“Hey! Stop It! Get your hands off me!”
Both men heard the irritation and fear in Faith’s voice as Cain began to take an angry step toward where his former fiancé struggled in the redneck’s arms.
“Cain, wait!” Zeke urged, grabbing the younger man’s shoulder as he, too, stood from the table. “Watch.”
No sooner had Cain heard the words leave the Sherriff’s mouth, he watched as Faith’s elbow lifted, jerking backward to nail the ruffian in the nose. Blood poured as the man yowled in pain.
“You fucking bitch!” the drunk man growled, cupping one hand around his obviously broken nose. “You’re gonna pay for that, you little slut,” he threatened, stumbling toward Faith again.
“Okay, now you can get involved,” Zeke offered easily, giving Cain a little shove in the back for emphasis.
“Thank fuck!” Cain muttered, charging toward the guy as his fingers wrapped around Faith’s slim wrist.
Grabbing the collar of the inebriated man’s shirt, Cain whirled the drunk toward him. “I think you’re done here for the night.”
“Fuck you!” the red faced man cursed. “This little bitch has been sendin’ off fuck-me vibes all night. I was just gonna offer the bitch a little taste of what she’s been askin’ for!”
“You know, I think that might be the worst thing you could have said to me, son,” Cain replied calmly just before he nailed the pissed off drunk in the mouth with his fist, sending the man to his knees. “Now, I don’t just think you’re done here for the night. I know it,” he continued amiably, hauling the stunned ass to his feet. “I’m sure our friendly local law enforcement will be happy to see you home… or to a jail cell,” he ground out, shoving the man toward the back door where one of Zeke’s deputies waited. Stronger and meaner by far than the asshole he pushed toward the door, Cain fought the urge to pulverize the creep.
“I’ll be back for you, bitch!” the man yelled, his eyes glazed as he looked over his shoulder at where Faith stood shaking beside a table. “You’ve got something coming for you, you little cunt!”
Tightening his hand around the obviously deranged man’s throat, Cain got in his face and smiled. “Come for her and you’ll find me, son,” he promised with a dangerous smile. “We’re kinda a package deal. Understand?”
The man wheezed under Cain’s grip on his neck and clawed at the other man’s hand.
“I said do you understand?” Cain repeated, pressing his fingers against the man’s jugular and cutting off his air supply as white hot rage roiled through him at the threat the other guy had made against Faith
“Cain, let him go,” Zeke ordered calmly from behind him as the drunk’s lips began to turn blue. “Damn it, Cain, don’t make me arrest you, too!”
“Zeke’s right, Cain.” His brother Abel’s voice joined the fray as he rushed from his seat at the bar. “You’re gonna kill him.”
“Damn right!” Cain snarled, watching the redneck’s eyes dilate.
Suddenly Faith was there by his side, her slender hand circling his wrist and tugging frantically. “Cain! Let him go right now!” she ordered, pulling fruitlessly against the manacle-like grip he had on the drunk’s throat.
His gaze shifted from the asshole to Faith. “He put his hands on you,” he bit out, ruthlessly tightening his hold. “And then, he threatened you again.”
“I’m fine!” she begged, tugging again at his wrist. “The only one in danger here is you if you don’t let him go! He can’t breathe, Cain! Please!”
Flinging the asshole away from him with a twitch of his wrist, he sent the man stumbling backward into the Deputy’s grip, gasping for much needed air. Pointing a finger at the gaping man, he warned, “Come near her again and I’ll end you slowly.”
“Take him down to the station and get him booked,” Zeke ordered harshly to his Deputy before sparing a look toward Cain. It was clear to him that the other man was as likely to attack again as not. “Get him some air, Faith. Get Cain out of here,” he demanded, his voice brooking no arguments.
Faith nodded wordlessly as she slid her body between Cain and where the two Deputies held the straining drunk. Sliding her hands against his tense shoulders, Faith lifted on her tiptoes as she tried to catch Cain’s eyes with hers. “Cain, honey, please!” she whispered. “Let’s just go back to the office. Zeke and his boys will get rid of this guy, and Abel will look after Patience. Won’t you, Abel?” she said with a quick look at where his brother stood watching.
“You know I will,” Abel agreed quickly.
