Read Dare To Love Series: Dreaming Up a Dare (Kindle Worlds Novella) Online
Authors: Catherine Gayle
Pepper
Jackson didn’t fight
fair. Not that this was news or anything, but reminding myself of his devious, underhanded ways was helping me get through this damn party. Turning it into a dare had all but insured that I would go along with his plan.
He
did
have a point, even if I wasn’t inclined to let him know he’d been right. The vibrator had been distracting me all night, which helped immensely when it came to dealing with all of these strangers, even though it brought on a whole new set of worries.
I glared across the snack-laden table in Jackson’s direction. He grinned and reached into his pocket, and I immediately wished I hadn’t done that. Within seconds, the vibrator buzzed back to life, and I had to bite down on the inside of my cheek to avoid jumping out of my skin.
“So you’re going to be catering?” Clara Barnes asked me, sounding both curious and interested as she filled her plate with more fruit and cheese. She was a leggy brunette, much like the women Jackson used to date, but his eyes hadn’t landed on her once the whole night, other than when he’d introduced me to Clara and her husband, who’d hosted the party. In fact, he’d hardly looked at anyone but me.
“Not catering. Making individual meals for athletes who don’t want to cook, or maybe who don’t have the skill or time to do it for themselves.” I squeezed my thighs together, wishing I were anywhere but here doing anything but this. No, that wasn’t entirely true. I wished I were back at Jackson’s house, with him, in his bed. Anything else at present would drive me absolutely crazy, just like this was. “People like Jackson. Guys who live on their own and only survive because of someone else preparing their food for them. It’ll give them more variety and better nutrition, but with convenience in mind.”
“You wouldn’t rather do something with gymnastics, like coach?” she asked.
“There’s definitely part of me that wants to still be involved in that world, but I think being around those girls would hurt too much right now. It’s too soon. I still want to be doing what they’re doing, but I can’t.”
“Too bad.” Clara took a sip of her wine. I was tempted to fix a drink for myself, but I’d promised Jackson I’d stay sober for later. Clara eyed me over her glass. “I’ve got two little girls who want to start taking gymnastics classes. They’ve been seeing it a lot on TV, with the Summer Games coming up.”
“I could recommend a program,” I said. I’d looked into it before flying down, even though I knew there wasn’t any point for me. Old dreams die hard even when new dreams come along to take their places. But I could help Clara get her daughters into the right gym, and it wouldn’t be any skin off my back.
“I’d appreciate that. And I’m sure I could help you find a few clients for your new business. Jason and I’ve been here for over a decade now.” She carried her plate and glass into her living room and took a seat on the couch, waiting for me to follow her.
I did, even though that took me away from the safety of the snack table and put me in the middle of the activity. Jackson smirked as we walked past him, but he adjusted the settings on the vibrator until it was down to a low hum. I sat carefully, overly aware of exactly how my changing position affected the angle of the vibe. Once I was fully seated, I let out a tiny sigh of relief.
I might not be on the verge of searching for a spork to gouge out my eyes, but I still hoped he’d come to collect me so we could leave sooner rather than later. Because once we got back to his place, I fully intended to jump his bones.
~ * ~ * ~
“That wasn’t too
bad, was it?” Jackson said once we were alone in his car on the way back to his place.
I shot him a nasty look. “Drive faster.”
He chuckled, slipping his right hand over my bare knee. I bit my lower lip, torn between the urge to drag his hand higher and slapping it away in frustration. But then he nudged aside the hem of my skirt and inched his fingers into the space between my thighs, and it was all I could do to stay in my seat. The urge to forget we were in a moving vehicle and climb over his lap was almost unbearable.
I glanced over to the digital readings on the dashboard. He was going five miles per hour below the speed limit. Jerk. But at least the damn vibrator’s battery had run out, so it wasn’t driving me up the wall with need at the moment. Jackson had already done more than enough of that for tonight without needing any more assistance on that score. The instant he put his hands on me, I was sure I’d explode.
If we could ever get to that point.
“I wanted to talk to you about something,” he said, pulling out into traffic and—blessedly—picking up some speed.
“If it’s more kinky stuff—”
“I want you to live with me,” he cut in before I could get a full head of steam going.
“I already am living with you.”
“I know, but when you came down, it was only supposed to be temporary. You were going to stay while I helped you figure out what you were going to do, get your feet underneath you. Get a job, all that jazz, but then you were going to find your own place. But I don’t want it to be temporary anymore. I want us to live together. Hell, I want more than that, but it’s only been a few days since we finally admitted how we feel about each other, so I don’t think we need to rush into anything. But you living with me…I don’t think that’s rushing into anything. We already know each other better than anyone else ever could. It’s just the natural next step, the way I see it.”
“Oh.” I hadn’t expected that. I’d been thinking he was going to go back to the whole spanking thing or something else I had absolutely no interest in. His speech had robbed me of breath.
“Oh? That’s all you have to say?” He finally turned into the driveway at his house. Once he’d put the car in park inside the garage, he faced me, brows raised, lips upturned.
