The Gilded Cage

by Lauren Smith

  “Oh God!” she hissed in a strangled whisper.

  He swirled his tongue, then thrust it into her in rapid strokes, each time doing something different inside her, so she couldn’t adjust to it or know what to expect. The continual surprises of his licking and stroking shoved her into a sensual overdrive. When he inserted two fingers into her and sucked the bud of her clit into his mouth she yelped and then whimpered. The pounding, increasing sensations of blood rushing through her were too much, too good.

  “Please, Fenn,” she begged, tears leaking from her eyes as she fought to maintain control. He hadn’t forbade her to come, but she needed him to tell her: some inner instinct desired that he control that, too, at least in this instant.

  “Come for me, honey, but hold that little scream inside, if you can.” His low rough laugh rumbled against her clit, and she exploded, legs shaking in uncontrollable spasms and her breath huffing out in deep puffs. Weak limbed, she collapsed on the bed, only then aware of how tense every muscle in her body had been. She concentrated on breathing and looked at Fenn.

  He seemed pleased. His thumbs were smoothing across the skin of her inner thighs in tiny infinitesimal strokes as he licked his lips and returned her gaze.

  “Watching you come is the hottest thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” he admitted. Her responding blush worked its way down from her face to the tips of her toes.

  “It’s a good thing we’re only just getting started.” He bent his head again and a few minutes later she was completely spent and aching. Oral sex had never been this intense for her, to the point where she worried her legs might not work tomorrow. What a feeling! And they’d only just begun.

  Chapter 13

  Have you ever killed anyone by orgasm?” she asked with a giggle. He’d made her giggle. That was so…unlike her, which only made her giggle more.

  “I don’t think you’ve had enough yet. I want you so exhausted you can’t even think, let alone laugh.” He reached for his fly and unzipped it. He tugged his jeans down his hips and then worked them the rest of the way off. The pair of black briefs he wore showed her just what she’d expected. He was massive. There had been no exaggeration in what she’d felt earlier. He was big, a little daunting in that respect. It had been six months since she’d had sex, a dry spell that left her a little nervous.

  “Still with me?” His voice was low but gentle. When she nodded, he tugged his briefs off and climbed on top of her. She wrapped her knees around his hips, expecting him to just shove inside her, but he didn’t. He kissed her, allowing the weight of his body to gently pin her to the bed, a powerful but not hurtful restraint.

  “Relax, honey,” he urged her between soothing kisses.

  “Do we need protection?” she asked. How that rational thought managed to break through the rising passion sweeping through her she didn’t know.

  “I’m clean; you? I can find a condom…” They bumped noses as he waited for her to answer.

  “Me too. I’ve got an IUD…we could…” She licked her lips. She’d never not had a man use a condom with her before. “We could go bare.”

  “Only if you want to.” He didn’t demand it, but allowed her that choice.

  “Bare,” she said, never more thankful she’d always been careful and clean before now. The idea of a layer of latex between them seemed wrong after everything that had happened.

  “Only if you’re sure.” He rocked his hips, a slow sensual promise of things to come.

  The music swelled around them and they both smiled. Hayden had never felt so relaxed with a man before. She was more excited than on edge. As much as she loved the Gilded Cuff, she’d always felt a little tense and all alone, even when she had a dominant to do a scene with. What would it be like to be at the club with a man she completely trusted, one who would protect her at all costs? It would change everything.

  Fenn lifted his hips and his hand moved between their bodies as he guided himself into her. She moaned as he nudged in a few inches. She squeezed down around him, and he hissed out a ragged breath.

  “Fuck, that feels good,” he ground out.

  Then when she relaxed, he rammed deep and fast. Hayden arched her back and her arms tensed above her head while still gripping the bars.

  “No letting go,” he reminded her. He slid one hand up to grasp her wrists and hold them while his other arm braced on the bed beside her shoulder.

