Dark Time Read online

  I’d finally acquired the building I’d been trying to buy for so long now. It was mine, all mine. I was excited to get started, and I had plans, so many plans. This would be my first hotel that was solely mine, and I wanted to do it right.

  I wanted to involve Emily in that, and I planned to tell her the news, but something still made me hesitate. I didn’t for a second believe she was involved in any trick now, but she was still a Thompson. A disowned one, but still. One of them might contact her, and she might let something slip…

  Which was very disloyal of me, but finding out who she was, who she was related to, had really burned me. I didn’t doubt her, not really; it was her vicious troll of a brother who I didn’t trust.

  I let him slip from my mind as I pulled into the parking garage and got my bags out of the trunk. I was tired, but not too tired. I couldn’t wait to see her face.

  The elevator seemed to take forever to slide down to my level and then, on the way up, I nearly banged on the walls I was so impatient. That wouldn’t help it to go any faster, so I held back. It had been the longest month of my life, but it was done now, and a new part of my life was about to begin.

  By the time I slid my key into the door and went into the hallway, I was ready for whatever she had to throw at me. I just didn’t know that something would be her.

  “Dylan!” she screamed my name, and all I saw was a white blur and some sort of pink before she was in my arms, wrapped around me as she planted kisses all over me. I fell back against the door, a very happy man.

  “Oh my God, I can’t believe you’re here! Am I dreaming? Oh, please tell me this isn’t a dream.” She managed to get a few words in between her kisses, and I hugged her tight. She felt too good to let go.

  “I’m really home, baby. Want to let me in so we can sit down?” She slid down and pulled me into the living room.

  I could see now that she had on an oversized white hoodie and a tiny pair of pink shorts. Her skin was pale, but I liked that about her.

  “I’m glad you’ve settled in.” It had been part of the contract.

  “I basically lived here before, so it wasn’t a big deal. I’ve kept my own place, just because … well, I just need to know it’s there.”

  She gave me a look that I took to mean ‘I hope you understand’, and I did. It was sensible. We made it into the living room, and she pushed me down on the couch.

  “Now, do you want coffee, tea, or me, dear sir?” She gave me a wink and a grin that nearly made my pants spontaneously combust. I’d only just walked into the place, but already I could feel that constant, never-ending urge to have her beneath me take over my thoughts. It didn’t take much to do that when she was around.

  I pulled her on top of me and laughed when she bounced a little. I teased at her lips with mine, and my hands cupped around her ass, just to tease her a little. I touched her softly at first, but I changed the pressure as her taste filled my senses. The sensation of having her on top of me, in my hands, made me as hard as a rock, with a deep need to bury that rock. With a low hum, I shifted my fingers to the edge of her shorts so that I could get my hands inside of them. “I was going to give you a surprise, but it can wait for a little while. I’ve missed the fuck out of you, Emily.”

  I heard a hum of approval from her and pressed up into her. “I need you so much.”

  I broke the kiss and licked my way down her neck. She inhaled sharply as my fingers pressed into her damp heat, and she leaned her head to the side to give me her neck. It was a submissive pose, one that opened her neck to danger, but my teeth would only nip at her skin, not pierce it. With a practiced move, I found the spot she loved to have sucked the most and gave it a quick nip before I closed my lips over it.

  She groaned then, and that made cock twitch in my pants. This wasn’t going to last long at this rate, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t get enough of her, and she had obviously missed me as much as I missed her. Her hands rested on my shoulders, but they flexed over and over, as if to urge me on.

  “You’re about to get all you can handle of me, Emily.” I pushed her down onto the couch, and she fell without a word of protest.

  I whisked the tiny shorts from her body and had my face planted between her thighs in no time. I needed to have that taste on my tongue. I’d dreamed about it, I’d fantasized about it in lonely showers, and I needed it on my tongue now. My own pleasure could wait. For now, having her scent on my tongue as she rode my face was enough.

  “Every single inch. After I make you come.” I breathed over her bare skin, and I felt her shiver around me.

