Risky Business: (Taboo Romance Series) (Forbidden Fruit Book 3) (12 page)

Chapter 22

Olivia

"Un-fucking-believable," I whispered and handed him the phone back. I wasn't good enough for the town hero years ago and wasn't good enough for the town dick now.

"Olivia." He reached over and squeezed my shoulder as I turned toward the window and pulled my legs into the seat with me.

"Leave me alone. Please." I pressed my chin to my arms and watched the darkness make way for the various lights of downtown Houston. Nostalgia rolled over me, and I wanted to see my mother. Maybe staying in the hotel with Caden wasn't a good idea. I could get a cab to take me over to momma’s or even call her and she would come.

"Guess what I got." His calm demeanor and soft tone forced me to look over at him.

I wasn't willing to cry a single tear for Luke Taylor. Fuck him for using me. I'd be packing up my shit and leaving him and his firm when I got back to New York. And then... I was leaving the Big Apple too.

"What did you get?"

He glanced over at me. "A bike."

"You trying to get healthy?" I didn't feel at all like talking, but the very fact that he had changed the subject and was trying left me with little to no choice.

He chuckled. "No, silly. I got a Harley. I'm taking you for a ride out to the prettier parts of New York when we get back."

"Maybe." I turned and watched other cars move by as my heart ached in my chest. "I hate him."

"I do too." He rubbed his hand over my arm. "I didn't tell you so that we could get back together."

"Why did you tell me?" I turned my head a little so I could watch him from the corner of my eye.

"Because you deserve to know. I would want to know."

"Would you?" I unbuckled and got out of the car with my shoes dangling from my finger as soon as we pulled up to the hotel.

"I would. Trusting the wrong person with your heart can lead to intense amounts of pain." He followed me into the elevator and stopped in front of me as I pressed my back to the bar behind me and forced myself to look up at him.

"What do you want from me, Caden? I'm glad we cleared up the past, but I'm not her anymore. I'm not sure who I am." I shrugged, feeling so incredibly empty all of a sudden. My glass house didn't sustain the rock that was launched at it. I could feel it shattering around me.

"I don't need you to be her. I need you to be you." The door opened, and he reached out and picked me up, carrying me like a newlywed bride.

"Put me down." I sunk down into his arms and rested my head on his chest. "Or don't actually."

He kissed the top of my head and stopped outside the door. "How about just for a minute?"

"Yeah, okay." I gripped his neck and slid down the front of his body. "Why am I not enough?"

Anger burned through me as tears filled my eyes.

"You are so much more than enough, and you know it. That bastard has no clue of what he has because you've tucked the real you behind the same icy cage that I've tucked myself in." He reached around me and opened the door. "Come in here and we can share a bottle of wine and scream 'fuck the world' like we used to when we were kids."

I walked in numbly behind him before stopping at the couch and turning over my shoulder to have him watching me.

"Why do you still love me?"

"Why do you not love me anymore?" He moved up behind me and reached up, tugging the zipper to my dress down slowly.

I closed my eyes and let out a soft sigh as his finger pushed the soft silk off my shoulders, letting it hit the ground beneath us.

"Who says I don't?" I turned and reached up to work on his shirt, unbuttoning it as he reached out and brushed his fingers down my stomach and over my hips.

"You sure you want this?" He pulled me in tight as I pushed his shirt over the thick muscles of his shoulders and leaned in to kiss his tattoo.

"I can't remember ever wanting anything more." I groaned as his hands slid over the curve of my ass and gripped tightly.

"Jump and let me carry you to the bedroom." He held on tightly as I did as he asked and wrapped my legs around him. "This is fucking..."

"No." I rolled my hips and ground against his erection. I wanted his slacks off, but it would have to wait. "I wanna fuck."

"It's not the same with you, Olivia. It can't be." He pulled me down for a long kiss that left me dizzy with need. He slipped his hand into my panties and cupped my ass again only to dive a little lower and brush his finger over my wetness.

"I just want us to be together. Even if tomorrow ends it." I moaned and tightened my arms around his neck. "Just tonight at least."

"Stop talking like that. We have so much to-"

"Tonight." I pressed my lips to his and tightened my thighs around him as he laid me back on the bed.

"Whatever you want. I'm all yours." He tugged my panties over my hips and chucked them behind him before dragging his eyes up to mine. "Take your bra off. I wanna touch every part of you, taste every inch."

I groaned again and worked on my bra before tossing it aside and lying back.

His strong hands roamed over my body, squeezing and tugging, gripping and scratching as he moved onto his knees near the bottom of the bed. "I've wanted to do this more than I care to ever admit.”

"Then do it. Do anything you want."

