Texas Tangle (13 page)

Whatever it was, it smelled delicious. Of course, so did the woman who’d made it. He peered over her shoulder and inhaled. She’d never know it wasn’t her dinner he was sniffing. “What is it?”

“It’s a tortilla casserole.”

As she set the dish on a trivet, it struck Dillon how he looked forward to meal time since she’d moved in. How many hot meals he’d eaten with her sitting across the table from him instead of him standing, alone, at the counter eating cold Sunday leftovers his mother had packed? Why had he not realized before the simple pleasure of curling up on the couch with her instead of staring at the television, the canned laughter and commercials his only company. Even the thrill he got in racing home to find her waiting for him.

Home
. That’s what it was. This wasn’t just a house anymore, a place he came to sleep. This was his home, the way he’d dreamed it would become. Having Nikki here made the difference.

“So I’ve been thinking.” She turned to face him, resting one hip against the table. “Since Brett doesn’t figure they’ll ever recover any of my stuff, I should probably start shopping for a new bed, that type of thing. Start replacing everything I’ve lost.”

The image of her greeting him every day shattered into a thousand shards as if she’d taken a sledgehammer to it.

“What?” He swallowed, hoping she hadn’t noticed how his voice had gone up a full octave until he sounded like his youngest brother Matt before his voice broke last summer. “What’s wrong with our bed?”

“There’s nothing wrong with
your
bed, Dillon. But it’s time for me to move back to my place. To have my own bed again.”

No fucking way was she moving out now. Didn’t she realize how right they were together? He stared at her as she placed the plate she’d heated on the table. “You can stay here. As long as you want.”

“What are you asking me, Dillon? What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I want you to stay here. With me. Forever. Marry me, Nikki.”
What the fuck?
Where the fucking hell had that come from? Yet as a part of his brain sat back and examined the idea, marriage to Nikki felt right. Yeah. Marriage. The two of them together. Waking up to her beside him. Going to bed with her too. Talking in the evenings. Doing things together. How come he hadn’t seen it before?

Not meeting his gaze, she toyed with the fork she’d used to stir the casserole. “I’ve been married once, Dillon. It didn’t work out. I’m not sure I want to get married again. Not yet.”

Not an outright no. All right, there was still hope. “Not yet? But maybe sometime in the future?”

She nodded. “Perhaps. There’s still a lot we don’t know about each other, Dillon. I don’t want to rush into a decision I’ll regret. I’ve been down that road before.”

“So we’ll live together for a while. I’ll give you as long as you need.” He crossed the distance between them, took the fork from her hand and turned her to face him. “Ask me whatever you want to know about me. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

What did she want to know about him? What had she wished she’d known about Wade before they’d gotten married?

Start with the big one. See if her question, and her response, would scare him off. “Do you want children?”

He didn’t go running. Instead he skimmed his hand through his hair, then nodded slowly. “Yeah. Not immediately. I’d like some time with you first. But yeah, I’d like kids.”

“I’m not sure I can give you babies, Dillon.”

There it was. That look people gave her when she told them. That goddamned “Aww, I’m so sorry” look she despised.

“Don’t give up hope, Nik. Mom had a miscarriage between Griffin and Ethan. She went on to have three more healthy babies.”

He’d even softened his voice. Damn it. What was it about people? “You don’t understand. The miscarriage left me damaged. Scarred.”

He cupped her face with one hand, running one calloused thumb along her jaw. “Oh, baby, I’m not looking for a broodmare. Besides, there’s always adoption.”

That’s what her doctor had said too. Wade had dismissed the idea out of hand, saying he wasn’t taking in someone else’s bastard. “It’s not the same as having your own flesh and blood.”

Dillon frowned. “I don’t know if I agree. Brett’s as close to me as my other brothers, even if we don’t have the same genes—closer, even. I know my mom and dad love him as much as the rest of us.”

Right, how had she forgotten they’d taken Brett in and treated him as if he was a Barnett born and bred?

Even knowing she might not be able to give him children, he still wanted to marry her. A sense of hope for the future, a future with Dillon, soared, making her giddy. Maybe…no, this was going too fast. She forced her dreams to stop spinning through her head and attempted to dim the smile that wanted to burst from her heart.

