“Jesus, Cass,” I whispered against her mouth.
Cassidy made a quiet sound in the base of her throat and pulled me into another kiss. Our tongues met, softer, less insistent. I stroked the side of her face and I wanted to disappear inside her, lose myself in the warmth of her body.
“I have to stop kissing you, or I’m not going to stop.”
She tugged on my bottom lip before giving a quiet sigh and pulling back an inch. “One of these days, I won’t let you stop.”
And dammit if that didn’t sound like the sweetest promise in the whole fucking world. I gave her ass a soft pat. “Get in the damn car, I’ve got other plans for you right now.”
“Yessir,” she murmured.
It was a twenty-minute drive to the next place. The karaoke was a cheesy tourist trap, but I’d had a handful of great nights there with friends, usually making asses out of ourselves.
Cassidy gave me a dubious look as we headed inside. A group of women was on stage, absolutely slaughtering a Katy Perry track that I used to like. Can’t say I’d listen to it with fond memories anymore.
“What do you want to drink?” I asked her, pressing my lips to her ear to be heard over the screeching.
“A Lemon Drop. I have a feeling I’m going to need alcohol for this.”
“You have no idea,” I said.
Cassidy found us a table as I ordered drinks at the bar. Once served, I placed them on the table and gave her a wink before making my way to the guy organizing the acts to put my name down. It would be about an hour before my slot was up. I’m sure Cass would be thrilled.
For the next hour we watched the acts, some pretty good, some fucking awful. But Cassidy sat close to me, her body angled into mine and her hand on my thigh, so life felt goddamn amazing.
“Has a guy ever brought you to a karaoke bar on a date?”
“Uh, no. You’re definitely the first in that regard, Seth,” Cassidy said, giving me a smile.
“You’re impressed. Admit it.”
She laughed. “I’m surprised. I wouldn’t go so far as to say impressed.”
I kissed her, lingering for a moment longer than I’d intended. “You will be, just wait.”
My name was called shortly after and I kissed her again before making my way to the stage. I couldn’t see her because of the lights, but I smiled in the direction of our table and hoped my aim was good. “This is for a super special woman in my life, who recently opened my eyes to the beauty of cliché chick movies.”
The table full of girls in the front row went nuts when the opening bars of the song played through the speakers. I doubted there was a single person on earth who didn’t know this song. The theme song for the movie we watched the other night, the band was well known anyway, but this song was pretty fucking famous.
And I killed it.
As in, took that poor son of a bitch out back and shot it. Only, I missed the kill shot and wounded the fucker instead. It died a slow, painful death that clawed at the ears of every person in the place.
No one applauded when I finished. Not even the girls in the front row.
The next act was announced and I jumped off the stage and weaved my way through the tables to get to Cass. As I approached our table, she wiped her eyes with a napkin. Holy shit, she was crying. No fucking way! I might have truly sucked, but maybe the sentiment was enough to—
Nope.
She was laughing.
About to piss her pants, laughing.
With a huff, I dropped into my chair and reached to take a sip of my now-flat soda. “You know, for a heartbeat I actually thought you liked that.”
Cassidy cackled. She clutched her stomach as the laughter rocked through her so hard eventually no sound came out. After two solid minutes, she started to gain control. She massaged her side and let out a few shaky breaths.
“You done?” I asked, lifting my eyebrows.
She nodded and wiped under her eyes again. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. It was kind of nice seeing you laugh like that, even if it was at me.”
Cassidy laughed quietly. She got up out of her chair and dropped into my lap, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. “That was quite possibly the best, but most holy-fucking-worst sounding, romantic gesture ever. Like, ever.”
I frowned. “Is that a compliment? Because I can’t tell.”
She smiled. “Yes, Seth. It’s a compliment. Despite being so horrifically terrible, that was amazing. Truly.”
My lips pulled into a lopsided smile. “I am pretty amazing.”
Cassidy rolled her eyes. “I should know better than to encourage that ego of yours.” She leaned in and kissed me, long and slow. I liked that she didn’t care we were in public and she was kissing me in a way usually reserved for a bedroom, or any other location of sex. Her kiss showed just how impressed she was, how much she enjoyed my performance.
