Dallas Nights (2 page)

He swallowed hard. Drawing up in fro
nt of her mud-bogged truck, he got out. Slammed the door.

She climbed out hesitantly, looking smaller than ever. As he reached into the bed of his truck for a cable to winch her truck out, he glanced at her. God, she was the same Ellie
—all cowgirl in those shorty shorts and red tank top.

“
When did you buy this property?”

“
Nine months ago. It finally came up for sale and I jumped on it.”

“
I shouldn’t have come here, but I have so many good memories of this pond.” She gazed across the still water, the delicate point of her chin driving him mad with the need to pinch it and tilt her face up so he could kiss her.

He dragged the cable to the back and wrapped it around his hitch. Then he lay on his belly in the dirt to find a good place on the
frame of her truck to hook the other end of the cable.

Her flip-flops appeared by his head. Passion tingled in his fingertips. He stole a peek at her luscious legs.

She crouched. “Can I help? I feel awful bad.”

“
I got it,” he grated out.

He needed to get her off his land righ
t quick. Before he throttled her for cheating on him all those years ago. Before he grabbed her and ravished her now.

Scooting onto his haunches, he tried to avoid looking at her, but her gaze was direct, and she was so damn close. Close enough to haul
over his lap.

Moonlight and shadow played over her
feminine features. “Look, Dallas, I should have called you after that day in my dorm—”

“
Forget it.” He jumped to his feet and strode toward the driver’s door of his truck.

“
No, I did something very, very wrong. I can say I was young and stupid, but that doesn’t make it better. I shouldn’t have hurt you with Nathan that way.”

He rounded on her, the haze of red he
’d seen upon opening her dorm door returning in a vicious cloud. He practically choked on fury.

J
abbing a finger at her, he swore. “Goddamn.” And swore again because it felt so good. “Goddammit! Don’t. Talk. About. It.”

She wrapped her arms around herself, quivering. “
We need to clear the air. I can’t stand the thought of you hating me.” Her voice broke.

His heart shattered all over again. Shards trickled down
his body like ice chips.

A sob burst from her.

“Hell.” He couldn’t stand to hear her pain. Throughout high school, they’d been best friends. He’d protected her, loved her from afar. He’d chased off all of her boyfriends, jealously keeping her for himself. The sound of her crying was worse now than it had been then.

She crumpled, bowing forward as her tears flowed.

In one step, he reached her. Spiraling an arm around her waist and a hand around her nape felt as easy as drawing breath. He tugged her chilled form against him. She released a guttural sob and lifted a hand to his shirt. She twisted the cloth, tethering them together as if they’d never been apart.

“
Shh.”

“
You hate me, and I d-don’t blame you.”

Hate her? Fuck, he
’d never stopped loving her. Six years of his life spent wondering why she hadn’t been true to him.

He gave her one last squeeze then put her away from him, unable to handle touching her this way.

“Let’s get your truck out.”

“
Dallas.” She threw herself at him. Wrapping her arms around him and hitching her legs around his waist, she crushed her mouth upon his. The sweet flavors burst in his head—vanilla and sweet Ellie.

A groan ripped from his chest as he held the kiss. For long hear
tbeats they were still, learning the contours of each other’s lips again. He cradled her face, angled her head, and plunged his tongue deep.

She opened to him at once, gasping around his invasion. The velvety hot feel of her tongue against his fanned the f
lames of desire that had never been doused. But six years later, he wanted
more
. And he wanted it on his terms.

He backed her against the truck, pinning her.
Locking his hands under her ass, he rocked his erection into the V of her legs.

A ragged sigh left
her, which he devoured. Scooping it out with his tongue and feeding her a growl in return. She wiggled against him, and he slipped his hands over the curves of her ass. Out of his head with need, he jerked his hips, digging his cock into her pussy.

Erasin
g all trace of Nathan Rafferty or any other man since Dallas drove him on. She might not be his now, but he was damn well going to show her that she should be.

She knocked his hat off and tangled her fingers in his hair. Small squeaks erupted from her.
Bracing her between his body and two tons of steel, he peeled off his flannel then her tank top. The tiny triangles of lace covering her full breasts made his cock ache.

She pinched the cloth between his shoulder blades and hauled his t-shirt overhead. He cau
ght her gaze before slamming his mouth over hers again.

Violence welled within him
—not the need to hurt her but to claim her. Grinding a thigh between her legs, he sucked her tongue. She skimmed her hands over his chest, arms, and the planes of his back.

L
ong ago, he’d whispered, “I’ll go gentle, Ellie girl.”

Now, he groaned, “
This isn’t going to be gentle. I can’t wait another minute for you.”

“
Mmm.” She bit at his lower lip, which only drew his beast to the surface.

He whirled away from the truck with her
and spread her on the soft grass around the pond where they’d been lovers before. Her hair tumbled around her face, her ponytail elastic lost. Staring up at him, she smiled.

Could he allow himself to feel for her again?
He shoved down the emotion the curve of her lips raised in him and palmed her breasts. The weight in his hands was like coming home.

She squeezed her eyes shut and arched into his touch. Dark pressure built in his core as he strummed her tight buds within the cloth of her bra. The points gr
ew hard.

Cock shoving at the fly of his Wranglers, he reached under her and popped the hook of her bra as if he did this every day. Her eyelids fluttered, the lashes throwing shadows of her cheeks.

