But those were different. One because she was in actual peril in them but also because those scenarios were safe. They’d been in her imagination. In reality, giving up control, letting him “rescue” her, was a lot scarier. This might just be him cleaning her up but emotionally she felt like she was relenting power. Power that she needed to survive so she could save herself when he wasn’t around.
Needing to take some control back, Ali snatched her hand away “I’m fine. Thanks.”
He didn’t react. Instead, he ripped off his hand wraps and reached above the fridge and grabbed the first aid kit and hydrogen peroxide. He made quick work of dousing her cuts before blowing on her sensitive skin. His breath was cool but it caused her entire body to burst into flames of hot lust.
Ali watched as he covered her injury with Neosporin and placed a large bandage over it with a gentle touch. Then, without asking permission he lifted the hem of her dress up and the material bunched on her bare thighs. She sucked in a startled breath feeling exposed as he bent and examined her knee and ankle.
He took the same care with her knee that he had with her palm. When the bandage was in place, he turned his attention to her ankle. When he reached to touch it she instinctively moved it away. Her hand and knee were one thing, those were flesh wounds. Her ankle was another.
His eyes lifted to meet hers.
“It hurts,” she explained.
A cocky grin tilted on his lips. “I told you, I’d never touch anything I don’t know I can fix.”
“Do cheesy lines like that actually work for you?” Sarcasm dripped from her and she hoped it concealed the fact that very intimate parts of her body were screaming that they needed to be fixed.
His smirk grew wider as he began examining her ankle. “I don’t need lines.”
She let out a small huff of false disgust to disguise her impulse to agree with him. His ego was big enough without her stroking it. Besides, if she were going to stroke anything, it wouldn’t be his ego. That thought had her palm tingling and it wasn’t from the antibiotic ointment. It was from the image of her holding his heavy shaft in her hand, squeezing her fingers around it and pumping him until he…
“It’s just a sprain.” His diagnosis brought her back to reality.
She cleared her throat. “Thanks, Dr. Kade.”
He filled the sink with water and ice before one of his large palms rested on her hip and he shifted her body so he could place her foot in it. Then he went to the fridge and grabbed her a can of soda and handed her two ibuprofen tablets. He cleaned up the Band-Aid wrappers and put the first-aid kit back together before returning it to its home above the fridge.
“Stay there,” he instructed gruffly before walking out of the room.
She did as he asked because hopping down might hurt and she wanted to see how this played out. Having Kade’s undivided attention was not a bad way to end the day and watching him play doctor was going to give her plenty of inspiration for new rescue fantasies.
He returned with an Ace bandage and after gingerly drying off her foot and calf with a dish towel, he wrapped her ankle. “You need to elevate it when you sleep and stay off of it as much as possible. Ice it a couple times a day and keep it wrapped.”
Ali saluted him, trying to tease him and relieve some of the sexual tension she was feeling. “Yes, sir.”
It backfired. His emerald stare darkened, increasing the tension. “Damn, I had no idea a sprained ankle would make you agreeable.”
“You like a yes woman, huh?” She knew she was playing with fire, but she didn’t care. At this point she was burning up anyway.
“I like you,” he said with a serious tone that caused her chest to expand and her breath to catch.
Kade was standing in front of her, his hands resting on either side of her thighs as he stared into her eyes. No part of him was touching any part of her but she felt trapped. The walls of arousal were closing in on her causing her to feel the now familiar claustrophobia.
“Well, I think I’m good now. Thanks.” She carefully placed her hands on the edge of the counter to hop down but when she lifted her hips a searing pain shot through her left palm. Her butt landed back on the tile counter as she hissed through her teeth.
Kade lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed her Band-Aid. She wasn’t even certain that she actually felt it through the bandage, or if seeing it tricked her mind into thinking she did. But whatever the case, she felt it. Everywhere.
She sucked in a shaky breath as he moved his mouth so that he kissed the outline of her Band-Aid. His lips brushed against the sensitive skin of her wrist and she trembled under his attention.
“Better?” he asked when he’d covered the entire area.
Unable to speak, Ali nodded. She didn’t know why she was going down this road with him. She just knew that she was, and there was no getting off the path now that she’d started.
The energy between them was crackling with electricity Ali was sure had to be visible to the naked eye. Kade stood in front of her staring at her with a look of tenderness, possession, and desire. He wanted her. She was sure of it. She’d never been more sure of anything in her life.
“Is there anywhere else that you need me to kiss and make better?” He asked in a low, raspy voice.
The challenge in his tone was evident.
The absolute sureness in his voice, even when asking a question, sent a tremor running through her. Maybe “tremor” wasn’t the right word to describe it. Earthquake. Yeah. This was The Big One.
He lowered her hand and lifted his arms, softly brushing her hair back off of her shoulders, causing goosebumps to rise all over her exposed skin. He stepped between her knees, parting them as he did. He was standing so close to her now that she could feel the heat radiating from his chest. She could feel his breath fan her shoulder as he asked, “Does it hurt here?”
