Nyght's Eve (17 page)

Evie gasped as he pushed her closer toward
climax. The hard, driving rhythm of his thrusts made her hold the edge of the
desk in a desperate grip to keep her from sliding backwards. Gazing into his
dark-gray eyes, seeing the lust burning in their dark depths pushed her that
last bit over the edge. She cried out, her back arching off the desk as she
came. This wasn’t the gentle rolling waves of an orgasm she was used to.
Instead, this was like pure energy being shot straight into her system. Her
body went rigid with shock, the pleasure so intense it bordered on pain and
left her gasping for air.

He roughly shoved into her once, twice more,
then he exploded, letting out a triumphant growl as he came with her. Drained
of energy, Evie let her legs fall off of Dare’s shoulders so they were hanging
off the edge of the desk. Still recovering, Evie’s body continued to shudder as
she lay there struggling to breathe. When Dare’s large body slumped over her,
she felt as if her lungs collapsed, but she liked the feel of his heavy weight
on hers too much to ask him to move.

Not that she could speak at the moment.

With his body wrapped around hers like a
living blanket, she finally closed her eyes, basking in the afterglow until her
body jerked when her brain started working again. “Oh my God! The door—!”

“Is locked,” Dare muttered. “I locked it when
I thought we’d fight, but this was a much more enjoyable way to spend our
time.”

She wheezed out a laugh. “I should hope so.”

Evie stroked her hands over his back, simply
enjoying the feel of his hot skin as she relaxed again. Something had just
happened between them. Something vital. She had let him see a part of her she’d
instinctively kept hidden from every man before Dare, and now she felt
vulnerable and unsure of herself. She was glad she didn’t have to look him in
the eye at the moment since his head was nestled on her chest, right over her
heart. It gave her a moment to collect herself as they lay there waiting for
their frantic pulses to slow to a steady rhythm.

Dare sighed. “I guess I should explain.”

“Explain what?”

“I haven’t...hell, I haven’t been with anyone
in a long time.”

“And yet you carry a condom in your wallet?
You must be a pretty optimistic fellow.”

He snorted out a laugh. “I’m a doctor. We’re
always prepared. But that thing has been sitting in my wallet for months, so
let’s hope it’s still in one piece when I pull out of you.”

“I guess we should have talked about this
before, but I’m on the pill and I was just at the doctor a few weeks ago for a
checkup, so I know I’m safe.”

“I am, too. I know this wasn’t exactly a
spectacular showing, but I promise to make it up to you next time.”

“Any more spectacular and I think you might
kill me next time.”

His head lifted and his eyebrow rose. “Yeah?”

Evie smiled up at him as she pulled him down
for a kiss. “Oh, yeah.”

“If that’s the case, then why don’t we head
back to your place and start on round two?” He muttered a curse. “Shit, that
was my only condom.”

“It just so happens that my cousin Francesca
gave me a large box as one of my stocking stuffers for Christmas.”

“Your cousin got you a box of condoms as a
gift?”

“Mmm hmm. But I have to warn you...they glow
in the dark.”

Dare snorted in amusement. “I can’t say I
ever wanted to see my dick glow, but there is always a first time for
everything.”

Chapter Ten

By the time Dare and Evie dressed, collected
her dogs from the volunteer that had been watching them for her, and made it to
her house they both realized they were absolutely starving. He offered to feed
the dogs while she foraged in her freezer. She pulled out a large container and
tossed it in the microwave.

“Maddy’s lasagna. She keeps me well stocked
with meals for fear I’ll starve.”

“You don’t cook?”

She raised an eyebrow as she got them both a
glass of wine. After the day they had, they deserved it. “I can get by on the
basics, but I’m usually too busy. Why, were you expecting a home cooked gourmet
meal? If so, you can keep dreaming.”

“I actually can cook.” Dare grinned. “But I
have to be in the mood and I’m very picky about what I make, so it’s usually
too much effort. Between Maddy and Kali taking pity on us, I guess we’ll
survive.”

She laughed as she took out silverware from a
drawer. “That’s one way to look at it.”

When she tried to take out plates from one of
the cabinets, Dare told her not to bother as he took the heated container out
of the microwave and set it on the dining room table. Picking up his fork, he
dug in and laughed at the expression on her face. “Come on, princess. Dig in.”

“I’m not a snob,” she said with a sigh as she
sat down next to him and picked up her own fork.

“I never said you were.”

“Don’t you every time you call me princess?”

Dare paused with his fork halfway to his
mouth. He ate the bite, taking his time to chew as he tried to figure out how
to answer her and decided to go with the truth. “The first time I saw you I
thought you looked like a magical princess. Granted, I was pretty delirious at
the time, but it stuck with me. You were standing at the top of the stairs with
the light of the setting sun surrounding you like a halo. That image of you has
haunted my dreams since.” She stared at him wide-eyed and he couldn’t help but
lean in to press a kiss to her lips. “See? I can say the right thing when you
aren’t messing with my head.”

“Yeah,” she said blowing out a shaky breath.
“You really can.”

They ate in silence, and when she was done, Evie
sat back sipping her wine as she watched Dare consume the rest of the lasagna.
The man certainly had an impressive appetite. “After a day like today I could
use a really long, hot shower.”

“That sounds good to me, too.” He paused,
then said, “At the risk of losing this truce we seem to have going, we need to
talk about your security.”

“I heard what you said, but I don’t see how—”

“I have a plan for that.”

Evie bristled for a second, then settled
herself down. She wasn’t used to people questioning her decisions about the
rescue center, but today had frightened her. He was right when he’d said
someone could have been hurt, and she wasn’t too stubborn to listen to good
advice when it came from a source who knew what they were talking about. “I’m
always open to a good plan.”

