Page 30 of Hideaway

Mrs. Hughes brought out apple crumble with custard for dessert, and Kara tried to force herself to enjoy it as Cade still held her hand under the table and she contemplated what might possibly happen after dessert. She devoured every crumb before placing her fork on the empty plate and sneaking a glance at Cade. His eyes were fixed on her as though they had never left, warmth and desire and a touch of something dangerous filling the green-gold depths.

“More tea, Kara?” Cade asked, gesturing to the empty tea cup beside her small plate.

“No?” Kara answered uncertainly. Was he stalling, or merely attempting to torture her?

“Mrs. Hughes!” Cade called loudly toward the kitchens.

Mrs. Hughes rushed into the dining room, clearly at her master’s beck and call. “Aye, Mr. Ashford?”

“More tea, please,” Cade ordered, enjoying watching Kara’s face fall in disappointment.

Yes, the bastard was definitely torturing her.

Kara burned her mouth sipping down the hot tea as quickly as possible while Cade took leisurely sips and conversed with Brax and Ortega. He still held her fucking hand under the table, but didn’t acknowledge her beyond a slight squeeze of her fingers now and then. Kara felt herself slowly go insane with impatience. Right when she was about ready to start stripping off her clothes—witnesses be damned—in an effort to capture Cade’s attention, he rose from his chair, the others following suit.

“Come,” Cade addressed Kara softly, never taking his hand from hers. “I’ll take you to your room.”

They were both silent after bidding everyone goodnight and walking up the stairs toward their rooms. Trying to calm her nerves, Kara focused on the gentle way Cade held her hand in his as he pulled her toward her room. She took a deep breath as he opened the door, not exactly sure how to gather the words to ask for what she wanted. Because what she wanted wasclearlyderanged given the circumstances. Cade dropped her hand and waited expectantly as she hovered in the doorway without going in.

“Stay with me tonight,” Kara told him quietly, unsure of whether it was panic or anticipation stealing the breath from her lungs and setting her heart pounding so loudly she could hear her pulse in her ears.

“I sleep in my own bed, Kara,” Cade scolded, his tone prickling with subtle irritation. He didn’t like being the subject of someone’s demands. And he didn’t like the quiver of vulnerability in her voice; it made him feel irrationally protective of her.

“Then can I come with you?” Kara asked, her small voice hopeful. “Please?”

“I sleep alone,” Cade answered firmly, leaving little room for negotiation.

“You didn’t sleep alone last night,” Kara reminded softly, peeking up at him from behind long, dark lashes.

“That was different. Those were extenuating circumstances, and I didn’t want you to be alone.” He had other reasons for bringing her to his bed the previous night, but he didn’t want her to be privy tothosereasons any more than he wanted to acknowledge them in the first place. The girl made him weak. So much so, that he had broken his own cardinal rule of sleeping alone. There was no way in hell he would allow her to instigate a second offense.

“Well, I don’t want to be alone tonight,” Kara pleaded, glancing around the emptiness of her bedroom as though the sheer expanse of loneliness would swallow her up. “Please, Cade?” She timidly reached out and placed her small hand on his arm, wrapping her narrow fingers around the wide breadth of his bicep. Cade sucked in a sharp breath at her touch.

“What will you give me?” Cade asked, his tone cold as he glanced at her hand on him before turning calculating eyes toward her.

“Give you?” Kara asked, her lips trembling as she considered the possible insinuation of his words. He expected her to bargain for a place in his bed?

“Yes, Kara, what do you have to offer me?” Cade said slowly, patronizingly, as though conversing with a child. “I am a man of business, after all. Nothing comes for free.” A salacious grin spread across his full lips. “Not even you.”

“W-what do you want?” Kara responded anxiously, an equal mix of nervousness and arousal twisting in her belly at the thought of Cade’s demands.

“Hmm,” Cade hummed, pausing as though carefully thinking it over. “I’m not quite sure at the moment. Let’s just say you’ll owe me a favor at some point in the future.” Cade’s eyes glittered with sinister satisfaction at the thought of her at his mercy, forced to give in to his desires, however dark they may be.

“A free pass for a man like you sounds dangerous,” Kara answered hesitantly, biting her bottom lip in indecision.

“Oh, it’s most assuredly dangerous,” Cade replied with no intent to quell her fears. He was a dangerous man. And she should know exactly who she was getting into bed with. “Question is, is it worth it?” Cade offered her his hand, like Hades beckoning her to the depths of the underworld.

With a finalfuck youto any lingering thoughts of rationality storming about in her mind, Kara took a deep breath and placed her hand in Cade’s. His fingers wrapped around Kara’s tightly, almost painfully, as his ominous smirk grew impossibly wider. Well, if she was going to hell, she might as well enjoy the ride.

As soon as they entered Cade’s room, the atmosphere altered, growing heavy and almost suffocating with tension. Cade withdrew his hand and left Kara standing in the middle of the room as he went to his closet in search of a change of clothes. Anxiously shifting on her feet, Kara stared at the imposing bed in the center of the room, thinking of what it would be like to be taken by Cade and fucked roughly against the dark, silk sheets. She startled from her daydream when something soft and cotton hit her in the face. Cade’s shirt, she discovered upon closer inspection, which he had just thrown at her face. Clearly, he wasn’t in a tender mood at the moment.

“Put it on,” Cade ordered firmly. “I like seeing you in my clothes.”

Kara glared at him, her expression of annoyance quickly morphing into appreciation when she realized that he’d already changed and was only wearing a pair of low-riding sweatpants that highlighted the delectable v-cut that trailed downward from his prominent abdominal muscles. With the naked curve of his ass peeking out from the waistband of his pants, she was pretty sure he wasn’t wearing underwear. And at that moment, she didn’t want to be wearing any fucking underwear either.

Rather than going to the bathroom to change, Kara gathered her courage and kicked off her heels right where she stood. Holding Cade’s gaze, she reached behind her back and slowly unzipped her dress, letting it fall to her feet in a puddle of fabric. Though she stood before him in only her bra and panties, Cade’s eyes never once left hers to roam over the nakedness of her body. Raising her brows in surprise at his stoic display of composure and control for a heterosexual male with a dick between his legs, Kara took it one step further. She wanted to smash his fucking control to pieces. She unlatched her bra and tossed it on the growing pile of clothes in front of her, her pink nipples immediately stiffening into hard buds in the cool air. Still, Cade didn’t falter as he continued to focus on her face, the smallest hint of a smile on his lips the only sign that he knew her tits were out. With a sigh of annoyance, Kara hooked her thumbs into her panties and swiftly slid them down, stepped out of them, and threw them at Cade’s bare feet. And in reaction, she got nothing.Absolutely. Nothing.He just stared at her with that same infuriating composure he seemed to cling to as though it was the very essence of life.

“I said, put it on, Kara,” Cade commanded again, his voice sterner than the first time.

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