Marrying Cade (6 page)

“He said
your loss
.” Melo grinned.

The guy had such a huge ego, he probably believed it too. “Nothing to punch him out for.” She schooled her face into a polite mask. “Now, what did you want to talk to me about?”

Cade folded his arms. His body relaxed, as if the threat had been neutralized. He reached out and casually smoothed a lock of hair back from her face, and her heart fluttered wildly. “I didn’t have anything to talk to you about. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Of course I was okay. Didn’t I look okay?” Melo frowned.

She was in the process of being bored to death, that was all. Something easily remedied by walking away.

“You looked interested.” Cade’s top lip curled as if he’d eaten something unpleasant. “And that guy…” He crossed his arms over his chest and scowled.

“What are you, my brother? I’m more than capable of choosing who I want to be interested in, Cade. I don’t need your help.” She stuck out her chin and stared him down.

This was ridiculous. He didn’t want her, but was trying to make sure she didn’t make any foolish choices. Anger heated her blood.

Cade reached out and captured her hand. “Stop being angry.”

That sure didn’t help. She started to pull her hand away, but he gripped tighter.

His face softened and a “play with me” smile teased his lips. “Come on, Melo. Stop being angry.”

He’d teased her when they were kids. Had always been able to get around her. To her frustration, he still could.

“Huh.” Her mouth pouted, but her hand stayed in his.

“I didn’t like you looking at him like that. Didn’t want you to be interested,” Cade confessed. “I want you to be interested in me. Only me.” He pulled her close, and whispered in her ear. “Now, will you dance with me?”

The band was playing a slow ballad as they walked out onto the dance floor. Couples swirled past under the chandelier’s soft light. Cade’s hand slid around her waist, and she moved close against him like an obedient sleepwalker.

“I remember being here, before.” His warm breath feathered over her ear as their bodies fused in perfect time. “When we were kids.”

It had been a day she’d never forgotten. Rosa and Adam were off somewhere, and when Cade arrived at the villa, she suggested they go and look at the roman ruins unearthed in the field on the outskirts of Signora Bettina’s land. The climb to the site was strenuous, and she’d almost fallen a couple of times on the rough pebbles of the track. Cade had held her hand. And her heart had almost burst with happiness.

“I remember.” She trembled at the feel of his fingers splayed against her spine. Her nipples tightened as they brushed against his chest. They were in public, but she couldn’t resist pushing her body closer against him.

She pulled in a deep breath, and thought back to that time, long ago. Standing in the ruins watching the archaeologists excavate the past was thrilling. And when they’d unearthed an intact bowl, Cade’s excitement had matched her own. They sat on a rock, gazing out to sea, and talked for hours.

“You talked about how the echoes of people long ago fuse into the earth.”

She glanced up at his shadowed jaw line. Even after all these years he remembered her fanciful girlish notions. The realization stunned and thrilled in equal measure.

“I didn’t think you’d remember,” she whispered.

“How could I forget? I’d felt it too.” His mouth dusted the top of her head, and she gave in to the temptation to rest her head against his broad shoulder.

“After my father’s death we had to sell the ranch. We’d lived on the land for three generations. It was our land, and the ghosts of my ancestors were always there. I felt them. Imagined them looking out for me.” The hand around her waist tightened. “I thought I was the only person in the world who felt like that. Hearing you say it was amazing.”

“What happened to the ranch?” When he’d been a boy, she’d never dared ask. The bleak look that flooded his eyes each time he mentioned his past had warned her away.

“It was demolished. To make way for progress.”

She glanced up. His mouth was set in a tight line.

“They put a highway through it and built over the land. Thousands of houses.”

Melo’s heart clenched. Even when he’d made his fortune he wouldn’t have been able to turn the clock back and save his home; there was no home to save. All trace of his family had been obliterated. Her fingers feathered over his jaw.

He glanced down, a wicked light gleaming in his eyes.

“How about we get some air?”

****

It was cooler in the garden, and more private. A few couples had ventured out into the moonlit darkness, but away from the crowd they could finally be alone.