"I wanna do whatever you want tonight." He ran his tongue up the center of me, lapping a few times as the world melted around me. He was the only man I'd ever wanted between my legs. To have him there again stirred up too many emotions.

"Fuck me," I whispered and lifted my legs as he worked me far better than anyone I'd been with before. I couldn't help but glance down at him to see if he was enjoying himself. The soft grunts leaving him combined with the expression of ecstasy on his face as he licked and sucked at my skin drove a spike of carnality through my center.

"So close," I whispered and arched my hips.

"Here baby. Come for me." He pressed two fingers deep inside of me and sucked my clit into his mouth as his tongue rolled over it faster and faster.

I screamed his name as I came up off the bed and gripped the sheets. He wouldn't stop, and the orgasm turned into two as I shook beneath him.

"Please. Caden. Stop." I moved up on the bed, breaking the seal of his mouth on my skin.

"I want more." He stood up and licked at his lips. "You taste so fucking good. I knew you would."

"No more." I rolled onto my side and panted as I tried to move past how hard it was to keep from crying during the event. As much as I wanted him, I was scared like hell to let myself love him again - truly, unabashed love. The kind that didn't need to hide for protection, but could scream from the rooftops.

He tugged off his slacks and looked around. "Shit. I don't have a condom."

"I'll just suck then." I moved up to my hands and knees and crawled toward him.

"Fuck no. I wanna feel you wrapped around me, Olivia. I need to, baby. Let me go get some." He gripped my shoulder and pulled me up to press his chest against mine as he stood at the edge of the bed. "Just wait five minutes and I'll be back."

"No. I want you now." I licked at his mouth and slid my hands into his briefs. His ass was perfect, squeezable to the point of me wanting to put my teeth on it just to leave a few marks.

"I'll be careful. I'll pull out." He leaned down and kissed me roughly a few times.

"I trust you." And I did. No one else in my life would have been given the opportunity. But I trusted him completely, though it was almost unmerited.

"You sure?" He tugged at his underwear and moved back, pulling them off and standing back up with worry on his face.

"My purse." I got up and stopped in front of him, taking him in. The thick muscles of his stomach and chest were only more accentuated as if the gym had become a second home. He had the type of body I would find myself worshiping if I wasn't careful.

I slid my hand down his shaft, gripping him tightly and pressing my chest against his as I licked at his mouth. "This has gotten a lot fucking bigger."

"Wait until you see what it can do." He gripped the back of my head and kissed me hard as I stroked him again.

Excitement raced through me at how good it was going to feel to lose myself on top of him, beneath him, bent over for him.

"So hot," I whispered and glanced down again.

He gripped my chin. "Get the condom. Now."

Chapter 23

Caden

I turned to watch her walk out of the bedroom and let out the breath I'd been holding. A wave of emotion rolled over me, and I moved to the bed to sit down before my legs gave out. I'd been looking for her for six fucking years. Ever since the night I lost her I'd been looking. Trying to find her in the arms of another woman or in the number of dollars that got deposited in my bank account, but none of that mattered. Nothing did but her.

"I found one."

I glanced up and gave her a weak smile. "Awesome."

"Hey. What's wrong?" Her smile slid from her pretty face as she moved toward me. "Talk to me."

"Nothing." I reached up and touched her neck before standing up and pulling her tightly against me. "I don't want just tonight, Olivia. I can't imagine losing you again. I know it's ridiculous, but I feel like I'm going to."

"No. Hush." She pushed at my chest, causing me to drop back down to the bed. She moved to her knees and slipped in between my legs. "No worries for tonight. Just me and you. I want you. Please."

"I need a promise that this isn't just tonight. I can't do that." I touched the side of her face as she opened the condom and slid it over my dick. "I'm not that guy."

"I know you're not." She moved into my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck as I pulled her up farther and pressed kisses to her breasts, taking my time to suck softly on each little pert nipple as she pressed down on me. "Love me."

"I do, baby. I do." I wrapped my arms around her and gripped the back of her shoulders and pulled, forcing her to take all of me. "Fuck. So tight."

"All yours." She leaned down and consumed my mouth as she began to rock her hips, massaging me with her sexy little body.

I moved my hands down to grip her ass tightly and tried not to remember the last time she let me deep inside of her. What a fucking nightmare that had been. Now was different. We were grown up and she wasn't a scared little girl anymore. I wasn't so sure if I'd changed much, but more than anything in the world I wanted to give her what I wanted her to have all those years ago. Pleasure.

"Hell yeah you are." I stood up and turned before pressing her to the bed and moving us up toward the pillows. I pressed back into her and lifted up to my arms so I could get a clear view of how good she looked below me. "You always have been."

