CHAPTER 35
“Mm,” Cate woke up to find herself pressed up against Kian’s bare chest. The wind was howling outside the windows.
Cate lifted up her head and kissed Kian’s throat; she loved the scratch of his early morning stubble.
“Morning,” Kian said sleepily, dropping his hand to cup her bottom.
“What happened to your shirt?” Cate asked, pushing the palms of her hands up his muscled chest.
“Too hot,” Kian replied.
He slid his hands up her vest top and kneaded her warm breasts. “Ah,” Cate cried a little, they were so tender.
Kian sat up so his back was resting against the headboard. He brought Cate up with him so she was straddling his groin. “Take off your vest,” he ordered, sucking on her earlobe. “I want to see your tits.”
Cate quickly pulled off her vest top.
“Hold on to the headboard,” Kian said and Cate obeyed, wrapping her fingers around the cushioned top.
He pressed the palms of his hands against her back, holding her in place.
“I want you to watch,” he said huskily.
He made sure her eyes were on him before dipping his head down to kiss the soft flesh at the top of her breast.
“Tell me you’re mine,” he said softly, as his tongue flicked her tight nipple.
“I’m yours,” Cate squirmed; her core was wet and throbbing.
He pressed his open mouth against the soft underside of her breast. Her skin tasted so good; he sucked hard, drawing the blood close to the surface.
“Mm,” he mused, looking down at the dark pink mark forming on her skin. There was something so beautiful about it.
As he kneaded one of her breasts with his hand, he peppered her other breast with kisses. Every kiss left a little pink mark behind.
“Tell me again.” He licked her nipple achingly slowly.
“Please,” Cate begged. She rubbed her core against his erection; he could feel her wetness even through her thin pyjama bottoms.
“Tell me,” Kian said hoarsely.
“I’m yours,” Cate cried. “I’m yours.”
Kian responded by pushing her breasts together roughly, leaving her hard, distended nipples exposed. He lashed her nipples with his tongue. “Ah,” Cate cried, squeezing her eyes tightly shut, as the pleasure/pain shot through her veins.
Cate let go of the headboard and slid a hand down his taut stomach to the waistband of his boxer shorts. Before he could stop her, her hand was inside his shorts and wrapped around his cock.
“Fuck, that feels good,” Kian groaned.
As Cate pumped his cock, Kian knew he was close. He needed to be inside her right now. He ripped the thin fabric of her pyjama bottoms to shreds, tossing them to the floor.
“Kian,” Cate looked shocked.
“I’ll buy you a new pair.” He gripped her panties and tore them away from her body, leaving her naked and exposed.
“Are you wet for me, angel?” Kian asked, holding her naked body against him as he lifted up his hips to remove his boxer shorts.
Cate shuddered, clenching tightly as he pressed a finger inside her. “Yes.”
Kian lifted her up, positioning her over the tip of his cock. “Hold on to the headboard,” he commanded.
“Ah,” Cate cried loudly, her eyes rolling back in her head, as he impaled her deeply on his cock. She felt impossibly full.
Kian circled her on his cock before lifting her up. The delicious dragging sensation as he pulled out nearly pushed Cate over the edge. She felt the cool air against her wet skin for a second and then he slammed her down again, the blunt head of his cock hitting her cervix.
Cate let go of the headboard, digging her fingernails into his skin. “Kian,” Cate screamed.
He buried his face between her breasts; with every jerk between her legs, her soft flesh bounced against him. He could feel her heartbeat thundering through her body. She clenched tightly around his cock and he felt the warmth spread out from his spine.
“Come for me,” he ordered.
“Kian,” she cried desperately. He felt her break apart as his cock jerked deep between her legs, filling her up.
Afterwards, he lay back against the headboard, holding Cate firmly against his chest. Her body was still trembling so he pulled the covers up over her naked back.
“Angel,” he asked softly, after a few minutes.
Cate looked up at him through those gorgeous long black eyelashes. “Mm?”
“I love you so fucking much,” he was about to say.
Suddenly, Cate caught sight of the clock. “Aah,” she yelped, jumping out of bed.
“What’s the matter?” Kian asked alarmed.
“It’s 8.15,” Cate replied, as if that explained everything. She went into the bathroom and turned on the shower.
“Hey,” Kian followed her. “What’s the rush? I don’t have to be at the ground until 11. Come back to bed.”
“I’ve got to go to work,” Cate said.
“You’re fucking kidding me,” Kian said angrily. “You’re not going back to work with that bastard.”
“It was just a kiss,” Cate said, backing up against the wall. “I shouldn’t have got so upset last night.”
“It’s never just a kiss,” Kian raged. He planted his hands on the wall at either side of her head, caging her in. “A kiss is the most intimate thing two people can do together.”
Cate submitted to his kiss easily, allowing his tongue to sweep through her mouth.
When he eventually pulled away, she was left breathless. “See?” Kian said, thinking he’d won.
