Indiscretion

Dawson opened the nightstand drawer and tossed a long strip of condoms on the bed.

I raised a brow. “Big plans?”

He undid his belt buckle with a groan. “You have no damn idea.”

I laughed. But when he hooked his thumbs into his waistband and slipped his trousers down his legs, the smile fell from my face. Oh wow. I’d seen him naked the night before Lily’s wedding, so I knew he was big, but that was only for a few seconds, and it hadn’t been hard like it was now. I swallowed, feeling a little nervous.

Dawson chuckled. “You look scared.”

I pointed. “Have you seen that thing? It’s not a normal size.”

He reached back and tugged his undershirt over his head, then climbed onto the bed and sat me up. “Arms up.”

I was completely wiped out from the orgasm that had just torn through me, so I was happy to do as told. I lifted my arms and let Dawson do his thing. After I was naked, he guided me to lie back on the bed as he slipped on a condom. But he didn’t immediately climb on top of me like I would’ve expected.

Instead, he sat back, and his eyes roamed up and down my body. “You’re absolutely incredible.”

It was a simple compliment, yet for some reason, I felt it in my chest. I could see in Dawson’s eyes that he meant it. The way he looked at me made me feel more than just sexy. It made me feel cherished. Eventually, he weaved our fingers together and kissed the top of both my hands before covering my body with his. He took his time, kissing my lips softly and then smiling as he looked in my eyes. Our gaze never broke while he slowly pushed inside of me. I was wet, soaked even, but he still had to ease his way in.

“Jesus Christ,” Dawson muttered. “You’re so tight.”

He eased in and out, arms shaking like he was struggling to go slow. Once my body relaxed and accepted him, his thrusts grew harder and deeper. My gaze was riveted to the tension in his face—his blue eyes had darkened almost gray, and his jaw and cheekbones were set rigid. It was the face of a man intent on bringing me pleasure, even when he’d passed the limit of his control.

Dawson’s eyes came into focus, capturing my stare. Our connection was intense—alarmingly intense—yet there was no way in hell I could look away. Never in my life had I felt so utterly and completely lost in someone, so raw and vulnerable. Yet I wasn’t scared; I felt safe.

Dawson smiled down at me, and I wanted this moment to last forever. But too soon, my body took over. I clenched around him, loving how full he made me feel. Everything else in the world faded except for the sound of our heavy breathing and wet bodies slapping against each other. When I moaned Dawson’s name, and my eyes rolled to the back of my head, he smashed his lips to mine.

“That’s it,” he growled. “That’s all I’ve wanted to see since the moment we met. Now give it all to me so I can fill that beautiful pussy up.”

“Oh God…” My orgasm hit like a tsunami. First the Earth shook, followed by waves and waves of ecstasy that pulled me under. I never wanted to swim back to the surface.

Dawson bit down on my shoulder, making my already vibrating body quiver. Once I started to come down, he picked up his pace, racing toward his own release. His entire body grew stiff, and his face strained as he pulled out to the tip and slammed back into me. I gasped and barely had time to swallow my breath as he reared back and did it a second time. Then again and again. The view was magnificent as I watched this beautiful man fuck me with everything he had. Eventually, he ground down one last time and buried himself deep, letting out a roar as he released. I could feel heat seeping into me, even through the condom.

After such an intense finish, I expected Dawson to collapse or roll off of me. But he didn’t. Instead, his focus stayed on me, easing in and out and swiveling his hips to stroke every last ounce of pleasure from my body. His mouth slid all over my neck, shoulders, and chin, kissing and caressing, soothing and comforting.

With one last sweet kiss, he pulled out and left the room to take care of the condom. He returned a few minutes later with a warm facecloth and used it to gently clean me up before settling back into the bed and lifting me so my head rested on his chest. I listened to his heartbeat as he stroked my hair.

“Get some sleep,” he said softly.

I yawned and snuggled closer. “I don’t think I could get up if I tried.”

He kissed the top of my head. “That’s okay. This is the only place you’re supposed to be.”

***

I woke up confused by the unfamiliar surroundings. Then the ache below my waist reminded me where I’d spent the night, and a smile broke out on my face. Pushing up to my elbows, I found the spot next to me empty, and I looked around Dawson’s room, seeing it for the first time in the light of day. Dark wood bedframe and furniture, light hardwood floors, expensive-looking area rug covering most of it. Very masculine, just like the man who lived here.

