Steel Rush (In the Shadows#5)

by P. T. Michelle

  Calder finally makes his way to my sex, but instead of giving it attention, he slides past my wet center and reaches for the other ankle.

  Are you fucking kidding me? I glare at him as he slowly lifts the other foot. He’s not possibly going to do the exact same thing to the other side. That would just be cruel. When he pushes up to his knees and takes my leg with him, I start to exhale a sigh of relief, but end up sucking the air into my lungs in a deep groan and hike my hips off the floor as he bites down on my Achilles tendon.

  Calder’s only response is to flatten his palm on my stomach and push me back to the floor. “Stay put, angel,” he commands, then returns to silently torturing me down the entire back of that leg.

  Once he reaches the spot where my leg meets my body, he lowers my leg back to the floor and slides his hands to my ass, grabbing both muscle cheeks in a firm hold. When his thumbs tug at my opening with slow, precise pressure, I exhale slowly to remain still.

  I’m shaking and barely able to keep my knees bent, let alone my feet flat on the floor, but the sensation of his breath rushing close to me but not touching is more than I can take. “Enough Calder,” I snap. “Taste me before I kill you.”

  He glances sharply at me. “Not a word.”

  Clamping my lips together, I close my eyes and tug harder against the necklace, letting the metal dig into my skin ruthlessly.

  The deep thrust of his tongue in my channel takes me by surprise. I nearly surge off the floor at first, but then I press against him, seeking more. Calder’s big hands grasp my thighs tight and he consumes my body with merciless abandon.

  When I try to put my foot on his back, he yanks it back down to the floor with a fierce growl and then punishes my clit with a sharp nip. I let out a keening cry of shock. He’s not fucking around about my feet.

  I rock against his mouth, taking what he’s giving but wanting so much more. “God, just fuck me, Calder. This is too much,” I whimper, my whole body shaking for release.

  He grunts and slides two fingers deep in my channel. I gasp and clench him tight, tears of relief falling into my hair. Calder flicks my clit with his tongue and an intense orgasm rocks through me.

  I just start to exhale a sigh of sheer bliss, when he pushes his thumb on my clit and lifts his head, growling, “Stay with me, angel.”

  “Wha—” A gasp of deep arousal cuts off my comment. His fingers are stroking my g-spot with unrelenting determination.

  I tense, my body wanting to fold in half and hide from the intensity. “Cal—Calder.” Hot and cold shoots from my head to my toes and prickles form on my skin. “I don’t think I can take this.”

  Calder pauses his movements and looks up at me. “Give yourself over, Cass. This is the freedom you asked for,” he says, his tone both brutal and velvet with dark promises.

  I swallow and close my eyes tight. My heart is racing like crazy, but it feels like it’s only speeding up. Finally I nod.

  “That’s my girl,” Calder says. He presses a kiss to my mons at the same time he hits a spot and doesn’t let up.

  I arch my back and neck, my whole being centered on his masterful manipulation of my body. Panting hard, I undulate my hips with his movements as the tension coils inside me.

  “You’re close,” he says, and a new sensation layers over the ones already in play as he slides a different finger in my ass and clamps his lips over my clit.

  Calder completely consumes me with sensory overload. My body is chilled and my face is on fire. “Cald…it’s too much.”

  “Fuck, you’re beautiful like this. Let go and come all over me, Raven mine.”

  As soon as his mouth latches onto my clit once more, a rush of warmth and body-rocking vibrations flow through me, taking my orgasm to new heights. I hang on to a temporary plane, where want and desire coalesce with body and mind in one massive emotional wave of release, changing everything I thought I knew about my body and sex.

  I lay there for a minute, completely spent and panting. Only warm droplets hitting my chest brings my gaze into focus. Calder’s standing next to the sink, a smug grin on his face as he flicks more soapy water at me. “Welcome back.”

  I quickly stand up behind him. As I untangle my wrists from his necklace, my legs wobble and almost give out. Just as I grip the edge of the counter, Calder reaches behind him and hooks his arm around me, hauling me against his back. “Whoa, Cass. I got you.”

