Page 92 of Vengeful Lies

“Cade, hurry up and get inside me, I want us to come together,” Gabriella said, her voice husky with arousal as she reached between them and grabbed his length, guiding it to her center.

One thrust was all it took to bury himself deep inside her. Hooking her ankles around his hips, she drew him deeper still, and then they both began to move together. He was close but she was, too, and when he touched her where their bodies joined, she came on a scream that was swallowed by his lips.

Her internal muscles clamped around him, setting off his orgasm, and it rushed through him like a tsunami, shoving away everything else in its path until all that was left was crystal clear love. Pure and complete. Perfect.

When all that was left were the last aftershocks of pleasure, he pulled out of her and headed for the bathroom. Returning with a warm washcloth, he cleaned Gabriella up, then lifted her so he could pull back the covers and lay her down again. Tossing the cloth into the sink, he climbed into the bed and curled himself around his girl, cocooning her in an embrace, making sure she knew she was safe.

Gabriella was his to love, protect, and cherish.

His to guard and ensure she never again felt like garbage that could be thrown away.

And he intended to spend the rest of his life doing just that.

October 9th

11:20 A.M.

“I don’t see why I have to wear this,” Cade grumbled. The pout on his face was so adorable and so unlike the old Cade that Gabriella couldn’t not giggle as she looked up from the sewing machine she was running like crazy. She’d lost over a month so she had a whole lot of sewing to do if she was going to be ready in time.

“What else would you wear, Daddy?” Essie asked, looking at her father like he was crazy.

“Literally anything else,” Cade answered as though it were obvious.

Essie just giggled indulgently. “Silly Daddy. You have to wear this.”

“I honestly don’t see that I do.”

“Course you do. We gots to all match because we’re a family.” Essie said it like she dared either of them to disagree with her.

It wasn't really the reason they were wearing these costumes for Halloween. Alice in Wonderland was Essie’s favorite book since she was three. For the last two years, she’d wanted them all to dress up as characters from the book, but both of those last two years Cade had been away for Halloween, so they’d scrapped the idea. The year Essie was three, they’d gone as Cruella de Vil and a Dalmatian puppy, then last year they’d gone trick or treating with her as a witch and Essie as a black cat.

Cade would be home this year, and they were making Essie’s dreams come true.

She deserved it.

Which meant Cade wasn't getting out of wearing that costume.

“I could wear something else, there are other characters in Alice in Wonderland,” Cade suggested, shooting her a look that was clearly asking for her help.

Gabriella just grinned back at him.

The sooner he accepted this as his fate the happier he’d be.

“Well, I'm being Alice,” Essie said, planting her hands on her hips and going full sass mode. “Did you want to be Alice, Daddy?”

Reaching out, Cade plucked up his little girl and set her on his lap, tickling her until she squealed with delight and wriggled like a little worm. “No, my princess, I don’t want to go as Alice.”

“Did you want to go as the Queen of Hearts?” Essie continued, in full-on sass mode today. “Cos Mommy is being the Queen.”

Like it did every time the little girl called her mommy, Gabriella’s heart did a little flip in her chest. Honestly, she wasn't sure which was better, Essie calling her mommy or Cade telling her he loved her.

A tie.

Definitely a tie.

How could she feel like garbage that would one day be thrown away when she had these two loving on her every second?

It would take time, but they were healing her old wounds a little more each day.

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