Catching movement out of the corner of my eye, I jumped. A large tortoise walked from the bathroom in slow motion. “I guess you must be Sheldon, huh?”

The animal stopped mid-step, and his long neck stretched to look up at me. After a good long stare, he went back to walking. I smiled. An interesting pet for an interesting man. But what time was it? There wasn’t a clock on either nightstand, and I had no idea where my cell phone was. I found my green dress wadded into a ball at the foot of the bed, so I stole the sheet from the mattress and wrapped it around me to go searching for Dawson.

And boy, did I find him. Shirtless, wearing gray sweatpants that hung low on his trim waist, he stood at the stove with his back to me, cooking what smelled like bacon. I took a moment to admire the view—the rippled muscles in his back made me wonder if he’d just come from a workout. And were those scratch marks? Oh shit. I must’ve gotten a little carried away when we woke up in the middle of the night for round two.

“Who’s ogling who now?” Dawson’s deep voice rumbled. Again, I jumped. I hadn’t made a sound, and he’d never turned around.

“How did you know I was standing here?”

He pointed the spatula at a shiny toaster. “Reflection.”

“Oh.”

“If you’re done looking, you can come give me a kiss.”

I tilted my head and tapped my pointer to my lip. “Hmm… This view or a kiss. It’s a tough choice.”

He turned and smiled, putting his hands on his hips. “Get your ass over here.”

I wasn’t usually much for being told what to do, especially by a man I was sleeping with, but when Dawson did it, it was too sexy to annoy me. I padded over and stood in front of him. He bent for a quick peck on the lips, then turned to put the spatula down behind him. The way his torso twisted gave me my first good look at the tattoo that ran down the side of his rib cage. Bailey MMXII. I’d noticed the ink last night when he took his shirt off, but hadn’t been able to make out what it said. And since a minute later he was inside of me, I hadn’t given it another thought. But now the comment Emily had made in the bathroom made sense.

Dawson twisted back, and my eyes shifted to meet his.

He smiled. “How’d you sleep?”

“Good. I just met Sheldon in your room.”

He nodded. “He was hiding in the bathroom. It takes him a while to get comfortable around new people.”

“What time is it?”

“Eleven.”

My eyes widened. “Wow. I haven’t slept this late in forever.”

“You did a lot of exercise last night.”

“I think you did most of it. Speaking of exercise, did you go to the gym this morning?”

“No, why? Did you hear me go out? I ran to the store to get this gross-looking vegan bacon, but I thought I was quiet.”

There was a plate of cooked bacon on the side of the stove, wrapped in paper towels. I peeled back the covering and stole a piece, taking a bite before I responded. “Because your back is so muscular.”

“I work out every day except Sunday. The gym is too crowded then, too many germs.”

“So today is your day of rest?”

He winked. “Not when you’re here.”

I was sore and sated, but one wink and I started to get worked up. “Is that so?”

“I spent the last hour scoping out the kitchen for good places to fuck you. I have big plans for after I feed you.”

“Oh yeah? Care to let me in on them?”

He turned down the flame on the stovetop and pointed to the kitchen chair. “I debated bending you over the table and taking you from behind. But the table isn’t that heavy, so it’ll probably move around a lot when I pump into you.” He pivoted and motioned to the granite countertop. “I could put you up here, but I really want to enter you from behind since we didn’t do that yet.”

I thought he’d been teasing, but apparently not. I played along. “Sounds like you were hard at work planning. Did you come up with something that works for you?”

He grinned and walked over to the kitchen table, pulling out a chair. “I’m going to sit here naked and you’re going to face away from me and rise up and down. That way I can see your ass and also watch my cock slip in and out.”

Oh my. That sounded good. Dawson took one look at my face, groaned, and turned to twist the knob on the stove. The flame petered out. “Fuck it. Breakfast can wait.”

He grabbed my hand and dragged me to the table. I laughed and let him take me, but when he pulled down his sweats and took a seat with a semi-hard erection already, the humor disappeared, along with my shame. I licked my lips.

Dawson stroked his length up and down. “Are you sore?”

I was half-tempted to lie because I was afraid he might stop what he was doing. The sight of Dawson touching himself caused an ache of need deep inside me. “Just a little.”

He grabbed a brown paper bag I hadn’t noticed on the table. When he pulled a jar out, my jaw almost fell to the floor. “Where did you get that?”

“Drugstore. I went out for it this morning in case you were sore.”

Dawson had somehow found the same coconut oil I’d rubbed all over myself before our date last night. “That is so sweet.”