Maybe I should give her another performance.
Or…quit while I was still ahead and she still had fully functioning eardrums.
She ended the kiss and pressed her lips to my ear. “Do you want to get out of here?”
I squeezed her hip. “Is there something else you want to do?”
“Yes,” she said with no hesitation.
“There’s something else I have planned for us. I promise you won’t be disappointed.”
Cassidy pulled back, her eyes scanning my face. “It’s not a hotel, is it? Because that would be kind of skeezy.”
Snorting a laugh, I kissed her. “No, it’s not a hotel. But I like how there’s a difference between you wanting to take me home and me wanting to take you to a hotel.”
She rolled her eyes and slid off my lap. “Of course there’s a difference. And for the record, you can surprise me with a night in a hotel sometime. Just not for the first time.”
“Duly noted.”
Cassidy was quiet in the car for the last part of the Most Perfectly Romantic Date Ever. She placed her hand on my thigh and I laced our fingers together. I never would have thought I’d end up being the kind of guy who liked holding a girl’s hand…but here I was…and I fucking liked it. Every piece of herself she gave me was something to treasure because I knew she didn’t do it haphazardly. Whether it was as simple as letting me hold her hand, or sitting in my lap in a karaoke bar and kissing the life out of me, Cassidy was slowly showing me that she did trust me—that she was making the conscious decision to move forward, to move us forward.
The closer we got to our destination, the more Cassidy kept shooting me curious looks. I knew she knew where we were headed, but she voiced none of the obvious questions that flashed across her face.
I followed one of the more backcountry roads, if you could call a dirt track a road, for a few miles. Everything was as I had left it earlier in the day. Giving Drew a week’s paid vacation to borrow his car and his camping expertise was totally worth it.
Winking at Cassidy, I shut off the car engine and got out. She followed after me, looking around the small campsite built for two. A frown drew her eyebrows together.
“Shit, is this as skeezy as a hotel?” I asked, cursing my stupid, stupid, idiotic idea.
“No, it isn’t skeezy, Seth.”
I gestured to her. “Then what’s with the face?”
Her features smoothed over. Cassidy shook her head and laughed softly. “You really want to know?” I nodded. “I was just thinking how you’ve really proved me wrong about you. You’re impressing me in all the right ways.”
A smile pulled at the corner of my lips. “Yeah?”
Cassidy rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Wait—you did actually bring some supplies, right?”
Huffing out a breath, I walked over to the tent. “Of course I did.” I unzipped the door and pointed to the two duffel bags inside, along with an air mattress, pillows and two-man sleeping bag. “I even built a fire. We just need to light it.” Actually, Drew had built the fire, and assured me it met the campsite rules about open fires. But she did
n’t need to know that.
She grinned as she peeked inside the tent. “Then color me impressed.”
Chapter Sixteen
Soft music played from the travel speaker system I’d brought and hooked up to my iPod. Cassidy was on my lap in the camping chair as we made s’mores in the campfire, and above us, the stars looked like sharp pricks of light flung across the sky.
Cassidy yelped and waved her stick around, the marshmallow attached to it coming off and disappearing into the fire. She sighed. “I keep setting mine on fire. What’s your secret?”
I kissed below her ear. “You’re too impatient. Here, you can have mine.”
She sandwiched my marshmallow between her chocolate and graham crackers and squished it together. Taking a bite, Cassidy moaned and closed her eyes. I shifted in the chair, causing Cass to open one eye as she finished her s’more.
“What?” I asked with a grin. “That sound is reminding me of other sounds you make. Can you blame my dick for reacting to that?”
A small smile teased her lips. She leaned in and kissed me, slow and lingering. “Keep feeding me and I’ll keep making the noise.”
