Fall to Pieces (19 page)

Sadie realized she must have been frowning.
"I'm great," she said. And why shouldn't she be? She was sitting
across from the most gorgeous man she'd ever met, her body still
buzzing from the most amazing sex she'd ever had.

And if she was reading his body language
correctly, more of said sex would be happening very soon.

So what if it would all end in a couple
short weeks?
she scolded herself.
All the more reason to
enjoy every second of this, however long it lasts.

She drained the last of her wine and pushed
away her empty plate. "That was delicious," she said and leaned
back in her chair with a contented sigh.

"Does this mean you're ready for dessert?"
Something in the way his eyes glimmered told her he wasn't talking
about ice cream.

"Depends on what you're serving," she said
with a grin.

"I'm craving something hot, sweet, and
juicy," he grinned back.

"Sounds delicious."

He reached around the small table, hooked his
hand around one of the wooden slats in the back of her chair and
pulled it around until it knocked into his. "Best thing I ever
tasted."

The flirty banter ended the second his mouth
closed over hers. It didn't take much encouragement for her to
crawl over onto his lap, her thighs splayed on either side of his
hips as she rocked herself against the hard ridge of his cock
tenting the front of his shorts. One big, callused palm stole under
the hem of her shirt to cover her breast. Sadie moaned into his
mouth as his thumb flicked over her nipple, making it harden even
further.

He shifted underneath her, and she gave a
little cry at the friction of her bare, wet sex against the fabric
of his shorts. He rocked again, sending a shock of heat rushing
through her. And then, unbelievably...

Her orgasm rippled through her, shocking her
with its force and swiftness.

He stilled against her. "Holy shit, did you
just come?"

She buried her face against his shoulder and
gave a sheepish laugh. "Guilty." At his silence she lifted her head
to look in his eyes, which held a slightly dazed expression. "I'm
as surprised as you are, especially given how many times..." her
voice trailed off before she started babbling about the fact that
in the past, she'd had to work really hard, really concentrate to
even have one orgasm a night.

Much less... what was this? Three? Four?

And hell, maybe he wasn't even surprised.
Maybe big stud Dylan was used to handing out multiple orgasms like
it was his job. Though his stunned exclamation seemed to counter
that.

As did what happened next.

###

"Holy, fucking shit," Dylan said again, blood
roaring in his ears as he sucked her tongue into his mouth, his
cock straining so hard against his shorts it was a wonder he didn't
rip through the fabric. He almost couldn't believe it, wouldn't
have if he didn't still feel the lingering shudders rippling across
her skin, couldn't feel the hot pulse of her sex.

He loved the way her mouth opened so eagerly
under his, hot and hungry like she couldn't get enough of him, even
now. He couldn't ever remember being with someone so responsive,
primed to go off like a rocket at his slightest touch.

And the fact that she looked just as stunned
at her own response... well didn't that just make him feel like
king of the fucking universe.

He scooped her into his arms and carried her
back to the bedroom, need hitting him with such force it bordered
on desperation. She stretched out against the rumpled sheets. The
t-shirt had ridden up around her waist, offering him an unimpeded
view of her pale, silky thighs and the slick, plump folds of her
sex glistening in between.

"God love Victoria's Secret," he muttered as
he shoved his shorts down his legs, "but as far as I'm concerned
you could gear yourself up in full push up bra and garter regalia
and it wouldn't be half as sexy as you in that shirt."

She grinned up at him and slid the hem of her
t-shirt up further, until just the soft undercurves of her breasts
were showing. "Care to test that theory? I'm pretty sure I have a
push up bra and some thigh highs stashed somewhere."

"Sounds like you need to dig them out," he
said as he shoved his jeans down his legs and climbed onto the bed
with her.

"If only for the purpose of research," she
replied, her serious tone belied by the breathiness in her voice as
he knelt between her legs.

