Wild at Heart (12 page)

“I
’m just going to…” The almost-naked girl crossed her hands over her chest and stood up. “…go get dressed.” She ducked her head and scurried off toward the back.

Good riddance. I didn’t even bother to look at her, my gaze was locked on Dare’s, and there was fire in his eyes.

“Sorry if I interrupted something,” I said. “She certainly doesn’t have to leave on my account.”

“What are you—shit, Ree. You didn’t fucking interrupt
anything
. She’d overstayed her welcome.”

“But the painting isn’t finished.” I glanced over at the canvas in the center of the brightly lit space. The model wore a semi-formal dress, her hands neatly folded in her lap, a soft smile on her crimson lips. It was a clean, pretty portrait, though a little safe given Dare’s usual style.

“It’s a commissioned piece,” he said. “Her father’s rich and paying me well.”

“To take off his daughter’s clothes?” I couldn’t have softened the edge in my voice if I’d tried. And I didn’t bother trying.

The right side of his mouth lifted slightly. “No. She thought of that all by herself.” He stared at me intensely. “
Nothing
happened.”

“I noticed.”

A door opened down the hall and a moment later the girl hurried past without looking at either one of us or saying goodbye.

“Your next sitting with her should be filled with awkward,” I said after the door slammed. “Unless, of course, you just pick up where you left off today.”

“Come on, Ree. Nothing happened. Nothing was going to happen. There is no one for me but you. There never has been.” His eyes bore into mine. “Which is why you shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t be anywhere near me until I get this thing over with.”

“Or maybe it’s exactly why I SHOULD be here. And maybe you should stop being so fucking stubborn and let people help you. You don’t have to do everything alone.”

“How did you even find—”

“Arianna needs you to sign these for the show.” I held up the stack of contracts, pages carefully marked with bright yellow tags, and walked toward him.

“Arianna? You’re working for Sabine again?” He nodded slowly. “Of course you are. I should have known.” He took the papers from me, then shifted a few bottles of paint to make room for them, his jaw tensing slightly as his fingers wrapped around a black pen. “Un-
fucking
-believable, Ree.”

My mind twitched at his words, my ire rising until my eyes followed the flow of his fingers as he signed the papers. My heart broke at the sight of the scars running along the entire length of his right hand and up his wrist.

I gritted my teeth, fighting the urge to reach out and slide my fingers across his paint-speckled skin. Every one of my senses was starved for him no matter how much he was pissing me off at the moment. I breathed in his nearness—he still smelled like paint, so familiar yet so distant at the same time.

He finished signing the last page, paused, then pinned me with his dark gaze, his expression calculating.

“This was
your
doing, wasn’t it? The show. You set this up, not Rex.” His jaw clenched. As much as I wanted to, I wouldn’t lie to him. I nodded once, and he said, “Then I’m out.”

“What?! Why? Because it would mean that I’d helped you in some way?” I poked him in the chest hard. “God. It’s fine for
you
to help people, but the moment you need help, you’ve got to do everything on your own. Sometimes you can be such a man, you know that, Dare?”

“I’m trying to keep you SAFE, Ree.”

“No, you’re trying to keep me OUT.” Fuming, I took a step forward and got right in his face. “We’re a fucking team. And I will do whatever I can to help you, so just fucking deal with it!”

There was so much tension in the air, I felt as if the entire room was about to combust. Anger and lust fueled a fire that burned between us, scorching our entire world. Dare and I had shared undeniable chemistry since day one, but there was also something even more powerful pulsing between us. Something stronger, deeper, and as terrifying as it was wonderful. Love had the power to both create and destroy. Sometimes in the same moment.

Sometimes in a single kiss.

I couldn’t tell which one of us made the first move, but Dare’s mouth was suddenly on mine, his tongue parting my lips as he fastened his grip on my hair and pinned me against the edge of the workbench.

His kiss was a dizzying answer to an ache that had resided in both my heart and body for weeks now. Heat flushed my skin and electricity hummed through my veins as my world began to spin out of control. I lost myself in him, moaning his name, running my hands over his back, clutching his t-shirt, fervently tugging his hair.

