A Man's Promise

by Brenda Jackson

  “So, do you have any initial thoughts right now?” Jace asked.

  “It’s too soon to say just yet. I still have a lot of unanswered questions and I need to do more investigating.”

  Jules glanced over at Caden. “In the meantime, I wouldn’t take anything for granted. In other words, watch your back.”

  * * *

  Caden couldn’t help noticing that Shiloh was quiet on the drive home from Shana’s place. He wondered whether bringing up the situation with Rita had anything to do with it.

  He walked her to her door and wondered if he would be invited in. He hoped so, because they needed to talk. He was aware that the idea of his involvement with other women during their breakup was something that had bothered her. But, as much as he regretted it, it had happened, and they needed to be able to move on. Together. Just as he’d told her a number of times, and like he’d told Jules tonight, he’d truly loved only one woman.

  She had told him earlier that day about her lunch with Dr. Aiken and how she’d been honest with him about Caden. She said he was very gracious and had wished both of them the best, and he said he was glad she was happy.

  Caden intended to make sure she stayed that way.

  “Jules asked a lot of questions tonight,” he finally said, breaking the silence as they stepped off the elevator.

  “Yes, that’s probably the only way she’s going to find out the truth.” They stopped in front of her door, and she dug into her purse for the key.

  “We’re still on for this weekend?” he inquired, needing to make sure, since he couldn’t read her thoughts or her mood.

  She lifted her gaze to his. “Yes. Why wouldn’t we be?”

  He shrugged. “You’ve gotten all quiet on me.”

  She didn’t say anything for a moment and then drew a quivering breath. “Because before tonight there was never any reason for me to assume what happened last weekend was anything but an accident. But now...”

  Deciding he didn’t want to discuss anything in the hallway, he took the key from her hand and opened the door. Closing the door behind them, Caden leaned against it and watched as she put her purse on the table and kicked off her shoes before dropping down onto the sofa.

  Locking the door, he moved toward the sofa and sat beside her. Reaching out, he lifted her into his arms and placed her on his lap, tucking her head beneath his chin. He loved the way she felt in his arms. He loved her scent. He loved every single thing about her.

  “I don’t want you to worry about anything, Shiloh. Personally, I still believe it was an accident.”

  She drew back and tipped her head to look at him. “But what if it wasn’t, Caden? What if that woman who used to be in your band is getting back at you? You said she’d had several run-ins with fans over you. That lets me know she had a mean, jealous streak. And a jealous woman will do just about anything.”

  He shook his head, wishing he’d never had to mention Rita in the first place. “First of all, we shouldn’t jump to any conclusions. For all we know, Rita could have been performing in L.A. or somewhere else on Saturday night. I’ll call around and see what she’s up to. In the meantime, I don’t want you worrying about anything.”

  He paused a moment and said, “When you got quiet on the ride home, I thought my mentioning Rita had upset you.”

  Shiloh drew in a deep breath. “No, I’m over that, Caden. No matter who you might have been with in the past, you’re with me now, and that’s all that matters. I’m yours, and you’re mine. I love you.”

  Caden felt as if he couldn’t breathe, because when he stared down into her eyes, he could plainly see all the love she’d spoken of. He didn’t think he could love her any more than he did at that exact moment. It took him a moment to gather his composure to say, “And I love you, sweetheart.”

  Their gazes locked and held as he continued to feel their love and hope she felt it, as well. She had once been his playmate, then his best friend, his lover and now the woman who had his heart.

  He reached down and raked his hands through her hair, loving the texture of the luxuriant softness. Then he moved his hands to caress the back of her neck. She was tense, and he could feel it. Making her relive Saturday night at Shana’s had done a job on her. And like he’d told her, he didn’t want her to worry about anything.

