Witness Protection

by Stacey Espino

  “Please,” she repeated.

  He shook his head. “Trust me, you’d regret it in the morning.”

  She squirmed. He had no idea how desperate she felt. Her attraction for Cayden had her hot and throbbing. She wanted him all over her, his cock inside her. Sophia reached between her legs, but he grabbed her wrist. “You’re killing me,” she said.

  His rock-solid control turned her on. Why did he keep resisting? A hitman for hire shouldn’t have a glowing code of ethics. “I’ll take away the ache, but that’s it.”

  Sophia had no clue what that entailed, but she nodded eagerly.

  “Take your pants off.”

  She shimmied out of her yoga pants, leaving her in just her little lace panties.

  “Lose those, too.”

  Sophia swallowed hard, her courage slowly slipping away. She’d never been naked like this in front of a man. He knelt on the floor near the edge of the bed and pulled her down so his head was between her legs.

  “Cayden, don’t hurt me.”

  “I’ll never hurt you. Just relax. I’ll do all the work.”

  He ran a finger along her slit, moist from her arousal. She gasped and arched up, his intimate touch new and thrilling. “I want you, Cayden.”

  “Hush now. I haven’t started yet.”

  His touch was soft and gentle, so different than how he’d treated her when he’d first kidnapped her. She trusted him. She closed her eyes and melted back against the mattress.

  When he licked her pussy with his tongue, she pushed up on her elbows and looked down at him. It felt dirty and addictive. He sucked her with those thick lips, exploring with his tongue. Every move was electric, sending spikes of pleasure rocketing through her body.

  He caught her watching. “Don’t like it?” he asked.

  She didn’t realize how labored her breathing was until she tried to speak. “I love it.”

  He kissed her inner thigh. Those broad shoulders keeping her spread wide open. “You have a pretty little pussy.”

  Every time he complimented her, her heart swelled a little more. He suckled on her clit, making her pant and grab the sheets. The pressure built and built until she thought she’d lose her mind. Cayden had a whole set of skills she was quickly learning to appreciate.

  He was merciless.

  His rough stubble scraped her sensitive inner thighs, but it felt perfect. He made these masculine sounds of approval that turned her on even more. Wild like a wolf.

  Her body coiled tighter. He never stopped or gave her respite, even when she begged. She kept saying his name like a mantra, losing all inhibitions as he picked up the pace, devouring her pussy, his strong hands cupping her ass.

  “Shit,” she muttered.

  Every muscle in her body stiffened as a heat she’d never known blossomed deep in her cunt, then detonated, taking her by surprise. Waves of heat and raw bliss crashed through her. She cried out, grinding against Cayden’s face as she rode out her orgasm. It was incredible and satisfied the annoying ache.

  Her body felt heavy and spent. She was completely boneless.

  Cayden stood up, his joggers low on his hips. She could see the diagonal outline of his hard cock in his pants. He was huge. She still wanted him.

  “You can take the bed.” He turned to leave the bedroom.

  “That’s it?” she called out.

  She only heard his voice. “Told you I wasn’t a bastard.”

  Sophia punched the mattress in frustration. She wanted more. Wanted his love. Kisses. Body. Passion. Everything. Not just quick sexual relief.

  It scared her to think that when this was over, he’d walk out of her life forever. They had nothing to connect them other than death, contracts, and revenge. The thought of never seeing Cayden again made her anxious.

  She was falling in love with the enemy.

  Chapter Ten

  Five days in paradise.

  Cayden didn’t care about money and what it could buy. What he wanted was intangible. Unattainable. After skating through life, each dark patch thinning the ice, he’d been close to drowning.

  Then Sophia and her sweet innocence pulled him to the surface.

  Now he was lost.

  She trusted him, sought him for comfort, made him feel like he mattered. He’d trade everything he had for another day with her. But good things never lasted. It was time to return his prize to the rightful owner.