  Clasping his dog tags, I wrap my arms around his trim waist and press my face against his arm. He’s so freaking hot and as his gorgeous green eyes hold mine in the mirror, my face blooms with color. My naturally dried hair is a mess of dark curls, making my face look even more heart-shaped. I look like a wild thing, but a happy one. “That was…that um…”

  “Out of this world? Transcendent? Life changing?” he supplies, grinning at my reflection in the mirror.

  I can’t even be mad at his arrogance. He’s entirely right. I smile and press my body closer. “All of the above.”

  Calder shuts the water off, his expression suddenly serious as he takes the hand towel off the hook and dries his hands. “All I want is your trust, Cass.”

  My eyes widen. “You have it. What I just told you about my past, no one knows. Not my parents, not even Talia.”

  I hold my hand out and uncurl my fingers, revealing his tags. “Why do you still wear these? You’re no longer in the military.”

  Calder takes his tags and returns them to his neck. “After my father died, my unit became my family.”

  Yet he’s no longer with his SEAL team or in the Navy at all. “Why did you leave?”

  “I went on missions non-stop for over three years. When I ended up in the hospital, recovering for three months…” He pauses and shrugs. “I realized if I kept going at that pace, I wasn’t going to make it to the hospital. At some point, I had to come home.”

  He doesn’t say “to be alone” but I see the lost look in his eyes. I slowly trace my fingers along his Solus tattoo, then slide my hand up his ribs and over his pectoral to cover his heart. “I’m sorry for all that you’ve lost.”

  He shakes his head, his hand clenching on the towel. “It’s in the past, Cass.”

  “Grieving is a process, Calder. I miss my sister every single day, but I try to lessen the loss by recalling the special moments we had together, no matter how small.” Straightening my arm in front of him, I turn my palm up toward the mirror. “Now you’ll never be alone.”

  He looks at our reflection and his gaze follows my arm to see I’ve lined my tattoo up with the Solus on his waist. His throat bobs as he drops the towel to trace his finger up my forearm and along the Never script.

  Turning in my arms, he captures my face and presses his lips to mine, murmuring, “Are you trying to wreck me?”

  I squeeze his waist and press my naked chest to his, teasing against his lips, “I’m just kissing you.”

  He spears his fingers into my hair, his voice gruff. “I’m never letting you go.”

  “Hold tight,” I whisper, loving that we’ve come to an understanding about us. No matter what our past relationships were, we’re together and that’s all that matters.

  Sliding a hand down my back, Calder palms my ass and pulls me fully against his erection, deepening our kiss. The moment I reach up and wrap my arms around his neck, he groans and swiftly lifts me in his arms, carrying me into the bedroom.

  When he lowers me to the bed and presses a tender kiss to my forehead, whispering, “Get some sleep, angel,” my heart jerks. Sitting up, I grip his hand as he starts to walk away. “Where are you going?”

  Calder lifts my fingers to his mouth, his gaze full of hunger and regret. “It’s almost dawn. I need to get back to my room.”

  I clamp my fingers around his, not wanting to let him go. “But…”

  He slides a simmering gaze over my chest, then glances toward the ceiling, exhaling harshly. Returning his attention to me, he hooks his finger under my chin. “The way I want you won’t
be soft, angel. I’ll be insatiable and relentless.” My lips part on a breath of aroused excitement, and a wicked smirk crooks his lips as he runs his thumb down my chin. “I want to fuck you very much, but in my own space, not someone else’s.”

  Without another word, he turns toward the bathroom and disappears into the linen closet.

  My phone beeping with a text wakes me just two hours after I fell into a fitful sleep. All I could think about was Calder. My head throbbing, I rub my eyes and glance outside to see early morning fog is still in the air. Grabbing my phone from the nightstand, I unplug it from a charger I found in Celeste’s desk.

  As I click on Talia’s message, I see that Calder sent me a text an hour ago.

  Talia: Go outside in twenty minutes.

