by Laura Kaye
“I think—” She dropped her hands in her lap again and flashed her baby blues at him. “Well, it’s like they’re your armor.”
Caden’s jaw dropped. He didn’t know what to say, because never, ever had he thought of all his ink that way. Instead, he’d thought of them as a way to remember, he’d thought of them as a form of penance, and he’d not minded, after a certain point, that they might keep people away. But he’d never specifically thought of them as offering him protection. But she was right. They allowed him to control the pain he felt—both physical and emotional—something that had been taken from him on that long-ago summer night.
Her observation was so in tune with who he was and what had happened to him he felt ready to turn over some of that control, to entrust her with some of it.
He lunged at her and tackled her against the headboard with the force of his kiss. He swallowed her surprised gasp as he pushed his tongue into her mouth, now tasting of the sweetness of grapes and oranges.
When he pulled back she was laughing and smiling. Her eyes scanned over his face. “These are sexy as hell, too,” she said, fingering his lip and brow piercings.
He threw his head back and laughed. Her timing was perfect. She had a knack for injecting humor in serious conversations just when it was needed. Her giggle warmed him. He leaned forward again and kissed her, scraping his bottom lip over hers to make sure she felt his spider bites. She whimpered and he grinned. After a few moments he settled back against her chest again.
Minutes passed with Caden leaning sideways against Makenna’s abdomen while she stroked his back and he played with the ends of her hair. “You have the prettiest hair I’ve ever seen, Red. And it smells fucking phenomenal.”
“I knew it! I knew you sniffed my hair.”
He tilted his head to look up at her, chuckling uncomfortably.
But the beaming smile on her face was all pleased. “Don’t worry,” she said when she saw his embarrassed expression. “I sniffed you, too. I love your aftershave.”
He nodded and tucked his head back down against her. “Good to know,” he said through a smile.
More comfortable minutes passed and she sighed. “I still owe you an omelet.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, we kinda skipped that, didn’t we?”
Her voice sounded like a smile. “Uh, yeah. I didn’t mind, though.” She kissed the top of his head.
“Me neither. And, anyway, I still owe you a pizza.”
“Ooh, yeah.” She wriggled underneath him like she was dancing. “And a movie, too.”
“And a movie, too.” Caden grinned where he leaned against her. She was making plans with him, plans for the future. He was fucking thrilled.
They lay together for a few more minutes, then Makenna yawned. “Let’s get comfortable,” she said.
Caden pushed off the bed and extended a hand to help Makenna. He picked up the tray. “I’ll take this out to the kitchen.”
“Thanks,” she said as she pulled the covers down.
When he returned, she was lying under the comforter on the side where they’d been sitting. He came around the other side and shed his jeans before slipping under with her. “Oh, God.” He chuckled. “That feels good.”
She clicked off the lamp and then rolled over to him. He lifted his arm so she could fit into the nook along the side of his body. Despite the novelty of being with a woman like this, it all felt completely natural to Caden. And that made him cherish it all the more. Cherish her all the more.
I could get used to this, he thought as Makenna fit herself along his side and slid her knee onto his thigh. He was bone-achingly tired but happy beyond anything he’d ever imagined might be possible for him.
Just as his eyes drooped, she pressed a kiss against his collarbone and squeezed her arm across his chest. “I love…that elevator,” she said.
With a sleepy smile and a full heart, he turned his head and kissed into her soft hair. “Aw, Red. I love that elevator, too.”
Chapter One
Caden Grayson blinked awake and immediately knew three things. He wasn’t at home. He wasn’t alone. And he’d just had the best night of sleep in longer than he could remember.
Maybe in fourteen years.
Peering down, he saw a tumble of red curls covering his chest and part of Makenna’s face.
Damn. If that woman was a dream, he didn’t want to wake up.
How the hell had he gone from getting trapped in a claustrophobic nightmare to having the best night of sex of his whole life? Shit like that just didn’t happen to him. Never had. Oh, he was acquainted with luck all right. Just not the good kind.
