The bedroom door was flung open. Cade filled the doorway, his arms crossed over his massive, naked chest, the muscles in his arms and pecs flexing enticingly. If Emily's had any hope of concealing the slick dripping down her legs, it was lost as a new rush soaked her thighs.
"I'm all dressed!" she said brightly, backing away from him, knowing she wasn't fooling anyone. But if she could somehow get around him, get to the kitchen where she could busy herself making tea or cleaning the counters or—
Cade cleared his throat, having instantly zeroed in on the wet spot of the floor. His gaze traveled up to her slick-coated legs. He didn't bother to mask their effect on him, taking a deep, chest-expanding breath before looking directly into her eyes, his own flashing like strobe lights.
"You don't have to clean up after yourself." His voice did that rumbling thing again, as though she were a piano, and he was running his fingers over the keys in the lowest registers.
"It's really no problem." Emily couldn't keep the nervousness from her voice, but she busied herself at his small closet. "Here, let me get you a shirt."
"I don't want a shirt. And yes, it is a problem."
A tiny lightning bolt rocketed along Emily's spine, another sensation she'd never experienced before today. A part of her wanted nothing more than to fall into Cade, knowing he would catch her. That he'd cradle her in his strong arms as he'd done before, rumbling against her ear and heating her blood, making even more slick pour down her legs.
This rogue desire didn't make any sense. Emily had worked hard to squash all her feelings since she'd accepted that she couldn't escape the hell of living with Sloan, but desire and lust had left on their own, dying in the face of his cruelty.
And yet, since the moment Cade had approached her, it was like they'd been awakened again, not dead but dormant. As if they'd been waiting for the right moment. Waiting for him.
Cade isn't Sloan, a little voice in her head promised. He's the one you were supposed to find. The one you were meant for.
Emily knew she couldn't trust that old traitor, hope. She'd promised herself never to be fooled again. But it was so damn tempting to believe.
So she would have to fight. That was fine.
Emily fixed a cool smile on her face, avoiding his eyes. "You really shouldn't work out in the sun without a shirt. You'll get a sunburn."
"No, I won't." Cade didn't budge from the doorway. "We're not going outside to work."
The only sound in the bedroom was the droplets of fresh slick splashing on the floor. "Why not?" Emily asked eventually, dreading the answer.
"Because I'll be carrying you over to that bed and filling you with my cock all day instead."
Emily's heart began to hammer—not entirely in fear. She gripped her wet clothes to her chest, her hands trembling.
"You said you wouldn't force me," she whispered, staring at the floor. "You promised."
"And I won't," Cade replied. "You'll be the one who kisses me. You'll be the one who pulls me against you. And right before I enter you, Emily, you'll be the one begging for my cock.”
Chapter Ten
Cade had been patient—as patient as any alpha could be.
It hadn't been easy. The scent of Emily's slick—so sweet and alluring—had been slowly filling up the whole cabin since the moment they arrived back from clearing brush.
Within seconds, Cade knew he had to find a way to settle himself down. He'd tried waiting out on the porch, but that hadn't worked. Just like the night before, the wind carried her fragrance right to him.
He'd balled his hands into fists, his whole body rigid, and considered punching out his window. Maybe pulling a sapling from the ground and tying it in a knot. Or digging up a few boulders.
None of that would do any good, though. The urge to go to Emily was too strong, too primal. Cade had never felt anything like it. He didn't just want her; he needed her.
Just as she needed him.
Surely, she had to understand that now. Her body was telegraphing the truth with all that slick flowing from her. Cade knew she felt the same pull, the same desire.
But she was stubbornly pretending that she didn't, even while dressing herself in his clothes and inhaling his scent.
Yes, he could smell her smelling him—that's how wound up he was, his instincts exquisitely focused on Emily. He could sense the battle she was waging with herself.
There was a mirror in there—a small one on the wall framed in an interesting piece of madrone wood he'd found on his property. If Emily looked in it, she'd see the need in her own eyes, the glow of her skin, those damp, pouty lips. She wouldn't be able to deny what she could see in front of her and taste it in the air. It was everywhere, undeniable.
So why the hell was she still pretending otherwise?
But Cade knew the answer. It was the sum of all the reasons she'd been so hesitant to leave Sloan yesterday—fear, shame, pain. These weren't emotions that came naturally to an alpha, but that didn't mean Cade couldn't recognize them, especially knowing his omega's history. It was a past no woman should have to endure, with an alpha who didn't deserve to breathe the same air, and it had blunted her natural instincts.
The urge to break something made Cade's hands twitch. There was no help for it: he had to at least see her, to force her to see him, even if she just ordered him out of the room.
But he wasn't prepared for the sight of a gorgeous, lush omega standing barefoot on his floor wearing nothing but his shirt…with slick literally cascading down her inner thighs, puddling onto the floor, the air thick with it. Her eyes met his, and in them he saw panic, shame, and embarrassment.
"Cade," Emily gasped, raising her hands, defensively at first, but then something changed. She reached out toward him, almost as if she was about to give in and finally run those soft fingers down his chest...but a second later, she snatched them back to her side. "I don't—"
"I know all about what you don't want," Cade growled before she could tell him any more lies. Before she could convince herself. "I want to know what you do want."
