Taking a Dare - A Hellion MC Novel (24 page)

And when I was done, my voice raw with unshed tears
at the memory I'd fully exposed, he pulled me tightly against him
holding me as close as we could possibly get.

"Since then, it's been like nothing I ever do is
right and Pops doesn't trust me or my decisions," I mumbled into
his chest finally admitting to both myself and Dare the cause of my
father's need to control me.

"All because of me," he countered and I shifted on
his chest. He glanced down at me, to where my eyes were trained on
his face.

"No, Dare. Because of me. Of how I couldn't hold my
shit together when I had to leave you."

"You were fuckin' fifteen years old, sugar. Fifteen
year olds don't have to hold their shit together. It's something
that a fuckin' person learns later." His arms tightened until I
felt like I couldn't breathe. "Is that why you never fuckin' wrote
or called me back? Was it because of your old man or was it that
shrink who told you not to?"

I pushed myself back by using my hands on his chest,
but never lost the connection with his eyes. "I wrote you! When I
never received anything but the birthday card, I stopped." I knew
my voice sounded funny, giving evidence that I was thinking while
trying to talk. "You called? No one told me you called!"

His eyes narrowed and his full mouth, framed by his
awesome mustache, went so tight, I saw a strip of white surrounding
it.

Oh, shit. We were both putting two and two together
and he, like me, was not happy with what we were coming up
with.

Not at fucking all.

"Oh, god," I wailed softly, wondering if my face
looked as stricken as his. "He kept us apart, didn't he?"

"That's what I'm getting, sugar. But you're fuckin'
gonna have to ask him about that shit yourself. Because if I get
near your old man in this fuckin' state and with this 4-1-1, I'll
probably try to kill the fucker with my own two hands. Christ!"

This was crazy!

My dad? My own father had…

But Dare wasn't done. Not by a long shot. "What kind
of fucker
is
he to make you, his own daughter, hurt so
fucking bad? To fuckin' cut you so deep that his own flesh and
blood had to get professional help?" God, Dare was so angry!
"Loving then leaving me wasn't the fuckin' root of your problems,
Ryley. It was the lack of contact, the loss of hope—and done by
your dear ol' dad himself. I knew the man was an asshole of the
first order but to pull that kind of fuckin' shit makes him
seriously whacked!"

"Why would he do that?" I asked. "Why would he hurt
me like that?"

"Us," he corrected me quickly. "He hurt both of us,
Ryley."

I could only stare at Dare realizing that by him
using that two letter word all my reasons for wanting to be the
good daughter, to make my damn dad happy, slid away.

And with that knowledge, the truth of what pops had
done, I couldn't control the sobs that had been building
inside.

Chapter Twenty Three

Dare felt Ryley's body begin to shift just as his
ears caught her first deep sob. A sound so deep and so
heartbreaking, he didn't know what to do and watched as his girl
spilled off his legs and onto the floor.

Christ!

Onto the motherfuckin' carpeted floor that probably
had more fuckin' bacteria on it than…

Shit!

Without thinking twice, he picked her up from the
fetal position she'd curled herself into and placed her gently onto
the bed, her head on one of the pillows even as her sobs continued.
That got fuckin' worse as she curled her arms around her head as if
to protect herself from a bomb.

A goddamn motherfuckin' bomb that fuckin' Gus had
created!

Dare watched for a moment, finding his hands were in
his hair, pulling as if to help himself think of how to alleviate
the worst of the hurt he could hear in Ryley's cries. And his
helplessness in the face of her pain ate at him.

He had no fucking experience in offering comfort! He
was the good-time guy. The one people came to for a laugh, not when
they were upset.

Fuck!

His mind raced, trying to come up with something,
any-fuckin'-thing that he could do to rescue her from her own
anguish.

"Ryley?" he called as he reached her but he didn't
think she could hear him over her crying. Sobbing as if she'd lost
her world. Or as if someone had fuckin' died.

He moved to the other side of the bed and laid down,
his chest to her back as put his arms around her.

Christ!