“Well, you threw me off! I expected you to reveal you had a secret room full of crazy sex toys or something—”
“I could arrange for that if you want. We could turn the room you’ve been sleeping in into a sex den. Actually, I was thinking about getting some special furniture—”
I held up a hand. “Stop right there.
Special
furniture.”
He stifled a laugh. “Pillows, to be more precise. Big ones. They’ve got these wedges and things. Considering our height differences, I thought they might make things a bit more comfortable for both of us.”
“Oh,” I said again. Good grief, I wasn’t used to running out of things to say to him.
“Back to
oh
again, are we?”
I punched him in the arm. Then I pouted, because it hurt my hand, and I had no doubt he’d barely felt it. Probably felt like a gnat, flittering around and annoying him instead of doing any sort of real damage.
Jackson laughed, and the next thing I knew, I was laughing along with him.
“So will you?” he asked. “Come live with me? We can talk about the pillows and whatnot—”
“I will if you’ll take me inside and finally finish what you started hours ago,” I cut in.
“I can’t think of anything I’d rather do.”
In no time, we were out of the car and in the house. Jackson picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder, holding my legs in place with one hand while my head dangled behind his back. He used his other hand to shove my skirt out of the way so he could knead my butt, and I groaned.
“Do you have any idea how hot you look?” he asked, kicking the bedroom door closed as the cats made their way out. “You were driving me crazy all night.”
“Driving
you
crazy? Who’s the one with the remote control in his pocket?”
“Too bad the battery didn’t last longer.” He laid me on the bed, and we both went to work, frantically removing bits of clothing and tossing everything to the side. When his finger hooked under both my panties and the vibrator at the same time, I nearly jumped out of my skin as well as my clothes.
“God, you’re so wet.” He tugged the final bits down my legs and reached for my waist to flip me around until I was on my knees facing away from him. He splayed both palms over my breasts, and I tossed my head back in ecstasy.
“Hurry,” I begged. I couldn’t seem to stop panting. I arched my back, pushing my bottom back toward him.
His cock pulsed at the contact.
Jackson’s hands roamed all over my body, rough and possessive. Most of the time, I’d be glad for him taking so much care in getting me ready. Not tonight. I’d been ready for him for hours. At this point, everything he did only delayed things. It felt more like torture than pleasure. I whimpered in protest when he dragged a fingertip through my slick folds and swirled it around my clit.
“Impatient,” he murmured, his lips pressed against my shoulder.
“You’re killing me.”
He pinched my butt cheek and backed away so suddenly I almost fell backward off the bed. “Don’t move,” he said. “And definitely don’t fall.”
“No promises.”
“Don’t I know it.”
I leaned forward and put a hand on the mattress to steady myself, glancing over my shoulder to see what was taking him so long. Not that it was all that long. He only needed a moment to take a condom out of his nightstand drawer and settle it in place, but that moment had me going out of my mind with need.
But then he was behind me again. He spread my knees apart, lowering me to the proper height. Then, placing one hand on my hip, he situated his cock at my opening. With one good thrust, he filled me completely. I moaned in pleasure, unable to maintain any semblance of sanity as he slammed home repeatedly.
Jackson fisted a hand in my hair and tugged me upright so he could kiss me hard and deep. Even after he broke off the kiss, he held me so that I had to look up at him, his other hand teasing my clit until I crashed headfirst into the most devastating orgasm I’d ever experienced. My whole body went boneless and I fell back into Jackson.
He caught me and held me close. He’d always been there to catch me when I fell, figuratively if not literally. And now he was there in a physical sense, too.
Maybe this was how things were always meant to be between us. Best friends, but with so much more. With everything, in fact.
He kissed me again, picking me up in his arms and settling me on the pillows before coming down over me. “I love you more than I could ever tell you, Pepper.”
I spread my thighs and accepted him inside every part of me—my body, my life, and my heart. “I love you, too.” I’d loved him for as long as I could remember. Now there was no reason to keep it to myself, and there never would be again.
Catherine Gayle is a
USA Today
bestselling author of more than thirty contemporary hockey romance and Regency-set historical romance novels and novellas, with more than half a million books sold. She’s a transplanted Texan living in North Carolina with two extremely spoiled felines. In her spare time, she watches way too much hockey and reality TV, plans fun things to do for the Nephew Monster’s next visit, and performs experiments in the kitchen which are rarely toxic.
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DREAMING UP A DARE
is a novella by
USA Today
bestselling author Catherine Gayle, set in the Carly Phillips Dare to Love Kindle World.
Catherine also has two ongoing hockey romance series: the emotional Portland Storm series and the sexy Tulsa Thunderbirds series. If you enjoy this book, look for the following:
The Portland Storm Series
There are also currently two boxed sets of books within the series, if you would prefer to purchase them in that way.
PORTLAND STORM: THE FIRST PERIOD
(Contains Breakaway, On the Fly, Taking a Shot, and Light the Lamp)
PORTLAND STORM: THE SECOND PERIOD
(Contains Delay of Game, Double Major, In the Zone, Holiday Hat Trick, and Comeback)
The Tulsa Thunderbirds Series
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