He wasted no time pulling the shirt the rest
of the way over her head. He bent and sucked a nipple into his
mouth, and her soft cry sent an electric current straight through
to his cock.

She rocked her hips against him, spreading
her legs farther until he was nestled against her sex. He bit back
a curse at the feel of her hot, slick folds against the bare skin
of his cock. He thrust, sliding himself up and down, his groans
echoing hers as his hard length skimmed the firm bud of her
clit.

He continued to move, bathing himself in her
wetness, slowly driving them both insane as he slid against her in
a caress that was so close and yet so far from what they both
desperately needed.

She lost patience first. "Dylan," she
whispered hotly against his mouth. "I need more. I need you inside
me."

Before he could even answer with a hearty
"hell yes," she was rolling out from underneath him and reaching
for the bed side table, rummaging around until she found what she
needed.

He snatched the condom packet out of her
hand, tore it open with his teeth and used one hand to roll it on
with remarkable coordination given how much every inch of him was
twitching with need.

The other hand he flattened against the small
of her back, stilling her when she would have rolled over onto her
back.

He urged her to her knees, mesmerized by the
sight of her pale, firm ass tilted up, her legs parted just enough
to give him a glimpse of the sweetness between, hot and wet and
ready to receive him.

He guided himself to her opening, his breath
catching in his chest as he watched the thick head disappear inside
her tight, pink flesh.

They moaned in unison as he slid deep with
one long stroke, burying himself to the hilt as she rocked her hips
back to receive him.

Then as though he hadn't already come twice,
as though he had been without a woman for thirty years instead of
thirty minutes, what little control he had crumbled.

Gripping her hip so hard his fingers sank
into the pale flesh, he took her in hard, deep strokes that had her
moaning and clutching the sheets in her fists as her back arched to
take him even deeper. It was raw, raunchy, and even hotter because
he'd never expected it from Sadie.

Never expected that her pussy would feel so
tight, squeezing him hard as she slammed her hips back to take
every stroke. Never imagined that she'd be on her knees, moaning
for more, even as he gave her everything that he had. Never
imagined he would reach between her legs as he thrust into her,
making her come with one circle of his thumb.

Never imagined that the feel of her pleasure
pulsing around him, the knowledge that he made her come like no one
else ever had, would send his own release crashing over him with
the force of an RPG nailing him in the chest.

Never imagined that after he came back down
to earth, felt the pieces of himself fall back into place, he'd
want to rain kisses over her shoulders, pull her tightly back
against his chest so she wouldn't even think of slipping away like
she had last night.

Never imagined that the feel of her heartbeat
against his chest, the sound of her breath as it slowed, would send
him into a deep, dreamless sleep.

He awoke, disoriented, hours later, trying to
decipher what felt so off.

The bedside lamp was still on, there was
that, but that wasn't all of it.

No nightmares.
Though his brain was
humming and his heart raced like it always did when he woke up in
the middle of the night. But for the first time in he didn't know
how long, he wasn't bombarded by blurry images and the feeling of
dread that came from reliving those moments, always trying to
change the outcome.

Never succeeding.

His fingers flexed, tingling at the sensation
of the soft, giving flesh burrowing against his palm.

And then, of course, there was Sadie. Still
snuggled up against him, her back to his front, sleeping soundly
even as he couldn't resist circling the pink bud of her nipple with
his thumb.

That was probably the most unusual thing in
all of this. The fact that he was actually sleeping with a woman.
He couldn't remember the last time that had happened.

Even more unusual? That he didn't feel in the
least bit horrified by it.

Knowing sleep wouldn't return anytime soon,
he slipped from the bed, careful not to disturb her. He couldn't
help but smile at the sound of her sighing in her sleep as she
stirred and buried her face more deeply in the pillow.

He clicked off the light, closed the door
softly behind him, padded down the hall, and set up his laptop on
the kitchen table.

Though the nightmares hadn't come to him
tonight, he wanted to finish the journal entry he'd left unfinished
the night before.

