“Why do you think what you do matters to me?” She tried to appear unaffected, but he saw her uncertainty.
“Cutter told me about your mom, about all the selfish douches who have cheated and strayed and abandoned your family. My dad was the same kind of asshole, so I know how hard coping with that as a kid can be. It sucks to look up one day to find your dad gone.”
Karis bit her lip, and behind her sunglasses he could see her emotion. He was getting to her. Reaching her. He didn’t know precisely where they were going, but his every instinct as a cop and as a man told him that nothing right now in his life was more vital than winning this woman back.
“It changes you. I was a kid when my dad walked out. Apparently, he had a girlfriend, and one day he decided that being with her was more important than staying with his wife and daughter. I don’t think I ever really forgave him. And it definitely changed the way I approached men and relationships. I was always looking for the guy who wouldn’t do that to me.” She laughed at herself. “I was looking for Prince Charming.”
“And I didn’t seem like him.”
“That night, I believed you were. I really hoped that you were the guy for me, the faithful one my mother never has found. When Jolie got lucky and fell for Heath, I started letting myself believe it was possible for me, too. Then you felt so…I don’t know, right is probably the best word. Like we fit together or something. Like we belonged, you know? Or maybe you don’t and I’m just babbling.”
“No, I get you totally. I was feeling it, too. So when I was sure Madison wasn’t going to fall apart anymore and she understood our relationship now, I called you. When you didn’t want to talk to me, I won’t lie. I was kinda devastated. But I wasn’t going to give up. I’m still not. That’s why I’m here.”
Karis tucked away another forkful of her quesadilla and washed it back with a sip of her drink. “I have to admit, I’m shocked. I didn’t see myself ever being this close to you again.”
“How did us being apart make you feel?”
“Crappy. Sad.” She hesitated, then finally tore off her sunglasses, revealing the tears pooling in her eyes, just about to spill over the rims. “It hurt.”
“Me, too. And that’s not bullshit. I don’t have any experience with making a woman happy out of bed, but I want to try, see where we could take this.”
A pretty little smile crept up her face, which she promptly hid behind her napkin as she wiped her mouth. “All right. I’d like that.”
“Me, too. Still hungry?” He nodded at her plate.
“Not really. What about you? You’ve only eaten two bites.”
“Fuck food. I’d rather be with you.”
She gulped back the last of her half-melted margarita and left her barely touched plate. “Me, too.”
As they rose, Cage caught Miguel staring. He narrowed his eyes at the smooth waiter when his prying glance followed Karis retreating.
The guy approached him, adjusting the jacket of his starched uniform. “Would you like your food to go? I will be happy to find you a box so you can have your meal later.”
He didn’t like Cage any more than Cage liked the waiter, so the sudden desire to be helpful only made him wonder if Miguel had tainted or poisoned his food. The guy was definitely up to something. “No. But here’s what you can do for me: back away from Karis. She’s not available. I’m pretty sure you know something about the theft of her passport, and I’m telling you now that I’m here for—and with—her. She doesn’t need your ‘help’ and she never will. Fucking get lost.”
Miguel pressed his lips together, seeming to hold in his temper. Cage almost heard the gnashing of his teeth, but the guy collected himself, as if suddenly remembering that he was supposed to deny the accusation. “I stole nothing. I would never do such a thing. I was not aware that attempting to be helpful and friendly would be misconstrued as flirting. Of course I respect our guests’ lives and privacy.”
Every word Miguel said sounded like a preplanned speech, and Cage wanted to call bullshit. But Karis was waiting at the sliding double doors heading back into the lobby. As much as he’d like to have it out with the waiter until the guy understood that he needed to fuck off, he would ten times rather be with Karis, kissing her, peeling off her clothes, whispering in her ear, making her feel good. Convincing her that he cared about her more than he probably should after one night—and he didn’t see that changing anytime soon.
“Great,” he growled. “Stay away.”
