Dakota takes another step away from me.
It might as well be a thousand miles.
My heart slams against my rib cage.
Fuck, what if she doesn’t care? What if she refuses to give me a second chance? What then?
“You—you had to force your way in with a trained raven? Seriously?” she spits, beyond exasperated.
I smile faintly and shrug one shoulder.
“Do you know how hard it is to find trained messenger birds in Seattle in the twenty-first century? Something had to drive home how much I care.” I flick my eyes to the window, where every woman in the office and even a few men stare out at us. I lower my voice so no one in our unwanted audience hears me. “Do you remember the night in my office when I traced your tattoo?”
She tries hard not to smile, but she can’t stop her lips from turning up as her face reddens.
Dakota gives me an awkward nod.
“You said it was a work in progress. The raven clutching a broken heart, something you added after that sorry little fuck threw away your love. Nevermore.” I come closer, taking her hand in mine and pinning it between us against her chest. “Let me give you fresh ink. Never more will your heart be broken in my hands. You have my word.”
She bites her bottom lip, trembling.
“Bold words. I’m sure it took you a while to practice that…”
“Dakota—” I flare.
She puts her hands up defensively and steps back.
“No, Lincoln. How do I know you won’t just change your mind again? I can’t survive it a second time.” A single hot tear streams down her face.
My heart sinks. I’m the reason this beautiful woman is crying.
How the hell do I convince her? The right combination of words must exist.
“That’s why I’m here. I came to tell you I’m making my leave of absence permanent,” I grind out.
She blinks at me.
“What? Why?”
“I’ve spent too much of my life working, not living. I need to start existing again—ideally with you—and I can’t do that as your boss. I need to put you first, second, and third. I can’t do that as a workaholic. So, I’ll step down, because I need you infinitely more than I need Haughty But Nice. I need you more than anything, Dakota Poe.”
For a second, she stares, too stunned to move.
Then, I’m hit with a small cannonball.
She hurls herself at me so hard I’m winded, her arms thrown around my neck.
I close my arms around her with a slow smile.
“Sorry. Maybe I should have led with that,” I say.
She laughs erratically and then sniffles again.
I pull her tighter against me, pushing one hand against the small of her back, ready to keep her there forever.
“What’s wrong?”
“You can’t just up and leave for me—this is your family’s business. I can’t take it away from you. It’s not fair. And…and everyone is doing the best they can, but things are pretty rocky here without you. Morale sucks so bad, you don’t even know,” she whispers.
I frown. “Like I said, you’re my first and last priority. They’ll have to rough it.”
She throws me a desperate look, slowly shaking her head.
“No. You’ll resent me for it later, and so will they.”
I kiss her eyebrow, her forehead, her cheek.
“Never. It won’t happen. And if it does, we’ll figure it out.”
“But—”
I kiss her lips, silencing her worries.
“Sweetheart, I have a plan. I’m not leaving anybody high and dry.”
“O-of course. Of course, you do,” she stammers.
I grin. “I always have a backup, but I haven’t seen you in a month and—”
She tilts her chin back.
“You missed me too,” I whisper.
She doesn’t answer as her eyelids flutter shut.
I cup her face with my hand, bring her mouth to mine, and savor her sweetness, her coffee-rich breath, the eager way her tongue flicks against mine and the moan she spills in my mouth.
Goddamn, I’m going to savor this woman until the universe goes cold.
I hear a faint slapping sound behind us. Everyone perched inside my office claps. A few whistles make it through the thick glass.
Dakota bolts away from me and groans, her face rivaling a tomato.
“Yikes. How could I forget them?”
“I’ve got this,” I say, stomping over to throw open the door to the balcony. “Show’s over, people. Everyone out of my office.”
Cheryl, Jane, and a couple other women go reluctantly, beaming back grins too big for their faces.
Anna lingers, her hands on her hips as she meets my eyes.
“Yes?” I clip.
“Don’t you dare hurt her again, Mr. Burns.”
“Noted, Miss Patel. Now kindly leave.”
She stands there, looking at me for an uncomfortably long moment. I fold my arms and glare back.
“It won’t happen again. I’d rather die a thousand times.”
