by Laura Kaye
He groaned at the feeling of being inside of her, at the idea that maybe, just maybe, he’d found a place, a woman, he could belong to for all time.
The tight walls of her most private place gripped him fiercely, surrounding him in white-hot heat and velvet softness. He moaned low in his throat. “You feel so good.”
When he filled her completely, he stilled and let them both savor the sensation.
She clutched at his shoulders. “So do you. God, I feel…”
He studied her face when she trailed off and watched a blush bloom on top of the flush their activities had already brought out in her skin. Now he was intrigued—he really wanted her to finish that sentence.
“What? What do you feel?” He strained to resist the instinct to move his hips.
She shook her head and flexed her hips, driving him deeper into her. It felt incredible, but he recognized the diversionary tactic for what it was.
He pulled his cock out until just the tip of his head was still inside her. Tremors shook his shoulders with the effort it took not to sink back into her. “Tell me.”
She groaned. “Caden, I need you.” He smiled at the pleading in her voice. She wrapped her legs around his hips and pressed her heels into his ass. But he was too strong for her to be able to force him to move. She pouted, but relented. “I felt so incredibly full.”
His ego buoyed, he didn’t hesitate to recreate the feeling for her, and plunged immediately back into her gripping heat. “Like that?”
“Yes, just like that,” she moaned. “God.”
He remembered his earlier desire to see her when he took her and pushed himself up onto his arms. His hands settled on both sides of her ribs. He grunted appreciatively at the full view the position gave him.
He moved in her then, flexing his hips over and over, driving his rigid length into her slick tightness. Her muscles sucked at him as she shifted positions. He finally hooked his right arm under her left leg to force her more open underneath him. The change allowed him to plunge even deeper.
He shook his head at how good it all felt. “So tight. Christ, so wet.”
She clamped her teeth down on her bottom lip and groaned as his repeated thrusts rocked into her. Her blue eyes were hooded with desire and flashed with a wondrous affection for him.
Caden returned her intense gaze. He caught her every movement, her every reaction to their joining. His mind began a catalog of information on Makenna he hoped he’d be fleshing out for a long time to come.
When she reached her wandering hands up to cup her own breasts and stroked her fingers over her nipples, he hummed in approval. “That’s right. That looks so good.”
He liked that she had the confidence to seek out pleasure during sex. She wasn’t reserved. She didn’t play games. Instead, she was real and completely guileless in the pursuit of their pleasure. Her honesty made her even sexier to him.
When Makenna’s eyes dropped down to where they were joined, his eyes followed.
“Fuck,” he murmured as he watched his wet cock slide in and out of her.
“We look…good…together,” she panted softly.
“We look so fucking good together,” he rasped. He gazed back up at her face. “You’re so damned beautiful.”
She smiled, beckoning Caden to kiss her. He released her leg and lowered himself back onto his elbows, then cupped his hands under her shoulders for leverage. He claimed her mouth until their need to breathe made it too hard to continue.
The room filled with the sounds of their lovemaking. The shifting of bodies moving together. Their panting breaths and impassioned moans. Every single sound reverberated directly to his cock and made him want her even more.
Enjoying the closeness of their bodies, Caden hunched himself possessively over her and slammed into her again and again. He rolled his pelvic bone into her clit with each thrust. The sound of her whimpering when he hit it spot on was the best reward.
“Sweet Caden,” she whispered as she pressed a few open-mouthed kisses to his yellow rose. He lowered his head and reverently kissed her forehead.
When she wrapped her legs around him, the added depth tightened everything in his groin. “Fuck,” he said through a dry swallow, “I want you…to come again. Can you do that for me?” he panted.
“Close,” she rasped.
“Touch yourself. Come with me.”
She groaned and reached down with her right hand. Her hand swiped down to the wetness he was bringing out of her. She separated her fingers into a V and slid them around him as he plunged in and out of her. “Aw, Christ.” The added sensation shoved him closer to the edge. “Red,” he cautioned, his voice a raw scrape.
Her fingers moved, then circled over her clit. He lifted up just a little and glanced down. But he had to look away before the incredible sight of her touching herself did him in before she was ready.
“Just feel. Feel me filling you up. Feel your fingers stroking yourself.”
A pleading whimper erupted from her throat. “Keep talking, Caden.”
He moaned. The strain of holding back his orgasm flared. Then he blurted out the feeling most driving him crazy in that moment. “You’re so tight, and it’s so fucking good. Everything about you…”
He felt her tighten around his cock and he groaned. Just a little more. Push her a little more.
“Come,” he growled through clenched teeth, “come on me.”
The hand on his back clenched. Her short fingernails pinched as they sank into his skin.
“Mak—”
“Coming! Oh God!”
“Fuck, yes.” Her orgasm roared through her. Her inner walls milked at him relentlessly. It was all he could take. “Oh, Christ.” He thrust into her once, twice, a third time. His release erupted into her still-clenching depths. His muscles strained as the most intense orgasm of his life slammed through him. He stilled himself all the way in her and shuddered against her as his cock continued to twitch. “Makenna,” he whispered as he panted into her soft wavy hair. He pressed kisses down onto the damp skin of her forehead, then allowed his head to fall into the crook of her neck when he gently pulled out of her.
