22. Cassidy
Cassidy
It’s early when I get back to New Jersey.
Aarya had wanted to stay in Manhattan all day and do brunch, but I snuck out while she and Celeste were still asleep.
It’s release day, and I just want to be home.
But my feet falter as I walk down the hall to my apartment. I blink to make sure I’m seeing what I’m seeing correctly.
A very large man is sitting propped against my door, his long legs stretched out in front of him, his head lolled to one side. A bright-orange bouquet of roses lays across his lap, and a cooler sits beside him on the floor.
My heart gallops in my chest, pulling me closer to him.
When I reach my door, I crouch down in front of him and take a moment to stare at his beautiful face. Dark lashes. Sharp jawline. Plump lips. I reach out and trace the new scar above his eyebrow ever so lightly.
His eyes slowly blink open. “Cassidy.”
The sound of my name on his tongue mixed with the gravely tone of his voice wraps around my heart like a vice.
“Why are you sleeping in the hallway?”
He sits up and turns his head from side to side, wincing as he stretches his neck. “I wanted to be here to wish you a happy release day when you got back.”
“What’s with the cooler? How long did you plan on camping out here?”
He pops open the top and pulls out a carton of ice cream. “Mint chocolate chip to celebrate.”
Tears threaten to spill over my lids.
This man.
“Come on, let’s get you inside.”
I unlock my door and once it closes behind us, I fling my overnight bag and bury my face in Trenton’s chest. He drops the cooler and the flowers, and then his arms come down around me.
But it isn’t enough. I squeeze him tighter, needing him to feel everything I’ve been holding inside of me these last few days.
“Thank you for being here.” My voice is muffled in his shirt. “Thank you for waiting for me to figure this out. Thank you for trying to help me—even though I’m mad at you, I still love you for it.”
He pulls back and tilts my face up so he can look me in the eyes. “I’m so sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry I lied to you. I’m sorry I made you feel like I didn’t care about your feelings.”
“I don’t want you to go behind my back. I want to do things together.” I choke back a sob. “I just want us to be on the same team.”
“You are my team, Cassidy.” He thumbs away my fallen tears. “I love you so much. Please say you can forgive me.”
I push up onto my toes and brush my lips against his. “I forgive you.”
All the pain and doubt washes away with the surge of emotions that come flooding out with those three words.
“I forgive you. I love you. I need you,” I whisper like a chant against his lips.
“It’s been hell without you, Cass.” He sucks my bottom lip into his mouth and bites down. “I’ve missed you so much.”
I yank my arms out of my coat and let it fall at our feet. Trenton pulls my shirt over my head and reaches behind me to flick the clasp on my bra.
I moan at the feel of his massive hands cupping my breasts, arching my back as he sucks on my neck and makes his way down my chest. I slide my hand into the waistband of his sweatpants and wrap my fingers around his length as wetness pools between my legs.
He releases my nipple with a pop and tears off his shirt before pushing out of his pants while I finish undressing myself the rest of the way.
I reach for him again but he takes a step back. “Wait.”
“What’s wrong?”
He reaches down and digs inside the pocket of his sweatpants lying on the floor, pulling out an envelope. “I wanted to give you this.”
I flip open the flap and pull out a familiar packet. “This is our contract.”
“Rip it up, and we can start over.” His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows.
“I don’t want us to be bound by some deal.
I don’t want you to make love to me because you need material for your next book.
I don’t want you to feel obligated to be with me.
And I don’t want you to think for one second that everything I do isn’t for your happiness. I live and breathe for you, Cassidy.”
I tear the contract clean in half and let the papers fall at our feet. I feel the magnitude of this moment. It’s rolling off us in droves.
And I want to drown in it.
“I love you, Trent. I’m yours for as long as you want me.”
“Forever.”
He sweeps me into his arms and carries me into the bedroom. I bounce onto the mattress as he drops me, the comforter puffing up around me.
Trenton pumps himself in slow strokes at the foot of the bed. “Open your legs and let me look at you.”
I let my knees fall apart, and it feels like he’s touching me as his molten gaze skates over my bare skin. I lift my hips, letting him know I need him.
“God damn. So perfect.” He kneels onto the bed and runs his knuckles over my clit. “Did you touch yourself while we were apart?”
I shake my head.
“Neither did I.” He slips a finger inside me, and watches as he pumps in and out of me, a wild look in his obsidian eyes.