Her death stare lightens.
“That’s so sweet,” she muses, slowly walking away.
“Anna?” I call.
She glances over her shoulder.
“Thanks for caring so much about her. You’re a good friend,” I say.
She smiles and leaves my office.
I look back at Dakota. “Now that they’re gone…”
She closes the space between us.
“Yeah. So what’s your big plan?”
“We’ll have a meeting with the senior staff and HR in the afternoon. I have to work out a few last details first.”
She nods. “Lucy’s back, so I’ll be downstairs working on this stupid meeting.”
“No, you won’t.” I grab her gently by the hand.
“Oh?” She raises a brow.
“You’re not going to be a marketing manager much longer anyway. And because I haven’t seen you in a month, there’s no damn chance you’re leaving my office this morning.”
She smiles. “But we’re at work.”
I pull her closer and wrap my arms around her again, closing my eyes with a thick sigh.
“Um, are you okay?” she asks with a laugh.
“Yeah. I just—I’ve never been this happy.” I run my lips up her neck. “It was a long, lonely month.”
“I know. It was hard for me too…”
This time, she attacks my mouth first, all teeth and wandering tongue. I find her lips with mine again, relishing how tightly she clings to me.
She breaks away, drawing in air as my grip on her intensifies.
“Smooth. Now there’s no chance you’re getting away from me before the meeting,” I growl.
“Lucky you, there’s nowhere I’d rather be.”
Her green eyes flare with a heat I can’t wait to ignite the second we leave the building.
With my soul on fire, I return to my desk and type out the proposal with Dakota in my lap the entire time. Her ass teases me, pressing my hardness, bringing back memories of when I took her in this very office.
When I finally press print, my lips are on her neck again, my fingers pushing through her hair.
“You’re coming home tonight,” I whisper, digging my teeth into her bottom lip so she knows it’s not an invitation.
It’s a demand.
“I know,” she whispers back.
I turn her in my lap so I can see her face. I’ve made a big decision.
“I mean permanently, Nevermore.” I take a deep breath. “We should go to your place first and get your stuff.” I may have lost it but I don’t care.
Her eyes become two jade moons, wide and bright.
“Wait, you’re saying I’m moving in with you?”
“I said you’re coming home, didn’t I?” My lips cascade up her throat again, stopping to nip at that sweet spot just under her ear.
“But—”
I shrug. “No buts. You don’t want to move in with me, fine. I’ll stay at your place.”
“My shoebox apartment?” She presses a hand to my forehead. “Do you have a fever? Linc, you can’t be serious…”
“When it comes to you, I don’t joke. I also don’t give a single solitary shit where we’re living, as long as it’s together. My place has a lot more room, but if you don’t trust me enough for that, I’ll—”
“Lincoln?” She waits for me to go quiet. “Shut up and kiss me.”
Agreed.
Just like that, her lips find mine, sealing our fate.
She kisses me frantically, and I swipe my tongue across hers until I’m fucking dizzy. Her hands grasp at my hair.
If we didn’t have business to tend to, I’d throw her on my desk, open her legs, and take her right here.
Shame that has to wait.
I’m rasping when I pull away, cradling her to me, pushing a hand up her skirt. She’s so drenched I shudder when I squeeze her pussy through her panties.
“Hold on, Nevermore. Just a few more hours, and I’m reclaiming this tonight. This time, forevermore.”
We sit side by side at the conference table, our hands joined under the table.
Ida, my HR head, meets my eyes, scans the room, and looks at me again.
“Mr. Burns, I don’t think anyone here quite understands what you want us to do. Can you walk us through it again to make sure we’re all on the same page?”
“Sure. I’d like to make Dakota a very well-compensated independent contractor under her own LLC. She’ll help with copywriting and marketing part-time for Haughty But Nice, according to our needs and her heart’s content. The rest of the time, she’ll be freed up to pursue her poetry career. I’ll remain CEO—mostly for insights and branding—but since everyone in this room is extremely talented, I’ll be delegating a lot more to my executives and managers. While I was out, you’ve all proven you can rise to a challenge. That means I’ll be working from home at least a few days a week. Thoughts?”
Dakota squeezes my hand so sharply my breath almost catches.
