by Zoe York
“We could set up some sort of banking or accrual system.”
A weak laugh tripped off the last few words, but his glare wasn’t angry anymore. Maybe it had never been. A lot of feelings bounced between them, all of them good and complicated.
“I’m sorry,” she said at the same time he swept his arms around her, picking her up. Squeaking, she ducked her head through the doorway, then hung on tight as he spun them around and dropped her carefully on the bed, following her down.
“At some point, I want to know what you’re scared of,” he said roughly, sliding his hand over her waist, finding the bare skin between her shirt and her pants. Pebbling her skin and making her forget almost everything.
“Okay.”
“In your own time. No more pushing. But I don’t want to do whatever others did to hurt you.”
“You won’t.”
“I’m—”
She cut him off, tugging his mouth down to hers. “Stop talking.”
But he didn’t—he just shifted gears.
Cade, it turned out, was a talker in every way.
Dirty, sweet…descriptive.
Between deep, probing kisses, he worked his hands up her shirt and his words under her skin. “I’ve been thinking about this since the first day we met,” he murmured as he trailed his lips down her neck. “You were a woman on a mission, and I wanted to peel that white dress off your gorgeous body. Find out how dark your nipples were and what sounds you’d make when I suck on them.”
She writhed into his touch, those aching peaks brushing against the flat of his palm as he teased her.
“You feel so good.” He sucked on the skin at the base of her neck, his tongue swirling over her erratic pulse. “Hot and soft and perfect. Do you know you’re perfect, Mel?”
Shaking her head, she wove her fingers into his hair and held him against her skin. He didn’t need to see her denial. Instead she closed her eyes, and went with it. “Tell me.”
“You smell fantastic. It’s been killing me to be so close and not be able to bury my face in your neck. Your smile is so damn bright and your eyes…”
He was too good at this. She was melting. No. Melted. Gone—all that remained was a puddle of goo. “My eyes?”
“They dance. With filthy ideas and funny jokes.” He reared up, pulling off his shirt before lowering himself back on top of her. “I could feel them on me while I jerked off. I like your eyes on me.”
“Then you should stay where I can see you,” she whispered, grazing her hands over his hot, bare skin.
“You already had your chance,” he growled, jerking her tank top up between them. “Now I want to see you. Every. Last. Inch.”
Licking her lips, she wiggled out of her shirt, then pushed herself up on her elbows as Cade hooked his fingers into the waistband of her cotton pants and pulled them down.
His groan when he found her neatly trimmed patch of black hair and bare lips below was the sweetest sound to her ears. He dropped his head, kissing first her hip, then her thigh, as his fingers found the seam of her sex and spread her open.
“Jesus, you’re so slick and wet,” he rasped. “Fucking pretty.”
Well no shit she was wet, the way he was talking to her. He made her feel beautiful and wanted.
“Five orgasms. Are you ready?”
“Wait,” she breathed. “Just a second. We need to be responsible adults for a moment.”
“I’ve got condoms.”
“Thank God. I had a complete physical three months ago when I signed up for this race. Blood work, the whole nine yards. I haven’t been with anyone since a while before that.” When she had, it was always with a condom, but she wasn’t going to add that part. She hated the intrusion of talking about their past at all.
“I’ve been tested twice since my last time with a woman. And I’ve always been safe.” He covered her pussy with his entire palm and squeezed. “I’d never do anything to hurt you, Mel.”
“I know.” And she really did. She’d trust him bare inside her, but she wasn’t enough of an idiot to let her heart actually suggest that out loud.
Rocking his hand over her sex one more time, he flashed her a wicked smile and licked his lips. “I can’t wait to taste you.”
“Please…” she breathed, jerking her hips toward his mouth. She was shameless now. He wanted her and she wanted him, and everything else was shoved far, far away.
“Patience.” He nosed down the valley between her pelvis and her thigh, his breath hot and steady as he exhaled against her. Then he was lower, between her legs, and inhaling. “So sweet.”