Cage didn’t wait around for Miguel’s reaction. He also wouldn’t underestimate the guy. He’d be willing to bet Karis wasn’t the first guest to have her passport and other goodies stolen from her room. He’d also bet the majority of those guests had ended up warming Miguel’s bed for a few days.
Racing over to Karis, he hustled her inside the air-conditioned common area, away from the watchful waiter’s prying eyes, and took her hand in his. “Can you wait for me by that fountain for two minutes, cupcake?”
She turned to look behind her at the big stone water feature in the middle of the lobby. As evening descended, the place wasn’t bursting with people, but enough straggled in with suitcases or hung out with drinks that Cage didn’t worry Miguel or some other potential cohort of his could take their anger out on Karis.
“Sure.” She looked a little confused but hung back like he’d asked.
He couldn’t let her go that simply. Cage gave a gentle tug on her wrist and pulled her against him. After a little sway, her chest collided with his. Her head automatically fell back and she delved into his eyes. Jesus, what was it about her? She was a bit zany, not terribly practical. According to Cutter, she had a free spirit and a gypsy heart. She was his polar opposite.
Maybe that was the attraction. Maybe that was the reason every moment he’d spent with her over New Year’s, he’d felt more balanced and more certain that she belonged to him.
Cage didn’t dare kiss her now. They might not make it upstairs before his need to feel her again overwhelmed him. Instead, he nuzzled her cheek and pressed his mouth to her ear. “Want to know why I call you cupcake?”
“I’ve always wondered,” she breathed.
“Because from the moment we met, the first thing I thought was how adorable and sweet you were. And just like a cupcake, I could hardly wait to eat you.”
He smiled as he left her standing there, looking somewhere between stunned and excited, as he fished his phone from his back pocket and strode across the lobby. Glad he’d picked up an international calling plan before he’d left home, he made his way to the hotel’s offices and hit one of the names on his speed dial.
Forest, better known as Trees, was the quietest member of the operative team at EM Security Management, his brother’s employer. In fact, Trees was downright scary. All those guys who worked for Hunter and Logan Edgington and Joaquin Muñoz were. All former special operatives, they lived on the edge and craved adrenaline as their drug of choice.
The private security route was all well and good, he supposed. Cutter made good money, and Cage wouldn’t sneeze at it, but all he’d ever known was being a cop. It worked for him. These dudes, like Trees, possessed specialized skills that would come in really fucking handy about now.
“Cage?” He sounded surprised.
They didn’t talk much and they weren’t pals exactly. But they also weren’t enemies, so he was hoping the shaved-headed fucker would do him a favor.
“Yeah, look… My girlfriend is down in Mexico…” He filled the guy in on the crap Karis had gone through and whom he suspected was the culprit. “Would you do me a favor and hack into the hotel’s employment records, tell me if any of the previous female guests have filed complaints against this guy?”
“On it. Has this Miguel cat threatened her? Do you need backup? Mexico sounds nice. It’s really damn cold here, and I can’t stand the kind of sniveling asswipe who threatens a woman.”
He’d probably offered his assistance more for the vacation than anyt
hing, but it was nice all the same.
“I’ve got it so far, but I’ll holler if that changes.”
“Roger that.”
In the background, Cage heard the guy tapping on a computer at what sounded like lightning speed. He didn’t ask how Trees had learned his hacking skills, he just knew from hearing his brother talk that they were mad. He was also both surveillance and navigation on the team. Cutter was in charge of engineering and demolitions, which seemed like an oxymoron to him, so he teased his brother about building something only to blow it up. Josiah and Zyron he didn’t know much about. And One-Mile…whatever his current situation with Brea, the guy had still taken advantage of her. In Cage’s book, he always be a prick and a half.
But Cage had his own problems right now.
“Can you call me back when you’ve got something?”
“Yep. They’ve got some security on this system, and there’s the translation problem, but it should only be a couple of hours.”
“Thanks, Trees. I owe you big.”
