"But if you stay here, if you start teaching these girls," he goes on. "You might free a few of them from the same thing. From the same beliefs. They might have a better chance out there. And if you think I’m going to kick you out of my house to make that happen..."
He grins.
"You’ve got a wholehellof a lot of other things coming."
And, with that, he kisses me again, and I know that the time for conversation is well and truly over.
CHAPTER 7
Cade
Ilift her from the ground and back her against the door behind us, the desire I have tried to keep pinned down for so long suddenly impossible to ignore.
She’s staying. And she’s not just staying, she’s finding purpose here. Making changes here. Helping to make this place into the kind of home that people can thrive in, not just survive in. Putting down roots, right here, where I can hold her and have her and make her mine. I can still remember standing there on the day my niece was born, staring down at the family my brother had made and wondering when it would happen for me. But here, now, I know – it's her.
She’s finally made it. And now that I have her right where I want her, I am not going to let her slip through my fingers.
I tuck one arm beneath her hips to hold her in place as I move between her legs, pressing myself into her, letting her feel the ache of my manhood for her warmth. Her fingernails dig into my skin slightly as she draws me around to look at her, and her clear eyes search mine as though finding something there they never had before.
She kisses me again, a slow, soft, almost teasing kiss, like she is coaxing out something in me that she has been waiting to lay eyes on all along.
With my other hand, I bunch her dress at her hips, exposing her entirely – her mound, the dark puff of hair atop her sex, the glistening slickness of it, even by the low candlelight.
Her teeth rest on her lip for a moment as though waiting for my approval, as though I would ever look upon her like this with anything other than all-consuming lust, and I kiss her once more in silent assurance that she has me, that she has never lost me.
I shift my pants down far enough that I can pull myself loose. There isn’t time for a slow undressing of one another, not in these circumstances, no. The sensual exploration can come later. All that I care about is her, having her, marking her, showing her that I want her in all the ways that matter.
And, as she shifts her hips slightly, pinned between me and the door, I know she understands that entirely. I bring myself to her entrance, and, not taking my eyes off of hers for an instant, I buck myself inside her in one long stroke.
She gasps, her entire body tensing for a moment as though growing used to the sensation of me inside of me. It’s not like the first time, when I knew that I needed to hold something back, to keep myself from getting lost entirely to the welcoming warmth of her body – no, now, I can give her everything I want to, and I intend to make sure she never forgets it.
Burying my face into her neck, I slam myself into her, her thighs clamping around me as a gasping moan escapes her lips. I can feel her body reacting to me, deep inside, the response of her pleasure enough to drive me to new levels of passion.
I can’t hold back, even if I wanted to, find myself unable to do anything other than give myself to her, to take from her everything I need and return it in kind.
As I continue to move within her, she grasps my head and heaves it up so that we are looking at each other once more. The ragged edge to her breath, the glassy look to her eyes, I can tell that whatever she came to me seeking, she is close to finding it.
Her feet press into the small of my back, holding me inside of her like she’s savoring the way it feels, and I still, obliging her a moment of slowness amongst the near-feral desire within me.
But then, I draw back and push into her once more. And it seems to be that which pushes her over the edge, her whole body squeezing around me as she sucks in a sudden, sharp breath, her lids fluttering shut as though she can barely bring herself to stay in this moment with me.
I pull her into me, taking in the feel of her body pulsing around me, the helplessness with which she gives herself to me. I might not know where this woman came from, or why she’s appeared in my life, but I know for damn sure that I am not going to let her go...
That from this moment on, she is mine. Body and soul.
It’s that thought which sends me spiralling into my own release, her twitching thighs and eager hips still moving against me as she draws me into her, further and further. Inhaling the scent of her, mouth pressed against her neck, I fill her with my seed, mark her with what makes her mine, and the two of us hold on to each other as the pleasure crests in a shared moment of heaven.
She brushes her lips against my cheek as I hold myself inside of her, and I can feel the grin on her face as she slowly untangles herself from me and tries to plant her feet on the floor once more. I keep my arm around her waist as she stumbles slightly, her legs still shaky from what we have just shared.
"I don’t know if you’re ready to start walkin’ again yet," I murmur to her, as she tugs down the hem of her skirt, doing her best to make herself look respectable.
"Hmm, guess I better just rest up for a while then," she replies, her eyes sliding past me and towards my bed. "How about it...?”
I don’t need telling twice. Reaching down, I sweep her into my arms and carry her towards the bed, all too happy to steal a little more time with her yet.
I’m sure that Lucy will come knocking to see where the two of us have vanished to – and when she figures out that she was right about the way I looked at her, she’s going to be all kinds of smug. But right now, the only thing I give a good goddamn about is spending time with my girl.
And I won’t let anything or anyone get in the way of it.
