Chapter 29
TWENTY-NINE
“What did I ever do to you?”
I smirk at Caz as he sidesteps Wingnut, who lunges for his legs again as his webbed feet slap at the concrete floor.
“You asking me or the duck?” I ask, opening the fridge behind the bar to grab two beer out of it.
“Both,” Caz mutters as Kurt huffs and walks away—in the opposite direction of Wingnut.
“Well,” I say, watching Wingnut stretch his wings wide like he’s squaring up for a fight, “your first mistake was choosing birch as your favourite tree.”
As if that’s the best tree in the Betulaceae family.
Caz rolls his eyes. “And the second mistake?”
I shrug, pushing past him. “Ask the duck.”
His yelp behind me makes me smile, but I don’t turn around. My eyes land on Cade just as he sinks the eight ball, and Mac claps a hand to his back, whooping loudly in celebration.
When Cade looks at me, I tilt my head towards the hallway for him to follow.
But I don’t take him to my room.
I pass it and continue down the hallway to the door at the far end that leads outside, behind the building. Then I climb the ladder bolted to the brick, to the top of the roof.
Cade follows me without a word, and when he steps off the ladder onto the flat roof, he casually looks around.
A low concrete wall rims the edges, about two feet high, making this a good spot to hide away when I need a minute alone…
or when I need to get dirty with my doc when there are too many eyes and ears around.
They may be my brothers, but I wouldn’t hesitate to pull my knife on them if they walked in and saw what’s mine.
I pass Cade a beer, then head for the corner with the shell of an old chimney, and take a seat.
He sits next to me, and we each silently take a drink of our beer as we look over the yard of the garage below us, with the bay doors open and the sound of laughter and chatter echoing through the space as some of the guys head back to work.
“Kurt thinks I’m the rat,” Cade says after a while.
“Not anymore,” I reply as I take a drink.
He just nods, eyes still on the yard as Rex eases a car into one of the bays.
“So…” he lifts his beer to his lips. “Maple.”
Every muscle in my body tenses at her name. I just sigh as I reach inside my cut and pull out my cigarettes.
Just when I thought I was ready to quit again.
But Cade just arches a brow and waits.
I strike the lighter, inhale deeply, and hold it until my lungs burn.
Then I let the smoke spill out slowly. “She’s fucking insufferable,” I say.
“Guaranteed she’s not there to look after the place.
I know it’s because she screwed up another relationship and needs somewhere to stay.
And then she’s going to blame me for killing Mom’s plants?
” I huff and take another drag, sucking it in like my life depends on it.
“Christ, those poor things probably shrivelled up and died the second she walked through the door. Nothing lives long in her shadow. She drains the life out of everything she comes into contact with, like it’s her purpose in life. ”
I flick ash over the edge of the roof, my jaw clenched tight as I watch the guys work on the cars we have in today.
“Yet she hates me because she thinks I killed our dad, and she’s pissed I’m still a part of the club.
The same club that keeps her fed and housed as she floats between jobs and boyfriends without a care in the fucking world.
We work hard, bleed, and risk everything Dad and Kurt built, all so she can fuck around.
Then she shits all over me for what we do to provide for her. ”
I don’t even realize how hard I’m holding my beer bottle, and I have to force myself to set it down before I break it.
“And she still acts like I pulled the trigger myself. I was fifteen fucking years old. What did she think I was going to do to stop it? And I’m the one who tracked down the fucker who actually did it and put a bullet between his eyes.
That was me.” I take another drag and forcefully blow it out. “Fuck, I hate her.”
Silence hangs between us until I glance at Cade. He’s just watching me with a slight crease in his brow.
Then he lightly shrugs one shoulder. “I was more curious about the tree names.”
I let out a dry laugh and shake my head as I reach for my beer again. I take a long drink, and when I set it back down, I blow out a breath as I try to ease the fury Maple always pulls out of me.
“Mom lets nature guide her in everything she does.” My gaze drifts over the garage roof to the tree line beyond it. “I also have a younger sister named Cedar.”
