SEVENTEEN
Cain
The first thing he heard when he let himself in—broke into Harper’s apartment—was her yelling. “Alpha, if that’s you, I’ll wring your neck.”
For a second, his tired brain forgot about her brothers, and he was ready to murder if another man had stepped foot into his wife’s apartment, and then his raging blood downgraded when the info penetrated through his foggy brain.
For fuck’s sake, he’d been traveling for hours, and hours and days before that, he was following a mark all over Chicago.
Cain was worn out, so tired his eyes felt gritty, yet the only thing he could think about on the bike ride to Colorado was breaking into his mouthy wife’s place and climbing into her vanilla-scented bed. He could have stopped at a motel, but the need scratching at his intestines kept him going.
Right by the door, he ditched his boots and threw his bag down.
“Alpha!” she yelled, and Cain smirked. She sounded angry and would be more enraged when she saw it wasn’t her younger brother.
Working his way through the warm apartment, it was late, and he knew she’d be in bed. That’s where he headed and quietly pushed open the door, standing in the framework, letting his eyes stroke her like he hadn’t eaten in weeks.
It had been weeks since he’d seen her.
Each time he insinuated himself into her life, he swore it was the last time. Then he’d go weeks, sometimes months, in starvation mode, in agony with his skin on fire to see the blonde goddess again, working around the clock to distract himself from hauling ass back to his wife. It was only when the obsession had chewed through his brain for too many hours that he gave in to his impulses to see her.
He thought he was tormenting her, holding the threat over her head, but in reality, he was tormenting himself because this want inside of him was a breathing monster controlling him from the guts.
Almost from the start, his plans had veered off to the left so he could manipulate himself back into Harper’s orbit. She didn’t hide her hate, and he got off on it, feeding from her disdain because there was one place she didn’t hate him, and it was when his hands were on her. He’d never felt a woman come as hard as she did for him.
The thirst for her pleasure was in the back of his throat as he inhaled her feminine home scents. She was bundled up in bed, sitting against the tall headboard, surrounded by decorative cushions like a little fort, and the cream comforter was wrapped around her waist. She looked oddly cute, like a burrowing rodent, and he smirked when he saw her eyes flash with that delicious hatred.
“You!” she fumed. “What are you doing here? And did you break in again?”
Cain pushed himself off the doorjamb and entered her bedroom, not replying to something she already had the answers to. Yes, there was no building or lock to keep him out of her life. And he was here because she was here. It was all straightforward. Did it make him unhinged that he’d bought their coffee shop and her apartment building so he’d have easy access to her? Oh sure.
Once Cain accepted it, he’d glut himself on Harper Emerson like his favorite dessert.
His little and mighty wife hated him so much.
He couldn’t get enough of her, and he hadn’t even fucked her yet. Just being near her was an enjoyment he hadn’t expected.
But all that was about to change as the tip of his cock tingled, knowing it was about to be satisfied so damn much. The amount of celibacy he wore, like a second skin from the moment he’d put eyes on Harper, was not good for a man his age. But there was only one woman he wanted to sink into.
Shrugging out of his black sheepskin jacket, he threw it over the armchair, his eyes still stroking over her lovely, flushed face.
Was his wife pleased to see him? Could he hope she was blushing because she knew what he’d come for and was excited about it, too?
Or was she planning to use her taser this time? The sweetest savage.
He’d been pleased to know she could protect herself if needed.
But nothing would work against him.
Cain was utterly unstoppable when he wanted something, especially when he was hungry.
And right now, his wife was the only thing on his menu.
She was on his mind day and night.
From that day forth, things were going to change.
He could adapt like any wild animal did to a new environment.
“Don’t bother taking that off.” She told him in a snapped tone that turned him on until he felt a groan gurgle up his windpipe. Cain figured Harper could throw knives at his head, and his cock would still be obsessed with his wife.
Smirking, he approached her queen-sized bed.
“Have you missed me?”
“No, I haven’t missed you. I thought you might have fallen off a cliff into the Pacific Ocean.” She rolled her pretty eyes and pulled the comforter around her chin as a no-entry sign.
But nothing could stop Cain.
“I’m an excellent swimmer.”
“Not in shark-infested waters.”