  With a gentle finger, I explored her before I opened her to my mouth. My tongue took the place of my finger, and her taste flooded my mouth. She tasted like the food of the gods, and I took a moment to enjoy the taste of her on my tongue. Like a fine wine, I let the flavor of my woman fill my head. Or I did until she protested by clamping her thighs around me head.

  With a knowing chuckle, I slid a finger inside of her and looked up just in time to watch her reaction. She moved so sensually, from the way her back arched to the way her breasts pressed against the cotton of her top. Her head was tilted back, but I could see the way her tongue came out to wet dry lips and when her hands came up to cup her breasts. I’d taught her that, to be a woman, to take what she wanted, and to touch herself without shame. Her hands pushed the top out of her way, and I moaned in helpless pleasure as her fingers tweaked at her rigid nipples.

  I wanted her, I had to have her, and soon I would. When she’d flooded my mouth with her juices and screamed my name, I’d give myself exactly what I wanted; those sweet clinging walls of her wrapped around my aching dick.

  I licked at her clit exactly the way she liked, until her hips moved in time with my tongue. Her breathless pants became much quicker, and I knew she was close. Even with our nightly talks, the dirty chats, and the orgasms she’d brought herself to while I watched, we still needed this. To be able to touch each other.

  When she made a surprised sound, a sound of wonder and relief, I let her flood my tongue and ride my face. I moaned against her slick flesh, ready to have her, fuck, so ready to have her.

  She hadn’t completely come down yet, but I couldn’t wait any longer. As soon as she’d sighed in a certain way, the way she always did, and I knew she was almost done, I grabbed her hips and pulled her into me.

  I slammed into her, hard, without mercy, her hips clamped in my hands. I fucked into her hard and fast without taking my eyes off of hers. The love in her eyes broke something in me, something I didn’t know was even there, until I saw that look.

  “You are mine, Emily.” I felt her delightful grip at me, pull at me, and I wanted to stay inside of her forever. I moved, a deep thrust that made us both gasp, but I couldn’t stop the words that forced themselves out.

  “I’m yours, baby. So fucking yours.” I pulled her up so that she could push down onto my dick while I impaled her from below.

  “I’m yours, Dylan.” I saw the love in her eyes, only stronger. She gripped her walls around me and moved her hips in time with mine. “For eternity.”

  I held her to me tightly, our bodies damp from sweat, but we didn’t care. We were too lost in each other as our bodies moved in time together. I drove up, and she ground down until she gasped that sound again, and I knew I didn’t have to control myself anymore. She shuddered above me, her thighs a tight vice around my waist, but I didn’t care. All I could do was fuck Emily. It was what I’d been born to do.

  The way her pussy gripped at me, tried to swallow me, and the sounds she made, sent me straight over the edge. I knew this would be quick, but I hadn’t realized it would be that quick. I filled her with every drop of come I had to give and held her sealed to me.

  I wanted to say things, things I’d never said to a lover, but I held them back. Even if I felt those things, I’d never said them, and it still felt like dangerous territory to me. What if she left me, got tired of my demands, my odd nature, and left? I
couldn’t take those words back, they couldn’t be unsaid, and if I said them, it would make me weak.

  “I, Emily, I’m so glad to be home.” I’d almost fucked up, but at the last minute I saved the moment.

  “I’m glad you’re home too. Now, are you going to take me out and show me off or keep me all to yourself tonight?” She brushed my hair out of my eyes, and I kissed her on the lips.

  “Whatever you want, darling.” That was how it would be. Whatever she wanted to do. I’d save the surprises for later. In fact, I’d tell her one later, the other could wait a few more hours.

  “Go get ready, I’ll take you out to eat.”

  I smiled as she jumped away and headed for the shower. It was good to be home.

  Dylan

  I ended up taking Emily and Roxie out that night. We went to eat, then we went to a new adult club in town. It wasn’t Elmo’s, but it wasn’t bad. It was more about dancing and hooking up with strangers than it was about underground sex and exotic dancers. That was cool, but it didn’t hold our interests for long.

