Framed (21 page)

Kade hissed out, “Fuck,” and his head fell back when I took him into my mouth and began a slow, torturous rhythm. I kept my eyes open and trained on his face so I could watch him hand his body over to me. I felt powerful as his erection grew larger in my hands, his own clinching into fists, trying to hold back. It felt utterly erotic the way I controlled his body. My own responding to the grunts of pleasure coming from deep within his throat. I moaned as my core swelled, throbbed in anticipation of what it would feel like to have his cock stroking my sensitive walls.

I knew I’d accomplished what I set out to do when I was no longer on my knees, but pinned against the wall, my legs wrapped around his hips as he surged forward, hot and hard, impaling his cock deep within my body.

“Fuckin’ drenched,” Kade hissed in my ear. “You feel that?” he asked as he pulled back and then thrust again hard and deep. “This body belongs to me now. Me and no one else.”

My back arched as he stretched my swollen depth, his thickly veined cock hitting nerves I didn’t know I had.

“My pussy,” Kade grunted, looking down at our connection. I wanted to feel his strength as he surged in, so I curled my fingers around his cock and squeezed. “Jesus,” Kade groaned as I squeezed tighter.

His pounding increased and I felt the rising coil that would send me crashing, swirling into that perfect, seemingly endless sphere of pleasure.

I let go completely when the white-hot burn of my orgasm erupted, sending me tumbling into the abyss. My walls spasmed around his cock and I threw my head back and cried out. That sent Kade over the edge. He thrust deeply twice more as I clamped down around him, then held and buried his face in my neck on a deep, guttural moan.

I was limp, unable to hold my head up as we both tried to catch our breath. I began to lower my legs, needing to slump to the floor from sheer exhaustion, but Kade grabbed them and held them in place. Then he turned, walked across the room, and fell on my bed.

Wrapping his body around mine, he took a deep and soul-cleansing breath as I ran my hands through his hair. It took me several moments to catch my own breath and scattered thoughts. Kade wasn’t lying when he said he’d take me hard and fast the first time. My whole body hummed, my muscles worn out.

We lay there speechless for a while, trying to slow our beating hearts. Kade ran his tongue between the valley of my breasts, but never said a word. He just snuggled his head in-between them. He made a satisfied noise low in his throat, almost like a manly purr, as I continued to run my hand through his hair. Moments later, I felt his grip relax on my waist.

“That was amazing,” I finally whispered. When I didn’t get a response, I looked down at his face and saw it had gone slack with sleep. He looked happy, content, almost like a boy as he lay there sleeping.

It struck me as I watched him sleep, that wrapped around my body, his head nestled between my breasts, Kade had finally found peace.

Some women would have been insulted, but I smiled. I’d given this damaged yet beautiful man a reason to fall blissfully asleep and forget about his demons for an afternoon. If it took me the rest of my life, I would make sure any lasting memories were wiped clean from his mind. From here on out, I’d only fill them with passion and love.

***

Waves crashed over rocks on the jetty, sending white foam into the air. Kade watched as a small blue sailboat danced back and forth across the water as he sipped a cold beer. Turning his head to the right, he could make out two figures on the beach walking towards him. Something was familiar about one, so he automatically headed in their direction. The closer he got, the more defined the figures became.

He stopped when he recognized one and his breath caught at her beauty. Harley. His gaze moved to the second figure and he saw a tiny version of the woman he’d wanted half his life. Something about the child seemed familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

He waited for Harley and the little girl to make their way to him. He locked eyes with Harley as she walked up and her brilliant smile filled him with the love he’d searched for his entire life.

“We’ve been waiting for you,” Harley giggled. “It took you long enough.”

“Waiting for what?”

“For you to find us. You’ve been walking in circles.”

“I have?”

“Mmhmm. For fifteen years.”

Kade smiled, then looked down at the little girl and wondered who she was. She had the same color hair as Harley, but her eyes weren’t chocolate-brown like hers. They were a darker brown, like his own coffee-colored eyes.

“You don’t know me yet,” she whispered with a smile.

“No, I don’t. I’m Kade,” he said, putting out his hand.

The little girl pushed it away, then walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his middle. He instinctively picked her up, as if he’d done it all her life.

