A Love Least Expected (3 page)

The deep chocolate brown of his eyes pierced me. My heart beat stuttered before beating even more quickly, my pulse throbbed in my neck. I swallowed the anxiety bubbling up inside me, whatever was going to happen this was Cade. Not some stranger.

“Pay, do you remember what happened last night?”

I lowered my eyes to the table unable to meet his gaze while he asked me questions. After all, he thought I was drunk. This could be the perfect chance to pretend nothing happened. One tiny word and everything could go back to the way things were. But the smoldering heat in his eyes would still be there, as well as the breakfast he’d cooked and me in my silk robe. No. No more lying.

“Yes Cade. I remember everything.”

I peeked at him from the side to gauge his reaction. A hint of a smile curved his lips.

“Why didn’t you answer my texts?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I was trying to avoid this.”

“Why Pay? Didn’t you feel something last night? Because if you don’t feel for me the way I feel for you, I will stop right now. This will be the last time I mention anything more than friendship between us.”

He urged his chair closer in my direction and leaned against the island. His large body hovered next to me sucking out all the air in my lungs. When his fingers touched my chin to turn my face towards him, energy coursed through me settling at the apex of my thighs. His hand trailed lower until he covered my throat with his palm.

“Are you scared or aroused Pay? Because I think you’re aroused, and I would love nothing more than to spend the rest of today discovering every delectable inch of your body and making you scream for me. Starting now.”

The words seared my brain and caused my body to clench with desire. In all of the wildest dreams, I offered myself I didn’t imagine this. His hand released my throat, and his fingers followed the path of the collar of my robe. With painful slowness, he edged lower teasing the skin beneath his touch.

“You’re not talking Pay.”

“I can’t…can’t think like this Cade.”

“Stop thinking Pay. Thinking had you run from me last night. I want you to feel. Can you feel the connection between us? Believe me; I know exactly what to do with you. I’ve had a very long time to consider my course of action.”

He whispered the words in my ear, his voice hoarse. The fabric beneath me became damp as I felt the dampness from my arousal wet my inner thighs. I struggled to calm my breathing. I wanted Cade. I wanted him and his promise more than any man I’d ever met. I already loved him as a friend, but could it be more? Fire burned over my skin as he continued tormenting me with his touch.

“Come on Pay, let go.”

The words snapped whatever resolve I had left. I turned and launched myself at him claiming his lips with mine. Answering the questions he wanted to be answered, only with my body. The strength of his arms closed around me pulling me even tighter against him. He leaned back and broke the kiss, but not the connection between us as he held my head between his palms, his eyes searched mine.

“I want you more than any woman I’ve ever met Pay. I don’t want to lose you. I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure you’re happy.”

How did he know those were the words I needed to hear more than any of the others? A promise not to destroy our friendship with the aftermath of sex. The warmth of a tear slipping from my eye and coursing down my cheek told him how moved I was. His thumb caught the moisture and wiped it away before bringing his thumb to his mouth.

“And if I have my way, the only tears you will cry, will be tears of happiness Payton. I’ve watched you get hurt too many times.”

I returned his gaze and nodded. I nodded yes to the sex. Yes to the promises. Yes to the chance at happiness. How could I have been so blind? The perfect man for me could have been sitting right in front of me for the last four years, and I didn’t see him. Not really anyway.

His hands closed even tighter around my face, and he pulled my mouth back to his. The heat of his lips pressed against mine as I closed my eyes and absorbed the sensations flooding me. His tongue teased the seam of my lips, asking permission and I parted them inviting him in. Our tongues danced and thrust against one another as we discovered each other for the first time.

Cade made a sudden move to stand and pulled me to my feet with him. He gathered me in his arms and carried me to the corner of the loft that served as my bedroom and set me on my feet as he went to his knees.

“Payton let me do this. Today let me worship you.”

Emotion thickened his voice and moved me beyond words alone. When I said nothing, his hands found the belt of my robe and released the knot holding it shut. The fabric fell open and slipping beneath he pushed the thin silk from my shoulders and left me standing before him completely bare.

The groan that came from the back of his throat caused fresh goose bumps to cover my skin. His hands followed the curves of my torso, tracing the edges like he was committing them to memory.

“I always knew you would be beautiful, but you’re more than that. You’re stunning.”

Slowly he stood and pulled me to him. His hands fisted in my hair and he tipped my face up demanding that I meet his kiss. Stronger and more powerful than his previous kisses he possessed my mouth, holding me to him and demanding my consent. He stepped forward, propelling me backward, my feet following as he guided me until my legs met the edge of the bed.

The sheer strength in his body sat me down on the soft covers never breaking the kiss and then with precision movements laid me back. The hand in my hair turned my head away from his kiss but revealed my neck. The damp, warm heat of his tongue traced the shell of my ear, I moaned as heat waves traveled the length of me.

