The Wildcard

Chapter Twenty Six

I woke up cocooned in the scent of him; our bodies wrapped around each other even in sleep – as though we couldn't keep away from each other even there. I turned in his arms to face him, stroking the dark hair away from his eyes to study the features – those sharp angles in his bone structure were softened as he dreamt – softened, but they still carried a strength beyond anything I could ever imagine – a ruthless grace that just seemed to ooze out of him. I still couldn't believe the words he'd spoken, or really believe that he was mine like he said, but his honesty made me want to strive for something better. Cayden made me want to be selfish – he made me want to be the best possible version of myself that I could ever be ... for him.

I'd never met anyone before that made me strive for that, but the way that he fought back against his own demons – the strategies he'd designed to the letter, which would one day set him free – forced me to realise that I couldn't stay in the numbness, and even before, while I was pushing him away, I was still in it.

After we'd shared a kiss on the sofa, I'd been tearing at his clothes – desperate to feel the heat of his body against my own – the sparks between our skin – to feast my eyes on the primitive sexual grace that I could finally call my man ... if only in my head, but he'd stilled my hands, rose to his feet in one lithe movement that made me feel as though I was feather light in his strong arms.

"We're not fucking this time, I mean I want to ... God only knows I want to, but this time I want to worship you ... I want to make love to you, I want to wake up next to you, see the first rays of sun play over your face in the morning. So it's the bed we go to – no games this time, just me, you, and Egyptian cotton ..."

"I'm really not used to Egyptian cotton ... it's a bit rich against my skin ..."

"Just get used to it, Flyaway, if I have to wrap you up mummy style to keep you in that bed I will do ..."

His hard body stirring in the bed next to me pulled me from my memories; ice blue eyes focusing on me from underneath languid, lowered lids – his face relaxed into lazy sensuality. My stomach fluttered at the intimacy of the moment. It was such a normal, domestic thing for anyone else, but for me, it felt like so very much more.

"Morning, gorgeous,"

"Morning ... what time is it, anyway?" Fuck, we should have been at work for 9 ... granted, I probably wouldn't have to submit a formal apology to my boss ...

"Doesn't matter," he pulled me into his arms when I turned to reach for his discarded Rolex, "We're working from home today ..."

"Can we do that?"

"We can do anything, I'm the boss. Besides ... I think we have some talking to do ... and some things to sort out."

His face gave nothing away, with one corner of his gorgeous mouth lifted in a cheeky smirk, and his eyes shining against the bright sun, I could still read nothing ...

"Things?"

His mind was already busy calculating, I realised suddenly – he might be lazy and relaxed with me, but his mind was already plotting ... something. He tucked a strand of my long hair behind my ear – eyes running over my face deceptively slowly.

"You'll only fight me over it if I don't build up slowly – you want to take two steps, and I want to take twenty, but later ..."

Would I ever really know what Cayden Gates was plotting? Did anyone, ever? He was such an enigmatic, overwhelming man – I suppose that comes from his background – but I don't think he realises quite how intimidating that can be, for someone like me.

I had no more time to stew over it though, as I found myself pulled astride him in one swift movement – leaving me reeling, needing more than a moment to catch my breath as I squealed in surprise ...

"Don't frown, gorgeous, you'll get wrinkles ..."

"I can't think when we're like this ..." he was too close – Cayden just oozed sexual promise out of every hard angle in his perfect body – how the fuck was I ever meant to get my point across when I could feel the taut outline of his huge erection urgently pressing into my thigh?

"What do you need to think about?" he was dropping kisses into that special spot he always seemed to find – the place that drove me crazy – this perfect place that joined my neck and my shoulders – and I couldn't even remember what I was needing to think about in the first place! "Why can't you just leave it to me to think ... to worry about the next move ... Why can't you just give up on all the angsty shit and let me take over ... and you just have to feel ..."

I cried out as he thrust his huge length up inside me ... my back arching at the surprise. He'd been punctuating his words with those sensual touches, so that the sudden fullness was such a shock that I dug my fingertips into his strong shoulders to keep some semblance of control. That smug, sexy bastard was smirking at me!

"I don't think I'll ever get used to being inside you; to your pussy milking my dick with those sexy little moves you don't even know you're making!"

Slowly, torturously, he began to roll his hips up towards mine – shifting his body inside me with subtle movements, so that my whole body became hyper-sensitized, anticipating his every touch. It was like he needed my soul connected to his – it had felt the same the night before – it was just ... more ...so much more than it had ever been before. I'd tried to tell him so, but then I kind of ... lost the words.

"I remember thinking, that night in the limo, I remember thinking I could live on that tight little pussy – on those sweet little purring noises that you were making while I had you bouncing on my cock ..."

His filthy words just served to take my arousal up a notch, and as the sparks of heat that were unfurling in the pit of my stomach caught flame I arched my back – almost as though my body was struggling to contain the intensity of the feelings inside me – and, digging my nails into the solid muscular wall of his chest, I came ... screaming his name.

***************************************

Later that morning, I decided that Cayden Gates, barefoot in the kitchen wearing nothing but black silk pyjama bottoms and a smile, making me breakfast, was literally the sexiest thing I had ever, or would ever see in my life.

It was such a domestic scene – me leaning against the island worktop, clutching a cup of coffee between my sweating palms, wearing nothing but last night's vest and a pair of his boxers – the smell of bacon in the air – Lana Del Ray playing quietly off the DAB Radio that was built into the stove.

"Sue will be so annoyed with me tomorrow."

I had to say something ... the sight of his muscles playing so close to his skin, the broad expanse of his bare back, the dark tones of his dirty tan, the memory of those hands stroking my body into orgasm, it was all enough to make my insides flutter back to life with arousal.

"Why would she? I told her we had things to attend to today, and she's to forward any urgent correspondence to my email. I haven't left any loose ends for her, and neither have you. Don't worry, babe, we have the whole day to each other, and nothing else ..."

"But you're so busy, can you afford to take off the time because I'm a fucking head case? I don't want to distract you ..."

He leaned on the other side of the island – his finger gently laying at the seam of my lips – like you would to a child, I guess, and his lips lifted into a sexy, sardonic smile that I couldn't take my eyes away from.

"One. You have never not distracted me, so don't start getting cold feet about it now. Two. Shut the fuck up and eat your breakfast, before you turn me into a head case ..."

"You're so fucking bossy ..."

"Well, Miss. Garrett, I am after all your boss ... if I wasn't at least a little bossy, how else would I keep you in line?"

I dove across the island to swipe the bacon butty out of his hands, biting into the soft bread, and almost choking on it with the shock of his next words ...

"And it's probably time to tell you that it's a live in position now ..."