“It’s workable and sensible,” Jane says.
We talk among ourselves with a few other executives I’ve pulled in from sales and legal. While Dakota looks on, we draft up a blueprint for how Haughty But Nice will be run in the future with the personnel balance it deserves.
By the time we’re out of the room, her hand smolders mine, holding on like her life depends on it.
Honest to God, it does.
With everything in place, we have a new freedom I’ve never imagined.
It’s cavernous, honestly. A life teeming with possibilities and dreams.
Without this woman, I know how lost I’d be.
That’s why I push my fingers through hers, matching her grip with my own, ready to march into our future together.
I barely make a fuss loading her bike up in the trunk of the town car.
“I still hate you biking all over town,” I tell her.
“Why?” Dakota stands behind me. “It’s healthy. We should get one for you.”
I snort. “What if you get hit by a car?”
“Our ride could be crushed by a semi on our way home, too.”
“This vehicle has airbags.” I open the door for her, contemplating how pissed she’ll be if I buy her a ride with four wheels.
She climbs in. “Since when did the big bad Marine get so concerned with safety?”
I get in beside her and shut the door behind me before I answer.
“Since you, Nevermore.”
That shuts her up. Her eyes dance when she smiles.
“Lovesick fool,” she mutters.
She has no idea, but she’s about to. I grab her soft legs and pull her onto my lap.
“Told you I’m bewitched. I must’ve been under somebody’s spell when I hired a damn bird guy to apologize.”
“And I loved every bit of it. I’ve missed you so much,” she whispers, looking up through her lashes.
“Me too—”
“It took you an entire month to text me.”
“I—” There’s no good explanation for that. “I was a coward, and I’m sorry.”
“What changed your mind?”
“Ma helped. She told me losing someone you love isn’t a tragedy. The tragedy is never loving. Sappy as it sounds, there’s some truth there.”
She sighs. “I don’t know about that. If something happened to you, I’d never be the same.”
“That’s another thing I was worried about. That’s why I thought I should keep my distance. What my mom said made me think, but it wasn’t the final answer.”
“Yeah? So, what was?”
“Wyatt. He has a huge crush on Meadow,” I say, grinning when I think of that clown with the little gardener.
“That’s sweet, but what does that have to do with us?” Dakota asks.
“You remember how Wyatt lost everything because of his ex-wife and bad habits? I never thought he’d survive, honestly, let alone make the turnaround he has. If he can still find it in him to love after everything he went through…why can’t I? Especially when I’ve got one hell of a gorgeous reason to live to my fullest.”
She kisses me, softly and sweetly, tempting me with that mouth.
“How’s he doing, anyway?”
“Much better. He’s holed up in my guesthouse, mostly watching bad TV and messing around with Meadow when she visits him…” I run my fingers through her hair. “Enough about them. There’s an angel in my lap, and I haven’t seen her in a fucking month. Wyatt is not what I’m wasting breath on.”
When we pull up to my place, our lips are fused, my hand running up her thigh. Every time I feel her wetness, I sink my teeth into her lip.
Louis has to gently tap the privacy screen down to remind me we’re home.
I climb out first with a muttered apology, holding the door for Dakota, and then roll her bike to the garage. I pull her to me and hold her for a long moment before leading her inside.
“Damn, it’s so good having you home.”
She shows me she knows, leaning up on her toes and pressing her lips to mine with wild abandon. She flicks her tongue against my lips, and when I open my mouth, she sucks my bottom lip.
I sigh out my soul, my hands falling to her ass, digging my fingers into her curves.
I’ll mark her tonight, I swear to God. Possibly for life.
My jealousy, my greed, all my darker impulses can’t be bad if they’re all for her, can they?
I wonder.
And I wonder a lot more when she looks up with her eyes so hot, so shiny, her lips parted.
“I love you, Lincoln Burns.” She swallows hard. “I…I had to say it.”
I pull her in, holding her like she’s closer than my own shadow.
“I love you too, Dakota. Love you so hard it drives me batty. You have no idea.”
“I don’t know. The raven with the scroll gave me some idea.”
“The bird doesn’t scratch the surface.” I lead her inside, thinking we’ll sit on the balcony for a minute or two.
