by Lora Leigh
“Yeah, sure you are. I heard about you too, Big Boy,” she muttered. “Dillon Carlyle has nothing on your little exploits.”
At least he had the grace to blush.
“Get the hell out of that bed, Marly.” She jerked in surprise at Cade’s furious voice as he spoke from the bottom of the bed.
She frowned. “Don’t you get tired of skulking around?” she asked him irritably, but didn’t move from Sam’s arms.
“Last warning.” She was amazed to see his face flushed, his eyes dark with fury. “Get the hell out of that bed and let’s go.”
“Damn, Cade, I can’t even have sympathy now.” Sam was more than put out with Cade’s attitude as well if his rough voice was anything to go by. “What the hell is your problem anyway?”
Cade’s eyes flashed with dark fire.
“Eager to start already, Marly?” he asked her coolly, his look suggestive as he flung his threat in her face.
Marly tensed with her own anger, and felt Sam do the same. It wasn’t jealousy. It was need. She could see the lust riding Cade, the inner fury at himself, not at her. But it hurt all the same.
“Damned good thing I’m laid up, Cade,” Sam bit out. “Cause we’d fight for that one.”
He hugged Marly tightly for a second, then lifted his arm from her shoulder.
“Remember what I told you, sweet thing.” He winked slowly, but there was no amusement in his smile. “I’ll be home in a few days, I promise.”
“Thanks, Sam.” She kissed his cheek softly, then rose from beside him, moving quickly past Cade. “Maybe when you come home, asshole will be in a better mood. Or I’ll be gone.”
She heard Cade curse behind her, but continued until she was outside the door, and standing silently in the hall, staring in silent determination at Rick and Brock as they blocked her way. She sighed deeply, fighting for patience and tolerance as she faced them.
“One of these days,” she mused. “Some big dumb man is gonna stand in my way at the wrong time.”
“Long as there ain’t no crazies stalking in the shadows at the time, then I’m with you, honey.” Rick’s lips quirked in amusement as he watched her.
Breathing out as she raised her eyes heavenward, she sat down in a hard plastic chair and resigned herself to waiting, if a bit impatiently, for Mr. Ass to decide to leave.
* * * * *
Cade wanted to hit someone. Preferably Sam. But how do you hit a man that took a bullet for you? He escorted Marly into the waiting limo, watching as she moved to the far corner of the seat. He sighed wearily, entering and closing the door behind him.
He allowed his head to fall back and rest along the seat, closing his eyes tiredly. Marly was, once again, not speaking to him. She sat in stubborn silence, staring outside the tinted window, her arms crossed over her breasts. Her long hair was tied back, falling over her shoulder, shielding most of her face, and her expression. She was beautiful in her anger, but he was getting tired of seeing her so damned mad. He couldn’t make her understand, no matter how hard he tried. Hell, he didn’t understand his feelings sometimes himself. All he knew was that he needed her. Needed her unlike anything he had ever needed in his life.
“What do you want, Marly?” He was tired of fighting with her. He wanted to hold her; he wanted her close to him. Just in his arms if nothing else. He hated frightening her. He hated pushing her. He wanted her, needed her.
“I don’t want anything, Cade.” Her voice was calm, cool. She didn’t look at him, didn’t acknowledge his presence in any way other than to simply answer him.
“I’m tired of saying I’m sorry,” he sighed. “I’m who I am, Marly. I warned you of this.”
“A liar?” She turned to look at him with haunted eyes. “I never thought you would lie to me, Cade. Until now.”
“I didn’t lie to you.” He raked his fingers though his hair impatiently. “I couldn’t have resisted much longer, Marly. You know that as well as I do. But the threat against you terrified me. It just sped things up.” Frustration and aggravation lined his voice.
“This isn’t even about that anymore, Cade,” she told him hoarsely.
Cade knew what it was about. She was worried, concerned. But she wasn’t running.