“Maybe you can make your brother introduce me to some women in this godforsaken town. I just moved to Lafayette. All the good ones seem to be taken, and my dick is damn tired of my hand.”
Cage laughed. “I’ll twist my little brother’s arm, and we’ll work something out.”
They ended the call, then Cage strolled to the front desk and asked for the manager. After some backing and forthing, along with a good, old-fashioned bribe, the suit blabbed that Miguel’s shift ended in another three hours. Good to know when the pouty little bitch would have free time to make mayhem. He was coming for Karis, no doubt. Cage was determined to be waiting.
* * *
Still standing at the fountain, Karis watched Cage stroll back toward her. What the hell was he up to? It was something, given that swagger. He thought he had everything under control. He’d taken charge of the situation because he was the man and he intended to protect her.
It was actually kind of sweet.
“Hey,” she murmured as he approached.
He winked. “You ready to head upstairs?”
Though her heart was pounding, she raised a brow at him. “For a rousing game of Charades?”
“That what you want?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Putting this back on me? Okay, I’ll be brave. Not really.”
“Good.” He pulled her close, and she melted against him. “I promise, I won’t leave you guessing what I want.”
When he all but yanked her toward the elevator, Karis had to suppress a laugh. She felt lighter than she had in…well, since the start of the new year.
She’d begun January first full of hope and lightness—and impatience for Cage to call again. Seeing him with Madison a few days later had been the worst shock. Wondering if only she had felt the earth move between them had filled Karis with pain. After his explanation today, she understood where he’d been coming from. No, she didn’t like that he’d touched the blonde again, but weirdly she understood his act of compassion. People wanted comfort in times of loss. Besides, she and Cage hadn’t made each other any promises of exclusivity during their one night together.
Sure, he could be lying about the whole thing. Men did that. But Cage was so much like his true-blue brother that Karis didn’t think so.
She pressed the call button. “Jolie could have simply overnighted the picture to me, you know.”
He shook his head, the mussed tousle of his hair so sexy. “I was with Cutter when Jolie called him for help. My brother was actually going to come to your rescue.” Cage grimaced. “I insisted on coming instead. I never told him what happened between us that night…but he’s a smart guy. After he warned me that I’d better bring you back in one piece and not to break your heart, he helped me book the next flight out.”
Cage had come for her, seemingly to make things right between them. Karis couldn’t think of a single time a man had gone so far out of his way simply to make her life better, keep her safe, or give her a reason to smile.
She slanted him a glance, feeling as if she glowed from within—like her happiness. “Thanks.”
The elevator opened with a ding. A family stepped out. She and Cage eased in, totally alone.
“Did you miss me?” he asked as they started to ascend. “Because I missed you like hell.”
Once given, Karis knew she couldn’t take her answer back. She would be exposing her heart. “I thought about you a lot.”
“Ditto, cupcake.”
He grabbed her hand as the elevator stopped at their floor. Together, they raced to her room. She felt excitement dancing between them. It gripped her stomach. The ache between her legs swelled.
As he inserted the key in the lock, he studied her. “You need anything? Another drink? A shower? A minute to enjoy the sunset?”
She frowned. Was he trying to distract her because he didn’t want to have sex with her after all? “No.”
“Thank god.” He shoved the portal open, nudged her into the room, then slammed the door and locked it behind him.
Karis barely had time to draw in a breath before he urged her back against the wall, covered her body with his own, and slanted his mouth over her lips in a possessive, toe-curling kiss.
Instantly, she looped her arms around his neck and whimpered. She’d missed him so much. That familiar feeling of belonging to him swamped her again, along with desire. He tasted of tequila, just like he had that first night, as well as something spicy and manly. Cage overwhelmed her senses. He fried her resistance.
She loved it.
He tugged at her pool cover-up, and Karis helped him, breaking the kiss only long enough to whip it over her head. He tossed the garment away and attacked the strings of her bikini next. Between one breath and the next, he exposed her breasts, cupping them, dipping down to lick them, suckle their tips one at a time, then sink lower still to yank down her bikini bottoms.