But this whole situation was about a lot more than sex to Caden. He liked Makenna. He liked being challenged and accepted by her. He liked the way he felt when he was with her. Like right now, with her curled in against the side of his body. So damn soft and pretty against all his hard and ugly.
She stirred and murmured against him. Her breasts pressed into his side, and her thigh slid higher on his until her leg rested close to where he was getting hard. Her hand shifted across his chest far enough that she tucked her fingers underneath his back, embracing him fully. It felt like a claiming, and fuck if it didn’t make him want that. Something he’d never wanted before. Something he’d convinced himself he couldn’t have and wasn’t worthy of besides.
To be claimed.
To be wanted.
To be kept. Always.
After he’d lost his mom and brother, all he’d had left in the world was his father. But instead of bringing them closer, the tragedy of losing half their family had destroyed whatever father-son relationship they’d once had. His father did the bare minimum of what he had to do to get Caden to the age of eighteen. Then Caden had been unceremoniously pushed out the door. On his own and free as a fucking bird. And he’d never looked back. Still, it didn’t escape him that the flip side of the kind of freedom he’d found had been complete abandonment by his only living family.
Now, not even his father remained living anymore. So Caden was well and truly alone.
“Morning,” came a raspy voice thick with sleep.
“Morning,” he managed, his mind tangled in the downward spiral of his thoughts. “Sorry if I woke you.”
“You didn’t,” she said, a smile plain in the tone of her voice. “Once my brain remembered that there was a gorgeous man in my bed, it woke me right up.”
He grinned, appreciating again how quickly she could pull him out of his head. “Freaking gorgeous, if I remember right.” She smacked his chest, and it made him laugh. “Just sayin’.”
Makenna lifted her head and looked at the clock on the side table. It read a few minutes after ten. “I can’t believe I slept so late. Have you been bored to tears waiting for me to wake up?” She propped her head on his chest, and there was a shyness in her gaze he wanted to chase away.
“Not at all. I’ve only been awake for a few minutes. Anyway, I could never be bored with you half-dressed and laying on top of me.”
She chuckled, and then there was only happiness in those baby blues. So maybe he wasn’t the only one who needed the kind of reassurances she’d given him last night. “Is that so?”
“Trust me on that one, Red.” He tucked a few strands of red curls back from her face. He wasn’t sure what to say, what to expect. He only knew that he wanted more—more time with her, more of her sweet touches, more of how she made him feel. “What, uh, what did you have planned today?” Unlike his several-days-on, several-days-offer paramedic schedule, she worked a more traditional office job, so she probably counted on her Saturdays for downtime, friends, and errands.
She shook her head, making her curls dance across his skin and his blood heat. “Nothing really. The gym maybe? Oh, and there’s a great little farmers’ market I go to sometimes on Saturdays. I didn’t have any plans. How about you? Do you work today?”
He traced his fingers over her shoulder and down her arm watching with fascination a
s goose bumps sprang up in the wake of his touch. “I’m off ‘til tomorrow night and then I have a double. I often volunteer to do weekends so the guys with families can have them off, but my captain made me take the whole week off after my father…” He shrugged. “So, uh, no plans really.”
“Hungry?” she asked.
“I could eat,” he said.
“How about something more than trail mix and grapes?” She smirked.
He chuckled. “Yes, please.”
She grinned. “There’s a really good noodle place near here. Or we could do pizza like we talked about.”
Now Caden was grinning. At the memory of their conversation, at the fact that she was doing just what they’d said, at the fact that it gave him hope. “Feed me pizza, Red.”
Makenna pushed into a sitting position beside him and laughed. “Okay, Caden Grayson, then let’s get dressed so I can put some slices in your pie hole.”
He grabbed her around the middle and hauled her back down against him. Laughter spilled out of her, and he loved it. “My pie hole, huh?”
“Yeah,” she said. “I grew up with three brothers, remember?”
