“Yeah. I’m gonna have to get a fucking lotus blossom tattooed on my ass.”
She laughed on a sob. “Okay.”
He squeezed her closer, her soft breasts against his chest, her lush mouth open to him. He slid a hand into her silky hair and held her head, adjusting the angle to deepen the kiss. “I don’t want to do this here. I want you in my bed. I want to worship you.”
She sniffled. “Oh God, Cash. Is this happening for real?”
“I was wondering the same thing.” He smiled against her lips. “Come home with me, Callie.”
“Yes.”
He couldn’t get home fast enough, hated letting her out of his sight for even the short time it took them both to drive to his place. He waited at the gate as she pulled up on the street in front of his condo, held his hand out to her as she walked up the sidewalk toward him, and led her to his front door, past the potted palms and spiky plants.
“You’re so damn beautiful.” They stepped inside, and he didn’t stop, just drew her into his condo and up the stairs to the loft area where his bedroom was. It wasn’t even dark yet, his smallish bedroom full of light from the big windows, but he wanted her in his bed.
He backed her up to the mattress and eased her onto the dark-brown duvet, coming down beside her. She turned her face so their mouths met and surprised him by reaching for his hand. She pulled it up and pressed it to her breast. Over her heart. It was pumping fast, but not as fast as his, a heavy drumbeat in his chest.
He moved over her, and she pushed her elbows into the mattress and lifted her head as he nuzzled her throat, her breasts. He shoved her tank top up, and she did an ab crunch so he could whip it off. She reached behind her for the clasp of her bra, pretty sheer pink lace, then it was gone, too, and her beautiful breasts were bare for him. For a moment he could only gaze at her, overcome with emotion swelling in his chest, stealing his breath. Christ. This woman…was she really his? “I love you.”
Her mouth curved sweetly. “I love you, too.”
He bent his head, licked and sucked, loving the feel and the taste of her nipples in his mouth, loving how she responded, her hands in his hair, her body tightening and arching.
He shifted to her side, licking her breasts, nipping at the soft curves, and slid a hand down between her thighs. He rubbed her over her jeans, and she gasped and lifted into his hand. He could feel the damp heat of her right through the denim, and he gave her a firm squeeze that made her gasp.
“Please,” she whispered. “I need you to touch me there.”
“Oh yeah.” He moved back between her thighs to unbutton, unzip, and slowly ease her jeans and tiny pink thong down over hips and thighs. “Christ, you’re beautiful, Callie.” He studied her full breasts tipped with hard little nipples, her smooth stomach and slender hips, the tiny patch of dark curls at the apex of her thighs.
“So are you.” She reached for him and laid her palms on his chest, rubbing over his pecs. Heat slid down through him to his balls.
“I want to worship you. Show you everything you are to me.” Finally, finally he could show her all that he felt for her. He shifted back so he could kiss her mouth as his hand fondled her. He petted her folds with his fingers, then slid deep inside to find her hot and wet. “Baby.” He brushed his lips over the top of one breast. “You are so wet.”
“I know.”
He slid one arm beneath her, licked and sucked her breasts, grazing her with his teeth. She moaned and writhed at his touch. Fuck, he loved making her feel good. Electricity sizzled over his nerve endings, tension growing in his spine. His balls ached, and sensation wrapped around his cock, making him crazy for her.
He caressed her flat belly, the curve of her hip, and again between her legs, every touch full of reverence and awe and a desire to please her. Make her feel so good. Venturing lower, he licked the shallow indent of her navel and across her stomach, then eased her legs apart to move between them, dragging his tongue along her thighs, then to her center.
“Oh my God, Cash.” She dropped flat on her back. “Oh my God.”
“Taste so sweet, baby.” He licked again. “Wanna eat you up. Make you come.”
“I want you inside me.”
“Yeah. I will be. Believe me.”
He kissed her hip bone, found her knee with one hand, and pushed it up and back. He slid his other arm under her hip to hug her other thigh and licked her with slow, adoring strokes of his tongue. When he licked over her clit, her hips jerked and lifted against him.
