by Lexy Timms
Her body was on fire, taking her someplace she wanted to go.
And he was the one leading the way.
God, he was good at this.
He nibbled on her toes. Her toes for God’s sake. Who knew they were so sensitive and so damn ticklish? But he held her foot firm and when he took the baby toe into his mouth and suckled it, she almost came right then and there.
Then he’d done it to the other one, and she knew it was going to be one of the longest and the most pleasurable times of her life. Hell, it already was.
He stroked her ankles and calves and up to her knees, dropping kissing on the soft skin. He lifted her leg up high and kissed the back of her knee. She shuddered. She knew her panties were sopping wet, and she gloried in it.
Her body wanted this. She wanted this.
She reached out for him. “Please come here.”
He laughed, a deep dark chuckle that worked deep into her psyche and seduced her a little more. “Not yet.”
"Please,” she whispered. “I need you.”
“Yes, you do, but not just yet. We can do something for right now to take the edge off.”
Without warning, he opened her legs and leaned over, placing his mouth on the wet spot on her panties before suckling hard.
She screamed as her orgasm ripped through her, her body arching high above the blankets. She groaned and shuddered as he refused to stop. Just when she didn’t think she could take it anymore, he eased back then did it again. A second orgasm ripped her apart.
He lifted his head and let her lie there, shuddering as the waves of pleasure rolled through her. Then he went back to kissing her legs. She shivered as more sensations piled on until she couldn't tell where one started and one stopped.
She’d had so many surprises today. The emotions being one of them. The love, the need, the hunger. God, the hunger. For him. For more. For everything he could bring her. Everything he had to give.
Just in case Greg found her and this was all she'd get.
God, what a horrible thought.
Deliberately, she shoved that thought to the back of her mind and focused on the joy in her heart right now.
Cash shifted her body, his hands sliding down inside her panties and sending them down her legs. His fingers wove through her curls, bringing a guttural groan up from deep inside.
Was this really her? She never made sounds like this.
“I love how responsive you are,” he whispered, his voice gritty. He slid his fingers deeper between her legs then slowly slid one finger inside as if testing to see how he’d fit. She couldn’t wait to find out.
She closed her legs, trapping his hand between her thighs.
He pressed his finger deeper. She gasped as he did something deep inside and her world exploded again.
Before she’d recovered, he’d moved, opened her legs, and settled himself between them. He reached up and turning her to face him...
“Look at me,” he said.
Her eyelids were heavy, her body so lethargic she barely noticed his movements.
“Willow, look at me.”
She opened her eyes and stared at his beloved face, so close to hers. “I’m here.”
“Pay attention.”
She narrowed her gaze, trying to focus.
And he slid deep inside.
She shuddered, wanting to close her eyes, but he wouldn’t let her go, his gaze holding her in place, his heat pinning her in position. His body captivating hers, owning hers, possessing hers – in all ways.
Then he started to move and she was helpless to do anything but ride the waves of pleasure.
When a third climax rolled through her, softer and more gentle than the others, she was beyond pleasured. When he finally surged above her, dragging her forward with him yet again, she knew the night wasn’t over.
Just when she thought she couldn’t take any more, he stopped and looked down at her, sweat gleaming on his forehead and lust still firing in his gaze. “Are you with me?”
“Yes,” she gasped. “I am.”
And he plunged again, this time so deep she felt him at the entrance to her womb. Intense emotions poured through her and she was lost once again.
In the dim recesses of her mind, she heard his roar and felt his body stiffen as he let himself go. He collapsed beside her, his breath harsh, his body trembling with his own aftershock.
She didn’t know what this aftermath was, but it was the closest thing she’d ever known to love. Then he did something that brought tears to her eyes. He rolled over and tucked her up close, dropped a tender kiss on her temple, and murmured, "So beautiful."
***
His heart still raced as he cuddled her close and tried to calm his breathing. His mind tried to grasp what had happened. He'd made love to a lot of women, but nothing had ever been so satisfying, this emotional. She was so innocent. So honest. She'd been… perfect. It was better than anything he’d known before.
She lay quiet in his arms, but tremors still wracked her slight frame. Good. He rolled over onto his back and carried her with him. He glanced down to see if she was okay and realized tears were rolling down her cheeks. He bolted to a sitting position, jostling her back on to the bed.
“Jesus, did I hurt you?”
Please no, she’d been hurt enough. But he hadn’t been gentle. He’d been thorough, wanting her to experience as much pleasure as she could. But he hadn’t been gentle. Goddamn it.
But she was shaking her head, “No,” she cried. “You didn’t hurt me.”
“And these?” He reached down to wipe a tear off her cheek. “Why?”
“Because you gave me so much. It’s so overwhelming.”
“So they are good tears?” he asked cautiously.
“Yes,” she cried out passionately and threw her arms around him. “Absolutely yes.”
He sank back down beside her and pulled her closer. He buried his face against her hair and squeezed her tight.
