Mindset (24 page)

John stretched again.  “Fine, son, fine.  I sure appreciate it.  I’m such a heavy sleeper now in my old age.  Nothing seems to wake me up before the rooster crows.  Still an early riser, but once my head hits that pillow, I’m down for the count.  Well, goodnight kids.”

“Night, Granddad.”

“Goodnight, John.”

Callie and Cade waited until they heard him close his door then turned to each other and smiled. 

Cade leaned over and kissed Callie.  “Hey.”

“Hey yourself.  I feel like I’m in high school again.”

He kissed her again.  “Hmmm?”

“You know, making out on the couch with the lights turned down low.”

“You hussy, you.”  He leaned in and kissed her again.

She giggled like a school girl.  “It’s not like there was a lot of making out going on around here, you know.  Between you and my brothers and Granddad, it’s a wonder I ever got asked out on a date.  Funny how Granddad always needed to clean his guns or sharpen his knives whenever I had a date come around to pick me up.  Or how you or Jake or Josh always felt hungry about the time my date brought me home and made a trip to the kitchen to get something to eat.  And stayed there until he left.”

“Or how we just had to catch the late night reruns on Nick at Night?  That was my personal favorite.  I thought we were pretty clever.”  He kissed her some more, and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Not so clever.  I was onto y’all the whole time.  I just didn’t care enough to bother pitching a fit.  I never was that interested in the guys who took me out.  Most of the time, I was just trying to make you jealous, you know.”

“Well, it worked.  I didn’t much care for them coming around here.  Had a talk with a couple of those boys when you weren’t looking, too.”

“You did not!  What did you say?”

“Sometimes I didn’t have to say anything.  I just gave them the look.  I used to practice it in the mirror all the time.  The best, though, was when Josh and Jake and I would gang up on them when you were still upstairs getting ready.  Sometimes, we’d talk about the last guy who’d taken you out when you’d missed curfew and how he was still recovering in the hospital, or we’d lay odds on how likely it was that he’d ever be able to father any children.”

“Cade!  Did you really?”

“I absolutely did, and I’m not a bit sorry, either.  You were way too pretty for your own good, and I knew first hand all about randy, teenage boys.  If I had it to over again, I wouldn’t do it any differently, unless I took it a step further and locked you inside your room and nailed the windows shut.  The only time I recall ever being pissed off at John in a major way was when he agreed that you could move to New York.  I’m still not sure I’ve entirely forgiven him for that.  You were way too young to go off like that, especially since none of us were there to protect you.  I even thought about moving there for awhile, so I could watch over you, but…”

“But what, baby?”

He touched her face tenderly.  “But I didn’t trust myself around you anymore.”

“I never even knew you thought I was pretty.”

“Pretty doesn’t even come close to what I thought about you.”

“And now?”

“Now, it’s not about pretty anymore.  It’s the whole package.”  He took her face in his hands.  “It’s about your courage, your character, your determination.  It’s about your strength, your goodness.  You’re everything good, Callie, and you make me want to be a better man.  You inspire me, you give me hope.  You make me think ahead to the future.  I never did that before I met you.”

Callie was truly humbled, maybe for the first time in her life.  She leaned closer and kissed him with all the love she’d held for him in her heart for what seemed like her whole life.  All of a sudden, she couldn’t get close enough.  She broke the kiss and opened her eyes, searching his face for some sign that he returned her love.  She knew he cared for her deeply, but did he want to spend the rest of his life with her like she did with him?  Would he end up pushing her away again?  Would he run scared if she told him she loved him?  She wasn’t ready to take that chance yet, so she went back to the kissing him. 

Cade deepened the kiss, and it became heated very quickly.  It had only been a couple days since they’d been together, but it seemed like forever.  His hands were warm as they moved over her body.  He undid her robe and traced her nipples through her night shirt until they were hard and sensitive.  He turned with her in his arms and laid her down beneath him.  She raised her hips up to meet his, seeking his hardness and rubbing against it.  He shifted his weight, and she began to protest until she felt him lift the hem of her night shirt up and over her breasts so he could take them into his hot mouth. 

She hissed in a breath filled with heat and held his head to her, urging him on.  Then she was pulling his t-shirt over his head, desperate for the feel of his skin on her own.  He lifted her up and slipped her robe off her shoulders and down her arms then lifted her top over her head.  She shook out her hair, and he buried his hands in it.  He kissed down her neck to her collarbone tracing it with his tongue to her shoulder where he nipped her then licked the sting away.

He returned his mouth to her breasts, squeezing one while he sucked the other.  “Harder, Cade.  Yes, just like that.  Oh God, that feels so good.”  He loved that she wasn’t shy in bed – or couch for that matter.  He loved how she told him what she liked.  He wanted to make her feel good, and she was willing to help him do that.  She was as confident in her sexuality as she was in the rest of her life.  She knew what she wanted and she went for it.  Thank God.

