Hell Bent (18 page)

Eyes needy and desperate, his body trembling, he grabbed her shoulders to ask, “Why do I only want
you
like this—why
you
?”

Before she could process a response, his fingers dug into her ass again to lift her and he slammed her back into the wall, pinned her there with his rock solid body as he continued to devour her mouth.  Cee Cee didn’t want to respond after, the only thing she wanted was to feel him stretch her, for him to keep kissing her like this.  She wrapped her legs around him, his cock settled at her opening.  Cade pushed her hips down as he plunged up into her, and his thickness stretched her tight.  He throbbed against her inner walls and she pulsed around him and the feeling was almost overwhelming.  Cee Cee closed her eyes, gyrated her hips, then it hit her why this felt so damned incredible.

He wasn’t wearing a condom! 

Although she
never
had sex without a condom, ever, she was so damned thankful right now she had an IUD put in at her last appointment.  Because even if she hadn’t, she didn’t think she could make him stop right now.  She just wanted to feel him move inside her, stretch her more, hear him moan his pleasure.  She circled her hips and the delicious friction sent waves of heat through her, but he dragged his mouth from hers, breathing hard. 

“Bed,” he growled as he carried her out of the bathroom into the darkened bedroom. 

He put a knee on the bed, eased her back and without pulling out he covered her body with his, covered her mouth again and kissed her deeply.  This was how she remembered sex with him, hot, volatile—with feeling—with meaning. 

Her hips lunged up to meet his as he made long, purposeful strokes into her slick passage, the angle of his strokes rubbing her clit, inching up her pleasure, making her itch for the orgasm building in her lower body.  His heart beat against her sternum like it wanted to be inside her chest and she wanted it there too.  His need was her own, as she dug her fingernails into his shoulders. 

A fine sheen of perspiration lubricated the slide of their bodies as his pace increased.  The sucking sounds their bodies made when he pulled out was music to her, the soundtrack to the best sex she’d ever had in her life.  It increased her pleasure tenfold, and her inner walls spasmed as the tension in her body ratcheted up.

Cade slid his hand under her left thigh, adjusted the angle of her body and lifted her up.  God he was so deep, went as deep as any man had and speared her again and again, his eyes glittering in the light from the bathroom.

“Tell me who you’re fucking, Cecelia,” he said, his voice choked, his movements jerkier than they had been.  He drove into her harder, but the passion-laced anger in his tone, the same tone he’d used with her at her apartment, parted the endorphins in her brain.  “You still have that tat on your ass to remind you, if you don’t remember.” 

He’d seen it when he fucked her last time, but hadn’t mentioned it.  That he didn’t mention it then confused her.  She’d wondered why he hadn’t been pleased it was still there.  He almost sounded angry about it.

“I don’t know what you want from me, Cade,” she said, in broken spurts as he pounded into her. “Please tell me,” she begged, her eyes burning.

“I want
you
—not the hardened version I’ve been dealing with.  I want you to acknowledge who you’re fucking right now, Cecelia.  Who’s fucking
you
, because I’m not sure you remember or care.”  His breath came quicker, his movements more uneven, until he tensed and stopped but she knew he hadn’t come even though a tremor rocked him.

A hot water droplet landed on her stomach and her muscles tensed.  She didn’t know if it was sweat or a tear, but whatever it was didn’t matter.  The emotion was there in his voice, in the tension in his body and Cecelia suddenly knew what his problem was. 

It had never been just about sex between them. 

They connected on an emotional level before they ever became lovers, and he had been her best friend, relied on her to talk him down from the ledge when his daddy got to him, and she when her family did the same.  Because of what she’d said to him about her new outlook on sex, which was the truth, but she’d only said to hurt him, he thought that’s what this was about.

She’d had sex plenty since she’d seen him last, too much, but she’d never loved any of those men…because her heart belonged to this one.

“I’m not fucking anyone, Cade,” she replied, swallowed hard then gathered up the courage to acknowledge what she felt for this man.  “I’m making love to a man I’ve loved all my life—the only man I’ve
ever
made love to.”

His body relaxed, and with a growl, he lifted her higher to slide his knees under her bottom.  His palm scorched her mound as his thumb found her clit and he began to work the swollen nub. Cecelia moaned and her fingers dug into the thick comforter as electric shocks zipped up her body.  His hips pushed and pulled to make short strokes in and out of her body, and the sound, the friction, the heat—and his magical touch sent rolling waves of pleasure through her.  Her inner muscles worked in time with his finger, her body convulsed and tension tightened her chest.  Breaths coming quicker, she gasped as the waves came together, crashed over her and shook her body with magnificent force.

