by Paige Weaver
I whimpered against his mouth, the sound that drove him crazy. He lost control.
“Fuck, fuck,” he whispered over and over again as he lunged in and out of me. His hips pounded against mine, driving me into the floor. My fingernails dug into his ass cheek and my body clutched at his cock.
He raised himself up on his elbows for leverage and pumped into me faster and faster. It changed the game entirely. It was now all about him.
He drove into me deep and hard, hammering me. There was an untamed, feral need in his thrusts like he was claiming and taking what was his.
His hips moved with ferocious strokes. I didn’t think it was possible for his manhood to grow even more rigid but it did. I could feel the veins along its length bulge and pulse as my sex clinched him. I could feel the power and I wanted him to unleash it in me.
With his weight on his elbows, he lowered his head and claimed my mouth.
“Cat,” he rasped against my lips, thrusting deep.
I gasped at the ripples traveling through me. His body stiffened and he started coming, pumping deep into me.
My body milked him, welcoming it. Needing it. Loving it.
He realized what he had done and so did I. I sucked in a shocked breath and he quickly broke off the kiss and reached down, pulling himself out of me. More hot fluid hit my opening as he finished coming against me, swearing softly.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered in a broken voice as his body shuddered and the last drop left him.
I licked my lips and shook my head. “Don’t be. I didn’t want you to stop.”
He let out a groan and relaxed down on me. His heart beat fast and he was breathing hard.
He stayed that way, spent. I ran my fingers up his back, over his nape, into his hair. He shivered. It was the first time I had ever seen him so completely…raw.
I wanted to stay that way forever, hidden in our little alcove, seeing him with his defenses down, but too soon his breathing slowed down and I felt his muscles tense.
He eased off me and sat up. Keeping his eyes off me, he tucked himself back into his jeans and zipped them up. Without a word or a glance at me, he rose to his feet and disappeared around the bed.
I pulled a blanket over me and stared at the ceiling. Candlelight danced over it, casting soft, yellow glows along the rough boards. The area between my legs felt achy and wet. My breasts felt tender from the stubble on his chin.
I could hear Cash moving around. I squeezed my eyes shut tight. He still has his boots on. That bothered me. It meant he never planned on staying.
I turned on my side and pushed my hair out of my face. Nothing had changed. I couldn’t resist him and he refused to be anything with me but a fuck and run.
He said he would regret every second afterward and I guess he wasn’t lying.
I tucked my hands under my cheek and wondered if I could go on being just a convenience for him. Other men had been that for me but Cash was different. Was this my punishment for my past? I was getting what I deserved, as my grandmother would say?
I took a deep breath. I was right. Payback was a bitch.
I was wondering how I could deal with it when the candle was suddenly extinguished. The room went dark except for the moonlight streaming in through the small window.
I didn’t move, wondering if Cash just left without saying anything. But then I heard his footsteps. He was heading back to me. His boots appeared in my line of vision, standing at the end of the puddle of blankets.
My gaze followed his jeans up. He was staring at me. His eyes were full of shadows. In his right hand was my shirt. In his left was his gun holster.
I held the blanket against my chest and sat up. “Are you leaving?”
“I should.”
“It was a mistake. You regret it,” I said, reading his mind.
“I said I would.”
That hurt. My throat closed up. Tears clogged it.
Cash avoided my eyes and sat down at my feet. He put the holster on the floor and my shirt beside him. With his back to me, he tugged off his boots and left them at the foot of our makeshift bed. I was fighting off the tears when he turned, grabbing my shirt and my jeans. With a dark gaze on me, he started up my body.
I watched him, keeping the blanket over me. His eyes were cool, assessing, burning me through the thin, worn blanket. It was a tight fit between the wall and bed but it was away from the ugly world outside.
When he was close enough, he held my shirt open for me to put on. I hesitated but then said screw it.
I dropped the blanket and put one arm through the sleeve. If he already regretted what we did, he wouldn’t care if I was naked. He wouldn’t dare touch me again.
But I was wrong.
His eyes burned down at my breasts and the red blotches left from his stubble. I drew in a quick breath when he reached out and ran a finger across the top slope of my right breast, smoothing the red mark.
My body reacted but I shut it down real fast. I had always been someone’s regret and I didn’t want to be anymore.
I put my other arm through the sleeve and brushed his hand out of the way.
“Don’t touch me,” I snapped in a hushed voice.
His jaw clenched tight. His eyes went cold. He jerked the edges of my shirt together and started buttoning it, staring at me.
I stared back, ignoring the flush crawling up my body and the way he smelled so close to me. He finished buttoning my shirt and shoved my jeans at me. I grumbled about assholes and pulled my pants on, giving him my best dirty looks.
He looked ready to pull his hair out or turn me over his knee. I gave him a sickly sweet smile and started to lie down but he had other ideas.
He grabbed the back of my neck and hauled me to him. His mouth went close to mine.
“You want to know what I regret, Cat? I regret that I can’t keep my hands off you. I regret that I want to come in you again and again and put you in danger of getting pregnant in this hellhole of a country. I regret everything, Cat, but I don’t regret being here with you.”