  He held her gaze, looking into a pair of dark, beautiful eyes, while his hands continued to trace the contours of her neck. Years ago, when they’d been forbidden to speak to each other, they had begun communicating with their eyes whenever they would pass in the hallways at school, or when he’d been standing off somewhere with his group and she’d stood with hers. And they were silently communicating now, purposely building heat between them.

  He leaned down and took her mouth, kissing her softly yet hungrily, not understanding how he could do both. When he heard her moan, he deepened the kiss, increasing the tongue play in a way that conveyed just how much he desired her. He almost trembled with the depth of that need.

  His stomach tightened, and his erection throbbed at the feel of her breasts pressing against his chest. He could feel the hardened nipples through her blouse, and it made his penis thicken even more. She was kissing him back, ravaging his mouth as much as he was ravaging hers. Flaming his passion, stroke after sensuous stroke of her tongue. He heard raw, undiluted desire in her moans, and they continued to set his own desire ablaze.

  She pulled back, breaking off the kiss, and he saw more than burning passion in her eyes. He saw fire, hot and blazing, and it was burning him all over, urging him to strip off his clothes right then and there. And when she leaned in and traced the lines of his beard and mustache with the tip of her tongue, he pulled her back into his arms and hungrily kissed her again.

  This time, he was the one who broke off the kiss. Lifting her off his lap, he stood and eased her to her feet. “I want you, Shiloh. Now. Here.”

  Spurred by a frantic need to make love to her, he began tearing off his clothes. She followed his lead and stripped off hers. The sight of her naked flesh pushed his desire to the limits. Reaching out, he pulled her to him and began raining kisses over her face, her neck, chin and throat, and then laying claim to her breasts. Sliding a nipple between his lips, he held it hostage while licking the torrid bud with his tongue, then sucking on it hard.

  “Caden!”

  His name on her lips had him lifting her into his arms and stretching her out on the sofa. He began licking her all over as her intoxicating scent and taste stirred his primitive maleness and his heart rate increased with anticipation. By the time he reached her womanly core, she had tilted her hips upward to receive his mouth. His greedy tongue slid inside of her, and immediately he was bombarded with sensations that rammed through every part of his body. It was always that way whenever he tasted her here, and he used his tongue and nibbling teeth to pleasure her, stunned by the force of his greed for her.

  He cupped her hips, locked his mouth on her and went wild over her taste. She groaned and pushed against his lips, while he plowed her with kisses that were long and deep.

  “No more. Please. I can’t take any more.”

  He was just getting started. Caden lifted his mouth and eased off the sofa to grab his pants to retrieve a condom packet from the pocket. While she watched him, he rolled the condom over his hard erection.

  “I like seeing you do that.”

  He glanced over at her. “Why?”

  She smiled. “I like seeing what I’m going to get.”

  His gaze raked over her naked body, spread out on the sofa. He had licked and massaged every inch of her. “I like seeing what I’m going to get, as well.”

  He moved back to the sofa and eased his body over hers, fitting perfectly in the vee of her thighs and liking the feel of his erection pressing against her legs. He leaned in and kissed her once more, this time beginning with a slow, languorous connection, taking his time to enjoy her and letting her enjoy him. He could feel a tingling sensation starting at t
he base of his shaft and spreading all over him when he deepened the kiss. Caden needed to get inside her, and his erection went unerringly to her center, right to her core. He lifted his head and gazed down at her.

  Shiloh’s breath caught at the intensity she saw in Caden’s eyes and, reaching up, she wrapped her arms around his neck. She loved him. She wanted him. He was her world as he’d always been.

  With gazes locked, she felt him slide into her, stretching her wide, burrowing deep; she could feel every inch of him. Her inner muscles felt him, too, and instinctively tightened around him and began milking his erection and loving the feel of the hot contractions taking over her womb.

  And then he began moving in and out of her. His thrusts were firm and strong, stroking her to the point of mindlessness in the most primitive way. No matter how many times they made love, the sensations he could arouse in her were always overwhelming, overpowering. Pushing her to the brink fulfilled his every need.