“That sounds like the best kind of torture,” I murmured, claiming her mouth again. Cassidy parted my lips and slid her tongue inside. She tasted sweet and tempting. It made me want to devour her. I was glad we were the only two around. Drew had found us a secluded spot and swore blind we wouldn’t be bothered. Good. Because I didn’t want any other asshole seeing her flushed and turned on after I kissed her.
Cassidy pulled back and gave me a look I was powerless to refuse. “Will you make me another?”
“Sweetheart, I’d make you a thousand,” I said, shoving another marshmallow onto the end of the stick.
In the end, it was only another one. She shared it with me, which I hadn’t expected. The girl was way into her s’mores and I thought I’d lose a finger or two if I dared try to get in on the action. She relaxed into my chest, snuggling deeper into the sweater of mine she wore. It would smell like her, now. And the smoke from the fire. A heady combination, as I didn’t doubt it would bring back the memory of this night with startling clarity.
“That sky is amazing,” Cassidy said, tilting her head and gazing up into the darkness. “You never see stars in the city.”
She was right. It even impressed a jaded asshole like me. Sitting under the blanket of the galaxy made me feel small, insignificant in the grand scheme of things, yet at the same time, powerful. In a master-of-your-own-destiny sort of way.
Cassidy twisted around to kiss my jaw. “Thank you for tonight. It really was perfect.”
Something in my chest ached at her words. A stamp of approval wasn’t something I was used to. And from Cass…hell, I felt like a million bucks. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
“I did.” She giggled. “I’ll never forget that performance in a million years.”
“Good. Because you’ll never see it in real life again.”
She sighed. “That’s a damn shame. You’d be a YouTube sensation if I’d recorded it.”
I tickled her ribs. “You’d have been in for a world of trouble if you had.”
“I’m sure I could handle you,” Cassidy whispered, kissing me again.
Letting out a heavy breath, I had to agree. There wasn’t a damn thing Cassidy couldn’t get me to do if she set her mind to it. The woman had bewitched me. If there was a cure, I didn’t want it.
Cassidy stood and wrapped her arms around herself, shivering in the cold. “It’s getting late.”
I nodded. “There’s clothes of mine for you in the duffel. Get changed, I’ll put out this fire.”
With another shiver, Cassidy darted inside the tent, zipping it up behind her. Vegas daytime heat was awesome. Nighttime, not so much. I used the two buckets of water Drew had told me to keep for the fire, tipped them over it. Stirring the sodden mess with a stick, I couldn’t see any embers. Everything felt cool to the touch. I watched it for a few more minutes and poked around a little more just to be safe. Last thing I wanted was to set our tent on fire in the middle of the night—or the campground. I wanted the trip to be memorable, but not that goddamn memorable.
I opened the tent door and crouched to get inside. For a dude over six feet tall, it was a pain in the ass. I should have bought a bigger, badass tent that could fit twenty people standing upright, not this piece of crap that a kid would get a neck cramp in.
Turning around after sealing the door, my eyes widened as I took in the sight of Cassidy lying on her side on the air mattress, propping her head up in her hand.
Nude.
The soft light from the dim lantern cast shadows over Cassidy’s luscious curves, highlighted all the peaks and dips that I worshiped.
Fuck the twenty-man tent.
I wanted this one smaller.
So she was near me, up against me, on me, always.
I cleared my throat. “I thought you were cold.”
Cassidy smiled. “I thought you could warm me up.”
A laugh rumbled in my chest. So damn cheesy. I fucking loved it.
“Get over here,” she demanded.
I kicked off my shoes and dropped to my knees on the mattress. Cassidy sat up and tugged me closer by my belt. She pulled at my sweater and lifted it over my head along with my T-shirt. My heart hammered in my chest so hard I was sure she would be able to hear it. How could she not? It felt like it was going to bust right out of me.
As her fingers dropped to my belt again and started to take it off, I caught her face in my hands. “Cass, you know this isn’t what tonight was about, right?”
Her hands stilled. She looked up and pinned me with those bright-blue eyes. “I know. This isn’t a reward or pat on the back, whatever. This is because I’ve wanted you for as long as you’ve wanted me. I’m just not afraid of it anymore.”
Fuck me.
