Across the Miles: The Cassidy Brothers, #5

By Dawn Love

Colby Cassidy is a player. He's always been a player and feels no need to change his wicked ways. The women he gets involved with know the score and endgame. He's always excelled at whatever he's done and his sexual exploits are no different. Over the past few years he's watched his brothers fall, one by one, head over heels into the bliss of love and happily ever after. Being last-man-standing has him constantly looking over his shoulder and worrying that it's only a matter of time before he finds himself on the ledge. Will he jump, fall, or be pushed into what he never knew he wanted?

Juliette Tate's life belongs to the stage. Years and years of ballet has trained her body hard for the rigors of the dance world and she's finally started to make a name for herself in the Big Apple. When she suddenly finds herself in a tight spot, she does what she has to do to scrape by. She never thought her dance skills would be used quite the way they are, but she's making the most of it. At least she is until her secret is discovered and the one man she has a hard time saying no to, steps in with an indecent proposal.

Will fate tear them apart or push them together?

 

***This book contains adult language and situations with graphic and explicit sexual scenes between consenting adults. It may not be appropriate for all audiences.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dawn Love
• Release date: Mar 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215911662

Dawn Love

Dawn Love was born in Mayfield, Kentucky, and spent the first twenty-six years of her life there. Always a creative person and an avid reader, she began writing stories for her own entertainment as a teen, and her love of writing continued to grow into adulthood. Meeting the love of her life brought many changes, including moving 900 miles away from home and settling on the Delmarva Peninsula where she resides on her 50-acre farm. Now the mother of two teenagers, she spends her free time creating the characters and stories of her fantasies. She also writes an internationally read Blog where she gives her readers a glimpse into the craziness of her day-to-day life, her mind, and all that the world throws her way.

Book preview

Prologue

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November

She’d felt his searing gaze on her the entire evening, heated awareness making her body tremble with desire though she tried to fight her attraction. He’d surely felt the weight and heat of her own stare many times, as well. But she couldn’t seem to stop herself, and as the night wore on, the magnetism between them brought their eyes together time and again. Lust, desire, pure aching need, radiated between them though they tried to ignore the alluring sensations that were drawing them together.

Her sister was marrying his brother. Juliette had reminded herself of that fact repeatedly. She’d chanted it almost like a mantra each time she came close to giving in to those wants and needs, but it hadn’t helped. Her desire for him felt forbidden, but she was close, so close to throwing caution to the wind and taking what she wanted.

During the wedding rehearsal, she’d felt his gaze as she walked down the aisle. When she’d glanced over at him, he’d looked her up and down like he wanted to devour her, like she’d been a tasty treat made just for him. Her face had flamed, and she’d quickly averted her eyes, but not before he’d sensed her awareness and matching hunger.

It had been the same the first time they’d met. The attraction they’d felt when they’d sat next to each other on the night Cal had proposed had been all-consuming. Sitting in the stadium that night she’d thought she might combust from the overload of sexual need radiating between them.

Cooler heads had won that night. She just hoped she’d be able to say the same after the endless hours they would be forced to be together throughout the wedding weekend.

They’d sat across from each other at the rehearsal dinner and while she’d tried to ignore the sexual tension between them, to dismiss that magnetism as simply a problem of her own making, the air had sizzled from the moment they’d sat down. She’d hardly touched her food as she’d been unable to do anything but concentrate on the arousal that persisted, coursing through her body in a waterfall of wants, desires, needs.

She hadn’t had sex in too many months to count and her body, already desperate from her lack of sexual fulfillment, had betrayed her repeatedly throughout the evening. She supposed the betrayal was her own fault. She’d been too busy pushing herself to succeed, too exhausted to see to her own needs, too picky about her bed partners lately to settle for the easy and casual. As the night wore on, she cursed herself as she saw and felt the effects of ignoring a basic, primal need, her body revolting against her fruitless efforts.

She knew better. As a dancer one of the first things, one of the most important things you learn, is to listen to your body. She’d never had a problem doing that. If it felt good, you repeated the process until your muscles tired with exhaustion. If it hurt, you backed off, built those muscles, built your stamina, until it no longer hurt. Through the years she had bent and tortured, honed and refined, until her body naturally and automatically, snapped and flowed from position to position.

She no longer had to think of each bend of the arm, the precise positioning of her fingers, no longer had to watch each and every movement of her body in a mirror to assure her feet hit their mark, that the height and line of her legs met the requirements to perform each beautiful and elegant move with grace and precision. Muscle memory allowed her to free her mind to simply learn the dances and feel the music as it touched and moved her, body, mind, heart, and soul. Fluid grace; art in motion.

Now, as she excused herself from the wedding party, deciding that escaping to her room would be the best solution, she berated herself for ignoring her body and such a basic need. She knew from experience that being so preoccupied, so overwhelmed with sexual desire, could be detrimental to her health, mental and physical.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped on the elevator and stared at the floor as she waited for the shiny, reflective doors to close.

He swore she was going to make him lose his mind. He’d wanted her from the first moment he’d laid eyes on her. For the past couple of months, ever since Cal had proposed to Jillian and brought their families together for the first time, she’d haunted his dreams. They’d sat in the ballpark that night, waiting for the big moment, excited for their siblings, happy for the promises the future held for two people so obviously in love.

The longer they’d sat, their bodies tense and rigid in the stadium seats, the more sparks had flown between them, flames igniting with each moment of heightened awareness. His mind had raced, his heart had pounded, and his body had gone on high alert. But he’d done something that night that he’d never done before. He’d sacrificed his sexual wants and desires so that he wouldn’t fuck things up with his brother and future sister-in-law. Walking away from her after the celebrations that evening had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done in his life.