She was shaking so hard, he felt the bed and his own
body vibrate with her tremors. Her whimpers never letting up for
even a second sounding so harsh, so deep and completely out of
control.

Dare knew he was totally out of his depth and wished
he knew what to do.

Then he remembered seeing Hardwood tuck Lulu's face
into his neck when she'd lost it after her ex-fiance had tried to
force her back to New Mexico. So Dare turned them both, tucking
Ryley's streaming face into his neck and allowing his skin absorb
what was pouring from her eyes.

Brand would often pull Reese into him and rub her
back. So Dare used one of his hands to rub Ryley's back.

When Huff had taken a bullet, a through-and-through
to his shoulder, Dare had watched as Huff had murmured into Carly's
hair as she'd sobbed into his unhurt side.

"It's okay, Ryley. It's gonna be okay," Dare murmured
softly, keeping his mouth close to her ear.

At first, it was hard to keep her tucked, rubbed and
murmured to all at the same time but as soon as she began to
respond, to quiet, he got the rhythm of it. And because it seemed
to help, he kept doing it not having to concentrate so hard on each
individual movement or word but more on just giving her succor. And
as he relaxed into his actions and his murmuring, she seemed to
ease as well no longer shaking so badly, sobbing so hard or holding
her position of knees to chest. He kept it up for a long time, long
enough that the arm holding her started to go numb.

But if it helped his girl, he'd go with it.

Forever if he had to.

So Dare continued doing what needed to be done in
order to get Ryley calm and thought he was doing well as her sobs
turned to weeping before settling into wet hitches.

That was until she finally wrapped one of her arms
around him even as another wave of tears started and she murmured,
her lips so hot and soft on the skin of his neck, "I love you too,
Dare."

Oh, Christ! Ryley told him she loved him.

Loved.

Him
.

Holy shit!

Wait, though.

She used the word, 'too', which means he must've…

He must've fuckin' said it first!

Said it without thinking, just allowed it to pop out
of his mouth…

"I always have," she continued and then kissed his
skin in such a way it caused goosebumps to skitter over each
motherfuckin' inch of his body.

Everything inside him went to stone before turning to
pulp and then to water as he realized what he'd admitted and how
she'd replied.

He tried out the words, this time allowing his ears
to hear and his heart to recognize the truth in them as he repeated
himself. "I love you, Ryley." Which brought on more tears but he
somehow knew they were different than the ones from before.

"Say it again, Ryley," he begged on a whisper, his
heart thumping so hard it was almost beating out of his chest.

"I love you, Dare."

Then he remembered overhearing the same thing said
between Trey and Dallas. So he did what Trey had done with his girl
when those words had been spoken between them.

He shifted her body until he could reach Ryley's
mouth.

And he kissed her with everything he had in his
heart.

It was a kiss he'd never given or received before and
one that he recognized he'd always craved. It wasn't one that
wasn't set to excite but to demonstrate, to give credence to what
he was feeling for her. And to receive what was being offered in
return.

A kiss so tender and so fuckin' filled with love that
if he'd been standing, it would've fuckin' brought him willingly to
his goddamn
knees
.

"Say it again," he whispered and tightened his
arms.

"I love you, Dare," she breathed pulling back to look
at him with a smile so wide and bright, he lost his breath at its
beauty. "Always have, always will."

"God, Ryley," he groaned, leaning his forehead into
hers. Every time she said the words, it filled up another part of
his heart. "I love you so much, girl."

Their mouths fused and again he could feel the
difference in it. Kissing Ryley had always been the best but now,
with their real and true feelings out in the open, kissing her was
deeper somehow. More intimate.

He needed to touch her because kissing only showed
her one facet of what she meant to him. He turned and brought them
to their sides, nose-to-nose and chest-to-chest. Her hands went to
his face and brushed the hair away from his forehead.

In turn, he used his fingers to trace her jaw before
moving to stroke the long column of her neck.

But still it wasn't enough and he moved her to her
back as he came up on an elbow.

