Framed (25 page)

“Buck! Buttercup!” I called out. My dad brought the dogs with him when he came today. Now that Pops was gone, we didn’t have to worry about either disturbing him.

Both dogs came running, and Bette and I grabbed their leads and slipped them on. As we made our way to the back porch, we passed The Brute Squad huddled with SA Chapel. Kade looked up when he saw us heading for the door, but I didn’t let him get a word in edgewise.

“Coffee is on, we’re taking the dogs for a walk,” I informed the men as I opened the door and walked out before he or my father could protest.

“Freedom,” Bette laughed as the door closed behind us.

I turned around and looked back at the house as we walked out to the beach. Kade and the others were now standing at the window, watching.

“Yeah, freedom with babysitters,” I told her as I jerked my head back at the house.

Bette looked back, and then turned to me with an evil grin. “Race you.”

I was pissed, but I wasn’t stupid either, so I looked around the beach. I saw close to a hundred people on the beach and playing in the surf. Deciding there was no way a would-be kidnapper would risk being seen in this crowd, I grinned back.

“To the jetty and back,” I called out, then I took off with Buttercup trying to keep up.

Freedom indeed. There was only so much one woman could take. House arrest was driving me batty.

Kade was standing on the deck when we returned. He’d changed into a Navy tee and black shorts, so I suspected Chapel was gone. He entered the house as we climbed the stairs and sat down on the deck, feeling defeated. The Brute Squad had followed immediately when we’d taken off, ruining my much-needed escape. D and Prez shook their heads at us as they passed, heading into the house.

“Wish we could go get a beer,” Bette said as she looked up at the midday sun.

“I think it’s clear after that that there is no way The Brute Squad will let me leave.”

“Fuckin’ cavemen,” she chuckled.

“I thought you liked the boys?”

“Oh, I do. D’s great for a rub and a tug, but they’re really just oversized boy scouts. I need my men bad-to-the-bone.”

“I think you’re wrong,” I argued. “I think you’re crazy enough. What you need is a white knight to counteract all your bad.”

“Perish the thought,” Bette laughed. “Tell me you have beer inside. A day like today calls for a beer.”

“Yeah. I’ll take the dogs in and get us one.”

I took Buck’s lead from Bette and made my way into the house. I didn’t see Kade in the bedroom when I passed, so I headed for the kitchen. When I rounded the corner, I saw his ass sticking out as he bent at the waist, digging in the fridge. I couldn’t resist this compromising position. As quietly as I could, I snuck up behind him and yanked his shorts down, swatting him on the ass. He jumped, muttered, “Fuck,” and I started to laugh until I realized the voice didn’t match Kade’s and there was a tattoo on the ass that hadn’t been there this morning.

“Babe,” I heard Kade growl from behind me and froze. Then Mickey’s head rose from behind the door and he grinned. “See something you like?”

“I, you,” I stuttered, looking back and forth between the two men. “You both have on black shorts.”

Mickey bent at the waist then and pulled up his shorts, giving me a view I didn’t want to see.

Exhaustion, sadness, and the hilarity of the moment kicked in and I started to laugh. Then I doubled over in stitches when I looked back at Kade and saw he still looked like he wanted to kill someone.

“Two beers, please,” I finally choked out.

Mickey handed me the beers, then I turned, took one look at Kade, and burst out laughing again. He looked like he didn’t know whether to laugh or kill someone.

“It was a case of mistaken . . . Oh, never mind! Thanks for the laugh,” I cried out, heading for the deck.

On the heels of my retreat, I heard Mickey mutter, “She was so impressed with my ass that it made her cry tears of joy.”

Kade growled, “What’d I say?” apparently not as amused as I was, so I hollered over my shoulder, “Mickey, FYI . . . Butt wax—stat.”

As I opened the patio door, I heard Kade’s booming laughter and paused at the sound. Mickey mumbled, “Bro, that was uncool, uncalled for and, I don’t know, a couple of hundred other un-words I can think of. The chicks usually love my hairy body. What the fuck?”

I couldn’t resist.

“They think Chewbacca’s cute, too, but that doesn’t mean they want to sleep with him.”

Hearing Kade’s burst of laughter again made me smile. On today of all days, after saying good-bye to his grandfather, it was good to know he could still laugh. Too bad it was at the expense of my eyesight though. What has been seen can’t be unseen. Bleach . . . lots and lots of bleach was needed. That or a healthy dose of booze.