Long, comfortable moments of blissful silence passed. Being with her had been incredible, but it was how at ease he felt with her that most had him hoping he could stay the night, and tomorrow, and the month…
Peace was not an emotion with which he was much familiar, but with Makenna, he had it. And he didn’t know how he’d ever give it up.
Chapter Nine
Makenna was speechless. She’d guessed earlier in the evening Caden would prove an attentive lover, but she wasn’t prepared for just how well he anticipated her needs, sometimes before she did herself, and how he made sure every one of them was fulfilled. It was a heady thing, being the center of someone else’s efforts and attention. She felt giddy.
And he’d felt so good in her. He was the most well-endowed man she’d ever been with, and Holy cow! the pleasure she got from the sensation of fullness alone would’ve made the sex great. But the way he moved his body, the way he rolled his hips, the way his hands possessed her, the reflexive sweet kisses he dropped all over her—it all felt effortless, natural, with him, which was why she’d been able to orgasm again. She’d never before been able to come again so quickly after orgasming. But Caden had drawn it out of her with his body, his words, the deep need in his voice for her to join him when he fell.
Most of all, he’d made her feel desirable, beautiful, sexy. These feelings enabled her to be completely free with him.
She stroked light trailing fingertips over his back where he had collapsed on top of her. She wriggled a little and turned her head to kiss his stubbled cheek.
He lifted up from her neck and smiled at her, then pressed a series of soft, worshipful kisses against her lips. “You doing okay?”
She smiled. “I’m mighty fine.”
His smile turned into a grin. “Yes, you are.”
She gave him a quick pe
ck. “You want something to drink?” she asked. “I have to get up to go to the bathroom anyway.”
“Yeah, sounds good.” He rolled off to her side and ran his fingertips from her neck down to her belly button. She squirmed, every part of her body now completely over sensitized from the immense pleasure he’d given her.
Makenna scooted off the bed and glanced back at him. He wasn’t even trying to pretend he wasn’t watching her nakedness stroll around the room. She smirked, knowing full well she’d be doing the same thing to him.
“You can use the bathroom in there if you want, I’ll use the one out here.”
He propped himself up on an elbow and gave her a very purposeful once-over. “Okay.”
She shook her head and walked out of the room, chuckling.
After cleaning up in the hall bathroom, Makenna made her way back to the kitchen and smiled at the almost-dinner they’d made. She quickly returned all the ingredients back to the fridge, deciding she’d rethink whether everything ought to be thrown out when she had more brain power in the morning. Then she settled all the dirty dishes in the sink.
She scooped up the clothes they’d shed and piled them on the counter. Smiling, she pulled Caden’s black shirt out and slipped it over her head. It was miles too big on her, but it felt great. She giggled like a school girl at the thought of his reaction.
She set a small tray on the counter and loaded it up with two bottles of water, some orange juice for her and a fresh can of Coke for him, and a big bunch of cold green grapes. She carried the lot of it into her room and found he’d switched on the lamp on her nightstand. He’d slipped his boxers and jeans back on and sat propped up against her headboard, his long legs stretched out in front of him.
“Nice shirt.” He smirked at her, but his eyes smoldered.
“I thought so.” She winked at him as she slid the tray between them and climbed up on the bed. “Help yourself.”
Caden plucked a bottle of water off the tray and downed half of it in one greedy gulp. The sight of his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat made her squirm a little. She shook her head at herself as she grabbed her glass of juice and took a considerably smaller drink.
He recapped the bottle and sat forward, then broke off a stem of grapes. He threw two in his mouth and closed his eyes as he chewed.
Makenna reached down and plucked a handful off the stem. The sweet juiciness exploded in her mouth as she chewed. “Mmm. Good,” she murmured.
He popped two more in his mouth and smiled. “Very.”
A flash of red light behind Caden caught her eye. “Wow,” she said. “It’s 1:30. I had no idea.” She gulped down the rest of her orange juice.
Caden glanced over his shoulder. “Um, yeah.” He ate another grape and looked down at the two he was rolling around in his hand. His jaw ticked, that same way it had in the elevator when she’d first seen him.
Makenna frowned. “Hello?” He cut his eyes back up at her. “What just happened?”
His brow furrowed. “I…nothing. Really.” He smiled, but it wasn’t her smile.
Not again.
She cocked an eyebrow at him, trying to imagine what was wrong. “I call bullshit.”
He chuckled and ran his hand over his scar, then sighed. “It’s late.”
She debated for only a second, then resolved the risk was more than worth it. Pushing the tray out of the way, she crawled over until she was kneeling in front of him. She cupped her right hand around his neck and her left hand around the back of his head, then gently tugged at him until the scarred side of his head faced her. Quite deliberately, she reached up and traced soft reverent kisses from his temple, along the scar over his ear, and all the way back to the very end of it at the hairline on his neck. She sat back on her heels and turned his face so she could see his now-flaming eyes.