“Patience can take care of herself,” Faith’s sister called out as she came out from behind the bar. “Zeke, what the hell are you waiting for? Get that asshole the hell out of my bar!” she ordered imperiously, gesturing wildly toward the door. “He’s ruinin’ the vibe in here. Messing with my Zen and everything.”
“Sweet Christ,” Abel moaned, running a hand down his face before moving to intercept the tiny tornado headed toward them.
“See,” Faith said gently, rubbing one hand against Cain’s hard chest. “It’s all under control. Patience is gonna kick everybody’s ass for us. We don’t need to stick around for that. We can see that show anytime.”
Finally forcing himself to focus on Faith’s face, he saw worry swirling in the azure depths of her gaze. “You know they called me the Soul Reaper in Afghanistan for a reason,” he kept his voice low, but he stared deeply into her eyes.
“I’m not afraid of you,” Faith assured him serenely. “I’m afraid for you right now. C’mon, Cain. This is your chance. You said whenever I was ready to talk, you’d be ready to listen. Let’s just get out of here and let the good deputies of Paradise do their jobs,” she murmured, urging him toward door on the other side of the bar. “That guy isn’t our problem anymore.”
Cain disagreed. That bastard still felt very much like his problem, but with Faith touching him and staring so openly up at him, he couldn’t resist giving her what she wanted. Nodding, he grabbed her hand in his and stomped toward the door to the adjoining dining room, hauling her with him.
Cain’s Salvation - Chapter Thirteen
Faith stumbled behind Cain as he threaded his way through the tables in the darkened dining room. God, she’d never seen him like this. Even at his most passionate, he’d never been quite this feral. Like a wild rabid dog, he’d torn into that jerk in a way that had taken her by surprise.
Guiltily, she recognized that she had played a huge part in what happened back there. Her attitude and dress had been intended to incite chaos.
For Cain.
She’d never meant for what she was doing to be taken so seriously by the bar’s patrons. She’d known most of them all her life. Lately, however, they were seeing a substantial amount of strangers frequenting the café. She should have known better than this.
Allowing Cain to pull her into the tiny office all four sisters shared, she jumped when he slammed the door closed and yanked her toward him.
“What the hell were you thinking?” he roared, backing her against the wall as he towered over her. Without heels, he stood almost a foot above her and she had to crane her neck to see up into his livid face. “Do you know what that bastard could have done to you? Do you?” he asked, shaking her slightly.
“I…I wasn’t thinking,” she admitted hoarsely.
“I would have killed him, Faith. Do you get that? I would have broken his neck and never so much as twitched while I was doing it! Is that what you want? You wanna watch me completely lose it?”
“No!” she denied, raising her voice to match his. “I had no idea that he was going to do that, Cain. He seemed harmless enough earlier in the evening!”
“Men are never harmless, Faith. Especially not after they’ve been liquored up and thoroughly flirted with,” he bit out, his jaw flexing as he spoke. “And you certainly did that, didn’t you? Was that fun? Almost sitting in his lap earlier while you joked with him? Knowing that I was watching every single fucking thing you did!”
Mortified that she’d been so transparent, she averted her gaze. He’d known exactly what she’d been playing at during the last week. She’d meant for him to know. Why did hearing him say it outright hurt so much?
“I’m sorry,” she whispered weakly. “It was stupid. I was trying to punish you, and I went too far.”
“You think?” he snapped, tightening the grip he had on her upper arms. “I almost killed that son of a bitch, Faith!”
“What do you expect me to do, Cain? Beg for forgiveness?” Faith asked, feeling her own temper rise as she arched her back. “Not fucking likely. I said I was sorry!”
“Sorry?” he echoed with a harsh laugh. “You’re sorry? Now look who’s lyin’ here, honey. You’re not sorry. You’ve spent the last week trying to bring me to my knees. You’ve goaded and teased until I was ready to snap on the first unsuspecting asshole that got too far out of line. Tonight, it happened, baby. Did you like what you saw?”
That wasn’t fair. Yes, she’d done all the things that he accused her of doing, but he refused to own his part in it. Shoving at his chest, she shook her head, blonde hair waving wildly. “You know I didn’t mean for that to happen tonight. Not like that. But what did you expect when you came back into my life, Cain? That I’d hold out my arms and say that everything was forgiven? Did you expect it to be that easy?” she yelled, breathing hard.
