Surge: (#7 The Beat and The Pulse) (9 page)

Dean wasn’t listening to my pleas. He was too intent on his path to stop and hear me. Finally, he found a quiet corner away from the commotion of the Gala, and he tugged me into the little alcove, pinning me against the wall.

Trapped.

“I wanted… I wanted to make this night special for you, but I can’t hold back anymore. You’re not listening. I need you to listen, Jo.” His hands cupped my face, and I froze, completely under his spell. “I made a mistake.”

“What?” My heart sank. He wanted to sweep my off my feet and now… He was regretting it?

He lowered his head until our eyes were level. “I should never have pushed you away.”

There was a split second where time stood still, where the world stopped turning and it was just him and me. Then he claimed me in a blaze of heat, his mouth moving desperately against my own, and all the walls I’d put into place just disintegrated. My willpower was totally shot.

I threw my arms around his neck and parted my lips, thrusting my tongue against his. I just let go and poured every last drop of my lust, longing, and anguish into our embrace, and I let the doubts fade away. He matched me stroke for stroke, his touch as fevered as mine.

The floodgates had opened, and we’d let out a tsunami.

Not breaking away from our kiss once, he bunched my skirt up, and I threw my leg around his waist, holding him against me. One hand hooked around my knee, holding me open, and his other hand traced a path along my inner thigh until his fingers brushed over the silk finish of my bikini briefs…right over the sweet spot.

I didn’t do a thing to stop him as he pushed the material aside and slid a finger through my wetness. His touch sent a shiver down my spine, and I arched into him, wanting more.

“You’re so wet,” he murmured, his lips brushing against mine.

I didn’t want to hear him speak a single word. I didn’t want him to whisper dirty things into my ear. I just wanted him to end my suffering.

Forcing my mouth against his, I kissed him deeply, and as his tongue thrust against mine, he plunged a thick finger inside me. The sudden invasion caused my back to arch, and I pushed my breasts against his chest.

This time, he was the one moaning into my mouth as he slid a second finger in with the first, exploring every inch of me. We moved against one another, dangerously close to giving away our secret corner with our desperate panting. He wasn’t concerned with himself as he focused on me, only grinding his hardening crotch against my hip as he pleasured me.

I rode his hand, his mouth muffling my cries as my orgasm rose in unbearable waves. Nothing else mattered but the release from the feelings I’d been bottling up for the last few weeks. This was exactly how I imagined it would be that morning in the gym. This was what I’d wanted when I’d taken the plunge and straddled him. Him in me—however I could get him.

Dean’s palm circled faster as he sensed my building pleasure, and he pressed firmly against my clit. All too soon, my body let go. I came on his hand, my walls tightening around his fingers, quivering as wave after wave hit me. He didn’t slow his movements at all. If anything, he went harder and faster, drawing out my orgasm as long as he could.

Shit. He was good. Very good. He knew what women wanted and how to give it to them.
Damn
.

My knee buckled as I came down from my high, and Dean pressed forward, using his body to anchor mine against the wall. His cock was hard against my sensitive clit, his eyes hooded with unmasked desire, and I began to panic. I had no bloody idea where it came from, but I felt the overwhelming need to get out of there.

“Jo,” he whispered, pressing his forehead against mine.

My chest heaved, the air thick with the scent of what he’d just done to me, and I pushed him back. He let go of my leg, and I stood on my own two feet and smoothed my dress down.

“Jo,” he said again, his eyes beginning to fill with panic.

I stared at him, not knowing what to do. He’d just… He’d just given me an orgasm at a charity event that meant a great to him and me. He knew how much I valued my professionalism in the male dominated industry of MMA. I didn’t let guys like him fuck me so I could get ahead. I was here because of my ability as a damn fine PR rep.

I knew I was overreacting, but I couldn’t stop myself.

Raising my hand, I slapped him, my palm connecting with his cheek with a crack.

“What was that for?” he exclaimed, palming his cheek.

“How dare you!” I seethed, wishing I knew how to throw a punch that wouldn’t result in a broken hand.

“You didn’t complain, Jo,” he said, his eyes darkening. “If you didn’t want this, you could’ve said no.”

My mouth flapped uselessly. He was right, but I was mad, embarrassed, and most of all, I was still ashamed over my reaction last weekend. The reaction that resulted in me trying to get back into bed with Hamish and almost sealing the deal with Dean’s archenemy, Gabe O’Connell.

So, I did the bitchiest thing I could think of. I shifted the blame for my bad life choices onto Dean.

“Are you still hung up on her?” I demanded.