Taking a deep breath, she asked, “Do you have somewhere to be?”
He shook his head.
“Because I’d like you to stay, if you want to. There wasn’t any hidden meaning behind my pointing out the time. I was just surprised, just so you know.”
He chuckled and nodded. “Okay. I’d like to stay.”
She released a deep breath as relief and joy flooded her. “Good. And Caden?”
“Yeah?” He quirked a crooked smile.
“So there’s no more weirdness or uncertainty…I like you.” The warmth of a blush blossomed on her cheeks.
The smile she loved brightened his face and crinkled his eyes. “I like you, too.”
Inside she was jumping up and down and screaming, “He likes me too, he likes me too!” Outside, she reached behind her and grabbed a few grapes. “Open,” she said.
The dimples deepened on his face as his smile grew. He opened his mouth. She popped one grape in his mouth and two in her own, trying to suppress a smile while she chewed.
Then she thought for a moment. She wanted to know more about him—she wanted to know everything. So she sat back and looked at him, finally drawing her finger around the outline of his yellow rose tattoo.
“Tell me about this?”
After Makenna left to get them something to drink, Caden had cleaned up and gotten dressed, not sure what to expect, or whether to expect anything. He knew what he wanted. He wanted to stay the night. He wanted to fall asleep holding her. Not once in the last fourteen years had he felt as comfortable with another woman, as accepted. And they’d been so damned good together. All night long, everything had felt so natural with her. Now that he’d found that, found her, he wanted everything she’d give him.
And then she’d returned wearing his shirt. The black of it highlighted the contrasting pale porcelain of her legs and the fiery hue of her loose curls. Somehow, his body had found some last reserve of energy, because the sight of her in his clothes made his cock stir again. If he got the chance, he was going to give her his Station Seven baseball jersey with his name silk-screened on the back.
He’d been savoring the image of her wearing a shirt that would mark her as his when she’d pointed out the time. The air had left his lungs. My time’s finally up, was all he could think. His gut clenched with unreasonable disappointment.
She’d noticed and called him on his shit—as she’d been doing all night. And he…loved her for it. Yeah, I’m not even going to pretend it’s something else. Because, just then, as she kissed him—kissed his scar—and told him she liked him and pulled him back from the edge of a downward spiral, he thought he just might be in love with Makenna James.
Her finger tickled the outline of his rose. He told her its simple story. “My mom had a rose garden. Yellow was her favorite.” He grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips.
Makenna pulled her hand free and pointed to the red cross on his upper bicep. “And this one?”
“It’s the badge from my station.”
She raked her fingernails over his left side. He flinched and swatted at her hand, making her laugh. “And this one?” she asked as she nudged him to sit forward so she could trace the big abstract tribal around to his back.
Something about her intense exploration of his ink felt incredibly intimate to him, but he just shrugged. “No story behind that one, really. I just liked it. And it took a long time to do.”
She crawled in to kneel behind him. Her knees settled against the outside of his hips and her warmth radiated against his back.
He sucked in a breath and shivered when she pressed four kisses against the large Old English lettering on his right shoulder—the tattoo of Sean’s name. It had been his very first tattoo—he’d lied about his age and used a fake ID to get it done on the day Sean would’ve turned fifteen. His chest felt full and tight at the same time, but above it all he admired and appreciated the way Makenna met his issues head on—kissing his scar, comforting him about the loss of his family, making him feel so accepted by wanting to understand why he’d marked himself again and again.
He anticipated her fingers before they fell on the lettering on his l
eft shoulder. “What does this say?” She traced over the four traditional Chinese characters he’d had done on the fifth anniversary of the accident.
“It says ‘never forget.’ ”
She kneaded his shoulder muscles, and he groaned and tilted his head forward. Her hands were surprisingly strong for being so small. After a while, her thumbs worked deep circles down either side of his spine until she reached the back of his jeans.
When she wrapped her arms around him and hugged, laying her cheek on his shoulder, he sank back into her embrace. It was an unusually peaceful moment for him. He felt so cared for. They sat that way for several long, comfortable minutes.
“Got any others?” she eventually asked.
He wrapped his arms over hers. “Another tribal on my calf. Wanna see?”
She nodded against his shoulder, then dropped her arms as he leaned forward and pulled up the leg to his jeans as far as he could. The black lines curved up and down the outside of his leg like feathers, or blades.
“Does it hurt?” she asked as she went back to massaging his back.
“It can. Some places more than others.”
“Is that why you do it?”
He spun to the right and dropped his legs to the floor, his upper body twisting further around so he could search her face.
Despite being surprised at the abruptness of his movement, she leaned forward to kiss him. “Caden, I like your tattoos. I mean”—she paused and blushed beautifully—“I really like them. It’s just…”
“Just what?”
“They hurt. And you said you got this one”—she stroked his left side—“because it took a long time to do. And the dragon was part of proving to yourself you’d beaten your fear.”
He nodded, studying her face intently. She was choosing her words carefully. He could almost see her thoughts playing out on her face, a face he was learning to read better and better. A face he found so very lovely.