Dare matched my need with his own, piercing me with his tongue and biting my lips as he dug his hips into me—hard, rough, and wanting. His hands gripped my sides, tightening around my waist in an iron grip. Without breaking our kiss, he lifted me up so that I was sitting on the desk, then slid his hands down my body. I gasped when his palms skated over my thighs to my knees, spreading my legs open so he could wedge himself between them.

“I fucking warned you,” he whispered against my lips, his voice so hoarse and severe I felt his words vibrate through me. “Three years ago, I warned you to stay away.”

“And three years ago I refused to heed that warning.” I pressed my mouth to his, forcing him to experience my words the same way I’d felt his. “Now, I’m even more serious when I say that I’m not going anywhere. I love you too much to run.” Sliding my hand over his chiseled jawline, I stroked his lower lip with my thumb. “Your war is my war, Dare. It’s your turn to let ME be enough.”

“You’re not just
enough
, Ree.” He kissed the pad of my thumb and shook his head. “You’re my fucking everything.”

Every cell in my body screamed for him, but I needed a guarantee. “Then show me. Say we’ll do this together and I’m yours. All yours.” I cradled his hurt hand in mine, placing his fingers to my lips. “My mouth is yours,” I said before guiding him down to my chest. “My heart is yours.” Slowly, I took his hand even lower, toward the ache between my legs. “Every part of me belongs to you.”

“Ree…
fuck
.” He groaned, parting my lips wider, pushing his tongue deeper. His kiss grew even fiercer and more demanding.

It was almost as if he’d been holding back a fragment of himself this entire time—a primal, uncontrolled piece he’d finally chosen to unleash. A greedy part of him that possessed me whole and refused to let go. He fed on me, grinding his hips, inciting my moans to become cries and pleas for more.

More of his lips, more of his hands—so much more of Dare.

But I needed an assurance that we were in this together before I could fully let go. “Say it,” I said. “I want to hear the words.”

“I love you.” His teeth sank into my bottom lip and he sucked it into his mouth, simultaneously biting and licking the tender flesh until I gasped from a mix of pleasure and pain.

“Not those words.” I shoved against his chest, forcing him back, breaking our kiss. We were both panting, teetering on the edge. Was it right to demand this from him? No, but I was done living in limbo. If he refused to speak, was I prepared to walk away from us? Hell no, but I would do it nonetheless. “Say it, Dare. Tell me.”

A tempestuous storm brewed in his gaze.

“If I agree to let you help, you must promise me something in return.” He pushed my hair back, tilting my head up so that his dark stare bore through me. “We’re talking about real danger. Fucked up, life-threatening danger normal couples never experience in an entire lifetime together.”

“I know,” I said. “And I’m not afraid.” After all, we’d never been a normal couple. Hell, nothing I experienced with him ever was
normal
. But maybe Dare and I just weren’t meant for that kind of life. When was the last time anyone wrote songs or novels about normal, right? “What do you want?”

“Your word that you’ll do everything I ask of you.” He spoke softly, his expression grave. “My father is an animal. He’s unpredictable and callous. If he finds out about you…if I fail to keep you safe…” He gripped my face with both hands and peered into my eyes. “I can’t lose you—do you understand?” I nodded, sinking deeper into his touch as he ran his fingers through my hair, sweeping messy strands from my face and gathering them at the back of my head. “Not now, not ever.”

“You won’t.” I said. “As long as you don’t shut me out again.”

Love was supposed to involve an equal amount of give and take, and be a complete surrender of two souls to each other. As we stared into each other’s eyes, something shifted in us both. Something gave way. All the pent up anger and pain I’d felt over the past few weeks spent apart came rushing out of me as a bruising kiss to Dare’s lips.

He groaned at the contact, tightening his hold on my hair, as hungry for me as I was for him. His tongue sought out mine, firm and unyielding, leaving me shaking and breathless.

“God, I’ve missed you so much,” he said into my hair, blazing a trail of ecstasy down the side of my face, over my jaw, to my neck, then licking his way back to my mouth.

Without breaking contact, Dare slid his hands to my front and grabbed hold of my blouse, ripping it open, showing no regard for the buttons that clattered to the floor. Before the garment even left my body, his lips were on my breasts, taking turns teasing my nipples through the sheer fabric of my bra as he pushed me farther back on the workbench.