“Who? Monica?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

“As of a week ago, you were telling me how you didn’t know how to let go of your feelings for her. And suddenly, you’re telling me everything I want to hear. Forgive me if I’m wary, Dean.”

“Jo…”

He didn’t deny it, and he didn’t try to ease my mind, either. I was being a horrible person, but I’d uncovered his dirty little secret in the process.

“I can’t believe you,” I hissed and turned on my heel, flipping the train of my dress around so I wouldn’t trip and fall on my ass.

Fuck my life. It was just one bad decision after another. I couldn’t believe I just let him finger me to orgasm—the man I wanted to love and the man who still couldn’t let go of another woman.

I was worth more than that. I had to be.

I
could feel
the lingering sting of Josie’s hand on my cheek and couldn’t believe she’d slapped me.

What the fuck was she so afraid of?

She’d been so wet, so responsive, so beautiful, and I knew I wanted her. Not like I’d wanted Monica, never like that, but I wanted her more. I wanted more. With Josie. She made me feel like I could be more than just a fighter. The moment I kissed her, it felt like the world opened up and we could do anything.

More, more, more, more
.

It was
right
.

I don’t know how long I stood there in a daze, staring at the empty space Josie had left behind. Muttering under my breath, I straightened my jacket and ran the back of my hand across my mouth.

Striding down the hall, I ventured back into the ballroom searching for her.

Lincoln was lingering just inside the door and caught my arm as I went to walk by.

“Hey,” he said. “Is everything okay?”

I shook him off, annoyed at the interruption, and raked my gaze over the room. That’s when I saw her being swept into another man’s arms. Josie Cunningham was being held by someone else moments after I’d given her relief on my hand. My hand, which she’d ridden without complaint and with a whole lot of enthusiasm.

I snarled when I realized who had stepped in and was trying to be a white knight. The same asshole who had tried to steal her from me once before.

Gabe O’Connell.

I could see it now. She’d pushed me away because she was interested in him. He had his hands all over her.

She didn’t know the fucked up things he’d said to me in the octagon. She didn’t know who he was and how he planned to take advantage of her. She didn’t know.

“Dean,” Lincoln said from beside me in warning. “Don’t you even think about it.”

No way in hell was I listening to reason when another man’s hands were on my Jo.

My scowl deepened into full-blown rage as I strode across the ballroom and fisted my hand into the front of O’Connell’s shirt.

Josie stumbled to the side, shock plastered on her beautiful face, but all I could see was O’Connell’s smirk of triumph.

“Told you so,” he declared smugly, and that’s all it took for me to snap.

Raising my fist, I slammed it into his face as hard as I could. There was a collective gasp from the crowd as he fell to the floor, his hand grasping his jaw.

“What are you doing?” Josie shrieked as I stood over Gabe.

He didn’t care. He was laughing his ass off even after I’d laid him out.

“He deserves everything he gets,” I snarled as Lincoln appeared beside me and shoved me away as Gabe scrambled to his feet. “He’s a real piece of work.”

“I think you better leave,” Linc said as two security guards appeared looking just as pissed as I felt.

There’d be killer headlines in the papers tomorrow. Not to mention blowback from the AUFC and Tightrope. My hole was getting bigger and bigger by the moment, and soon, it’d be so deep I wouldn’t be able to reach the top to lift myself out.

I glanced at Josie and couldn’t even register the fury in her eyes. Reaching for her, I grasped her wrist and yanked, guiding her from the ballroom for the second time that night. She didn’t have a choice as I dragged her through the assembled guests and past a scandalized Jasmine Cutter, General Director of one of the biggest sporting charities in the country.

I’d be paying for this for a long time to come, but the only person I gave a fuck about was Josie Cunningham.

We emerged outside onto the street, and thankfully, the media had already cleared out. Otherwise, it’d be another thing on a long list of fuck ups.

“What is wrong with you?” Josie yelled at me as I let her go.

“Gabe O’Connell?” I asked, turning to face her.

“You punched him in front of everyone!” she shrieked. “You fucked up so bad! Do you understand what this is going to cost you?”

“Do you know what he said to me in the octagon?” I asked. “Do you understand why he KO’d me?”

She hesitated, some of the anger fading from her eyes. “What do you mean? What’s that got to do with…”

I hissed through my teeth and turned away from her, running my hand over my face.

“Dean,” she commanded, but I didn’t reply. “Tell me what he said.”

“You don’t want to know.”

“Oh, I have a pretty good idea,” she declared, waving her hand at me.