She moaned and tightened her grip on my upper arms as she lifted her hips off the bed and worked me good from underneath me.

"Work me any way you need to." I moved to lay down on top of her and gripped her knees, pulling her legs up to open her up fully for me. I buried my face in the side of her neck and lost myself in the scent of our sex, in the sound of her coming over, and over, and over again.

We made love three times that night, and I couldn't help but worry a little about not having a condom for the last two. Somewhere during the madness to have each other again, neither of us cared much about the consequences. If I had my way, she'd have already had several of my babies.

I brushed my hand down her side as she slept with her back pressed to my chest. A peace I couldn't remember feeling held me awake and unwilling to miss a moment of her beside me. Just in case it was a ruse and she was soon to leave me again. I wanted to treasure every last minute she gave me.

Pulling her closer, I snuggled in tightly against her back and slid my hand around to cup her breast as sleep started to pull me under.

"I love you more than anything in this world, Olivia Desmant. Be mine? Forever, baby. Please." I kissed the back of her shoulder a few times and slipped into the darkness, finally giving up the fight to stay awake.

*

I sat up in a cold sweat to find her gone.

"No." I patted the bed beside me as my heart hammered in my chest. My nightmares had replayed the horror of my senior year as if I'd just lived it. "Olivia?"

I got out of the bed and grabbed my slacks from the pile of clothes on the floor. There was no reason to panic, and yet I couldn't stop myself.

"Stop. Shit. You dumb-ass psycho." I walked into the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face before staring at my complexion in the mirror. "She isn't your world. She can be a part of it, but you can't go back to worshiping her. It's not healthy."

I let out a shaky breath and closed my eyes. I couldn't hear anyone moving around in the hotel room, which caused my heart to race all over again.

After clearing my throat and wiping my face, I walked into the living room area and stretched. "Olivia?"

Nothing.

I moved into the extra bedroom to find the sheets messy. Had she left me when I fell asleep and come into the extra room? Why? I didn't snore. At least, I didn't think I did. Why would she leave?

"Baby?" I turned around and walked back into the kitchen to find a note on the table. Ice water ran through my veins, and I realized how fucked up it was that I was letting this affect me so much. Maybe I needed to run far from her. Something inside me felt the need to obsess over her.

I flipped the paper over and let out a soft sigh. She went for a jog.

"That's it. You need help. Fuck." I walked back to the bedroom and grabbed my phone, calling Jake. He answered on the second ring.

"Hey brother."

"Hey man. You still up for getting together?"

"Hell yeah. Where are you? At your momma's place?" The sound of laughter filled up the phone.

"Naw. At the hotel. Who's laughing?"

"Mom and Kari. They're looking at my baby pictures. Come save me."

I chuckled. "Yeah right. Good luck with that."

"When are we getting together?"

"Tonight sound good?" I let out a tight sigh.

"Absolutely." He paused. "So... is she with you?"

"Yeah. I found out that Luke was cheating on her, so I told her last night."

"Awww, damn," Jake growled softly. "Kari's ex did that shit, and you know mine did too."

"I remember all too well about yours." I ran my fingers through my hair. "We made love last night."

"Really? That's awesome, Caden." He paused as I tried to catch my breath. "Why doesn't it sound like this is a good thing?"

"This girl destroyed me all those years ago, and she could do so much more damage now." I rubbed my chest and fell back on the bed. "What if she slept with me because she needed a rebound from Luke?"

"We're both talking about Olivia Desmant, right? The sweetest girl both of us have ever known, or is this some other girl that we've moved on to."

"She's not that girl anymore, bro. She's a woman now, and much like I've tried to create a whole new life, she had too. I'm just... I don't know. I'm being a vulnerable-ass girl this morning."

"You always have been when it comes to her." Jake laughed. "Did she tell you that she loved you?"

"Kinda. I think so. Fuck, I don't know." I pressed my palm to my forehead and tried to remember. "I want her to be my wife. I wanna ask her now, this weekend."

"Ask her." He made it sound so simple.

"Right. Anyway, we talked through all that shit from high school. I'm pretty sure she didn't start all that shit. She thought I started it." I snorted. "Who would do that to us?"

"Um, the cheerleading squad and the football team. You were king and queen of homecoming court, Caden. Don't be a dumb-ass, bro. A sensitive guy over the girl of your dreams, yeah, sure, but not this. You guys were too good together. I could name fifty people that would have loved to pry you apart."

"Yeah, you're right." I sat up at the sound of the front door closing. "I don't know what to do, man. I don't wanna fuck this up."

"Cool. Then don't. Just be you, bro. That's who she's in love with. The old you. The one I call friend."