His smile was crooked. “Not all sweet. I also plan to rub it all over your body and lick it off. It’s freaking delicious.”

I laughed as Dawson opened the jar and scooped out a heaping mound of the thick oil. He tugged the sheet from my body and positioned me to straddle him facing away. The smell of coconut permeated the air around us as he rubbed the salve between my legs before slipping one finger inside. My head lolled back, and before long I was panting.

“I have no fucking idea why I never thought of using this stuff as lube before.” Dawson’s hand moved away, and he gripped my waist and lifted, guiding me onto his thick cock. “Shit.” He froze with just the tip inside me. “Condom.”

I wanted to feel him skin to skin. “I’m on the pill, and I had a checkup recently.”

“Me too. I’m clean.” He groaned. “But I’m not going to last going bare.”

“You won’t need to. Trust me.”

I whimpered as he pulled me down, shoving his long length into my body until my ass hit flush against his thighs. Yet I loved the way it felt when he filled me so completely. He guided me back up, and I looked over my shoulder as he slowly slipped inch by inch from inside me.

Dawson’s eyes were locked on our connection, and his voice was ragged when he spoke. “Just like that. So fucking hot. I’ve never seen anything sexier in my life.”

I tightened my muscles around him, and he let out a string of curses as his eyes squeezed shut. One of Dawson’s hands slid its way up to my throat. His long fingers wrapped around my neck, squeezing tight—just enough to leave me at his mercy. Maybe it should’ve scared me, to put so much trust in a man I’d just started sleeping with, but instead I found it exciting and erotic. I rocked up and down once, twice, on the third time he squeezed my throat tighter and we both went over the edge together.

After, I felt liquified—like my bones had turned to jelly. I collapsed onto his lap, unable to support my own body weight. It was the best orgasm I’d had in my life, and he’d given it to me in under five minutes.

“That was…”

Dawson shifted and cradled me in his arms. “A gift. That’s what everything about you feels like. I’m a thousand-percent sure I don’t deserve it, but I’m also too selfish to do a damn thing about it.”

***

“I should get going.”

Dawson and I had lounged around in a post-sex haze the entire afternoon. Now it was close to four, and I was still in his bedroom, wearing his dress shirt from yesterday. He came up behind me as I searched around for one of my shoes and wrapped his arms around my middle.

“I’ll drive you.”

“The subway is faster. It’s only a few stops on the express.”

He pouted. It was adorable. “Why don’t we have dinner first? I’ll order us some food. Or we can go out, if you want?”

I planted a chaste kiss on his mouth. “I’ve been here almost twenty-four hours.”

“So?”

“I wouldn’t want you to get sick of me already.”

He grinned. “Clearly you have no idea how much I enjoy eating cococunt.”

I laughed and placed my palms on his chest. “This was fun. But I’ll already be getting the third degree from Ryder. Plus, I should get a decent night’s sleep before work tomorrow. My boss is kind of a hard ass.”

Dawson covered my hand and slid it from his chest down to his dick. “You got the hard part right.”

I chuckled. “I think that thing might be broken. It never fully deflates.”

“Not possible when you’re around.”

“You see? Yet another reason I should go. You’ll never be able to rest until that goes down.”

Dawson’s cell phone vibrated from the nearby end table. He looked over and read the flashing name, then held up his pointer. “Give me a minute and then I’ll walk you out. It’s my mom.”

“Okay.” I smiled. “I need to get dressed anyway.”

Dawson swiped to answer and wandered into the other room to talk while I changed into my dress from last night and found my other shoe. I did my best to tame my wild, just-fucked hair, but it wasn’t easy considering the hair accurately represented my day.

Out in the living room, Dawson sat on the couch with his bare feet propped up on the coffee table. This was the first time I’d gotten more than a quick glance at the central area of his apartment. We’d spent almost every moment in the bedroom, except for a few quick trips to the kitchen to refuel and have some chair sex. So I walked around checking out the space while Dawson watched me and talked on the phone to his mother.

My first stop was to a set of tall bookshelves. You can learn a lot about a person by what they read. Dawson had a few rows of thrillers, some nonfiction, and a row of various books about the law. I was just about to move on, check out the rest of the room, when I noticed a book stuck between two David Baldacci novels. The spine was more colorful than the rest. Slipping it out, I read the back and realized there was a very good reason for that. The book was a romance novel. I turned and held it up to Dawson with a raised brow.