  He’d put a tracker on Hawk’s car when he left the factory. It would allow him to find Hawk after the melee, because right now Cayden and Sophia were off the grid and untouchable. Not even Hawk and all his hackers would be able to find them here.

  “What do you think?”

  Sophia sat on a stool in front of a makeshift easel he’d made for her out of scrap wood. Her happiness had taken over his life. The past week had felt like a hundred years, and it was hard to imagine life without her. But every day would only make the break harder.

  She’d almost finished her painting. A nature scene. He stood behind her, not focused on her art, but her body. She straddled the stool in a pair of his black boxer briefs and one of his white undershirts. It had been wickedly hot, and his A/C unit was on the blink. It had been torture watching her saunter around half naked. She didn’t realize how much she affected him.

  He’d tossed and turned the past several nights, remembering the taste of her pussy, the sound as she cried his name. He wanted to be a bastard.

  “Nice,” he said.

  “I wish I had blue.”

  “Sorry, sweetheart, you’re lucky I found that stuff in the shed.”

  “It’s so hot,” she said, touching up some realistic leaves on a tree with her paintbrush. He loved her passion and devotion to her art. He didn’t have anything like that in his life. There were so many layers to Sophia Morenov, and he wished he could have discovered them all. But their time together was running short.

  He gathered her hair, allowing the air to hit her shoulders. He trailed his fingers through her hair, down her neck, and along her arm.

  She set the paintbrush down. “That feels good.”

  Cayden leaned down and kissed her shoulder. He shouldn’t, but he did anyway. She turned her head, and after a brief pause, they kissed. Really kissed. She swiveled around, wrapping her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. She was eager, as if waiting for this moment since arriving. He hadn’t planned on this, had wanted to keep avoiding intimacy, but Sophia was his kryptonite.

  She stood up, then climbed the stump so they were almost face to face. He wrapped his arms around her waist, keeping her close, loving the feel of her in his grasp. When he slid his tongue along the seam of her lips, she opened for him. He couldn’t get enough of her, kissing her until the whole world went away.

  Hungry.

  Desperate.

  This kiss split him down the center. He was falling for her hard.

  He lifted her up under the shoulders and did a spin with her, before resting her back on the stump. She was blonde again, her hair fanning around her like a fucking angel.

  Cayden loved her. With every fiber of his being.

  He didn’t even care if his heart got broken. All he had was today. He was going to enjoy their time while it lasted.

  “You’re so strong.”

  He moved his hands lower, cupping her ass and squeezing. Cayden kissed behind her ear, then down her neck. She tossed her head to the side, giving him better access. He’d never wanted anything more. Even his revenge paled in comparison.

  If he fucked her, he’d never be able to let her go. Could she even love a man like him?

  “Cayden…”

  “What is it, baby?”

  “Are you ever going to leave me?”

  He pulled back and observed at her. Her pink lips were swollen from kissing. “Where am I going to go?”

  “After. When it’s time to go back to real life. Will you forget me?”

  “I’ll never forget you.”

  Her eyes glisten
ed, and a tear rolled down her cheek, as if she knew what he was thinking. “But you’ll go back to your life.” She hugged him around the neck. Sophia whispered in his ear. “Please say you’ll never leave me.”

  “You feel that way now. Feelings change. People change.”

  She shook her head.

  He’d killed her father while she watched. He’d kidnapped her, planned to kill her, and had treated her like shit. Cayden didn’t deserve her, and if she thought there was something between them it was just her grief playing tricks on her. They were in their own bubble of space and time. When they left this hideaway, things would change.

  Cayden would kill Esperanza and every single fucker looking to hurt her, so then she’d be safe. She had the whole world ahead of her, and he’d give it to her. But she didn’t want him.

  Not really.

  She smoothed her hand over his bare shoulder, her eyes following the movement. With a fingertip, she traced the patterns of his tattoos. “I want this body. I want it to be mine,” she said.