Between her shaking legs, she watched his shoulders bunch as he shifted, settling in. His hands slid beneath her bottom, lifting her up, and then his tongue was against her flesh. Just the tip. Just a tease.
He traced up one side, then down the other, learning her intimate geography. She didn’t need to tell him she liked to be sucked on. He found that out pretty damn quick, and mumbled something that sounded like “juicy as fuck”. For him she was.
For him she’d be filthy and uninhibited.
She’d close her eyes and ride his tongue straight to that first orgasm, because she trusted it was as good for him as it was for her.
His tongue felt like velvet as he flattened it, covering every inch of her pussy, from her pulsing entrance to her aching clit.
Up. Around. Down.
He devoured her, and when her soft moans turned hard, when her heels dug into the bed and her hips lifted, grinding against his eager mouth, he tightened the tip of his tongue and whipped her right into climax number one.
As soon as she exploded, he backed off her clit, but he kept licking her until she found her voice again and begged him to come up for a kiss.
He moved like a raging sea, rising up and rolling forward in one motion. Powerful and beautiful at the same time, but she didn’t fear his roiling depths. He might be oversized and out-of-this-world, but he smelled like her and his smile was lopsided and pussy-drunk.
She wrapped herself around him as he whispered to her. She kissed his jaw, tasting herself on him as they twisted their limbs together and rolled. Reaching between them, she sunk her hand into his boxers and found his cock.
Just holding it undid her.
Hot, soft skin. Silky velvet, stretched tight over throbbing muscle. Squiggly blood vessels danced under her fingertips as he flexed in her grip. Her first impression had been right—he was big. But more than that, he felt just right in her hand. And despite his size, he suddenly seemed vulnerable, like she was inside his armor or something.
Exactly the same way it felt like he was inside her skin.
Had sex ever been like this before for him?
Could she be brave enough to ask him?
Did she even need to? Everything else he was whispering to her, from the raw and dirty to the unexpectedly sweet, all told her he was reeling, too.
He breathed her name as he found her lips with his. Desperate and deep, his kiss stole her breath—but she would have given it to him anyway.
“Mel,” he groaned as she shoved his boxer briefs lower on his hips and found his erection between her legs. She slicked herself down the underside of his length. “God, I love your sweet little pussy.”
“Yeah?” She rolled her hips, a hitching moan ripping from her throat as her still-sensitive clit rocked against his swollen crown.
“Hands down the hottest thing I’ve ever seen is you opening up for me, showing your secret pink bits.”
Good. Lord. Could he feel her skin flushing? Or was she already sizzling from the residual tremors of the orgasm, so one bit of heated skin felt like all the others?
“Like the tip of your clit. As soon as you’re ready, I want to do that again. And again.”
“Noooo,” she protested, even as her sex clenched—her head and heart wanted to reciprocate, but her body was on board for his planned Mel-feast. Bad, selfish woman.
“No?” He teased her with the quest
ion, because of course yes. But first…
“I want more of you, Cade. I want you inside me. Now.”
“I still owe you four…” He trailed off, his words dissolving into a gasp as she wiggled lower and flicked her tongue against the bar that pierced his nipple.
He cursed under his breath, then hissed as she sucked it into her mouth. Does it feel good? Had that only been a few hours before?
She didn’t need any more foreplay. “We’ll stretch those over the rest of the afternoon.” Or whenever. One Cade-orgasm was worth five of her own. “Get a condom.”
“Now who’s bossy?” He seared her lips with a fast, bruising kiss that left her mouth swollen and aching for more, then shoved backwards off the bed.
Mel clambered to her knees, watching as he got rid of his underwear in a quick hop, then fetched a box of condoms from his bag. Her eyes gobbled up the little details of his body that she’d missed in the shower. The way the hair on his legs seemed to float above his skin. The scars on his arms and one shoulder. Some looked surgical, the others… She shivered at the graphic reminder of how brutal his job could be.
