“Oh…well…I’m not sure how to explain that part,” Cassidy wasn’t even sure why it mattered. She wasn’t disturbed by it. “We met online in a game,” she blurted out after a long pause.
Chloe drew an invisible one in the air, sitting back smugly with her feet on the empty chair. “I hear that’s the new meeting grounds, Cass…”
“Well…to be honest…that wasn’t my intent,” Cassidy admitted. “I just like the game and play to relax. We just started talking….and we did a lot of talking.”
“You’ve known him a while?” Bella prodded, glaring at Chloe through her smile.
“A little over six months. He was living in southern California and I was in Vegas…so I kind of thought…well, that it was…”
“Safe,” Chloe filled in softly, her palm up and another one drawn in the air.
“Yes. He’s sweet and friendly and funny and very smart,” Cassidy told her friends, the smile on her face just plain happy. “And really cute.”
“I understand safe, Cassidy,” Bella said with an unseen nod. “You kind of put a protective shell around you when…after you’ve been hurt.”
“I didn’t want to be stupid again, Bella,” Cassidy said plainly. “I don’t want to be cheated on before I even…or just because I wouldn’t…”
“Maybe breakfast another time,” Kate said easily. “Have a great day, Cassidy, bye!”
“Thanks…I will…”
“Mac’s right…you are evil,” Bella chuckled, handing the money to the waitress and standing up.
“It’s all in the puzzle pieces,” Chloe answered with a casual shrug.
“I’ve got a lodge to get ready for the holiday people.”
Cassidy opened the door the instant he knocked. She burst out laughing. He was leaning with one hand up on the door frame, trying to look casual.
“Not working, huh?” Mac asked with a crooked grin.
“Nope,” she ruefully tsked her tongue. “I’m glad you didn’t get lost.”
“I thought I heard voices,” Mac stepped into the large apartment . “This is nice…great view,” he walked inside and to the wide open patio doors.
“I was talking with some friends. They were having a late breakfast and invited me to join them…” Cassidy pulled herself up straight when he spun on her with two large steps to stand toe to toe with her. “Mac?”
“Lemmieseeyourphone,” he held his palm out, dark eyes flaring furiously. “It can not be…I refuse…” he looked at the screen, tapping buttons and growling loudly. Now he wanted to throw something.
“Mac? What is going on?” Cassidy took the phone from him quickly, sliding it safely into her pocket. His hands moved to her shoulders. “Are you okay?”
“Remind me to hit an ATM before tomorrow, okay? Greedy little fortune teller will want her money immediately,” Mac grumbled, his head shaking. “I can’t believe I fell for it…”
“Alrighty then…”
“Oh…before I forget,” Mac held her still, peering deeply into her eyes and groaning softly. “Tomorrow…party…food…fireworks…indoor pool…a nice park and a big lake…”
“Okay…sounds like fun…provided we make it through today, of course,” Cassidy saw the crooked grin and relaxed.
“I’ll explain it later…when I can think about it without wanting to hit something…not you…just…she does it to me all the time and I fall for it…”
“You have a sweetly trusting nature,” Cassidy said with a gently pat on his cheek. “I need to find my shoes…where are we going?”
Mac considered the question and shrugged. “Not sure…I was winging it,” he suddenly swooped in and lifted her in his arms, striding to the sofa and sitting down comfortable with her in his arms. “How about this?”
Cassidy blinked when the world stopped spinning, laughing. “Well…we could game…” their eyes met, both heads shaking slowly. “No…not today…”
“Just you and me…talking…no public…oh,” he reached into the pocket of his shirt, pulling out a long silver chain with a small ring on the end. He watched her hand rise from her lap. Her fingers were shaking. His smile was tentative when she raised her eyes from the twin white gold hearts. “It’s called a promise ring…since I didn’t have one from any schools…”
“Where…”
“Hey, a guy on a quest finds places that are opened twenty-four hours a day,” he told her easily. “So…will you be my girl?” He heard the huskiness in his own voice and knew it shook as much as her fingers.
