CHAPTER 16
“You don’t have to do this. I can manage.” Ali wobbled as she got out of Keaton’s car.
He placed his arm around her for support. Support she needed thanks to her not-so-graceful tumble outside the restaurant. They were saying goodbye and she’d hugged him, turned, and tripped over her own feet, landing face-first on the sidewalk. On impact, she thought that her palm and knee had taken the brunt of the fall, but when she attempted to stand up she realized very quickly that she’d twisted her ankle on the way down.
She didn’t have her car since she’d walked to work that morning and had gone directly from work to Santino’s, so Keaton had insisted on driving her home.
As she hobbled up the path to the house and leaned into Keaton’s strength, she waited to feel something. Anything. A spark of attraction. A tingle of excitement. A shudder of arousal. But there was nothing.
His smile made her feel calm and his support made her feel nothing.
Not that she’d want to date Keaton even if that wasn’t the case. It would be complicated with KJ being his student. But, her body obviously didn’t discern between what was complicated or not. If it did, she’d feel the same way about Kade that she felt about Keaton.
“Thanks, again.” She balanced on one foot as she dug in her bag for her keys.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go and get that checked out?” Keaton asked for the dozenth time.
“I’m good. I’m going to ice it and it’ll be good as new.” She hoped.
She hadn’t heard a snap or pop when she fell, so she was fairly certain that she hadn’t broken it. But it was hurting like a sonofabitch.
As she jangled her purse hoping to hear her keys, the door opened. Kade stood before them looking like a modern-day warrior ready for battle. His hands were taped, and his sweats were hanging low on his waist. His T-shirt was damp, clinging to his skin.
“Hey.” She managed to croak past the tightness in her throat. “I was just lookin—”
“What happened?” he cut her off, his voice was low and menacing.
The intensity in both his stare and question felt like a physical blow. It knocked the wind out of her and her answer came in a breathy exhale. “I fell.”
Kade reached out and gently held her hand so he could see her palm. His touch was featherlight. As the roughened pads of his fingers brushed her sensitive skin tingles spread from head to toe. Her heart pounded wildly as she watched him study her scrapes and tenderly turn her wrist. A moment ago all she could think about was her throbbing ankle; now another part of her body was throbbing and demanding her attention.
“Okay, well. It looks like you’re in good hands.” Keaton slowly dropped his arm from her waist, giving her time to gain her balance.
“Thanks, again,” she said as she clutched Kade’s forearm. “For everything.”
“No problem. See you guys later.” He smiled and she saw the disappointment in his eyes as he left Kade and Ali on the porch.
She watched him leave and wished things were different. He was a good guy. He was smart, funny, attractive, successful, and in ridiculous shape. He was going to make some woman very happy one day. She just wasn’t that woman and today wasn’t that day.
Before she’d even turned around, she was being lifted off the ground as Kade swooped her up in his arms.
“What are you doing?” she gasped as her arms wrapped around his neck.
He didn’t answer her, just stalked into the house. He shut the door behind them and carried her into the kitchen. Her breaths were coming in shallow pants as she clung to his neck. Being in his arms, smelling the musky scent, feeling his heart pounding against her ribs, seized her with overwhelming stimulation. Every cell in Ali’s body came to life with awareness. She felt more alive than she had in a very long time.
Warning bells sounded in her head. A caution sign flashed. Danger: Falling Deeper In Love Ahead.
Without a word, he sat her on the counter and turned on the faucet. Even through the cotton of her dress, the tile counter top was cold beneath her thighs and a shiver ran through her. He tested the water before placing her hand beneath it.
This entire scene was playing out like one of her McKnight-in-Shining-Armor fantasies. In one he rescued her from drowning and gave her mouth to mouth on the shore which leads to them making love beneath a blanket of stars. In another he saves her from a burning building, risking his own life to bring her to safety where they make passionate love on a blanket of soft grass.
But those were different. One because she was in actual peril in them but also because those scenarios were safe. They’d been in her imagination. In reality, giving up control, letting him “rescue” her, was a lot scarier. This might just be him cleaning her up but emotionally she felt like she was relenting power. Power that she needed to survive so she could save herself when he wasn’t around.
