Billie pauses, contemplating the question. Her brow furrows, her mind clearly racing through the rolodex of songs in her head. She bites down into her bottom lip, her fingers toying with the hem of her sleeves. Watching her try to think of the perfect song makes me smile. My hands instinctively move across the fretboard, the smooth maple wood against my fingertips feels like coming home. It’s smaller than I’m used to, being a child’s guitar, but it’ll do the job. I position my hand into a G chord and strum the opening progression toDads andDaughtersby MaRynn Taylor. Billie joins in the harmony on the first chorus, our voices ringing out through the clearing as we sing. Before I realise my eyes have closed, they’re peeling open to find Dallas’s. He’s sitting next to us, stroking Billie’s hair as she sings, his own eyes full of tears as we sing the final verse and the song comes to an end.
“Thank you.” His voice shakes as he speaks, his usual gruffness all but dissipated as he pulls his daughter into his arms.
I nod to him, allowing them to share this moment. Seeing them together brings a pang of sorrow to my chest, wondering what it must have been like for the Northlane’s to go through the tragedy they’ve experienced. The lyrics of the song reminds me so much of the bond Dallas and Billie have, right down to her having her mother’s blue eyes – a fact Dallas told me the day he told me about Samantha.
Billie’s head pops up from her father’s shoulder, her arm reaching to pull me in for the hug. I’m all but catapulted into the embrace, and the three of us collapse onto the rug in fits of laughter. We lay together, our eyes roaming the sky as we try to find shapes in the clouds. Every now and then, I catch Dallas quietly watching us.
Billie’s in the middle, one hand above her head, the other grasped in mine. As the hours go by, and the sun disappears behind the hills, I realise that this right here, is happiness. This is love. This ishome.
Twenty-Three
Dallas
My eyes open as sunlight streams through the crack in the curtains, giving off shadows that dance across the room. It’s been almost a week since we told Billie about Annabeth, and she’s been here ever since. Billie insisted she “Sleepover so we could hang out all the time.” A naked Annabeth stirs in my arms, her pink hair tickling my chest as she squirms. My fingers trace loose circles across her skin, each one connected like an eternal figure-eight. Her nose crinkles as her eyes flutter open to meet mine, and I’m instantly lost in her forest-coloured gaze.
“Good morning, Firefly.” My voice drips from my lips in a sleepy haze.
Annabeth snuggles into me, returning the circle patterns onto my chest with her fingers. Her touch sends ripples of pleasure through my body, everything she does has been perfectly curated to derail my extremelymasculine facade. Icravethis woman.
“Mornin,’ cowboy.”
“You snore, you know?” I tell her, placing a kiss atop her hair as I pull her into me.
“Speak for yourself. You’re a bloody freight train.” I tighten my hold on her, giggles erupting from her as she fights to be released.
Not a chance, baby girl.
I roll over her, pressing my body into hers, pinning her to the bed beneath me. Our limbs are entangled to the point of entrapment, and she looks fucking exquisite.
“You’re going to lay here, like a good girl, and doexactlyas I say. Okay?”
“What if I don’t wanna?” she taunts in reply. Her hips grind against me, and I know damn well she wants to. So needy.
“Oh, little Firefly, I think we both know that’s not true.”
Her eyes dart towards my hardened cock pressed against her heat, her teeth sink into her lower lip, and a breathy moan escapes her sweet mouth. Lowering myself to catch her lip between my teeth, I groan into her as I kiss her. Our mouths move together in perfect tandem until her lips part enough for me to slip my tongue between them. Hers eagerly meets mine and I can still taste myself on her from last night. My cock throbs as she deepens the kiss, angling her bare pussy upwards to grant me better access – just one of the perks of sleeping naked.
I slip my hand between her legs, slowly teasing her opening as I circle her clit with my finger. She writhes beneath me, desperate for more. My forefinger meets my thumb, and I pinch the sweet pearl beneath my fingers, rolling it gently between them. Every movement sends shivers through her body as laboured breaths make their way from her mouth.
“God, you are so fucking perfect,” I tell her between kisses.
“Dallas,” she moans, the sound a symphony to my ears.
Her hands grip my shoulders, the sting of her nails sinking into me only making me need to taste her more. My tongue leaves hermouth, snaking a trail down between her breasts and over the softness of her belly until I reach her glistening cunt. Annabeth’s back arches, her hips adjusting into the mattress to allow my arms room to slide beneath her thighs and pin her to me. I grip her flesh, squeezing as I pull her forward and bury my face in her pussy. My mouth suctions around her, her arousal flooding me as I plunge my tongue inside. Her hips buck against my face. She tastes like my fucking downfall.
“Dallas. Jesus, fuck!” she screams.
Propping onto her elbows, she watches my every motion, her mouth watering as she gazes upon me feasting on her like she’s the last thing I’ll ever eat. And by the graces of all that is holy, is that a glorious sight. I don’t ease up. I’m going to stay here and devour my queen until either she’s a shaking mess, or I suffocate. Sliding my finger to meet my tongue, I coax the entrance of her pussy. Her walls clench as I plunge my finger inside her, then another, until she’s stretching around me. One hand grips her thigh, the other works her sweet cunt. I angle my thumb to press against her clit, allowing my tongue to dance across it in tandem. She’s unravelling, her arousal filling my mouth as she takes all that I can give her – my girl is so beautiful stuffed full of me. I take her clit between my teeth and bite down gently until she’s crying out my name, her body shuddering with pleasure until she collapses back onto the mattress.
I peel myself from her, only long enough to meet her mouth again before I lift her leg around my hip and sink myself into her tight heat. I groan into her, my cock twitching inside her as she strangles me. Thrusting into her feels like coming home. I could stay here forever if she’d let me. Our bodies mould together; she was made for me and it’s impossible to stay away from her. I need this woman like I need tobreathe. I need her heart, her soul, and her sweet cunt. My god.
“Annabeth, baby. You take me so fucking well,” I growl as my pleasure builds.
She squeezes around me, milking me for all that I’m worth as I fuck her.
“Come for me, Dallas. Please.”
Her words are my undoing. My pace quickens, my hips driving forward in long, deep thrusts until I explode inside her. My queen.