Never had I been so aroused, or so tormented. Each time I shifted to try and return a kiss or a caress I got the same response. His hand tightened on me and he whispered the same words.

“Shhh Pay.”

The sharp bite of his teeth shocked me and caused my body to ache as he nibbled on the skin of my neck, shivers shot through me and my nipples hardened begging for attention. He’d only touched the most innocent places on my body, but I burned, arching off the bed for him to go faster.

The flat of his palm teased the tip of my erect nipples, sending shocks to my throbbing clit. If someone could be driven insane with desire, I feared I was close. I whimpered my distress as the combination of his mouth and his hands on me flamed the fire consuming me even higher.

“Please Cade, don’t make me wait,” I begged.

The weight of his body and the hand securing my hair disappeared as he slid further down me. His breath teased my over-sensitized skin as I writhed beneath him seeking more. The heat of his fingers returned following the tender flesh of the back of my knees and with a gentle nudge spread my legs apart. I tensed with anticipation and nerves, but as he nuzzled my inner thigh with his face and moaned the anxiety fled, leaving behind it only the acute desire.

My eyes drifted closed as the coolness of his breath played over my sex. So close and yet so far from what my body needed. My hips lifted towards him of their own violation seeking more contact, seeking relief, his hand slipped beneath me and held me there.

“Perfect Pay. I am going to make you sing. Do you want to sing Pay?”

The incendiary words drove me wild as he ran his tongue along my sex and flicked at my clit. The first waves of heat began to build warning of an impending orgasm and he’d barely touched me. Another moan escaped as he flicked at me again and again before sucking my throbbing clit between his lips and humming.

True to his word Cade made me sing. My body thrummed as the sensations he unleashed flung me head first into wave after wave of a full body orgasm while I pulled at his hair and screamed my release. Convulsions wracked my body as his hands tightened on my thighs holding my sex securely to his mouth as he continued to lap at me and demanded my response.

Only
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when my body was exhausted from the extensive assault of his tongue, did he released his grip on my hips and slid his hands out. My body melted into the soft mattress, boneless as he stood at the foot of the bed and pulled his t-shirt over his head.

I followed his movements;
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the t-shirt hadn’t done his physic justice. The chiseled ripples of his chest and abdomen promised he’d continued to spend a great deal of time at a gym even after his injury. My eyes followed the long, lean muscles in his arms to his buckle and watched mesmerized as he undid first his belt then his button down fly and slid his pants down his legs. I was treated to immediate gratification as Cade believed in going commando beneath his denim.

The sight of his erection sent a fresh wave of desire surging through me. A moan rumbled in my chest as his hand closed around his impressive shaft and squeezed. Yes, the orgasm he gave me with his mouth, was incredible, but my body craved being filled, being possessed, being claimed.

Cade searched the pockets of his discarded pants. I knew what he was looking for, but I didn’t want him to.

“You don’t need one Cade. I know you use protection, just like you know I do. I want this to be different than any other time. I want to feel you.”

“Pay, this will be different than any other time. I promise.”

His eyes burned with the truth of his words as he crawled back onto the bed between my legs and placed his hands on either side of my head. His knees pressed my legs open wider and his mouth lowered to claim mine. His tongue explored me and I could taste my juices on his lips and tongue.

My head swa
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with the intensity of the arousal running through me. Need controlled me. As his erection pressed against my mound, the hunger to feel him stretch me, became overpowering. All the muscles in my body contracted as he lowered his weight on me. With a slight adjustment of his hips, I felt the tip of his cock probe at the opening of my sex. I gasped as he pressed deeper and tunneled into my sizzling flesh.

I arched into him as he cradled my body to his. Overly aroused and still sensitive from my earlier climax, my body thrilled at the feel of his rigid shaft parting my body to accommodate him. He thrust forward and retreated, rocking back and forth. Each time burrowing deeper, stroking the nerve riddled walls of my clenching sex, as I willed my muscles to relax and allow him passage. With each pass, he possessed a little more of me.

He gave one final thrust and my body gave way allowing his girth to slide deep, sheathing him and pressing against my womb. I panted as I struggled to adjust to the fullness overwhelming me. His lips covered mine as he began to move with slow, but insistent thrusts lighting all the nerves in my body. I clenched my muscles down on him driving my own need higher and swallowing his moan. I lifted my hips beneath him needing more friction…Just more. My hands scratched up his back and tangled in his hair urging him faster. He broke the kiss and raised himself above me, changing his angle and thrust down hard.

“Is that what you like Pay? Show me. Tell me what you need. You want it hard?”

The words falling from his mouth in time with his body pounding into mine were explosive. “Yes Cade, yes like that. Harder.”