When she buried her tiny face in his neck and ran her little hand across his stubbled chin, the smell of vanilla wrapped its warm arms around his senses. Warmth blossomed in his chest as he held her tighter, then the beautiful child whispered on a giggle, “Silly Daddy. I already know your name.”

Kade heard pounding and was confused.
Since when do the guard's pound on a cell door like they are asking permission to enter?

Still caught between his dream and reality, he could swear he smelt vanilla. He moved his head a fraction of an inch and felt warm, soft skin beneath his cheek. Then the pounding started again, along with the sound of a worried voice shouting Harley’s name.

What the fuck?

Kade opened his eyes, saw a messy apartment and Buck staring back at him from the foot of the bed, as well. He jerked up, confused, just as a quiet, husky voice, whispered, “Oh, God, it’s my dad.”

Kade turned his head, blinked rapidly at the sexy vision in front of him, then the last eight hours came crashing back in and he smiled. Leaning down, he captured her lips for a soft, slow kiss before he got up and grabbed his jeans.

“Coming,” he called out as the pounding became louder.

“Who the hell is in there with you, Harley?” he heard her father shout.

“Don’t open the door, I don’t have clothes on,” Harley gasped, struggling to find her clothes. Kade paused while buttoning his jeans when Harley bent over to tag her underwear and became instantly aroused. Hard and fast had taken the edge off his need, but it would take about a week alone with her to get rid of all his pent-up hormones.

“Harley, open the damn door,” her father shouted again.

“Coming,” Kade shouted, then chuckled when Harley mumbled, “Shit, he can’t see me like this,” as she ran into her bathroom slamming the door.

Moving to the door, Kade grabbed the doorknob, unlocked the deadbolt, and ripped it open, leaning against the frame. Her father blinked twice, and then took a step back as he scanned Kade from head to foot.

“Saint’s alive, you’re free,” Harry shouted when it finally registered.

Harley came rushing out of the bathroom just as her father put out his hand to shake Kade’s.

“How did this happen?” Harry asked.

Kade turned to Harley and watched her face pale before sheepishly muttering, “Um.”

Harry looked back and forth between Kade and her before it dawned on him, how Kade had been freed. His mouth pulled into a frown and his color went from a soft tan to red with rage.

“You didn’t,” Harry clipped.

“I didn’t have a choice,” she defended.

“You could have been killed,” Harry shouted.

“Yeah, well,” was her only defense.

“You’re grounded,” he thundered, pointing his finger in her face.

Harley’s head jerked back and she glared at her dad. Then she looked at Kade and asked snottily, “You want to help me out here?”

Kade crossed his arms and shook his head slowly. “I like the idea of grounding you.”

“I’m thirty-one, you can’t ground me,” she snapped at both men.

When they both stared back at her as if she was the one in the wrong, she moved to the other side of the room and grabbed Buttercup from her bed.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Harry asked when she walked across the room and through the door. “I’m not done with you.”

“Well, I’m done. And just so you know, I’d do it again, no matter what either one of you thinks,” she defended. “Now, I’m gonna take Buttercup downstairs to relieve herself, and when I get back, all thoughts of punishing Harley had better be tabled.”

“Not in this lifetime,” her father mumbled.

Kade chuckled as he watched her storm down the steps, her sweet ass swaying as she went. He grinned further when he realized he’d get to watch her sweet ass swinging anytime she walked away from him from now on. He was a free man, one who could do whatever the hell he wanted.

“She’s got a stubborn streak,” her father stated with a sigh. “I’ll forewarn you now.”

“I figured that out already,” Kade replied.

“Yeah, well, good luck to you, son. You’ll need it if you’re thinkin’ about gettin’ involved with my daughter.”

“No thinkin’ about it, Harry,” Kade answered. “Your daughter’s mine now. I hope that isn’t a problem for you.”

“Hell, no. She needs a man like you in her life,” he replied, slapping Kade on the back. “You might as well tell me what she did to get you out. I’m still in shock at seeing you here, so it’s less likely to cause my heart to stop. Besides, it’s probably better if I hear it from you. I’m less likely to wring her neck.”

