Page 53 of Hideaway

Chapter Thirteen

KARA practically hobbled down toward the dining hall, still feeling the lingering imprint of Cade’s massive dick deep within her womb. Every muscle in her body ached in protest of Cade’s delicious abuse. Throughout the night, he’d made her come so many times she lost count of the number of orgasms he forced from her needy pussy. Her neck was covered in hickeys, her breasts sported the red marks of his teeth, and her hips bore the bruises of his fingers from where he held onto her and fucked her like a madman. She was relatively certain she’d been kidnapped by a villain in possession of the highest sex drive in the whole damn world.

The bed was empty when she woke up, so she assumed Cade would be preoccupied with work and wouldn’t spend the day bending her to the will of his overactive cock. Good. As much as she missed his company when he was busy with clients, her poor pussy could use a reprieve. The table was full when Kara walked into the dining room, the men already in heated discussion. She tried not to pay too much attention to the details of their business talks; she had enough difficulty rationalizing that she enjoyed fucking her captor without being reminded that he also did illegal shit for exorbitant amounts of money. One thing at a time.

Drawing a collection of reproving glares, Cade broke off his conversation, rose from his seat, and pulled out the chair to his right, gesturing for Kara to sit beside him. She blushed as she felt the attention of several pairs of eyes on her as she walked toward Cade and sat down, hoping that she’d concealed the hickeys enough to prevent everyone in the room from knowing that she was fucking their boss. Although, from the lingering, molten intensity of Cade’s stare at that moment, she was almost completely sure it was obvious what the two of them did behind closed doors. Or on the fucking table. The same table from which they were all currently eating breakfast. The inappropriate memories of the night before sent a shock of arousal and need straight to her overused pussy as heat flooded her pale skin.

“Good morning,” Cade whispered seductively against her ear, his lips so close it was almost a kiss.

“Morning,” Kara answered softly, looking around guiltily as the others at the table stared with expressions lacking in amusement. It wasn’t her fault that their boss had a perpetual hard-on and she was the only female in the house other than Mrs. Hughes. If they were annoyed, they could take it up withhim.

Cade’s handinconspicuouslycaressed her lower back as he pushed in her chair before taking his seat with a slight smirk on his lips. The man was utterly incorrigible. Kara subtly kicked his leg under the table as a warning to behave in front of the others. In retaliation, Cade reached across her seat and pinched her thigh so hard that Kara had to stifle a yelp. Concealing his mischievousness with a blank expression, Cade turned back to Jace to continue the business Kara’s entrance had interrupted, keeping his hand on Kara’s thigh as a threat for any further insolence. Kara rolled her eyes in annoyance and set about filling her plate with breakfast.

The chaotic cacophony of men’s raised voices halted with the trill of a phone ringing. Kara looked to Cade in surprise. He didn’t allow the use of phones at the table; it was one of his many ridiculous, controlling rules, and the men abided by it religiously, always making sure to keep their electronic devices tucked away during meal times. The most unusual aspect of hearing a ringtone at the dining table was that it was coming from Cade’s pocket. His movements stiff and full of tension, Cade pulled out his phone and looked at the caller.

“Fuck,” he breathed before swiping the screen to answer it. “Ashford,” Cade answered brusquely. He waited impatiently as the person on the other line rushed out an explanation. “Damnit, I knew this would turn into a fucking shit show. Have you heard from Jensen?” He waited as the caller barked out something. “Fuck. Don’t do anything else right now,” Cade ordered, shoving his chair hard across the floor as he stood abruptly. “No, leave it. I’m heading over.” Cade motioned for Brax to follow him as he stormed toward the exit, phone still in hand.

Ortega checked his phone and left soon after, though Kara couldn’t be sure if his departure was related to Cade’s miniature explosion. She found herself hoping that it wasn’t, before chiding herself for being empathetic towards Cade’s work stresses. He was probably just having issues stealing a priceless piece of history or depriving some unsuspecting elite of their family heirlooms. God, she seriously needed to be rethinking her relationship with such a depraved man. Unfortunately, her pussy was morally bankrupt at the moment.