I moan and writhe beneath him, needing more.
He removes his finger and sucks it into his mouth. Then he straddles me and slides his cock over me, coating himself in my arousal. “I want to go slow with you, but I’m not going to last long. Not with you this swollen and wet for me.”
“Fuck me,” I let out on a breathless whimper. “I don’t want you to go slow. I’ve missed you too much to wait another second.”
As soon as the words leave my mouth, he reaches across the bed, yanks open the drawer in the nightstand to fish out a condom, and rolls it over his length.
Holding himself at the base, he slaps his cock against my pussy. “Knees up, baby.”
I hike my knees to my chest and then he sinks inside of me, hard and fast. I see stars as he pulls all the way out and does it again, plunging into me as deep as he can go.
“I’m going to fuck you fast now, but make no mistake: I’m going to take my time with you later. You’re going to spend the day coming on my cock. Do you understand me?”
“Yes. God, yes.”
I lift my arms over my head, pressing my palms against the headboard for support. He tosses one of my legs over his shoulder, hitting a spot deeper than I’ve ever felt anyone before, and then he leans down and grips my wrists, pinning me to the mattress while he slams into me.
Trenton owns my body, ravaging me with wanton desperation. I’m at his mercy, and I let go, giving myself completely to him.
I come hard, and Trenton loses it as soon as he hears me, bellowing his release.
We’re slick with sweat, gasping for air, and our cheeks are wet from our tears. It’s sloppy and raw and wild, and it’s exactly what we needed to come back together.
“I love you, Cassidy.” Trenton lays on his side to face me and pulls me against him, pressing a kiss to the top of my head as he catches his breath. “You are the woman of my dreams.”
“You’re the man of mine.” I smile. “We should make this a release day tradition—an all-day fucking marathon.”
All of a sudden, Trenton jumps up and bolts out of the room.
I prop myself up on my elbows. “Where are you going?”
“To get the other part of our tradition.”
A minute later, he comes back with two spoons and the gallon of mint chocolate chip.
“Look at you.” He licks his lips as he takes me in, hair a mess, sprawled out on the mattress. “And I didn’t even need tequila to get you to take your top off.”
Sometime after our fourth time having sex and a long afternoon nap, Trenton and I emerge from the bedroom for dinner.
Hamilton’s, of course.
“I really loved your book, by the way.”
My eyebrows hit my hair line. “You read the whole thing?”
“In one night. I couldn’t put it down.” He rests his pulled pork sandwich on his plate. “I loved the way it ended. I was hoping it meant you were coming back to me.”
“I couldn’t stay away for much longer.” I reach out and clasp his hand. “I need you to know, I understand why you did what you did with my parents. I truly do. But I’ve been down that road with them before, so I already knew the way it would turn out.”
“And I need you to know that I heard what you said about disregarding your feelings, and it won’t happen again.” He shifts in his chair to face me. “I actually came up with an idea that I want to talk to you about.”
“An idea about what?”
“I don’t want your parents bothering you ever again.
I know you feel the same way, and I want you to feel like you’re in control of the situation.
So, I was thinking...maybe you should file a restraining order that prevents them from coming near you.
If they violate that agreement, then they get jail time.
It’ll teach them to leave you alone, and it’ll put it on record that they’ve been harassing you.
“I also think you should meet with my lawyer and write a will that states if and when you die, your parents won’t get a single thing of yours.
Make Aarya your beneficiary, or donate all of your money to charity.
Whatever. But you need to start protecting your assets.
” He pauses. “Only if this is something you want to do.”
My mind spins as I process everything Trenton said. “I think those are some great ideas.”
“You do?”
I nod. “I don’t want my parents to gain anything if something happens to me. I didn’t even think about that.”
“I don’t want to think about that, but it’s better to have these conversations than not, because often times, it’s too late and then all the money left behind goes to the state.”
“And I could change the will at any time, right? Like, if I get married and have children one day, I could change who the money goes to?”
Trenton arches a brow. “Only if the man you marry is me.”
Butterflies explode in my stomach. “You think you’ll want to marry me some day, Trenton Ward?”
“I know I do.”
“And have children?”
“I’d put a baby in you so fast. You just say the word.”
I cough out an incredulous laugh. “You’re not kidding.”
“Not one bit.” He picks up his sandwich and mutters into it before taking a huge bite. “Let’s just hope they don’t get your horrible singing gene.”
I kick him in the shin under the table.