  “I’m going to get a taxi home, guys. I know you two want to get back to the privacy of your own home.” Roxie put down the second drink she’d ordered and looked at us in the darkness at the end of the bar.

  “I’m sorry, Roxie, I don’t mean to ignore you.” Emily turned to her friend and hugged her.

  “You aren’t, honey, I’m just not feeling this place.” She looked around, her blonde hair a sway of gold down her back. “Besides, I think the clientele is a little young for my taste.”

  I looked around and saw that a lot of the faces were very young, almost too young from the looks of a couple. Maybe she was right, maybe we should get out of this place, and that wasn’t just my dick talking.

  “Listen, Roxie, let me drop you off. No need to waste money on a taxi. I have a little surprise for Emily tonight, so if you don’t hear from her for a couple of days, it’s because she’s busy.” I gave Roxie a knowing wink, and we both laughed.

  “I don’t need to know what you mean by busy, I just don’t.” She slapped my shoulder lightly and gave me a wide smile. She really was an attractive woman, but she wasn’t my Emily.

  “You ready, Em?” I asked, and she gave me a wink of her own.

  “Anytime, baby.”

  Oh, that did do nice things to my dick. My eyebrow went up, and I couldn’t help but smirk.

  “You dirty little tramp,” I hissed in her ear, and when I pulled back, I saw the most nasty grin on her face I’d seen yet.

  “Only for you.”

  Fuck, how long was that flight?

  “So what’s the surprise?” Roxie asked as I pulled into her apartment block.

  “Ah, that’s still a secret, but Emily will be gone for a couple days. Don’t panic, alright?”

  They both looked at me, and I knew that wasn’t enough. Damn. I’d wanted it to be a total surprise. I should have gotten Roxie alone to tell her.

  “I’m taking her on a little trip. One that doesn’t require many clothes.” I looked at Roxie and knew the words had worked.

  “Yep, that’s all I need to know. Love you, Ems. Have fun, goodnight, and thanks for the ride.” Roxie couldn’t get out of the car fast enough, and we all laughed over that.

  “See you soon, Roxie. Love you!” Emily called out, and Roxie lifted her arm up in answer. “That wasn’t very nice.”

  The smile on her face said it had amused her anyway. It had me too.

  “A man’s gotta do, what a man’s gotta do,” I drawled at her in my best cowboy, before I put the car in drive and headed to the airport.

  “What am I going to do for clothes?” she asked, and I looked over at her.

  “Well, it’s a last-minute thing, so there will be toiletries, some sleeping clothes, and going out clothes that I’ve ordered to be delivered to that address. They should be there already.”

  “Oh?” she asked, her voice quiet. “I hope it’s somewhere cold.”

  I went still; surely, she hadn’t guessed? Then, she’d said it often enough the last week or so. It was cool at the beach, but not cold. She’d missed the snow. I’d rented a cabin in the mountains of Virginia. Snow was guaranteed. All the snow she could want.

  “I’m not telling until we get there.” I took her hand in mine, kissed it, and headed for the airport for the second time that day.

  I’d chartered a private flight for this trip, and it was ready when we got there. I looked down at Emily and smiled.

  “Ready?”

  “I’m not sure. I don’t know if my clothes are appropriate.” I remembered what my dad had said earlier, and I knew he’d been right about that part anyway.

  “You’ll be fine.” She had on a pair of black leather Prada boots, a pair of leather pants, and a handmade, very expensive-looking, heather gray sweater that came down to her knees. The cowl neck made it look soft and warm.

  Her eyes narrowed at me, but then she grinned as we climbed aboard the plane. “You’re lucky I trust you so much.”

  “I don’t doubt that a bit.”

  The plane took off after a few checks were made, and we headed off into the dark. Emily fell asleep before long, her head in my lap, and I just watched her sleep. She’d given all of herself over to me. She didn’t have a fear in the world when I was with her. That was obvious from the way she slept so peacefully now.

  The plane soon began to descend, and I woke her up gently.

