Vanishing Dreams: Vanishing Dreams (Devil's Bend #2) Read online

  Can I call?

  Katie glanced at her bedroom door. It was closed, as it usually was when she went to bed. Knowing her roommate, Sarah, wouldn’t hear her from her room, she sent another text letting Dalton know that he could call.

  Less than a minute later, her phone rang. She’d held it under her blanket to reduce the sound and hit the talk button as quickly as she could.

  “Hey,” she greeted, keeping her voice low.

  “Hey, beautiful.”

  “What are you doin’ up so late?” she asked him as she rolled over to her side.

  “Thinkin’ ’bout you,” he replied.

  Katie’s heart swelled. She had no idea where things were leading with her and Dalton, but the way he talked to her, the sincerity she heard in his tone, it filled her with hope. A hope she had no business giving in to.

  Not that she cared to think about that at the moment.

  “What about me?”

  “I’m thinkin’ about what it would be like if you were here in my bed. Naked.”

  “Mmmm,” Katie replied, pretending to be thinking about the same thing. The fact of the matter was that exact scenario had been on her mind for a few days now. After the night in the truck, she had replayed the incident over and over in her mind, wishing the opportunity to do that again would present itself. “And if I was naked, what would you do to me?” she asked, shocked by how bold she was being.

  Dalton cleared his throat, his reaction reflecting his own surprise.

  “Do you really wanna know?” he asked, his voice gruff.

  Holding her cell phone to her ear, Katie swallowed hard, realizing exactly what she was asking him to tell her. As crazy as it was, she wanted this man. Any way that she could get him, and if that meant having phone sex while he was hundreds of miles away, so be it.

  “Tell me,” she whispered, her tummy fluttering.

  She had no idea why she was so nervous; it wasn’t as if he could see her.

  “First, I need you to do something for me,” Dalton said.

  “What’s that?”

  “Get naked.”

  Katie swallowed hard.

  Naked?

  Wow.

  “Okay. Hold on,” she told him, tossing the phone onto her pillow while she quickly pulled off her T-shirt and panties. She took a deep breath and then grabbed the phone, falling back onto her pillow. “Okay. I’m naked.”

  Dalton’s rumbling growl sent a bolt of heat through her.

  “I need you to do something else for me, darlin’,” Dalton stated.

  Katie noticed his voice was rough, gravelly. As though he were just as affected by their little encounter as she was. And to think, they hadn’t even done anything yet.

  “What?” she questioned. She was pretty sure she knew where this was heading, but she wanted him to say it anyway.

  “I want you to slide your hand down the front of your body. Go slow. Start at your right breast. Tease your nipple with your finger and thumb.”

  Katie sucked in air, her hand sliding to her breast as though it was taking direction without her brain being any part of the decision-making process.

  “Are you doin’ it, Katie?”

  “Yeah,” she said on a soft sigh.

  “Good girl. Now, I want you to slide your hand farther down your body.”

  “Okay,” she replied as she did as he instructed.

  “When you get to your pussy, I want you to slide your middle finger through your folds.”

  Katie did just as he said. She was wet, just from the sound of his voice.

  “Talk to me, Katie. Tell me what it feels like.”

  Shoring up her nerve, Katie tightened her grip on her cell phone and then said, “I’m wet. I wish you were here.”

  “What would you want me to do if I was there?” he asked.

  She had no idea how he had managed to turn this around so that she was the one having to talk, but Katie did her best to go along with it. At this point, her body had ignited, and not following through would just leave her frustrated.

  “I’d want you to lick me,” she admitted, surprised she could get the words out. She felt her cheeks heat from her embarrassment, but she reminded herself that he couldn’t see her.

  “Where?”

  “Everywhere,” she answered.

  “I’d start between your thighs,” Dalton explained. “I’d slide my tongue against your clit, teasing you for hours.”

  “Hours?” Her voice was a mere whisper.