Glancing at her, I wasn’t sure about her meaning. Had he already tried to force her into doing something she didn’t want? Something more than offering her a job? Was that why she kept pushing me away? Had he put his hands on her like I just did? The thought made me sick.

“What did he do to you?” I asked, wanting to know once and for all if her heart was in it.

She bit her bottom lip and rolled her eyes. “He doesn’t have to have done anything to me. Just one look at the guy and you can see the arrogance dripping off him like slime. I wasn’t born yesterday.”

“Then why did you go to him?”

Her mouth dropped open. “You think I went to him? He keeps harassing me!”

Then he hadn’t touched her… I didn’t know if I should be relieved or not.

“Tell me what to do, Jo,” I pleaded. “Tell me what I have to do to make you see.”

“Nothing,” she hissed. “Do nothing.”

“I can’t do nothing!” I wanted her, I wanted her,
I wanted her
.

“Dean, just stop,” she cried, beating her fists against my chest as I stepped into her.

“I can’t stop,” I practically growled. “You’re still not listening to me!”

“I’m not deaf,” she snapped. “I can hear you perfectly fine.”

“It’s not that easy, Jo,” I hissed. “Ten years! That’s how long I was hung up on a worthless crush! I can’t just let go, no matter how much I want to!”

“So you’re saying that…” She swallowed hard and jabbed a finger back at the venue we’d just left behind. “What we did before was just a bit of harmless fun?”

“No,” I shot back immediately. “Never.”

“Then what was it, huh?”

I grasped her face, trying my hardest to keep my expression cool, calm, and collected while hers was full of wild, unharnessed rage. Before I lost her for good, I captured her in a kiss, my lips soft against hers. Before, my touch had been firm and controlling, but now… I worshiped.

I poured everything I couldn’t find words for into that kiss and held on for dear life, hoping to fucking God she understood.

When she kissed me back, I lowered my hands and wrapped my arms around her, holding her body tightly against me. Her tongue danced with mine, dousing the fire of our argument, and I hoped…

Pulling away as she melted against me, I sighed in contentment. Jo was in my arms…
listening
. She stared up at me with wide eyes, entirely lost for words, which was an achievement for someone who always had so many.

“I’m going to fuck up,” I murmured. “I’m going to hesitate. I’m going to be a dumb asshole. I don’t know how to do this, so you’re going to have to cut me some slack here, Jo.”

She drew in a shaky breath, her eyes misting with tears.

“I’m here,” I whispered, brushing my hands along the curve of her spine. “I’m finally here. Are you with me?”

Her blue eyes stared into mine as she silently deliberated. I waited as patiently as I could, knowing if I forced her, it could mean all the difference.

Finally, she blinked, her palms running over my chest and cupping my face.

“Yes.”

S
liding
into the back of a taxi, I pressed against Dean’s side and flipped the train of my skirt in behind me.

This was the last place I’d expected to end up tonight. A lot of things had gone down that neither of us had foreseen, and who knew what would happen once the sun rose. If it rose at all. The only thing I knew for sure was that I wanted to sleep with Dean Hayes,
right now
.

Dean’s phone started ringing for the tenth time since we’d left the Gala, and I fished it out of his pocket. I kind of loved that he didn’t stop me from looking.

“It’s Lincoln,” I said, scrolling through the notifications on the lock screen.

“No shit,” he replied, taking the phone from my hands.

“He’ll start calling me when you don’t answer,” I began and groaned when, as if on cue, my phone started ringing.

“Your call, Jo.”

I glanced at Dean and frowned. “My call?”

“We’re going back to your place. Nobody knows about us.”

That wasn’t entirely true. Violet had an idea I was interested, but she hadn’t said anything else about it after our shopping trip. She might now that Dean had punched Gabe in the face for trying it on with me. Paired with our dramatic exit and screaming match outside, it might already be headline news.

I stared at my phone and didn’t know what to say. Taking the plunge and letting him come home with me was a huge step considering the struggle it took to get here. It was way too much to tell his twin brother five minutes after the fact.

“I’m on board with whatever you want to do,” Dean declared, edging his palm up my thigh.

Sighing, I twisted around in the seat and said, “We’re on our way to my place to…”

“Fuck?”

My cheeks began to turn pink, and I glanced awkwardly at the driver in the front seat, but he wasn’t listening.

“Then tell him you’re taking my naughty ass home where I can’t cause anymore trouble,” Dean went on, smirking at my reaction.

The call had already rung out, so I bit the bullet and decided to throw Lincoln off the scent.