“What if…what if I want to go back to school? Would you be okay with me having to study all night instead of…” She shrugged. “I don’t know, sitting with you watching a movie?”

He grabbed a chair and shoved it toward her, then flopped into the bench opposite once she sat down. “You’d like to go back to school?”

“I’d planned on it back in high school.” Before she’d found out she was pregnant. “I’d like to take a course in genetics, maybe go for a degree in stable management.”

Dillon’s face lit up. “I think that would be great. Texas A&M’s got an equine management degree, and there are some great courses you can take online these days too, if you want.”

He jumped up and ran into his office, talking the whole time. “You could take genetics and reproductive physiology. I’m pretty sure they have a course on forage and pasture crops if you wanted to go in that direction. Maybe we could plant some of our own feed for the horses, make use of some of my land.”

He carried his laptop back and powered it on, then grabbed the chair beside her while he waited for it to boot up.

Whenever she’d talked about going to school to Wade, he’d snarl and sulk. Yet Dillon—she’d never seen him so animated. Being around such confidence was infectious, and she wanted more. Resting one hip against the table, she threaded her fingers through his hair, as if she could capture the energy he radiated.

What would it be like to live in a household with someone so enthusiastic and upbeat all the time?

It had been heaven, her conscience answered, reminding her she’d been here over a month. A month without fighting or yelling, a month where they’d shared the chores as well as laughs. She felt more at home here than she did in her own house. The warmth of happiness bubbled up inside her.

“You wouldn’t mind if I went back to school?”

His jaw dropped as if she’d asked a foolish question. “Why would I mind? You’ve got a passion for those horses of yours, Nik. You should feed it.”

She launched herself into his arms. “Oh, Dillon. Thank you! You’re the first person who’s listened to me and taken me seriously in I don’t know how long.”

“You want to really thank me?” Dillon nuzzled her neck, driving all other thoughts from her head.

She tilted her head to give him better access. “Let me guess, get up to the bedroom?”

“Why waste the energy when we’ve got a perfectly good table right here?” Reaching over to his laptop, he snapped the lid shut with one hand and placed it on the bench. “Stand up.”

Thirty seconds later, she shivered when her naked back contacted the cool wood of the table top. “Dillon, this can’t be hygienic.”

“Oh, we’ll wash the table down later, don’t you worry about it.” He leaned over her to press a kiss to first one tightly furled nipple then the other. “Stay there for a minute. I’ll be right back.”

She lifted herself up on one elbow as he rummaged around in the cupboard. “What are you looking for?”

He paused long enough to cast a glance over his shoulder. “Uh uh. Lie back. The master’s at work.”

Rolling her eyes, she obeyed him. Moments later, something cold and hard landed on her belly making her jump. “Sheesh, Dillon!”

“Ooops, sorry.” He scooped up the can of whipped cream he’d dropped and placed it beside the bottle of caramel sauce.

“Dillon, you aren’t…”

He winked as he grinned down at her. “Sure am. Now lie back.”

Without giving her a chance to object, he spread her thighs wide and settled at the end of the table between them. “Dessert before dinner. Yum.”

His boyish grin disarmed her enough to follow his instructions and not think about what he was going to do. Fingers gently parted her folds, and seconds later a hot tongue swiped between them, driving her breath from her. Dillon Barnett knew exactly what to do to excite her, inflame her.

She couldn’t stop her giggles, however, when he sprayed a ring of whipped cream around then over each beaded nipple. The giggles changed to soft pants as he licked the white crown from each point. He drizzled the caramel in her cleavage and over her belly, swirling it in random designs with his tongue.

The heat of his breath, combined with the warmth of his tongue on her belly, had her muscles tightening. Her blood pulsed just beneath the surface of her skin that was quickly become overly sensitive, her body anticipating the path. Her hips lifted off the table when his teeth nipped the tender skin just above her hipbone.

“Dillon.”

He leaned over her to kiss her nose. “Sssh. Just feel, baby.”

Her pulse spiked when he resumed lapping the caramel from her body. She shivered when he skimmed a line of cream around her belly button, followed by a swirl that ended just above the neat triangle of hair covering her mound. He drizzled the caramel over the swirl then capped the bottle. “Ooops, dripped some.”

