by Ali Vali
“I used to think about you like this,” Cain said. Her palm covered Emma’s breast, and she could feel the small nub pressing against her palm.
“Like what, baby?”
“When we first met, I’d take you out and talk to you and maybe dance, but on the way home I used to imagine what it would be like to have you stretched out like this with my skin touching yours. What it would be like to touch you because that’s what you asked me to do.” Cain moved her hand and wrapped it around Emma’s breast so she could lower her lips and suck gently on the neglected nipple.
Cain had been forced to exercise tremendous self-control the day Emma had called her back to that small apartment. When she walked in and saw Emma naked from the waist up, with only her arm covering her chest, Cain had wanted to devour her whole. The memory of the first time Emma pulled away from her and exposed herself to her hungry eyes would forever be one of Cain’s favorites.
Women were something Cain knew and enjoyed, but Emma had been worlds apart. From her first look Cain had just sat and stared so hard that Emma had grown nervous and asked if something was wrong. “You’re just so beautiful,” Cain had told her.
“Please, I want you to touch me now,” Emma said.
Cain let go of the nipple in her mouth and dragged her hand farther down Emma’s body. Long fingers parted Emma and found her wet and ready, but Cain didn’t go inside.
Instead, she stroked from one end of the heated flesh to the other, until Emma pushed her leg between Cain’s.
“Look at me, Emma.”
When she opened her dark green eyes she looked like a woman lost in the passion Cain was creating.
“I want to see you while I’m loving you.” Cain’s fingers slid up and separated as they came to Emma’s clitoris.
“Please, baby.” When the fingers stopped and squeezed, Emma’s hips surged off the bed. “Go inside, Cain. I need you.”
Emma tried to keep her eyes locked to Cain’s as Cain slid her fingers where Emma most wanted them, but it took all of her concentration to not just lie back and enjoy the fire consuming her body. No words could describe how Cain made her feel as her fingers stroked away Emma’s worries and the walls of her sex did their best to keep Cain inside.
The battle was lost when Cain lowered her head and sucked on her pulse point. Emma closed her eyes and moved her hips in time with Cain’s hand, trying to make the moment last as long as she could. With an impressive show of strength, Emma pulled Cain’s head up and pressed their lips together. The tongue in her mouth drove her blossoming orgasm to the point of no return.
“Don’t stop,” Emma demanded as her head fell back to the bed and she arched into Cain. Emma dragged her nails up Cain’s back, trying to keep their bodies together. The rush of pleasure peaked, and Emma grew taut as a scream ripped from her throat. “Whoa.”
“Whoa?” Cain said after Emma’s tremors subsided. “My lass has been on the farm a little too long.”
The comment made Emma start laughing, and she had a hard time stopping. “No, don’t go,” she said, still chuckling when Cain began to move off her. “I like being pinned down by you almost as much as I like being teased by you.” With gentle fingers Emma traced Cain’s face before she cupped her cheek.
“Yes, but just think of where all the pinning and teasing lead.” Cain kissed her one last time before sliding off. “However did I live all this time without you?”
Emma’s eyes filled with tears. She was the only one who got to see this side of Cain, the woman so many respected and more than a few feared, who could with just a few words express all that was in her heart. “I’ve been asking the same question about you for a long time.”
“Don’t cry, love. Sometimes I look at you sometimes and feel like there isn’t enough air in the room to fill my lungs. I never imagined a woman could so completely own me. Then I met you.” She placed her hand along Emma’s jawline and wiped the few tears away with her thumb. “Will you let me know if I ever do something to disappoint you? I don’t want to be without you ever again. Four years was a long time not to know true happiness.”
“Honey, you never disappointed me.” Emma leaned into the strong hand, then draped herself over Cain’s body. “I disappointed myself. I’m your wife, and I shouldn’t have believed anyone but you.”
She put her lips to Cain’s forehead. “I love you. That means for better or for worse.” Her lips moved to Cain’s eyelids. “In sickness, health, and gunshot wounds.” Emma whispered the last part into Cain’s ear before she placed a kiss just below it. The laugh that it caused in Cain shook her body a little.
“For richer or for poorer”—the other ear was given equal attention—“till death do us part.” Emma finished the vows with a kiss that left no room for doubt about how she felt or how strong her love was for Cain. “I belong to you and will have no other in my life except you.”
“That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever told me, but I don’t want to own you, love.”
Emma quit smiling and started to roll off, thinking Cain still wasn’t ready to fully commit.
“Don’t go. I like being pinned down by you,” echoed Cain from what Emma had said earlier. “Do you trust me, Emma?”
“With my life.” She answered without hesitation and didn’t try to hide anything from Cain.
“Then don’t worry when I say things like that. I didn’t mean that I don’t want you. Nothing could be less true.”
Emma relaxed, and she tried another smile.
“I don’t want to own you. I want to know you’re my equal in every way.”
“Can I tell you something and not have you think I’m crazy?” Emma put her head down on Cain’s shoulder, and her hair fanned out across her lover’s chest.
“It’s just us here, and I’ll never think you’re crazy.”