  I blink to wake myself up and respond to her text.

  Me: What’s happening in twenty minutes?

  Talia: You’ll have a visitor.

  Me: Who’s up at this ungodly hour? Do you have any news?

  Talia: Ha, I’m texting you from my warm bed. You’ll see. No news yet. See you tonight.

  I click on Calder’s message expecting something personal after last night.

  Calder: Get out of going to the shooting range.

  He doesn’t ask. He commands. As much as I want to balk at being ordered around, it’s probably for the best if I cancel. After I send him a message that I’ll take care of it, I quickly jump up and finger-comb my bedhead hair, then rush into the bathroom to brush my teeth. Sliding into a pair of jeans, sneakers, and a coat, I quietly open my door and walk down the stairs. I’m thankful no one’s around, but when I see Beatrice instructing a younger housemaid how to mop the front entrance hallway properly, I turn and head for the side entrance that leads into the garden.

  According to my phone, I have more time than I thought, but instead of going back inside, I decide to take the long way around the massive house to get to the driveway. As I follow the stone pathway and avoid patches of ice that haven’t thawed yet, I turn the corner from the back side of the house and hear people talking ahead of me near the separate garage.

  Ugh, I’m a mess. What if it’s someone important? I’ll never hear the end of how I embarrassed Celeste from Beth.

  I quickly step behind a tall juniper and Calder’s voice reaches my ears. “Thanks. I owe you.”

  I frown and peer through the evergreen. The girl from last night, Alana, is wearing tight, ripped skinny jeans, a moto-jacket and matching boots. Her black hair is down around her shoulders, but this time the tips of her bangs are a deep red color that matches her lips. She’s fucking hot as hell.

  “You’re welcome,” she purrs. Rubbing her fingerless-gloved hands together, she lifts a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “So…does this mean you’ll reconsider?”

  Calder snorts and shoves his hands in his jeans. “Of course you would go right for that.”

  She releases a low, sexy laugh as she runs her finger along his jawline. Tilting his head, she eyes him appreciatively. “Yeah, I’m thinking just the barest of profile.”

  Disliking her I-just-woke-up husky voice intensely, I set my jaw and glance down at my phone as it buzzes in my hand.

  Talia: Are you there?

  Crap. I need to get to the driveway.

  Me: Coming. Got delayed.

  Turning, I run back the way I came until I reach the driveway.

  As I jog up, Mina steps out of her car and shuts the door. Shifting the white gift bag from one hand to the other, she pushes her blonde hair over her shoulder and smiles. “Hey, Celeste. I just thought I’d pop by and see how you’re doing.”

  Breathing heavily, I wave to her little girl, Josi, still in her car seat. “Hey, Mina. It’s good to see you.”

  Mina’s brown eyes widen with concern and she glances around to see if anyone’s about. “Are you all right, Cass?”

  Swallowing, I take a breath and nod. “I’m fine. I went for a walk and lost track of time. I had to run to get back here to meet you.”

  Relief flickers across her face. “You’ve got us so worried.” Glancing down at the bag in her hand, she continues, “Oh, this is for you from Talia…and me. Don’t open it until you get to your room.”

  I take the bag from her and smile my appreciation. “Thank you for driving out here to check on me and for the gift.”

  She nods and starts to say something when a motorcycle cranks from the side of the house. A second later, the person zooms up the driveway.

  “Who was that?”

  I see the black helmet first, then the ripped jeans and moto-boots, but the vanity license plate holds my rapt attention as the bike disappears up the driveway. INKART. My gaze narrows. “That answers a lot.”

  Mina’s gaze slides back to me. “You um…don’t sound happy.”

  “I’m fine, just tired.” I force a smile and lift the bag up. “Thank you again for the gift and please remind Talia not to hug me when she sees me tonight.”

  “Got it.” Mina waggles her fingers at Josie who’s getting antsy in her car seat. Opening the car door, she shakes her head. “I don’t know how you’re doing this, Cass. I would’ve given myself away so many times.”