“No,” Cate struggled to catch her breath. She pushed him back a few steps. “The intimacy of a kiss is not about technique, it’s not just lips on lips. It’s about the two people doing the kissing. When Nick kissed me last night, it didn’t mean anything because I don’t have any feelings for him.”
“Fine,” Kian snapped. “If you won’t quit for me, do it for our baby.”
He reached out to put a hand on her bump but Cate manoeuvred out of the way. “Our baby?”
“Yeah, you’re pushing yourself too hard. You’re putting the baby at risk.”
Cate saw red. “How dare you? I would never, ever, ever do anything that would put this baby at risk.”
“Then quit,” Kian challenged. “Every night you come home exhausted, your back and shoulders ache and your ankles are all swollen.”
“I know how I feel,” Cate snapped. “I’m the one carrying this baby, not you. I’ve already told Nick that I’ll stop working for him after Christmas. I can’t just leave him in the lurch; it’s the busiest time of the year.”
“Of course, you can leave him in the fucking lurch,” Kian shouted. “Your only concern should be looking after yourself and our baby.”
Cate turned her back to Kian and took some deep breaths.
“It’s me or him, Cate.” Kian said so quietly, Cate wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly at first.
“You’re giving me an ultimatum?” Cate asked.
“Yes,” Kian said seriously.
Cate felt unsteady, as if the ground was moving fast beneath her feet. Her knees buckled and she gripped on to the wall for support.
“Cate,” Kian put his hands on her shoulders.
“Don’t touch me,” she said bitterly. She could hardly breathe for the searing pain ripping through her chest.
Kian didn’t listen. He yanked her forcefully back against him, wrapping his arms tightly around her.
“You’re my wife,” Kian pleaded.
Cate fought hard to keep the tears from spilling down her cheeks. “That doesn’t mean I’m your property. I don’t belong to you.”
“Yes, you do,” Kian shouted. “You belong to me. Just like I belong to you.”
Cate broke free of his hold. “Let me go. I can’t breathe.”
She grabbed a towel from the rail and wrapped it around her naked body before sinking down to the steps at the side of the bath.
Everything Kian had said was true; she was exhausted, her back and shoulders did ache and her ankles were sore and swollen. The idea of getting back into that warm, comfy bed sounded so good. As if in agreement, the wind howled loudly outside the bathroom window, a reminder of what was waiting for her just outside the front door.
She didn’t want to see Nick again, not just because of the kiss. In the cold light of day, she knew she’d overreacted. It meant nothing; like she’d told Kian, it was just lips on lips. It was more what he’d said afterwards – that Kian had only married her because she got pregnant. What gave him the right to pass judgement on her marriage? Cate had thought they were friends but all the time, Nick had thought of her not as an equal but as a naïve, silly little girl. Of course, she had doubts about her marriage, bolstered by Kian’s refusal to say those three little words. Did Nick really think he could kiss her against her will and then explain it all away by calling her marriage a sham?
There were a thousand reasons why she should quit working at the Tavern. She’d only planned on working up to Christmas anyway, what did it matter if she quit a few days early? It wasn’t like they needed the money. In her head, she knew it was the right decision but there was something stopping her from saying it out loud. She just couldn’t concede this to Kian. It had to be her decision not because he’d given her an ultimatum. She couldn’t let him dominate her like this so early on in their marriage.
Kian stood by the vanity unit with his arms folded across his chest. “Who is it?” he asked coldly.
Cate was afraid of how much she hated Kian right now.
She felt torn. What if Kian was serious about this? Would he really leave her if she chose the Tavern? Could she put her marriage at risk for a job that she was only going to have for a few more days anyway? Even though he was being unreasonable, Kian was her husband and her baby’s father. She rubbed her hand over her bump. She wanted her baby to have a proper family, with a Mum and Dad who lived in the same house. Her own childhood had been happy enough but she’d always felt like a jigsaw puzzle missing a piece. She didn’t want that for her own child.
“It’s you,” Cate said softly, picking at the hem of the towel. “Of course, it’s you.”
Kian took a step towards her. “Leave me alone.”
She heard the bathroom door close behind him, leaving her alone in the vast black-marble bathroom.
She climbed into the bathtub and curled up on the floor. The porcelain was unforgiving on her aching back. The sweat on her skin had dried, leaving her shivery. Cate closed her eyes and listened to the winds howling outside the window. She let her tears pool on the floor of the tub. She felt so alone.
I hope Kian’s right, Cate thought; I hope you’re a little girl. There are too many men in this world.
“I know you hate me,” Kian said softly, a little while later. “But I can’t see you like this.”
He lifted her up out of the bathtub and carried her back to their bed. Cate was too tired to protest.
She had nowhere to be so she allowed Kian to lay her down on their bed. He’d changed the sheets while she’d been in the bathroom. He pulled the duvet up to her chin and tucked it around her.
Cate closed her eyes and pretended to sleep. She could still feel him deep between her legs.