But she knew Daphne, and she also knew how hard it was to sometimes detangle from her when she wanted you there. So she was patient. Sort of.
Just when her patience had reached its limits, the door to the limo opened and Cade slid in. The driver got in the front, and before Kylie could snap out some quip about how long he’d spent, his arms went around her and he pulled her close to him.
“Can I hold you for just a moment?” he asked.
And all of Kylie’s anger melted, because of all things she’d expected to hear coming out of him tonight, that wasn’t it. She nodded. His arms tightened around her and he buried his face against her neck.
She remained still, unsure what to think of this.
“She’s using again,” Cade murmured against her skin, and Kylie caught the notes of sadness in his voice. “I can tell by the way she acts. She says she’s clean, but she’s on something. And every time I tried to bring up the topic, she changed it.”
Her hand went to his hair, and she stroked it. However turbulent and strange her own relationship might be with this man, she understood his frustration and unhappiness at seeing someone he cared for destroy herself. “I figured.”
“You can’t even talk to her right now. She just . . . refuses to hear it. Any of it. She acts like nothing is wrong, but she’s not the old Daphne.” His hands hugged her tighter. “The woman there tonight? I feel like she was a stranger. And it shouldn’t surprise me, but every time . . .”
“You still hope for the best. I know.” She felt that way with her nana. Every time she saw her, she went in hoping that this would be the time Nana would smile when she saw Kylie. Would feel real love and affection for her. Would view her as a grandchild and someone to love and not just an unhappy burden that cost money and a reminder of everything she’d lost. She knew how devastating it was to get your hopes up, only to have them dashed over and over again. “You can’t be blamed for having hope, Cade.” Her fingers brushed through his soft, soft hair. “You can be sad you want more for her than she wants for herself, but you can’t get angry that you hope she’ll change. The day we stop hoping is the day we stop caring, I think.”
He lifted his head from her shoulder and gazed into her eyes. “You sound as if you’re speaking from experience.”
“Maybe I am.” She tried to give a halfhearted little shrug. He didn’t need to know about her personal sob story. Not tonight. So it was time for a distraction. “Does this mean I can have my panties back now?”
His eyes gleamed with that wicked edge she’d seen in the janitor’s closet earlier that night. “Not a damn chance.”
FOURTEEN
Kylie existed in a state of anticipation as the limo pulled up to the same hotel as the one she’d escaped from this morning. She’d left him hanging midsex over twelve hours ago . . . and she suspected it wasn’t going to happen again.
And honestly? She wasn’t sure she wanted it to happen again.
Their interlude in the janitor’s closet had pretty much proven to her that all Cade needed to do was snap his fingers and her panties would practically melt off of her, legs springing open in eagerness for him. She wanted him more than anyone she’d ever dated in her life. It wasn’t just because the sex was great—and it was fabulous. It was that Cade made her feel . . . well, beautiful. He never looked at her with that strangely questioning look that the limo driver had given her. He never made her feel like she was the ugly one in the relationship. He always made her feel desirable and perfect at his side.
Of course, that was what made this off-and-on relationship with him difficult. Because the more she tried to push him away, the more she wanted. The more she craved.
His arms were still around her when the limo stopped, though they hadn’t spoken in several minutes. He was probably tired, she told herself. She knew she was. Her head hadn’t stopped throbbing all day, and she’d been drinking water by the gallon in an effort to wash away her hangover. The weight of her new wedding ring was still heavy on her finger, and she couldn’t resist twisting it occasionally, as if to remind herself that yes, it existed, and yes, she was married to Cade, however drunkenly spontaneous the ceremony had been.
She didn’t recall the wedding. Okay, there might have been flashes of memory that included flowers and a drive-through wedding chapel and Elvis, but that was about it. Overall, the canvas was a big blank. It probably was for him, too.
And she felt a twinge at realizing that he’d drunk-hooked-up with her twice now. It seemed like every hookup they had was buoyed by alcohol, except for the interlude in the closet from earlier. And that had been fueled by anger.