I released a tortured breath and pressed my forehead to hers. “Where have you been, Cass? I needed you years ago.”
She started unfastening my belt again. “I’m here now.”
“Don’t go anywhere,” I said, my voice low and gravelly.
“I won’t,” she whispered, popping the buttons of my jeans and sliding her hand into my boxer briefs.
I swallowed a groan as her fingers wrapped around my pulsing erection. She stroked up and down my length with firm, sure movements. My dick jumped in her hand. I was primed, ready to explode just by her touch… And I hadn’t even laid a finger on her yet. God, I wanted to bury myself deep inside her and never come out again.
With her other hand, Cassidy started to shove my jeans down.
This was happening.
Finally happening.
With Cass.
My blood roared in my veins and it took all the self-control I possessed not to push her onto her back and slam inside her that very second. As badly as I wanted it, and wanted it right fucking now, I wanted it to last. I wanted to remember everything about tonight, everything about her. How she felt, how she tasted, how she smelled, how she sounded. I wanted everything.
And it was right then that reality kicked in.
“Oh, fuck me,” I groaned, pulling away from her.
“I was trying. What’s the problem?” Cassidy asked with a frown.
I scrubbed a hand over my face. “I don’t have a condom.”
Her eyebrows flew up into her hairline. “What, at all?”
“No,” I said with a laugh, though nothing about the situation was anywhere close to funny. Christ, right at the pivotal moment that I truthfully hadn’t expected to happen tonight, and reality ruined it. F.M.L.
Deep, deep down, I had considered bringing condoms. Better safe than sorry and all that shit, right? But the last thing in the world I wanted was for Cassidy to think that the only reason I put any effort into a special date with her was so the night would end with me getting laid. So I forewent condoms.
Like a fucking idiot.
“It’s a good t
hing I do, then,” Cassidy said.
Wait, what? “You do?”
She nodded her head toward a corner of the tent. “In my purse.”
“Thank Christ for that,” I said, letting out a relieved laugh.
Cassidy opened her mouth to say something, but I silenced her, slanting my lips over hers. She cried out as I caught behind her knees and maneuvered her onto her back. I covered my body with hers, relishing all the places we met together that she was soft and I was hard. So soft, so feminine. So mine.
I teased her tongue with my own, growling when she met me move for move. She scraped her teeth against my lip and I ground my hips into hers. Cassidy shoved her hands into my hair and kissed me harder, mewling cries rising in her throat as I made love to her mouth.
Breaking the kiss, Cassidy gulped in a breath. I kissed her jaw, her throat, her collarbone. Her chest rose and fell in quick succession as I hovered above her breasts. I palmed one—full, warm flesh in my hand. Cassidy arched into my touch as I dragged my thumb over one stiffened nipple.
My breath fanned across her and she broke out in gooseflesh. Lowering my head, I took one pebbled nub into my mouth. She moaned and tugged on my hair as I worked her flesh, teasing with my tongue and giving her gentle nips with my teeth.
I traced her side with my fingertips, her hips and up over her ribs and back down again. Cassidy wriggled beneath me and made a pleading noise low in her throat.
“What do you want, Cass?” I asked her, stroking around her belly button and down to the neat crop of hair on her mound.
She lifted her hips, seeking my touch lower, where I knew she craved it most. “Touch me.”
“Where?” I asked, trailing my fingers back up her body.
Cassidy groaned and caught my wrist. Looking me dead in the eye, she guided my hand down her stomach and placed it against her wet heat. Cassidy moved against my hand, slow, rhythmic and sensual circles that had my eyes blurring in a haze of lust. “Touch me here. Make me come, Seth.”
“How do you want it? Show me.”
She rubbed herself with my hand before taking two of my fingers inside her hot pussy. Cassidy guided my movements, pushing me in deep and withdrawing. She rocked her hips against my hand. Watching her take control was the most sexual thing I had ever seen. Her skin flushed as her arousal grew, her breathing more and more labored with each thrust of my fingers.
Secrets, Lies & Imperfections Page 17