  With that controlling hold on her hands, Hayden could only take the penetrating thrusts; the pressure and the speed were out of her control. Before she’d always managed to hold herself back and been able to control the dom she was with, even if he’d restrained her. But she couldn’t do that with Fenn. Trusting him came too easily. Her desire for him was too strong.

  She was an instrument that sang with the brush of his hands and the kiss of his lips. He took her mouth harder now, and his almost desperate need to own her tasted hungry and wild. The sheer energy and raw desire coming off him in waves made her entire body quake and shudder as she sprinted toward another orgasm. He angled his hips differently, and his shaft struck a sweet spot that ripped a strangled cry from her mouth before she swallowed it.

  “There?” he growled, hitting that glorious, perfect, hidden spot inside her.

  “Hmmm.” She could only moan in response.

  He pushed up from her suddenly and gripped the top of the headboard above her, angling his hips again, and when stars sparked in dizzying patterns around her eyes she whimpered.

  “Please, God, please,” she gasped.

  That was it. Her begging drove him into a frenzy as he slammed his hips into the cradle of their thighs, hard enough that she was positive she’d have more bruises tomorrow. The heavy weight of his balls struck her bottom and added a delicious little sting as he took her furious and fast. The untamed lust in his eyes burned her hotter than any fire, and she exploded.

  Lights winked out, her mind blanked, and her lungs burned as her body failed to draw in enough air. As the world came back to her in slow pieces, like tiny white feathers floating to the ground, she became aware that he still loomed above her, breathing hard through his mouth.

  Had he made a sound? No…she couldn’t remember. Had he even come? She had been so lost in her own pleasure that she wasn’t sure what had happened. Shame had her turning her face into her pillow, praying he wouldn’t notice. Her fingers were still locked around the bars and she wouldn’t let go until he told her to.

  Without a word to her, he leaned forward and pried her fingers away from the wood. The muscles in her hands twitched and ached from the abuse of clinging too long to the poles. Fenn undid the belt from her wrists and then rubbed her skin, which was a little red from the vigorous lovemaking.

  She felt it then—despite the abused, tender tissue between her thighs, his semi-hard erection as he pulled out of her and left the bed. He disappeared into the bathroom and came back with a wet cloth. He cleaned her and himself before he pulled back the covers on the bed and tucked her in. He climbed in beside her and wrapped his arms around her.

  Hayden wished he’d say something to show she’d done all right, that she hadn’t messed everything up in some way.

  “Fenn?” she whispered.

  His warm breath caressed her cheek as he shifted behind her. The feel of his large, muscled form surrounding her, cloaking her made her feel protected, cherished, even without him saying a word.

  “What is it, honey?” The simple question and the way he sounded concerned was oddly intimate. As though they’d shared a bed for years, whispering in the early morning hours after life-altering sex. Was it really possible to feel this way about someone so soon? She hadn’t thought it was…

  “Did you…um…” Words failed her when normally she wouldn’t have had a problem being more vocal.

  He chuckled. “Don’t tell me you’re lost for words? If that’s all it takes, I’ll be tying you up in bed a lot more often.” He nuzzled her neck and bit down lightly on her skin. She shivered
. She could do this. She could come out and say it, couldn’t she?

  “Did you come? I wasn’t sure and I’m afraid that I didn’t—”

  “Ahh, that’s what has you worried?” His arms tightened a little around her body as he rolled her onto her back. He leaned over her, propping himself up on one arm.

  “Hayden, I came hard enough that I’m barely able to think right now. If I’d been a computer, you would have blown all my circuits,” he grinned.

  “Computer, huh? Didn’t figure you for a tech guy.” She didn’t mention his family’s business was technology based, or that his brother was big into technology, too.

  “Love the stuff, but can’t afford it.” He stroked a lock of hair back from her face, then twisted the lock around his finger. Dawn’s red-gold light crept along the side of the bed nearest the window. When it caught her hair, the individual strands seemed to suck the light in and then glow with it.