Tubes of paint went flying as he swept his arm across the surface. In the scattered mess, paint oozed out, getting on my hand and side. Dare didn’t seem to care. He shoved his materials off to the side, getting even more paint on us in the process as he continued to suck and nip at my breasts. I arched my back and pressed myself into his mouth, begging for more as I writhed beneath him.

“You’re so fucking sexy when you moan for me, Ree.” He peeled my bra off with his left hand while his right thumb and forefinger worked my nipples into tight peaks. I was quickly losing my mind, pressure building between my legs that was in serious need of release.

Desperate to feel more of his warm skin on mine, I sought out the hem of his shirt and lifted it over his head. My fingers skimmed his perfectly sculpted chest, leaving a trail of cerulean blue as they slowly slid down to his abs. His body was sharper—he looked like he’d lost weight while recovering from his injuries, which just made my heart hurt, thinking about the agony he must’ve been in. I kissed every single scar that marred his torso, gently caressing the phoenix on his back—the tattoo that hid the deep wound left by yet another one of Daren’s dirty attacks.

As I worked my way down Dare’s body, his paint-covered hands wound through my hair, dyeing the dark blonde tresses bright, vibrant hues. When my fingers drifted to the waistband of his jeans and traveled farther south, he inhaled sharply and jerked his hips forward, pushing me all the way back onto the desk. The stack of contracts flew off the table, fluttering to the floor.

“Looks like you’re going to need new forms,” he said, his lips quirking up into a sexy smirk.

I laughed. “Another excuse to see you.”

“And another opportunity for me to do this…” He unzipped my pants and slipped his hand down toward the ache that had been starved for his touch. “…and feel this…” A deep moan bloomed deep inside me when he grazed my clit. “…not to mention claim this…” He traced a slow, leisurely circle over the sensitive spot and I nearly came undone right then and there. “…as I make you mine.”

“So this is the part where you ask things of me, right?” I panted the words out, teasing.

“No, Ree.” The heat in his voice and the gravity of his gaze rocked me to my core. “This is the part where I make you beg for me.”

Dare yanked my pants and thong down my legs, knocking off my heels as he tore my clothes off and tossed them behind him. He slid his hands up my thighs, parting them so that I was completely bared to him, and he placed himself firmly between them.

“You’re a fucking goddess,” he said, leaning over me as his tongue traced my phoenix tattoo. “Sexy, powerful, and all mine.” His teeth scraped along my ribs, then travelled across my chest, clamping down on one erect nipple, causing me to yelp in surprise, then moan in delight. “I hear a lot of moaning and whimpering,” he said as he began his descent down my stomach toward my pulsing core, “but not nearly enough begging.”

Oh, god. He was going to make me work for it. The thought of prolonging this game drove me to the brink of madness and spurred on my excitement.

I arched my back and desperately offered myself up to his mouth. “
Please
, Dare.”

“Please what?” He let out a low growl brimming with impatience, but instead of immediately giving me what I wanted, he took his time exploring my body, painting me with his touch, teasing my skin with his fingers until I was close to tears. “What do you want, Ree?”

My mind spun. What did I want?

“You,” I breathed. “Every-
fucking
-where.”

Please. Please. Please.

He threaded his fingers through mine and locked my hands against the hard wood beneath me before gently biting into my inner thigh. “Here?”

“Yes.” Fuck, yes. But while the sensation made my breath hitch and my hips buck wildly, there was another place I needed him more. “But also…oh, god…” It was hard to think with him sucking on the tender skin. “…more…up. Please, Dare,
higher
.”

“Like this?” He flicked his tongue up my leg, getting closer and closer to exactly where I wanted to feel him. I whimpered as his hot breath skated over my wet folds, but he overshot the target by a mile. His lips touched down on my stomach and I cried out in torturous agony.

Fuck. Me.

I was THIS CLOSE to wrapping my legs around his neck and strangling him. Also possibly being rocked by a spontaneous orgasm. I tried to steady my quivering legs and take control of my arousal, but it was futile to rebel against what I really wanted.

Right now, Dare owned my body—the treacherous thing would only respond to his voice, his touch, his command. The bastard had also claimed my mind, leaving me unable to string together coherent thoughts. Yet, in this moment, I was perfectly happy being imprisoned by him.