What did that mean for tonight?
Kylie kept the doubts in her head as the driver opened the limo door on her side. She got out and waited for Cade, her big purse clutched to her shoulder.
Cade got out a moment after her, and pressed a wad of cash into the driver’s hand. “Thank you, sir. We need you back here at . . .” He looked at Kylie. “What time does the tour bus pull out?”
“Ten.”
“All right. We need you back here at eight thirty,” he instructed the driver, then looked again at Kylie. “It’ll give you time to pack up your hotel room and still be on schedule to leave with the others.”
“Thank you,” she murmured, and was a little pleased when Cade’s arm went around her waist possessively. He began to steer her into the hotel.
They were silent as they went up to Cade’s suite, and she wondered which Cade he’d be in bed tonight—the ruthless man he was in the closet earlier? Or the laughing, smiling man he normally was?
But when the door shut behind them, he took Kylie’s purse from her arm and set it down on a nearby chair, then moved toward her and cupped her face.
And he began to kiss her. Softly. Sweetly. Tenderly.
It threw Kylie for a loop, and made her ache deep inside. Made her want things she couldn’t have.
“Please,” he murmured between kisses. “Let’s not argue over whether or not I get to hold you tonight. Let me just love you, Kylie. Let me touch you and lose myself in you. I need that tonight.”
He kissed her again, his eyes closed, and she saw the strain on his face, the worry and sadness for Daphne. Kylie might be jealous of her, but she was still a childhood friend of Cade’s and she was still heading toward self-destruction. And if Cade needed comforting?
Kylie wanted to be the one to do it.
So she put her arms around his neck and kissed him back with all the pent-up longing she’d been fighting all night.
He groaned against her mouth, and then the two of them were staggering toward the bed as Cade shrugged off his jacket. She tugged at his shirt, and then they were both unbuttoning it together, anxious to get him free of his clothing. Within moments, Cade was undressed, and then it was Kylie’s turn. She kicked off her shoes and tugged her top over her head, quickly followed by her bra and her skirt. Then she was just as naked as he was.
And Cade pushed her back on the bed, his gaze reverent as he stared at her breasts. “God, I love these,” he told her, reaching out and caressing one nipple. It hardened against his touch, and Kylie shivered, gazing up at Cade as he moved over her. His knee pushed hers apart, and she spread her legs for him.
“You have the most beautiful breasts,” he murmured, cupping them in his hands and then leaning down to kiss the nipples. “I want to bury my face in them constantly. A man could lose himself in these gorgeous tits.”
He made her feel pretty. Made her feel sexy instead of just fat. She loved that, and so she raised her arms over her head and clasped them there, knowing that the movement would make her full breasts stand at attention.
He groaned at the sight of it and leaned in to kiss the valley between her breasts. “So beautiful, Kylie. So soft and gorgeous and all mine.” He raised his head. “If I go get a condom, are you going to abandon me again?”
She shook her head. She didn’t think she could, even if she wanted to. And it was the
last thing on her mind right now. At the moment? All she wanted was Cade, between her legs and thrusting deep inside her. “I need you,” she whispered.
He kissed her skin again and moved off the bed. “Be right back.”
She watched his tight ass as he headed for the bathroom and felt like a jerk when he kept glancing backward, as if uncertain if she’d try to escape again or not. She’d pulled a dick move on him, that was for sure. He needed her tonight, though. Needed comforting. Needed to lose himself in sex.
She wasn’t going anywhere.
Cade’s smile as he returned to the room with a handful of condoms made her chest ache with the beauty of it. He was so delectable, this man. So utterly gorgeous and completely perfect in every way. She sent a silent prayer of thanks for her being in the right place at the right time when he’d been discarded and needed scooping up.
Kylie licked her lips as he tossed all of the condom packets but one onto the bedside. He tore open the one in his hand, then carefully rolled the condom down his length. She watched him with fascinated anticipation, and when he looked up, she held her arms out for him.
