Chapter 44
Kaden
She read it. I can’t believe she read the letter.
The one that was never meant for anyone else’s eyes but mine.
Not even Skylar’s. And she just helped herself to something that was meant to remain private.
The guilt written all over her face tells me she knows it too—she crossed a line.
She had no right. She invaded something deeply personal.
“You shouldn’t have read that.” The words leave me raw, my voice rough and strained, as though each syllable drags against my throat like sandpaper.
She swipes at her cheeks, letting out a heavy sigh. “Kaden… I… I…” she stammers, her mouth opening, then closing again, unable to find a good enough reason as to why she was snooping.
“Did you find what you needed?” I ask, and from the knowing look in her eyes, I can tell she knows I’m not talking about the batteries.
When she still doesn’t answer, I nod quietly, step back, and walk away. As I do, I hear Hope call out to me, her footsteps following immediately, but I keep moving, slipping behind the island once again and busying myself with the dishes in the sink.
“Kaden...I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have read the letter. I don’t know why I did it...but—”
“But what, Hope?” I burst out, slamming the tap shut and spinning around to face her.
“That wasn’t for anyone to see. It was private.
There were things on there, things personal to me that I…
I…” I struggle to get the words out, too overwhelmed by the fact that she now knows what not even Skylar ever did.
“I’m so sorry, Kaden,” she murmurs, her voice gentle and hesitant. “I never meant to snoop, I swear. But when I saw Skylar’s name on that envelope… I don’t know. My curiosity just… got the best of me. And I know that’s not an excuse, but it’s the only one I can give you. Please don’t be mad.”
“I’m not mad, Hope. I’m just...disappointed.”
Her expression sinks, and she casts her gaze down to her hands gripping the edge of the island counter. “I know you are,” she says softly, looking up to meet my eyes again. “I’m sorry for reading that letter… but if I’m being completely honest… I’m glad I did.”
I frown, and she slowly walks around the island, stopping to stand directly in front of me.
“I’m glad, because it’s helped me understand you so much better—the fear, the shame, the guilt, the pain…
everything you’ve carried for so long. I understand now.
And I just want you to know—” She pauses, her hand rising to gently cup my cheek.
“—that you don’t have to carry any of it anymore.
I see you, Kaden. You are not that person anymore.
You were never unwanted, never unworthy.
Because to me, you are wanted, you are worthy…
and I’m sorry it’s taken me this long to see it. ”
Instinctively, my eyes close, my hand rising to cover hers on my cheek, as I let the words I’ve been waiting to hear wash over me, sinking deep into my chest. When my eyes open, our hands falling to our sides, I find myself staring into the most beautiful arctic blue.
Her eyes have always held me captive, but now they burn with a longing and intensity I’ve never seen in her before.
“Kaden,” she breathes, her chest rising and falling in quick, desperate gasps.
“Yes, angel?”
“I want you to kiss me,” she whispers, her voice low and almost pleading.
I raise a brow, tilting my head. “I thought we agreed we were just going to be friends?” I tease.
She shakes her head slowly, and in the most sultry voice, murmurs, “Fuck just being friends.”
The corners of my mouth curl into a slow grin, and with one deliberate step, I close the distance between us, crashing my lips to hers. One hand slides around her waist, the other cradles her jaw, her soft moans driving me to kiss her harder, deeper.
She winds her arms around my neck, drawing me close as if she wants—needs to fuse herself to me. I lift her by the back of her knees, her legs instinctively locking around my back.
Caught up in the heat of the moment, I nearly forget about the pizzas still baking in the oven, and reluctantly pull back just slightly.
The frown that flashes across her face is so fucking adorable, it only makes me want to kiss the life out of her until she’s breathless and her bones feel like jelly.
“Why did you stop?” she pants, her breath warm against my mouth.
“I have to switch the oven off before we end up burning this place down.”
“Oh, yeah,” she lets out an airy laugh. “Good idea.”
With her still wrapped around me, I press my lips to hers once again and bend slightly, reaching back to switch off the oven without ever breaking our kiss.