Holding her gaze, he reached for the top button of
her shirt and pushed it through the buttonhole before moving down
to the next one. And the next. Until finally her shirt opened
allowing him to caress her collarbones, the tender skin of her
chest. His fingers moved lower, over the front clasp of her bra
until he again met warm flesh. He touched the skin of her belly,
delighting in its softness, reveling in the dip of her navel until
his hand met the waistband of her jeans.

Just as with her shirt, he used pushed the button
through before sliding down her zipper and pushed the sides apart
in order to touch. To stoke her warm, silky skin. His fingers hit
lace and then moved upwards again, to caress the areas he'd already
memorized by touch alone.

As soon as his fingers were back on her beautiful
face, he heard her whisper. "My turn."

Her hands were underneath his t-shirt, pushing it and
he ducked his head until it was up and off. A gentle press of her
hands on his pecs had him easing down onto his back and her fingers
began their own exploration of his face, his neck, his chest.

It wasn't sexual but was so erotic he shuddered at
the feel of her touch as it slid over his skin. Like he'd done, she
avoided the obvious erogenous areas that caused every area of flesh
she caressed to become one.

He knew he was hard, probably harder than he'd ever
been in his life but it wasn't a lustful, throbbing fullness. More
like a thankful one, grateful to have her love him,
him
,
with her touch.

"I love you, Ryley," he whispered.

"I know," came her soft reply and he felt her hands
on the top button of his jeans. Slowly, so achingly slow, she
popped each button and, like he'd done with hers, spread the sides
out in order to stroke the skin of his belly before changing
direction and moving upwards.

As soon has her fingers were back on his jaw, he used
a hand on the back of her head to bring their mouths together,
taking a slow kiss deeper by using his tongue to discover and
memorize her oral entrance.

"Love me naked," Dare whispered, holding her gaze
when she raised her lips from his. With a secret sort of smile, she
shifted and rolled up onto her butt as she shrugged out of her
blouse. Tossing it to the floor, she turned her attention to her
boots, then her jeans.

All he could do was watch, caressing the flesh she
exposed with devoted eyes. But as she scooted herself up to the top
of the bed, he made short work of his remaining clothing as well.
Clad only in his boxer briefs, he draped his big body over hers and
held himself up on his elbows as he gazed down at her.

"Thought you said naked, cowboy," she teased on a
sigh as she opened her legs, providing the perfect place for him to
rest against her.

"We're getting there, sugar. Don't be so impatient,"
he replied with a slow chuckle as he moved her hair off her
forehead. Leaning down and away, he brought his teeth to the front
clasp of her bra and, with a quick head turn, undid it with such
strength the cups sprung apart.

"Jay-sus," she breathed, looking down at her now
naked breasts before blinking back up at him.

"Is that better?" he asked, his eyes twinkling as he
maintained his position.

"Closer anyway," she mumbled in agreement and he kept
his eyes on hers while he moved his mouth towards one of her sharp
peaks. He heard her indrawn breath when his lips caught the pink
bead between them as his tongue began to circle, rub and flick
against it.

She threaded her fingers through his hair and he
moved to the other one to perform the same maneuver, hoping to hear
another gasp at his ministrations. He was, as always with Ryley,
not disappointed.

He felt her tug on his hair in almost a silent plea
to move upward but that was not where he'd planned to go. Dare used
his hands on the mattress to push himself down and never let his
lips leave her skin as he moved. Licking and laving, he worshiped
her as his mouth traveled over ribs, across her tummy, dipping into
her belly button and going ever southward. Bringing his hands to
either side of her hips, he dragged the scrap of lace down as she
lifted her legs in order to completely remove her panties. Her ass
dropped back down to the bed and he went into his former position
and resumed his survey-by-mouth effort.

His nose teased her sparse curls as he slid further
down and again used his tongue to discover her. Used it to explore
the feel and the taste of what was hidden but smelled so
motherfuckin'
good
. As soon has his tongue was between her
folds, the hands she had twisted in his hair clenched and he
couldn't help but smile at her involuntary reaction.