Needing to take some control back, Ali snatched her hand away “I’m fine. Thanks.”
He didn’t react. Instead, he ripped off his hand wraps and reached above the fridge and grabbed the first aid kit and hydrogen peroxide. He made quick work of dousing her cuts before blowing on her sensitive skin. His breath was cool but it caused her entire body to burst into flames of hot lust.
Ali watched as he covered her injury with Neosporin and placed a large bandage over it with a gentle touch. Then, without asking permission he lifted the hem of her dress up and the material bunched on her bare thighs. She sucked in a startled breath feeling exposed as he bent and examined her knee and ankle.
He took the same care with her knee that he had with her palm. When the bandage was in place, he turned his attention to her ankle. When he reached to touch it she instinctively moved it away. Her hand and knee were one thing, those were flesh wounds. Her ankle was another.
His eyes lifted to meet hers.
“It hurts,” she explained.
A cocky grin tilted on his lips. “I told you, I’d never touch anything I don’t know I can fix.”
“Do cheesy lines like that actually work for you?” Sarcasm dripped from her and she hoped it concealed the fact that very intimate parts of her body were screaming that they needed to be fixed.
His smirk grew wider as he began examining her ankle. “I don’t need lines.”
She let out a small huff of false disgust to disguise her impulse to agree with him. His ego was big enough without her stroking it. Besides, if she were going to stroke anything, it wouldn’t be his ego. That thought had her palm tingling and it wasn’t from the antibiotic ointment. It was from the image of her holding his heavy shaft in her hand, squeezing her fingers around it and pumping him until he…
“It’s just a sprain.” His diagnosis brought her back to reality.
She cleared her throat. “Thanks, Dr. Kade.”
He filled the sink with water and ice before one of his large palms rested on her hip and he shifted her body so he could place her foot in it. Then he went to the fridge and grabbed her a can of soda and handed her two ibuprofen tablets. He cleaned up the Band-Aid wrappers and put the first-aid kit back together before returning it to its home above the fridge.
“Stay there,” he instructed gruffly before walking out of the room.
She did as he asked because hopping down might hurt and she wanted to see how this played out. Having Kade’s undivided attention was not a bad way to end the day and watching him play doctor was going to give her plenty of inspiration for new rescue fantasies.
He returned with an Ace bandage and after gingerly drying off her foot and calf with a dish towel, he wrapped her ankle. “You need to elevate it when you sleep and stay off of it as much as possible. Ice it a couple times a day and keep it wrapped.”
Ali saluted him, trying to tease him and relieve some of the sexual tension she was feeling. “Yes, sir.”
It backfired. His emerald stare darkened, increasing the tension. “Damn, I had no idea a sprained ankle would make you agreeable.”
“You like a yes woman, huh?” She knew she was playing with fire, but she didn’t care. At this point she was burning up anyway.
“I like you,” he said with a serious tone that caused her chest to expand and her breath to catch.
Kade was standing in front of her, his hands resting on either side of her thighs as he stared into her eyes. No part of him was touching any part of her but she felt trapped. The walls of arousal were closing in on her causing her to feel the now familiar claustrophobia.
“Well, I think I’m good now. Thanks.” She carefully placed her hands on the edge of the counter to hop down but when she lifted her hips a searing pain shot through her left palm. Her butt landed back on the tile counter as she hissed through her teeth.
Kade lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed her Band-Aid. She wasn’t even certain that she actually felt it through the bandage, or if seeing it tricked her mind into thinking she did. But whatever the case, she felt it. Everywhere.
She sucked in a shaky breath as he moved his mouth so that he kissed the outline of her Band-Aid. His lips brushed against the sensitive skin of her wrist and she trembled under his attention.
“Better?” he asked when he’d covered the entire area.
Unable to speak, Ali nodded. She didn’t know why she was going down this road with him. She just knew that she was, and there was no getting off the path now that she’d started.
The energy between them was crackling with electricity Ali was sure had to be visible to the naked eye. Kade stood in front of her staring at her with a look of tenderness, possession, and desire. He wanted her. She was sure of it. She’d never been more sure of anything in her life.