  “Yep,” he confirmed. “I’d lick your pussy until you were begging me to let you come. Then I’d tease you some more.”

  “Oh, God,” Katie groaned, sliding her finger inside slowly. It was nothing compared to the feel of Dalton inside her, but it was something.

  “Are you fucking yourself?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she said breathlessly.

  “Keep fucking yourself, Katie. Slide two fingers inside your pussy, baby.”

  Katie did, but she couldn’t talk. The pleasure assaulted her, compounded by the rough rumble of his voice in her ear.

  “I’m strokin’ my cock right now,” he said.

  Katie imagined him lying in his bed, his cock in his hands while he stroked himself faster.

  She began thrusting her fingers in deeper, faster, trying to focus on the phone at her ear, but the only thing that mattered was driving herself higher, reaching that pinnacle that was just out of reach.

  “I want to bury my cock in your pussy, Katie. I want to fuck you until you scream my name. God, I miss you so fucking much.”

  Well, that did it.

  Katie bit her bottom lip to keep from crying out as her orgasm consumed her. Her fingers stilled, her chest rising and falling as she tried to suck in air. She could hear Dalton breathing hard into the phone, and she listened, wishing she were there to see him, wanting to watch as he jacked off. The thought had an aftershock of pleasure ripping through her.

  “Katie.”

  “Come for me, Dalton,” she urged, keeping her voice as quiet as she could.

  “Oh, damn, baby. I wish you were here. I just wanna… Oh, fuck, Katie.”

  She knew by the growl that followed that he’d come. He was silent for a moment, but then his breaths began to slow somewhat.

  “That was … unexpected,” she told him.

  “I do miss you, Katie,” Dalton stated, his tone serious. “I’ll be back in town tonight. I wanna see you.”

  Katie glanced at the clock. It was nearing five in the morning, which meant he would be getting on the road soon if he intended to be back by then. She thought about what he’d said. He wanted to see her. She wasn’t sure how she could make that happen with everything that was going on, but she decided that she had no choice. She needed to see him, needed to spend some time with him.

  “Okay, but I have to work.” Katie thought about her options, blurting out the first thing that came to mind, “I’ll see if Miranda will fill in for me. She was lookin’ for some extra hours so I doubt it’ll be a problem.”

  “Perfect. I wanna cook you dinner,” he explained. “My house isn’t completely finished, but it’s far enough along that I can stay there. Will you have dinner with me, Katie?”

  “Yes,” she said, answering faster than she should have.

  “I’ll let you go so you can get some sleep. And I’ll see you tonight. Think about me.”

  “I will,” she assured him. “Good night, Dalton.”

  “Good night, darlin’.”

  With that, the phone disconnected and Katie held it close to her chest.

  She would have dinner with him tonight. She’d figure something out so that she could at least do that much. But after that, she really needed to get her head on straight. What she was beginning to want from this man wasn’t something she could afford to have. Not right now.

  How she was going to tell him that, though… that was what she had to figure out.

  Chapter Six

  Dalton rolled into
Devil’s Bend around seven thirty Saturday evening. The sun had already gone down, and darkness had taken the place of the light. He’d called Katie an hour ago to let her know when he expected to arrive, not wanting to spend any more time away from her than he had to.

  He’d made good time, but only because he’d hit the road as soon as he’d ended his call with her that morning. In fact, he’d set his alarm to wake him at four so he could do just that before he set out. She had made his day when she’d agreed to meet him at his house at eight. He still had a few minutes to spare, but without any food at the house, he had to make a stop.

  As much as he wanted to cook for her, knowing that the house wasn’t set up, he opted to stop by Charlie’s and pick up an order to go. It was either that or he would have to go to the grocery store, which he didn’t have the patience for at the moment.

  He just wanted to get to his house, take a quick shower, and then have dinner with Katie.

  He’d been looking forward to seeing her again since the moment she’d climbed out of his truck at The Rusty Nail just a week ago. It’d been too damn long.

