Her hand gripsmy shoulders, her nails digging into the flesh of my back. My fingersdig into her hips in a bruising hold.
Ireach her chin with my other hand. “Eyes open,” I command. “You can’t hear my words, so watch and feelme.” I kiss her hard as my movements begin to quicken.Her hips rise, meeting me withevery stroke.“I fucking love you, Cara. Even when I’m being an ass.Even when you piss me off.Nothing is going to change that.”She begins to clench around me asshe chases her release.“I’m not letting you leave me. You belong to me. Your body, your heart, and your screams are mine and mine alone. Now, come for me, baby.”Her mouth falls open with a scream of please, my name the utterance of her lips. And as she falls, so do I.
Cara
Jake and I lay there for several minutes, unable to move. Our chests rise and fall as our labored breathing beginsto slow.His forehead is pressed to mine, his breath fanning out on my face.“I’m sorry,” he tells me again. “I’m so fucking sorry. I’ve been stressed out over some shit and took it out on you.”
“I should’ve tried harder to get you,” I concede.
“You’ve got to stop waiting on me to be done with you, baby. Your past, my past, it doesn’t determine our future. Our mistakesdo not define us. They help us to learn and grow.I’ll never be done with you. I have wanted youtoo damn long to let you go. I will chase you to the ends of the earth. But you’ve got to believe that. I want you – need you more than I need air to breathe.”
“Why have you been stressed?” I ask him softly.
He releases a sigh that hits me right in the chest. I’ve seen how stressed he is. How tired he looks. But now it’s like I feel the weight of it. “Peyton has decided to resurface. She’s demanding to see Lyra, threatening lawyers, and kidnapping charges.”
I can’t stop the gasp. My eyes are wide with fear and shock. I never even realizedshe could possiblycome back into their lives. In my naïve mind, when she left her child, she gave up any right to her.
“The irony of it all is the thing that’s been stressing me out is you. I know we’ve never discussed what we are to each other. I’ve just made proclamations. But I knew you didn’t sign up for ugly custody suits and possibly watching me sit in a cell for a few days. I was afraid when you found out, you’d run faster than you’ve ever run.”
“You’re facing all this over your daughter,and you were worried about my reaction?” I’m shocked, touched, and a little angry. He should be more worried about Lyra than me.
“It’s a fight she can’t win, Cara.She walked out of that hospital. There’s documentation. I could’ve had her rightsterminated but didn’t. When it was first suggested, I couldn’t go through with it. Then I just wasn’t concerned. I didn’t think she’d try to come back.I’m not worried because I know I won’t lose. You can’t vanish for nearly three years then expect to get your way.”
“Jake, I –,” I get cut off by the door flinging open.
“Cara Alyssa Pierce,” Dane booms.Jake’s and my head snap to see Dane walking into the room, his hands waving as he rants. He didn’t bother to knock, and he’s too busy ranting to notice the very precarious position Jake and I are in.Jake’s naked from the waist up. His pants are pulled low over his hips,and he’s still inside of me. Thankfully, my dress covers my chest, but the rest is bunched around my waist.“Why the hell have you been skipping therapy?We agree –,” he stops talking, making a strangled sound. His eyes zero in on Jake andme. He begins to turn a very strange shade of green before turningvery pale. “Oh, God, no. No, no, no.” Hebegins to move backward. His hands up over his eyes.
“Dane, watch out,” Jake calls out, but it’s too late. He stumbles, falling into a sofa table with a thud, hitting his head hard on the way down.
Jake jumps up, pulling his pants upquickly while I stand up, straightening my dress. We bothgetto him at the same time Cami, Ryder, and Maddox come into the room.
“Dammit, Dane,” Jake grumbles, checking his head. “You need stitches.”
“What I need is bleach,” he says with a distressed voice. “No. I need a lobotomy.”
“We tried to stop him,” Maddox tells us, but his smirk says he is finding the entire situation a little too funny.
“Why the hell didn’t you knock?” I yell.
“Why the hell didn’t you shut the door all the way? Or better yet, do that in your own room? I can never unsee that,”he whines. “Part of me wants to kick your ass,” he says, looking at Jake, “and the other part wants to hang myself.”
“Stop being dramatic,” Cami rolls her eyes. “Come on so we can get you to the hospital.”
“That can wait,” he waves her off and turns to me. “I want to know why the hell your therapist says he hasn’t talked to you in weeks? We had a deal.”
“I haven’t had time,” I tell him honestly. I just don’t tell him the other part. I’m tired of therapy. I’m tired of talking about what happened and how I feel about it.I just want to let it go.
“Cara, that was the one thing we were serious about when you volunteered for this,” Maddox says, clearly taking Dane’s side.I bite my tongue to ask him if what’s good for the goose is good for the gander because we all know Maddox has a world of issues.
Jake clears his throat beside me, drawing my attention to him. His face is soft and gentle, but I can already tell he agrees with them.He rubs my cheek with a finger. “Do the therapy, baby. You need it. You may not want it, but you need it.”
“Why do I keep feeling like he’s knows something I don’t?” Dane asks accusingly.
“Because he does,” I answer without hesitation. I won’t ever tell Dane the details, but it’s time he at least knows more happened than he thinks.“He knows lots of things you don’t, Dane. He knows things I haven’t even told my therapist. Before you start huffing and puffing and throwing your big brother weight around, the answer is no, I won’t tell you.”
His jaw clenches tightly as he turns his glare to Jake. “You already know I’m not saying anything, so don’t ask.”
He moves to Jake with lightning speed. I flinch,but Jake doesn’t move a muscle.His chest rises and falls with rapid breath.I am expecting him to swing, so when his hand moves up, I flinch again.
