by Liliana Hart
“I thought I explained this already. Bad men are out to get us. They have a dangerous drug that has already killed three women in the area. Carlos told me he was coming after you,” he said, ticking off each item on his fingers as his anger seemed to grow. “And you think it’s a good idea to go traipsing off to work like you don’t have a care in the world? Have you lost your mind?”
Cade sat at the table with his own coffee, his hair still damp from his shower, and only wearing a pair of worn jeans that were driving her crazy. The last thing she was ready to do was talk about what they’d done during the night, but he wasn’t likely to let her forget. And he wasn’t letting her put distance between them, constantly pulling her into his arms for kisses that shook her to the core.
She grabbed the eggs and the bread and dug around the kitchen until she found a frying pan. She cracked and beat the eggs and then soaked the bread it in before making French toast. She didn’t answer him until she brought the food to the table and sat across from him.
“I own a business. I have responsibilities. And I have client appointments today. I can’t just throw away thousands of dollars in income because you think I might be in danger.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “I don’t think you’re in danger. You are in danger. And I don’t see why you have to be so stubborn about this. Maybe your brothers can convince you to use your common sense.”
Bayleigh got up from the table and walked slowly toward Cade, the shirt she’d stolen from him barely buttoned and enticing him with every step. His pupils dilated with desire and she watched his cock swell beneath his jeans. She moved as if she were going to straddle his lap, but at the last second moved her knee so it was pressed directly against his balls. His indrawn breath was enough to know that she was using the right amount of pressure.
“Don’t you ever threaten me with my brothers,” she whispered in his ear. “I get enough of that from them, and I won’t take it from you too, no matter how much control you think our sleeping together gives you. I’m old enough to make my own decisions and take the consequences of my actions. I control my life. No one else.”
She nipped at his ear and felt satisfaction at his indrawn breath. After the night they’d spent together she’d discovered very quickly that Cade wouldn’t break down her confidence as her previous lovers had. If anything he’d empowered her to start taking control of the men in her life. Boy were they all going to be in for a surprise.
She kissed him once and then moved back to her side of the table, taking a bite of her breakfast, and ignoring the predatory look in his eyes. She’d pay for her little stunt later, and damned if she wasn’t looking forward to it.
“I need to get back home and change clothes. As much as I like wearing your shirt, I think my clients would be a bit scandalized.”
“They’d be jealous. I’d rather see you wearing that shirt than the fancy lingerie you sell. It’s sexy as hell. Especially since I know you’re not wearing underwear.”
“Oh, really?” she asked. “And I was looking forward to showing you some of the new items I just got in.”
“You’re playing with fire, Bayleigh. I promise you don’t want to keep pushing me.”
“Your threats don’t scare me, Cade. Now walk me home so I can get ready for work.”
“Only if you let me drive you and pick you up,” he said. “I want you to be safe.”
“Fine. I’ve been looking for some part-time help. You’d probably be good at selling ladies’ underwear. You seem to know an awful lot about it.”
Humor filled her as she saw the uncomfortable look in his eyes. Teasing Cade was more fun than she’d thought it would be. It was nice to be the one keeping him off balance for a change.
“You realize I’m going to show no mercy the next time I get you naked, don’t you?”
“That’s what I was hoping,” she said, laughing as he led her back to her house.
***
Ten hours later, the last thing Bayleigh wanted to do was laugh. She’d shown up to her shop to find that Cade had instituted a bodyguard inside her store who made her clients more wary than curious, and several of them had left before even getting the chance to browse. And if that wasn’t bad enough, two of her scheduled fittings hadn’t shown, and neither of them had bothered to call to let her know they weren’t coming.
By the time Cade came in to pick her up that evening, her temper had reached the boiling point.
“You ready to go?” he asked, ignoring her response to get a report from the guard dog he’d sicced on her.
Bayleigh locked the front door and grabbed her purse and sewing bag—since she had several projects she was going to have to spend more time working on at home—and she went to wait by the back door for Cade, her foot tapping impatiently.
Damned, high-handed man, she thought.
She’d gone from living a perfectly normal life to jumping at shadows and watching everyone that passed by her doors with suspicion just because she’d had the bad luck of having Cade MacKenzie move next door to her.
He came toward her, still talking quietly to the watchdog, his eyes watchful as he took in her mood. His steps slowed the closer he got. It was obvious by the look on his face he remembered perfectly well where her knee had ended up that morning, and he wasn’t looking to repeat the experience.
“What’s wrong, Bayleigh?”
“Other than the fact that you have me under lock and key, and I can barely go to the bathroom without Neanderthal man standing outside the door and listening to me pee? I didn’t agree to this, Cade. He’s scaring off my customers.”
She could tell by the twitch of his mouth that he wanted to laugh, and she swore that if she heard even one chuckle she was going to belt him right in the nose. She turned her narrow-eyed gaze to the Neanderthal in question just to make sure he didn’t make the mistake of following Cade’s lead. He paled appropriately under her stare and she nodded her head in satisfaction.
“Take me home, Cade, and then kindly take your cartels and stupid agency high-handedness and jump off the nearest cliff. I don’t care how good the sex is. I can’t live like this.”