“I just want to enjoy this,” I said as I tapped out a message. “Don’t lay it out for me right now, or I’ll run before we even get to seal the deal, Hayes.”

“That’s my line,” he replied with a chuckle, his lips pressing against my temple.

“Fuck them,” I said, pressing send. “They don’t need to know. We’ll talk about it later. Much later.”

“I like the sound of that.”

Tossing my phone, I threaded my fingers through his hair and pulled him to me. We kissed, the motion of the taxi doing nothing to steady my aching nether regions.

“How far is it to your place again?” Dean asked as the car came to a halt.

There was a beeping from the front seat, and the driver announced, “Thirty-two sixty.”

“Holy fuck,” Dean cursed, fishing for his wallet. “Thirty-two bucks for fifteen minutes in a taxi?”

“Thirty-two sixty,” the driver said again.

Tossing the guy a fifty, Dean opened the back door and dragged me out, pulling me into his arms. Slamming the door, he smirked. “Fucking rip off that.”

He rocked me back and forth as we moved toward the door to my building. It was a little block of modern apartments just outside the upscale suburb of Bondi. It was close to the Twins’ gym, and I could afford the rent here—
just
. I hardly spent any time in it considering how busy my job was, but I supposed it was as good a place as any. I still missed my little cottage back in Melbourne. That place was classy and
cheap
.

“You can afford it,” I said, teasing Dean about the taxi fare as I led us through the security entrance.

Climbing the stairs, he slapped his palm on my ass, urging me to hurry. I unlocked my front door, almost dropping my key twice, and finally, we were alone. About bloody time.

“Nice place, Jo,” he murmured as I tossed my clutch onto the kitchen island.

“Stop looking at the apartment, and look at me,” I said, edging him into the bedroom.

“I was just being polite,” he replied. “Don’t know what the fuck it looks like.”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, he pulled at his tie, loosening it around his neck as he kicked off his shoes.

“Take it off,” he commanded, his voice low and husky.

He didn’t have to ask me twice. Standing before him, I undid the concealed zipper at the side and nudged the straps off my shoulders, allowing the dress to slip off my body. It fell to the floor, the silky material pooling around my feet. I hadn’t worn a bra because of the plunging neckline, and his eyes widened as he took in my exposed breasts.

“I like this,” he murmured, his fingers plucking at the hem of my tiny lace boy shorts. “I like it a lot.”

“Stop talking.” Pressing my forehead against his, I bit at my bottom lip and stepped out of my heels.

I was suddenly at a better height for his mouth to reach my breasts, and I undid the buttons on his shirt with trembling fingers. It wasn’t exactly the fevered ripping of clothes I’d fantasized about, but the anticipation had me wanting more as I eased the shirt from his bulky frame.

Seeing Dean Hayes without a shirt was nothing new. I saw him in the octagon and the gym all the time in next to nothing, but being able to touch him and seeing the bulge in his trousers that I’d put there?
Priceless
.

He tugged me across his lap, and I straddled him as his lips met mine. His palm worshipped my breasts, his fingers pinching my erect nipples, and I melted into him. I licked into his mouth, relishing his taste as his movements became firmer, guiding me with the same expert precision he fought in the cage with.

Tearing his mouth from mine, he latched onto my breast, sucking and teasing, nipping the sensitive flesh with his teeth. My breathing quickened as I felt my core respond, and I began to grind against his erection, which he still hadn’t allowed me to free from his trousers.

Fuck, this felt so good. So raw. It was everything I wanted and expected when I’d lain in bed at night and fantasized about this moment. It was how I imagined it last week in the gym.

He moved to my other breast, his touch firmer as I fisted my hands in his hair and tugged. I could feel my underwear dampening, and it was becoming harder and harder to keep this slow. I wanted to feel him in me. The ghost of his fingers from earlier that night still ached inside me, and I bucked against him.

“Dean!” I moaned as he bit down on my nipple.

Before I could beg, he pushed me back onto the bed and forced my legs apart. Moving down my body, he pushed my underwear aside and licked my entire seam. My back arched off the mattress as pleasure ricocheted through my body, and I fisted my hands into the blanket as his mouth covered my clit and sucked.

“Oh fuck,” I cried as he began to lave his tongue over me. He did it again and again until I was writhing.

He put his palm on my stomach, using his strength to keep me in place as he expertly dipped his tongue into my opening and teased. Returning to my clit, he continued pleasuring until my eyes rolled back into my head.

I couldn’t think of anything else but his tongue between my legs. His tongue. Dean Hayes’s tongue. In me. On my clit.
Everywhere
.