“I would strangle all the sharks so I could get back here to you, little girl.” He told her and was shot in the gut with her throaty laugh. The pleasure of being this close to Harper was choking him.
“You’re full of crap, Cain. And I told you to stop undressing.” She said as she watched him untuck his t-shirt and pull the belt from the loops. He tossed it on the floor, not caring where it landed. “If you’ve come to claim your rights, it’s off the menu. I’m bleeding, and it’s so not happening.” She scowled, furrowing a line between her eyes.
Cain stopped in his tracks, his eyes stroking her with a heated stare.
“Are you hurt?” he’d destroy anyone who’d hurt her! His bared teeth widened her eyes, and he saw every stuttered inhale.
“Take it down a notch, tough guy. I have my period. That kind of bleeding. I don’t care what sexual tricks your other hostage wives do on their periods, but it’s not happening on mine, so you can turn around and leave the way you came in. I’m in pain, and I can’t deal with you today.”
When he only stood by her bedside looking down at his wife’s lovely face, she exhaled and suddenly looked tired.
“Please, Cain, I don’t have the energy to fight you.”
The way she said it with a slight warble to her voice put harrowed ice in his belly. She didn’t sound like his spitfire. Harper matched him spar for spar, especially with her quick-witted barbs.
Frowning, he sat on the side of the bed.
“Is it why you’re not asleep, because you’re hurting?”
“Can you just go? We can verbally wrestle next month or make it the summer. I’ll put it in my diary.”
“Answer, Harper.”
“Yes,” she met his stare, her fingers picking at the comforter like she hated divulging personal details. “I’m waiting for the pills to kick in so I can sleep.”
With an instinct he didn’t know he possessed, Cain brushed the hair off her forehead. Having never been in a long-term relationship, and any dating he did over the years was never so profound that he learned the mechanics of a woman’s body, he didn’t know if it was natural for Harper to feel so bad.
“Is this normal?”
“Why are you asking? Don’t pretend you give a crap about my well-being, Cain, when you’re trying to break me.”
He exhaled like a gust of wind and cupped her face, turning her head toward him. “We’re not gonna get very far if you keep arguing everything I ask you, little girl.”
Her annoyed expression softened as she leaned into his palm. “It’s normal, and it’s not. Most women go through it, some worse than others. I take medication. Will you leave now?”
Cain had other plans for the journey to Colorado, but they disappeared as he witnessed the pain in her eyes. Climbing to his feet, he retraced his steps out of the room, closing the door behind him.
But he didn’t go far. He flipped on the kitchen light and checked the cabinets. He did the same thing in the bathroom and finally found her meds. Doing a quick online search, Cain grimaced when he saw the strength of the pills. His wife was hurting badly.
Sliding his phone from his jeans pocket, he didn’t care for the one-hour time difference, as the call was answered only seconds later, and a feminine voice answered.
“Cain, darling, is something wrong?”
“No,” he told his mother. “I don’t want you to overreact.” He pre-warned.
“Why? What’s going on? Do you need bail money? An attorney? Let me get your father.”
He smirked. Of course, she’d assume first he was in trouble. Dana knew her son well.
“I have more than enough money to bail myself out. I need your advice, but I don’t want you flipping out.”
She laughed. “I hardly flip out.”
She was excitable, and she flipped out a lot. He and Zach pandered to her.
But he didn’t have anyone else to ask about this shit.
“Fine, but if you flip out, I’ll hang up. I want answers and not questions.”
“Fine, fine. I’m intrigued more than ever. Ask for your advice.”
“If a woman suffers from painful periods, what can be done for her comfort?”
It was so silent he could have heard the nuclear codes being activated.
Cain rubbed the middle of his forehead, prepared for his mother to overreact. She wouldn’t be able to help herself. It wasn’t as though he’d ever brought women around her.
He felt frayed around his usual steady edges, knowing Harper was in pain. There was nothing that made him stumble, and now one five-foot woman with hurt in her eyes was yanking at his spine like he was fucking Jenga.
“Do you have an answer, or should I hang up?” he asked.
“Hold your horses. You can’t spring something like that on me and not expect me to catch my breath. Especially when you know I’m dying to ask questions.”
He’d been a tough kid to deal with. His mother deserved accolades for putting up with his teenage bullshit as well as she had. If not for her unwavering patience and love, he probably would have ended up in jail.