“I like that you’re stronger than me, Cain, and not just physically. You give an order, and people obey because they want to, not because they fear you. I love that about you, and I’m happy you’re the one who protects our children and me. I feel safe. What I meant was, I don’t want to be treated like a prized cow. I want people to look at me and know that I belong to you, that I’m your responsibility as well as your partner.”
She went willingly when Cain flipped them over and hovered over her. “I want them to know that I’ve chosen to belong to you. I want all that…but is that what you want?”
Cain took a deep breath and released it slowly, as if trying to organize her thoughts. “I’m not sure why this talk has become so serious, but perhaps it’s a good thing.” She slid off Emma again and, this time, off the bed.
After taking something out of the small desk, and before Emma could panic, Cain returned and knelt next to the bed. “When all this is over I want to give you something I was remiss about before.” She held a small green velvet bag tied closed with a tiny cord.
“Soon we’ll stand before God and our friends, and I’ll claim what’s mine. And I want you to do the same. We belong to each other. I love my children and my family, but all that’s incomplete without your love and belief in me.”
“I do love you,” Emma said.
“I know you do.” Cain had a little trouble getting the bag open, but when the contents slid out into her hand, Emma put her hands up to her mouth in awe. “You lived with me all that time, and I never gave you a proper ring.”
Cain held up the first ring, and the diamond sparkled in the waning light from the window. “The jeweler told me the stone is flawless. To me it represents my love for you. Perhaps my life isn’t perfect, but I try very hard to make you feel cherished and loved as flawlessly as I know how. When you look at it I want you to remember that.”
She held it up close to the ring finger on Emma’s left hand. “Emma, will you have me?”
The question was barely out of Cain’s mouth when Emma said simply, “Yes.”
Cain held another ring, a simple gold band with two sapphires embedded in the metal. “This ri
ng is a partner to the one I just gave you. Two more stones in honor of the most precious things you could have given me, our children.” The second one slid home, and Emma gave in to tears.
“Can the guy who sold you this add more to this one?” Emma pointed to the second ring.
Cain didn’t answer the question verbally; she just handed Emma the bag, then kissed the tip of her nose. The bag weighed just enough for her to know it wasn’t empty. When she tipped it over, another two sapphires rolled out into her palm, to be added to the ring if they had more children. “You do want us to work, don’t you?”
“That I do, lass, but before you go planning something, you might want to hear what I have to say.”
Emma pressed her hand to Cain’s lips and stopped whatever was getting ready to come out. “Later.” She looped her other hand around Cain’s neck and pulled. “Much, much later.”
Again Cain just grunted when Emma pressed her thigh between her legs. In retrospect Cain had chosen a rather strange way to propose, naked and just after making love, but Emma wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Whatever confessions Cain had would have to wait.
This was an occasion Emma didn’t want marred by anything.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Emma turned Cain in the shower so she could rinse out the shampoo she’d worked in. “Blue was responsible for bombing the clubs and Muriel’s office?”
“He didn’t set the bombs, but he let in the guys who did. Not that he admitted it, but he was also giving Stephano Bracato information about all of us.” She wiped the residual suds from her face before lowering her head again so Emma could repeat the process. “You have to understand that Bracato and his sons have no honor. They aren’t going to be satisfied with just my heart on a platter; they want to hurt me first by taking away everything dear to me. It got Marie killed and will make them keep coming until their sick needs for vengeance are sated. But I’m not just going to sit back and let that happen, no way in hell. I’m sorry if you think I’m a monster.”
“Don’t apologize. You’re protecting your family, end of discussion. I meant what I said, Cain. I’m here for you no matter what. Though when you see the tab for this afternoon, you may tell me to head back north.”
“The designer shops around town are going to start sending me thank-you cards again, aren’t they?”
“I believe Kevin said something about the wine being on him tonight.” Emma guided Cain’s dark head under the spray of water so she could rinse all the lather she’d worked up again while they’d been talking. “The FBI may not like you, my love, but Kevin simply adores you.”
“Who’s Kevin, and why haven’t we met?” They stepped out of the large shower together, and Cain accepted a towel from Emma.
“He’s my personal shopper, and while you’ve never met him, he’s memorized your account number. With your line of credit you might even make him forget Ralph.”
Cain laughed as she helped Emma into her robe. “I know I’m going to be sorry, but who’s Ralph?”
“The chef at the restaurant you’re taking me to, and also Kevin’s partner.” With her robe tied, Emma walked back into the bedroom and gasped at the number of packages stacked around the room.
“Is the little black dress you promised me in one of these boxes?”
“Along with a few other things, apparently.” She lifted the lid of one box that looked too small for anything she’d tried on in the store and closed it quickly when Cain stepped up behind her. Cain appeared amused as Emma’s face suddenly got hot. “Why don’t you get dressed and go downstairs and wait for me? I’m sure Uncle Jarvis would love to have a drink with you.”
“Tell me what’s in the box and I’ll be happy to.”
Emma put her body between Cain and the box in question. “What’s the matter, honey, don’t you like surprises? I believe that’s what you’re always telling me.”