I wasn’t inexperienced by a long shot and had been licked by the best of them, but with the right person? Holy fuck. I never understood the difference between lust and something more, not until now.

My eyes flew open as he slid his finger into me and began pumping, his tongue never slowing its assault on my clit. A second finger joined the first, and I felt an orgasm begin to rise hard and fast. I lost control and began to grind against him, and when I came, my thighs wanted to clamp together, but he forced my legs open wider and fucked me faster.

Moaning and panting, I grasped his hair and twisted, lost to the rolling waves that were pulling me under. It was the really good kind of drowning if you asked me. I would drown all day and night in him if he’d let me.

Once some sense returned, I pushed him back and ripped at his fly, tugging the zipper down.

“You’re a greedy little thing,” he said with a smirk as I freed his cock.

I wasn’t listening. I was too busy staring at his erection.

Lowering my lips, I fully intended to repay what he’d just given me, but he sat up and tugged me onto his lap.

“Next time,” he murmured. “I want to be inside you too much.”

His hands grasped my waist and guided my movements, sliding my seam against his erection.

“I’ve thought about this enough,” he murmured against my mouth.

“You’ve thought about me?” I asked, nipping at his bottom lip.

“In all kinds of ways,” he replied darkly.

Drawing in a shaky breath, I eased off him and pushed down my underwear, ridding myself of the last barrier between us. He kicked off his trousers, and finally, we were completely naked. We were doing this.

Coaxing me back over him, he fisted his cock and ran the crown along my seam. Positioning himself, he waited, letting me make the final move.

I stared into his eyes and knew he was giving me an out if I wanted it. I’d struggled against my feelings for what felt like a millennia, pushing when all I wanted to do was pull, and I almost caved.
Almost
. The fact that Dean Hayes, bad boy of the AUFC, was giving me a choice instead of taking me like an alpha male from a romance novel, showed just how much of himself he kept hidden from the world.

Burying my hands in his hair, I lowered myself onto him, breathing heavily as his cock filled every inch inside me.

“Shit,” he hissed as we joined completely.

I began to grind against him, working my clit as he sucked at my neck. Then he fell backward onto his back, taking me down with him.

Grasping my ass, he thrust upward into me again and again, our moans muffled by our fevered kisses. Rolling my hips, I rode him hard, high on the sensation of his cock leaving me, then filling my body to the brim.

I was lost in the moment, chasing the release I hadn’t realized was building to boiling point, not until he’d cornered me at the Gala. That hadn’t been enough to sate it, but this…

With a growl, he flipped me over on the bed, my back hitting the mattress, and he thrust into me hard. Clawing his back, I cried out as he pounded into me. Fast, then slow, then fast again. When I began to fall into a blissful plane of oblivion, he didn’t slow, and I tightened around him.

I wanted to beg him to never stop, to call out his name and never say another word in my entire life, but I was listless as he joined me, spilling everything he had into my body.

Finally, he collapsed beside me, his chest heaving.

“Fuck me,” he said, running his hand over his face.

“I’m broken,” I murmured, squirming beside him. I was deliciously tender.

He rolled over and ran his palm over my stomach. “Fuck, don’t say that. I want to go again.”

“Already?”

“A million times already.”

Smiling, I draped over him again, delighting at the sensation of his naked body against mine so soon after fucking. My nerve endings were still alive, buzzing in the afterglow, and every touch was amplified.

“Fuck.” I moaned, burying my fingers in his hair and tugging his lips toward mine. “I can’t stop touching you.”

“Do you hear me complaining?” he asked, his breath tickling my skin.

“We’re going to be wrecked tomorrow. I don’t think there’s enough coffee in the world for the hangover I’m going to have.” Could you get a hangover from epic sex? It sure felt like it.

Dean smirked, his hands grasping my ass and tugging me over him again. “I’ll sleep when I’m dead or out of sperm.”

I laughed, pressing a kiss against his mouth. “So the cardio came in handy, huh?”

“I never knocked the cardio once,” he declared. “I was thinking of your thighs.”

“Smartass.”

He flipped me onto my back in one fluid motion, causing a gasp to burst from my lips. He pressed his weight between my legs and began to move back and forth, grinding the underside of his cock over my clit. He was ready to go again?
Damn
.

“You were saying?” he murmured, his lips brushing against the curve of my neck.

“Huh?” I muttered, rubbing my palms over his ass cheeks.

“Josie Cunningham at a loss for words,” he teased. “Hell has frozen over.”

“Shut up.”

We had so much to work out in the morning—personally and professionally—but for now, I was content to drown myself in his touch.

For now.