She sent him from one end of the emotional spectrum to the other within minutes. He wasn’t used to it and found the experience enlightening. He lived for moments like this. The new, the unusual, the stretching of his own experience. It had been a long time since someone surprised him. Not only had she done so several times, but she moved him constantly.
He didn’t want to let her go. She was so damn special.
But if she didn’t want to say, he wouldn’t keep her.
Love was not in holding on – love was best when letting go.
Chapter 10
Sometime later, Willow woke from the heat. She raised her head to see Cash wrapped around her, his body an inferno.
She threw off the covers and gasped as the cool air hit her heated skin. She felt so alive. So good. It was such a new experience that it was all so much fun. She didn’t know what had happened to her life, but she was loving it all.
Cooling slowly, she lay there in the bed waffling in and out of awareness as she let herself slowly drift off to sleep until a sound caught her attention. A noise that didn’t belong. A scraping outside the house.
She couldn’t stop her muscles from tightening or her breath from catching in the back of her throat. Frozen, she waited to hear if the sound came again.
It did.
“Oh God,” she whispered. She bolted into a sitting position and stared around the room in a panic. Cash still slept beside her, apparently unaware.
She reached over and hit him gently. She hated to do it but as the noise happened again, she knew she had to. “Cash, wake up,” she hissed.
“I’m awake,” he muttered. “What’s the matter? Need a little more loving?”
She’d have laughed if she could have, but fear was choking her. “Someone, something,” she quickly amended, “is outside or maybe inside by now.” she whispered, adding, "I'm so scared."
His eyes flew open, instantly aware and reassuring.
“I didn’t want to wake you,” she whispered apologetically.
His ha
nd grasped hers reassuringly.
And a louder squeak sounded in the other room
He was up and out of bed almost instantly. She quickly threw on her panties and a t-shirt and followed. He might be totally okay to face an intruder in the nude, but she wasn’t. She rushed behind him, although her mind was screaming at her to hide in the closet where she’d be safe.
In the living room, she stopped at the entrance. There was no sign of Cash. She spun around looking in the other direction, but there was no sign of him. She wanted to call out but didn’t want to bring any unwanted attention towards her.
Where was he? He hadn't had time to get very far.
The living room window curtain was open. Cash or an intruder. She was scared to cross the room and check outside. Not knowing what to do, she retreated to the master bedroom. And into the closet.
Some habits died hard.
She curled into a tight ball and waited. Every sound in the room was heightened by the silence around her and the knowledge that something was wrong. And that Cash had gone after the problem.
Her breathing became ragged the longer she sat there. Where was Cash?
She shoved a fist into her mouth to hold the cries inside.
She closed her eyes and rocked in place.
How long had it been? Ten minutes? Twenty minutes? Thirty?
How long did this take?
Surely not more than a few minutes. A quick look outside then maybe a walk around the house, then back again.
Not a half hour.
The longer the time dragged on, the worse her fear.
Dear God, what was going on?
Heavy footsteps sounded in the hallway, coming toward her. A whimper escaped. She shuddered.
Please let it be Cash.
She backed up as far as she could go into the closet and waited.
***
Cash had done a quick sweep of the inside of the house then did a full circuit outside. It was dark, but the moon was high in the sky. There’d been a trespasser. Had he left? Run off when he'd realized the house wasn't empty? Or had he had a more malicious intent? Or only curious?
Maybe it was a four-legged intruder? A raccoon perhaps?
He did one more complete round then stopped and slid into the trees at the back of the property. And waited. If someone was still here, he’d show himself – providing he hadn’t run off already.
The night was beautiful and calm, but there was an odd sense of something stirring.
He waited a good ten minutes but didn’t see anything out of ordinary. He moved silently back inside and stopped at the doorway, his head cocked. Listening.
Could the intruder have snuck in while he was outside? No, he’d been watching the door. The back door was locked as well. Willow was still safe inside. He’d never have left her alone otherwise. She was everything to him. Maybe he’d have to go back to bed and reassure Willow all over again. It was a thought that brought a smile to his face.
At the bedroom, he stopped and listened, then searched the darkness. The bed was smooth except for the tossed blankets. He couldn’t see her.
She had to be somewhere. Likely in the closet.
“Willow?” he asked quietly. “Where are you?”
No answer.
Shit. He turned on the light and raced to the side of the bed where she slept. The corner where he’d found her last time was empty. The closet was empty and under the bed was empty. His heart pounded. Could he have missed the intruder getting into the house? Could the intruder have gotten to her?
Surely not. He raced around the house, searching for her. “Willow? Where are you?”
Again no answer.
He returned to the bedroom and strode into the bathroom. The lights were off. He flicked them on and heard the merest squeak. He pulled the shower curtain back to find Willow curled into a tiny ball inside the tub. She cried out when she saw him and shot up into his arms.
She was so scared she could barely speak. Finally she got it out. “I was so scared.”