He kissed me so quick I didn’t have time to blink. It was hard and fast and without apology. Letting go of me, he rearranged the blankets like nothing had happened and pushed me to lie back down.
As soon as I did, he laid down beside me. We stared at the ceiling, side by side. My shoulder was pressed against his arm. My leg rested against his. My mind was a confused jumble.
“Tonight I’m staying with you. Tomorrow we’re going home,” he said in a cool voice, his side resting against mine.
I nodded in the dark, trying to figure him out. He wanted me. He didn’t. I was supposed to hate him. I couldn’t. And of course we were going home. We had been preparing for it all day. Was he not going to stay with me after tonight? Was that what he meant by that?
I didn’t think of it anymore. Cash turned onto his side and wrapped his arm around my waist. With a gentle tug, he pulled me to him and tucked me against his chest.
Warmth enveloped me. No matter what, I felt protected and sheltered.
But no one was really safe. Not anymore.
Chapter Twenty–Five
Cash
I put my arm around Cat’s hip and pulled her closer. She fit into my body like a glove. I stared at the ceiling as her breathing slowed down. I had taken her like a madman, mercilessly.
And that scared the hell out of me.
She sighed in her sleep and wiggled against me. Jesus. I could take her again. But she was exhausted. I saw the circles under her eyes and the paleness of her skin earlier. She needed rest. I just needed her.
I shoved the thought away and closed my eyes. I needed to sleep. Tomorrow we would leave. I had to get her and Tate home safe. That was my only goal. I would make sure they could survive on their own then I would leave. Walk away from Cat for good. I would go to Ryder’s and say goodbye to Maddie, Brody, and Gavin then set out on my own. I had always been a loner and that’s what I would be again. It was for the best.
&
nbsp; ~~~~
For the first time in a long time, I slept deeply. At least for a little while.
My eyes opened slowly. Something woke me. A noise. A thud. Something wasn’t right.
I didn’t move. I hardly breathed. It was still dark. Cat was curled next to me. Soft snoring came from the living room. The patter of soft rain hit the window.
I listened again. There. The sound. A thump outside. Manmade, not natural.
I eased away from Cat, careful not to wake her. She stirred and turned on her back but didn’t open her eyes. I moved the covers off and climbed to my feet.
Grabbing my boots, I quickly slipped them on. The room was cold. I could see my own damn breath in front of my face. I thought about Cat but getting her warmed up would have to wait.
We had trouble and we weren’t alone.
I grabbed my gun holster and was buckling it around my hips when I heard Cat move.
“What’s going on?”
I looked over at her. She was yawning and sitting up. Her hair was tousled and red splotches still dotted her throat and jaw from my whiskered stubble rubbing against her. She had that drowsy look in her eyes that erased all her defenses and left her vulnerable. I wanted to grab her and kiss her until she couldn’t breathe but first I had to protect her.
“Stay here,” I ordered in a stern voice, leaving no room for argument.
She pushed her chopped-off curls out of her face. “Like hell,” she muttered, throwing the blankets off.
I ground my molars and fought the urge to grab her and shake the living shit out of her for not doing what I said. But this was Cat and she was the most stubborn, bullheaded woman I had ever met. I gave her a dark look.
“I have a belt and there’s a bed. I will tie you to it if I have to. Don’t try me, Cat.” Maybe that would scare her enough to do what I said. Her life might depend on it.
Typical Cat, she wasn’t fazed. “Listen to me, cowboy. Just because we slept together doesn’t mean…”
There it was again. The sound. A heavy footstep, maybe on the porch.
Cat froze, kneeling in the middle of the makeshift bed. I put my finger to my lips and eased my pistol out of my holster. With a finger near the trigger, I eased across the room. I could hear them. Men talking low tones outside the cabin.
“Oh god,” Cat whispered behind me.
I swung around to tell her to get back on the floor but it was too late.
The bullet hit the window. It exploded into a million pieces, peppering me with glass. I threw myself on Cat and took her to the floor just as bullets whizzed past our heads.
She let out a muffled scream from under me, her body going rigid with terror. I was crushing her with my weight but there was no helping it. We were under fire and I damn sure wasn’t going to let a bullet hit her.
I would die first.
I covered her head when more shots sprayed above us. Cat screamed and grasped my shirt, burying her face in my chest. The bullets struck the walls and shattered a picture, destroying the room.
When they died down, I heard a crash and shouts from the other room. Tate and David! Shit!
I climbed off Cat and grabbed her wrist. “They’re reloading! Come on!”
She scrambled to her feet. We kept low to the ground, running for the doorway over broken glass and splinters of wood. She was barefoot but it couldn’t be helped. There were worse things than getting shards of glass in your feet.
Like getting shot instead.
More shots pinged the bedroom walls. I put an arm around Cat and shoved the blanket in the doorway out of the way. We ran out. I held onto Cat’s wrist with everything I had. No way in hell would I let her go.
The rest of the cabin was a scene from hell. Glass was everywhere and bullet holes the size of dimes dotted the walls. The smell of rain mixed with the scent of gunpowder. A slug hit the sofa, sending puffs of white stuffing flying.