“What was that about?” Declan asked as he looked toward the dining room doors with his dark eyes wide in surprise. He wasn’t used to seeing Ashford lose control like that. In fact, before Kara arrived, he’d never seen his boss lose his cool.

“You don’t want to know, kid,” Jace answered cryptically. “You might want to eat up. We’ll probably be shipping out soon if that call was who I think it was.”

Kara resisted the urge to press Jace further about what he knew about Cade’s sudden departure. Cade kept her in the dark regarding that aspect of his life, and that was exactly how she wanted to keep it. Brushing aside her inconvenient interest in Cade’s dark business matters, Kara tried to focus on her breakfast. Desperate for a hit of caffeine to lift the morning mood, she reached for the coffee carafe, jolting when she felt the brush of fingertips against hers. Realizing that Jace had reached for the coffee in the exact same moment she did, Kara pulled her hand away sharply, hating the feel of his skin against hers and the memories his touch conjured.

“Sorry,” she responded hastily out of habit, not entirely sure why she should be apologizing for reaching for something at the same time as him. Social etiquette was a peculiar construct.

“It’s all right,” Jace answered with an air of gentility that didn’t quite suit him as he lifted the carafe and reached for Kara’s cup. “Allow me,” he offered, filling her mug before she had a chance to decline.

“Thanks,” Kara answered suspiciously, again feeling obligated to be cordial and polite with the man who tried to assault her.

“Let me guess, you take it black?” Jace asked, his eyes glittering with a dark sort of amusement.

She did take it black. But there was something about Jace having the audacity to correctly assume her taste in something as simple as coffee that had Kara gritting her teeth in irritation. So she did the least logical thing she could think of: she lied. “Cream and sugar actually. Heavy on the sugar,” Kara responded sweetly as though she hadn’t just requested a revolting concoction for the sake of disappointing the smug asshole.

“Sweet and light, huh? I’m surprised, Dr. Caine. I would have thought you preferred something more…dark,” Jace implied suggestively as the brightness in his eyes turned sinister.

“Nope, nothing dark here,” Kara answered uncomfortably, hoping she was imagining the innuendo in his words as she gulped down the far too sweet coffee.

Jace was silent a minute, studying her thoughtfully in a way that made Kara’s skin crawl. She looked for a distraction, latching onto the only other person in the room. “Hey, Declan, could you look up the forecast for today? I was hoping to go riding if there isn’t any more rain and it’s not too muddy from yesterday.” Spending time outside with the horses was always a nice diversion from her life as a pampered prisoner.

“Sure,” Declan answered helpfully with a smile that was a little too eager as he pulled out his phone.

Kara had a sneaking suspicion that the boy had a bit of a crush on her. She recognized the bright look in his puppy dog eyes; she’d gotten rather used to ignoring it with students over the years. Declan was sweet and inexperienced, and Kara wondered for the hundredth time what on earth had led him to associate with criminals like Jace and Cade. They’d crush his innocence before it even had a chance to bloom.

“Lucky for you, it’ll be mostly sunny the whole day,” Declan declared brightly before setting down his phone and grabbing another scone off the tray in front of him. “I could walk down there with you if you’d like some company?”

“Thanks, Declan, that’s really sweet of you,” Kara replied kindly, trying to think of the easiest way to turn him down for his own good. If Cade caught her traipsing about the countryside alone with one of his men, it might not go over very well for either of them. “But you should probably stay close to the house, just in case Cade needs you.”

“Oh yeah, that’s true,” Declan answered, sounding a little bit disappointed.

“Yes, I’m sure Ashford would belostwithout Declan here,” Jace intruded into the conversation scathingly.

“I don’t recall asking for your opinion,Jacen,” Kara spat back.

“Dude, I didn’t know your full name is Jacen,” Declan commented in amusement, the sarcasm in her response completely going over his head.

“It’s not,” Jace answered in annoyance. “Dr. Caine just likes to pretend that she’s smarter than everyone else. Isn’t that right?”

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