  “I love your hair.” He rubbed a fingertip over the coiled length, eyes bright with admiration. His compliment heated her cheeks. She wasn’t one to focus on a man’s compliments. Any man could say she was pretty if he wanted to try to manipulate her or get something from her. But Fenn already had her in bed, and didn’t have any other motive than to tell her what he felt. There were no games with him. If he told her something, in his mind he had to see it as true. And that meant something to her.

  “Thank you for saving me today.” She ducked her head again and curled herself into him.

  When they both woke up from this ephemeral dream, everything could change. He could go back to fighting her about going to Long Island and seeing his family. She could go back to not trusting any man to get too close. But right now, she needed him to hold her—not because she felt weak, but because she needed to share that part of herself that craved to be cared about, even if it was only temporary.

  “You’re welcome.” He kissed her forehead and stroked her side from her shoulder down to her thigh with his strong, capable hand.

  She yawned and surrendered to sleep and to him, secretly hoping that this dream wouldn’t end too quickly. It was hard to think about letting go of something so addictive, but she might have to soon.

  * * *

  Fenn was plagued by dreams and worries. After only a few hours in bed, he quietly slipped out and left Hayden to sleep. He needed time to think. Now he wasn’t just worried about his new family, but about Hayden, too. Why had she come to him? Had it been out of a misguided need for her to thank him for saving her? He didn’t want gratitude; he didn’t want pity, or even curiosity. He couldn’t figure her out; and not knowing her motives made him uneasy. What did a woman like her see in a man like him? Until he knew the answer he was going to tread carefully, which, after what they’d just done, would be hard as hell.

  She’d been more than a firecracker in bed. She was like an inferno. He’d come so hard he’d forgotten how to breathe for a few seconds, and he’d hadn’t been able to say a thing, let alone shout his release. Instead, he’d watched her eyes as she came undone, the way they gleamed, then shimmered and finally glowed. Fenn wished he could trade every moment he’d had with other women in the past, just to have one more moment with Hayden.

  After a quick change of clothes, Fenn slipped quietly down the stairs to the kitchen. Jim was already at the table, the local paper spread out in front of him. A mug of coffee sat to one side, steam curling up in pale tendrils. Fenn sat down at the table and pulled on his boots. His bad ankle twinged but wasn’t swollen. Good enough to go back to work.

  “You get enough sleep?” Jim pushed his chair back from the table and watched him.

  “Enough,” he answered.

  “Most men sleep in the day after they almost die. No one would think any worse of you if you did the same.”

  Tugging his jeans down over his boots, Fenn didn’t reply right away.

  “Jim, I need some time, you know? There are a lot of things to figure out.” He stood and walked over to the cupboard to grab a travel mug and poured himself some coffee.

  “I understand. Believe me. Every now and then things happen in a man’s life that make him want to tuck tail and run. When Maggie died…well, you remember how much of a mess I was.”

  Fenn nodded, recalling all too well that when Jim’s wife had passed, things had started to fall apart. He’d been eighteen by then and every urge to be a reckless kid had perished with Maggie. Seeing Jim and his four-year-old daughter so lost and alone had damn near broken his heart. It was then that he’d vowed never to let another bad thing happen to the family that had taken him in.

  “We were all a mess.” Fenn took a sip of his coffee. He liked it bitter and burning. Woke him up best that way.

  “Look at us now. Callie’s a grown woman and you’re a fine man. A man with a family. I get that you’re confused, but don’t let that confusion cloud your joy.” Jim’s tone was a warning, but still surprisingly gentle.

  “Speaking of Callie, you better watch her. Wes Thorne has been eyeing her too much for my liking.”

  Jim chuckled. “I know. She’s a grown girl, though.”

  “She’s twenty,” Fenn sputtered. “She’s a kid.”

  The older man laughed. “I married Maggie when we were both eighteen. Callie’s two years older and has a lot more common sense. She’s not the type to marry young. She has big dreams.”

  “Don’t you worry that someone with money will come along and offer her a chance to live those dreams?” Fenn couldn’t fathom how the older man wasn’t scared shitless at the thought.

