by Vivian Lux
“Please, don’t ever call me that again.”
He folded me back into his arms. “Deal.”
And before I could say another word, his lips found mine and silenced any doubts I may have had that this was real.
Wyatt walked up and tapped Cade on the arm. “You need to get out, Turner,” he whispered. He gestured to Moloch’s crumpled body. “Nails’ guys are quiet now, but if they get you alone, you’re a dead man. Get out of here until I give you the word it’s safe.”
I swallowed back my fear as Cade nodded. “I owe you one,” he declared, and clasped Wyatt’s forearm with his meaty hand.
Wyatt returned the gesture and looked at me. “You’ll take care of him?”
I narrowed my eyes, remembering how he had slung me over his shoulder at Moloch’s command. “We’re friends now?”
Wyatt made a small sound in the back of his throat. “I know it didn’t look good, girlie. But I got you and that other girl out of his house, didn’t I?”
I blinked, trying to stick to my guns. “Not very nicely,” I protested.
Wyatt moved his face close to mine. “Well, I’m not a very nice guy, sweetheart. But I look out for one of my own.”
Startled, I could do nothing else but nod mutely. He grinned at me, showing his teeth, then turned back to the assembled Devils.
Cade took my arm and tugged gently. “Lainey-girl. Didn’t you tell me you wanted to see mountains?”
If Cade hadn’t given me his jacket, I would have frozen on the twisting road up to the cabin. Luckily, the pounding of my heart from being up so high in the air served to warm me just as well as his nearness did.
Once more, I was wrapped in the heady, swirling scent of him. With each cleansing inhale of the cool mountain air, I felt the harrowing trauma of the past few days fall from my shoulders.
The bike crested a ridge, and I gasped to see the sparkling valley laid out like a patchwork quilt below us. We were above the tree line and nothing could obscure the view. Snow still clung to the peaks above us, but down where we were, there was just the slightest hint of spring in the air.
Cade turned the bike off the main highway and on to a dirt road that led down into a hollow. We bumped along the pitted road that followed the twists and turns of a dashing streambed. I was starting to wonder if we would ever reach our destination when the road crested a small rise and I saw the cabin ahead of us.
Cade killed the engine and we sat on the bike for a second.
“This is my secret place, Lainey-girl. Only two people know where it is. Well...” He turned and looked at me. “Now three people do.”
I looked around the clearing. A shiny black pickup truck was parked next to the door of the rough-hewn cabin that looked like it had been pieced together by hand. The small windows gazed out over the streambed and out into the valley below. It looked like something out of a picture book.
“Don’t worry,” I replied. “I have no idea where I am.”
He laughed and helped me off of the bike. I shivered in the cool air.
“Here, let’s get you inside.”
I followed him around the pickup and into the doorway. He had to duck through the low-slung door, and I expected to see a cramped, airless space before us. But to my surprise, the cabin was one huge, sunny room. We stepped down into the sunken floor and I looked up into the high, peaked ceiling.
“I wasn’t expecting this,” I admitted.
“I’m full of surprises,” he replied.
And with that, I was swept off of my feet. I giggled as he cradled me like a bridegroom crossing the threshold, then laughed out loud as I landed on the big bed with a bounce.
He crawled over me, bending me until I was flat on my back, pinned under his welcome bulk. I traced my fingers down his torso, relearning the hills and valleys of his rippling abs. When my searching hands found the bulge at his groin, I closed my fist around it.
“This isn’t a surprise,” I whispered up at him.
“No, that will never change,” he whispered back, brushing his lips across my forehead.
“Never?”
“Never.”
My lips found his, opening immediately to welcome the honey-sweet taste of him back onto my tongue. I cupped his face in my hands and held him there, determined to taste him as deeply and fully as I could.
He made to move his lips down to my breasts, but I held him fast, and he gave way with a sigh, circling my tongue with his. I wanted to keep him locked there forever; to meld with him and merge until he could never leave me again.