Neanderthal man choked on his laughter and brought his hand up to rub across his mouth to cover his smile. Cade wasn’t nearly so amused.
“Now listen here, sweetheart,” he said, taking a step toward her, but she put her hand to his chest and pushed him back as she heard her cell phone ringing from the bottom of her purse. She sighed as she saw who was on the other line. One of her no-show clients of the day.
“Ginny,” she said, answering the phone with false sweetness. “I’m so glad to hear from you. I was starting to worry.”
Bayleigh listened to the other woman’s half-assed excuses about how her society schedule was just so packed with luncheons and charity events that she’d forgotten all about Bayleigh’s cute little shop. Bayleigh gritted her teeth in annoyance, trying to remember that Ginny Van Sice had ordered enough lingerie for her third wedding/honeymoon that Bayleigh would be able to pay two full months of expenses from the purchase. All she had to do was let Ginny feel superior and listen to her bragging. It was a small price to pay for the result.
By the time she hung up the phone and had rescheduled Ginny for later in the week, a headache was brewing behind her eyes, and all she wanted to do was go home, open a bottle of wine and sleep for twelve hours. Cade sure as hell hadn’t let her get a lot of sleep the night before.
“What was that all about?” Cade asked.
“I had two clients scheduled for fittings today that decided not to show,” she said, following Cade out to his truck, trying not to be intimidated by the way the two men flanked both sides of her to keep her safe. “It’s a common occurrence with Ginny. It’s Becca I’m worried about. She’d never missed an appointment, and she’s not the flighty type like Ginny is. She’s a sweet girl.”
Cade got into the truck cab and started the engine, pulling out first and letting the guard trail behind the
m.
“What’s her full name and address?” he asked, pulling out her phone and hitting speed dial.
“Becca Whitson. Short for Rebecca,” she said, pulling up Becca’s personal information on her iPad.
Bayleigh read off the address to Cade and watched him curiously.
“Yeah, this is MacKenzie,” he said into the phone. “Can you do a drive by and check out an address for me?” Cade rattled off the address and hung up the phone. “Are you hungry? I haven’t had a chance to eat dinner yet.”
“Yeah, that’s fine. Why are you having someone check on Becca?” Bayleigh asked, fear starting to creep across her skin and cling to her body like the sticky weaving of a spider web.
“You said she was a reliable client. My gut just had a twinge, and I’ve learned over the years not to ignore it. I’m sure she’s fine. How about Chinese?” he asked, driving through a strip mall where there were several different restaurants.
“Sure.”
They got a table and ordered, but the silence was strained between them. She chewed at her bottom lip, wondering if she’d somehow gotten Becca in trouble. Her nerves were working overtime and her appetite was non-existent. She’d done nothing but push the food around on her plate since it had arrived.
“Bayleigh, look at me,” Cade said softly.
She forced herself to meet his gaze, felt the emotion settle over her as she saw the sympathy and compassion in his gaze.
“None of this is your fault, sweetheart. You’re just an innocent bystander. If this is anyone’s fault it’s mine for not staying away from you when I knew I should have. But I took one look at you and knew I wasn’t that strong. You can’t control what other people do, especially when those other people are pure evil. Just stay with me, and I’ll keep you safe.”
“For how long, Cade?” she asked sadly, knowing the answer before he even spoke the words.
“For as long as I can, love. For as long as I can.”
The drive back to her house was made in silence, and Cade kept checking his phone, almost willing it to ring. But there was no word from whomever he’d contacted to check on Becca. Cade parked his truck in his garage and then he led her through his house, turning on a few lights as they went, before leading her out the back door and over to her own house.
“Carlos has men watching the house,” he whispered as he unlocked her back door. “But my brother and some of his men are keeping them contained for the moment, tracking their movements. They still haven’t caught sight of Carlos. He’s who we’re after, and he’s a slippery bastard for a lunatic.”
She’d left several lights on throughout the house, and all her blinds were still down from when Cade had lowered them earlier that morning. She went directly to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of white wine, pulling out the cork with expert movements and pouring herself a full glass. Cade grabbed a beer and stared at her warily, obviously unsure how to handle her in this particular mood.
“So are you staying here tonight?” she asked once the wine was gone and her body began to relax.
Cade looked at her in surprise. “I figured you were going to try and come up with some lame excuse for us not to sleep together again.”
“I was,” she said shrugging. “But like you said, the sex is good. Why not enjoy while it lasts?”
Chapter Twelve
Cade made sure his face didn’t betray his feelings, keeping it carefully blank as Bayleigh made her announcement with all the enthusiasm of reciting a grocery list. When she referred to what they had between them as just good sex, it left a bitter taste in his mouth and an anger that wanted to refute her words. But that’s what he’d wanted. Just mindless sex for as long as it lasted, no emotions, and she was giving it to him in spades.
She unbuckled the wide black belt that cinched her waist, letting it drop to the floor, and then pulled the red cashmere tunic over her head as she went past him and headed toward the bedroom. She tossed the sweater onto the couch as she passed by and his lungs tightened in his chest as he saw what she was wearing beneath.
