I sucked in my stomach and nodded. My nerves fluttered to the surface and I worried about what he’d think. I’d had a baby since the last time he’d seen me naked.
Cash caught the bottom of my shirt and slowly pulled it up, his eyes devouring every inch of me he exposed. When it was finally off, he took his time looking at me. His hands gripped my sides and pulled me closer.
I caught myself on the back of the couch and moaned when the position put his mouth at my breast and he took advantage of it. His tongue swirled over my nipple and then his beard brushed over it.
“Perfect. You taste sweet. Reminds me of those cupcakes you used to make.”
“They were from a discount box.”
He leaned back and met my eyes. “You spent your money to make me cupcakes.”
Heat washed over me and I felt more exposed than I actually was. “Don’t make a big deal about it.”
He shook his head and pressed his mouth to my forearm that was still caging his head. “Later. Right now, I have to tell you about how much I like your sides.”
And he did. He went from body part to body part, telling me everything he liked about it. Never pushing too far, he touched me with his mouth and hands lightly, keeping me on the edge of insanity. When he got to my core, his eyes burned. His erection was hot and hard under my ass, but he ignored it.
“I want to worship here, C. I want to lick and suck you until you come on my tongue. I want to taste you. Then I want to slide into you and make you come again. I want to feel your muscles clench around me and I want to keep going until you’re crying out my name.” He met my eyes as his fingers unbuttoned my shorts. “Okay?”
I was mush. I thought I was nodding, but I wasn’t sure. “Now, Cash. I need you now.”
He pushed my zipper down and then placed me on my feet in front of him. Painfully slow, he pulled my shorts down and brushed his knuckles over my wet lips. “I wasted an opportunity back then. I’m not rushing this.”
I gripped his hair. “No, Cash. Rush. Please, rush!”
He grinned and picked me up. “I don’t think you’re ready yet.”
I held on as he carried me into the bedroom and dropped me on the bed. I crawled up until I was in the middle and crossed my legs to hide my body from him.
He stopped moving with his hands at the bottom of his shirt. “No. Show me. You just listened to me tell you how much I want every single part of you. Don’t hide from me.”
“Cash…”
“I can move slower, Clara.”
I felt like screaming. I needed release. Instead, I opened my legs and watched him watch me. I ran my hand over my chest and down my stomach, forcing myself to only think about the way he looked at me. He wanted me. It was more than clear on his face. Even without the odes he devoted to my body, I would’ve known.
When I touched my fingers to my lower lips, we both moaned at the same time.
Cash’s eyes were an inferno as he watched. He ripped his shirt over his head and moved closer. “Show me what feels best.”
As I moved my fingers, he pushed his pants and boxers down, revealing a body that had grown even better with age. He was big, everywhere. He was also strong and covered in evidence of his strength, yet I was making him weak.
He knelt on the floor in front of me and licked his lips. “I said something about worshipping you, didn’t I?”
I laughed as he grabbed my ankles and yanked me down the bed. “Cash!”
He pulled me until my legs hooked over his shoulders and then he buried his face between my thighs and worshipped like he said he would. He used his tongue, teeth, lips, everything before adding his fingers, too. He slowly readied my body for him, stretching me and making sure I was wetter than I’d ever been before.
I would almost come undone and then he’d back away, leaving me frustrated and on the edge time after time. Until finally, I tangled my fingers in his hair and lifted my hips when he pulled back. He looked up at me and our eyes met as he took my clit into his mouth and sucked.
It pushed me over the edge and I came with a scream.
Cash lifted himself and grinned up at me. “Fuck, C. You taste even sweeter when you come.”
With my hand still in his hair, I pulled him up my body until he was lined up with me. He leaned over the side of the bed and grabbed a condom. When he was sheathed and lined up with my body, he supported himself with one arm beside my head on the bed. With his other hand, he reached between us and rubbed me as he slowly pushed in.
I was lost to the feelings instantly. My body squeezed around him, aftershocks of my previous orgasm running through me.
Cash kissed me as he pushed the rest of the way in, filling me as much as I’d ever been filled. He slid his tongue against mine, stroked me, and heightened the feelings even more. His groan vibrated through the kiss as my muscles clenched his cock.
I thought it couldn’t get better until he moved. He stroked me as he pulled out and then slid back in, my fluids making it smooth. He kissed me, all the while stroking into me with slow and easy strokes.
I wrapped my arms around him and lifted my hips to meet his movements, eager for more. When he kissed down my throat and nipped, I called out his name. “More, Cash. I want more.”
He growled against my skin and thrust harder. “You feel like fucking heaven, Clara.”
I felt my body tightening and dug my nails into his back. “I’m close.”