  For the last week, he’d immersed himself in work. Cutting a new album required a lot of time and effort, but he had managed to keep himself engaged long enough to keep everyone happy. But he’d told his agent just yesterday morning that he needed a break. He’d informed him he’d be heading back to Devil’s Bend to take care of a few things that needed his immediate attention.

  It hadn’t been a lie.

  His house was close to being finished, and he wanted to make sure everything was in order. But more than that, he needed to see Katie. He needed to wrap his arms around her, hold her for just a little while. He wasn’t sure what had gotten into him or why he couldn’t stand being away from her, but it was what it was. And Dalton had no intention of fighting it.

  Ten minutes later, Dalton was walking into his house carrying a six-pack of beer and another of water, along with the paper sack with their to-go containers from Charlie’s. The house smelled like fresh paint, but it looked like it was completed. He knew that wasn’t the case, because there were a few additional things that had to be done to the upstairs rooms, but for the most part, the downstairs was complete. And that was all that really mattered tonight.

  Hoping to air out the place, he propped the front door and the back door open to allow a cross breeze through the house. He tapped the screen on the thermostat to turn up the heater a couple of degrees, wanting the house to be comfortable when Katie arrived.

  He had just placed the food on the table when he heard a light tap against the front door. He turned to see Katie standing there, backlit by the front porch light.

  “Hey,” he greeted, making his way to her without hesitation.

  As though he’d been gone for months and not just days, Dalton scooped her up, melding his mouth to hers, holding her flush against him.

  “Hey yourself,” she replied long seconds later when he finally released her lips.

  She was smiling.

  “Damn, I’ve missed you,” he told her, setting her back on her feet. “You hungry?”

  “Starving,” she told him, taking his hand when he held it out to her.

  “Sorry, we don’t have much in here right now, but I figured we could make do.” And Dalton wasn’t exaggerating when he said there wasn’t much there. He had a small dining table with four chairs, a new recliner for the living room, and a complete bedroom suite in his room. Other than that, his stuff hadn’t been moved from Nashville and probably wouldn’t be for at least another month. He had just put his house on the market, and it was getting good traffic but no offers yet. Not that he cared. He could sit on the house for a while, that wasn’t a problem.

  Dalton led Katie to the table and pulled out a chair for her. “Beer or water?”

  “Water, please,” she said, placing her purse on the chair beside her before lowering herself into her seat.

  After retrieving one beer and one water, he returned to the table, dropping into the seat across from her and sliding her the bottle across the table.

  “Are you tired?” she asked after opening the foam container in front of her.

  “I was until about two minutes ago,” he answered, watching her face.

  The smile that crinkled the corners of her eyes pulled an answering one from him. God, he was so glad she was there.

  “Did you drive straight through?”

  “Left Nashville at five this mornin’,” he told her. “Right after I hung up the phone with you. I showered and then headed out. Already had my stuff packed.”

  “Please tell me you slept at least a little last night.”

  “I set my alarm for four. I slept like a baby until then.” The last part wasn’t exactly true, but only because he had dreamed of her, wanting her. And when he’d woken up alone in his bed, it’d been devastating. But then he’d called and heard her voice, which was the second best thing to seeing her. “How’s work?”

  Katie’s eyes widened briefly as she stared back at him, her fork held halfway to her mouth, her eyebrows cocked in question.

  “The Rusty Nail?” he clarified, chuckling.

  “It’s good,” she said, her eyes darting down to her food. “Nothing new. Cooper played one night last week, but other than that, it’s been kinda slow.”

  “How’s school?”

  “A pain in the ass,” she admitted, her smile returning. “Keeps me up late just trying to get my homework done.”

  “Anything I can do to help?”

  “Probably not,” she said, lifting her gaze back to his. “This is great, by the way. Charlie’s is my favorite.”

  “I would’ve cooked for you” — Dalton gestured around the room — “but as you can see, I’m not quite set up yet. However, I intend to rectify that in the very near future.”