“Yeah, baby.” He used one thumb to open her more to his tongue. “So sweet.”
Damn, he needed to be inside her now. He unbuttoned his shirt and ripped it off, then stripped off his pants, underwear, and socks. He yanked open the top drawer of his dresser to reach for a condom, then paused. “Do we need this?”
She moved her head from side to side on the pillow. “No. I haven’t had sex with anyone but you since I came home from Europe, and I got tested then.”
“I’ve been tested, too, and I’m good. You’re on the pill?”
“I have an implant.” She gestured toward one arm.
He moved back between her thighs on his knees, nudging her legs wider for him. He fisted his stiff dick and stroked it up and down through her creamy center, brushing the head over her clit. His balls tightened even more at the root of his cock, sizzling pleasure licking over him like flames. Touching her like this…with nothing between them…was fucking heaven.
Trembling, she opened her eyes, and he held her gaze steadily as he stroked her. Her stomach muscles tightened. “Fuck me,” she whispered.
“You are so fucking hot.”
“Hot for you.” She reached out again and grazed her fingertips over his chest and abs, all the way down to his pubic hair and the base of his cock. His muscles twitched, and his skin burned.
He found her entrance and pushed inside, all the while holding her gaze. They stared into each other’s eyes in an intimate connection that made his heart expand hard against his sternum. He couldn’t look away as her body closed around him, almost unbearably hot and tight, skin to skin, and he pushed in slowly, watching her face closely. “Okay, baby?”
“Oh yeah.” Her hips moved, changing the angle, taking him deeper. She lifted her head to watch them join, and damn, that was sexy. He thrust deeper. He reached for one of her hands, laced their fingers together, and began to fuck her, lifting her other leg higher.
Her gaze returned to his face, and he fucked her hard, deep, joining them in exquisite intimacy. She curled her fingers around his and held on tight, the bed bouncing with every thrust. Her eyes heavy-lidded, her lips wet and parted, she looked so goddamn beautiful it made his heart hurt.
He never thought he’d have this. He’d loved her for so long, from such a distance, closing his heart off because he’d never thought she could be his. He’d had a lot of sex with a lot of women, but it had never been like this, her eyes so clear and open he could see right to her heart. And she saw right to his.
She loved him, too.
A groan climbed his throat as his heart filled with love and pleasure twisted in his body. Callie’s eyes widened as her orgasm built, then closed, her body tightening, squeezing him. Electricity shorted out his brain, and a ball of fire exploded low in his belly, burning through him, his balls, his cock, flashing up his spine. He fell over her, burying his face in her neck as wave after wave of hot pleasure rolled over him, pulsing through his veins. His entire body seized with unbearable bliss, his mind blanked by ecstasy. “Love you, Callie,” he gasped into the soft skin of her neck.
“I love you, too, Cash.” Her arms wrapped tightly around him, and her mouth opened on his shoulder in a long kiss. “I love you, too. So much.”
God, those words, those words he’d never thought he’d hear from Callie. Emotion swirled in his chest. He shifted to his side, keeping them joined, and held her like she was the precious gift she was. “I want you to know…that you’re everything to me. Yo
u’re smart and sweet and beautiful and talented. It kills me that you haven’t been told that every single day of your life. You’re the most important thing to me. And you always will be. I promise you that.”
She made a noise in her throat like a sob, and he drew back to peer at her face. “Th-thank you,” she said, then sniffled. “Coming from you…that means so much. Because I know how loyal you are, and that you’re a man of your word. And you mean everything to me, too.” She feathered a touch over his bruised eye. “I’m so sorry you two fought.”
He blew out a breath. “It’s okay.”
“No it’s not.”
His lips quirked. “We’re guys. It’s how we communicate.”
She huffed out a laugh. “Oh my God. No wonder the world is such a mess.”
He smiled into her eyes, pushing hair off her face. “You’re right.”
“I never realized you had this violent streak in you. First that bar brawl. Now fighting with Beau.”