“Oh, I remember, Makenna. I remember it all,” he said, kissing the soft skin of her neck.
She sighed. “This isn’t going to lead to pizza.”
He laughed. “No, I guess not. Damn inconvenient stomach.”
Makenna turned in his arms, her smile so bright and open. “I know, but we need fuel.”
Oh, he liked the sound of that. “Damn straight we do.” He gave her a slow, lingering kiss, making sure to rake his spider bites over her lip.
“I’m sorry, what were you saying?” she said, her voice all breathy and sexy.
“Pizza.”
“Right, pizza it is,” she said, sitting up again and scooting out of bed. Tussled hair fell over her shoulders. His T-shirt hung loosely on her body, her legs bare beneath. God, she was so pretty she struck him dumb. “Would you like to shower?”
Caden got out of her bed and stretched, getting hard again because of the way she was staring at him. Like she was starving. He stalked around the bed, laser focused on her.
“What?” she said, grinning and backing up.
In one smooth motion, he bent and lifted her into a fireman’s carry.
She gasped and burst into laughter. “Why are you carrying me?”
He made for the bathroom. “I didn’t want you to get away.”
“I wasn’t trying to get away!” she chuckled.
“One can never be too sure,” he said, placing her gently on her feet back in the big walk-in shower. And even though he said it as a joke, it was the damn truth. “Yes to taking a shower.” He stepped out of his boxers and chucked them outside of the stall, then stood and let her look her fill.
Makenna’s gaze raked over him, and he felt it like a physical caress. “I think I’m overdressed,” she offered, pulling his shirt over her head and dropping her panties until she was all beautiful naked curves before him. “Much better.”
All he could do was nod.
She reached for the water knob. “How hot do you like it?” She slanted her gaze at him with a sexy little smile.
“However hot you like it, Red.”
Water rained down on them, and steam slowly filled the space.
“I think…” She swallowed hard. “I think we might be a little delayed getting to the pizza.”
It was all he needed to hear. “Damn straight,” he said, taking her in his arms. He pushed her against the wall as their lips met in a series of scorching open-mouthed kisses. Her arms went around his shoulders and her leg went around his hip. Caden’s cock grazed her inner thigh, and he groaned at the too-brief contact. “What do you want, Makenna?” he asked around the edge of their kiss. She sucked on his tongue, drawing a grunt from deep inside him.
“You,” she said.
“How?”
She took his cock in her hand and stroked his hard length before rubbing him against her. “Just like this.”
Caden’s hand dropped to that sweet spot between her thighs. “Are you ready for me?” he asked, his fingers rubbing circles around her clit before he dipped one inside her. She moaned at his touch and threw her head back at his invasion. Bringing her pleasure made him feel so fucking powerful that he wanted to do it again and again. “Oh, yeah, you’re nice and ready,” he said, his finger gliding in and out now.
“Caden,” she rasped. His name on her lips in that desire-drenched way snapped the last tether of his restraint.
“Stay right here,” he gritted out, hating to have to part from her for even one second, but needing to take care of her, too. She lowered her leg and nodded. Not giving a second thought to the fact that he was wet, he padded out to the beside table and grabbed another condom. He had it on by the time he stepped back into the shower.
And damn it all to hell the way she was looking at him and watching his hand move over his sheathed length nearly knocked him to his knees.
Caden positioned himself against her again, all skin on wet skin, and lifted her thigh over his hip. Not waiting another moment, he found her entrance and drove into her wet heat. “There it is.” They both moaned. And as good as it was, Caden needed more. He needed to go deeper, get closer. Reaching down, he cradled under both of her thighs, lifting her against the wall right where he wanted her, right where he needed her until he was buried to the hilt. “Oh, fuck.”
She held tight to his shoulders, her expression utterly wrecked. He met her hooded gaze, and those baby blues were filled with so much heat and need. Their gazes locked, their panting breaths on each other’s lips, he fell into a rhythm that was two heartbeats away from frenzied.