“I…Mac…” Cassidy gave up trusting her voice and just nodded. She leaned against the arm of the sofa, both his hands up and opening the silver chain and dropping it lightly over her head. She felt his fingers adjusting her long hair, the silver chain warm against her skin. She picked up the small ring, a tiny stone in each heart. Something told her it was more than a mere trinket.
“Cassidy?”
“When I…you asked me if I was nervous about meeting you…and I was…not because it’s you,” she clarified instantly. “Our chat…our friendship was safe. I was engaged before, Mac…”
Mac let his palm brush the long hair around her ear, just listening. “He obviously wasn’t very bright.”
“He cheated on me because I…something wasn’t right,” she tried explaining. “I was young and thought I felt something that…that just wasn’t right.”
“It hurt,” he guessed, pulling her closer and gently kissing her. “I can honestly say I’ve never been lead around by my…okay, sometime in the near future I see this statement coming back to bite me in the ass…”
Cassidy laughed, having followed the direction of his statement.
“I chose a promise ring for a reason, Cassidy,” he said seriously. “I don’t want to be with anyone else. In the game, in this room…eventually in bed…and just because we have an argument or something doesn’t mean I’m going to break that promise to you. Unless or until you tell me flat out that we are no longer a couple, that promise is good.” Mac wasn’t sure what he said but a girl with watery grey eyes was a whole new thing for him.
Cassidy waved her palm and gulped in a deep draft of air. “It’s okay…don’t look panicked…I’m good…I don’t know what to say…”
“Well, since you accepted the ring, I think I’m safe,” Mac breathed in relief.
“I guess I could kiss you…but given the way I’m feeling, it might not be very safe…” Cassidy brought her palm up to move softly over his cheek, the dark stubble scratching the center of her hand.
“I’m willing to risk it,” he answered gruffly, his hand leaving her shoulder to push five fingers into the hair at the side of her head, pulling her mouth to his with a long, low groan of need.
“Oh good,” Cassidy relaxed in his arms, sending both her arms around his neck and letting her hands spear the dark brown hair, holding his mouth against hers for a long, deep kiss.
Sensations crashed through him. The silk of her hair, the heat of her kiss and the pressure of her body against his. Mac wanted her closer. Needed her near. He needed to touch her and wanted to be touched by her. His palm slid to her waist before pressing firmly along her side. He found the soft curve of her breast, his fingers stroking gently. He swallowed up the small moan she offered when one pert nipple forced itself against the fabric of her clothing and against his palm.
“Oh, god, Mac…that feels so good…” Cassidy trailed kisses over his throat, her teeth nipping sharply on the tender flesh. She could feel his desire against her hip, hard and hot and just as hungry as her own needs. A little yelp broke free when his palm slid under her shirt, his fingers tweaking her nipple, hard and tiny but demanding.
Mac moved her body slightly to the side, his mouth down and taking the nipple he had freed from the opening of her tank top. He drew his tongue over the rippled flesh, nipping firmly and taking her into his mouth with a low, vibrating groan.
“Ohh…Mac…” Cassidy felt his erection and instantly crashed to earth. “
Mac…”
“I’m listening, Cassidy…” Lord she smelled good…and tasted better.
“Were you ever a boy scout?” She asked, a slightly frantic sound to her voice.
“You want to talk about my childhood now?”
“I’m trying to be delicate here…” Cassidy squirmed, fighting the wild sensations he was sending crashing through her.
“Honey, I’m a guy…forget delicate and go for blunt,” he advised with a chuckle.
“Do you have a condom in your back pocket?” She burst out, groaning when all movements came to a stop. His hand carefully replaced her breast and her top was gently put back into place.
Mac lifted his head to meet her eyes, her cheeks flushed with their passion. “I think I chose the wrong button…I should have gone for delicate.”
“Yeah, well…”
“So I’m guessing…you don’t…” Mac swallowed and shifted his jeans slightly.
“I’m a girl, Mac…in case you haven’t realized…I don’t need them…” Cassidy watched the expressions on his face. “So I guess that same twenty-four hour shop would sell them…”
“I’ve never bought them before.”