In silent accord they walked toward a solitary bench overlooking the darkened garden. It was a relief to sit quietly for a few moments to get his head together. Somehow, they’d started talking about the ranch. He hadn’t even thought about the ranch in years. There was no use in hankering after something long lost. He’d learnt that the hard way.

“How did you lose the ranch?” Melo asked quietly.

Cade turned the question around in his mind. It wasn’t something he normally talked about, but somehow, here in the perfumed darkness it seemed right to tell her.

“My father wasn’t a bad man, but he had a gambling problem.” It was something he’d managed to hide from Cade’s mother, for a while anyway. Until it was too late.

Melo just sat silently and waited for him to continue.

Cade pulled in a deep breath, and pushed the hair back from his face. “He won a few times on a poker game, and that fed his addiction.” His mouth twisted at the memory of his father’s good mood the day he’d come home with tickets for a holiday for them all. His father’s pride. Misplaced, as it turned out. “Then he gambled heavier, and before he knew it, he was in debt.” A bitter taste filled Cade’s mouth, tainting the words that followed. “He could have sold off some of the land, paid his debts. But he was in too deep. And in addiction’s grip. He bet the ranch, and lost.”

Melo gasped, and her soft hand gripped his.

“And then?”

“He shot himself in the barn.” The memory of the last conversation he’d had with his father rose to the surface of Cade’s mind, and he allowed himself to remember for a moment.

The look of utter desperation on his father’s face had been terrible to behold. Cade had tried to offer solace, asking what he could do, what his father needed. He heard his father’s long ago answer echo in his mind.

“Money.”

The one thing Cade didn’t have. It wasn’t his fault; a boy couldn’t solve the financial worries of a man living on the edge. But when his father died Cade had known the only way to help those he loved was to provide for them financially, so they would never suffer the agonies his father had.

The year that followed had been the worst year of his family’s life. Dealing with his father’s death was one thing, but dealing with the loss of their home—their eviction, was a nightmare it had taken long years to fade.

Cade made it through school, and had won a scholarship to college, funding it by working two jobs, weekends and evenings. His determination paid off, and through hard work he made enough to secure his family’s future.

The moonlight glinted off Melo’s hair, adding silvery lights to its rich darkness, and when she turned to him her eyes were almost navy. “I’m sorry it was so difficult for you.”

He’d never kissed anyone who knew so much about his past before. For the first time in years he felt vulnerable, exposed.

Her lips parted, and she leaned closer.

Soft. Tempting. Inviting. He had to kiss her. He stroked along her jaw line, and then grasped her nape, pulling her closer to kiss.

She tasted of honey. Of champagne. Of Melo. The scent of her perfume filled the air as his hands slid lower. Heat flared in his abdomen. His palms skirted over her shoulders, and when she moaned into his mouth, his desire flared out of control. His heart pounded and his breathing quickened. The elegant line of her neck arched in an invitation he instantly accepted, and she gripped his shoulders as if she was in fear of falling. Maybe she was—he sure was.

Falling out of control, and fast.

“Sit on my knee.”

She couldn’t straddle him, not in that dress, but at least if she sat on him he’d have better access.

She stood, towering over him in her high heels.

The seductive curve of her mouth sent a wave of molten lust through him.

Her gaze flickered to the open French windows. Muted music drifted in the air, and she swayed slightly to its beat.

They could be seen from the doorway. It wasn’t nearly private enough. The dress had to go. He wanted to run his hands and his mouth all over her. Have her naked beneath him, as they’d been earlier.

She pulled in her bottom lip, and bit gently.

He reached for her hand, pressing a kiss into her palm.

She shivered, but didn’t move. Cade got to his feet, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

“Let’s go.”

Chapter Six

Thank God neither of them had to drive. The road from the Palazzo wound down the hill to the hotel, and there was no way he’d be able to pay attention to those curves, he was too fascinated with Melo’s.

The driver concentrated on the winding road.

Melo rested against Cade in the darkness. Her hand was on his thigh. He wanted it higher. With an intensity that had him sliding a hand down to caress the soft skin revealed by the deep dip in the back of her dress. It was too tight to investigate further; so he grazed the slide of her neck instead, loving the shiver trembling through her.

