CHAPTER 27
They passed the remainder of the day slowly, Kate curled up next to him in one of his sweatshirts, alternately writing in her notebook and perusing the paper he’d grabbed earlier. Cash was content to stay there, letting his mind wander and cat-napping on occasion. Neither of them wanted to address the elephant in the room. He’d put it off as long as possible, because why would he voluntarily rip his still-beating heart from his chest?
As the late afternoon light faded and the living room grew dim, he couldn’t torture himself any longer. “When are you leaving?” he asked gruffly.
Kate raised her head, giving him an unfathomable look. Her mouth drew down in a motion that arrowed straight to his soul. She bit on her top lip as her eyes filled with deep sadness. “I thought about tomorrow morning,” she whispered, face bleak.
He couldn’t begin to describe the pain that shot through him as her words registered. Like he’d lost a limb. Or his best friend. So this is what it meant to be heartsick. He nodded, unable to speak for the lump squeezing his throat shut.
She cupped his face, eyes mournful pools. “Cash, I have to face this head-on. It’s time.”
The ache was so fierce, his stomach clenched. “I see.” He didn’t trust himself to say anything more.
Emotions flickered across her face, and when she spoke, there was a little catch in her voice. “What about you?”
“Once you’re safely on the plane, I’ll head back to the ranch.” Though the thought brought him no joy, no peace. He couldn’t imagine the ranch without her sunny, sweet presence. “It’s my home for the time being. I don’t do well on my own,” he added after a long moment.
It hurt to make that admission, even after everything they’d shared. But, baby steps. “And,” he looked around the room. “Being here without you would hurt too much.” It would hurt too, bitterly, at the ranch. But at least Travis and Sterling were there and would help him stay grounded. While he might resent it, they would ensure he didn’t hole up and disappear into his head. And someone would need to look after the horses with Kate gone.
He started to speak at the same time she answered with a sympathetic noise while pressing a kiss to his jawline. “Oh, Cash.” She pulled back, eyes flicking over him. “You, first.”
He spun a lock of her hair around his finger, then slowly unwound it and tucked it behind her ear, fingers brushing along her hairline. The need to memorize every inch of her directing his movements. “I want you to know I’m only a phone call away. I’ll come running the second you need. Always.” He pressed tender kisses along the path his fingers traced.
Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “I know. And I love you for it.”
“I feel like my heart is ripping out.” Pain stabbed through him, punctuating his words.
“Me too.” Her fingers traced a path along his jawline, as if she was memorizing him, too.
“I don’t want you to go,” he whispered.
“I can’t run anymore,” she whispered back. “And you wouldn’t want me if I did. You know that. We both have to stand on our own two feet so we can stand together.”
She was right, and he hated it. Because what if she decided this was just a fling? That he had been nothing more than a pleasant distraction while she pieced her life back together? The searing realization that she could break him, tore through him. Pushing down the fear, he cupped her face, covering her in kisses.
She shifted, angling her body toward his, and opened to him, her tongue tentatively tasting his lower lip.
“Yes,” he groaned quietly, opening to her request. She tasted like heaven. Honey and spring days, and endless sunshine. He stroked his hands down her back, needing to touch her, needing to memorize every curve, every hollow. Slipping his hands under the hem of the sweatshirt, he skated his fingers over her satiny skin, pleased to discover she wore no bra.
Kate shifted to her side, inviting him to slide his hand forward. He brushed the swell of her breast, aching at the softness of her skin, the way it tightened under him. He took her fullness in hand, memorizing the weight against his palm, the way her nipple puckered, ready for his touch. He grazed the tight peak, feeling the pulse at her neck spike under his lips. “So beautiful,” he murmured.
“Take off your shirt,” she muttered, hand fluttering across his chest.
Sitting up, he grabbed a fleece blanket from a basket next to the armrest and stood, laying it out on the floor by the windows. Then he pulled off his shirt and turned to face her, smiling in surprise at what waited for him.
Kate perched in the center of the couch, sweatshirt clutched in her hands, creamy, perfect globes punctuated with rosy buds begging for his mouth. She dropped his sweatshirt as she stood, and holding his gaze, pushed down her leggings, straightening to stand before him in nothing but a barely-there pair of see-through panties he couldn’t wait to rip off. His mouth went dry at the beauty of her.
Her eyes lit hungrily as she closed the distance between them and slipped her fingers inside his waistband, eagerly working at the button and then the zipper. His denims slipped off with a whoosh, and he stepped out of the legs, kicking them away. “I want to know every inch of you,” he murmured huskily, overcome by her beauty and her lack of pretense.
“Know me.”
“I want to taste every inch of you.”
“Taste me.”
His cock turned to steel at her comment. He would taste her and so much more.
She placed a hand on his chest. “I’m yours.” Her hand slid lower and came to rest on the bulge in his shorts, stroking him through the cotton. “And you’re mine, Cash.” She gave a gentle squeeze as she caressed his length, pulling a groan from him.
