Chapter Thirty-Two
Present Day
Frost covered the grass. Still in the beginning days of November, Cayden could tell there would be an early winter. While the farmhands walked the horses in the paddock, she gave them a wave. She wanted to get on the path before it snowed. She caught Levi and Fernando huddled near the office.
When she reached out for him, he instantly stiffened at her touch. “It’s just me.” He’d been grumpy since he found out that the girls who went missing came from low-income families, and she didn’t talk about the case much.
“It looks like that guy tried to break into the barn again.” Levi turned the tablet they studied toward her. The locks had been changed on all of the doors and new cameras were installed. They couldn’t make out any distinct features. The intruder, who was covered from head-to-toe in camo gear, ventured close to the barn door but retreated even faster.
“Maybe he heard something,” Fernando offered. “Dickie’s been patrolling the area more frequently.”
“Perhaps,” Levi replied, not sounding very convinced.
“What’s that?” She pointed to a spot farther back where light shone over the barn door.
Levi hit pause. “Not sure … a shadow of something, a branch?” The object seemed too far away and faint to really tell.
“Want me to call the sheriff?”
“No! I’ll take care of it,” he told his manager. “Thanks.”
Fernando nodded his head and left them in the barn.
Levi hadn’t mentioned his hunting trip again. Whatever went down between him and his friends had to be pretty major. Cayden wondered why he didn’t want to call Shawn.
“There’s something the police missed and I think it might still be on the trail.”
“I’m swamped right now, we’ll go later,” he said. It suddenly dawned on Cayden that Levi would never take her.
“Fine, give me one of the farmhands and—”
He put his face in front of hers, closing in the space between them. “I said no.”
“I’m not asking permission like a kid,” she hissed, tired of walking on eggshells around him.
“Then stop acting like one,” he volleyed back with hot anger in his eyes.
“Hey, boss, we have the manager meeting. Do you want me to wait?” Fernando asked.
Without taking his eyes off her, he stood up straight, which automatically put her at a height disadvantage.
“The ground is frozen, and there’s no way you’ll find what you’re looking for after thirteen years.” Shoving his hand through his hair, he took a deep breath. “Do me a favor and wait.”
Levi just recently got his PTSD under control. Shana’s murder site could possibly push his meter closer toward the red zone. “Look, I—”
Swooping in fast, he captured her lips between his, slowly softening his harsh stance. “I’ll be back around three. Wait, okay?” he said again, with a little more tenderness.
****
August 18, 2005—A Birthday Gift
Levi quickly hid her presents under the bench, out of sight. After they found Shana’s body, Cayden’s grandfather forced her to leave Chesterfield. Levi didn’t even get a chance to say good-bye.
“Nice haircut, townie!” Cayden shouted from the dock. It had been two months since he had last seen her. Levi jumped down from his parents’ new pontoon boat and scooped her off of her feet. Beyond happy to see her, he gave crazy pecks to her face and neck.
Prettier than ever, Cayden twisted her hair in long braids that fell down the back of her summer dress. As he placed her back down on her feet, they laughed.
A whole year had passed since Cayden’s grandfather took her away from Goosebay Lake. Determined not to go crazy over the summer without her, he went to basic training early. During that time, they called and wrote every chance they got, but couldn’t coordinator their schedules. Once he got his deployment assignment, he managed to finagle a couple of days off for her birthday.
“Come on”—he helped her up on to the boat—“we don’t want to get caught stealing this thing.” His parents were out of town at a hotel convention. They had no idea he made it back home that weekend. If they found out, they would be sure to kill him a couple of times over.
“This is nice. I can’t believe Trent sprung for it,” she said while she trailed her hand along the shiny rail. Notoriously cheap, his father never shelled out the bucks for anything good.
Starting the engine, he pulled out of the dock.
Cayden took a late plane from her college in New York and they didn’t have that much time before the sun went down. Guiding them a good twenty minutes from the resort, he dropped anchor.
“Wine or—”
She grabbed him by his t-shirt and pulled him to her lips. The sweet smell of peach and vanilla filled his nose while he devoured her soft mouth.
As he slipped her strap off her shoulder, revealing the perfect, natural Playboy magazine tits, he sucked in a breath.
“Levi—”
Unable to wait for her to finish, he bent his head to flick her nipple with his tongue. He gave her a little peck before he sucked her beautiful brown tit into his mouth.
“I wanted to tell you…” She moaned.
Thinking about nothing but this moment for over a year, he pulled her down on the deck of the boat and fumbled with his jeans.
Cayden got him through homesickness, training camp, and a host of other things. Once he inched her underwear off and awkwardly positioned himself on top of her, he wished he had listened.
****
The sun slipped away and left them with a strange purple hue—a war between the remains of the day lost to the fresh emergence of night. The girl of his dreams sat on the other side of the deck far away from him.
“Do you trust me?”
She swiped a fresh tear off her cheek and gave him a small smile. While her long hair covered her left breast, the strap to her dress fell off her shoulders. If he didn’t intend on spending the rest of his life with her, he would have been able to swallow the nervous lump that stuck in his throat.
“Come here.” He held out his hand. After a moment of hesitation, she made her way to his side of the deck. He positioned her comfortably between his legs, with her back to his chest, and moved her thick mane of hair away from her neck.
“It’s not always that bad.”
She gave him a soft chuckle, and he kissed her soft skin.
“Trust me, it’s a compliment to you how bad I sucked just now.” In less than five minutes, he’d made a mess of everything he worked so hard for. “In no way do I want you to think this is how it goes.” He made a circle around her exposed breast with his finger, forcing her nipple to harden. “I was just so excited to see you, but it wasn’t great because—”
“You were my first,” she murmured.
“I know, which probably made my performance anxiety ten times worse.” Slipping his hand lower, he nipped the lobe of her ear and went underneath her dress. When he touched her clit, she sucked in a breath. “So let me make it up.”
“How?”
“First, I want to tell you how beautiful you look.”
“Wow.” She huffed out of breath. “That was the first real compliment you’ve ever given me.” Parting her legs a little wider, she granted him access to her pussy.
“That wasn’t a compliment, I’m just stating facts,” he whispered, before he stroked her clit between his two fingers. She pushed back against him.
“Everyone tells you how great you are.” Levi increased the speed of his fingers. “So smart…”
She moaned. He tapped her nub then made small circles.
“Do you really need one more lackey kissing your rich, pretty ass?”
He sucked her neck and increased his speed. Cayden thrusted back against him. Blood rushed to his cock as the pulsing of her pussy squeezed his finger.
Turned on by the force of her orgasm, Levi knew he had to control himself. Cayden bucked against his touch. Grabbing her breast with his free hand, he continued to suck on her neck. Little moans turned to squeals of surprise. She let out one long shuddering breath before she relaxed against his body.
Rock-hard, he fought against the urge to slip into her again. “Better?” he asked. She lifted her head and kissed his chin. Levi took it as a good sign for the rest of their weekend together.