Her heart was pounding so hard that she could hear the blood rushing to her head. She nodded once and felt his lips touch her bare skin. He then gently planted kisses on her neck and along the ridge of her shoulder. When she felt his teeth nip at the area just below her ear, her inner muscles clenched.
He moved his hand lower, grazing her collarbone. “What about here? Does this hurt?”
“Yes,” she whispered. Her voice was strangled now, her throat constricted by lust.
His lips moved lower down the exposed skin of her décolletage. He continued his journey along the neckline of her dress, allowing his mouth to travel over her nipples. The cotton barrier that covered them created friction as it rubbed against her hardened nubs.
As he continued his sensual journey, she felt like a stick of butter left out in the sun, melting into a glistening pool under the heat of his touch.
Using the last of the strength left in her limbs, she lifted her hands to his shoulders as he moved in to press his body up against hers.
He leaned toward her. His mouth hovered so near hers that she could feel the heat from his lips even though they weren’t quite touching.
“Does this hurt?” he whispered, his eyes drowsy and half-lidded.
She tilted her chin upward, pressing her lips to his. “Yes,” she moaned against his mouth, surrendering herself completely. When he captured her in a kiss that blew all of her fantasies out of the water, she dissolved into him. His tongue swept between her parted lips, claiming her with urgency. He navigated the recesses of her mouth with demanding mastery.
One hand wrapped around the back of her neck as the other fell to her hip. He flexed his fingers on both, tilting her neck to give him better access and pulling her hips to meet his. The material of her dress stayed in place as her thighs spread farther and her sex collided with his rock-hard erection. She rolled her hips into him and felt him throb through her damp panties.
He groaned into her mouth as they rocked against each other. They were like two puzzle pieces snapping neatly into place. She’d never experienced such an overwhelming sense of rightness before, and now she
couldn’t bear the thought of losing it.
In that moment, every negative emotion she felt about Kade was washed away. That wasn’t to say those feelings wouldn’t reemerge at some point when she was thinking a little more clearly, but for the moment, they were washed away by tides of lust and arousal.
She was feeling overwhelmed, to say the least. But not the same kind of overwhelmed she’d been feeling for the last year. No, this was not the kind that made her desperate to get grounded again. It was the kind that asked her to surrender to it completely.
He kissed her with a passion, a fierceness, a barely-restrained control that made her feel protected and cherished. With Kade’s arms around her and his mouth on hers, she felt a kind of safety that she hadn’t even dared to dream might be available to her.
He was what she had craved in those dark, lonely hours of the night: a partner. Someone to stand beside her and shoulder the burden of life alongside her; someone to talk to when she wasn’t sure that she was making the right decisions, or when she was one hundred percent sure that she wasn’t.
The only dangerous part was that him being beside her to lean on was a feeling. Not a reality. And she had to remember that.
But, with his soft lips touching her, it was so. Damn. Hard.
She made a decision. Whatever disappointments lay in the future when Kade inevitably bounced, whatever isolation she would have to readjust to…those things were going to be hard as hell regardless. Doing everything in her power to keep her walls up now wouldn’t save her eventual pain. It just wouldn’t.
All it would do was rob her of fully enjoying what was shaping up to be the single most intoxicating sexual encounter she’d ever experienced. She wouldn’t have that.
So, yeah. She’d surrender herself to every good feeling that came her way for as long as this encounter lasted. She’d let it flow through her, enjoy it to the fullest. Then, when the clothes came back on, so would her self-protective armor.
That’s a good plan. Foolproof. Right?
CHAPTER 17
Kade couldn’t believe this was happening. He would’ve pinched himself to convince his mind that this was real and not just another fantasy if he could bear to tear his hands away from Ali’s body for even one split second. He couldn’t, though. That was a nonstarter.
Fuck.
He’d said that he was going to be there for her. That he was going to make up for all the shit he’d pulled and all the pain he’d caused. He’d promised himself that he wasn’t going to do this.
And yet, here they were.
He might’ve been able to do it, too, if it hadn’t been for one thing: Keaton Fucking Mills.
He’d been trying to burn off his excess energy by pummeling the speed bag hanging beside the pool table when he’d seen headlights shine through the basement windows. He’d gone upstairs wondering who it could be since Ali had walked to work. When he looked out the window he’d seen Keaton wrap his arm around her and help her up the walk.
Something snapped in Kade.
As if being around her 24 hours a day, living in the same house, wasn’t enough temptation to take down a fucking saint’s resolve, seeing her in the arms of another man was just too much for anyone to take.
So now there he was, in her kitchen, kissing her. Touching her. And there was zero doubt in his mind that before the night was over, he would be making love to her.
He’d broken his promise to himself when it came to staying away from her. Now it became doubly important that he keep his promise not to hurt her. Not that he thought that would be a problem, considering how he felt about her. She was it for him. He was completely gone, head over heels. He wanted to be with her forever; take care of the boys and be a family.
Maybe tonight could be the first step toward that goal. He’d always been more of a physical guy anyway. Maybe his body could tell her how he felt in a way that his words hadn’t been able to yet.