“No, but I didn’t expect you to act like a five dollar whore searching for her next mark either,” he spat, uncaring how coarse he sounded. She could have been seriously hurt tonight, and she didn’t even see it.
“Whore?” Faith breathed, incensed.
“If the Daisy Dukes fit,” he retorted with a careless shrug as he let his eyes drift down her tempting body to the wickedly brief denim shorts she wore.
Her body heated underneath the weight of his heavy gaze. “Bastard,” she whispered as his hands loosened on her arms and slowly moved to caress her skin. “Maybe if I hadn’t been left completely alone for over a year, brokenhearted and abandoned, I wouldn’t have felt the need to hawk my wares.”
“You think I haven’t been lonely, too?” he asked huskily, watching as her firm breasts rose and fell underneath her t-shirt. “You think it hasn’t been hell to watch your body every night but know that’s all I’m allowed to do? Having you close enough to touch, but knowing I don’t have the right to put my hands on you. You think I’m having a good time, Faith?” he asked, his mouth so near hers that he could feel her quick little pants against his lips. “It’s hell, sweetheart,” he confided, lifting one hand to cradle her neck while the other stroked down her arm to settle on her hip. “But all you have to do is say the word, and I’ll put us both out of our misery.”
“Cain,” she breathed as his head bent and his lips nuzzled the hollow just below her ear.
“Say it, Faith,” he encouraged softly, rubbing his lips against the throbbing pulse in her neck. “Say you want me,” he coaxed, pressing a gentle kiss to her arched neck as she strained against him.
Her body reacted to his soft, searching words. Biting her lip as his warm tongue licked the shell of her ear, she quivered against the wall.
“C’mon, baby,” he cajoled gently, lifting his hand from her hip to palm the warm weight of her breast. Rubbing the pebbled nipple through the thin cotton, he whispered, “Just say three little words for me. Let me love you again, Sweetness.”
She could feel her resistance melting, her defensive walls crumbling to dust. Only Cain had ever been able to make her feel this way, so hot and needy that she ached with the ferocity of it. What harm could it do, allowing herself to take her succor in his strong arms?
Hadn’t she earned this much? All she wanted was a little sweet relief from the hunger she felt for him. Forcing herself to meet his eyes, she could see the matching desire burning in his gaze, and a fire kindled low in her belly. “If I say yes, it doesn’t solve anything between us,” she warned breathlessly. “It’s just two people satisfying a mutual urge. We don’t talk about it later or use it to hurt each other. It’s one moment stolen in time to satiate a need we both seem to be unable to get rid of.”
“Whatever you want, Faith,” he replied, nipping her ear lobe with his teeth as his fingers squeezed her hard nipple, plumping it. “I’ll give you whatever you want,” he promised, dropping a trail of kisses over her neck and along her jaw. Lips hovering at the corner of her mouth, he murmured, his voice hot, “Just say the words, baby, and I’ll give you what you need.”
“I need you,” Faith admitted huskily, gasping as he pressed his hips against hers and ground his swollen cock against her damp folds. Even through two layers of denim, she could feel the familiar ridges of his dick. Rocking against him, she moaned. “I want you. Now!”
“Fuck, yes!” Cain growled an instant before he covered her mouth and claimed it for his own. Thrusting his tongue inside the wet haven, he groaned.
Faith felt like she’d come home as his familiar taste flooded her tongue. Meeting him head-on, she twined her tongue around his, stroking against it as his hand tangled in her hair, angling her head to deepen the kiss. Wild and lusty, she gripped his shoulders, sucking greedily on his tongue as his hand ripped at the button of her shorts and shoved the zipper down. He pushed her shorts down her legs impatiently, and she gasped against his mouth as he tore the satin thong she wore from her pussy, baring her to him.
Sliding his fingers of the smooth lips of her pussy, he smiled against her lips. “You shaved for me,” he praised between biting kisses. “Good girl. Now, do you still get wet for me, too?” he asked, spreading her lips as he stroked two fingers through her slit. “Ah, fuck, you do!” he groaned as he reached her clit and paused to rub the swollen bud.
Faith bucked against his hand and whimpered. It had been so long since she felt like this. Opening her legs for him, she rolled her hips, trying to impale herself on his fingers. “Cain, please!” she breathed roughly.