  “You know, I sleep so well when I’m with you,” she said it quietly, and I knew her throat was dry. I handed her a bottle of water and decided to tease her a bit.

  “Hmm, does that mean I’m so uninteresting that I put you to sleep?” I joked with an easy smile.

  “No, I mean you make me feel safe, calm even. When I’m around my family, I’m always tense, on edge, waiting for the next scream or shout, the next demand that I fly off to take care of one of their kids or to clean up a new mess. I always felt hounded, really. With you, I don’t have to worry about any of that. I know what you want from me, and I give it gladly. With you, I can relax.” Her arms came up around my neck, and she gave me a kiss just as the plane bounced down.

  A car waited for us at the airport terminal, and before long we were on our way up a slushy mountain road.

  “A cabin in the woods, Dylan?” She looked at me with pleased eyes, and I knew I’d made her happy.

  “Indeed, madam. Not one of those fancy ones with hot tubs, miles of windows, and views that can be seen from space. Nope, this is a tiny old place a friend of mine owns. It’s a real cabin, but a nice one.”

  It was a nice cabin. A very small cabin, with one window, a room for a small bathroom, and another room for the bedroom where a king-sized bed was covered with a handmade quilt. A fire had been lit in the box stove, and it filled the tiny cabin with warmth.

  “We’re roughing it?” she asked, but with pure delight.

  “Indeed, we are. Our kitchen is our living room, and there are no telephones. Cell phone will work, but not always. There’s wood on the back porch, which has the view by the way, and we’ll have to eat whatever my friend Tom brought and left in the fridge.”

  “Sounds just fine to me.” She was staring at the bed, an old cast iron frame that was probably older than both of us combined. “This place looks like heaven to me.”

  Something had told me it would. Emily was a rich girl, that was true, but she wasn’t spoiled. She wasn’t the kind to worry too much about breaking a nail or being dirty, and I liked that about her.

  “Hm, am I going to have to get out of the hotel business and buy us a cabin in the woods?” I purred down her neck as I wrapped my arms around her waist.

  “You might, Dylan.” She turned in my arms and looked at me with a look that confused me. She looked so sad.

  “You’ve barely known me a few months now, but you know me so much better than anyone else ever has.”

  Ah, that explained the sadness.

  “I listen to you, babe,
that’s why.” I ran a finger down her cheek, to her collarbone.

  She shivered, and her face went dark as desire flared to life, and that hit me hard. My own instant response was a grunt of need. I’d wanted to settle us into the place before I got her naked, but the way her breasts felt pressed into me made something ache deep inside of me. Only Emily could take that ache away, even if it was only a momentary relief.

  I let my lips come down to hers, and the ache became a pulse of need that surged in my veins.

  “Emily…” I whispered her name when I broke away, but I wanted to feel her tongue against mine and went back for more.

  I had her pressed against a rough-hewn wall of the cabin when we finally came up for air. I looked down into light gray eyes, lighter than my own, but flecked with black from her passion.

  “You know I’ll always try to be the man you deserve, don’t you, Emily?” My thoughts calmed the rush of need that had flooded through me, but it didn’t quite kill it. I doubted there was much on earth that could.

  Her finger teased at my shirt buttons, and one popped loose to reveal a silky patch of skin. Her touch there distracted me, but now her eyes were on mine, and I couldn’t look away.

  “I want to be so much for you, but, I’m just not very good at it. I’m…” My words broke off, and I tried to find the right words for what I wanted to say. “I’m a broken man, Emily, but I’m trying fucking hard to not be, for you.”

  “You can only be what you are, Dylan. I don’t need a man with no ghosts in his past, or a man who thinks he’s perfect. I need you. A man who lives in the real world and knows how to listen to those he cares about.” She brought her face up to mine and kissed away my moment of weakness.

  Desire flared even hotter between us then, not the kind that had driven us into a frenzy on the couch earlier, or even the kind that had driven us to the wall earlier, but the slow kind that burned hot before it became an inferno.