  Damn, how could she make his cock harder from just a few words?

  “I want you to fuck me.”

  “Sophia, watch your damn mouth.” He hoisted her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He carried her to the trailer, but instead of entering, he pressed her against the cool metal exterior.

  Control yourself, Cayden.

  She gasped. “That’s cold. It feels good.” Sophia wasn’t wearing a bra under his wife-beater, and her nipples pebbled. “How old are you?”

  “Thirty-five.”

  “Do you know how old I am?”

  “I know everything about you.”

  “Not everything.”

  He tilted his head. “What am I missing?”

  “You know facts and figures. Not my thoughts. Not my heart.”

  Cayden wanted to know it all. He wanted to run away with her, fuck her day and night, and never let her go. But this was a fantasy. It was smarter for him to stay as detached as possible. It would save him a lot of grief in the end.

  He’d checked up on the tracker he’d put on Hawk’s car. It was active. He’d never stop until he had Sophia back. Cayden knew it because, if she was his, he’d travel heaven and earth to find her.

  He set her to her feet, trying to distance himself. She smiled, taking his hand, leading him towards the woods.

  “Where we going?”

  “I want to play a game,” she said. “Truth or dare.”

  “I don’t like that sound of that.”

  She straddled a fallen log and patted it, motioning for him to do the same. Facing each other, less than a foot separating them, she ran her hand along his jawline. She had no fear of him, and it was refreshing. “Truth or dare, Cayden?”

  He exhaled. “Truth.”

  “Have you ever been in love before?”

  “No.”

  She smirked, clearly liking his answer. “Your turn.”

  He didn’t want to play this game. It could be dangerous. “Truth or dare.”

  “Dare.”

  “Show me your tits.”

  This appeared to shock her. Which was the point, so she’d give up this silly game. Her mouth parted, and she licked her lips. She tugged the undershirt up and clutched it in her hands.

  Fuck, her tits were perfect. Soft and sloping out into tempting little peaks.

  He ran the backs of his fingers along the outside of her breast, watching her expression and the change in her breathing before she pulled the shirt back down.

  His cock turned hard as oak. Such a tease.

  “Truth or dare,” she said.

  “Truth.”

  “You can’t use the same one,” she said.

  “My choice. You can’t make the rules.”

  “Fine.” She bit her lip, thinking hard. “What was the happiest day of your life?”

  He didn’t need to think on this one.

  “Today. Being here with you.”

  She ran her thumb along his lips, leaning closer, but he continued. “Truth or dare.”

  “Truth.”

  “Do you love Hawk?”

  She froze, then hugged herself. “Don’t ask me that.”

  “It’s your game, Sophia. Simple question.”

  Her playfulness vanished, leaving her a feather on the wind.

  “I love you, too,” she whispered.

  He stood up and returned to the trailer, letting the screen door slam shut behind him. He couldn’t do this. It was bullshit. Why was he so fucking angry?

  Cayden had perfected the art of staying impersonal, keeping up his walls, and numbing emotions. Social workers listed him as a sociopath, but they didn’t know the truth. They knew what he wanted them to believe.

  Why did he care so much about Sophia? His heart felt like it was black and crumbling. He hated feeling like this.

  She followed him into the trailer. “Cayden.”

  He whirled on her, a finger in her face. “You don’t love me. Understand? Never say that shit again.”

  “What’s so wrong with that?”

  “Where would I even start? You can’t love two men, Sophia. And you sure as hell can’t love me.”

  He needed to get away from her to clear his head. Cayden grabbed a pack of smokes from the cupboard, pulling one out and putting it between his lips. He became frustrated when he couldn’t find a lighter, sifting through the drawers and slamming them shut.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “Please don’t be mad at me.” She ran both of her hands up his back, kissing his shoulder blades. He closed his eyes briefly, addicted to her touch. “I do love you.”

  He pulled away. “You don’t know what love is, little girl. Let me guess, you tell the same shit to every man so you can get your way.”