“You’ve…are you telling me you’re a virgin?” Cassidy’s voice was a bit higher than normal. “You’ve never…?”
“I have…” He shot back gruffly. “But I never bought them. I just borrowed them…”
“Borrowed implies you gave them back…”
“Now who’s not being delicate? The guys I roomed with usually had boxes of them and I just got them from their stash,” he admitted with a scowl at the concealed attempt not to giggle. “It’s been a dry couple years…I got jaded and gave up on girls…”
“Then I guess we buy them together…one of those couple things,” she said with a wink.
“So you’ve never bought them before…”
“Like I said…”
“Whoa…something else you said…” He brought his hands up on her shoulders, lashes narrowed. “You said the guy you were engaged to cheated on you…because you wouldn’t…”
“I told you…it just didn’t feel right…this…with you…it feels so right…”
“And if you wouldn’t and you didn’t…” he decided to take his own advice. “Have you had sex before, Cassidy?”
“I’ve had orgasms, does that count?” Cassidy slid off his lap and stood up with a stretch, straightening her top.
“You’ve…how…you haven’t had sex before?”
“Technically, no…” Cassidy raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh come on…you’re not going to tell me that you…a guy…have never…” her hand moved in front of her until he reached up and slapped at her.
“Don’t do that!”
“A girl can take care of things on her own, Mac…just like a guy can…probably a lot less messy, though…all I need is something really steamy to read and some batteries…”
“I did not need that visual in my head, Cassidy,” Mac stood up, wincing and taking a couple steps, adjusting his jeans with a growl. “Damn it…”
“Well…that was an interesting hour,” Cassidy went into the bedroom closet for a pair of shoes. “Let’s go shopping. Just think of it as entering a new instance,” she teased, taking her small pack, her keys and phone off the table.
“You remember what I have told you for the last six months?” Mac took her hand and led her to his car.
“That I’m going to make you nuts?”
“It’s a very long process,” Mac announced with a sigh.
Chapter Five
An hour later, Mac was certain he could easily take up drinking. Cassidy was bursting with laughter when they reached the car.
“I think she was hitting on you,” Cassidy said with a wink, her arms swinging, the plastic bag dangling from her fingers.
“I didn’t think it was possible to be that embarrassed and still live,” Mac said through his teeth.
“But we got the loot! Achievement earned!” Cassidy backed hastily against the car, pale lashes wide as he turned and caged her with a palm on each side of her.
“What the bloody hell are we supposed to do with that many…”
Cassidy stood up, wrapped her arms around his neck and her mouth hard against his open lips. Applying oneself to a long, sensual kiss with Mac was not a difficult task at all, Cassidy concluded with a long, breathless sigh. Her mouth broke the kiss only to swoop in and begin a series of small, teasing tastes of him, her tongue stroking, intruding and drawing his into the sensual foray.
Somehow, Mac turned them around. He leaned on the fender and Cassidy found her arms resting along his broad shoulders. She slowly lifted her mouth from his, eyes closed and head turned to the side, raggedly drawing in some much needed air.
“Oh, my…” Cassidy fit neatly between his parted feet, his hands firmly on her hips.
“Yeah…no kidding…” Mac felt the pounding of his heart, working to slow his breathing before trying to talk again. “You know…hypothetically speaking…if every time you drag me into an instance where it’s a ninety-eight percent chance that I’m going to be…”
“Less than happy?” She supplied easily.
“Okay…that works…less than happy…I was going with exceptionally pissed off, but less than happy works, too…” Mac opened his eyes in time to see her full lips pulled into a cute smile. “Anyway…should you choose to lessen my annoyance in just this manner…”
“It would be exceptionally…lucrative,” she whispered sexily, opening her eyes and peeking at that sexy grin.
“Christ…I am so crazy about you, Cassidy Parker,” Mac framed her face with his hands for a soft, tender kiss. “Let’s go. Are you hungry?”