He came to her, moving over her, and as she raised one leg to go around his hip, he pushed into her with one swift, sharp stroke that left her gasping in surprise at the suddenness of it. She thought there’d be more foreplay, more kissing, more licking, but as he pressed his face against her breasts again, and then gave another rough, sudden thrust, she got it. This wasn’t about mutual pleasure tonight. This was about comfort. He needed her, needed the distraction of sex.
Well, he wasn’t coming without her. She adjusted her hips, rocking them with every thrust he made. She was still wet from before, so it hadn’t hurt when he’d pushed into her . . . but she needed more if she was going to come. So she lifted a hand and licked her fingers, and the small movement caught his attention.
His gaze shot to hers, and she gave him a sultry smile just before she slid her hand to her pussy and began to tease her clit with her fingers.
Cade groaned. His fingers dug into Kylie’s thigh, and he propped her calf up against his shoulder, her foot in the air. The angle left her wide open, and allowed him to thrust even harder, more vigorous than before. If his kisses had been sweet earlier, his thrusts were not. They were rough and full of need and power, and each one made her breasts heave and bounce. She tightened her arms against her sides to keep them from jouncing painfully, and her hand continued to work her clit.
“Goddamn, that’s hot,” Cade growled. “Why are you so fucking sexy, Kylie?”
She didn’t answer. Instead, she raised her fingers to her mouth and licked them again, returning them back to her pussy a moment later and rubbing harder. His thrusts were slamming into her, shoving her back against the pillows in the bed, but the friction between their bodies was making her own pleasure ratchet up quickly. Moments later, her own orgasm blasted into existence, and she cried out, rubbing herself hard even as her pussy clenched around his pistoning cock.
Cade snarled and palmed one of her breasts, and she felt his entire body shake with his own violent release. Twice more, he pumped into her, movements ragged, and then he collapsed onto her, sweating and spent.
She sighed, a little surprised she’d come so quickly. That had been nice, though. His weight on her was nice, too. Heavy and pressing her into the mattress, and so good that she felt utterly replete. Her fingers went to the long, boyish curls of his hair and she began to toy with them, fascinated by his hair as always.
“Am I too heavy?” he murmured, and his hand went to her breast, teasing a nipple idly.
“Not at all.”
“Then you don’t mind if I stay here for a moment and just bask in you?”
Her lips curved into a soft smile. “Bask all you want.”
They remained locked together for several minutes, Kylie idly playing with Cade’s hair and feeling his breath strum across her skin. He rubbed his fingers over her nipple, but in an almost contemplative way. And though the touch was arousing, she wasn’t sure if he was going to do more than just that.
“I have to leave for two weeks,” Cade murmured, interrupting her thoughts.
“You do?”
He nodded against her breasts. “Meeting with a UNICEF group to discuss funding, and then after that, I have to attend annual board meetings in New York City for a week straight. It’s going to be very, very dull.” He lifted his head and gave her an apologetic grimace. “But it’s also been planned for six months so I can’t exactly get away.”
“Oh,” she said. Because what else could she say? It wasn’t like she was in charge of his schedule. It wasn’t like she knew anything about his schedule at all, really. And she should have been relieved that he’d be gone for two weeks so she could concentrate on work without having to worry if he was about to show up for a show and drag her into a closet for some mouth-on-pussy action. If he’d insist on her spending another night with him. And another. And another.
But she wasn’t relieved. If anything, she was . . . sad. Unhappy at the thought of not seeing him for two weeks. And she kind of hated that. “Does this mean I get my panties back?”
His mouth quirked. “Not until I get my pictures of you. I’m going to need something to keep me company in the board room.” He leaned down and tongued one of her nipples in a slow, delicious tease. “Something to look forward to when I get done with work.”
“You know this was only supposed to be one night, Cade,” she murmured. “Tonight only.”
