reaches up and wraps her arms around my neck, pulling my face down to match hers. “Want to come in?” she asks.

“Is that what you want?”

“Maybe.” She darts her tongue out and swipes it across her bottom lip. “Maybe I want to do just that…show that piece of shit how much better I look in the arms of a man who can make me come harder than anyone else has.”

Something carnal in me awakens, because the need for her is overwhelming. I take my hand and place it on her hip bone, gripping hard enough to be able to pull her into me. I lower my lips into her ear.

“Dakota, I can’t promise I will be able to control myself if you keep talking to me like this. I came here because I didn’t want to miss the chance to tell you that I’m serious about this. About us.” I feel her nipples harden against my chest as I whisper in her ear. “I would literally do anything you asked me to, anything. But I don’t think I can do it without knowing that you might not be serious about us too.” I release her from my hold and pull myself back to search her eyes.

“You really like me?” she questions, almost as if she’s pretending she didn’t already know this information but she just wants me to say it out loud.

“Yes, I really fucking do.” I grip her a little harder, imprinting my touch into her skin.

I don’t care if her ex is on the other side. I don’t care if it makes me look pathetic or weak. Because all that matters is that Dakota knows what she’s worthy of. My intentions become clearer as I stand here and hold her, promising to treat her better than he ever did.

“Then I want you to come inside, please.”

I take my thumb and trace her top lip with it. I feel the air escape her nose and graze over my skin. Dakota gives me the most incredulous look, like she’s one-thousand percent positive about what she wants but is still nervous to admit it.

I give her a small peck on her check and look into her eyes as she twists the doorknob behind her. “Whatever you want, Firefly,” I tell her, and before I know it, the door is open and she’s pulling me inside with her.

twenty

Dakota

Isneakhimintomy kitchen, pulling him by his wrist. And I saysneaklightly because this is my house and I can do whatever the hell I want, but I know Asher is still in the spare room; I told him to wait there until his ride came because I wanted nothing to do with him this morning. And really, I don’t know what I’m going to do when Asher sees Nolan. But he needs to know I’ve moved on.

Do I really need to throw Nolan in Asher’s face? No. And some may say it’s a tad childish. But it would be pretty sweet to see the look on his face when—

Nolan pushes me up against my kitchen counter, his rough hands traveling from the backs of my thighs and up under my night shorts, cupping my ass and digging his fingers into my skin.

“I can’t keep my hands off you, Dakota,” he whispers in my ear as he picks me up and places me on the countertop.

I grab onto his neck for support, curling my fingers at the base of where his hair starts and tugging a little bit.

Nolan doesn’t waste any time pulling me into him for a rough, passionate kiss. His tongue begging to let him in and I do, opening my mouth and tilting my head to give him better access.

God, does he feel good against me. He’s pulling me in, gripping my hips and pushing his mouth over mine. We kiss like hungry animals, not caring how carnal it looks.

I try desperately to hang on to him any way I can. His shirt, his hair, his neck, his shirt again.

Suddenly I hear a door shut in the distance, feet shuffling, and then another door shuts.

Asher is now in the bathroom.

I pull away from the kiss.