“Is it about the sex?” he bit out. “Dammit, you enjoyed it. I know you did.”
He knew women could be confusing, but this defied anything he had faced before.
“And that’s all that matters, isn’t it, Cade?” Her voice sounded understanding, so why did he feel she wasn’t the least bit understanding?
“What else matters?” he questioned her roughly. “Dammit, you said you heard the rumors a long time ago. You suspected what it would be like Marly, you can’t deny that. Do you think I don’t love you? That I don’t want you? I told you, this wasn’t the fairy tale you needed.”
“How do you know what I need, Cade?” she bit out furiously. “You’ve never tried to give as well as to take. Maybe that’s what I need.”
Cade shook his head, fighting to understand her.
“What do you need, Marly? Tell me. At least give me a chance to give it to you.”
She frowned for a moment, watching him, her eyes dark and considering as whatever female form of logic twisted in her head. He groaned silently. Dammit, when did she get so complicated?
“Tell me, Cade. Just how desperate are you to kiss up?” His cock perked up for sure, but Cade had a feeling that wasn’t what she meant.
“I’m getting pretty desperate here,” he sighed, frowning. “Will it involve pain?”
“It will likely be the most painful thing you’ve ever experienced,” she told him softly. “Think you can handle it?”
He narrowed his eyes on her. “Will I be able to walk later?” He winced, hearing his own desperation. Dammit.
“Only if you really want to.” She shrugged. “It’s all according to you, I guess.”
His lips pursed as he wondered if she could really hurt him. Yeah, he sighed, she was mad enough to.
“Fine. Go ahead.” He winced, wondering what he was letting himself in for.
Marly’s eyes narrowed. “Move into the middle of the seat,” she ordered him softly.
Watching her carefully, Cade did as she told him.
“You aren’t allowed to touch me. If you touch me, then you prove you have no intentions of making up, and all you want to do is fuck.” She scooted a bit closer to him.
The fresh scent of her body reached him, making his body harden. Then his eyes widened as she moved to straddle his thighs slowly. Automatically his hands rose to clasp her hips, but with an arched brow she reminded him of the conditions.
“You’re going to torture me.” He watched her as she allowed her thighs to clasp him, settling against the bulge of his erection softly.
“Torture?” she asked him gently. “Last night you were begging me to touch you. I’m just going to touch you, Cade.”
She bent close, her lips settling softly against his neck. Cade’s eyes closed as her tongue licked at his skin in short, flickering strokes. The caress was like a blaze of fire that had his body drawing taut.
“I love to touch you, Cade,” she whispered. “But you never give me the chance.”
“I do,” he groaned, feeling his body racked with need as her lips caressed his skin slowly. She tasted him, stroked him, her inexperienced touch driving him insane.
“No, you don’t,” she told him softly. “You take control, and force the response you want. I don’t want to be forced, Cade. I want to be loved.”
Her hands were against his chest, burning through the silk of his shirt.
“Do you know why I always liked sleeping in your shirts, Cade?” she asked him as her nails bit through the material.
“Why?” he growled as he felt her teeth against his skin. She was killing him. He had never felt anything so damned hot as Marly moving slowly against his body, destroying his control.
“Because they were yours. They had been n
ext to your body, and they smelled of you. So masculine and warm. They made me feel safe.” She nipped his ear as she whispered her secret.
His breathing was shuddering from his body, and he had to literally sit on his hands to keep from touching her. He could feel his heart pounding, the blood rushing through his body and it amazed him. He had never felt this, a pleasure deeper, stronger than anything he had ever known, and from something as simple as Marly’s lips on his neck.
“I liked you wearing the shirts,” he groaned. “I always did, Marly.”
His hips arched against her as she rubbed her cheek against his. Her skin was so damned soft he couldn’t stand it. He wanted to touch her so much it was killing him.
“Why did you like me wearing the shirts, Cade?” she asked him, her breasts rising and falling with her own quickened breathing, pressing them against his chest.