Later, after Bette and the boys left, I was in the kitchen, rinsing out the mugs when Kade walked in and took the mug from my hand.

“Come with me,” he said, grabbing my hand. I followed him out to the back deck, then down the steps towards the sandy beach. Kade had turned on music and Rascal Flatts ‘Nothing Like This’ was playing softly, mixing with the gentle roll of the waves.

He turned once we hit the sand and pulled me into his arms. I wrapped mine around his waist and laid my head on his chest as we slowly began moving to the beat of the music.

The sun was setting on the ocean, presenting us with a crimson sky as it slid below the water’s edge, beckoning in the night. Kade said nothing as we clung to each other; he just kept moving slowly in a circle as one song moved to another, his face buried in my neck.

Words weren’t needed. He’d let go of his grandfather, the only father he’d ever really known, and only time would lessen the ache. So I just kept swaying to the music until he was ready to speak.

Kade finally pulled back, running his hand down my cheek, watching as his thumb rubbed gently across my bottom lip.

“You took a chance taking off like that today.”

“Maybe,” I answered with a sigh, “But I was feeling closed in and needed some space.”

“From me?” he questioned.

“No, no one specific. Just. Everything.”

The wind kicked up and my hair flew around us, so I pushed it out of my face and looked up at the emerging stars. Kade followed my eyes and looked up.

“When I was a kid, I used to wish upon those same stars that my parents would come back for me,” Kade whispered low. “When I grew older, I wished that they’d never return. Pops was all I needed, but I was so filled with hate I couldn’t see that as a kid. I didn’t know it at the time, but while I wished upon those stars, they were looking out for me. Then I was incarcerated for a crime I didn’t commit and thought they’d forgotten my name. But then you walked into my life, saving me, proving once again they had my back . . . You know what I wish for now?”

“Tell me,” I asked breathlessly.

Reaching up to cup my face, he replied hoarsely, “Just you.”

“Kade.”

“Just you in my life for however many days we have left. Just you fallin’ asleep wrapped around my body at night and wakin’ up in my bed every morning. Just you bearin’ my babies someday, for me to love and protect. And just you growin’ old with me holdin’ my hand as we watch the sun set over the ocean.”

Someone once said that the greatest lie ever told was that we controlled our destiny. I think they’re wrong. It’s not our destiny that’s out of our hands, but who we chose to fall in love with. You can no more control what your heart desires than the rising tide, and what my heart wanted, has always wanted, was this man. Just him.

Nodding my agreement because I could barely speak, I finally choked out, “Me, too. More than anything. Just you, Kade. Always you. Even, God help me, when I was married. I’ve wanted you since the first time you smiled at me.”

Kade grinned at that, flashing his smile that could launch a thousand panties and then arrogantly replied, “Always was my best feature. Glad to know it worked on you.”

“Kade Kingston, you’re conceited,” I chuckled as he swung me around and then dipped me low.

Kissing the base of my throat, he ran his tongue up the side of my neck until he reached my ear, then whispered softly, “Sorry, gorgeous. But it’s not conceit if it’s a fact.”

“Just as long as you only use that smile on me, you’re forgiven.”

“It’s all yours,” he replied, working his way back down my neck, sending butterflies to my stomach and the heat index up a thousand percent.

“Care to show me what else is mine?” I gasped when his hand grabbed my ass and pulled me in hard to his steel-like erection.

Moving to my mouth, he mumbled, “As you wish,” against my lips before claiming them with increasing demand. I wrapped my hand into his silky hair, tugging his mouth over mine, controlling the kiss. He growled low as he deepened the kiss, his tongue sliding sensually against mine. Breaking the kiss as our passion flared, Kade swept me into his arms, carrying me up the stairs and into the house. I didn’t know where Kyle was, but I was past caring when Kade found my lips again as he made his way through the house to our room.

