MARCH MADNESS IS HERE! Dane has a new cover! Check it out! And read the author note at the end of this chapter to find out how you can read MORE Dane & Delilah!

.

​​

Dane

She stormed towards the bed, the silky robe she wore fluttering behind her. But she was so little, he just stepped forward and caught her arm before she'd taken more than a couple steps. He pulled her to a halt with a simple, "Lila?"

She didn't turn though, wouldn't look at him. He could feel her shaking—with anger, or fear, he wasn't sure. Probably both. But he held her there. Stepped up to stand behind her, holding her arms, and spoke quietly into her hair.

"You saw the photos of Becky, Lila. I know you did." Fuck he hated even bringing this stuff up. But she had to remember.

She gave a short, sharp nod. And she shivered.

"Every night I dream that that is you," he said and his voice broke on the last word. He was holding her too tightly, so he made himself soften his grip. "Every day I'm haunted by images of my sister's body—except it's your face. I've lost every single person in my life except my brother—and who knows if my dad will ever get to him? I just keep remembering all the people I watched him haunt, and torture… then all the people he hurt to make them stay away from me, and in every story now, it's you. It's your face."

He grimaced as a shudder of fear rocked through his body. "I can barely breathe because I'm worrying about every second you aren't in the same room as me." She didn't say anything, but he felt her tense. "Do you know how hard it was to let you leave the office today? I did it because the staff needed to think I trusted them with you. I did it because I know there's going to be a time I can't be with you, and they need to practice having their eyes and ears open for me. But it was the hardest thing in the world to let you walk out of there. I could barely concentrate. I kept wanting to call and make sure you were still alive." His throat closed and he had to swallow to clear it.

"This is hell, Lila. This is my worst nightmare, staring me in the face. I know I'm erratic and controlling as all hell, but please… please… let me keep you safe the way I know how."

She sighed heavily and dropped her face into her hands. "Dane, I'm not—"

"Please?" he whispered, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her neck. And when she didn't protest, didn't pull away from him, he found he couldn't stop tasting her skin.

He felt her begin to soften under his attentions, her chest rising faster under the scraps of silk and lace she was wearing.

Fucking lace. He'd tried not to pay close attention when he got home and rushed in to find her sleeping and dressed like that. For him. He'd almost woken her. Instead, he'd covered her with a blanket so he wouldn't be tempted to touch her. But now with her standing there—even angry—she couldn't take his eyes off the way the light purple silk lay against her skin.

Or the way her nipples pushed against it in response to his kisses.

"Lila," her name came out like a prayer as he stroked one of them over the silk and his breath caught.

She sighed. "I'm here," she said breathlessly. "I… I still want you, Dane."

The words opened something in him. He was about to turn her around and kiss her when he looked down at her from behind and was reminded…

"Do you remember, that day in the break room," he rasped.

She nodded, her hands sliding up to hold onto his neck and claw into his hair.

"It's not a suit," he said hoarsely, plucking at the silk, then kissed her neck, openmouthed, "but I can make it work."

First he broke her grip on his neck and made her drop her hands. "Just relax and let yourself do what you feel," he whispered.

She dropped her head back against his chest as he stroked his hands up her sides, then to her shoulder, but he couldn't resist taking her jaw in his hand and tipping her head so he could kiss her. She responded, frantic and he had to take a second before he touched her again.

He waited until her breath had picked up again, then used both hands at the neckline of her robe to slide it off and down her arms, letting it drop to the floor in a puddle of purple silk. Her head was still back against his shoulder, so now her breasts were pressed up from under the chemise she wore and Dane had to clench his teeth to stop himself just flipping her over and plunging into her.

Instead, he took the tiny straps of the chemise in his fingers and dragged them down, just like he'd done with her dress the night before, but this time only pulling them down far enough to pin her arms to her sides. So the silk just barely clung to the peaks of her breasts. Every breath she took threated to dislodge it and let it fall.

He couldn't resist.

He dragged his hands up her waist, her ribs, to the cup her breasts, letting his fingertips trail over her nipples over the silk, then grasped the lace edges and tugged it down, his bare fingers dragging back down over her nipples as they popped free.

She sucked in, and her hands came up to his forearms, but she didn't try to stop him.

"What's next?" he growled into that space below her ear.

"You were going to remove my underwear," she murmured. Dane growled his approval and slid his hands down, down, down until he found the hem of the chemise, then the soft skin of her thighs, where he slid between them then dragged back up. "But I already took care of that for you," she gasped as he found her, bare, and ready. So damn ready for him.

"Lila," he growled.

But she just pulled her arms out of the straps completely so the chemise sank to the floor with it's brother, leaving her completely naked.

Oh fuck.

.

MARCH MADNESS IS HERE! Want to read MORE Dane & Delilah right now? Check out the author note below to learn how!