But my desire was overtaking my firm resolve. The smell of him, the taste of him, the feeling of his rock hard body crushing mine—it was all too much to resist.
With a groan, I tore my lips away and gave him my neck. He pounced on me, raining kissing down the curve of my throat. His strong hands slid up underneath my top and crested the rise of my breasts. When his fingers found my battered and bruised nipples, I sucked in a gasp at the sudden pain.
He pulled back immediately. “Are you okay?”
I looked at him. I wanted to tell him everything. But I didn’t want him to stop. I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled him back down.
“Gently,” I whispered in his ear, and slid the silky skin of his earlobe between my lips.
He made a low sound, but nodded.
“In fact,” I whispered and pulled back from him. “Let me.”
He looked at me, confused. I pressed a firm hand on his chest. His eyes widened as I pushed him off of me and swung my leg over him. He landed on the patchwork quilt with a laugh that quickly died away as my fingers found the pull of his zipper.
“Oh, so you’re in charge now?” he teased.
“I think,” I declared, as I lowered the tab of the zipper tooth by tooth, “that whoever saved the other’s life last is in charge.”
He groaned when my hand found his shaft and encircled it with my fist. “So you’re in charge until I save your life again?”
“Yep!” I began to move my hand up and down.
He opened his eyes, an evil grin overtaking his face. “Well, knowing you, Lainey-girl, that should be about three hours from now.” I squeaked as he slung me over his shoulder and stood up. “So we may as well make it my turn now.”
And with that, I was on my back again, my jeans already flying through the air.
He knelt on the floor beside the bed and grabbed my hips. I squealed as I slid across the bed, but my wail turned into a sigh as his finger pulled my panties to the side.
The first probing touch of his tongue against my soft folds melted my protests away. He looked up at me from between my legs. The light that streamed in through the cabin windows cast him in the same golden halo as when I first saw him. His tawny hair flopped forward across his face as he bent to flick his tongue across me.
I lifted myself onto my elbows and pushed his hair back.
“I want to see you,” I whispered.
His piercing blue eyes met mine and he held me there in his gaze as he swirled his tongue upward to my most sensitive place. I sucked my breath in greedily as he took that hard, buzzing nub between his lips.
A flood of pleasure radiated out from his warm mouth and pulsed through me in an instant. I struggled to hold myself upright as my limbs weakened. He stayed there, pressing his face into me, inhaling deeply as he moved his quicksilver tongue across my wet heat.
I brushed my fingers through the golden strands of his hair. Once more, I was taken aback by how much time he lavished on me. I wanted to return the attention. I tried my hardest to touch him, to reach him; just to stroke my fingers down along the peaks and valleys of his arm and down to clasp his hand would be enough.
But the pulsing pleasure was reaching its peak. I squeezed my eyes shut and gripped the patchwork quilt, focusing on the wash of sensations.
He felt me go taut and took his cue, concentrating all his skill and attention on that one special place. Faster and faster his tongue moved
.
I sat up, electrified, my whole body gone over the edge. Over and over, the waves of my orgasm crashed over me. I dug my fingers into the gilt locks of his hair, combing through it as I bucked and thrashed, wanting more even as I pushed away from him.
“Too much,” I moaned. “Too much.”
But he didn’t pull away. He grinned up at me from between my legs, the edges of his blue eyes crinkling in amusement at my protests.
I barely had time to recover from the first orgasm when the second one sent me backwards into the quilt. I curled my toes, bracing myself against the shock waves that coursed through me anew.
They washed over me, harder this time, building on the electricity that was already there. My legs bicycled of their own accord, my hands opening and closing, grasping the bedspread, clinging to the edge of my senses. I could see darkness at the corners of my sight. I squeezed my eyes shut, wondering if I was going to black out.
And then I exploded all at once. Shockwaves ricocheted through my body. I arched backwards and drove my hips into his face, grinding myself into him with wild abandon.