He shook his head and smiled but continued to talk to his mom.

Atop the shelves were three framed photos. One was Dawson in a cap and gown on what I guessed was his law school graduation day. The woman standing next to him was older, and at least a foot shorter, but the proud smile on her face told me it was his mother. Next to that was a photo of a man holding a small turtle. I could tell the picture was old, and it made me wonder if it was Sheldon and if perhaps the man was Dawson’s dad. The last of the framed photos was two teenagers, one of whom was definitely Dawson. I picked it up for a closer look. The devilish smile on his face was absolutely adorable. There was no doubt that the girls must’ve loved young Dawson Reed. He had broad shoulders, shaggy, I-don’t-give-a-shit-but-it-still-looks-great hair, a confident grin, and the same sculpted bone structure he had today. I didn’t want to think about how many girls had swooned over that face, or that this was probably the reason Dawson was so incredible in bed. So I forced that thought from my mind, and my gaze shifted to the girl standing next to him in the photo. She wore a denim bucket hat and squinted at the sun. If I wasn’t mistaken, I thought it might be the same girl in the photo Dawson kept in the office—the one photo he had there. I set the frame back down and moved on to look at the two pieces of art he had hung in the room. By the time I was done, Dawson was hanging up.

“I’ll talk to you next week, Mom.” Quiet, then he lowered his voice. “Love you, too.” Dawson swiped the phone off and stood.

I smiled. “First, aww, I love that you stop what you’re doing to talk to your mother and that you tell her you love her before you hang up.”

He raked a hand through his hair. “I pick up because if I don’t, she’ll send a search party over to make sure I’m still breathing. My mom and my little sister moved to Florida a few years ago. We used to have Sunday-night dinner every week, but now we talk on the phone on Sundays.”

“That’s so sweet.”

“She doesn’t ask much else of me.”

“Speaking of asking…” I turned to the bookshelf and pointed to the romance novel. “I definitely have questions.”

Dawson hung his head. “I don’t know why I didn’t throw that out yet.”

“Does that mean The Cowboy Next Door wasn’t a good read?”

“I wouldn’t know. Never read it.”

“Where did it come from?”

“Fucking Ben. Last year, he ordered it on Amazon and had it delivered here.”

“Why?”

“I went on two dates with this woman, and she was getting way too serious. Started talking about moving in together when her lease was up.”

“Oh my.”

He nodded. “Anyway, I took her out to dinner, and at the end of the night I told her I didn’t think we were right for each other. She lost it. Stood up and started screaming at me in the middle of the restaurant. The next day she sent me a long text saying I needed to get in touch with my feminine side, and she suggested I read that book. I made the mistake of showing the text to Ben. That book and a cowboy hat were delivered a few days later.” Dawson shook his head. “I should’ve known I was just giving him ammo he’d use against me for months.”

I laughed. “I love the relationship you have with him.”

“He’s like the annoying brother I never wanted. Half the time I want to kick his ass, and the other half he just drives me a little less nuts. But I’d be lost without him.”

I smiled and motioned to the top shelf. “Is this your mom?”

“It is.”

“She’s so tiny.”

“That’s my dad in the photo next to Mom, on the day we got Sheldon. I got my size from him. I must’ve heard about how I weighed nine pounds eight ounces when I was born and almost killed my mother a thousand times growing up. I still think she should blame the man she decided to have a kid with and not the kid.”

“Good point.” I laughed and gestured to the last pic, the one of him and the girl. “Is this you?”

Dawson’s face turned solemn. “Yeah. It’s me and Bailey.”

The name inked on his skin.

“She’s the one in the picture in your office, too, right?”

He nodded, but didn’t offer more. I’d asked if she was his sister when we were in the office, and he’d said no. Since he wasn’t volunteering information again now, I tried to gently poke around.

“Old girlfriend?”

Dawson shook his head. “You asked me about my longest relationship the other day. Bailey was my best friend. Though Ben might argue he’s always been my number one.”

Oh God. When he’d mentioned her, he said she’d died. I looked over at the photo before turning back to Dawson. “How old was she when she passed away?”

“Sixteen. She died the day before her seventeenth birthday.”

“I’m so sorry.”

He nodded.

“Do you mind if I asked what happened?”

“Cancer.”

His answers were short and very matter-of-fact. Bailey might’ve died a long time ago, but clearly it still wasn’t an easy subject. So I let it be. Sometimes it’s best to let sleeping dogs lie. “Thank you for sharing.”