“No but I know that tone of voice…and there’s food at my place, Mac,” she slid into the car and closed the door.
Mac looked at the plastic bag on her lap. His head shook. “I still cannot believe…”
“She was hitting on you,” Cassidy told him again, shifting to watch him drive. “And she wasn’t even aware that you didn’t notice her short skirt or low top.”
“She did appear extremely familiar with her product,” he murmured.
“Ya think?” Cassidy laughed. “I now know more about condoms than I thought was possible to know,” she reached up, pulling the small slip of paper from his shirt pocket.
“What’s that?” Mac frowned when she opened it and showed it to him. “I didn’t…when did she…”
“When she reached across you to show you another…product,” Cassidy dropped the femininely written phone number in the bag Mac had hanging in the center for trash. “You were too…disconcerted…to notice.”
“Cassidy…about your engagement…you weren’t really heart broken, were you?” Mac maneuvered them carefully through traffic.
“No…angry…angry that I never saw it before…hurt, I think…”
“How old were you?”
“Hmm…twenty-two? I’d just entered the Air Force and finished basic. I think I knew it was off…for some reason I let myself believe…or I wanted to believe so badly…but he never heard me. Never asked…or listened…had no clue how important my job was to me or where I wanted to take it,” she shrugged. “But I didn’t trust myself after that for a long time.”
“That’s why the game was safe.” Mac parked the car and pulled the keys free, climbing out and holding his palm out to her. She walked to his side, face momentarily tipped to absorb some of the sunshine, lowering her head as she climbed the stairs, keys jangling in her hand. “Bathroom?”
“There,” she pointed to the door behind him. “Only three rooms…this massive one, the bedroom and bathroom.” Cassidy tossed the small plastic bag toward the bed and went into the kitchen. “There’s all kinds of stuff in here, Mac,” she looked up to see him striding across the room at the same time the alarm on the computer sounded in loud clangs.
“What the…”
“Oh, crap,” Cassidy went to the chair in fr
ont of the large monitor, her eyes shooting to the clock and then to Mac.
“Aww…shit…”
“We forgot…”
“Cassidy…”
“I have a laptop…” She pointed to it.
“A guild run is not what I had in mind,” he growled.
“We promised,” she said firmly, opening a drawer at her side and tossing a spare headset to the desktop. Her hands moved over the keyboard, loading the game while Mac grudgingly went through the sign in with the large laptop. “I’ll make you a sandwich,” she kissed him quickly and shot into the kitchen. “It’s barely five. We have plenty of time for…for other stuff later. We promised to be there to help with the new people.”
“This is not making me a happy camper, Cassidy,” but his hands moved expertly, plugging in the headset and the mouse, grudgingly greeting the text welcomes. He looked at the tall glass of frosted juice and the salami and mustard sandwich. She had a large refillable bottle of ice and water in her hands, sinking cross legged into the large desk chair. “You game in that position?”
“It’s very comfortable,” she defended, taking a long swallow and entering the vent information. “All you have to do is focus and fight…we can knock this out in no time,” she said confidently.
“Where have I heard that before?” Mac chimed in flatly.
An hour and a half later, the sun had begun to set over the mountains, Cassidy was counting her gold and Mac was lamenting another repair bill. He pushed back from the computer and stood up, stretching and moving to her side. He pulled her chair from the computer, removed her headset and gripped her shoulders, pulling her to her feet. His palms slid over her shoulders to her face, his thumbs beneath her chin.
“I’m here to collect,” he said simply, covering the round ‘oh’ of her mouth with his before words could form. Mac was lost in the commands within him for the sensations of touching her. He loved the feel of her hair against his hands, tickling down his arms and whispering around his face through their kiss.
Cassidy knew there was nothing erotic about playing the game, but there had been a noticeable electricity gaming with Mac in the same room as her. Sexual tension, her mind asked seconds before the soft moan left her lips. Her palms were caught between them and began moving on their own, opening the buttons down the front of his shirt.
WindSwept Narrows: #2 Cassidy, Abby & Mia Page 4