“I’m fuzzy on the details. But Chapel, the new SA, he told me she showed up yesterday at his office with the evidence.”

“Yesterday? I’ll be damned. That girl lied to me; she told me she had doctors’ appointments all day.”

“Sounds like it, but you’ll understand why I’m not as upset as you are that she did.”

“Hell, son, I guess not. How the hell did the SA move so quickly? Don’t you need a court order or somethin’?”

“The judge over my trial was available last night and they reviewed the evidence together. They found inconsistencies in the former SA’s case that led Judge Baer to believe there was misconduct. Harley’s evidence corroborated my defense, so he had no choice but to overturn the conviction.”

“Jesus, the dead SA was on the take?”

Kade was about to answer when he heard Harley scream from outside. Harry ran to the window and looked out the window while Kade ran for the door. He heard Harry shout, “Stop him, he’s trying to take my girl,” as he ripped open the door. He flew down the back stairs as cold fear gripped him. When he rounded the corner, he heard a single gunshot ring out, then tires peeling out as voices shouted. As he cleared the front of the garage, he saw a white van in the distance, taking a corner on two wheels as it sped away. Searching the yard for Harley, he came up short when he saw Prez, D, and two unknown men in coveralls standing around Harley as she held Buttercup. Seeing his former team members were still in town instead of back home as he’d ordered, started to piss Kade off. That is, until he realized they’d saved Harley from certain danger. As he approached the huddle, Prez and D looked up and saw him heading in their direction. Both their jaws dropped open in surprise and silent shock.

“You’re out?” Prez finally stated in obvious disbelief.

“Looks like,” Kade answered, not in the mood for a reunion at that moment.

Before he could reach Harley, though, and check for himself she was unharmed, her father stormed past him, shouting, “You sons a bitches! You promised you’d leave town! Now look what you’ve done! You’ve brought this shit down on my daughter!”

Harley turned towards her father and scowled just as Kade reached her. He did a quick scan, didn’t see any blood, then pulled her into his arms, buried his face in her hair, and held on tight. She hugged him back, resting her head on his chest as shudders ran down her body. “I’m all right,” she whispered into his chest.

Harry was still railing at the boys while Kade tried to settle his heart rate. When he ordered the boys to, “Get the hell off my property and don’t come back,” Harley stepped back, turned to her father, and shouted in reply, “This wasn’t their fault. That man followed me home from the prison.”

One by one, all six men turned and looked at her. The air around her became immediately charged with their collective anger, so she took a step back out of the firing range.

“That is, I think—“

“What do you mean he followed you home from the prison?” Kade bit out.

“Is this the first time you’ve seen him?” her father yelled.

“Is this why you texted you were in trouble?” Prez asked.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Davy bit out on a growl.

When she didn’t answer immediately, they all crossed their arms, then asked in unison, “Well?”

“Okay, all right. Yeesh. I saw him when I stopped for cake an hour outside of town and then I saw him again when he drove past the garage. He was sitting up the street watching half the afternoon. I didn’t tell you because I thought I was being paranoid and I knew you would throw a fit if you found out I was helping Kade.”

“Well, I’m out now, so why the hell are you just now telling
me
?” Kade shouted.

“It slipped my mind,” she yelled back, “what with you showing up and . . . Um. . .” She stopped talking when she couldn’t explain the “um” and looked away from Kade as a blush crept up her neck.

“Jesus.” Harry sighed, knowing exactly what the “um” meant and wishing he hadn’t heard.

“Everyone upstairs,” Kade growled, ignoring how damn cute she looked when she was flustered. “We’re gonna draw a crowd after that gunshot and I’ve had my fill of the police.

Grabbing her arm so he could escort her upstairs, Kade pulled Harley with him, not about to let her out of his sight for a moment.

“Kade.”

“Not another word till we’re upstairs or I’ll wring your neck myself,” he replied between clenched teeth. “It’s bad enough you ran all over town hunting down killers, but not telling someone when you thought you were being followed is just reckless.”

“I can see being released from prison didn’t improve your disposition,” she snapped as he marched her up the stairs. “I wasn’t being reckless, by the way. I just wasn’t sure, you big jerk.”