Although I heard the words I screeched at him, my mind was no longer in charge of my body. Every thrust pushed my need higher. My core ached for the release coiled painfully waiting for detonation. I needed something more, I waited on the razors edge needing just one more thing to catapult me over the edge and quench the thirst that ravaged my body. As if understanding my dilemma Cade’s hand fisted in my hair but tighter than before and held hard as he thrust into me.

White light surrounded me as electric current pulsed through my limbs making me convulse. My body jerked violently as I screamed. Each new thrust from Cade created a fresh wave of contractions crashing down over my body. His hands closed around my hips and he powered into me again and again before stilling.

“Yes Pay baby. Yes.”

The need to see him in the throes of orgasm forced my eyes open. Head thrown back, eyes closed as his muscles flexed beneath the strain on his body. Cade resembled a warrior. Sweat beaded and glistened on his skin golden skin. I let my gaze drift over him until he opened his eyes and met my stare.

With an expression of pain, he broke the connection between our bodies and he came to lie beside me. His hand settled on my stomach as he caught his ragged breathing. He brought his lips closer to mine and kissed me. Not a gentle kiss, but a kiss exchanged between lovers. A kiss filled with passion and emotion, and with everything I had, I kissed him back.

The sounds of movement in the kitchen roused me from sleep. As Cade held me in his arms the pull of slumber had been irresistible. The warm comfort of his arms was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. With nothing to hide and nothing left to worry about I drifted like a baby.

The first image before me was glorious. Cade stood with his back to me, shirtless wearing only jeans and working on reheating our forgotten food. The muscles of his back flexed and rippled with each movement giving me a show. I lay still, tucking my hands under my face and just watched him with new eyes. The fact that I never realized how attractive he was amazed me.

He moved about the kitchen with the quiet confidence of someone assured of themselves. Power emanated from him, hidden beneath his polished exterior and graceful manners. Cade Johnson was the whole package.

The sooner I confessed to my friends the better, but it would have to be after he left. The fact that he’d sat in on one too many of those conversations in the past sat wrong. If what he’d said last night was true, he’d harbored feelings for me for a long time. Listening to me detail the good and bad of dates gone by must have been torture. I shook my head at the thought.

Guilt at having forced him to endure that and never mention his feeling for me ate at my core. I turned over and stared at the ceiling. Did I miss the signs? Did he try and tell me before? I found myself replaying conversation after conversation looking for something I missed and came up empty. All I found, was a steadfast friend I could count on… absolutely.

“Pay are you awake?” His deep voice called across the room. “Do you want more coffee?”

As I stretched a delicious stiffness permeated my limbs, and a more devious ache in my groin brought memories rushing back- the heat of his body over mine, his talented fingers teasing me, and his words. Cade promised to worship me, and true to his word I felt revered.

The padding of his bare feet on the hardwood floors brought my eyes back to his edible body. With a coffee mug in one hand and a plate in the other he approached me.

“I couldn’t wait for you, I was famished but I’ll make it up to with breakfast in bed.”

No longer able to just lounge in bed I pulled myself up as he leaned over me and pressed his lips to mine. The moment was sweet, tender and revealing; I closed my eyes and let the emotions of the moment wash over me. The firm pressure of his lips concealed the passion he’d demonstrated he was more than capable of earlier, but ignited mine. The energy that had assailed me last night and earlier, when we kissed, was still present, exhilarating and arousing me all over again.

Too soon, he broke off the kiss before I was ready as had become his habit. I longed to run my fingers over his body, trace each of the lines defining his muscles until I had them committed to memory. The urge to relearn everything I thought I knew about this man through the eyes of his lover made my earlier question resurface.

“Cade, did you try to tell me before and I didn’t listen?”

“No Pay, I didn’t tell you.”

“Why? Why wouldn’t you want me to know? How you must have felt…”

“There were too many good reasons Pay. We were still too young. I didn’t want to waste our chance on a whim. There was our studies, and a serious relationship would definitely have been a distraction. But most of all I wanted you to be sure. I hoped that if I waited, one day you’d realize I was the one.”

The pitch of his voice dropped and he turned his head away and fixated on the floor. His chest expanded as he inhaled deeply before continuing. “I wanted you to pick me, I prayed that you would pick me, but I knew you needed time. And don’t beat yourself up.”

He turned his head back to me, “You met my girlfriends too. I wasn’t a monk.”

The words were true, I’d sat and chatted and even danced with a few of his girlfriends over the years. What surprised me now was the sudden anger that bubbled up and had me seeing red at the idea of those other girls being with him, while he had feelings for me.

“How could you be with them when you didn’t have feelings for them?”

“Come on Pay. There were a few of them I liked enough, but at the end of the day, they weren’t you. You were the standard everyone else had to measure up to. No one else did. It wasn’t fair to me or them, so I stopped.”