He moved his hand from her breast lower until he reached her panties.  She raised her hips to meet his hand, and he rubbed her through the satin.  “Touch me, Cade.  Take my panties off and touch me.  Please.  I can’t wait any longer.”  She lifted her hips up, so he could do her bidding.  Before she could slip her feet through and discard them, his hand had returned to her, sliding his fingers through the layers of her heat until he found her core.  She gasped as he thrust his fingers inside her, probing her as deeply as possible, exploring all the textures and feeling her clench around him.

“Christ, Callie, I’ve got to be inside you.”

“Take those pants off, Cade.  Make love to me.”

Leaving her just long enough to undo his belt and pants, he didn’t even take the time to pull his pants all the way off.  Desperate to be inside her, he shoved them past his hips and slammed himself between her thighs that were already spread wide for him, waiting impatiently.  He smothered her moan with his mouth as she did his.  He took her hard and fast, and she met him stroke for stroke.  Their mating was primal and rough.  He was desperate to leave some kind of mark on her, so everyone would know she belonged to him.  She was gasping for air and moving her head back and forth, clutching his shoulders.  The thought crossed his mind that he should maybe slow down, but she stopped it immediately when he heard her whisper, “Don’t stop.  God, Cade, don’t stop.” 

He hooked his hand under her knee and pushed her leg up higher to give him better access, so he could go even deeper.  He was out of control and just when he thought he couldn’t last much longer, he felt her begin to climax, convulsing tightly around him until he had no choice but to join her in ecstasy.  He continued to grind his hips against hers, holding her ass in his hands, until they’d both given up everything they had.  Then he crushed her to him, unwilling to let her go.  She held him just as tightly, kissing his neck, his chest.  He fisted her hair and pulled her head back until he could look into her eyes.  Then he kissed her deeply, eventually leaving her mouth to trail kisses down her cheek to her jaw and down to her chin, where he nipped her before continuing down her neck and finally laying his head on her breast after kissing her nipple.

When their breathing finally slowed down, they were quiet, content to hold each other in the aftermath of their lovemaking.  She was running her fingers through his hair, and he was thinking that there was no way he was ever letting her go.  He knew without a doubt that she was the only woman he would ever want to be with for the rest of his life.  If she would have him, he’d spend the rest of his life loving her.  He didn’t care about anything else.  He was probably being  selfish, but he just didn’t give a damn anymore.  He squeezed her waist, wondering how he could tell her in a way that she would understand how important she was to him.  How his whole life revolved around her now.  He didn’t know what he’d ever done to deserve her, but he knew he would do everything in his power to make sure she never regretted being with him.  Assuming, of course, that he could convince her to stay with him long term.  A million thoughts started rolling around in his head of all the things he had to do to show her he was serious and to convince her to take a chance on him.  After all, the last time he’d asked her to marry him, she’d not only turned him down flat, she’d called him an ass.

“Are you about ready to go upstairs sweetheart?”

“That depends.  Are you coming with me?”

He smiled against her breast, leaned up and kissed her nipple again.  “Tell you what.  I’ll take you up there and tuck you in and stay until you fall asleep.  How’s that?”

“Will that require any effort or movement on my part?”

“I’m afraid so, darlin’.  Just till we get upstairs.  You’re too heavy to carry.”

“Cade!  I am not!  Am I?”

Cade chuckled.  “Come on, let’s get dressed.  Not that I don’t think that old   man knows exactly what’s going on between us.  All that talk about getting older and sleeping like a rock until the rooster crows.  It was getting pretty deep in here, don’t you think?”

She laughed.  “You’re probably right.  Despite his age, he’s pretty hip to the ways of the modern world.”

“Don’t kid yourself.  He wouldn’t be nearly as condoning if he didn’t trust that I have your best interests at heart.  Little does he know that it’s my own best interests I’m thinking about.”

She raised that one eyebrow she always raised when she wanted to make a withering statement without words.  “Come on.”  She looked at his outstretched hand, then again up at his face where she saw he’d raised his own eyebrow, and let him help her up.  He pulled her to him and kissed her fast and hard.  They dressed sloppily, with belts and buttons only half way done up and went upstairs.

“So, I’m too heavy for you to carry, huh?”

“You know I’m just joking with you sweetheart.  You’re just a little thing.”

“Still, I want to make sure.  How about you let me be on top when we get to the bedroom?  Then you can tell me if you can handle my weight.”

“Oh, I can handle it just fine.  But I’m willing to prove it to you, sweetheart.  You on top sounds like the perfect test.”  He squeezed her hand and gave her his most lecherous look.  She smiled and led the way upstairs.

Chapter 20

“Well, hi.  You’re up early.  Couldn’t you sleep?”  Eva poured herself a cup of coffee and joined Callie at the kitchen table.  “It’s amazing what a couple of days laying around does for you.  My voice is almost back to normal, and I feel pretty good.  What brought you down so early?”

Callie smiled wanly, “It’s not often I get up before you do, is it?  Cade got up early to help Granddad go pick up and unload the feed and hay for the animals.  I woke up when he kissed me goodbye, and I couldn’t get back to sleep.”