Then, as if my legs have a mind of their own, they lead us straight to my room, and towards my bed, my lips never once leaving hers the whole way there.
As soon as my knees hit the edge of the frame, I slowly lower her onto the mattress, her legs instantly unhooking from my back, and widening as I ease myself between them.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I murmur, my lips trailing from hers to the curve of her jaw. “Because the moment you say yes, there’s no telling what comes next.”
She angles her head to the right, offering me her neck, and my mouth glides over it until I reach the crook.
“I’ve never been so sure in my life,” she whispers, and the moment she does, I sink my teeth gently into her soft skin, and a shaky, breathy moan escapes her.
She responds so effortlessly to my touch; every subtle brush of my lips, every slow glide of my fingers across her skin, sends a shiver racing through her.
Goosebumps prickle beneath my hands, and the soft sounds that spill from her mouth are wickedly intoxicating—so dangerously seductive they ignite a fierce, consuming need to pull her closer and lose myself in her completely.
My hands find the hem of her shirt, and slowly, I lift it over her head, letting it fall to the floor. She quickly moves to cover her stomach with her arms, but I catch her wrists, drawing them up above her head with one steady hand.
A soft chuckle leaves me when she shuts her eyes, as if to hide from my gaze.
“Open your eyes, Hope.”
She opens them slowly, blinking twice before they fix on mine. I smile and press my lips to hers.
“Don’t ever feel like you need to hide from me,” I brush a kiss against one corner of her mouth. “There’s nothing about you that you should ever be ashamed of.” I kiss the other side.
Her eyes grow heavy with heat and desire, her breathing quickening with every warm touch of my lips.
“Cause, angel...you are stunning,” I kiss her jaw.
“Gorgeous,” I nip the skin on her neck.
“Beautiful,” my tongue slides along her collarbone.
“Irresistible,” my mouth trails the valley between her breasts, to her sternum, and when I reach the slightly faded caesarean scar along her lower abdomen, I seal my lips over the smooth, soft skin.
“Just absolutely perfect.”
Her eyes flutter close once more, her body trembling beneath my lips, and when I drag her leggings and lacey underwear down her curvy thighs and legs, she lets me.
“I’ve been dreaming of this very moment. The moment I finally get to taste you on my tongue.”
And without hesitation, I spread her thighs wider and clamp my mouth over her clit.
She instantly gasps, rolling her hips to match the circling of my tongue.
“Kaden,” she moans as she grips the back of my head. “I don’t think I’m going to last.”
Her hips begin to move faster, her grip tightening as she chases the edge of her release.
My mouth continues to devour her, savouring her pussy like it’s a sweet forbidden fruit.
She’s completely drenched, evidence of her arousal soaking into the sheets beneath us, the sight making me feel absolutely feral. I suck on her clit with a little more pressure, and her moans get louder.
The instant I slip a finger inside her—then another—curling them as she writhes and whimpers from the intense sensation, I know she’s getting close.
“Fuck! Keep doing that. Please don’t stop!” she gasps.
That’s all the encouragement I need to start picking up the pace, my fingers sliding in and out of her—faster, harder, rougher. And when she clenches down on my fingers, her clit raw and swollen on my tongue, she lets out a loud cry as she climaxes and cums all over my mouth and fingers.
I give her clit one last swipe, causing her hips to jerk from the sensitivity, and slowly slide my fingers out.
She looks utterly delicious sprawled across my bed in nothing but her bra, her silky red hair fanned out around her like a halo, nearly matching the warm blush staining her cheeks.
“How was that, baby?” I ask, and just before she has a chance to respond, I’m lifting my soaked fingers and slipping them into my mouth.
She watches with her eyes wide and her mouth slightly parted, and when I flash her a devious wink, she covers her face with her hands, groaning about how I’m a complete animal.
When she finally meets my gaze, I climb out of the bed and, just to tease her a little, I make a slow, deliberate show of peeling off my clothes. One by one, my clothes fall away, and the way she’s biting into her bottom lip tells me she’s thoroughly enjoying the view.