We’ll see how long it takes for the madness in my balls to drive us to bed.
We get exactly two steps outside before she’s pinned against the wall, whimpering real sweet for me.
I’m on my knees, flicking up her skirt, my mouth roaming up her thighs.
Neither of us care if half the city can see. I’ll eat her until she screams with the entire world watching, and the moon for good measure.
“Lincoln,” she whispers, raking her nails through my hair.
It just encourages me to take her panties down with my teeth. I don’t even let her step out and leave them on the ground before I go to work.
My tongue sweeps up her seam, tasting her hot little cunt.
There goes my mind.
There go my fingers, a knuckle pressed to her clit, adding fire my tongue can’t.
There goes my girl.
I catch her as she slides down the wall, holding her up while I tongue-fuck her to kingdom come.
And goddamn, does she come for me.
When I feel her tension, her rhythm, and that puff that’s half curse and all groan in my ears, I quicken my lashes.
I tear her orgasm out like I want it to hurt. She goes off, all molten pleasure, trembling against my face as I grab her ass and mold her to my mouth.
Fuck yeah, Nevermore.
I make her ride my face to the last tremor.
Then she slowly, sweetly, deliriously collapses in my arms. I pepper her face with kisses, bringing her home.
I love that I can afford to be slow and tender, even if my pulsing cock disagrees. From this point on, we have the rest of our lives.
“Ready, sweetheart?” I whisper when she finally looks up.
With my fingers laced through hers, I help her to her feet, leaving her panties on the ground. We move back into my place, and I start heading to the kitchen for the glass of water I’m sure she needs.
Dakota stops, though, centering her weight against my side.
“You’re going the wrong way,” she says.
“I am?”
She nods, gives me a heavy look, and walks in the opposite direction that leads to my room.
“Straight to the point today, huh?”
“Don’t get too excited. It’s been a month, and I need you. Not just that, I mean, I haven’t slept well alone since—yeah.” She doesn’t finish the sentence. The words hang in the air between us.
“Me either,” I admit, pulling her to me, winding my arms around her waist.
“I’m going to sleep like a kitten tonight,” she says, butting her head gently against my chest.
“Wish I could say the same.”
“Why not?” She looks up at me, startled.
“Like you said, it’s been a month. That means I’ll be too busy watching you, woman. My eyes are starved to see you in my bed, where you belong,” I tell her.
Her face screws up with laughter, but her body is tense.
She’s home. She’s drenched. She’s waiting.
She’s finally mine, but she’s not the same.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
She shakes her head.
“Liar. What is it?” I urge.
She gives a tiny shrug. “I just keep thinking what if you freak out again? Or what if—”
I silence her with my lips, an aggressive kiss of denial that makes her limp in my arms.
“Dakota Poe, listen. There’s no chance I’m strong enough to lose you again.”
“But you almost were once…”
“Before, I had no clue what it was to live without you. Or how perfectly you fit in every corner of my life.”
“I do?”
I chuckle. “Wyatt threatened to kick my ass for spending so much time at the hospital instead of with you. Ma tore me a new asshole in her bless your heart way. I’m pretty sure if this doesn’t work out, I’m getting disowned by everyone.”
She laughs. “Your mom loves you way too much for that.”
“There. Now you know how I feel about you.”
She smiles softly. “So, this is real.” Her words are a statement and a revelation.
I kiss her again to drive it home.
“Nothing’s ever been this real, and I’m looking forward to every moment of it. Now, if we’re done flapping our mouths, I’m pretty sure another part of my anatomy wants to be heard…”
She nods as I pick her up, throwing her over my shoulder.
“Do you remember the first time you carried me to your room?” she leans up, purring in my ear.
“How could I forget? It was almost this intense.”
“What do you mean almost? I was about to combust before we even made it to bed.”
I grin, gobsmacked at what comes out of her mouth.
“Dakota, you own my soul. I love you.”
Her nails graze down my back.
“I love you, too,” she whispers.
Once we’re through the door, I kick it shut behind us and lay her on my bed. “One key difference from the first time and today,” I tell her, staring down in wonder.
“Yeah?”