Instead of the grin he’d given her earlier, his look was pure hunger. She couldn’t stop the tremble that swept through her. He lowered his mouth, lapping and nipping her clean, then moved lower until his tongue touched her clit. He licked it lightly, then sucked until she pressed into him, grabbing the edge of the table for support.

The
hsss
of the spray can gave her barely a moment’s notice before the cool cream coated her breasts once again. While his tongue returned its attentions to cleaning her, his fingers broached her pussy, teasing the sensitive tissue inside.

Her mind stopped working, swamped with the sensations he was creating. Her body shuddered, her leg muscles tensed, her need for release greater than she’d ever felt before. And still he drove her higher, harder, until she fought to breathe against the overwhelming urges. His thumb swiped over her clit one last time. She cried out, her body jerking against him, her climax slamming through her in a tidal wave.

Before she could finish, he straightened, overturning his chair in his haste. He hooked her ankles over his shoulders, unbuttoned his jeans, freeing his heavy erection. She couldn’t take her eyes off the turgid head as he palmed it. He drove the breath from her when he thrust balls-deep into her still-pulsing channel, then slowly withdrew, his shaft glistening with her juices.

“Please, Dillon, I need you inside me.”

“Hang on a sec. You got me so hot and bothered, I got ahead of myself. I need to make sure you’re protected.” He fumbled with his jeans for a condom and, once properly sheathed, surged back inside her again. Her sensitive tissues could feel every millimeter as he pounded into her in hard, fast thrusts, his fingers digging into her hips, holding her in place.

With each forward thrust, the table beneath Nikki moved until it hit the chair rail on the side wall. Dillon held nothing back. The kitchen reverberated with the sound of their flesh slapping together, the table pounding the wall in the same rhythm. She’d never felt so desirable, so wanton.

Another orgasm ripped through her, her body clenching him, milking him. His head rolled back as his cock swelled within her. One thrust, two and, with a shout, he stilled, spilling everything he had into her.

Nikki’s eyes fluttered closed as he slumped over her, resting his head on her breast. It took all her energy to lift her hand and stroke his hair.

“Say you’ll stay with me, Nik. Don’t leave.”

He sounded like a little boy entreating his mother not to leave him on his first day of school. She’d not had a choice with Wade, her hand forced by her pregnancy. Was she jumping into this relationship without thinking things through? She’d only dated one guy before, and she’d ended up marrying him. Which made Dillon only her second boyfriend. Maybe she should take some time, date someone else, so no one could say she’d rushed into another relationship.

Except she couldn’t imagine life without Dillon. He’d climbed into her heart when she wasn’t looking.

She loved him, plain and simple. With a depth she didn’t think possible a month ago.

“What’ll I do with my place?”

“You could rent it out for now.” Dillon had obviously been thinking about this, or at least was able to see further ahead than her. “Griffin’s looking for somewhere to live; he’s finding it tough staying at home after living on campus.”

“What if…what if things don’t work out between us? Then I’d have to kick him out.”

“Griff’ll understand. Besides, Mom would welcome him back with open arms.”

He lifted his head up, or at least he tried to—some of his hair stuck to her skin. “Come on, we both need a shower.”

Chapter Eight

Less than four hours after he’d left, Brett parked his car beside Dillon’s truck. He switched off the engine and sat there.

You don’t have to do this in person. You could drive a mile down the road and phone Nikki, ask her if she’s all right. You’ll be able to tell if she’s telling the truth or not.

So why had he driven out here again?
Because your gut’s been twisted in a knot for leaving Nikki to face Dillon alone. You know you have to face Dillon in person.

He rested his head on the steering wheel. He could do this. He had to. Nikki deserved the happiness Dillon could give her.

Coward! Steal her away from the Barnett bastard. Or don’t you have the balls, you whiny brat?

“Shut up, pop.”

He didn’t remember taking the keys out of the ignition or opening the car door. He didn’t remember walking up the path to the kitchen door. All he could focus on was the pounding of his heart like a big kettle drum, drowning out all other sounds. The knob turned under his hand and the door swung open, a cool blast of air-conditioned air rushing over him.