“Well, I’m assuming this mysterious female has done all the usual things: medications, perhaps the contraception implant to lessen her cycle. So, home remedies include essential oils rubbed into the skin, low on the abdomen and lower back. Also, heat pads, massages, light exercise and a nice warm bath. But the one thing that always helps a woman these days is chocolate, Cain, as much as you can lay your hands on. And when you think it’s too much chocolate, buy more chocolate.” She waited a beat. “Did that help?”
“Yes. I’ll let you go. We’ll talk soon.”
“How soon, Cain? I have questions!” she burst, and he heard her amusement. “The first one I’ll ask is: is this girl special, and when can I meet her?”
“Goodnight, Mom.”
She laughed and said goodnight, but before the call dropped, he heard her shout, “Zach, you’ll never believe it! It’s finally happened. Cain has a girlfriend! Open the good champagne!”
Not a girlfriend. He had a wife.
After searching through Harper’s home more, he found a gel pack he threw in the microwave to heat, and while that was warming, he saw a pitiful amount of chocolate in the fridge drawer. It would do for now.
Harper gasped when he came back through her bedroom door.
“You again! What happened this time? Did you lose your way to the front door? It’s the big white thing with the handle.” Her eyes were like twin snapping fires, and he got the urge to lick her all over.
“I remember how well that mouth works, little girl. If you want another round, just let me know. If not, then watch what you say to me.”
Though she looked like she wanted to rip his dick off, she didn’t say a word, and Cain peeled back the comforter.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
“I brought a heating pad. Where do you need it? Belly or your back?”
“Oh.” She deflated. “My belly.”
Placing it low on her abdomen, he watched as she exhaled and her eyes flickered closed. Next, he broke off a square of chocolate from the silver wrapper and brushed it against Harper’s bottom lip. Her eyes pinged open.
“Open.”
He noticed she didn’t dispute the candy. Watching her moan with pleasure while eating the chocolate was almost too much for him; he had to clench his jaw, but couldn’t look away.
And piece after piece, until the half bar was gone, it was fed into her delicate lips. Sometimes, her tongue would dip out and touch his fingertip, and Cain grunted low.
His wife was a dirty little tease.
Until now, he didn’t know if he had it within him to care for someone.
* * *
Of course, she protested when he’d wanted to climb into bed, but Cain was versed in ignoring his sexy little grumpy wife’s fake gripes.
He knew what she needed better than anyone, even herself.
So, once he’d warmed the gel pack again, he’d shucked his clothes, turned off the nightstand light, and climbed on the other side.
The pillows were in the way, so he chucked some on the floor.
“Hey! I need those.” She whined, but soon shut up when he crossed the mattress and turned Harper on her side so he could curl around her. There was zero protest when the heating pad was in place, and he dropped a hand on her lower back and started rubbing it.
Her moan made him feel a surge of heat in his groin, causing him to question every decision he had ever made.
“That feels good.” She whispered, angling her butt closer until Cain had to strengthen his willpower. But that regret dissolved when he heard the gratitude in her breathy words. Knowing he was helping her caused a weird sensation in his chest.
He didn’t delve into what the feeling was.
His wife was still a means to a wicked end.
That he enjoyed every moment with her and every inch of her delicate body was a bonus.
Even that lie didn’t feel right rattling around in his head, but Cain didn’t give a fuck, not while he was rubbing Harper’s aches from her lower back. She eventually fell asleep, and he lay there with his body cradling hers, feeling out of his depth as his fingers continued gently rubbing her abdomen.
What the fuck was he doing?
He didn’t know anymore.
All it would take was one phone call to set his plan in motion to take down the Renegade Souls MC. But here he was—lying in bed with his enemy’s daughter, soothing her while unwell. He was only meant to crash for one night before heading out to Phoenix on a job, but he’d already sent one of his guys to handle it so he could stick around in town with Harper.
While he held his peaceful wife, listening to the little chuffs of air, Cain let his mind filter in several thoughts he’d kept at bay for a while.
The kind of thoughts that meant he could do two things.
He could get his revenge and keep his wife.
Though, if he got the first, then the second would most definitely kill him in his sleep. Or attempt to. The cute little savage and her taser.
Grinning, he pressed his lips to her neck and fell asleep.