When I opened my eyes, Cade’s face was right above mine. A low, bass rumble rose up from deep within him and I was pinned under his lips in a bruising kiss. I tasted myself on his tongue, and it mixed with the sweetness that was naturally his. It became an intoxicating brew that nearly made me drunk.
I moaned into his mouth as his tongue circled mine. He roughly pinned my face between his hands in an iron grip and claimed my mouth as his. I was helpless as he explored every inch of my mouth with that rough, penetrating kiss.
I moaned again as I felt the bulge in his jeans pressing against my thigh. I wiggled my hands free and snaked them down his chest to slip down over his narrow hips and under the waistband of his jeans.
Cade sucked in his breath and I pulled away, gasping.
“I’m in charge now,” I whispered, and this time, my grip on him was unbreakable.
He pulled back up to kneel above me and I tugged at his belt buckle. I smiled when that beautiful cock was finally freed.
Sliding lower on the bed, I grinned up at him. He drew in a quick breath again as he watched me lick my lips and open them wide to engulf his tip. He let out a low, throaty growl and put his hands on my head, but I swatted him away.
“I’m in charge now,” I repeated, moving my hand up and down his rigid shaft.
“Okay. You’re in charge, Lainey-girl.” There was a catch in his voice when he spoke and I looked at him quickly. The expression on his face was unfathomable, unreadable. It was something between joy and sorrow. It was halfway between fear and excitement.
I felt like I understood. “You’re surprised I’m here.”
He moved his hand down and closed it around mine. “I am.”
“Why?”
“Because I told you to go away.”
“You did.” I laughed ruefully. “I should have listened to you. But you got under my skin, Cade Turner.”
“I’m pretty lucky, I guess.” He grinned. “I’ve got an old lady who doesn’t listen to me and doesn’t seem to care if she gets herself killed.”
I smirked as I grabbed hold of him again. “You are pretty lucky.”
His lips parted in shock as I pressed myself against him, working my hand up and down his whole length as he kissed me deeply again. He pressed me backwards, using his massive strength to force me back onto the bed.
This time, I was ready to relinquish control. I spread my legs willingly, wrapping them around his waist to invite him back inside of me.
He hovered above me for a moment. Then, in one smooth motion, he was inside of me. I felt the answering flood rush to meet him and he slid smoothly upward, impaling me fully.
I wrapped my hands around his back and pulled him close to me, ready for the intense, rough pounding of the last time we made love. But he pulled himself back.
“I’m going to take my time with this, Lainey-girl,” he whispered. “I almost lost you back there.”
He moved above me with aching slowness. I gritted my teeth in frustration. This was not what I had come to expect from him. But his eyes held me firmly in their gaze, forcing me to surrender to the slow fire that started to burn within me.
We moved as one, him rocking back and forth, cradling me like a baby, soothing me and caressing me.
“What...?” I whispered. In all the times we had made love, it had never been this. I felt his heart beat in my chest; his blood rush in my ears. I felt his pleasure even as he gave it back to me. “Cade?”
“Shh,” he whispered as he silenced my doubts with another kiss. The slow fire that had been building within me roared to brilliant life when his lips met mine.
I groaned, digging my nails into his broad back. I wanted to pull him inside of me. I wanted to own him completely; to be his and to make him mine. I wanted...
Those thoughts exploded into incoherence as I fell headlong over the edge of oblivion once more. He held me close, bathing my face and neck in kisses as I cried out wordlessly while the fire consumed me from within. I felt his muscles twitch and bunch, and just as I reached the pinnacle of my pleasure, he roared out his own.
Squeezing me so tightly I lost all breath, he growled low in my ear, and I felt the spasming of his release inside of me. As the waves of my pleasure subsided, I buried my face into the place where his neck met his shoulder. I inhaled him, filling myself with his scent and exhaling the last of my fears.
When his last cry died away, he fell forward with a grunt. Once more, I was pinned under his immense, rock hard bulk. It was like being crushed to death by the world’s sexiest boulder. The thought made me giggle a little.
