All I Want

2. Audrey

Chapter Two

Audrey

Dallas Tate stood before me—in all of his ridiculous, sexy glory—and opened and closed his mouth, his hand curling around the edge of the counter.

Good. I’d rattled him. That was no easy feat.

Dallas had starred in far too many of my fantasies. Once, only once, had he given me the slightest clue he might want me as much as I wanted him. The clue involved the best o****m I’d ever had, thanks to his expert fingers. But no s*x. Right when I’d reached for the buttons on his jeans, he’d shoved me away so fast, I literally fell off the bed.

Without a word, he’d left the room. I hadn’t spoken to him for a full year after that. I’d been visiting my parents one summer between semesters in college and scrounged up the nerve to finally do something about the pent up desire I felt for him. Dallas had been the older boy-next-door all through my childhood. He was almost a decade older than me and so tempting, I’d have done just about anything to have him. But he’d made it crystal clear he didn’t want me. Thanks to his family moving away, I’d rarely seen him. In fact, except for one brief encounter the following summer, I don’t think I’d seen him until now. Five long years since my best o****m.

I’d told myself I had to move on. So I had. Or rather, I’d convinced myself I had. I’d finished college and then law school. I’d dated here and there and gotten engaged, thinking I should. Matthew had been so charming. Clear-eyed, I knew I’d never experienced the white-hot passion with him that I’d felt with Dallas, but I’d talked myself into thinking that was a fluke, that I’d overblown my recollection of how I’d felt about Dallas. Seeing Dallas now for the first time in years was a brutal reminder of how foolish I was.

I was all a muddle inside. I was furious at Matthew and so mortified. Just my luck to get engaged to a cheating asshole. Even worse, I’d broken up with Matthew a month ago. He’d begged me to reconsider and persuaded me not to formally call off the wedding. Then, I’d walked in on him f*****g one of my friends. Maybe it made no sense, but Matthew doing what he did had brought my thoughts full circle to Dallas.

Why, oh why, did I have this terrible habit of falling for guys who didn’t want me? Dallas held the highest stature in that regard. He was the pinnacle of unavailable and not interested as far as I was concerned. I’d conveniently forgotten just how much I wanted him. For example, tonight. He pulled up beside me in the snow. I was cranky, upset and exhausted. One look at him, and I wanted to climb in his lap and ride him. It didn’t matter how tired I was.

Instead, he treated me like family. Like he always had. I knew it didn’t make sense to stomp down here and demand answers, but I wanted them. Maybe if I knew why Dallas couldn’t be bothered with me, then I could figure out what it was about me that came up short.

“Well?” I asked, staring at Dallas and hoping he couldn’t tell I was flushed.

Oh. My. God. He was too hot. With his black hair damp from the snow, his piercing blue eyes locked to mine, and his face looking like a damn sculptor’s dream with his square jaw, his blade of a nose and his lips with that dimple in the middle, it just wasn’t fair. His sleeves were rolled up, one forearm boldly decorated with a stark, black tattoo. He carried a day’s shadow, the dark stubble only adding a dash of roguishness to the whole picture.

He was quiet for a few beats before his shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath.

“Mind telling me where this is coming from?”

“Me. It’s coming from me,” I snapped. “Don’t try your annoying interview diversionary tactics on me. I’m not some criminal you’re investigating. I have one question, and it’s quite simple.”

“That wasn’t a question. It was more like an order,” he countered, his lips curling at one corner.

My belly flipped, and heat rolled through me. I’d forgotten how potent Dallas was. Time and distance had faded the memory of what it was like to be near him. His presence was so powerful, my body lit up inside whenever he was near.

I realized I was drifting inside. I narrowed my eyes. “Fine. It was an order. Explain,” I said, circling my hand in the air.

“Audrey, I haven’t seen you in…”

“Four years,” I added helpfully.

“Can we just have some dinner and…”

Emotions were roiling inside of me, little earthquakes of all kinds of feelings rocking me. Anger mingling with insecurity colliding with pain and tangling with desire. Matthew’s betrayal was enough to deal with. Yet, in a strange way, my feelings about that were straightforward—I was angry, but I’d get over it. Dallas stirred up a storm inside of me—too many years of longing, fierce desire, the sting of his rejection, and the wish I didn’t want him the way I did.

“No. We can’t just… whatever. I’m tired and I’m upset. I just found out my fiancé is f*****g someone else, and I want to know why. What’s wrong with me? I’m not enough for him, and I obviously wasn’t enough for you. I want to know why!”

Dallas stared at me across the kitchen, his gaze so intense, I got nervous. I was going a little crazy inside. I’d thought I’d be alone here. I’d been planning to lick my wounds and figure out how to tell everyone my engagement was off once and for all. Instead, my stupid car broke down. Then, Dallas just had to show up and save the night. Or something like that. Well, he didn’t really save me. I only had about a mile left of my walk through the snowy night.

My anger suddenly dissipated, leaving in a whoosh. I took a deep breath and let it out. “I’m being crazy. Just forget I said anything,” I said, turning and waving my hand. “I’m gonna crash. I’m exhausted.”

I took about two steps when I felt his hand close around my arm. He spun me around so quickly, I stumbled and fell against him. Bumping into his chest was like bouncing against granite. The only difference was he was warm and strong and alive. It felt so good to be close to him. My breath caught when I collided with his gaze. His eyes were a rich, deep shade of blue, like the ocean on a clear day. They flashed with something, and I suddenly felt his c**k, every hard inch of its length pressing into the cradle of my hips.

Oh. My… Panty-melting God.

“It’s impossible to answer your question,” he said, his words coming out sharp and clipped.

“It wasn’t a question. It was an order,” I said, surprised my words came out so clearly.

His mouth, that sinful, sexy mouth, curled into a wry grin.

“Okay, I can’t follow your order then.”

“Why not?”

My question came out breathy while my heart beat so hard and fast, it hurt.

“Because I can’t lie to you.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

His eyes searched mine, looking for what I didn’t know. I was an open book. At least I had been to him once upon a time. I’d told him how much I wanted him. I’d thrown caution to the wind, boldly walked into the house where he was staying that summer, and done my damnedest to seduce him.

My efforts had gotten me an absolutely glorious o****m, but that’s it. He’d left me there and told me to get the hell out before he returned.

“You know exactly what I mean,” he returned tightly after a few taut moments.

“No. Actually I don’t. What would you be lying about? You told me to get the hell out and leave you alone the last time this came up.”

He stared back at me before nodding sharply.

“So I did.”

“So what would you be lying about?”

All the while through this little back and forth, time felt suspended. The air around us was heavy, weighted with the desire I’d shoved deep into the recesses of my body, heart and mind. While desire wasn’t a mind thing—hell if it were, I wouldn’t be here wanting him more desperately than my next breath—it was tangled up in my thoughts because I’d had to use those to bury what my body so desperately wanted. Meanwhile, I felt the press of his c**k, hot and hard, at the apex of my thighs.

Dallas shook his head slowly. “You have no f*****g idea how much I want you.”

His words came out in a growl and then his lips crashed to mine.