Cade sucked in a sharp breath, grabbed her hips with his hands and made deep, swift strokes into her body.  Cecelia was limp as he pounded into her and a final tremor rocked her as his cock brushed her clit.

“Oh,
God
,” she whispered hoarsely, as tension inched up inside of her again. 

Her hips  moved on their own bearing down to increase the friction, sliding from side to side to make harder contact with his shaft as he entered her again and again.  The starch came back in her body, she planted her heels on the mattress and met him again and again as she reached for another release, helped him find his own.

Suddenly, his fingers curled into her skin to her hip bones, his body tensed and he groaned loudly.  She felt him come in hot spurts inside of her as his body vibrated.  Cecelia pushed her hips against him a few more times, wiggled them and suddenly a lava flow sucked her under too.

Cade collapsed beside her and pulled her against him breathing almost as hard as she was.  He dropped a kiss on her hair, and Cecelia sighed as she wrapped an arm around him and snuggled into his hard chest. 

This—this is how it’s supposed to be between them.

The door knob wiggled as their only warning before the door opened and the light flicked on, blinding Cecelia.  She tented her hand over her eyes to see Veronica standing in the doorway, her mouth a tight O in her frozen face.  It relaxed, and then spread into a wide grin.

“It’s about damned time you two made up.  Maybe now we can have some peace,” she said, grabbing the doorknob as she backed out.  “I’ll just wait til tomorrow to borrow the toothpaste.” 

The door shut, Cade’s gaze swung back to hers and he stared into her eyes for a moment.

“It is about damned time.  It’s good to see you again, Brat,” he said, and dropped a kiss on her mouth.  “Now, let’s get some sleep.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“I can’t believe they tabled the damned vote until Tuesday.  Why put it at the end of the session?”  Logan growled, as he sat at the conference room table in his hotel suite and shoved a hand through his hair.  “Susan and I have a meeting with a new client on Tuesday.”

“Probably because they know they’re going to have stiff opposition.  They’re just delaying the circus until we have limited time for debate,” Allison replied, taking a seat at the table too.  “Thank you for being here, but you can go.  I don’t think we really nee—”

“We do need them here,” Cade interrupted, as he sat on the other side of Logan, and Cee Cee took the chair beside him. 

He glanced at her and let his eyes wander over her beautiful face, because he could now, and was rewarded with a soft inviting smile that made him rock hard.  That’s what he wanted to be doing right now, not sitting here talking about what may or may not happen tomorrow night.  It had been a very long day at the statehouse doing absolutely nothing but watching boring people hold even more boring proceedings. 

Cade could totally understand Logan’s frustration.  But at least
he
had been out in the hallway so he didn’t have to listen to that until his ears bled.

“It’s just a party, and—” Allison began, but Veronica held up her hand as she wobbled around the table and took the chair beside Cee Cee.

“It’s a party to raise funds for the same issue, Allison.  You got the black roses and poison ivy this morning too.  Those clowns are here, so we
do
need them.”  Ronnie looked down at her hands in her lap, and Cade could see her lip quiver. 

She finally got the message that this isn’t a joke.

“I know they’re serious in their craziness—but I’m so tired of all this.”  Allison huffed a breath.  “Why can’t they just let it be and worry about their own problems?”

“Hey, sorry we’re late,” Slade said as he walked into the room guiding Taylor to the seat beside Allison.  “We had to take the dogs out, and um, Taylor needed to change.” 

People might believe that lame excuse better if he’d bothered to wipe the lipstick smear from his neck and her cheek, Cade thought nastily, and if her wardrobe change had actually happened. 

At least they’d left the
two
damned dogs they’d brought with them in the kennels in the room. It had been an ordeal at the front desk when they checked in last night to convince the clerk and manager that the goofy Lab and German Shepherd were service dogs so they had to be allowed to stay.  The manager finally caved with the stipulation that they be on leashes at all times, and wear the service vests that Slade pulled out of his duffle to prove they were service dogs.

“Yes, the
south
pasture!  Cut the hay—
round
bales—and leave it out there to dry,” Trace Rooks yelled into his phone, as he joined them.  He took the seat beside Ronnie, draped his arm over her chair and slammed his phone down on the table.  “Sorry, the kid I hired to watch the ranch is a good kid, hardworking, but dumb as dirt,” he said, a muscle ticking behind the long scar on his cheek.