Cade takes a drink and thinks on that for a moment. “So, that’s why you like trees…”
I turn my head towards him. “No, baby. I like trees because they tell the truth.”
Confusion enters his gaze for a brief moment, and I just smile at him.
“They don’t hide what they are. Some grow fast and split under pressure, while some dig in and hold their ground, even when it freezes solid.
Some grow sideways to find light, and some rot from the inside out but still look whole from a distance.
Trees don’t lie. But people do. Someone’s favourite tree gives me everything I need to know and tells me more than they ever will.
” I glance over at him. “Mom got it all wrong on her first go, though. There’s nothing prosperous, strong, or wise about Maple.
Just pretty leaves and a habit of dropping everything when the season changes. ”
I turn fully towards him, letting my eyes fall to his mouth as he licks his bottom lip after taking a drink. “So, Doc…” I pause for a moment, lifting my eyes to his. “What’s your favourite tree?”
His dark blue gaze meets mine, and I see how much clearer it is now compared to this morning. He leans in, just enough to tease me.
“Don’t have one.”
My eyes narrow, and he leans back again with a faint smirk tugging at one side of his mouth.
But I can’t bring myself to be mad about that right now. Because that answer actually fits.
His world is dead branches and silence.
For now.
He just hasn’t found his tree yet.
“By the way,” I murmur, letting my gaze drop to his mouth again. “I went to the doctor.”
He just looks at me expectantly.
I smile. “Fuck condoms.”
A laugh bubbles out of him, and my dick twitches.
“And as much as I want to bend you over that ledge and fuck you…” I reach forward and slip my fingers into his hair, “I think you need something else.”
My grip tightens in his hair, and I yank him forward, pulling him off the chimney until he drops to his knees in front of me. He lands hard and glares up at me with fire in his eyes. But behind it, I catch a flicker of hunger he can’t hide.
“Yeah, baby…” I tip his head back and lean close to hover my lips just over his. “Fight me all you want. But you won’t win this one.”
My other hand slides to my hip, and I slip my knife free. His eyes dart to it as the light catches the blade, and I press the point beneath his chin.
“You liked it when I held you at knifepoint, didn’t you?” I say in a low voice. “You knew I wouldn’t hurt you… But the thought that I could had you aching.”
His chest rises and falls with heavy breaths as he stares into my eyes, and I can see and feel the need written all over him.
“So what you’re going to do,” I let the blade trail slow down the line of his throat, “is suck me. Right here.”
His eyes widen slightly, and I grin at the clatter of metal echoing from below. We’re visible up here… but only from the waist up.
“I control you right now, baby,” I say, pressing the tip of the knife against him until it almost breaks skin. “You got an issue with that?”
The war inside him is obvious as he continues to glare at me, and the need to push back against me rises. And, fuck, do I love it when he fights back.
But I also know we both love it when I take control. Because when he hands it over, every inch of him wakes up.
And this time… he’s going to make himself feel good.
The moment the fight buckles under the weight of need, which flashes bright behind his eyes, I lower the knife and shift my grip from his hair to his throat, and brush my lips over his. “Be bad, Doc.”
He exhales and swallows against my hand. “Be worse.”
With a smile, I release him and lean back, and Cade’s hands immediately lift to undo my belt.
As he pulls my zipper down and wraps his hand around my cock, relief hits me like fucking truck.
“Jesus,” I breathe out, watching him stroke my cock as he looks at it like it’s his next meal, and he’s starving. “Get your pretty fucking lips on me, baby. Make me see fucking stars.”
He shifts forward on his knees and gives me one last glance that reminds me he still holds power over me without even having to try.
And don’t I fucking know it.
Because the second his lips wrap around me, a groan tears out of me like I’ve been starving too.
His tongue runs along my length as he slowly teases me while he cups my balls with his other hand.
The pressure of his palm mixes with the warm drag of his tongue until I feel like I’m pulsing under his control.
And the sight of him on his knees, blocked from view by the ledge as he gives in to both of us while tools clatter below, has my whole body burning.
When he takes me all the way in, and his throat works around the head of my cock, I have to grip the edge of the chimney to keep myself upright.