He threaded his fingers through her hair, cupping her neck and drawing her in for a kiss, open-mouthed and possessive. She was his, and he would spend all night showing her in every way he could imagine. Her sweetness threatened to drown him, the way her tongue danced against his, thrusting and teasing. He licked at her, dimly aware of her hands squeezing his biceps. Twisting his fingers through her hair, he tugged, tilting her chin back to expose the pale column of her neck. His cock jerked at the beauty of her, eyes glazed, lips swollen from his kisses. He bent and started at her ear, suckling her skin, tasting her perfume and the faint saltiness of her. At the hollow of her throat, he licked and sucked until she cried out, bowing toward him, pressing her breasts against his chest.
Holding her, he lowered them both to the blanket, inviting her to stretch out beneath him. Bracing on his forearm, he lay on his side, running a palm down her length. Her hip curved perfectly into his palm. With his tongue, he traced a path from the hollow at her throat down between her breasts, bathing the swell until she arched, offering her rigid peaks for his mouth. He took her nipple deep into his mouth, running his tongue over and around as he sucked. Hard. Then gently scraped his teeth against the most sensitive part. Her hand came to his head, pressing his mouth closer. Not wanting to neglect the other, he gently rolled the peak between thumb and forefinger, giving a little tug. Her breath drew in sharply. “More?” he asked into her flushed skin.
“Yes,” she hissed.
He switched sides, repeating the same pattern until she clutched at his head, body trembling.
“I want you so much,” she whispered, head tossing side to side.
“I’m right here,” he answered, kissing his way lower. “You have me.” He kissed the softness of her belly below her navel, slowly bringing his tongue closer to the edge of those pretty lace panties. He licked over the lace, giving the hem a little bite. Then he moved lower, pressing an open kiss into her mound, and smiling as she arched her hips up, asking for more. With pleasure, he complied, wetting the lace with his tongue, as her hips rocked rhythmically. The scent of her desire perfumed the air as he caught the barest taste of her through the fabric.
He glanced up and met her eyes, dark and hooded. His baby liked to watch? Fuck, that was hot. His cock was so hard it ached, straining against his shorts. He hooked a finger through her panties at the hip and pulled roughly, the tear acting like a spark on a powder keg. “Up on your elbows if you like to watch, babe,” he uttered. “Don’t be shy.” He pushed away the fabric to feast on the vision before him, golden curls partially obscuring her pussy, swollen and slick with her arousal.
He pressed a kiss to her inner thigh, nipping just hard enough to leave a little mark. Then raising his eyes and capturing her gaze, he leaned in and slowly swiped his tongue up her wet seam. Her taste flowed over his tongue, sweet and sharp, and better than any drug.
Her mouth dropped open and her eyes glassed over.
“Like that, darlin’?”
She nodded with a curve of her mouth. “Again.”
Anything for her. He licked again, this time diving deeper, lapping up her honey then drawing his tongue to her clit, gently suckling the bud. He feasted on her taste as she continued to hold him captive with a molten stare. He reached for her hand, twining her fingers with his.
She gripped him fiercely as she cried out, body shaking with her release, but still looking right at him. Yearning arced through him, squeezing his chest tight. No matter what happened between them, he would always remember her like this. Fierce and undone, hair tousled and eyes hot with lust. He continued to lap at her folds as she rode the waves crashing through her, coming to his elbows only when they slowed. He hovered above her, breathing ragged. “Taste yourself. Taste how beautiful you are.” He lowered his head, and she met him, curling an arm around his neck to pull him closer, and taking his tongue into her mouth. It didn’t matter how deeply they kissed, it wasn’t enough to ease the profound ache pressing against his chest.
They broke apart. “I want you inside me, Cash,” she panted, diving inside his shorts to take him in hand. She squeezed and stroked until his vision fuzzed. Taking a steadying breath, he yanked down his shorts with her help.
“I will never stop loving you, Kate.” He braced himself above her, holding his cock right at her slick entrance. “Even if tonight is the last night we have together. I want you to remember it like this forever. Remember what we have, and that wherever you go in the world, I will never stop loving you.” He punctuated each last word with a thrust of his hips, pushing slowly inside her until he was fully encased in her heat.
She let out a shaky sigh. “Oh yes, Cash. Just like this,” she cried out as he slowly pumped into her, determined to make their union last as long as possible. “You know how much I want you.”
The walls of her channel gripped him tightly. “Tell me,” he panted. “Tell me how much.”
“Always. No one but you, Cash,” her voice trailed off in a moan. “No one makes me feel like you do.”
Electricity burned a trail up the back of his legs, drawing his balls tight as she took him higher and higher. How could it feel this good when his heart was breaking? How could she make him lose his mind when he stood at the edge of the abyss?
She undulated beneath him, and he slipped a hand between them, seeking her tight bundle of nerves. He brushed his thumb lightly across her swollen clit as he slowly moved within her, making sure each stroke filled her completely. Her legs gripped his hips more tightly, and she arched her back and came with a cry, tears leaking from her eyes.
It nearly broke him, seeing ecstasy and heartbreak battle for supremacy on her face, and tears pricked his eyelids as he followed her over the edge into oblivion.