Tinsel (Lark Cove #4)(29)

“You kissed me,” she whispered.

I nodded.

“But you didn’t kiss me at midnight.”

“We were busy.”

“We’re not busy now.”

I dropped my forehead to hers. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea.”

“Me neither,” she admitted. “But I don’t know if I can stop.”

She leaned in, pressing her lips to mine in a soft kiss. Her tongue darted out and traced my lower lip.

Without any hesitation, I hoisted her up into my arms, only remembering to hit the lights as I carried her out of the bar. We forgot everything else that needed to be cleaned or cared for in the race to get her into my truck.

The need to drive was the only reason we broke apart. But our separation only lasted the short drive to my house. Where I parked, lifted her back into my arms.

And carried her into my bed.





A smile stretched across my face as I buried my face in Dakota’s pillow, inhaling his woodsy scent. My arms extended to the headboard, and my toes pointed toward the base of the bed. I still hadn’t opened my eyes, wanting just a few more seconds to savor the stiffness kinking my muscles.

Dakota had worked some parts of my body last night that I hadn’t used in a while. A long while.

My triceps were stiff from bracing against his wooden headboard as he pounded into me from behind. My quads were tired from riding him like my own personal stallion. My ankle had a tender spot from where he’d bitten me as he’d come.

Aches aside, this was the best I’d felt in months. Years even.

Piper’s advice to just go for it with Dakota had been spot on.

Last night had reminded me that sex could be fun. Dakota and I had gone at it hot and heavy the moment he’d pulled me into his home. His mouth had latched on to mine, never taking it away as he’d stripped me bare on our journey to his bedroom.

My clothes were still littered all over the house.

I took one last breath of his pillow and rolled onto my back, my naked breasts covered loosely by the sheets. My nipples had never felt better than when he’d had them in his hot mouth, his tongue dragging over the hardened buds until I’d begun shaking. Just thinking about how his cock had filled me so completely had me squirming for more.

Damn, that man knew how to treat a woman’s body.

The sheets were warm on my side of the bed. I slid a foot to his side, finding the cotton cold. When had he gotten up? How long had I been sleeping?

I cracked my eyes open, clutching the sheet to my chest as I sat up. The window blinds were closed, but sunshine streamed through the gaps in the wooden slats. I squinted, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the light.

Then I inspected Dakota’s bedroom.

The bed sat right in the middle of the room across from a door that led to a bathroom. The closet was to my left. One of the bypass doors was open, revealing Dakota’s shirts on wire hangers and his jeans folded and stacked on the top shelves.

That closet wouldn’t hold a tenth of my clothes, let alone my shoes. In fact, this room was about the size of my entire walk-in closet in my penthouse.

But it was a nice room. The floors were wooden, stained a warm, light brown. The walls were a simple off-white offset by white trim. Clearly, these weren’t the original finishes, meaning either Dakota or Xavier had made some upgrades. I was guessing Dakota.

His bed sheets were a stark white, his quilt a thick and heavy charcoal cotton. This room had only the basics—a bed, one nightstand and a reading lamp. There wasn’t even a television. It was masculine and simple, much like the man himself.

Honestly, the decor didn’t matter much. I was just glad he’d had the essentials for a night of debauchery. His condoms were stashed in the nightstand. The mattress was soft and he’d used a down pillow to prop up my hips as he knelt above me, sliding into my deepest places with long, languid strokes.

A rush of desire settled in my core. Where was he?

Swinging my feet over the edge of the bed, I dropped the sheet and let the cool air rush over my bare skin as I tiptoed to the bathroom. I did a little spin before the doorway. The floor was smooth and my bare feet skimmed across its surface like ice.

On the vanity next to the sink sat a tube of toothpaste and an unopened toothbrush. I smiled as I ripped it open and used it to brush my teeth with Dakota’s minty toothpaste.

Did he do this a lot? Did he bring women home from the bar often? Was that why he kept extra toothbrushes on hand? Curiosity got the best of me and I opened the three drawers on each side of the vanity.

They were filled with extra hand towels, some shaving cream, a box of Q-Tips and some other bathroom necessities. But there wasn’t a stash of new toothbrushes anywhere to be found.

Smiling that this one must have just been an extra, I went back to the mirror with my toothbrush. When I was finished, I dropped it in the container next to his.

Maybe I’d use it again this week.

I hoped so. Because now that I’d had him, I was addicted to Dakota. More so than I’d ever been to a man, including both of my ex-husbands.

He’d given me the best sex of my entire life, and I had to have more. I needed something to satisfy me for a while, because when I went back to the city, I was taking a long break from men.

Memories of Dakota were going to keep me company for the foreseeable future.

After my divorce from Bryson, Logan had encouraged me to lay off men for a while. His advice had fallen on deaf ears because I’d already met Jay and was completely infatuated in my new relationship.