“Shh, it’s all right.”
“No, it’s not. He came into the bedroom. I saw him. I hid but I couldn’t do anything about it. He didn’t search the closet, but I knew he would soon. But he went back into the living room and I ran into the bathroom.”
Cash almost groaned. She’d been in such danger and he’d been outside, unaware of the trouble she was in.
If the bastard had caught her…
God, it didn’t bear thinking about.
“Did you see who it was?”
She shook her head. “No. I saw his silhouette, but that’s all.”
“Was it Greg?"
“I couldn’t tell,” she said in a shame-filled voice. “I didn’t look long enough.”
“Shh, it’s okay.”
“No, I should have looked," she cried. "I should have tried to see who it was.”
“No, you shouldn’t have.”
“Why not?” She leaned her head back to stare up at him.
“Because he might have seen you. As long as you stayed hidden, you were out of danger.”
She nodded and squeezed him tight.
Chapter 11
Back in bed, tucked up tight against Cash, Willow struggled with the fear still rolling through her. If it hadn’t been Greg himself, then it had been someone he sent. There was no way it wasn’t.
For all Cash’s reassurances, she couldn’t believe that it was anyone else. She wasn’t safe here and neither was Cash. Not until Greg was taken care of.
She wished he was dead. That was her fear speaking. Except she needed to be free of him somehow.
But it hadn’t happened yet, and she wasn’t going to do anything that would put her in jail for thirty years. Neither did she want to see the same thing to happen to Cash.
Greg had a lot of friends. Many she’d had over at their house. None she liked. They were all of a similar mindset to Greg. In other words, they were scum and users. Bullies. At the same time, they weren’t the same dangerous personality as Greg. They didn’t have that same dead look, that same inside emptiness she saw in Greg.
At least she didn’t think so. Who knew who these people really were? None were married and they all had girlfriends, only it seemed the girlfriends went from one to the other like a favorite coat to be passed around.
The girls never seemed to mind. It was something Willow didn’t quite understand. She’d had one abuser, what would her life have been like if she’d had several?
If she wanted to change her life and get the hell out, what about those girls? Did they want the same, too?
She knew there’d been a fair bit of drugs and alcohol involved in the relationship swapping. That was one thing about drugs, Greg refused to have any in the house. He hated the way drugs made him feel and refused to let anyone use them around him. Of course alcohol was different. He loved vodka and often drank it straight. Alcohol made him ugly, but he felt empowered by it.
Scary memories.
“Forget about him,” Cash whispered beside her, his hand gently stroking her back.
“I can’t,” she whispered. “It was him, I know it.”
“Then I’ll have to have a talk with him then.”
His words were so comforting, so calm. But he was so wrong. “That’s just going to let him know you saw him.”
“Good. Then he won’t try to sneak in anymore.”
“But then he’ll know I’m here. If I wasn’t here, you’d have said something to him at the time.”
A deep chuckle rumbled through his chest, making her ears tingle. Lord, he was special. Now if only he’d listen to her. Greg was dangerous and not someone to brush off or ignore. He was not normal. She tried to make him see reason.
“He’s not like other assholes. There’s something wrong with him.”
Large hands stroked up and down her back. Cash had stripped the clothes off her on his way to tucking her back into bed. She lay across his chest and tried to get him to understand. “Like m
aybe dead animals type of sick.”
Cash stilled for a moment. “Do you think he’s ever killed anyone?”
“I don’t think so, but I don’t know that. He threatened to kill me several times but preferred to keep me around as his punching bag.”
"That is over,” Cash said firmly. “He’s not going to get his hands on you again.”
She wasn’t so sure about that, but Cash wouldn’t listen anymore.
He rolled over quickly and pinned her beneath him, and with one hand he grasped both her wrists and held them above her head. With his other hand, he pushed her legs apart and settled into place, his heavy erection prodding her tender flesh.
She gasped.
He stilled.
She chuckled. God, she loved the care and concern he had for her.
He plunged deep inside.
She groaned, her hips instinctively lifting to meet his thrusts. He was more than ready and ahead of her, and she was good with that. Except… his urgency was a turn on in itself. He surged once more, the tendons on his neck corded and stiff, and he found his release. And triggered her own, milder, calmer, and yet so sweet release.
She held him close, loving these moments.
“Sleep,” he whispered when he could. “It’s going to be fine.”
She’d trusted him so far, and she’d trust him again.
With a happy sigh, she curled up against his side and slept.
***
Had it been Greg? If so, he was a dead man. But he might have just as easily hired someone to come in and check the house.
The question was – what had the intruder found? Not Willow obviously, but definitely confirmation that a woman was here.
Interesting that Greg had targeted Cash’s home so fast. They must have been seen coming home from the bridge. He had been worried about his passenger at the time, not spectators.
Why? They knew of each other. Saw each other at a couple of hangouts. Shared a couple of beers, but not more than that.
