Page 56 of Vengeful Lies

She didn't want his thanks. Of course, she did what she could to protect Essie. What she wanted was … something she was pretty sure she could never have. She wanted his love.

Stupid of her.

A woman already owned Cade Charleston’s heart, and it wasn't her.

Would never be her.

“You don’t have to thank me, Cade,” she said wearily, trying to tug her hand free from his grip. They needed to talk, but she couldn’t handle that kind of emotionally intense conversation right now. It would have to wait until the morning.

The hand around hers tightened, just enough to maintain his hold on her. “Don’t go. Please,” he whispered, his voice raw with a thousand different emotions.

Spinning around to look back up at him, her eyes widened, confused but hopeful. “Why?”

“Because I need you close right now,” he answered truthfully.

“I don’t … what does that mean exactly?” There was no way she was going to make any assumptions. Her poor battered heart couldn’t take it. She was in love with this man, had been for a long time, and she wasn't sure he quite got that he had the power to crush her if he so chose.

“It means come to bed with me,” he said bluntly, and whatever expression was on her face must have been funnybecause her gruff guy chuckled, his face breaking out into one of those rare breathtaking smiles of his usually only reserved for his daughter. “Please.”

“G-go to bed with y-you?” she stammered, wondering if she was hallucinating. The Cade she knew would never take her to bed.

“Yes.”

“You mean for like … s-sex?”

Another chuckle. “Unless it’s not what you want.”

“It is,” she said in a rush. It was everything she’d craved but told herself she could never have for years.

“Then come, please.” He tugged her gently toward his bedroom and she allowed him to pull her along with him.

“So polite tonight,” she teased. It felt like a giant weight had been lifted off her chest. Finally, the man she’d pined for was showing her that he had feelings for her in return. She’d always understood that part of his heart would always belong to his wife, that wasn't something she wanted to change, after all, Gretel would always be Essie’s mother. All she wanted was a little sliver of his heart to call her own. He and his daughter already owned hers.

“I think I'm about to change your mind on that, sweetheart,” he told her as he tugged harder on her wrist as they entered his bedroom, bring her body flush up against his. “On a scale of one to ten, how sore are you? And don’t even think of lying to me,” he warned.

Pain had been a constant friend to her these last few days, but right now, she barely even felt it, there were too many other emotions and feelings taking its place. “Maybe a five,” she said, deciding that was the safest answer.

“You’ll tell me if that changes.” An order not a question, and she squeaked as he shifted his arms so he could pick her up and carry her the remaining distance to the bed.

“Cade, you're bruises, your cuts, your leg,” she reminded him.

“Don’t care about my leg, sweetheart. All I care about is this.”

Laying her out on the mattress that smelled so deliciously like him, she drew in a deep breath to fill her lungs with the scent, he grabbed the waistband of her leggings and panties and drew them down her legs as he moved to the bottom of the bed.

“Do you know how long I've been waiting to do this?” he asked as he buried his face between her legs and dragged in a long breath that ended on a moan. “So sweet.”

Gabriella gasped at the first swipe of his tongue. Her ex hadn't been very adventurous in the bedroom, and any time she’d asked him for oral sex he’d complained and done it only under sufferance. She’d never gotten off from it, and in the end, she’d stopped asking since it was easier than the humiliation of knowing her husband didn't enjoy bringing her pleasure.

This was nothing like that had been.

Each swipe of his tongue, each time he teased her entrance, each time he circled his lips around her bud and suckled it sent little electrical currents of pleasure blasting through her body.

Slipping a finger inside her, and then another, he stretched her open, and his tongue plunged deep inside her, bringing her hips off the bed.

Eyes falling closed, head tipping back on the pillow, she began to writhe as he built her higher and higher.

“Come for me now, sweetheart,” he ordered as his fingers stayed inside her, pumping in and out and grazing that special spot with each movement as his mouth moved to cover her bundle of nerves. He sucked hard, his tongue flicking over her bud over and over again until there was no way she couldn’t obey his command.

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