  “Worried?” Jim was laughing so hard he wiped tears from his eyes. “I’m not worried. I’m praying for that. It’s called living. Besides, the greatest gift a father can give his daughter is not his protection, but his trust. I trust Callie to make her own decisions and live her own life, not some watered down version I’ve provided for her. Now, if she calls me crying about some man, you’re damn right I’ll load my shotgun and drive straight there, but I doubt that will happen.”

  “You’re a wise man, Jim.” Fenn attempted to layer his comment with sarcasm, but by the twinkle in Jim’s eyes, he knew the older man heard the respect in there, too.

  “Well, if you’re planning to avoid your own life this morning, the fence on the west paddock needs mending. My truck’s already loaded with the wood and tools.”

  Fence mending. Now that was exactly the type of work to take his mind off things for a few hours.

  “Sounds good.” Fenn put two fingers in his mouth and let out a piercing whistle to summon Coda. She loped down the stairs and into the kitchen. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Fenn crouched beside her and scuffed her ears and neck roughly. Coda’s tongue lolled out as she half-closed her eyes.

  “You give a woman that much affection someday and you might land yourself a decent wife,” Jim teased.

  The jest went ignored.

  “You’re the only girl I need,” he murmured and Coda whimpered expectantly. He stood up and stole a piece of biscuit from Jim’s plate and fed it to the dog.

  “I’ll pretend I didn’t see that,” Jim said.

  “Good idea.” Fenn slapped his thigh, indicating for Coda to come with him as they left the kitchen and headed out to the old blue truck.

  A little stutter in his chest made him hesitate. His own truck was a heaping pile of destruction at the bottom of the mountain. Having to share one with Jim was going to set them both back immensely. They didn’t have money for the mortgage payments on the ranch, let alone another truck.

  Coda bumped into his shin with her shoulder, tail thumping on the ground. He scratched her behind the ears and then headed to the blue truck. The keys were tucked under the driver’s seat where Jim always left them. Even though Walnut Springs attracted tourists and vacationers, it had little crime; and it was almost entirely safe to leave keys in a car. Fenn turned the keys in the ignition and the truck rumbled to life, shuddering a little, like an old dog getting up and shaking its coat of dust. />
  Coda jumped onto his lap, and he groaned as her heavy body shouldered past him so she could take her position riding shotgun. The window was already down, and she stuck her face out, tongue and tail both waving happily. Fenn envied Coda’s simple life sometimes. Biscuit breakfast, afternoon naps, joy rides with the window down. Not a bad life at all.

  Fenn backed up the truck and then started driving down the west field along the fence line. Cattle grazed beneath the noon day sun, their black and brown coats glossy as they munched on grass. A few lifted their heads, only a little curious as he drove past them.

  The drive to the area of fence he needed to fix took about five minutes, but it was far enough from the ranch house to suit his purposes. The distance between him and the house felt good but also tinged with a sense of melancholy. He didn’t usually run from things. He was more the type to raise his fists and prepare for a fight even if he knew he was going to get his ass handed to him. But all of this…his new family, his childhood…the addictive red-haired bombshell in his bed, too. It was too much at once. A man needed to clear his head before facing all that chaos.

  He hit the brakes and put the truck into park near a patch of the wood fence that was starting to lean over. The wood at the base near the ground was rotted and decayed, leaving jagged edges more like the rotted teeth of some great beast than a span of old fence. Coda followed him as he climbed down from the truck seat and went to the back of the truck to grasp some wood and tools. He dug around inside the rusted red toolbox until he found his leather work gloves. Eyeing the fence, he sighed almost blissfully. Mind-numbing labor would sure do the trick…He’d forget about everything weighing on him like the mountains hovering just behind the Broken Spur.

  A cool breeze stroked his face as he hefted the first wooden fence post off the truck bed and carried it across the golden grass field to the damaged fence. The day was perfect for working. Bright sun, a little wind, and the smell of rain in the distance. They’d get storms tonight. He loved storms. The violent crash of sound and sight of lightning with wind and rain. It felt almost purifying once the damage was washed away.