Absorbed in his work, he lost track of time
until he heard the sound of a door opening down the hall and soft
footsteps in the hallway.

Instinctively, he slapped his laptop shut,
grabbed a book, and moved to the couch.

"You couldn't sleep?" Sadie said.

His lips curved as he took her in, her long
legs once again sticking out from the hem of his t-shirt, her thick
wavy hair mussed, her face soft and blurry looking from sleep.
"Nah. I figured I might as well read."

She walked a little closer. "I hope it wasn't
because of me." Her fingers twisted nervously in front of her. "I
didn't mean to crash like that."

He set the book down, and rose from the
couch. He walked over and took her hands in his, raised them to his
lips and kissed the backs. "I've had problems sleeping since I got
injured," he shrugged.

"I've heard that happens to a lot of soldiers
who spend a lot of time in combat. With everything you must have
seen, I can imagine it makes it hard to sleep."

As if on cue, a flurry of images flooded his
brain. Bodies scattered on the ground, chests blown open, limbs
blown off.

"Dylan?" Her hand on his cheek snapped him
back to reality. "What's going on in there?"

Her dark eyes were wide, so full of concern
he felt like he could lose himself in there for a lifetime. A rush
of words surged in his throat as a crazy urge to tell her
everything nearly overwhelmed him.

He shoved it aside. It was his darkness to
carry. Sadie hadn't signed up to help him shoulder the burden.

"I'm fine," he said, forcing a smile. ""I
think with me it started in the hospital, getting disturbed all the
time. Besides," he said and bent to kiss her, "after the way I wore
you out, it's no wonder you needed a nap."

She smiled, her cheeks going bright red as
her mind no doubt filled with the same images that were filling
his. Heat pooled between his legs, and suddenly the only item on
his agenda was getting her right back to bed.

But before he could steer her back in that
direction, she pulled her mouth from his and took a step away. "I
should get back," she said reluctantly. "It's already after five,
and June will be there at 6:30 to start breakfast."

"Can't let anyone know you're fraternizing
with the help," he teased as she went to gather her clothes off the
floor.

She gave him a sardonic look over her
shoulder. "We're supposed to be having fun, right? Want to know
what wouldn't be fun? My dad being privy to the details of my sex
life."

She retreated down the hall and it took all
his willpower not to corner her in the bedroom and convince her to
change her mind. The only thing that stopped him was the knowledge
she was one hundred percent correct. Though Sadie was an adult and
could make her own choices, the last thing he wanted was to be
confronted by Jim Thornton and any potential questions he might
have about Dylan's intentions toward his daughter.

Especially when they mostly involved having
sex with her as much as possible before he headed out for good.

Sadie emerged a few minutes later, rumpled
but fully clothed. He caught her on the way to the door and pulled
her in for another kiss. "I'll see you later," he said, his tone
leaving no question in
later
about his intentions.

She coiled her arms around his neck, leaned
up on her tiptoes and took his mouth in a kiss that had him going
from zero to sixty in about half a second. "You certainly
will."

###

The next couple of days were spent in much
the same way. Dylan working in the hay meadows while Sadie stayed
busy closer to the house. Though she was working her ass off, both
on the final stages of Mary Derwin's project and tending to the
horses, all on only a few hours of sleep, thanks to Dylan, she felt
oddly energized.

Like she'd been infused with light and
boundless energy, capable of nearly anything.

Who knew amazing sex could be such a miracle
elixir?

Even as her nights with Dylan quickly became
the highlight of her days, she cautioned herself not to let herself
get carried away. He'd been clear what this was—a little fun before
he went back to his real life.

Fun was all about the here and the now and
reveling in the pleasure they could give each other. It wasn't
about commitment, or questions about a future they wouldn't
share.

But damned if she didn't feel good. So good
that even the prospect of meeting with Molly and untangling the
headache that was the ranch's finances couldn't bring her down.