The room was suddenly too warm, I kicked the covers off of me and put the plate of breakfast aside again. Naked I crawled over the mess of bed blankets to straddle his lap. He opened his arms and welcomed me, drawing me closer to him.

“Is it enough if I pick you now? I can’t go back and undo what happened before, but I’m sorry I hurt you.”

As I studied his face, the beginnings of the smile I knew so well lifted his lips. No longer able to wait I kissed his cheeks, his chin, and his nose before brushing my lips against his.

“Now it’s my turn to show you that I can worship you as well,” I whispered the words and dragged my tongue against the shell of his ear. I knew where I wanted to end up, but getting there was half the fun. The strong corded muscles in his neck made the perfect indentation to follow down his shoulder. Both of my hands braced on the solid wall of his chest to balance myself, and his pecs flexed beneath my touch.

My fingers found the raised edge of his nipple and I teased the tip with my nails as my tongue wound its way lower. I sucked the dark circle of his areola into my mouth and raked my nails over his chest raking the spattering of dark blond hair. The lengthening of his arousal beneath me became evident. As I sucked his other nipple into my mouth, I ground my body down on his erection savoring the exotic feel of his denim covered hardness against my bare sex.

A deep moan of pleasure escaped of its own accord, dragging my hands lower I tugged at his button fly from between my legs needing more than just this fleeting contact. I needed to taste him. I needed to feel his flesh covered steel in my hand as he responded to my caresses.

I pushed myself from his lap and let my body slide down to the floor settling between his legs. I worked the buttons open and reached inside to stroke his erection. My fingers trailed along the length, discovering him and reveling in the soft skin covering the rock hardness beneath. My thumb found the tip and followed the indentation of the slit playing in the pre cum gathered there. I needed to see him, pulling him free from the denim confines I circled his impressive girth with my fingers and allowed my eyes to feast on his manhood.

His organ was as perfect as the rest of him. Long, hard, defined as I leaned forward to lap at the engorged tip he jerked in my hand. My own desire notched up a little higher knowing he wanted this as much as I did. I raised my eyes to meet his as I drew him into my mouth and the expression on his face caused my sex to contract. Moaning around him, I closed my eyes and worked more of him into my mouth. His warm hand cupped the nape of my neck, urging me lower as I relished the feel of his cock sliding over my lips and tongue. The fingers of one hand found his balls and I teased the sensitive area causing the skin to tighten. Again I moaned around him and took him to the back of my throat.

For the first time, I enjoyed giving oral sex, my body thrilled at the sensations rocking me, rather than tolerating them long enough that it was polite to move on to something else. He smelled of soap and man, clean and crisp. His hold was firm but not demanding allowing me to set the rhythm. No longer able to resist the pull of my clenching sex, I reached between my legs and rubbed my throbbing nub in time with taking him in my mouth.

The deep groan let me know he knew what I was doing and was on board with the plan. I hollowed out my cheeks and sucked harder pressing my tongue against his shaft as my fingers worked my clit furiously.

He gripped my upper arms and pulled me away from him, his sex bobbing just inches from my face. Shocked and dismayed at the loss I looked up at him for a reason, but he was concentrating on shoving his pants lower. When his eyes met mine they were ravenous. His hands gripped me and pulled me back onto his lap, but this time there was no barrier.

“Go ahead Pay. I want to feel you like this. Take what you want.” He reclined onto the bed and waited.

Not wasting a second I positioned myself over him and gripping his cock, placed him at the entrance of my throbbing sex. Desperate for the stretch of being filled I lowered myself on him, working each inch into me. I thrust up and down until I took his entire length inside me. I stilled and moaned as he pressed against my womb. The feel of him deep inside my core began the first heated wave of another orgasm. Pressing my hands to his chest, I started moving up and down on his ridged shaft enthralled.

“You look so hot right now Pay. Eyes closed, riding me, your hair falling around you. I’m doing everything I can not to blow.”

His words were strained and his fingertips found my nipples, teasing them while I worked myself on his cock. The pressure built at lightning speed, my core demanding more as I thrust myself down on him with stronger and stronger movements until the blinding heat overwhelmed me. I felt his hands circle my waist and he took over pushing into me, keeping the delicious waves washing over me.

The grip of his hands tightened on my hips and his own moans of pleasure joined mine and filled the room as held himself deep inside me. He pulled me down, laying me on his chest keeping us joined.

“I always knew we would be good together but this was even better than I imagined.”

His whispered confession mirrored my very own thoughts. This was by far the best sex of my life, but I wasn’t ready to share that fact. Instincts still had me worried that the other shoe would drop. I couldn’t have my cake and eat it too and a few other ridiculously apt sayings. So I moaned my concurrence and nodded my head against his heaving chest. I enjoyed the moment for everything it was worth and hoped this wasn’t the beginning of the end.