“Is there anywhere else that you need me to kiss and make better?” He asked in a low, raspy voice.
The challenge in his tone was evident.
The absolute sureness in his voice, even when asking a question, sent a tremor running through her. Maybe “tremor” wasn’t the right word to describe it. Earthquake. Yeah. This was The Big One.
He lowered her hand and lifted his arms, softly brushing her hair back off of her shoulders, causing goosebumps to rise all over her exposed skin. He stepped between her knees, parting them as he did. He was standing so close to her now that she could feel the heat radiating from his chest. She could feel his breath fan her shoulder as he asked, “Does it hurt here?”
Her heart was pounding so hard that she could hear the blood rushing to her head. She nodded once and felt his lips touch her bare skin. He then gently planted kisses on her neck and along the ridge of her shoulder. When she felt his teeth nip at the area just below her ear, her inner muscles clenched.
He moved his hand lower, grazing her collarbone. “What about here? Does this hurt?”
“Yes,” she whispered. Her voice was strangled now, her throat constricted by lust.
His lips moved lower down the exposed skin of her décolletage. He continued his journey along the neckline of her dress, allowing his mouth to travel over her nipples. The cotton barrier that covered them created friction as it rubbed against her hardened nubs.
As he continued his sensual journey, she felt like a stick of butter left out in the sun, melting into a glistening pool under the heat of his touch.
Using the last of the strength left in her limbs, she lifted her hands to his shoulders as he moved in to press his body up against hers.
He leaned toward her. His mouth hovered so near hers that she could feel the heat from his lips even though they weren’t quite touching.
“Does this hurt?” he whispered, his eyes drowsy and half-lidded.
She tilted her chin upward, pressing her lips to his. “Yes,” she moaned against his mouth, surrendering herself completely. When he captured her in a kiss that blew all of her fantasies out of the water, she dissolved into him. His tongue swept between her parted lips, claiming her with urgency. He navigated the recesses of her mouth with demanding mastery.
One hand wrapped around the back of her neck as the other fell to her hip. He flexed his fingers on both, tilting her neck to give him better access and pulling her hips to meet his. The material of her dress stayed in place as her thighs spread farther and her sex collided with his rock-hard erection. She rolled her hips into him and felt him throb through her damp panties.
He groaned into her mouth as they rocked against each other. They were like two puzzle pieces snapping neatly into place. She’d never experienced such an overwhelming sense of rightness before, and now she couldn’t bear the thought of losing it.
In that moment, every negative emotion she felt about Kade was washed away. That wasn’t to say those feelings wouldn’t reemerge at some point when she was thinking a little more clearly, but for the moment, they were washed away by tides of lust and arousal.
She was feeling overwhelmed, to say the least. But not the same kind of overwhelmed she’d been feeling for the last year. No, this was not the kind that made her desperate to get grounded again. It was the kind that asked her to surrender to it completely.
He kissed her with a passion, a fierceness, a barely-restrained control that made her feel protected and cherished. With Kade’s arms around her and his mouth on hers, she felt a kind of safety that she hadn’t even dared to dream might be available to her.
He was what she had craved in those dark, lonely hours of the night: a partner. Someone to stand beside her and shoulder the burden of life alongside her; someone to talk to when she wasn’t sure that she was making the right decisions, or when she was one hundred percent sure that she wasn’t.
The only dangerous part was that him being beside her to lean on was a feeling. Not a reality. And she had to remember that.
But, with his soft lips touching her, it was so. Damn. Hard.
She made a decision. Whatever disappointments lay in the future when Kade inevitably bounced, whatever isolation she would have to readjust to…those things were going to be hard as hell regardless. Doing everything in her power to keep her walls up now wouldn’t save her eventual pain. It just wouldn’t.
All it would do was rob her of fully enjoying what was shaping up to be the single most intoxicating sexual encounter she’d ever experienced. She wouldn’t have that.
So, yeah. She’d surrender herself to every good feeling that came her way for as long as this encounter lasted. She’d let it flow through her, enjoy it to the fullest. Then, when the clothes came back on, so would her self-protective armor.
That’s a good plan. Foolproof. Right?