“Step out. I want your pussy. I’ve been craving my cupcake something fierce.”
Her heart fluttered and her ache coiled as he dragged the scrap of fabric down her thighs. She was still stepping out of them when he lifted one of her legs over his shoulder and fastened his mouth over her clit.
Fire burst through her at the contact. She gasped, flattened her hands to the wall, tossed her head back, and groaned. “Cage…”
“Hmm.” He didn’t let her go, didn’t come up for air, just continued to savor her as if she was the sweetest treat to ever cross his lips.
Under his mouth, she unraveled. It was so intimate, so passionate. He held nothing back, unabashedly pursuing her pleasure. Every touch demanded she give it to him. As his tongue laved her clit again and again, concentrating exactly where she needed him, Karis canted her hips to him, opened for him, gave him everything, including her mounting need.
She thrust her hands in his wavy hair and gave a tug. “Oh, god. Please…”
“Come for me,” he muttered roughly against her thigh. “Cupcakes have cream frosting, and I want all your sweetness on my tongue.”
Cage had a dirty mouth. She remembered that from New Year’s Eve. Now, like then, his wicked words unwound her and left her breathless.
Under the lash of his tongue and the nip of his teeth, the burn behind her clit swelled and grew. She felt it filling her veins, flooding her head, drowning her in a well of ecstasy.
When he sucked her into his mouth again, she went under with a long, harsh cry. Cage only took that as his sign to go at her with more gusto, and he wrung out every moment of bliss from her body he could. He left her panting and limp and glowing.
He stood slowly, kissing his way up her body. When his face filled her vision, he was wearing that proud, cocky grin. “Best cupcake ever.”
Despite feeling completely spent, she laughed. “You certainly ate it with gusto.”
“I have a feeling it will always be my favorite dessert.” He dragged his lips up her neck. “In fact, I may never eat another cupcake again.”
When he straightened and pressed his forehead against hers, he stared at her with a dark, dead-serious gaze. Something about it seized her insides. In the next instant, she knew why, and her breath caught.
Cage wasn’t playing in any way—except for keeps.
“Are you going to take me to bed now?” Her voice shook.
“Absolutely,” he murmured as he lifted her rubbery legs and settled them in the crook of his arm, supporting her back with the other. A few steps later, they were on the bed, Cage on top of her. Together, they pushed and tugged and yanked until he was naked. Well, she did more of the work. He seemed orally fixated on her mouth and her nipples…and she wasn’t complaining a bit.
Finally, he fished a condom from his pants and rolled it down his length with one hand, opening her to the swollen crest he fitted against her entrance with the other. Karis held her breath, lifted her hips, aching with the wait to feel him deep. No one had ever given her pleasure like Cage Bryant. No man had left his mark on her heart the way this one had. Sure, she’d had silly fairy-tale dreams of meeting Mr. Wonderful…but that had been a fantasy borne of the broken promises of a father to his little girl, of her mother’s endless string of terrible boyfriends.
Cage was real.
“Ready?”
“Hurry…” she moaned.
“Yeah. I’m going to lose my fucking mind without you, too. Hold on to me.”
That was all the warning he gave her before he braced himself, spread her wider, and filled her with one rough thrust.
He delved deep. Her head fell back. Her nails dug in. Her breath rushed out in a moan. Already, he was everything she remembered and more.
“Oh, fuck,” he groaned loud and low. “You feel so damn good, cupcake. Jesus…”
“Amazing.” She couldn’t quite catch her breath. She definitely couldn’t stop wriggling under him. “I need more, Cage.”
He breathed harshly against her skin. “I’ll always need more from you.”
Karis had no time to process his confession before he plunged into her again and again, establishing a hard, slow rhythm that scraped every nerve ending and held her in thrall. Every time he shoved inside her, he wrung a gasp, a whimper, or a kiss from her.
Devoted to Wicked: A Wicked Lovers/Devoted Lovers Crossover Novella Page 3