Cade scrolled through his own phone when he saw the message light flashing and saw he’d missed a call from Dexter.  He hit the redial button with his thumb and brought it to his ear as a heated debate broke out about the necessity of having them all there until Tuesday.

He put a finger in his other ear when Dex answered, so he could hear.  “Whatcha got Nerd-boy?” he asked.

“I narrowed the plate down to three possibles, all silver trucks, but different makes, so I called the tow truck driver to ask the make of our truck and he informed me he found a cell phone under the seat.”

Cade sat up straighter to put his elbows on the table and Cee Cee dropped her hand on his back.  “Where is it?  What did he say?”

“It took some convincing because it belongs to the owner of the truck, but he’s overnighting it to me.  I should get it before ten in the morning,” Dex replied, sounding as excited as a kid on Christmas morning.  “Tell Logan I had to pay the storage fees for the truck through the end of the month though, to get my hands on it.”

Cade glanced down to see Logan scowling as he scrolled through his phone. “I’ll tell him, and thanks Dex.  Let me know what you find out from the phone.”

“
Wait
—Mac found out the owner of the truck is actually a
trucker
by the name of Loren Frowley.  He says he lives in Irving.”

“Text me the address, and let me know what you find out on the phone.”  Cade hung up and felt Cee Cee’s eyes burning the side of his face.  Those weren’t the only eyes burning holes in him either, the conversation hand stopped and every set of eyes at the table looked at him.

“You were a little loud,” Cee Cee whispered and he frowned at her.

“We know who the owner of the silver truck is…” he started, and Trace Rooks shoved his chair back into the wall to stand. 

“Give me the fucking address—
now,
” he grated, reaching behind him to feel for the pistol Cade knew he wore before his hand dropped back to his side. 

“Sorry, we need him alive so we can find out where the other rats live,” Cade replied, and Trace huffed a breath as he let Ronnie pull him back down in his seat.  “I’m texting the information to Carlos Ramos at the FBI office in Dallas so he can arrest him.”

“That’s going to take too damned long, and you know it,” Rooks snarled.

They definitely didn’t need anyone going off half-cocked, and that’s exactly what Rooks looked like he was prepared to do.  Cade was pissed about the incident too, he owed those bastards a few bullets, but he knew that wouldn’t help with the men he really wanted to snare.  The upline guys—the head rat—who planned out that attack and the threats.  The one who would continue to plan them unless he was caught.

“Dexter is also getting his hands on that man’s cell phone so Frowley may not be hard to find at all—or his cohorts and bosses.”

“Just chill out, cowboy.  This will all be over soon, and we can go home,” Ronnie said, and Trace Rooks glared at her.

“I want to take you home
now
,” he grated.   “For being the smartest woman I know, you sure do make dumb decisions sometimes.” 

She lifted an eyebrow, raised her hand out in front of her and wiggled her fingers to stare at the huge rock on her ring finger.

“No,
that
wasn’t a mistake,” he barked, taking her hand in his.  “That was the smartest thing you ever did, because you definitely needed a keeper, Red.  That mouth of yours—” he started, but his eyes fell there and stayed.

“Okay, folks—I think Taylor and I are going shopping before the mall closes,” Slade said, pushing up to his feet.  “I freaking
hate
shopping so I expect a bonus for this, Logan.  And another one for wearing a damned tuxedo tomorrow night. 

“Quit your whining,” Logan grumbled, as he set his phone on the table.  “The only bonus you’re getting is dancing with that pretty lady who’s fool enough to put up with you.”

“Why can’t you go inside and let us guard the parking lot?” Slade asked darkly. “Let us sit out in the car and make out.”

“Because Susan isn’t with me and if a woman asked me to dance and I did, she’d kick my ass,” he replied, his lip cocking up at the corner. 

“If a woman hit on you, she’d have to be ninety-years old and blind,” Slade shot back with a laugh.  “You’d better hang onto Susan, because she’s likely the only one you’ll find willing to put up with
you
.”

“Enjoy your tuxedo,” Logan said smugly.  “I’ll just be out in the car in my comfy jeans filing my nails if you need backup.”  Slade growled as he took Taylor’s arm and dragged her toward the door, and Logan laughed loudly.