Emily blinked, her tongue skittering out nervously to wet her bottom lip. But then she shook her head.
"I don't know," she said bluntly, despair creeping into her voice. "I can't go home. Not to my beta one. Not to Sloan's cabin."
"No, you can't."
"But I don't think I should stay here either," she added quickly. “No matter how much I…might be tempted to."
Cade felt his cock stir at Emily's first admission of the desire she'd tried so hard to deny. He wasn't about to let that pass.
But he had to press this advantage carefully, or he would lose it. Emily's progress was blocked by obstacles that were real to her, even if they seemed insubstantial to Cade. Trying to brute-force her past them would only make them loom larger.
Living off the land for his entire adult life had taught Cade a few things about an animal's instincts—even those of the human variety. In his experience, all wounded animals behaved in the same way. If you didn't approach them with caution—slow, deliberate, no sudden moves—they would bolt.
And Cade really didn't want Emily to bolt right now. Not until he'd given it his all. If even then he failed to win her over, well, he'd have no choice but to wait another day.
Not that waiting was natural to alphas—especially not to Cade.
"Why not?" he asked in a low, rumbling voice. "Why can't you stay here with me?"
"Because I don't know you, Cade."
"So know me." Cade's composure slipped a little, and the words came out more forcefully than he intended.
He moved into the room, standing inches in front of Emily. She had been fussing at the belt she'd borrowed from his closet, trying to adjust the voluminous shirt, but her hands stilled now, and her breath caught.
Cade took Emily's hands in his and raised them to his bare chest, spreading her fingers over his heart so she couldn't miss its powerful rhythm. There was nowhere for her to look but up into his face, and
still, she fought his gaze.
"Touching you isn't the same as knowing you," she objected. Her words didn't match the movement of her fingers, though, and they shivered and danced across his skin. The scent of her desire intensified.
"Maybe that's true of other men, maybe even other alphas," Cade told her, pressing her palms flat against his chest. Already her heartbeat was adjusting to his rhythm, her body conforming to her alpha. "But it's not true with me. If you want to know who I am, all you need to do is feel my body. Know that every beat of my heart is drawing me closer to you. Just like every beat of yours is pulling you to me."
She stopped resisting, and her hands moved slowly over his chest, stopping where his heartbeat was strongest. Her lips parted, and a faint sigh escaped. Her eyes began to lose their focus as conscious thought was crowded out by raging need.
But still, she kept shaking her head. "It's just a heartbeat," she managed to sputter. "And sleeping with you won't change anything. It didn't with Sloan."
Cade growled at the mention of the other alpha's name. He ought to ban it in his house, the name of the worthless fool who dared touch Emily before Cade had a chance. The one who caused all of this pain.
"I am not him."
Emily barely reacted to the harshness of his tone, her hands steady on his chest. She wasn't surprised by it—she expected it. She already understood, at some level, that the bond growing between them was nothing like what had happened with Sloan, that it would demand all from her, but also give her all in return. A new life. Her new alpha.
And still, he had to wait for her to lead. Cade felt like his skull would split, his cock would shatter, and he'd die on the spot. He ground his teeth so hard he was surprised they didn't turn to dust.
"I know you're not him," she said. "But—"
"But what?" Cade's voice sounded strangled even to himself. He'd moved closer without noticing it, so close that he could feel the heat rising off her body. "You still think that I'm going to hurt you?"
She didn't answer right away, but it wasn't fear that silenced her now. Cade could sense her thinking, her mind spinning a mile a minute as she tried to sort out what she knew to be true, and what was distorted by her fear and shame.
"You won't hurt me," she repeated. "But just not getting the shit beat out of me isn't enough. It isn't a reason to be with someone. And neither is physical pleasure, even though…" she bit her full pink lip uncertainly, eliciting a groan from Cade. "Even though there would be...pleasure...so much."
The omega couldn't even make a proper sentence, she was so turned on. The shaft of Cade's cock grew heavy against the towel, pushing it into the air between them. He caught her looking at it.
Good—let her.
"You haven't felt what real physical connection can do," he said. "You have no idea whether it's enough."
And hell yes, it was a reason to be with him—but she had it the wrong way around: the physical connection only came about because of the bond.
Emily rolled her eyes, giving Cade a glimpse of the omega he'd first seen back in the parking lot of Evander's Bar. The omega who didn't give a fuck about anything. The omega who'd given up.
"I've had sex, Cade."
"Not with me."
As those three words hung between them, Cade watched Emily's body react as if from a distance, as if it wasn't taking every bit of his will not to take her right here, right now, on the floor of his living room.
She took a deep breath that made her breasts swell against the soft fabric of his shirt, before stepping closer. Close enough that her nipples brushed against his chest. Cade's knuckles turned white with strain as her full lips parted.
Then she staggered back, shaking her head to clear it, then gazing fixedly at the floor. "It won't change anything."