He tore his mouth from hers and kissed his way down her neck. Fuck, her pulse was pounding so hard that he thought her heart might actually beat right out of her chest.
Her whimpers and sighs filled his ears, letting him know how badly she wanted him. Her fingers twisted in his hair as she arched her back, offering herself up like the hottest Creamsicle he’d ever seen. As much as he wanted to lick her until he got to her cream center, he knew he had to make sure they were on the same page.
He straightened and used both hands to brush the hair back that had fallen around her face. She opened her eyes slightly and met his, and the jolt that rocked his heart at that moment was earth shattering.
“I want you, Ali. I want to be with you.” Every bit of his heart was in that statement. He was handing it to her on a silver platter, being vulnerable in a way that didn’t come naturally to him. “Not just tonight. I want more. I want everything.”
But, at his words, he saw uncertainty flicker in her eyes. He didn’t blame her, but it shook him.
“Whoa, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. How about you just go back to kissing me and making me feel better?” Her voice was light, the half-smile on her lips teasing him. Underneath her joking façade, he could see the fear in her eyes. She wasn’t ready to hear his promises now. She didn’t want to hear a lot of pretty talk about what the future would hold. She just wanted him to make her feel good right now. And that, he could definitely do.
He grinned as he tugged the material of her strapless dress down, revealing her perfect, rounded breasts. She looked down as he traced the outline of her nipple. “Does this hurt?”
“Yes,” her voice was threaded with need.
Leaning down, he covered her knotted peaks with his mouth, pulling them one by one into the wet suction. He flicked them with his tongue and nipped them with his teeth. Her hips jerked, pressing her soaking-wet panties against his straining erection. His shaft throbbed in his sweats, threatening to break free of the fabric bounds that held it so tight.
As he sucked on her nipples, he thought about what it would feel like to feel her hands on him. Her lips. And, oh fuck, her inner walls when he finally plunged into her. His head was spinning and his dick ached and throbbed even more acutely than before.
Kade continued to lavish attention on her bare chest as she rocked her sex against his, dry humping, or in this case wet humping him until he was ready to burst. Her hands tugged his shirt up so she could touch his skin. He ducked under it as she yanked it off over his head and shoved his face back into her chest.
“I want you inside me. Now.”
He loved that she was being so bold. Demanding exactly what she wanted.
She gasped as her hands fisted in his hair while he licked, sucked, nipped, and kissed her pebble-hard tips. He tried to hold off. He wanted to draw this encounter out as long as possible. He’d dreamed of it for so long that he never wanted it to end. He needed to kiss every inch of her body. So, he ignored her request and continued worshipping her breasts.
She moaned and pleaded for several more minutes, writhing beneath his attention and he was sure then that he could make her come just like this. But she had other ideas in mind. She reached beneath them, slid her uninjured hand into his sweats and wrapped her fingers around his rock-hard cock and looked him straight in the eyes.
“Now. I want you inside me now.”
And that was it. His thin thread of control snapped. He pushed down his sweats and tugged her panties off. When they cleared her feet and hit the floor, a realization hit him. “Fuck.”
“Yes please,” she nodded.
“No,” He shook his head. “I don’t have a condom.”
“Fuck.” Her eyes widened.
They stared at one another, their heavy pants the only sound in the quiet house.
She was the first to break their silent standoff. “I have an IUD.”
He’d never had sex without protection and at the suggestion of it, his dick jumped.
“I’m clean.” He’d been tested in rehab and hadn’t been with anyone
since he’d been sober.
She reached out and once again wrapped her fingers around his girth.
He closed his eyes as every muscle in his body tightened like a rubber band being stretched to its limit. “Are you sure?”
She didn’t answer at first. Instead, he felt her tug him closer to her and he opened his eyes in time to see her position his cock at her entrance.
“Yes. I’m sure.” She lifted her eyes to his as she rubbed his engorged tip up and down the seam of her entrance. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” He covered her hand with his and they both moved the broad head of his cock up and down her arousal-soaked lips. With each pass, he grew harder as he watched the smooth skin of his crown glisten with her juices.
“I want you. Now. Please—,” she whimpered.
He gripped her hip with one hand and thrust into her tight canal in one powerful stroke and her words turned into an unintelligible cry. Her body resisted him at first and he stilled. He could feel her inner walls suction around him like a vacuum.
He rested his forehead against hers and remained still, allowing her time to adjust to him. When he felt her thighs relax, he pushed further in, burying himself to up to his balls and he felt the telltale signs of his release already tingling in them.
He opened his eyes and warned, “This isn’t going to last long.”
Her eyes flashed with challenge. “If you don’t fuck me already I’m going to—”
Kade never found out what she would do because he pulled out of her and pushed back in, cutting off her threat. He lost himself as he pumped in and out of her, his fingers digging into the flesh of her hips. Time seemed to lose any semblance of meaning in his mind. It could’ve been a minute or it could’ve been an hour. Nothing existed except Ali and him, and the way that they were making each other feel.
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