“Is this what you want, baby?” he asked in a raw voice as he thrust to fingers inside her channel, curling them slightly to rub her inner wall as he pumped his hand against her pussy.
“Mmmm, yeah!” She sighed and let her head drop back against the wall as he slowly fucked her with his hand. “Right there,” she urged, lifting her hips to meet his shallow thrusts.
Cain bent to suck gently as the curve of her neck, pressing her body against the unforgiving wall behind her. This wasn’t where he’d imagined taking her for the first time since he’d come home, but damn if he’d give her a chance to change her mind about things. “Touch my cock, Faith,” he demanded as he pulled his finger from her wet channel. “I need your hands on me,” he admitted harshly as he took a step back and ripped at the belt around his waist.
“Yes,” Faith breathed, nodding eagerly as she reached for his fly and went to her knees in front of him. Carefully pulling down the zipper over the front of the swollen bulge in his jeans, she licked her lips as his cock sprang into her hand, thick and hard. So beautiful, Faith thought as she slid her hand over his length. Long and heavy, his stem pulsed in her hand.
“Ah, fuck!” he hissed as he felt her velvet hand surround him. Pumping himself into her fist, he ground his teeth, dropping his head to watch her work his cock in her hand. “Suck it, Faith,” he demanded. “I want to feel that sweet mouth on me again, Sweetheart.”
Swallowing, Faith licked her lips and looked up his body at his clenched face. Nodding slowly, she lapped her tongue over the flushed mushroom head and licked the pearly drop that clung to his tip. His rough groan only fueled the hunger building within her.
“Fuck, that’s hot,” he growled, watching as she savored the taste of him on her tongue. “You like that, sweetness?’ he asked, tightening his fingers in her silky hair.
“I’ve always loved the taste of you,” she admitted softly, trailing her tongue along the vein that ran along the underside of his cock before taking his knob between her lips and swirling her tongue around the ri
dges in his crown. She heard him hiss in a labored breath as she slowly sank over him, taking his dick to the back of her throat.
Bracing one hand against the cinder block wall, Cain watched as Faith’s head bobbed against his dick, taking him deeper with every downward stroke. “Ah, fuck, baby! That’s good!” he praised, unable to tear his gaze away from his glistening cock as she worked her mouth over him. Powerless to resist the urge, he thrust against her lips, pushing his cock deeper into the scorching heat. He felt her hands cup his ass through his jeans and grimaced. “Sweet Jesus! I’ve missed this,” he groaned, fucking her mouth with shallow thrusts of his hips.
Faith moaned around his cock and moved one hand to cup his heavy balls. Squeezing gently as she tightened her mouth around his rigid dick, she heard his low grunt of satisfaction. Relishing the sound, she eased back to suckle the head of his penis gently. The ache in her pussy built with every lap her tongue made against his hard arousal, and she whimpered when he suddenly wrenched his hips away from her lips.
Breathing heavily, Cain gripped Faith’s arms and urged her back to her feet. Backing into the wall again, he met her stunned eyes and smiled grimly. “As good as that mouth feels wrapped around me, I don’t want to cum there. When I blow, it’s going to be buried in your wet pussy, Sweetness,” he vowed, lapping his tongue against her parted lips and kissing her gently. “Besides,” he continued huskily, “It’s my turn to play now.”
“Y-your turn?” Faith gasped, automatically lifting her arms when he gripped the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head. “I think I like the sound of that,” she whispered, her voice trembling as she watched him lick his lips as he flicked open the clasp of her bra. A second later, her breasts spilled into his hands, and she felt the sweetly familiar heat of his calloused palms kneading her flesh.
“God, I’ve missed these little raspberries,” he breathed, awed by her incredible beauty as he played with her tight, swollen nipples. “I’ve got to know if they taste as sweet as I remember,” he breathed, sliding down her body. Taking one of those ripe berries between his lips, he suckled ravenously, pulling her sweet taste into his mouth while he pinched and worried the other with his fingers and pulled low, needy cries from Faith’s lips. “Oh, yeah, baby. You’re still just as tasty as I remember. I’ve missed these little morsels so much,” he muttered, biting gently at the plump nipple he held in his mouth.
Wed by Wednesday (Passion in Paradise #4.5) Page 24