Cade was done. He had tried for her, tried to hold himself back until she was one hundred percent ready, but it wasn't possible. He was an alpha, damn it, not some therapy-couch beta navel-gazer. While he'd do his best to understand her feelings and emotions later, this was not the time for it.
He cupped her chin, ignoring her flinch at his touch and compelling her to meet his gaze. Yes: he'd promised not to force her to do anything, but this was not force. This was clearing the way for her own need, her own desire to guide her. If she told him to stop—if she pushed him away—he'd respect that.
They both knew that wasn't going to happen.
"You say sex with me won't change anything," he rumbled. "But you won't say that when my fingers are buried deep inside you and my thumb's pressed against your clit."
Emily gasped.
"When you're clawing at me, desperate for more. When I taste you and make you buck against my face. When you beg me to ram inside you deeper and harder. When you start calling out my name over and over between orgasms until even that is too much and all you can do is scream. And that's when you'll finally realize that I'm the only one who can ever give you what you truly want—fulfillment of your mind, body, and soul."
A tremor passed through Emily, taking with it all the resistance and tension that she'd been carrying. The drumbeat of her heart intensified, filling Cade's ears just as the scent of her flowing slick filled the rest of his senses.
He'd never wanted anyone or anything so badly in his life. He had never known this level of desire was even possible.
Not until he looked through the window of another man's truck into the cloudless sky of Emily's eyes.
The ache in his balls was so intense that Cade thought he might break apart if he didn't have her right fucking now. But he didn't move, not even a fraction of an inch. He'd made a promise, and he'd keep it…even if it killed him.
She had to be the one.
She had to choose.
Cade felt himself slipping as his body began to turn on itself, the ache spreading outward, stealing his breath, and blacking out his vision. His legs began to buckle, and he used the last of his will to remain standing.
And then Emily made her choice.
She wrapped her arms around Cade's neck and laid her cheek against his chest. The instant she touched him, energy rushed back into him like a dam breaking and cascading into the land below. His senses returned stronger than ever, seizing upon the sight and smell and sound of her. He lifted her into his arms with a victorious, bellowing roar.
It echoed through the house and out into the valley as Emily closed her eyes and pressed her lips to his.
Fuck yes.
This was everything. This was meant to be.
Chapter Eleven
Cade's mouth crushed hers with a passion Emily had never felt before.
Everything about him—from the way he gripped her tightly yet tenderly against his chest to the hungry feel of his tongue gliding across the swell of her bottom lip—made it clear he wanted her.
Her.
Emily Dover.
Not just some woman he'd found bruised and alone in a parking lot somewhere. Not just some convenient omega he'd managed to drag back to his house. But her.
An overwhelming sense of warmth swept through her body at the thought, growing deeper and more powerful with every thrum of Cade's heart against her skin.
She wasn't lying when she'd said she'd been with other men. There those who thought that big women like her didn't get any. They were wrong, of course.
Emily had never had trouble finding a willing partner when she'd wanted one. Some were flings, some were boyfriends. Some were good between the sheets, and some were mediocre at best. But none had ever made her feel his way. Not even for a second.
Even now, she felt Cade's kiss awakening something deep inside her. Something that had been missing for far too long. Something that she didn't realize she'd been craving from the moment that her true nature had sprung to life.
Cade and the waterfall of sensations and emotions that he inspired—that was what she'd been searching for this whole time. And the longer this went on, the more Emily touched him, the more she wanted—no, needed
—even more.
How had she ever been able to live without the feeling of Cade's taut, warm skin beneath her fingertips? The rippling of his muscles as he moved? The fire that raged between them?
It was as though they had been kindling just waiting for a spark.
Emily let out a sigh as Cade broke their kiss just long enough to lay her down on his bed. Though he held his body back as he straddled her, she could feel the huge bulge of his cock, sense the hammering of his heart, see the hunger in his eyes.
He bent his head to kiss her neck, starting little fires along her skin as he moved to the top button of her shirt.
No: not hers, but Cade's. The shirt that was long enough on her to be a dress…the one that she was completely naked underneath.
Emily's heart began to pound as Cade flicked the first button free…and then the next. By the time he got to the third one, though, her pulse was speeding with an emotion that had nothing to do with desire.
She slid her fingers over his hand and he stopped in his tracks. Her hand was so much smaller than his. Not only that, she was a hell of a lot weaker. If Cade wanted to brush her aside, he could have…easily.
But he didn't.
Instead, he stilled and jolted his head up, his gaze locking with hers. There was so much passion there, so much need. Emily's breath hitched in her throat at the sight.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
Was she all right? Of course, she was—better than all right. She was magnificent, her body a cascade of fireworks combined with driving a hundred miles an hour through the desert.
And that was the problem.
Emily didn't want this heavenly feeling to end, and she feared it would—the moment Cade popped that last button free and pulled her shirt open.
"Maybe it would be better if I kept the shirt on," she mumbled.
Cade's expression turned incredulous, the dark fire in his eyes growing even more intense.
"No, it wouldn't." Cade dismissed her words without another thought before moving down to the third button.
Emily gripped his hand a little tighter, desperation making her bolder than she would have dreamed even a day ago.
Cade: The Boundarylands Omegaverse Page 8