“That was actually the second time Beau and I fought.”
A crease appeared between her eyebrows. “What?”
He fingered her silky hair. “The first time was when I caught him cheating on you.”
She stared at him, then closed her eyes and pressed her lips to his chest. “I feel like I’ve been so stupid.”
“No, darlin’. Never stupid. I said it before—what happens in our lives and how we deal with it makes us who we are. And right now, you and I are the people we were meant to be, and this is when we were meant to be together.”
He felt wetness on her face against his skin and tilted her chin up to kiss her mouth.
“Right?”
“Yes. Right. You are so right.”
Epilogue
One week later
Sunday dinner at the Sutherlands’. Yippee.
Cash stood in front of the mirror in his bedroom and grimaced. “You sure I don’t need to wear a suit and tie?” he called to Callie.
She laughed from the vanity between his bedroom and the en suite bathroom. “No, you do not need to wear a suit and tie. You can wear whatever you want.”
“You know, I don’t think this is a good time to tell them about us.”
Callie’s head popped out, and she frowned at him. “We have to tell them. They have to know that things are seriously over for me and Beau.”
He and Beau had salvaged their partnership, and they both agreed that if the Sutherlands didn’t want to give them the job for the refinery, it would suck big donkey balls, but they’d survive that, too. They’d had a serious conversation about possible cutbacks and layoffs if that happened, and although they didn’t want to go there, they’d do what they had to do to ensure their business survived.
“That looks nice,” Callie said, nodding at his gray plaid shirt and black pants.
“Okay, thanks.” He shrugged. Meeting the girlfriend’s parents was never easy, but in this case, it was a little more complicated. It was the Sutherlands.
Callie disappeared, then walked out a moment later.
“Damn, you look pretty.” He studied her dress, white with pink and gray flowers, the bodice hugging her slender torso, the skirt flaring out to her knees. Tiny straps showed off her toned shoulders.
Her cheeks went pink, and her eyelashes fluttered. “Thank you.”
He set his hands on her shoulders and kissed her cheek. “I’d kiss your mouth, but you already have such pretty pink lip gloss on. I’ll mess you up later,” he promised, moving his lips to just in front of her ear.
She smiled. “I hope so.”
They arrived at Josh and Audrey’s River Oaks home before anyone else, Callie having told her mother she’d be there a bit early as there was something she needed to talk to them about. Callie opened the front door and stepped into the spacious foyer, calling out, “Hello! Mama? We’re here.”
Audrey Sutherland appeared from a room on the left, carrying a glass of wine. “Hello, Callie.” Her gaze shifted and landed on Cash. “And Cash. Hello.” Her false eyelashes fluttered, but her smile was gracious.
“Hi, Mrs. Sutherland.”
Callie and her mom exchanged air kisses, and then Mrs. Sutherland did the same with him. “Call me Audrey, Cash.”
“Yes, ma’am. Audrey.” He flashed a smile at her.
“Come in. I was just having a glass of wine.” She led the way into an opulent yet comfortable-looking den.
“Where’s Daddy?”
“Oh, he’s still in his office working on something. On a Sunday. You know what he’s like.” Audrey waved a hand.
“I’ll go find him.” Callie tapped out of the room in her heels.
Cash’s body tightened. Fuck. He was alone with Callie’s mom. He wasn’t afraid of her. Nope, not at all. He relaxed his shoulders and smiled at her again.
“Would you like a drink, Cash?” She moved to a small bar in the corner. “I’m having a nice Pinot Noir, if you’d like some of that.”
“That sounds great, thanks.”
She poured wine into a glass and crossed back to hand it to him.
“Thanks.” He took a sip and nodded. “This is nice. Satiny. Full-bodied.”
She tilted her head, then nodded. “Yes, this is a more complex, savory Pinot Noir. I’m impressed that you picked up on that.”
He was totally bullshitting. He’d gone to some hipster wine-tasting classes and remembered a few basic things, but he couldn’t tell the difference between Pinot Noir and his ass. If she hadn’t said what it was, he wouldn’t have remembered how to describe it. But he smiled. “Thanks.”