God, baby. Why did you stay away so long?

“
Dallas, don’t make me wait.” She tugged at his waistband until the button gave. Moving her forefinger over his zipper shot pleasure through him.

He dipped his mouth to her bared breast. Parting his lips around the swollen nipple, he drowned in her scents and feel.
As he ran his tongue around the edge of her nipple and up to the stiff peak, she sank her fingers into his hair.

“
Your mouth is so hot. You feel so good,” she rasped.

He lost himself in loving her with his mouth while the sounds of the land filled his head. The
same family of crickets that had serenaded them so many years ago might still be here, singing a new tune for them now.

Stripping her tiny denim shorts
and panties off, he watched lights play in her eyes.

“
Dallas…” A thin silver chain shifted around her throat, drawing his attention.

His face numbed. Catching the chain on one finger, he drew it up until a small circle pendant swayed.

She’d worn it all these years? While Nathan Rafferty had filled her body, she’d been wearing the necklace Dallas had given her.

Well, no more.

“Goddammit, you have no right to wear this.” With a twist, he snapped the chain and fisted the necklace. He jerked his arm to hurl it into the water but couldn’t go through with it. Instead, he dropped it into the grass without her seeing.

She reared, shock crossing her features as she stared at the ripples spreading toward shore
, obviously thinking he’d thrown it. “Why did you do that? My necklace!” She jerked under him, but he trapped her completely.

She was as pissed off as a cat in a
rainstorm. Her eyes glittered. “You had no right to take that from me.”

“
I’ll give you something better right now. So shut up.” He grinned a split second before crushing her mouth under his. She struggled for a minute, but he ran his tongue repeatedly over the seam of her lips, murmuring to her. “Sweet little doll. You feel so right under me.”

Gasping, she opened to him. He plunged his tongue into her warmth at the same moment he found her tight entrance and thrust a finger deep. The moist heat rocketed up
his arm to his shoulder and curled around to encompass his heart.

She rose to meet his plunges. He fed her fiery kisses as he filled her with one finger then two. Her tiny squeaks of pleasure maddened him, and all he wanted was to make things right with h
er. The scents of her honey rose around them, enveloping them in a new cocoon of passion.

What he
’d felt before was puppy love compared to this—this desire of a man would incinerate them.

He intended to reduce her to a pile of ash.

When he pulled his fingers free, she followed him, hips jerking upward. He drew his fingers to his lips and sucked them in to the lower knuckles. She gazed up at him, plush lips parted and shudders coursing through her.

Once he
’d cleaned her juices off his fingers, he drove them in again. Curling them, he found the soft inner wall that made her buck. Cream spilled over his hand.

The knot in his groin tightened. Pleasure crossed her face as the first flutters of her release jarred his fingers.

She came with a cry, twisting and rolling under him. His cock hardened to an impossible length and jerked, spurting cum into his boxers. He groaned, half angry and half blissed-out at his premature release.

* * * * *

Ellie couldn’t tear her gaze from Dallas’s face. The pleasure-pain there cracked her heart further, and she bled emotion as she came down from her orgasm.

Hooking an arm around his neck, she drew him
close as the last tremors ripped through her. He ground his cock into her hip and his fingers deeper into her pussy. He turned his mouth into hers, and she swallowed a gulp of his scent—hard-working man, leather, and musk.

Yes, this is right, us being together again.

Sensations racked her body even as her feelings spun out of control, creating ripples like those around her necklace in the pond.

Yanking that necklace off had freed him. The smile that had spread over his face revealed that he
’d needed to toss away their old connection.

But could there be a new one?

She kissed him with all of the sweetness she felt in her soul. At eighteen, she’d been stupid and careless with Dallas’s heart. Her Dallas—best friend, first lover. She knew him inside and out. She’d do anything to have those nights with Dallas back.

She slipped a hand between them and fondled his softening length. That he
’d gotten so turned on by pleasuring her that he’d lost control only endeared him to her more.

He groaned and rolled away. Flat on his back, staring up at the star-spangled sky, he slung an arm over his forehead.

She shivered at the loss of his heat, and worry infused her. She tipped onto one hip and stared at him. “Dallas?”

“
It’s just as well. I can’t do this, Ellie. Not again.”

Her heart did a slow roll that felt as if she were tumbling head-first down a rocky cliff. Her throat closed off.

“I shouldn’t have touched you. I’m sorry,” he whispered.

No, I
’m sorry.
She was sorry that she’d made herself vulnerable to him, and so sorry for the pain she’d caused him with Nathan.

Stumbling
to her feet, she gathered her abandoned clothes from the dewy grass. Through her tears, she dressed. He got to his feet and stood beside her, yanking his shirt back into place.

“
Get into your truck and roll down the window so you can hear me. I’m going to try to pull you out, and I want you to give it the gas when I say so.”

She shiver
ed at the coolness in his tone. Minutes before she’d come on his fingers. Now he was a robot, a stranger.

While earning her college degree and working as a pharmacist for a year, she
’d never imagined her hard cowboy losing his soft center. Now she wasn’t so sure.

She stole a look at him from the corner of her eye. God, he
’d grown into a gorgeous man. Broader in the chest, thicker in the arms. The memory of the sculpted lines of his abs under her hands still made her skin tingle.

But he also wore a brand new sternness th
at she feared she’d put there.