  “When do you move in?”

  “Plannin’ for early January. Gonna spend a couple of weeks at my folks’ for Christmas, but then I’ll be headin’ back. Gotta move in and then head off on a three-month tour.”

  “Tour? Really?”

  “Yep,” he told her, grinning. He was excited about this one. With the help of Cooper’s father, better known these days as Coop’s manager, they’d put together a kick-ass thirty-stop tour that would end in April, just before Coop’s wedding.

  “So you’ll be gone for three months?” she asked, looking dejected.

  “I’ll come home for a day or two here and there.” Dalton didn’t like the idea of being away from Katie for that long, but his music career was the only thing he had at the moment. With the equestrian center finally getting up and running, he had to do what he needed to do. If he ever expected to settle down in one spot, he had to do the time now.

  “Cooper and Tessa are gettin’ married in May, right?” Katie questioned, stirring her food around on her plate.

  “Yep. He’s actually agreed to let Tessa plan his bachelor party. Dumbass. I tried to weigh in, but she insisted. I figure we’ll be hangin’ out at a bingo hall drinkin’ warm beer and puttin’ dots on little cards all night.”

  Katie laughed, the sound the equivalent of coming home. He wasn’t sure what it was about her, but Dalton knew one thing for sure — hell, it was something he’d known for a couple of months now — Katie was the one. She was the woman he could see himself settling down with eventually.

  Not that he would tell her that. As closed off as she was, he knew she’d spook easily. But he had vowed that over the course of the next few weeks and months, he would convince her that he could be the man she needed.

  And he damn sure didn’t intend to give up until she was his. Forever.

  ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

  Katie’s head was spinning from everything Dalton had just told her. He was permanently moving to Devil’s Bend in the next few weeks, he was going off on tour for a few months… It was all too much to take in.

  The short-term affair she’d thought they were going to have clearly wasn’t
going to happen the way she intended. With him in town, she wouldn’t be able to avoid him. Worse than that, she wouldn’t be able to keep him from finding out who she was.

  Up to this point, she had managed to keep everyone out, limiting the people she interacted with outside of the bar, choosing a more solitary life so no one found out. But now Dalton was going to be around, and if she planned to see him, he was going to find out.

  But he couldn’t. She didn’t want him to know. She didn’t want anyone to know.

  “You finished?” Dalton interrupted her thoughts, causing her to look up and meet his dark brown eyes.

  “Yeah,” she told him. She was no longer hungry. In fact, she was tempted to tell him she needed to go, but the thought of walking away from him right now didn’t sit well with her.

  He’d ruined her. That was all there was to it. He’d made her hope for the impossible, and she’d allowed him to get under her skin. What should’ve been a friendship had quickly morphed into something significantly more than that, and she knew it was all her fault.

  She had slept with him, wanting her first time to be with a man like Dalton. A kind, gentle man who didn’t look at her as though she had secrets.

  Then again, if he’d known her secrets, Dalton would’ve probably run far and fast.

  Shaking off the thoughts, Katie helped him clear the table, placing the food back in the paper sack it’d come in so Dalton could toss it out in Cooper’s garbage can later.

  “So what do we do now?” Katie asked, glancing around the nearly empty house.

  “I’d say we sit out on the porch, but it’s gettin’ colder,” Dalton answered, making his way over to her before pulling her against him.

  “Well, I know a way to keep warm,” she told him, smiling up at him.

  At least they had tonight.

  “Yeah?” he asked, nuzzling his face into her neck, the warmth of his breath tickling her skin.

  “Yeah,” she said softly. “Why don’t we close the doors and snuggle?”

  “Snuggle, huh?” Dalton’s chuckle sent a tremor through her.

  When he stood, Katie kept her eyes locked on his face. The heat she saw reflected in his warm brown gaze made her body tingle in so many places. She had never met a man who she desired as much as she desired this man. Dalton Calhoun.