Chapter 7

7

JEM

How was he even here? Was he real? I’d spent the ride home from the hospital wishing for the impossible, for someone to be there for me without any agenda other than to comfort me after a long, hard day.

And if it could be the man who occupied my deepest fantasies… well, that would be a bonus.

So when I walked up the last step to my apartment landing and saw Dawson Priest standing in the open doorway of the apartment next door to mine… I stared at him in disbelief. Part of me thought my desperate soul had conjured up a hallucination of some kind, but I decided very quickly it didn’t matter. Dawson was here, and I needed him. For some reason, I felt deep in my bones that I could trust him. And since I was too tired to remember all the reasons he was on my shit list, he looked like the best thing to ever happen to me.

When I walked into his strong arms, the relief of it overwhelmed me, and the tears I’d been holding back all evening finally came. My sister had had some cramping and dehydration caused by her morning sickness, but otherwise, she was fine. The baby was fine. In fact, they were doing better than ever, since the news that Lina’s doctor had sent her to the hospital for observation had finally gotten Garret out of hiding. He’d shown up at the hospital in a flurry of remorse, and I’d left her in the loving hands of her dumbass but committed boyfriend, who was now, finally, her fiancé.

“You live here?” I asked stupidly through my tears. My voice was muffled against the warm skin of his throat. He smelled clean and delicious, like bath soap and red wine. My new favorite scent.

The low rumble of a laugh vibrated through his chest. “I do. Didn’t know we were neighbors until tonight.”

“I…” I didn’t know what to say. Part of me wanted to tell him about my sister, about the scare we’d had with her pregnancy. But part of me wanted to put the whole thing behind me and simply beg him not to let go of me.

His head turned just enough to brush his lips against the side of my head. “I’m sorry about earlier. So fucking sorry. I didn’t mean to say being with you was a mistake. I only meant to say we shouldn’t have done it at work. I know now isn’t the time to discuss it, but—”

I didn’t let him continue. I lurched up and kissed him hard, shutting him up and taking a taste of the leftover wine from his lips. Dawson’s arms tightened around me for a split second before one of his hands moved to cup the back of my head to hold me there. His lips feasted on mine like he’d been waiting hours to taste me again.

I wanted him. I wanted to be in his bed, naked and gasping. “Please,” I begged against his mouth. There was nothing more to say. He pulled me through the open door and shoved it closed behind me before half carrying me down the short hallway to his bedroom.

We grappled at each other’s clothes, yanking pieces off and dropping them on the floor without a care. As soon as I was down to my underwear and he was down to his pajama pants, he pushed me onto the bed and followed my body down, grinding his cotton-covered cock against mine with a groan.

It felt so fucking good. Hard and hot and big enough to make me drool. I wanted him inside me, over me, behind me, anything at all as long as we both got to come.

Dawson managed to mumble questions like, “You sure?” and “This okay?” which only made me want him more. I was very sure, and all of this was incredibly okay.

I nodded and made sounds of approval and agreement while my head spun with want. My body thrummed like a live wire, and just the act of dry humping each other was in very real danger of making me come in my boxer briefs.

I ran my hands down his strong back before shoving my fingers inside his pajama pants to grab his rounded ass cheeks. We both groaned and pushed against each other again, but it wasn’t enough. I pushed the pants down before finishing the job with my foot.

“Fuck me,” I begged, not stopping to wonder why I was jumping to anal so quickly with him. I trusted him. I wanted him. And I was desperate to feel him that close to me.

His eyes met mine, nearly glazed over with lust. He opened his mouth—no doubt to ask me if I was sure—but I slapped my hand over his lips and nodded before the words came out. I felt his lips turn up under my hand.

Dawson moved off me long enough to rifle through his bedside drawer while I shimmied off the remaining scrap of fabric between me and nirvana. I snuck a look at his body, lean and cut in all the right places. He had a tiny tattoo over his heart with the number 525,600 painted in rainbow colors. I grinned at the familiar reference to the opening song from Rent. He was a theater boy through and through.

Like I was.

When Dawson turned back to me, our eyes met again for a long beat. His were questioning, and I hoped like hell mine held the answers he needed.