  She felt his body tense and a rush of mind-splintering pleasure took over her entire being. She felt her legs tighten around him, her arms grasped his neck and her hips lifted off the sofa. He pounded into her and she met each thrust with a power of her own. Their lovemaking was so potent it was impossible to tell where he ended and she began. Shiloh began to feel her climax build in every part of her body. She became convulsed with pleasure as he continued to grind into her in rapid succession, firing her loins and leading her to wanton pleasure. Her heels dug into the center of his back, making him thrust even harder, and she knew he would take all of her. He was so deeply embedded inside of her that she actually felt a sexual ache.

  When he cried out her name just seconds before exploding, that same blast ripped through her. She was engulfed in sensation after sensation that led her straight into rhapsody. He leaned down and captured her lips, taking control of her mouth as shudders continued to rack their bodies.

  They remained entwined, becoming boneless, unable to move. Somehow he managed to shift his body off hers and pull her closer into his arms, holding her as if he never wanted to let her go. She felt the kiss he pressed against the side of her neck. The brush of his beard against her skin sent even more sensations through her. Sighing in contentment, her body instinctively curled into his.

  At that moment, she didn’t want to think about anything except the man who was holding her so protectively in his arms.

  * * *

  A few hours later, Caden eased out of Shiloh’s bed. What had started in her living room on the sofa had continued in her bedroom, and he expected her to sleep until morning.

  He glanced down at her before grabbing his phone off her nightstand and going into the living room. Sitting down on her sofa, he immediately placed a call to Grover Reddick, his manager. It was late, but Grover would still be up. He wondered when the man took time to sleep.

  “Hello.”

  “Grover, this is Caden.”

  “What’s wrong? Tired of playing CEO?”

  “I wish it were that easy. I’m calling for information.”

  “About what?”

  “It’s who,” Caden said, trying to keep his voice down so as not to wake Shiloh.

  “Well, who, then?”

  “Rita.”

  “Rita Crews?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why would you want information on Rita?”

  Caden told his manager what had happened last Saturday night and how Rita’s name had come up during the investigation.

  “Shit, man, Rita can act crazy at times, but she’s not that crazy.... When I released her from the band she did say some crazy stuff, but I just put it down to the heat of the moment.”

  Caden lifted a brow. “What kind of crazy stuff?”

  “Crap like you would be sorry for letting her go. She was going to make you pay. She was the only woman for you. That kind of crazy stuff. The reason I didn’t tell you is because I didn’t take her seriously. I figured she was merely blowing off steam. Surely you don’t think she’d pull a stunt like that, do you?”

  “Hell, I hope not. I told Rita the score before we got involved. I wasn’t serious. She knew that.”

  “Well, I guess she saw things differently. She’s a damned good bass player, but we all know there can’t be any cause for friction with the fans. Concert tickets aren’t cheap, and your fans are the ones putting food on our tables.”

  Caden nodded. “I agree with you. Look, I’m sure Rita’s with some other group now, and I need to know who. And I need a copy of their schedule.”

  “No problem. I’ll get that information for you.”

  “Thanks, Grover. And while I have you on the phone, there’s another favor I need to ask.”

  Thirty-Five

  Dalton drove through the gates of Sutton Hills, thinking he knew the reason that Jace had summoned him today. Okay, he’d been missing in action at work today, but everyone deserved a mental health day every now and then. So, he’d taken one.

  He had left the office early yesterday to pull himself together, and after that date last night, there was no way he could have gone in today. The woman had been a looker, but he’d been with her only a few minutes before he’d regretted asking her out. She had spent the entire time talking about her ex. He had been so glad when the date had ended. And when she had invited him to her place, he had refused. He had gone home and had spent the rest of the evening with a bottle of vodka while listening to B. B. King sing the blues. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d gotten boozed up, and then he had awakened that morning with a doozy of a hangover. Now, several cups of coffee and a good-ass nap later, he felt a lot better.