“Here we are,” the driver said.

They’d covered the miles in mere moments. Cade grasped her hand and was out of the car faster than a sprinter with the finishing line in sight.

The large courtesy car turned on the sweep, spraying gravel as it accelerated up to the Palazzo again.

Cade’s heart was thundering in his chest, but he had to ask. “Are you sure?” The velvety blackness surrounded them like a cloak. Perfumed with the lavender and rosemary, silent and seductive. Like the woman before him.

“Yes,” Melo said huskily.

Her sapphire eyes gleamed in the moonlight. No hesitation. No second thoughts.

Her hand in his infused him with power, flooded him with a frantic longing. They walked silently into the hotel, not speaking until they reached the safe, private haven of his room.

Melo turned at the click of the door. A tall, graceful mermaid, caught. It was difficult to breathe. Cade’s erection swelled as she gazed at him earnestly.

“Where were we?” Cade whispered.

Her mouth tilted at the corners. She raised her shoulders in a graceful little lift that pushed her breasts out toward him a little.

He ran his tongue over dry lips. “Ah, I remember.”

When she reached out a hand and undid his top button, Cade’s iron control melted. He groaned, her fingers fumbled. He reached around to slide the long zip down to the curve of her bottom. The straps fell from her shoulders, slid down her silken skin.

She shimmied, and the dress pooled at her ankles. The green lace bra matched the dress perfectly, and a green garter belt spanned her tiny waist.

His gaze scanned the triangle of green at the apex of her thighs as his hands gripped her hipbones, pulling her closer. She smiled such an open and giving smile that his heart leaped in his chest. He breathed in her scent. And felt his heart melt.

A finger poked his chest, flicked over the buttons. “Unfair.” Full lips pouted. “You have too many clothes on. Help me.”

She was right. He had too many clothes on. Their fingers tangled in frantic need to get them off.

“Bugger this.” Cade grabbed the open flap of shirt and tore the two halves asunder, scattering buttons across the room.

Melo’s eyes widened, and she gasped.

He unbuttoned the cuffs, loving the way her black irises expanded, banishing the blue. Her hungry hands were at his belt, unfastening the buckle as he undid the cuff buttons.

He pulled the shirt off at exactly the same moment as her fingers slid his fly down, brushing against his erection. He tensed, pulled in a breath, and shuddered. Stripped off the rest, picked her up in his arms, and carried her to the bed.

Her fingers reached around her, scrabbling for the bra clasp.

“Stop.” He leaned away, caressing her stomach as his eyes lingered. “I just want to look at you.”

She’d been lean and boyish, but the woman lying on the bed, her hair fanned out over the pillow, bore little comparison to the tomboy he’d known. Color flooded her cheekbones, and she pulled in her lip, worrying it with her teeth.

“Now, roll over, I’ll never get all these catches undone without looking.”

He pushed on her hipbone gently, angling her away from him. His hand stroked her shoulders slowly. Fingers traced the bumps of her spine. He undid the bra clasp, then traced the vertebrae to her waist, unhooking there too. He slid his fingers under the lace band of her panties, stroked her bottom.

Melo gasped, flipped, and reached for his face. “Enough playing.” Her voice was husky, aroused. “Kiss me.”

He didn’t have to be told twice.

****

The sensation of Cade’s finger tracing her spine sent shudders of reaction to Melo’s core. Who knew the spine was an erogenous zone? As Cade’s lips teased hers, and his hands pushed off the remnants of her clothing she realized her mistake. With Cade touching her,
everywhere
was an erogenous zone.

His hair brushed her cheek, the soft bristles of his jaw rubbed against her. There’d be beard rash in the morning, and she didn’t care. Didn’t care about anything but the sweet torture of his soft caresses. She wanted more, needed more. Her hand caressed his waist, pulling him on top of her. The weight of his body was delicious. She sighed and wriggled.

He propped himself up on his arms, pinning her with a mock frown. “If you keep doing that this is going to be over too quickly.”

“Don’t care. We can always do it again.” She extended her tongue to trace his lips.