He suddenly rolled us over and looked up at me with a wicked grin. “Ride me.”
I was too far gone to feel anything but turned on. I rocked my hips back and forth, grinding into him, forcing moans from both of us.
Cash grabbed my hips and lifted me so he could thrust up, into me. His hips pulsed in and out of me, fast and hard, shaking my body. His eyes drank in everything and then settled on mine. “Come for me.”
Like lightning striking, I felt his words from my head to my toes. My body squeezed and stretched taught until it shattered when he brushed against my clit. Pleasure coursed through me and I braced myself on Cash’s chest as I came apart, crying his name over and over again.
Cash held me to his chest and swore my name as he came with me. His hips slowed and then stopped as we both shook from the force of our orgasms.
Panting and sweaty, I lifted my head from his chest after a few seconds and looked at him. His eyes were closed and he was biting his lip. I pressed a kiss to his chin and sighed. “Five stars.”
He opened one eye and looked down at me. “I’ll have to try harder next time. I was looking for ten.”
“I don’t think I could handle ten.”
He grabbed my hips and rolled us over again. Smiling down at me, he flexed his hips and laughed when my eyes rolled back. “You can handle ten. I’ll show you.”
Turns out, I can handle ten.
*
I was going to the bathroom in the middle of the night when the idea came to me. It wasn’t a good idea and it wasn’t a smart idea, but it was one I couldn’t get out of my head after it occurred. I had to end the whole thing for Cash and Helena.
The idea of Cash confronting Antonio scared me. I didn’t know if he wanted me more than just for the one night, but it’d been too easy to erect those old feelings for him again. Hearing him tell me he cared about me and feeling his arms around me, it meant more than he knew. I felt an easiness that I didn’t know I could feel. I was comfortable without pouring guilt and blame over our heads.
I didn’t want to hand Cash over to Antonio. The bad feeling in the pit of my stomach about it was still there and I didn’t want it to come true.
So instead of crawling back into bed with Cash, I pulled on my clothes and grabbed Cash’s keys and phone from the living room. Sneaking out, I felt loneliness creep in the farther I got from Cash’s arms. I knew there was a real chance that I wasn’t making it back, but it was something I’d been willing to take for Helena all along. I was just finding out that I was willing to take it for Cash, too. We were a family, despite years of sins and anger, despite not ever knowing it to begin with.
As soon as I started the truck, I put it in gear and hauled ass out of there. I knew Cash would be awake as soon as the motor even started to turn. He’d be chasing me down, furious, and probably thinking that I’d tricked him. I hated for him to think that what we’d shared wasn’t real, because it was. I just had to handle Antonio myself. Even if he wasn’t entirely my fault.
As soon as I was on the interstate, moving away from Cash, I dialed Antonio’s number and held my breath as it rang.
“To what do I owe this pleasure?” Antonio’s voice was gruffer, darker than I remembered. He hadn’t just been woken up. He was alert and angry.
“Antonio, it’s me.” I added a helpless edge to my voice, hoping it could still sway him.
“Clara. Where are you?” The hard edge disappeared.
“I got away. I stole his truck and his phone while he was sleeping. I…I don’t know where to go.”
“Come home, baby.”
I laughed like I was close to breaking down. “Someone shot at me, Antonio! Cash said it was you! You shot at me. He kidnapped me. Why would you do that?”
“Things are more complicated than that. There’s a lot of pressure on me right now. That asshole Cash is fucking with the business. He’s had his minions taking down business partners of mine. I thought…I thought you were with him.”
I acted shocked. “Antonio! He took me from our home. He tied me up and left me in a pitch-black warehouse overnight. He hurt me. I wanted to try to come home earlier, but he told me he knew where Helena was. I saw her, Antonio. I saw her. She’s happy. I told you that’s all I wanted to know. I wanted to know if she was happy and then I’d be happy to leave it alone. I know now. I want to come back. I want to be safe again.”
“Oh, baby. Where are you?”
I told him a general idea of where I was and then started crying. “I’m scared, Antonio. What if he finds me?”
“Stay in the truck. Keep driving. Do you remember that place we went to on the outer edge of town? The old drive-in? Meet me there.”
“Why can’t I come home?”
“Because, baby. The guys are amped up. It wouldn’t be safe for you. I don’t trust anyone right now and I don’t want to chance it.”
“You’re not going to hurt me, are you?” The fear that shook my voice wasn’t fake.
“No, baby. Come on. Hurry to me.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
I hung up the phone and sped up. I wanted it over with as soon as possible. I checked the seats and console for a gun while I drove, hoping there would be something I could protect myself with, but it turned out I was out of luck. I was facing him unarmed. I just hoped he wasn’t as full of shit as I was during the call.