“Good. Then why don’t you sit your ass up
here on the table and lay back so I can eat that sweet little pussy of yours
for dessert?” He laughed at her shocked gasp. “Not that I wouldn’t love to do
exactly that, but I’d rather do it without an audience.”

They both glanced over to where her four dogs
sat watching them from where they were sprawled out on their beds in the living
room. “That’s a good point.”

“Please tell me they don’t sleep in your room
with you.”

“Sometimes they’ll sleep upstairs, but they
seemed like they actually prefer to sleep down here together. I think it’s
because they like to see who is coming and going since Beckett, Francesca,
Maddy and Tony stop by a lot and it saves them a trip down the stairs every
time they hear something.”

“They’re good guard dogs.”

“The best.”

“Back to my plan. You need to hire more
staff.”

“I was considering taking on Eugene and
Claudette part-time.”

Dare shook his head. “If they’re planning on
becoming vets, why doesn’t Beckett hire them? The clinic has a separate budget,
right? Besides, they aren’t what you need. You’ve got Russ, and he’s a big guy,
but he’s the only muscle you have on staff beside Hunter. The rest of your crew
are women and geeks.”

“Hey!”

“It’s true. There are a lot of ex-military
guys looking for work. Some of them who were staying at the boarding house only
left to find a job somewhere else. You need to consider hiring some of them. Men
who can do the heavy lifting around the center, and can also provide protection
and security when you go out on rescues. I talked to Storm about it, and he
said he would be willing to work with the guys to get conceal and carry
licenses, if they don’t already have one. This would help take the load off
Storm and his men going out on calls with you. Storm said he knows you guys use
the tranq guns when needed on the animals, but for situations like today, you
should have men who are trained to defend your groups from people like Conroy.
You could even start your search with some of the guys who volunteer now, or
some who have in the past.”

“You seem to know a lot about the center.”

“I listen,” he said with a frown. “For some
reason people like to tell me things all the damn time, and I
listen...sometimes.”

“Poor Dare. How horrible for you that people
like talking to you.” He muttered under his breath, making her laugh. “Okay, I
can see about hiring a couple of new—”

“Four. You need at least four men to fill in
day and night shifts.”

Evie bit her lip as she considered his
suggestion. Ultimately, she knew he was right. The center’s finances could
handle four new hires, but she might have to do a little rearranging of her
budget. She had been planning on taking on a few new people anyways, but she
hadn’t thought about asking any of the ex-military men to stay on. That had
been a mistake on her part, and she would correct it.

“Fine. We’ll look into it tomorrow.”

“Get Hunter to help you. He’ll know what to
look for.”

Some of Evie’s excitement dimmed at the
reminder that Dare wasn’t planning to stay. She had wanted to ask him to help
with the search, but he was right, she’d ask Hunter to do it. “I’ll have to
meet with my accountant to see how much money we have for new hires. We were
planning an extension to the building, but maybe that can wait.”

“Ah, yes. I remember him.” Dare sipped his
wine as he lifted a lock of her hair to twirl it. “Looks like the suit is going
to have to look elsewhere for a dinner date from now on.”

She smiled. “Just so you know, I never said
yes to him when he asked me out. And this doesn’t count as a dinner date
either, Dr. Nyght.”

“Why not? We ate, had wine...now I’m hoping
to get lucky.”

“You are hopeless.”

He grinned. “Why don’t we go upstairs and
take that shower? Tell me that again after I make you come a few more times.”

 
She
slapped at his shoulder as she stood up to take their dishes to the sink. Evie
liked the sound of his laugh, and she liked it even more when he offered to
take her dogs out one last time before they went upstairs. She wasn’t used to
having someone in her living space, but Dare didn’t seem like an outsider.

In fact, he seemed to fit in too well.

Pushing aside her worries of the future, she
said goodnight to her boys as Dare checked to make sure the house was locked
up. They walked upstairs together, and she led him into her sanctuary. Her
bedroom walls were a light gray that she offset with a dark, royal purple duvet
cover over her king size bed. There were other purple accents throughout the
room and she’d chosen black furniture to complete the contemporary look.

On the far side of the room were a set of white
French doors that led out to a little balcony that looked out over the pond.
She loved sitting out there at night. It was where she could see where all the
people she loved were, and yet allowed her to be separate from them when she
needed.

“Jesus, you have an espresso bar in your
bedroom?”

She grinned. “It’s essential to me being able
to function, and also saves everyone from my wrath if they bother me before I
have my coffee in the morning.”

Next to the espresso bar there was a two-way
fireplace that shared a wall between the bedroom and bathroom. Even though she
loved her bedroom, her favorite room of her entire house was the master bath. She
stepped into the room, then turned to watch Dare’s face as he entered behind
her, and the awe on his face pleased her.

Dare looked around the bathroom with wide
eyes. No, it wasn’t anything as simple as a bathroom. Evie had created a haven
of relaxation that could have been found in a five star spa somewhere. The
walls of the room were made of a mixture of smoothed natural stones, ranging
from dark-gray to a light-beige. The countertops were lined with black marble,
but the center looked like a garden of round stones. Dare placed his hand down
on the clear glass that covered the stones and noted that the thick glass sink
bowls that were placed on top of the counter matched perfectly.

There was a small separate room for the
toilet, and the floor was a gray slate colored granite that also was used in
the walls of the huge walk-in shower that was set into the corner of the room
next to a huge sunken tub. A glass door blocked off the shower from the room,
but Dare could see the various showerheads, including a huge round rain
showerhead in the ceiling. A bench had been built into the shower, large enough
for someone to lie down on if they chose to use the space as a sauna.