In the span of a breath, his face softened. He climbed back over me gently and caressed the side of my face. “You’re the most beautiful man I’ve ever met,” he said reverently. My skin prickled with emotion. No one had ever said anything like that to me before, and here it was coming from the man I’d wanted for so damned long.

He leaned in and kissed my cheek, my forehead, my neck, taking his sweet time with it until I wanted to cry again.

Why are you doing this?

I wanted to beg him to stop, to cease treating me like someone special unless he really meant it, but at the same time, I wanted to know what it felt like to be someone special to Dawson Priest, even if just for this night.

He trailed slow kisses down my chest and arms, my stomach, the inside of my thighs, and the back of my knees. The man drove me crazy with his lips and hands until I couldn’t think straight. By the time he put his mouth on my dick, I thought maybe I was shamelessly begging. Just a little.

I reached for his head and grabbed a handful of his hair so I could tug him back up to me. His eyes had that dazed look again, and the sight of my cock stretching his mouth open made sparkly dots dance in my vision. He’d already teased me with lube-slick fingers, and my ass was desperate for more.

My voice sounded raw and hoarse when I spoke. “Get up here and put your dick in me.” It wasn’t romantic or anything, but it was all I was capable of at the moment.

My body shook from wanting him.

He took another mind-blowing suck of my shaft before pulling off and moving back up to kiss me. The slight salty taste on his tongue made me second-guess my plan. Maybe I should suck him?

Before I could consider it, Dawson rolled on a condom and slicked himself up. When the blunt head of his cock pushed at my entrance, I forced myself to slow down and take a breath. Relax.

The slight wrinkle of concern on Dawson’s forehead was unbelievably sweet as he watched my reaction to his invasion of my body.

But it was so fucking good.

I threw my head back with a groan and grabbed his shoulders to keep him from pulling away. The pillows he’d shoved under my ass helped me keep my knees up, which was a good thing since I felt like a puddle of noodles. How long had it been since I’d been this full? I hadn’t had anal sex in a very long time, and even then, it hadn’t been great. This was so different. I knew that regardless of our disagreements or any tension that had been between us, Dawson cared about me enough to make sure I was okay.

I didn’t realize I was breathing his name into the room over and over until he murmured reassurance. “Shh, I’m here. You feel s’fucking good. Jem, shit. Your… your body… I can’t…”

He didn’t finish. His eyes squeezed closed as he began to pull out and push back in again. The look on his face made my stomach tighten and my balls draw up.

I clutched him to me with possessive fingers and all the hope in my heart. I didn’t want this to be a onetime thing. In fact, I thought I might scream and fight if he walked away from me again after this. It was too good. This connection between us was like nothing I’d even imagined before. How was it this intense with someone I barely knew?

You know him.

I didn’t really. I just felt like I did. Kissing him every night, feeling his hands on me every night, was a way of knowing him even if I didn’t know what he liked on his pizza and how many siblings he had.

Veggies and two brothers.

Okay, so maybe I paid more attention to him than I cared to admit. Maybe I’d semi-stalked him online when I was bored, and I’d listened to every word he’d ever said in random conversations in the theater.

But now that I knew what he felt like inside me, on top of me, surrounding me with his strong, possessive warmth… fucking hell. I wanted more. I wanted everything. And I didn’t want to let it go.

Ever.

When his hand moved between us to grab my dick, my brain ceased its ridiculous tumble of thoughts. All I could do was try to hold on while every cell in my body begged for release.

Dawson. Dawson. Dawson.

“Want you to come,” he urged through gritted teeth. “Want you to let go once and for all. Give it to me, damn it.”

I let out a sob and arched my head back, as if my body belonged to him instead of me. My release hit hard and sucked the breath from my lungs. Every muscle in my lower gut contracted, and I made an animalistic keening sound as I came.

The look on his face turned from determined to reverent and tender for a split second before his lids fluttered and he bit out a curse. He thrust deeper a few more times before letting go and roaring into the small bedroom.

We were covered in sweat and cum. Our chests heaved as we tried to catch our breath. I wondered idly if things were going to be awkward between us, but before I could make a joke to try and break the ice, I passed out.

With Dawson Priest’s cock still warm inside of me.