Since then, he’d carried on as usual, hooking up with random women, having meaningless sex just so that he could have a release, hoping with everything in him that he could get the sexy sibling of his brother’s fiancé out of his mind, out of his dreams. It hadn’t worked. Now, he’d finally reached the conclusion that there would be only one cure, only one way for his sanity to return.

Seeing her, watching her, longing for her as she’d gone through the rehearsal, had been a true test. The animal inside him hungered for her long, lean body, that beautiful dancer’s body, and the possibilities it presented. And as they’d sat across from each other in the restaurant, he’d watched her eyes, watched her mouth, watched every move she’d made. He’d eaten, but his hunger hadn’t been sated, not in the least. He wanted to devour her, to feast on her body in long, deep gulps. He wanted, simply, to drown in her. The ache he felt for her had gone past want, had gone past need, and straight into obsession.

He’d dreamed of her so often - erotic dreams that had left him hard and unfulfilled, dreams that woke him with his body aching with desire. And there had been dreams where they’d actually completed their mating dance, ones that woke him up as his body erupted with mind-blowing orgasms. He felt like a horny teenager. He knew, without a doubt, he hadn’t had that many wet dreams since he’d been that age.

He’d often caught his mind wandering, making it hard for him to concentrate on work, on family, damn it, on the very basics of the day-to-day. He’d watched her throughout the day and evening as happiness surrounded them in the wedding excitement. Then he’d watched as she’d excused herself, leaving their happy, raucous group, and his mind had cleared. It had finally occurred to him that the only solution to his problem was to go for it and get her out of his system.

It was inevitable that they were going to be together. He knew that and he could tell by her actions that she knew it as well. The decision had been made. And like a panther, he’d stalked her as she’d left the dinner. When he stepped onto the elevator a mere moment after her, she’d jerked her head up in surprise.

Shock, quickly followed by the dawning of the undeniable, filled her eyes. They were alone in the elevator and as the doors shut enclosing them together, alone at last, Colby did what he’d been wanting to do from the beginning, from that very first moment. He kissed her. Pressing her back to the elevator wall he lost himself in her, in the kiss, letting the caged animal within him run free in a wild race to capture his prey. When he finally came up for air, he laid his forehead on hers. Their breathing labored, their chests heaved, and he whispered, Tell me you want this. Dear God, Juliette, tell me you want this.

She answered him with a ravenous kiss of her own.

Time may have stood still, but their bodies did not. When at last they reached their floor and the elevator doors opened, they hurried down the hallway, pausing only briefly for another frenzied kiss as they fumbled with her hotel room key. As they entered her room, they both lost control. Clothes were quickly removed, dropped, or thrown in abandonment. They hastily stripped in a rush of need, of excitement of promises of delightful things to come. Their mouths met, their tongues battled, teeth nipped and aroused. Their hands groped, urging, claiming, demanding pleasure.

And when they fell together on the bed, the urgency for release overtook them. He buried his cock inside her, relishing her heat. Then he began to thrust deeply as her walls quaked around him, taking all she would give him and going back for more. Their bodies pumped, working each other to madness.

They rolled, locked together as each of them fought to be in control, fought to guide their bodies to completion. With Juliette on top of him, riding him hard, he lost what little restraint he’d held onto. His body jackknifed off the bed, wrapping her tightly in his arms. And as his orgasm hit, drawing her own out in a screaming rush, hot cum burst from him. And as their chests heaved gasping for air, he laid his head on her breasts and closed his eyes, afraid to hold on but terrified of letting go.

Chapter One

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February

He hated the city. Too damn busy, too damn noisy, too damn many people crushed together, always in a mad rush to get somewhere. He’d give most anything, he thought, to be back in Maryland, holed up in his home office and working sponsorship deals or pouring over contracts. Instead, he was sitting in a dark strip club, per his client’s whim, trying his hardest to get the client to see just how good a deal was being offered. His client was young and impetuous. And while Colby could see the kid had talent and could potentially go far with it, he knew that he was going to have to work hard to make a believer out of him about the realities of being a rookie in the major leagues.

He’d always had a knack for getting people to agree to things, charisma at its finest. He considered himself intelligent, athletic, sexy, with a winsome personality that came in handy with his profession. Life as a sports agent was fast-paced, full of give and take, and his ability to see the ins and outs, to notice fine details, yet realize the bigger picture, served him well. Bullshit may be bullshit, but in his mind, it always looked more palatable coming in a pretty package.

He hadn’t always wanted this. He’d gone to college in hopes of becoming an attorney. He’d studied hard, he’d partied hard, and somewhere along the way his direction and focus had changed, taking him down a different but fulfilling path. Contract law had pulled at him and when his twin brother, Calvin, had been recruited to play minor league baseball, his protective instincts had taken over and he’d stepped into the role of agent.

Since then, his career had been a natural progression, and a steady stream of clients had successfully built his business and reputation. He’d gone ahead and gotten his legal degree, even sitting and passing the BAR exam, but he used that degree more as a feather in his cap and a backup plan should worst come to worst and his career go belly-up.

His heart just wasn’t in practicing law. He loved the knowledge, the getting of knowledge, knowing where and when to look to get that knowledge, but he could never see himself putting on a suit and tie and spending his days in a stuffy office or courtroom. He knew that if he’d gone through with it, he would have slowly withered into a shell of his true self.

Over the past couple of years, he’d even branched out from sports to some extent, taking on the role of agent for his brother, the now-famous rocker, Cade Cassidy. At its foundation, the music world was much the same as the sports world. It was a different experience working with music contracts and offers, but he enjoyed it as it gave him a break from the norm,