  Dalton had been smart enough to call in and give Jace a heads-up about not coming in; otherwise, Big Brother would have shown up on his doorstep to find out why he wasn’t at work.

  Around three, Jace called saying there was a family meeting at Sutton Hills at six. He couldn’t help but wonder what the fuck it was for, but he hadn’t been in the mood to ask. Maybe Jace and Wonder Woman had called off the wedding. Probably not possible with her being knocked up and all. Jace would do the honorable thing, whether or not he loved Shana. It must be something else.

  He parked his car and decided not to rack his brain about it since he would find out soon enough.

  * * *

  “I heard Dalton’s car outside,” Caden said to Jace, pouring a glass of Scotch, something he felt he’d need when they dealt with Dalton. First, they would tell him about the incident Saturday night, since he had every right to know. They would also be telling Dalton about their mother, wanting him to hear it from them.

  Grover had called back a few hours ago to say that Rita was now performing with Phrase 3. The group’s last concert had been three weeks ago, and they wouldn’t go back on the road for another couple of weeks.

  Just because Rita hadn’t performed anywhere last weekend didn’t mean she’d been in Charlottesville. All the same, he had passed the information on to Shana, who would in turn tell Jules. According to Shana, her sister had the means to check further into Rita’s whereabouts last weekend.

  Caden glanced over at Jace, who seemed relaxed and in control. There was no doubt that Shana was good for Jace. His brother was happy, and he was happy for him.

  “Ready for your trip?” Jace asked.

  “Yes,” Caden said, smiling. “We leave first thing in the morning. I’m sorry I won’t be here for Brandy’s funeral service. I’m glad Dalton agreed to go with you. Do you think Shelton Fields will attend?”

  “I spoke with him earlier today, and he said he plans to go. Also, I wanted to tell you that Shana’s waiting to hear from Bruce about what he finds on Brandy’s computer. Bruce suspects information was wiped from a remote location and he’s checking into that, among other things.”

  “What happens if his suspicions are realized?”

  “Then we call in Marcel at the FBI to do an investigation. He would need to determine whether Brandy was involved—along with Freeman and A
rrington—in divulging trade secrets. You saw the video that Security gave Dalton. Brandy was clearly searching his office for something, but the question is, what?”

  Caden shook his head and was about to say he had no answer for that question when Dalton walked in, pulling off his aviator sunglasses. His bloodshot eyes told Caden everything. “No wonder you stayed out today.”

  “Whatever,” Dalton said, glancing around. “Where’s Hannah?”

  “She’s left already.”

  Dalton raised a brow. “Left?”

  “Yes,” Jace said, sitting on the sofa. “She does have a home to go to, you know.”

  Dalton shrugged as he plopped down on one of the chairs. He tended to forget about the small cottage Hannah owned that sat on the grounds of Sutton Hills. Their grandfather had left it to her in his will. In fact, their grandfather had left Hannah pretty well-off and, as far as Dalton was concerned, she deserved everything she got. She had worked with the Granger family for close to fifty years and she was like family herself. “I’m so used to her being here that I often forget about her own place.” He sniffed the air. “Did she cook anything before she left?”

  Caden rolled his eyes. “You’re pathetic, and you look pathetic. Should I even ask why you have bloodshot eyes?”

  “None of your damned business.” He then glanced over at Jace. “So, what’s this meeting all about?”

  “A couple of things,” Jace said, studying his brother.

  “Such as?”

  Caden came and sat down on a chair opposite Dalton. “The first matter involves me.”

  “What about you? And please don’t tell me you’ve knocked the wine lady up already.”

  “Shiloh isn’t pregnant,” Caden said, frowning.

  “Thank God for that. So what’s going on with you?”

  “It involves that accident on Saturday night.”

  Dalton leaned back against his seat and stretched his legs out in front of him. “What about it?” he asked nonchalantly.