Cade growled, buried his face in her cleavage, licked back. “You asked for it.” His thumb rubbed over her nipple while his mouth fastened over its twin.

A lightning bolt of heat shot to her core, raising her hips. The slow, steady exploration of her body was over. Her hands tangled in his hair, keeping his mouth where it was as his hands hooked in her panties and pulled them down. Excitement chased away the blood from her face, tingling like the onset of a panic attack. She pulled in a ragged breath, as his clever mouth moved lower, nipping at the hollow next to her hipbones.

“Oh, that’s feels good.” The words puffed out with a breath.

His head lifted, and the most wicked grin ever spread over his face. “Then this, darling, will feel even better.”

Cade’s fingers caressed the back of her knees, angling them apart as his head slipped between her thighs. His hair brushed against her thighs, as his mouth found her core.

Her back arched, fingers clutched white on the sheet as his tongue worked its magic. She wanted to hold on, wanted to touch him…

His hands slid under her bottom, squeezing. Angling her closer. All rational thought fled as her body shuddered then tilted over the edge into blissful oblivion.

In passion’s aftermath, Melo’s palms faintly registered the cool flatness of the sheet. She was panting like a sprinter collapsing at the finish line.

Cade’s head moved slowly up her body, mouth gently kissing as he returned to her. “Okay?” His lips dusted over hers in a butterfly tease.

“Way better than okay.” She wrapped her arms around him, feeling his rigid length against the apex of her thighs. She angled her hips up, moved them from side to side slowly. “Way better.”

“We need a condom,” Cade muttered in her ear. He pulled in a deep breath and moved off her, snagging his trousers from the floor and finding one.

“Give it to me.” He’d shown her such pleasure, Melo burned to return the favor. One hand stroked him base to tip, and his eyes closed as a raw moan shuddered out from compressed lips. He looked wild, so beautifully sensuous her inner muscles tightened. She smoothed the condom over him and opened her legs wide.

“Melo,” he groaned.

His deeply passionate kiss melted her insides. His hands framed her face as his length nudged then penetrated. She gasped as he filled her, and he stilled instantly, eyes searching hers. “Are you okay?”

“Mmmm.” Her body stretched. “Fine.”

He moved slowly at first. Her hands stroked over his back, clutched lower as his thrusts intensified. Their mouths fused, combining them into one ravenous creature. His fingers wove through hers, gripping tightly. Melo’s calves gripped over Cade’s, her feet flexed as the pressure built and swelled, then carried them away in a tsunami of passion.

Cade’s hand stretched across her stomach. His breathing was slow and deep. Sleep had claimed him easily while Melo’s mind raced, reliving the wonder of their lovemaking. A car crunched over gravel outside the window, a door slammed, then the sound of laughing voices drifted up to the window.

Her body stiffened.

“What’s the matter?” The words were slow and sleepy, muttered more than spoken. Cade curled into her back, pulling her closer, lips caressing her neck. “You’re so tense.” His fingers stroked her stomach, dusted over her ribs. “It’s late. We should sleep.”

Melo’s fingers clasped his, moving his hand away. Free from his grasp, she flicked him a quick glance and sat up.

“I need to go.” She climbed out of bed and picked her clothes off the floor. She couldn’t stay here. Adam was staying in the hotel too, as well as the party guests. What was she going to do? Join them for breakfast wearing the same clothes she’d worn at the party? On Cade’s arm? There’d be sneaked looks, grins. A blush heated her face. In the heat of the moment she hadn’t considered the consequences. Tomorrow morning Rosa would be looking for her. And when Melo wasn’t there…

She fastened her bra and stepped into her dress. Glanced at the clock on the bedside table. There was still time to catch a ride back with one of the drivers.

“Where are you going?” Cade’s mouth narrowed into a thin line, and a frown creased above his brows. He climbed out of bed, and grasped her wrists. “Melo?”

Her heart thundered at the sight of his naked form. He really was beautiful. Tall and lean with just the right amount of honed muscle. But being here with him wasn’t right. She didn’t want to telegraph their affair to the world, and if she was still here in the morning…

“Melo. I want you to stay with me.” His voice was deep and so seductive her legs trembled. He leaned closer, lips dusting across hers in a soft, tempting caress.