“You’re laughing?” Cade looked at me and pulled the corners of his lips down in a mock frown.
“You’re crushing me to death,” I gasped. “Did you save my life just so you could kill me?”
He laughed and rolled to the side, and I took a gasping gulp of breath in mock fear. “Not that it wouldn’t be a nice way to go,” I admitted, running a finger down the plated muscles of his chest and tracing the outline of his tattoo.
His eyes flickered in pain, and I knew I had touched a nerve. He had taken a man’s life only hours before.
“I’m sorry, Cade,” I said quickly.
“It had to be done.”
“It did. I just wish it didn’t have to be you. You’ve been through enough.” When I heard myself say it, I knew it was true.
He rolled over and looked at the ceiling. He took a deep breath, and suddenly the torrent of words rushed from his mouth.
“When my brother came to me, he was terrified,” he began, his eyes far away in the memory. “He owed money to some nasty people, and didn’t want to go to our Dad to get it. He was going to do it whether I helped him or not. I thought, since I was the older brother, it was my responsibility to go do it with him—to take care of him.”
“The bank?”
Cade blinked and nodded. I saw him struggle, and then decide to continue. I pressed my lips together to hold back the million questions that came to my mind.
“He chose Porter Crossing because he didn’t want to do it in Devils' territory. That would have gotten him killed for sure. We had a longstanding truce with the Rats. Mac figured no one would think we were Devil’s Due. He figured they would just think he was just some strung-out punk.” He bit back the words as if it pained him to say them aloud.
“The morning it went down, he was high as a kite; completely out of his mind. We had talked about getting in and out quickly. How we needed to keep our heads down and get out before the cops were called. But the morning of, Mac was...”
Cade gulped. “Mac was high, and thought he was in some fucking movie. We had planned to meet just outside of the bank, like we were strangers. If I had only seen him beforehand, I would have never let him go in.
“He went in there with his gun blazing like some psycho. I tackled him to the ground. I had to stop him, and t
hat was when the teller called the cops.”
He squeezed his eyes shut. “If I hadn’t done that, Mac would have killed everyone. But because I did that, we were trapped.
“When he fell, Mac twisted his ankle, bad. Suddenly, our quick getaway was gone. I could have tried to carry him, but he was a wild thing, throwing punches and screaming. Thank god it gave time for most of the people to get out of the building. Because once he realized the cops had been called, he went ballistic.”
“Five people dead,” I recited, remembering the news reports.
Cade nodded. “Mac... he was my brother. He was my little brother. We played in the street together and my dad would tell me it was my job to take care of him—that I was older and I knew better.
“And that’s how it always was. I carried him through school. I picked him up when he fell. But I must have fucked up somewhere to let him get hooked on crank like that. I failed him. I was trying to protect him, and I fucked it up completely.”
“You’re not responsible for his death, Cade.”
Anger crept into his voice. “Yes I am, Lainey-girl. I abandoned him to the cops. When Pauline and I got out of there, I just turned my back on him. He was screaming for me to stay, but they were pumping in the tear gas and Pauline knew a way through to the other store. I shut the door behind us and left him there. Next thing I knew, I heard the cops open fire.”
I swallowed. “It still wasn’t your fault,” I insisted, but the slight waver in my voice betrayed me.
“My Dad sure thought so,” Cade said darkly. “Mac was his golden boy, his ‘little buddy.’ Maybe if Dad hadn’t coddled him so damn much, he wouldn’t have got himself mixed up with drugs in the first place. Hell, I think my Dad realized that too, and the shock was what killed him. But it was easier to blame me.”
“Pauline said he had a heart attack.”
“Fucker never did eat right,” Cade snarled. “It was bound to happen. Shitty fucking coincidence.”
“And then?”
Cade turned and looked directly into my eyes. “And then, Lainey-girl, I fell the fuck apart. Went on a bender that lasted weeks. The club crumbled. Pauline was completely lost. And I just didn’t give a fuck.