I’m standing in front of her completely bare, my throbbing cock already hard and dripping with precum. I stroke it a few times, grinning at the way her eyes follow my every move.
“Take off your bra. I want to see all of you.”
She slowly sits up and then reaches behind her to unclip her bra, the straps slipping down her shoulders, before she tosses them onto the floor.
Her breasts are luscious and full, her rosy nipples hard and demanding attention. When she sinks back against the mattress, I climb back onto the bed, and lower myself until my mouth closes around her nipple.
She arches her spine, and her eyes roll to the back of her head as I suck and swirl my tongue around her stiff peaks.
“I could just bite right through it,” I tease, giving her hard bud a little nip.
She gasps instantly, and her thighs fall wider apart.
After spending a few good minutes worshipping each breast, I capture her mouth with mine again, swallowing her moans as her hips gravitate towards my hard length.
Knowing exactly what she’s craving for, I reach between us and slide the crown of my cock along her wet slit. She rewards me with another breathy moan, and when my soaked tip reaches her entrance, I pause just for a few seconds to press my thumb against her clit before slowly pushing inside her.
“Fuck! You’re so tight, angel,” I groan, as I push slowly, inch by inch.
Her hands tighten around my biceps the instant I thrust all the way inside her.
“It’s been a long, long time,” she rasps, and her confession is like music to my ears.
“I’ll go slow.”
She quickly shakes her head. “No, I want to feel everything. I want to feel you inside me for days.”
This girl. This fucking girl. She knows exactly how to unravel me, and she’s not even the least sorry about it. If she wants me to fuck her like a beast, then who I am to deny her?
I lean down, burying my face in her neck, and as I slide my palms over her arse cheeks, I pull back slightly only to slam my cock back in with one brutal thrust.
“Fuck!” she screams, biting into my shoulder to muffle her cries.
The sharp sting on my skin urges me to do it again, and then again, until I’m pumping in and out of her, with deep, hard strokes. Her pussy squeezes my swollen dick, the tightness sending me into complete euphoric bliss.
“You’re driving me wild, angel. I’m sorry in advance for what I’m about to do next.”
That’s the only warning I give her before I slowly lift myself up on my knees.
Without breaking our connection, I grip onto her sides, just below her ribs, and hammer into her, fucking her like a savage—hard and mercilessly.
Her arms fly above her head, reaching for the edge of the bed, and trying to hold on as I violently thrust inside her.
She screams louder, almost at a piercing level, so I lean down and crush my mouth against hers. When she slips her tongue between my lips, I lose the last bit of my control, and pump into her faster and rougher.
The bedhead bangs against the wall so hard that, for a brief moment, I worry it might punch a hole straight through it.
As soon as I let go, she swallows my groan, my warm, thick seed spilling deep inside her, making every limb in my body feel utterly weak and boneless.
I collapse on top of her, spent yet wholly satisfied. And when she wraps her arms around me and draws me closer, I never want to move—never want to leave this place where I’m surrounded in nothing but her warmth and the lingering, irresistible trace of her scent.
“Oh my God,” she pants, as she tries to steady her breathing. “I don’t know about you, but I am thoroughly fucked.”
A small chuckle escapes me. “Yes...you certainly are.”
She slaps me playfully on the shoulder, and I tickle her just below her ribs. She squeals and tries to wriggle out of my hold, but I pin her arms above her head, my cock twitching back to life as it starts to harden inside her again.
“Kaden,” she warns, though the slight curve of her lip tells me she’s just as aroused. “How do you still have energy?”
“With you, I can go all night,” I whisper just before sliding out and thrusting back inside her.
She gasps, and the sound is quickly becoming my favourite—soft, breathless, and entirely addictive.
I lean down and claim her lips once more. And for the rest of the evening—from the moment the sun sets, we lose ourselves in each other—exploring, worshipping, surrendering to orgasm after orgasm, as though our bodies had always been made to fit in perfect harmony.