He followed behind her slowly, the sway of her hips erotically hypnotic, and his cock was swollen to the point that just the touch of his boxers was painful against the sensitive skin. She unzipped the long black skirt she wore and it slithered down her legs, leaving her in the tall, black leather stiletto boots and the most incredible underwear he’d ever seen in his life.
“Sweet Jesus,” he whispered reverently as she turned around to face him.
“You like it?” she asked, her voice throaty as she purred the question. “I just got it in this morning.”
Answering was out of the question. He was having a hell of a hard time catching his breath, and even his skin felt like it was too tight for his body. The corset she wore was fuck me red, and it plumped her breasts to impossible heights, making his cock jump at the thought of what it would feel like to thrust between the abundant mounds of flesh. Her waist was small and one hand was cocked on her flared hip in a pose meant to showcase every line and curve of her body.
She wore a matching red lace thong and he could see her desire dampening the fabric from where he was standing. Garters came down and fastened to the black thigh-highs she wore, and the tall boots came to just above her knees and fit her like a second skin. If she’d been holding a whip he might have fallen to his knees in submission. As it was, he could see the flickers of doubt in her eyes as she let him look his fill, and he knew this was going to be an important moment in their relationship—a shifting of power—a mutual satisfaction and need that neither of them might be prepared for.
“You take my breath away,” he said, peeling off his shirt and enjoying her reaction to his body as her eyes filled with lust. He kicked off his shoes and unbuckled his belt, pulling it from the loops slowly, her eyes mesmerized by his every movement. He unbuttoned his jeans, giving some much needed room for his cock, but he didn’t remove his pants. Not yet. This would be over much too soon if he didn’t try to keep some kind of control over the situation.
“How many of those contraptions do you have?” he asked, pointing to the corset and panties she wore.
“A whole store full,” she said, arching a brow. “I didn’t realize you wanted to talk tonight. I can just put on my robe if you’d like.”
Cade smiled at the challenge in her voice and walked closer. “It doesn’t matter what you wear, sweetheart. It’s all going to end up on the floor anyway.”
He moved quickly, catching her gasp against his mouth as he pushed her against the wall and tore the lace thong from her body. His fingers plunged into her just as his tongue plundered her mouth and she drenched his hand immediately, screaming out her orgasm as she shuddered and spasmed against him.
“That’s it, baby,” he said, kissing his way down her neck to the sensitive mounds of her breasts, his tongue laving just at the edge of where flesh met satin. He pushed his jeans down so they fell around his ankles and stepped out of them, and he tightened his grip around her hair as he pushed her lower.
“You know what I want, Bayleigh.”
His voice was rough and graveled and her eyes were wide and open on his as she slowly knelt down in front of him, her nails raking across his thighs and drawing his balls into tight knots of anticipation.
He kept his gaze steady on hers as she licked her lips once before taking his cock in her hand and pumping it slowly, and he watched as the blue of her eyes darkened as she licked the tiny drop of pre-cum that had beaded at the head. He felt that one lick zing through his balls all the way down to his toes, and he groaned as she kissed and nibbled her way down to the hairless sac below, rolling them gently in her mouth and then kissing her way back to his cockhead again.
There was no warning when she opened her mouth and swallowed him whole, relaxing her throat and taking him all the way down until her chin touched his scrotum. He held her there, pressing against her scalp, as she swallowed against him repeatedly, her tongue laving the underside of his co
ck.
“Fuck, I could come already,” he said, dropping his head forward and leaning one arm against the wall for support.
She moaned around him, the vibrations like an electric shock up his shaft, and she sucked him harder, bringing her other hand up to caress his balls. The duel sensations brought him closer to orgasm. He could feel the tightening at the base of his spine, the impending pleasure that crackled across his skin and shot tingles from his scalp to his toes.
“I’m going to come, Bayleigh. Take all of me, baby,” he commanded, holding her head tight as he began to fuck her mouth with short, hard strokes.
The groan that erupted from his chest surprised him in its intensity and his vision went dark as he spurted stream after stream of thick semen down her throat.
His knees threatened to give out as pleasure like he’d ever known rocketed through his body, and he pulled his still hard cock from the soft suction of her mouth. She licked the last drop of his essence from her lips and smiled seductively, her eyes glazed with passion.
“I need you, Cade. Don’t make me wait.”
“I’ll give you what you need, sweetheart. Stand up,” he said, helping her keep her balance as she rose to her feet, and he led her over to the bed, still dressed in everything but the underwear he’d torn from her body.
“Lay down,” he ordered, the rough edge in his voice wracking her body in shivers of anticipation.
“What are you going to do to me?”
“Patience, sweetheart.”
He unzipped one of her boots and pulled it from her foot slowly, sinuously, rubbing at the arch of her foot until she was purring in pleasure. He did the same to the other foot and took her boots to the closet, where he riffled through the selection of scarves she had folded neatly on a shelf.
He picked one of the longer ones, the fabric so soft it felt like a second skin, and his cock jumped as he watched her eyes fill with anticipation and the tiniest bit of trepidation. She bit her lip and shifted on the bed.