“I lied,” he told her, and nipped at the tip of her breast. “I don’t want just one night with you, Kylie Daniels. I’m pretty sure I want all of them.”
She sucked in a breath. Because, really, what could she say to that? She wanted him, too. But she wasn’t free until Daphne’s concert tour was over. She didn’t get her next payment until it was done, and she needed that money. “Well, you don’t get the next two weeks,” she said, forcing herself to be light and teasing.
“I suppose I should get two weeks of kissing in tonight, then,” he murmured, and gave her breast another obscene, dragging lick.
“Guess so,” she told him, and pulled him up for the first of many kisses.
—
Kylie’s fingers were linked with Cade’s as they rode in the limo the next morning back to her hotel. She stifled a yawn with her free hand, and blushed when he chuckled.
They had been up all night making love. Sometimes sweet and tender, sometimes fierce and almost brutal. Every time, though, Kylie came hard, and every time, it was utterly glorious. Between rounds of sex, they napped and talked, and sometimes they cuddled.
She was falling hard for Cade Archer, and that was going to make things difficult. But she could deal with difficult, she decided. If she just kept her mouth shut and if Cade kept away on business for a lot of the next two months, they could probably make this work out. She could sneak away to see him between shows, and Daphne and the rest of the tour crew would never be the wiser.
After the tour was over, she’d pay Nana’s nursing home fees for the rest of the year and then she’d see about getting some sort of long-term work in New York City, where she could be with Cade. Maybe something on Broadway. That might be fun.
They could make this work . . . couldn’t they?
The limo arrived at the hotel far too fast. When the driver opened Kylie’s door, she got out reluctantly, slinging her purse over her shoulder. Cade got out, too, and she turned to look at him, giving him a bright smile despite her gloomy mood. He stood in front of her, hands stuffed in his pockets like a little boy, and waited for her to make the first move.
Well, she would, then. Her own hands went to the front of his shirt, just so she could touch him, could feel his warmth one more time. She already missed him. “Two weeks is a long time. You’re not going to forget me, are you?” Damn it, she’d tried to keep her voice light and teasing, but it’d come out shaky instead.
“Not at all,” Cade told her, and kissed
the tip of her nose. “I will text you so often that you’ll feel like you have a stalker.”
She grinned up at him. “And you’ll send back my panties?”
The look he gave her was downright naughty. “You know what you have to do to get those panties back.”
Kylie bit her lip. “You’re incorrigible.”
“Just determined to see you in a few pictures, that’s all.” His blue eyes gleamed wickedly.
“I’ll see what I can do,” she murmured, and tilted her face back for a kiss. Truth be told, she was already planning the series of pictures she’d send him. He was fascinated with watching her put on makeup, so she’d definitely have to have a naked shot of her putting on lipstick, or maybe just one of her breasts . . . the possibilities were endless.
He kissed her back, lightly sucking on her lower lip as she tried to pull away, making the kiss last even longer. When they finally pulled apart, he murmured, “I miss you already.”
It scared her that she felt the same way.
—
When she boarded the tour bus, Kylie handed her suitcase off and held her purse close as she went to her regular seat toward the front. She had her potted violet in hand and set it carefully on the empty seat next to her. The smokers—aka the dancers—liked to hang out in the back, swapping cigarettes or weed while they wasted the hours between tour stops. Today, the bus smelled like weed, which was irritating. She stood up and pushed her window down to let in fresh air, then shot a glare at the smoky back of the bus. Kylie was in a sour mood. The thought of not seeing Cade for two weeks was already bugging the hell out of her, and it had only been an hour or so since she’d left him. How was she possibly going to get through two weeks?
As if he could hear her thoughts, her phone buzzed with an incoming text, and a smiley face popped up on her screen, which made her grin.
Two weeks might not be so bad if they involved constant texts. And if he was getting pictures of her? She wanted pictures of him, too. They didn’t have to be nude pics; she’d settle for one of those early morning tousled hair glimpses that made her knees weak.
One Night With a Billionaire Page 17