“Fuck yeah, baby. Suck that dick…” My hand finds the back of his head, guiding him as he pulls off, then takes me in again, humming like he’s tuned in to every one of my needs.
Jesus fucking Christ, he’s going to make me come.
I fight to hold back, but he keeps working me, sucking and licking in all the right ways as his hand continues to play with my balls. And when he moans, the vibration is enough to push me closer to ruin.
But I can’t come yet.
Just before he takes me into his throat again, I grab his shoulders and shove him back. He lands hard on his ass as his back thumps against the ledge behind him, and he looks up at me with a dark, angry glare.
“What the fuck?” he snaps, starting to rise.
“Stay right where you fucking are,” I say in a low voice as I wrap my hand around my cock.
And surprisingly… he listens.
Or maybe not surprisingly. Because as he lowers himself back to the rooftop and I nod to his sweatpants, that spark flares to life again, telling me exactly how badly he wants and needs this to keep going.
He slides his hands under the waistband of his sweats and pulls them low enough to free his cock.
For the love of god. This man is my greatest fucking weakness.
I pull a breath in through my nose and grip my cock tighter. “Stroke it.”
Cade locks eyes with me as he wraps his hand around himself and slowly starts working his length.
“Hm,” I groan, matching his rhythm. “Tell me what it feels like.”
But something shifts, and for some reason, the fire dims.
Fuck no, baby.
I lean forward and grab the front of his sweatshirt, shoving him back against the brick with a solid thud.
“I said, tell me what it feels like,” I murmur as I stare him down, willing that fire to flood him again.
But he just blankly stares back at me.
I press harder, pushing my fist against his chest and him into the wall until I see the wince on his face. And I don’t miss the way his hand picks up speed on his dick.
Then his eyes close as his breath catches. “Good,” he rasps. “Fucking good.”
I release him and grab the waistband of his pants, forcefully pulling them until his hips shift forward, enough for me to pull one of his legs out.
All he does is watch me as I grab his hand and lift it to his mouth.
“Suck,” I command.
And once again, he does as he’s told.
His lips part, and I push two fingers into his mouth as I lift his foot up on the chimney edge beside me. Then I lean back and stroke myself again, waiting for him to do what we both need him to do.
His eyes stay fixed on mine as he slides his wet fingers from his mouth, brings them down to his ass, and pushes one inside himself.
A guttural moan rips from my chest, and I stroke myself faster as warmth rushes through every inch of me.
“Fuck your ass while you stroke yourself, baby,” I pant. “Show me how good you can feel.”
Cade moans as he moves his finger in his ass and he jerks his cock, picking up his pace as he continues to look me dead in the eye.
He’s going to be the fucking death of me. And I don’t want to go out any other way.
Especially when he wets another finger and pushes both inside him.
“Yeah, Cade… fuck.” I can barely catch my breath as I watch his head tip back against the wall, the veins and muscles in his forearms bulging as he works himself. “What’s it feel like?”
He pulls in a deep breath, and I swear I see weight fall from his shoulders.
“So fucking good,” he breathes.
The pressure inside me is building, like I’m a bomb about to blow, and watching him take control of his own pleasure, and watching him feel something real, has my clock ticking.
“Make yourself come, baby.” I bite my lip as I squeeze the base of my cock. “I want to see you paint yourself with your cum.”
His eyes drop to my hand as he strokes himself harder and fingers his ass, and his leg moves wider. His chest rises and falls with heavy breaths as his face flushes, and I know he’s close.
And when his head tips back with a groan tearing out of him while cum shoots across his hoodie, I let go too. I’ve been waiting hours to fuck my man… but this is better than I ever could have imagined.
My release comes hard as pleasure crashes over me, and I shoot cum all over him. I let it roll through my body as I watch Cade slowly come down from his high, before I lean forward and swipe two fingers through our cum on his dick. Then, I press them to his lips.
He takes them instantly sucking them into his mouth, and licking them clean.
Then I grab his jaw and kiss him, tasting both of us on his tongue.
When I pull back, the corner of my mouth lifts at the look of complete… life in him. “Such a bad boy.”