Game of Love (The Remingtons, Book One: Love in Bloom Series)

Chapter Twenty-Nine, Game of Love

Chapter Twenty-Nine

DEX AND ELLIE spent the day with his parents. Throughout the afternoon, Dex had stolen glances at his father, trying to reconcile the softer side of him that had come through after he'd so vehemently damned Ellie's foster father. Dex had seen glimpses of that softer side when he was growing up, but his father's stern presence had made a stronger impression on him. Dex had been ready to go head-to-head with his father when he'd asked Ellie where she was staying, and when he saw Ellie floundering to answer, he hadn't hesitated. His heart led and his words followed. He didn't know what he'd expected from his father, but the kindness he'd exhibited was far from whatever Dex might have conjured up.

Now it was eight at night and his parents had just dropped him and Ellie off in the city. He'd had a dozen texts from Regina and Mitch about the review copies being sent out tomorrow, and they'd kept him up to date with reviews and prerelease events. With all that had happened, he realized that while the release was vital to his career—and the careers of his employees—Ellie was vital to his happiness. He drank her in now, the darkness of the past a thinner shadow than it had been just twenty-four hours earlier. He felt her heart open to him last night in a way it never had in the past, and he'd taken his mother's advice seriously. From now on, he'd tread a little more carefully. He had to believe that eventually, together, they'd slay all of her demons. Just as they'd begun to slay his.

"The last twenty-four hours have felt like a lifetime. Wanna get a drink?" Ellie asked.

Dex pulled her against him. "I thought you couldn't be trusted with alcohol." He slipped his hands beneath the back of her top and felt her silky, warm skin.

"Mmm. Maybe I don't want to be trusted. I can take only so much seriousness before I feel like I'm gonna explode." She pressed her hips into his. "Besides, I start work tomorrow. Then I'll be getting up early every morning while you're staying up all night, and we'll be completely thrown off balance."

"I think we'll figure it out." Since that morning, she'd moved easier, stepped lighter. He'd felt the shift in himself, too. Clearing the air and getting it all out in the open had breathed new life into them. And now, with her breasts pressed against his chest and her sweet, tender lips slightly parted, he desperately wanted to take her upstairs and rip her clothes off. He wanted to see what that lighter feel did to their lovemaking. Just thinking about it made him hard.

She hooked her finger in his jeans. "Seems like you have other things in mind." She licked her lips as she met his eyes.

"Can you blame me? I had to sleep next to you fully clothed last night. What do you think I thought about all night? Besides, you mentioned a drink and that made me think of NightCaps and you dancing like you wanted to have sex on the dance floor."

She blushed, and it made him want her even more.

"Fuck the drink. Come on." Inside the empty lobby of the Dakota, Dex wrapped his arms around Ellie from behind and kissed the back of her neck as they waited for the elevator to descend to the lobby. She arched her head back, giving him full access. The noise of the street was barely audible. He slid his hands beneath her sweater and cupped her breasts. She moaned, wiggling her ass against him. He was already rock hard. He slid a hand down the front of her pants and over her soft curls. She gasped a breath when his finger slid into her.

"Dex," she whispered.

"Shh." He sucked on her neck while he stroked her until she was wet and ready. The elevator reached the first floor and he withdrew his hand. She whimpered and turned to him with the hazy look of lust in her eyes.

The elevator doors opened.

"Hey, Dex." Josh Braden and his fiancée, Riley, walked out of the elevators. Josh wore a bright smile, and his dark eyes dropped from Dex to Ellie. "And, Ellie, great to see you." Josh wore dark dress pants and a white button-down shirt, and with Riley wearing a short black dress and sky-high heels, they looked like they were ready for a romantic night.

Ellie turned to face them, her cheeks burning red. Dex held her in front of his raging hard-on. Josh's eyes raked over the two of them.

"Josh, Riley." Dex's voice was heated, rushed. He knew he should take the time to talk with them. Josh was Savannah's brother, after all, but he had more pressing things on his mind. Or in his pants.

"Hey," Riley said. Her smile faded as her eyes passed between the two of them. Then her eyes widened and her smile returned as she grabbed Josh's hand and hurried along. "Um, we better..."

Josh looked from her to them with a furrowed brow, then blinked quickly, as if startled by the understanding of why Dex and Ellie looked so flustered. "Oh. Right." Josh and Riley headed for the entrance, and Dex hurried Ellie into the elevator with a soft laugh.

"It's not funny," Ellie whispered.

Inside the elevator, Dex hit the button for the top floor and pinned Ellie against the back wall. "It's kinda funny." His voice carried heated desire, the humor of the brief run-in with Josh and Riley forgotten.

"Hurry," she said, pulling at the buttons of his jeans.

He stilled her hands. "Not enough time." He lifted her shirt, taking her bra along with it, and brought his mouth to her luscious breast. She gasped, and he shoved his hand down her pants, adeptly finding the spot that sent her up on her toes. She breathed heavily, fisting her hands in his hair. When they reached the top floor, he hit the close door button repeatedly, which caused the elevator to stop for two full minutes, a glitch he'd uncovered by accident one afternoon when he'd been in a hurry. He dropped his pants and tore hers down, then lifted her up and pinned her back against the wall as he thrust into her hard and fast. Penetrating her to the hilt.

"Oh God, Dex."

With his hands gripping her ass, he thrust hard and fast. She clawed at his arms; her thighs tightened around him as her head dropped back and they rode the crest of their love up and over the edge, both gasping for breath. Two minutes later, the elevator rumbled to life and began its slow decent.

"Shit," Ellie whispered. "Can't...breathe."

"You're so fucking hot." Dex panted as he lowered her shaky legs to the ground and helped her pull up her jeans before righting his own clothing just in time for the elevator doors to slide open on his floor. He took her hand, already fumbling with the keys. Ellie's cheeks had an after-sex rosy glow. She nibbled on her lower lip, looking sexier than hell. Dex clutched the keys in his fist, unable to wait. He took her in his arms and kissed her again, stealing the breath from her lungs and feeling her heart pumping against his. She pressed into him again, and when he pulled back and looked into her eyes, his body reacted to her hungry gaze. He unlocked the door and pulled her inside.

"Shit. Ellie. I can't wait another second. I need to be close to you again. Now." Dropping his keys to the ground, he shrugged out of his jacket and tore at her clothes, tossing her jacket, sweater, and bra to the floor. He stepped from his jeans and drew his shirt over his head. That first stroke of skin-to-skin contact stole his breath again. He took her in a rough kiss before lifting her up again and staring into her eyes as he lowered her onto his hard length again, burying himself deep. They fit together perfectly. Ellie's eyes reflected pure, uninhibited desire, untethered by the links of the past that had previously held her captive. As they clung together, riding out their simultaneous release, it felt like a new beginning.