“Have a seat, please.” Audrey took a seat on a leather couch and gestured to him. She might be dying of curiosity about why he was there, but her manners were impeccable.
He sat on an adjacent love seat. “This is a nice room.”
“Thank you. I spend a lot of time in this room. This house is so huge for the two of us, now that the kids are gone.”
“Yeah. Callie was saying the same thing about her house…how it’s so big for one person.”
Audrey’s lips twitched. “I guess it is.”
Callie and her father entered the room, and Cash rose to his feet. “Daddy, you remember Cash.”
“Of course.” Joshua Sutherland extended a hand, and Cash shook it while the older man gave him a piercing stare from beneath thick, low eyebrows. Joshua’s dark hair held only a hint of gray at the temples, and his neatly trimmed beard and mustache were still black.
Cash gave him a firm grip, one pump, and a smile. “Good to see you again, sir.”
“You too, Cash. I see you have a drink. Callie, what would you like?”
Cash met Callie’s eyes and knew she wanted to ask for the whole bottle of wine. A moment of wordless, shared humor passed between them.
“Some of that red wine is fine,” she answered.
Joshua poured two more glasses and handed one to his daughter, and they all sat again, Callie beside Cash on the love seat.
“Cash was impressing me with his wine knowledge,” Audrey said.
Callie shot him a startled glance. He smiled modestly.
“How’s business, Cash? I hear from Beau you have a bid in for the refinery substation project.”
His body tensed, but he answered casually. “That’s right, sir. We’re really hopeful about working with Sutherland Industries.”
Joshua nodded, his expression stern.
“That’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about, Daddy,” Callie said.
Cash swallowed.
Joshua gave his daughter a puzzled look. “What?”
He felt Callie inhale slowly. “Beau said you’ve been putting pressure on him to get back together with me. And you hinted that you could influence whether they get that job.”
Cash had to give Joshua credit—he kept his face neutral.
“That’s ridiculous,” Joshua said.
“You deny it?” Callie straightened, glancing at Cash, and he knew they were both thinking
the same thing—had Beau lied about that, too?
“It’s true I hope…hoped you and Beau would try again.”
Cash caught the quick correction. Was Joshua getting the picture of what was going on here?
“But I have no influence over decisions Aaron and Jed make for the refinery.”
Callie studied her father. “So you wouldn’t interfere with that project?”
Joshua lifted a hand and scratched in front of his ear. “Of course not.”
“I hope you’re being honest,” Callie said.
Joshua frowned.
“Because Beau and I are not getting back together.” She reached for Cash’s hand and twined her fingers with his. “Cash and I are together now.”
This announcement was met with heavy silence and blank looks.
Cash tightened his fingers on hers in a brief squeeze. “We’re really happy,” she added.
“What about Beau?” Mama asked.
“We’re divorced. Remember, Mama?”
“I realize that, Callie. But Cash and Beau are friends…partners…does he know about this?”
“Yes, he does.” Cash spoke up. “I told him last Friday.” Then he punched me in the face. He resisted the urge to laugh.
“He’s okay with it,” Callie added. “He wasn’t happy at first, but…we talked. We’re okay now.” She narrowed her eyes at her father. “So that’s why I came early to talk to you. To tell you about Cash and me…but also to tell you that I will not allow you to interfere with my life. I’m with Cash now. I have my business. You may not approve, but I’m happy. Happier than I’ve ever been.” She turned her eyes on Cash and smiled.
He smiled back. “Me, too, darlin’.” He turned to her parents. “I love Callie and want her to be happy. I promise you that I’ll spend my life making sure that happens.”
Callie vibrated next to him, and he wished he could pull her onto his lap and kiss her.
Audrey started to speak, but Joshua reached out and touched her shoulder. “Audrey.”
She looked at him with one raised eyebrow.
“This is about Callie,” Joshua said to her.
Audrey’s face remained impassive, but she nodded.
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