She pulled in a deep breath, keeping her arms at her side to resist his potent lure. “If I stay then everyone will know we slept together.” She stared into his eyes, willing him to understand. “This is Rosa’s wedding.
Her time
. If I stay, all anyone will remember is that the bridesmaid had a fling with the best man.”

“Don’t cheapen this.” His eyes darkened, and he stroked a long finger across her cheek. “I care about you, Melo.”

Her heart took flight, but her head wrestled it back to terra firma again. She had to get out of here, away from Cade. Rosa’s wedding must be perfect. Going public with their relationship would get in the way.

“I care about you too, Cade.” She clenched her fists tightly, fighting the urge to touch; one touch and she’d be lost. “But I care about my sister too. And my reputation. I don’t want to be the focus of gossip tomorrow, and if the other guests realize I’ve been here all night…”

“They’ll know about us. Is that so bad?” He pulled her back into his arms, stroked his long fingers down her back. “I’m not ashamed, are you?”

“No.” She stroked his face, stared into his eyes. “But my family is very traditional. If they know we’ve spent the night together they’re going to think we’re serious about each other, and I don’t want to put what we have under that sort of scrutiny. Do you?”

Cade frowned. “This isn’t just a one night stand, for me. It’s a lot more.”

“For me too, Cade.” She wanted love, wanted to be with him. Could he feel the same so quickly? It was frightening to put her feelings out there, but without asking, how would she know? She cleared her throat.

“Back in the bower that day you asked what I was reading.” She’d been embarrassed, and hid the book the moment she saw him. Not wanting to reveal the longing for love that had kept her captive ever since she’d fallen in love with him. “I was reading a romance. A story of two people finally finding their happy ever after.”

Cade pulled back, his eyes wide. “But you were only a kid…”

“I’m exactly the same age as my sister, remember? And Rosa was living love, I was just dreaming it.” Melo’s cheeks burned with the remembered flustered feeling she’d felt when he’d caught her in the act. “I had a very big teenage crush on you, Cade. And I don’t think you ever even noticed.”

“I didn’t,” Cade answered quietly.

He was silent, doubtless running all of their old conversations through his mind, putting the pieces together.

“Are you telling me you still feel it?” his deep voice rumbled.

Melo wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole. He didn’t feel the same, and she was on the verge of making a complete fool of herself. “Things are different now. You’re older, and so am I.” She pulled in a breath, and risked it. “But I’ve never slept with anyone I didn’t have real and true feelings for. I think I might be getting in over my head.”

He pulled her down onto the bed. Slid an arm around her shoulders. If he felt the same, surely now was the time he would tell her. The silence stretched for long, painful minutes.

“Now’s really not the time to talk about this.” The words tumbled out breathlessly. She wanted out of this conversation,
quick
. “I need to be back at the villa tomorrow early anyway. Rosa and Adam can’t know, but I have to do some work.” Her face crumpled. It was impossible, and suddenly the strain of being the only one privy to her father’s secrets was too much. She needed to confide in Cade. Needed his support. “We have a family crisis; the family is in real financial trouble. Marco has asked me to try and find a solution, but…”

“But it’s impossible,” he said.

She nodded. “Damn near. I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

Cade released her and pulled on his clothes. “All right.” He slipped his feet into his shoes. “Let’s get you home.”

Melo let herself into the darkened villa, and strode into the office. She flicked on the light, closed the door carefully and leaned against it with closed eyes. Her skin still tingled from Cade’s touch. He’d kissed the mole on her cheek, then slid his lips down to tease the corner of her lips in a caress that had almost been her undoing before opening the car door. She’d wanted to stay.

Her legs shook as she crossed the room to the old polished oak desk. She flicked on the desk light and pulled out the file she’d been working on. Then powered up the computer. If she went to bed she’d just lie awake thinking of Cade. He’d been so tender, so vulnerable when he spoke about his father’s addiction and the loss of his family home. If she couldn’t find a solution to their problems her family’s home and business were in jeopardy too. She popped the end of her pen, pushed her hair back behind her ears, and opened the file.