“Ah, don’t I even get a hint?”
“Knowing Kevin the way I do, it’s made of silk. Satisfied?”
The smile that had attracted Emma in the first place grew even broader. “Not as much as I’ll be later when I help you out of the dress. It’s got to be something, to make you blush like this.” Cain ran her long finger up Emma’s cheek till it brushed through her wet hair.
“If you want to make it to dinner some time tonight, might I suggest you stop doing that, and most certainly stop looking at me that way.” Emma admired all the naked skin on display and for once felt like just staying in.
All those months on the farm she’d dreamed of the nights like this when Cain had made sure she enjoyed herself, no matter if she did a little business also. She’d seen the envy on a lot of women’s faces when she walked into a place on Cain’s arm. Emma knew most of them would have been all too happy to trade places with her—to see Cain standing before them naked and hungry.
“I thought you liked it when I looked at you this way?”
“I do, but you said it was important that we go out tonight, so stop it.” Emma felt chilled a minute later when Cain stepped into the closet to pick out a suit, and her white shirt almost crackled from the starch.
Emma slapped Cain’s hands away and fastened the buttons herself, along with the belt, as soon as she tucked the shirt into her lover’s pants. When Emma finished she handed Cain the jacket and stood on her toes for a kiss. “Wait for me?”
“I’ll leave you alone to get ready. Just call if you need me.”
With a hard tug on the black belt around Cain’s waist, Emma stopped her before she made it to the door. “I need you.”
“Lass, I love you with all that I am,” Cain whispered before she kissed her again. “But I’m only human, so behave.”
“You can stay if you want to.”
“I’m looking forward to being surprised.” Cain waved at her before closing the door behind her.
When Emma was sure Cain wasn’t coming back, she opened the box Kevin had included with all her purchases and smiled when she read the card.
Welcome home, Mrs. Casey. I hope you don’t mind, but I wanted to add a little something for Ms. Casey from me for bringing you home. You were sorely missed.
Kevin
She lifted the black silk undergarments out of the box and smiled. She didn’t realize that Kevin kept her preferences and sizes for absolutely everything in his files. The panties with matching strapless bra she would need for the dress she was wearing that night were a brand she’d been partial to after Kevin had pointed them out. The real deciding factor was the reaction she’d gotten out of Cain the first time she’d worn them, and she was hoping for a repeat performance later that night. “When you say a little something, Kevin, you aren’t kidding.”
The night promised more than one possibility now, Emma thought as she smiled.
*
The tension in the study was almost palpable when Cain walked in to find Katlin and Merrick both holding what appeared to be Cokes, staring at each other like they were ready for the next round. “Did someone ring the bell and we’ve all retreated to our neutral corners?” Cain asked. They all sat in silence for almost ten minutes, neither of them willing to break the calm.
“Do you want something to drink, boss?” Katlin finally asked.
Merrick blocked her on her way to the bar, “I think I’m capable of pouring a drink.”
“If you’d bother to learn what Cain likes, then you wouldn’t have to ask,” Merrick shot back.
The two were so busy sniping at each other they missed Cain’s smile.
“Short blond women with green eyes. You should know since you got to spend the day at the mall with her,” Katlin retaliated. “Did she buy you something pretty too?”
“Katlin, enough,” Cain ordered. She accepted the glass of whiskey from Merrick and sat down on the sofa. “Did we finish all our chores today, Katlin?”
“Just like you asked, no problems. What’s tonight’s game plan?”
“Dinner, and perhaps a little someth
ing after, like we talked about earlier. We’ll just play it as it comes. This place we’re going tonight is small, so only the two of you, and maybe Lou. Make sure you have your licenses on your person. This is our coming-out party, but someone invited the men in gray.” Cain took a sip and shook her head. “Leave it to Emma to go shopping and find a fed in the designer section.”
“The fed was shopping the sale rack,” Merrick said, with a laugh of her own. “If she hadn’t snuck into the dressing room, Emma would’ve never seen her.”
“Why do you think so?” Katlin asked.
“Because you can always count on certain things.” Merrick pointed at Cain. “The boss likes aged whiskey, and her lady never shops the sale racks.”
Cain laughed at Merrick’s gentle teasing.
“Though you’re the one to blame.” She pointed to Cain again.
“Guilty as charged, but”—Cain looked toward the door—“you don’t find visions like that one on the sale rack.”
Emma stood in the doorway and waited. She’d slicked her hair back and pulled it up in a sophisticated swirl. Her new shoes were comfortable but still made her calf muscles stand out a little. However, the dress stilled anything else from coming out of Cain’s mouth for such a long time that Emma thought something was wrong.
“Do I look okay?” She rested her hands on her stomach as she tried to calm her nerves.
She hadn’t even thought of wearing a dress like this for a long time and hoped she still looked decent enough to pull it off. The strapless top of the silk sheath wrapped around her body showed just a hint of cleavage, and the bottom stopped at midthigh, barely hiding her thigh-high stockings.
“I would have to answer that question with a big no,” Cain said as she rose from her seat.