  “It’s not easy,” I say on a sigh. “But whether Celeste is missing or just hiding out, I hope to collect evidence tonight that points away from me as the first person the police might suspect in her disappearance.”

  “Good luck tonight. I truly hope Celeste is all right and this is her way of getting back at her father.”

  As I watch her get into her car and drive away, I murmur, “Me too, Mina.”

  Calder’s just coming down the stairs at a brisk pace when I walk in. Marco turns on his way up the steps and walks back to the main floor, his gaze watching us like a hawk. Calder immediately walks over to me in the entryway, his tense expression relaxing. “You need to inform me when you leave your room, Miss Carver.”

  It’s not fair that he appears to have had a full night’s sleep, is freshly shaven and smells like sin, while I look like I’ve been on an all night bender. I start to inhale his appealing scent, but the INKART license plate pops into my head. I lift the bag up. “Mina dropped off something for me.” Maybe there’s a miracle facelift in it. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get a shower. I have an engagement to keep.”

  He falls into step beside me, a frown creasing his brow. “What engagement? I’m not aware of anything on your itinerary until this evening.”

  I glance his way as I take the steps. “Ben’s taking me shooting today. He’s picking me up around ten, so I want to be ready.”

  “Miss Carver,” Marco calls out and waits for me to pause. “I was on my way to inform you that there is a breakfast meeting in the dining room in fifteen minutes to discuss tonight’s event.”

  When he grins as if knowing I’ll be rushing through a shower to make the meeting with such short notice, I press my lips together in annoyance and continue up the stairs.

  Calder follows silently until I reach for my door’s handle. “You said you were going to take care of it.”

  His tone is low but tense. I glance at him and lift my shoulders. “I decided it’s best to keep things real and in the present. You should know all about that.”

  “Meaning?” he asks, scowling.

  I step into my room and turn to face him. “Considering that you conveniently left out the part that your old friend, Alana, is your tattoo artist, your argument of what constitutes innocent gestures is full of shit.”

  “No, it was on point. My argument was about intent and it still stands.” His green gaze sharpens. “I strongly recommend that you cancel.”

  “Oh well, in that case, I intend to learn to shoot today. And I strongly recommend that you stay outside the building.” Shutting the door in his face, I lock it and head straight for the bathroom.

  I set the bag on the counter and pull it open, hoping for something to put me in a better mood. When I pull out two sets of super sexy bras and underwear, one black and one r
uby red, both made of lace and barely there scraps of silk, I let out an ironic snort and retrieve the note Talia had put in the bottom of the bag.

  A couple pairs of brand new underwear for you; they’re both functional and impractical. I highly recommend you enjoy the impractical part.

  I quickly step into the short hallway that leads into the dining room. I’m five minutes late and I can already hear Gregory and Phillip having a debate over something, but the sight of Jake leaning against the wall partway down the hall as he talks on the phone, brings me to a fast halt. What’s he doing here? He hasn’t seen me yet. I could go back the way I came and feign feeling suddenly ill.

  I straighten and start down the hall, reminding myself that he’s attending the event tonight. He has a reason to be here. Presumably this breakfast is where he’ll get assigned people to schmooze during the event on Gregory’s behalf.

  Just as I pass him, Jake hangs up and says quietly, “Morning, Celeste.”

  “Morning,” I say over my shoulder.

  “Hold up a sec.”

  I move closer to the wall and wait for him.

  Jake pushes back his rolled up shirtsleeves, then runs his hand in his short blond hair. “I wanted to apologize for my attitude the other night.”

  “It’s fine, Jake.” I shrug and start to walk forward when he grabs my arm and hauls me backward.

  He grips my face and pushes me against the wall, sneering in a low voice, “Was this your plan all along? Did you really think all it took was this to replace her?”

  My throat nearly closes in fear, but I quickly shake my head and claw at his grip. “What are you talking about? Let go of me!”

  His hazel eyes constrict and his fingers squeeze tighter. “You must’ve hated that Dad chose Ben over me. You could’ve finally had me all to yourself.”