“God, Makenna,” he gritted out, feeling his control slipping so damn fast.
“Yeah, I’m right there with you,” she breathed. “You’re so good, Caden.”
Even as his body drowned in all her sweetness, his brain latched onto what she’d said. Not it’s so good, but you’re so good. Maybe she didn’t mean anything by it. Maybe it had just been a lust-drunk slip of the tongue. But his brain settled on hearing it as acceptance, not just praise, and it shoved him too damn close to this being over. He really wanted her to fall first, so he shortened his strokes until he was all but grinding against her.
“You’re gonna make me come,” she said, clutching tighter around his shoulders, her hips rocking within his grip.
“Good,” he said, landing wet, open-mouthed kisses on the corner of her mouth, her cheek, her jaw. “I want to feel you squeeze my cock,” he said in a low voice against her ear. The moan she unleashed was the sweetest victory, only bested by the way her orgasm stole her breath before it exploded back out of her again on a throaty shout. Her muscles worked him over until he couldn’t hold back anymore, and then his hips were moving, flying, pulling all the way out before plunging deep again and again. Sensation shot down his spine and nailed him in the back, driving him all the way inside her one last time before his orgasm had his cock pulsing and her name rasping from his lips. “Jesus,” he finally managed.
Caden pulled back enough to search Makenna’s expression. Her cheeks were pink. Her lips were swollen from their kisses. Her eyes were absolutely blown. She was fucking gorgeous. “You okay?”
“Mighty fine,” she said, giving him a wink that made him laugh.
“We will always agree on that,” he said, easing her feet to the floor and holding onto her to make sure she was steady. He kissed her then, soft and sweet. She molded herself to him, the hot water still raining down, the steam cocooning them from the rest of the world. He’d stay right here if he could.
“I’ll be quick with my hair,” she said, “and then you can have the hot water.”
“No worries, Red,” he said.
“I don’t want you to get cold,” she said, working shampoo into her waves. The water almost made her hair appear brown.
He poured some shower gel into his palm. “Absolutely no fuckin
g chance of that with you around.”
She laughed and her cheeks went even pinker, which he found damn adorable given everything they’d just done. “I would’ve washed you,” she said with a wink.
Next time, he thought. And he really hoped there’d be one. When he’d woken up, he hadn’t known what to expect. But the thing he most hoped for—a real chance—seemed more and more of a possibility the more time they spent and the more experiences they shared. But hope was such a dangerous fucking thing. He deflected all this overthinking with humor. “Wanting to get your hands on me again already?”
Her gaze raked over him, lingering on where his cock was stirring again. “Constantly.”
He could work with that. He really freaking could.
Makenna felt like she must’ve stepped into somebody else’s life twenty-four hours ago. Because she almost couldn’t believe everything that was happening to her was real. It wasn’t just that she’d picked up a stranger and brought him back to her apartment for a night of incredible sex that was so unbelievable. That in and of itself was going to gobsmack her best friend, Jen, when Makenna told her. It was that she’d hooked up with him in the pitch-dark, and that the sex-fest had continued into her shower the next morning, and that it was Caden Freaking Grayson.
Makenna liked her numbers and her books and her small group of friends. She was a strait-laced girl who wasn’t known for doing crazy things or attracting the hottest guy’s attention. And while she’d had one serious relationship, she wasn’t the most experienced girl either.
And yet, here she stood in front of her mirror pulling her damp hair into a ponytail getting ready to spend the day with her…her what? Her one-night-stand? The phrase sloshed around uncomfortably in her empty gut. That wasn’t what they were. At least, it wasn’t all that they were. Or, hopefully, all that they were going to be. They’d become lovers last night, but today, in the new light of dawn, maybe just maybe they were becoming something else.
She gave the reflection of her simple gray T-shirt and khaki shorts a final glance before heading out to the kitchen, where she found that Caden had washed the couple dirty dishes they’d made together. “Aw, you didn’t have to do that.”