The moon had risen as we’d danced and now shafts of silver light seeped into the bedroom, illuminating the bed. Kade lowered me to my feet at the edge of the bed and then dropped to his knees. I ran my hands through his hair as he buried his face in my stomach, taking a deep breath. I’d worn a flowing sundress that day, which allowed Kade to reach under and run his fingers whisper-softly against my legs. Goosebumps broke out as his hand continued upward, then he stood and drew it up and over my head. I stood breathless in my bra and panties as his eyes began to smolder. Reaching up, I placed my hand at the nape of his neck, pulling him towards my mouth as the banked fire in his eyes turned to flames. I wanted control, but unfortunately, Kade had other ideas. When his mouth covered mine, he demanded entrance, demanded the control back as he captured my face and held me in place. I moaned deep in my throat as I lost my will to fight, my body shuddering as my passion ignited again in a blaze of wanting.

Ripping his mouth from mine, he growled, “My turn,” before he dropped back to his knees, tugged the panties from my body, and buried his mouth between my slick folds. His mouth was pure heat, and I lost my ability to stand when he moaned as he tasted me. My legs buckled and I fell back on the bed. Kade grabbed my ass and pulled me back to his mouth as I fought to breathe. He joined his tongue with two strong fingers, stretching and filling my core as he began a feverish tempo that flamed my desire.

“Give it to me,” he grunted when my back arched. I wanted to comply so I buried my hands in his hair to keep his mouth where I needed it most.

This was what I had been missing my whole life. This connection to a man that threatened to consume me until I didn’t care if he possessed me body and soul.

“Kade,” I whimpered when I felt my climax building, my body shaking in anticipation of the rush that came with the world’s finest drug. When it hit, I opened my mouth, but no sound escaped because the jolt of electrical current was so powerful, it left me speechless.

Kade muttered, “Fuckin’ beautiful,” as my body quaked around his fingers, his eyes trained on my face before he rose and peeled off his shorts. He came over me then wrapped my legs around his waist as he thrust in hard, silencing my gasp with his demanding mouth.

“Just you,” he moaned as he slid out, his head resting on my forehead as he watched his shaft slam back in. “This is all I need for the rest of my life. I’m gonna bury myself in you until I forget who I used to be.”

Pulling his mouth back to mine, I tried to show him what his words meant by pouring all my feelings into that one kiss. He slowed his pace as he took what I offered, meeting each thrust of my tongue with his own, moaning his approval. Grabbing my hands, he pinned them over my head, holding both wrists in place with one hand. His other found my breast, cupping it, then he raised it to his lips. Sucking my nipple into his mouth, his teeth grazing the aching pebble until it throbbed in exquisite pain. He alternated between each breast as he steadily increased the power of his thrusts until I reached that beautiful precipice again.

My second climax rendered my body useless, I was putty in his hands. Kade grabbed the back of my neck and brought my mouth back to his then buried himself to his root, moaned low in his throat, and shuddered, spilling into my welcoming body while he grunted his release. He caught himself before he fell fully onto my body, but I wrapped him in my embrace and pulled him down, wanting the feeling of his hard, taut body crushing me.

Pressing his lips to my neck, Kade tasted my skin like he always did, as if he was memorizing my taste. I tried to catch my breath, but it seemed trapped in my throat as tears welled in my eyes. My breath hitched, causing Kade to pull his head back and look down on me. My tears must have fallen because he reached up and wiped one from my face.

“Why the tears?” Kade asked as he wiped another solitary tear from my face.

“Because,” I whispered, as my traitorous bottom lip trembled, “I used to feel empty inside. But now that we’re together, I’m full and overflowing.”

“Jesus,” Kade whispered, scanning my face as his own lost its hard edge and melted . . . “Did you know I’ve only been a coward once in my life?” I shook my head, doubting he’d ever been a coward. “I was a coward the night we met and every day after that when I ran from you. I fucked up. We lost all this time we could have been together because I didn’t think I deserved you.”

“Kade—“

“I was wrong, Harley. So fucking wrong. You’re mine. My future. I promise to fill you up every day from here on out. I promise you will never feel alone, feel unloved, and never wake up empty again . . . Starting now,” he vowed before taking my body once again to a place where mere mortals only dreamed of going.

***

“Baby, wake up,” Kade purred into my ear. He gently rocked my body back and forth as I struggled through the haze of sleep. I turned my head towards his voice and blinked slowly until my vision cleared. I saw a muscled chest covered with a sprinkling of hair that was tanned by the sun. One half was covered with an American eagle perched on an anchor and holding a trident and a gun, and the number 275, indicating his BUD/s graduating class and the words “The only easy day was yesterday.”