Then he turned to face her again, and she lost herself in the gorgeous vee of his body. His bulky shoulders, those glorious pecs with the steel-decorated nipple, tight abs, and those magnificent ridges that curved over his narrow hips and sank straight to the part of him that was about to be inside her.
She licked her lips as he stroked himself, hardening again in his grasp. Then he rolled on the condom, lightning-quick, and was back on top of her.
Her legs flew wide as she spread herself for him, but he didn’t seem in a hurry to fuck. He kissed her again, his hands blazing a path down her body that he soon followed with his mouth. Her neck, her breasts. Her nipples, over and over again. The skin between and beneath her breasts, kisses, then licks, which continued south until he was between her legs, looking at her again.
“So. Fucking. Pretty.” He was going to give her a complex. “I want you on top. I want to see you sink onto me.”
She didn’t need to be asked twice. As soon as he was stretched out, she straddled his hips, holding his cock in her hand. She lifted up and rocked her wetness over him again, just around the head.
Her turn to tease.
His hands settled heavy on her hips, his fingers curving around to her bum as she squeezed those internal muscles, then relaxed them, taking in an inch of him. Squeeze. Relax. Another inch.
Already she was feeling stretched. Up again, then down, this time with a sigh. No more games. She needed more of him. More of that impossible fullness, that perfect ache.
She let her eyelids flutter shut, just feeling Cade inside her. All of him as she sank down a third time—finally all the way. Inside, he pressed against her cervix, making her shiver. Outside, his hands stroked over her hips and across her belly. His words dripped down like soft rain. “Unbelievable, beautiful. Snug as fuck, and seeing my cock inside you…no words.”
What a lie. He had all the words. And she had none. Nothing would do the pleasure justice. “Mmmm,” she said, then blinked her eyes open and found his gaze on hers. Hot, hungry. Possessive.
It took her breath away and it didn’t matter that she didn’t have words. She let him see inside her, holding his gaze as she rode him, slowly at first, then faster.
His palms skimmed up her midsection and cupped her breasts, his thumbs rolling over her nipples, causing little bursts of desire deep in her belly. This was definitely different. She breathed his name as she clenched around him, and he nodded.
“I know.”
“It’s so good,” she cried, rocking her hips on each fast down stroke now, but it still wasn’t enough. He grabbed her hands, shoving them to her chest before he gripped her hips again. He drove up and into her, stroking her harder, winding her tighter.
Her breath pulled shallow now, every cell in her body achingly hot and ready to explode. But she didn’t want it to end.
“Are you close? What do you need?”
She shook her head. “It feels so perfect.”
“What did I tell you, beautiful? Five orgasms. And that’s just what I owe you. That doesn’t count what I just want to give you because you’re so pretty when you come. And they’re all going to be this good, because it’s you and me.”
“Are you gonna come with me?” She was panting now, pleading for him to join her.
With a growl, he slammed into her, holding them together as he flipped so she was on her back and he was on top of her.
“I will like this.” His eyes were almost feral as he surged over her, his lips parted and shiny. She reached between them and gently tugged on his piercing. The grunt she got in response was music to her ears.
“Yeah?”
“Fuck, yeah.” He pistoned his hips faster, stroking spots inside her that made her see spots and hear bells. “As soon as you scream my name, I’m going to fill you up, Mel. So hard.”
Her thighs shook as she trailed her hand down his beautiful abs and found where they were joined. Sucking in a ragged breath, she slid her fingers around his erection, feeling him push between her folds.
“Ahhhh,” she sighed, getting her fingers slippery enough to roll over her clit.
“Eyes,” he growled, and she jerked her gaze back to his face. When had she stopped looking at him? She needed to keep doing that. Needed to give him that. He kissed her hard, then pressed his forehead against hers as he fucked into her. She furiously rubbed herself. So close. “Say my name.”