  “Stop it.”

  He didn’t believe her.

  Felt like she was laughing at him.

  Conning him.

  Especially if she claimed to love Hawk, too. He’d gone through thirty-five years without hearing those words.

  “This arrangement isn’t working,” he said. “Tomorrow I’ll bring you to Hawk.”

  “And what about you?”

  “Send me an invite to the wedding.” He went to the bedroom, needing to get away from her. Of course, she was on his tail.

  “Why are you being an asshole?”

  “When did I claim to be otherwise? I’m a fucking murderer. I’m not a good man.”

  “You are. This is my fault.”

  He threw up his hands and sat on the edge of the bed. Why didn’t she give up on him? Everyone else did.

  She stood between his legs and pulled his head to her chest. He wanted to resist, but he was tired right down to the marrow. He could feel the softness of her breasts against his cheek.

  “You don’t have to be the tough guy every minute. You’re allowed to have feelings, Cayden. It doesn’t make you weak.”

  He listened to the sound of her heart beating. It calmed the beast.

  Cayden wanted her to choose him over Hawk, but he’d never say it out loud. Her rejection would destroy him. Loving her back meant he left himself vulnerable. He was scared to death to get too close. To show her just how fucking needy he was for her love.

  The pain of losing Frank and his family was excruciating because he’d allowed himself to care. If he allowed himself to fall in love with Sophia, it would fucking kill him to lose her.

  “Sophia, I killed your father. You don’t think that’ll come up again? You’ll always resent me.”

  “I don’t want to talk about that now.”

  “Because this place isn’t real. It’s a fantasy where we get to forget the world,” he said. He wanted her to understand that her love was conditional.

  It was the only brand he knew.

  ****

  She ran her hands through his hair, forcing his head back so he could look up at her. The corners of his blue eyes crinkled. “Fine. Let’s not talk about real life or love. What makes you com
fortable, Cayden?”

  “This. Holding you.”

  He could say anything he wanted, but she knew the truth. Despite the fact he’d killed her father, she’d fallen for him, every broken piece. She had to come to grips with it all, to mourn, to sort through all her emotions at some point. In the end, she’d have to get over it—the anger, the hate, the memories.

  She had to get through to Cayden before their stay at the trailer was over, as otherwise she could lose him forever. She couldn’t lose him. There was a darkness inside him that had to be unleashed before he could heal. Sophia wasn’t afraid.

  “What else?” Sex had to be the answer. It could bond them. He kept avoiding the topic, only taking things so far during the past week before pulling away. Why was he being a gentleman? She wasn’t refusing him. And he had nothing to lose.

  Sophia pushed him down to his back, his feet still on the floor. She ran her hands down his chest, over his hard abs, and slipped her fingers under the edge of his shorts. “Sophia…”

  “Don’t move,” she warned. She ran her fingertips over the outline of his erection, feeling it firm up more under her touch.

  He snatched her wrist. “Cut it out, Sophia.”

  “Why? I want this to be mine,” she said.

  “You can’t have everything you want.”

  She scowled. “Are you saving yourself for someone else?”

  “That ship sailed a long time ago,” he said. “Sex I can handle, but with you … with you it would be different.”

  Her heart pounded in her chest. Could he love her back? Was it possible to win him over, to pull him back into the light?

  He sat back up. Her pussy throbbed every time she saw how ready he was for her, and how easily he could deny himself. The men her father hired were all pigs. Cayden was different.

  She sat on his lap. “What about a kiss?” She ached for him. All of him, inside and out.

  Cayden cupped the side of her face and kissed her, deliciously thorough. The way he kissed was pure ownership, a complete domination. He turned her on, making her think of all the dirty things he could teach her. She remembered his mouth against her pussy, and she squirmed on his lap.

  “How many women have you been with?”

  He nipped her lip. “Doesn’t matter. They were nothing to me.”