I stroke her hair, letting my fingers fall through platinum silk as I say, “That was mostly physical but this—this is with my entire heart.”
She takes my hand and urges me down, kissing my knuckles. “You’ve owned mine for a while.”
“How long?” I demand.
“I don’t know. At least since the first time we made love—”
“Definitely one of the best days of my life.” I smile at the memory.
“And the others?”
I press my lips to her forehead. “This is one more. I got my girl back.”
“You didn’t let me finish,” she whispers.
“Bull. You finished just fine that day, as I recall. Your nails sank into my back and your body clenched around me. This time, you’ll finish harder,” I promise, nipping at her shoulder.
She covers her face with both hands and laughs.
Little minx.
I grab her, pulling one hand away, and bring it to my lips, kissing her knuckles. Slowly but steadily, I uncurl her fingers and kiss them one by one.
She moves her hand away, quivering. Wrapping her arms around me, she drops her face to mine.
The kiss that comes is one long concert of harsh breaths and wicked desires.
Dakota trembles when my fingers brush her skin, too greedy to control.
I yank her dress over her head. She’s left in a lace bra and nothing else, her panties still on the balcony.
My face moves down the bed to her tits. I take one nipple through the fabric, dangerously impatient.
Sucking, biting, teasing, I do what I promised.
I bring her home.
Two minutes in, she’s a gasping mess, barely able to unhook her bra. When she finally frees those perfect mounds, her nipples pucker under my tongue.
I think she might come on the spot.
Before that happens, I roll her on her back, tearing off my clothes piece by piece. I climb over her with a hunger, taking her tits in my hands and pushing those nipples between my fingers as I stare down at the feast before me.
Fuck, this woman.
It’s not just my heart and soul that’s hers.
She’s got the rights to my balls for life.
My tongue returns, rolling across one firm peak. She drags my head tighter against her, low whimpers becoming loud, insistent moans.
Her fingers curl through my hair, down my neck, and graze down my back. I love how her fingernails dance on my skin, urging me to do my best, my worst, my everything.
Tonight, she’ll get my all.
My tongue massages her supple skin until I can’t stand it.
Until she’s bucking her hips against my leg, grinding against the rigid hardness she’s roused, begging me to take what’s always been mine.
“Fuck,” I whisper, tearing away to shift my weight.
I glare down at her, this fragile thing, that tattoo inviting me to take her every which way from Sunday and into the next week.
“Lincoln, please,” she urges, winding her legs around mine.
She’s asking for my fuckery. All of it.
So I grab the base of my cock, glaring down. I smack my swollen tip against her clit several times, teaching her she’s only on the first level of begging.
She’s speechless by the time I move in, claiming her pussy, no condom between us. Her pussy clenches me, taking me deep, snapping the last thread of my control.
I bite her lips when my head comes down and my hips go to work. It’s animal, primal, and somehow still so human it hurts.
Each thrust shakes her down, faster and faster, hammering her into the mattress. It isn’t long before she blows, going off in a flurry of gasping breaths, her nails digging into my back until it hurts.
Glorious.
Her pain, I love.
I don’t care if she cuts me to the bone, just as long as I’m buried inside Nevermore, pillaging her from the inside out with punishing thrusts. My pubic bone drags against her clit every time I press to the hilt, and soon, I’m baring my teeth.
She looks up with a question flaring in her eyes, too lost for words, but I hear her loud and clear.
Will you? Will you come inside me?
Goddamn. Could I do anything else?
“Hold on, sweetheart,” I growl, rearing back so I control my finish, so I can heave every last drop from my balls in her womb.
She makes me that insane.
She makes me so sure that if we’re meant to have kids, I want to start early, even if a cooler head suggests something different.
Tonight, fuck cooler anything.
I’m pure molten steel as I drive into her and her mouth falls open, her eyes roll back, and her pussy steals my soul.
My cock swells in her chaos, jerking, pulsing, spilling into her.
We come together in a ballad of flesh, pure white-hot delirium fit for two lost souls made whole.
Edgar Allan, eat your fucking heart out.
Or don’t.
Because I’m making better poetry than any I ever imagined with Miss Poe, and it’s all I need.