He stared at her, seeing her eyes go dark with arousal, and considered her question.
“At first, just because you liked doing it.” He finally shrugged uncomfortably.
“And later?” She breathed against the corner of his mouth.
Cade groaned. “So I knew something of mine was touching you. Anything. God, Marly, please let me touch you.”
“No. You promised, Cade.” Her teeth nipped at his lower lip in punishment. “Just feel me against you for a change. Let me feel you. You’ve never given me a chance to feel you.”
Her fingers went to the buttons of his shirt, and Cade knew it was going to kill him. Hell no, he wouldn’t be able to walk later, he thought. His cock would explode and kill him.
He watched her slender fingers as they loosened the buttons, then parted the edges of the fabric with slow, torturous movements. His head fell back against the couch, he couldn’t stand to watch. Then pleasure struck his body like a flare of heat as she pressed his nipples between her sharp little nails. He arched his hips against her, growling at the searing sensation.
His eyes opened as one hand lifted, wrapping around his neck to draw his head down.
“I want to kiss you.” Need, naked and harsh was reflected on her flushed face. “Not like you kiss me, Cade. I want it soft and easy, like it means something.”
“Dammit, Marly. It always meant something.” He shook his head in confusion. How could she believe otherwise? “You act like I raped you.”
“You raped my senses. You took the choice of control from me, just as you took the choice of participation, Cade,” she accused him. “You controlled it all. Even your own pleasure. Now I want to control it.”
“Marly, honey, I don’t know if I can do this,” he whispered regretfully. “God help me I want to, but you’re killing me.”
“I haven’t even started. And you promised me, Cade. Touch me, and I’ll know that all that matters is getting your way, not pleasing me.”
She was a siren; sexy and drunk on her own power, Cade thought desperately. She didn’t know the demon she was tempting. Had no idea how strong and fierce his need for her really was.
“Let me kiss you, Cade.” And her lips settled, light as a feather, against his own.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Cade’s heart kicked in his chest. The muscles of his stomach knotted, and his hands curled into fists as he fought to take the kiss away from her. Her lips were too light upon his, teasing him gently, making him mad for her. Her tongue reached out, the lightest caress in the world sweeping over his, and leaving him gasping like a teenager begging for more. He sought a deeper touch, but she retreated, staring down at him, her eyes dark and wild as her hands framed his face.
Then her lips came back, her tongue sneaking past his lips in a kiss that destroyed him. He groaned harshly, fighting the need to throw her to the seat and pound into her.
“You’re so rough and tough.” She smiled against his lips. “It’s killing you, isn’t it.”
Was it? He had never known anything so damned sensual in his life as Marly’s soft caresses. Was it killing him, or was the need for more destroying him?
“Don’t stop,” he growled roughly. “Please, Marly—”
He saw the pleasure flare in her eyes, deep and intense.
Her lips burrowed into his again, and he moved against her, her questing little tongue touching his as he tilted his head to deepen the pleasure. She was breathing hard now, nearly as hard as he was. Her hands were at his neck, her little nails scraping his skin as her breasts pushed into his chest and her jean covered mound ground against his erection as he thrust against her.
“Let me hold you,” he panted, his head rising as she stared down at him, heavy lidded and intense. “Please, just let me hold you.”
He was going to rip the leather off the seat with the force of his fingers digging into them if she didn’t let him touch her.
“No. I want to touch you. If you touch me, you’ll take over, Cade,” she whispered. “That’s your problem, you always have to take over.”
Her head lowered, then her questing little mouth tasted the skin of his chest. Cade’s head fell back along the seat, his eyes closing in torment.
“I only know one way, Marly,” he groaned.
“Then it’s time to learn Marly’s way.” Her voice was smoky and aroused as her teeth nipped at the skin of his chest.