They needed to stop messing around and get this over with so he could make a trip to the venue to survey where the party would be held and scout things out.  Cade pulled the folded paper from his back pocket and smoothed it out on the table. 

“While Logan’s out in his car in his comfy jeans, we’ll be inside, so we need to go over this layout of the party room to decide who’s going to be where tomorrow night.” Sliding the paper to Cee Cee he asked, “Could you run down to the business center and make copies of this for everyone, Brat?”

“Of
course
, I’ll go make the copies, since I’m the team
secretary
and that’s the only thing about op planning in my skillset, right?”  She shoved back her chair to stand and let her eyes move around the table. “Would anyone like some coffee while I’m out?” she asked sweetly, but Cade could see she was seething.

“Cecelia, stop being a brat—you
are
our secretary!  There’s nothing wrong with that job, and you’ve done it quite well,” Logan grated, spearing her with his eyes. “You’re getting paid even if I ask you to clean the toilet, so what’s the problem?”

“
Whoa
, girl—” Cade said, shooting Logan a glare as he stood to take her shoulders before she could kill her brother like the look on her face said she wanted to do. 

Cade couldn’t blame her, considering that was one of the most insensitive things he’d ever heard him say to her.  Turning Cecelia toward the end of the table away from her brother, Cade hustled her toward the door.

“Let’s go make the copies together,” he said, pushing her into the hall where she shook off his hands and stomped down the long hallway.

“Don’t you patronize me too, Cade Winters!” she yelled back over her shoulder, before she rounded the corner into the entry room with the elevators.

“I wasn’t, Brat.  I was trying to keep the peace,” he said when he caught up with her at the elevator as she angrily stabbed the button.

“My brother is going to learn firsthand what else is in my skillset very soon, because that man is going to
die
if he
ever
says something like that to me again!”

She folded her arms under her breasts, pushing them together in a magnificent display at the circle of her scooped neck top.  Her deep blue eyes sparkled with anger and her full lips were swollen and red from biting them.  Cade wanted to bite them right then too, because he had definitely developed an appreciation for angry sex lately. 

Cecelia was as mad as he’d seen her yet.

His cock went rock hard as the elevator door slid open and she strode inside.  He followed, but when she reached for the panel to press the green L, Cade grabbed her wrist, forced his hand into the door opening before it closed, then dragged her back out.

“Let him make his own damned copies. I have other things in your skillset I want to experience firsthand right now,” he growled, and she giggled as he dragged her toward their suite.

***

Saturday morning, Cade groaned as he woke up in a warm cocoon of arms, legs and hot, silky skin pressed to his side.  He figured out quickly what woke him, when his cell phone vibrated again on the dresser across the room.  

Cee Cee moaned sleepily when he peeled her off him, and scooted toward the side of the bed where he rolled to his feet and ran for the phone.  He picked it up and saw it was the DNA clinic that was working on the paternity test. 

They’d said two weeks, but he’d given them a little cash incentive to get the results quicker—no later than noon today.  It had worked with the contractor so he figured he’d try it with the clinic too and evidently it worked. 

Phil always said money talked—and Cade was a believer now.

“Cade Winters,” he said, after clearing the sleep from his throat.

“Mr. Winters, this is Molly at the Anderson Biomedical Clinic.  I have the test results back for you.  We usually don’t give them out over the phone, but my manager approved it.”

Of course he did—five thousand dollars in his pocket rode on it. 

“What did you find out?” Cade asked.

“Well, our lab technician compared your DNA sample to your sister’s first to determine the commonality so we could exclude your mother’s genetic profile, and identify your father’s.” 

He didn’t need a rundown on the process, he just needed the results.  This woman was hedging for some reason.

“Yeah, your manager explained that—is the baby our sibling or not?” he asked shortly.

“I’m afraid your paternal genetic profile doesn’t match that of your sister, so we couldn’t isolate your paternal DNA to compare it to the baby.  We would have to have a sample from the baby’s father to determine conclusively.”

“You’re speaking in tongues, lady—I have no freaking idea what you just said.”

She blew out a breath.  “You and your sister share the same mother, but your fathers are different, and different from the baby as well.”

Cade’s stomach clenched when he realized what he thought she was saying, his chest tightened and he had to force the words past his numb lips. 

“Are you saying that
none
of us have the same father?!?” he shouted as his body started shaking, his knees went weak and he slid down to sit on the floor.