David was plastered beside a broken window, grasping a shotgun. He eased forward to glance outside and a shot rang out in response. He darted back just in time, the bullet barely missing his head. He glanced over at Cat and me as we darted across the room. I had come to know the old man well. I could read his expression like he was my own father.
We were fucked.
Adam was still tied up where we had left him. His hands were secured behind his back and tied off around the base of an old, heavy chair. He had a calm expression on his face that bothered the hell out of me, but when he glanced at Cat, I saw it.
Concern.
I didn’t have time to feel jealous or tell him that she belonged to me. I pulled Cat over to the corner of the room where a broken-down recliner sat at an angle. Letting go of her, I shoved the chair out of the way then grabbed her arm again.
“Stay down,” I ordered, pushing her into the corner.
“What? No!” She grabbed my shirtsleeve when I started to push the recliner back in place but I unhooked her fingers from me.
“Do what I say! Stay down!” I snapped, pushing her back into the corner.
She gave me a panicky look but I didn’t have the time to reassure her. I moved the recliner in front of her, trapping her in the corner. It wasn’t much protection against a bullet but it would have to do. I just needed her to trust me.
With her as safe as I could get her, I started across the room. Time to take care of these assholes.
I pulled back the hammer on my gun.
“Untie me. I can help you,” Adam said as I passed him.
I ignored him and kept going. I already had men shooting at us from the front. I didn’t need one shooting me in the back.
“How many are there?” I asked David as I flattened myself on the other side of the window opposite him.
He looked over at me. “Ten if I had to guess.”
Shit.
I peeked out the broken window, careful not to expose too much of myself for someone to use as target practice. The curtain whipped in the wind. The moon was bright. I could see the woodpile and the path to the outhouse and barn. Suddenly, the shape of a man darted across the yard.
I jerked my gun up and fired off a shot. There was a yelp and I saw the man stumble. I didn’t wait to see if he went down. I swung back around and flattened myself against the wall again as a hail of bullets hit the cabin walls.
Adam ducked and Cat disappeared behind the recliner, covering her ears and squealing. I swung back around and returned fire, smoke rising from the barrel. David did the same, his shotgun sounding like a cannon going off in the tiny cabin.
We plastered ourselves back to the wall again when they returned fire. I looked over at David. He was struggling to get a shell out of his jacket pocket, his hand shaking bad.
“You okay?” I asked, glancing over him for a wound.
“Yeah.” He dug deeper into his pocket. “Just shaky. Can you blame me?”
I ignored his question and glanced around. “Where’s Tate?”
He waited until he had grasped the shell between two knotty fingers before answering. “He was on watch.”
Fear crawled up me like little ants. The kid was like a brother. If he wasn’t in the cabin that only left one place. Outside.
I flipped the cylinder open on my pistol and spun it. One more shot left. I needed more firepower.
I was about to go on a rescue mission.
Chapter Twenty–Six
Cash
“Cash, where’s Tate? Oh god, where’s Tate?”
I glanced at Cat over the spray of bullets. She was looking over the edge of the recliner, right where I had left her to keep her safe. Her eyes were wide with fear and panic. She was fine but she wouldn’t be when she found out Tate might be outside.
“Stay down!” I shouted, ignoring her question. Crouching low, I rushed toward the middle of the room. I slid to a stop at the edge of the rug near Adam’s feet. He looked at me with wild eyes.
“Hey, man. Untie me. I can help you, I swear.”
“Sure, you will,�
� I muttered, tossing the rug back and exposing the hidden compartment in the floor.
Adam let out a string of curses as more bullets peppered the cabin. The man was one of them. He could stay tied up for all I cared.
I opened the trap door and reached inside. The duffle bag of guns and ammunition was still inside. I hoisted it out and dumped it on the floor. An idea hit me.
I looked up at Cat. “Come here.”
Her eyes went round but she let go of the ratty chair and squeezed past it. Staying low, she dashed across the room.
I grabbed her hand when she got to me and pulled her to the edge of the hole in the floor.
“Get in.”
She shook her head and pulled back, resisting. “No. No. I can’t…I can’t.”
I grabbed her under the elbow and hauled her closer again. “Yes, you can.”
She was scared but there was no time. I could hear the men shouting outside. Something about surrounding the cabin and getting in.
I helped Cat down into the dank, cold hole. She was shaking. Goddamn, I had to stay cold. There was no room for concern. There was only room for deadly action. It was the only way to keep her safe.
I started to lower the door but a volley of shots rang out from behind the cabin. The small window in the kitchen exploded and bullets shattered the dishes sitting on the counter and a full plastic water jug. The container burst, spraying water everywhere. At the same time, a thud came from the bedroom. Shit, someone’s in the cabin!
I jumped to my feet, grabbing a shotgun from the duffle bag. “David, take care of Cat!”
“Goddamn it! Untie me!” Adam yelled, struggling to get free.
I ignored him and checked to make sure the gun was loaded before I started to move away.
“No, Cash! No!” Cat protested, crawling out of the hole to grab me.