Pleasure raced through his body as her lips moved lower. She was going to kill him. Slowly, torturously, she was out to kill him. His cock was throbbing like a pulsing wound, demanding relief. The confinement of his jeans was killing him. He could think of nothing more tormenting than the way the nails of her fingers barely scraped his skin. Unless it was the slow licks, soft kisses and delicate nips she took from his chest.
“You’re tormenting a man already possessed, Marly,” he growled, breathing harshly.
“Tormenting him?” She asked absently as her tongue licked beneath the edges of his shirt. “You’re free to ask me to stop at anytime, Cade.”
Ask her to stop? He was within a breath of pleading for more.
His hips arched from the seat, driving his erection into the vee of her thighs. Little minx. She lifted her body away from him, a soft laugh feathering over his skin.
Cade had never experienced anything like it. He was burning alive, his senses overloading with the small, delicate pleasures she was bestowing upon him. He wanted to throw her to the seat and ravage her. But a part of him wanted her beneath him, his lips showing her the torturous sensations she was giving him.
“I always wanted to make love to you, Cade.” Her breath, hot and sensual whispered over his flesh. “And have you love me as well. But you throw me into the maelstrom, rather than easing us both into it.”
He barely heard her words, but he felt them against his flesh. He moaned raggedly as she ground herself against his cock, choking back a harsh demand that she release him from the bonds she had placed on him. A bond he couldn’t break. If he touched her, she would stop. God in Heaven, as tormenting as it was, he couldn’t let her stop.
“You enjoyed it.” It was the only thing he could gasp aloud.
“How would I know if I enjoyed it, or if only my body did?” she asked him gently, raising her head to stare into his eyes.
What was it he was seeing within those darkened depths, Cade wondered. Definitely passion, definitely need. But there was a pleasure and erotic heat he had never seen before, in any woman.
“You’re not making sense.” His fingers dug into the seat once again as her lips returned to his neck, the suckling pressure on it driving his blood pressure higher.
She shrugged languidly, smiling against his skin as she traveled lower, Cade slid his body lower to keep his hard flesh in contact with the vee of her thighs. But no matter how hard he tried, she still ended lower, her lips and hands now on the clenching planes of his stomach. And she loved the taste of him if the sounds coming from her throat were any indication.
“Perhaps it will make sense later then.” She rose from her bent position and began to unbutton her blouse.
“Son of a bitch, you’re trying to kill me.” He couldn’t take his eyes off the hard tipped, plump flesh, or the way her fingers slowly toyed with her nipples, making them harder, longer.
The soft pink flesh darkened, the mounds rising and falling harshly with her breathing as her hand framed and caressed them. His cock jerked, screaming for release. His heart thundered, and somewhere deep inside, Cade felt a part of his soul unravel.
Marly couldn’t believe he was actually allowing her to touch him the way she had always longed to. That his gray eyes were nearly dark with pleasure, his hard body taut and reaching for her. She had always dreamed of him touching her as well when she did this, but she knew Cade would take over. She needed this chance, this stolen time to show him how she needed him, how she loved him.
She faced him, watching his gaze as it centered on her hands, the way his tongue ran over his lips longingly. She pinched her nipples lightly, hearing the small groan that escaped his lips, and the pleasure from it racked her body.
“Let me—” his voice was dark and deep, rumbling from his chest.
“Let you what? Use your hands?” she taunted him. “No, Cade. This is my time. My way.”
“God, Marly.” He licked his lips again, his eyes darkening further.
Marly felt her own stomach clench in pleasure at the look on his face. His cheeks were lightly flushed, his eyes heavy-lidded and dark, his lips full and moist and parted for her.
She eased closer, lodging the nipple of one breast between his lips. He groaned, latching onto it instantly to suck it into his mouth.
Marly moved back, feeling her breast pop free of his mouth as his lips tried to follow.
“God. Damn, Marly,” he cried out, his eyes never leaving the moistened flesh he had held in his mouth.