“Ahhh!” she screamed as she was finally sucked into his storm. “Cade!”
With a shudder, he buried himself in her, and she wrapped her legs around his hips, holding on even as her muscles shook and her heart nearly exploded. She felt battered. Exhausted and wrung-out. Totally and completely satisfied.
Inside her, he throbbed. Everywhere else, he held on just as tight as she was holding him.
“Cade?”
“Yeah?” he croaked.
“I think we can take a break before number three.”
— NINE —
Thirty-six hours of sexcapades wasn’t exactly the best preparation for an endurance race, but Cade reminded himself it was a catered race. And since they weren’t in the lead pack, racing for actual time, that meant they’d get caught up in the choke points at each obstacle. It would be a long two days, but the fact they’d only slept a few hours—at most—uninterrupted wasn’t the end of the world.
And even if it was…waking up to Mel’s cool little hand wrapping around his cock and her mouth on his neck whispering she was ready again? Best end of the world ever.
“Are you thinking about sex?” The object of his filthy thoughts wiggled her eyebrows at him as she came skipping back from the registration table.
“What gives you that idea?”
She winked as she pinned his race bib to his shirt. “You have this lazy smirk…like you’re remembering how wet my mouth is or something.”
Jesus. She was going to get him all worked up just before their timed start. “Can’t run with a hard-on, beautiful.”
“So I shouldn’t—”
He cut her off with his mouth and his hand, kissing her lightly as he smacked her bottom. “Stop it. Save it for our first waterfall break.”
“No making fun of the race.” She narrowed her eyes at him.
“I wouldn’t dare.” He gave her his best innocent face.
“Good. Then I see one of the official race photographers over there. Let’s get our before-picture!”
He’d fallen right into that trap.
But when the photographer pointed the camera at them, Cade forgot he thought it was silly and picked Mel up in his arms. She twisted on the guy’s instructions, proudly pointing to her bib. Cade couldn’t help but pose for the shot, too. This was actually a moment he’d want to remember—the event that brought them together.
“That’s awesome, you guys. Now how about another one that shows off Mr. Tall’s number,
too?”
Mel hopped out of his arms and, tugging him down to her height, she laid a wet, smacking kiss on his cheek.
“You’re blushing,” she whispered.
“You have that effect on me,” he muttered back. They grabbed their packs and jostled their way into the queue.
— —
The first obstacle was an up-and-over wall that had been erected across the wide head of the trail the day before when the path had been closed in preparation for the race. Cade had talked her through powering up the wall and promised to help. He did more than that—his boost got her nearly to the top, and in two quick pull-ups, she was taking a deep breath as she looked down the other side. “Go slow and search wide for a foothold,” Cade had said. She could do that.
Throwing her leg over the top, she twisted and cast her toe about. Finding a solid bump, she settled her weight and brought the other leg down. Phew.
“You good?” Cade asked as his head popped into view above her.
“Golden.” She nodded.
He chose a different path of descent, soon coming abreast of her, and before she knew it, she could feel his hands ghosting against her ankles.
“Two more feet and I’ll have you,” he called out.
Then his hands were on her waist and he was turning her, whispering that she’d done a great job before they took off at a jog. It wasn’t hard to keep up with the pack, or even to move up toward the front, but this was different than when they hiked the path. Faster, for one. But also there lingered in the back of her mind the reality that tonight, after everyone settled into their tents, she’d be within a short hike of the ridge.
She hadn’t decided yet if she’d go up by herself.
No, she couldn’t go up on her own. At the very least, she’d have to tell Cade what she wanted to do. He’d go with her. He’d understand and wait for her to do her thing.
It was weird knowing there was someone else in the world who wanted to be the keeper of her secrets. Not to use them or own them, but protect them for her.
They hadn’t talked much in the last day and a half. Cade had kept his word to her that she could share on her own time.
