48
Luna
My feet move before my brain catches up.
I’m running—sprinting off the porch into the pouring rain, my heart threatening to burst. I can barely breathe through the disbelief and relief and everything else I’ve been holding in.
I launch myself at him, feeling like I can finally breathe for the first time in days.
“Cade,” I whisper, my voice shaking as my fingers clutch his leather jacket, face pressed against his chest. His arms lock around me, warm and solid, grounding me in the middle of the storm.
“Baby,” he murmurs against my hair, his voice low and rough, like he’s barely holding himself together. “I’m back.”
I pull back just enough to search his face. Rainwater trails down his sharp jaw, and there’s something dark and raw in his eyes. Something that mirrors all the chaos I’ve been feeling.
“ I thought—” The words catch in my throat. I thought I’d lost you.
Cade shakes his head, his gaze burning into mine. “I told you I’d be back when I was finished.”
I swallow hard, my tears mixing with rain. “Antonov’s dead?”
He cups my face in one hand and runs his other hand down my left arm until he reaches the rosary wrapped around my wrist.
“You were right. I was finished before I left for Moscow. I just couldn’t admit it.”
I crash into him, hands gripping his neck like he’s the only solid thing left in this world. His fingers dig into my waist, pulling me against him like he’s afraid I’ll disappear.
“I’m done,” he murmurs against my throat.
His confession wraps around me like a warm blanket. He came back. For me. My hands tighten in his hair, wet strands sliding through my fingers as I look up at him. His face is hard, jaw clenched, eyes stormy, but there’s something else there—something raw, surrendered.
Words don’t matter now. I pull him down to me, our lips crashing together like I’m starving and he’s salvation. He growls and deepens the kiss.
The rain pours hard, but Cade’s heat is all I feel. Everything about this moment burns—his touch, his taste, the desperate way he holds me like he’s trying to make up for every second we were apart.
He breaks away and drops his forehead to mine. “I’ll turn my back on anything else to keep you.”
His mouth finds mine again and he pours everything into me, everything he can’t say, everything he’s felt since that first night.
The kiss burns through my blood, my bones, my soul. His hands brand every inch they touch—waist, back, sliding under my wet shirt to find bare skin and I shiver with need.
“Cade . . .” I gasp, but he swallows my words with another crushing kiss, hands gripping my waist hard enough to bruise. I want those marks, need every reminder that this is real.
“Luna,” he growls, breath ragged against my mouth. “I’m not letting you go. Not ever.”
The words fall like a blood vow, dark and possessive. I feel his fear of loss in how he holds me, so I kiss him back with everything—my own fear, anger, love—hoping it’s enough.
The storm rages harder but can’t touch us. Nothing exists but this. Us.
“Take me, Caden,” I whisper. “Right here. Right now.”
The feral look Cade shoots me is enough to have me stripping off my rain-heavy shirt and bra. My jeans join the pile then I’m naked before him, rain streaming down my skin. The cold doesn’t register—only the heat in his gaze and the way his breath catches as I step closer.
Cade leans back against the bike, his eyes devouring me . . . “Fuck, Luciana.”
I reach for his jacket, and he lets me strip it off, watching with that dark stare that liquifies my insides. His shirt follows, landing precariously on the handlebars.
I run my fingers along his rain-slicked muscles neither of us caring that his bandage is getting soaked.
He lifts me onto the bike to straddle him, his hands cupping my ass. My fingers fumble with wet denim while his own find my slick folds, thumb circling my clit.
“I’m ready, I’m ready!” I cry, unable to take any second of his teasing. “Just fuck me before I die.”
Cad e chuckles, but I only gasp in pure greed as his cock springs out, hard and oh-so thick. Instantly I’m on him, tucking him between my aching entrance and descending onto the first delicious inch.
“Slow,” Cade commands.
“I can’t do slow.” I slam down on his entire length, relishing our tortured shouts of shock and pleasure.
“Luciana! Fucking Christ!” His tortured groan is music to my ears.
My hands grip his shoulders as I withdraw only to drive down with a force that rocks us both.
“Easy, woman!” Cade growls, but his body is already betraying him, his hips snapping up to match my rhythm, his fingers bruising tight around my ass. He’s trembling but not from cold—his skin burns like a furnace under my clutching fingers.
“You feel so good, Cade.” I roll my hips, gasping as my clit grinds against his pelvis, my nails scoring his muscles.
Cade surges forward and catches my nipple between his lips, sending bolts of pure heat down to where we’re joined.
He alternates between both breasts, his tongue stroking the hard peaks before gently biting.
It’s everything I’ve craved and more. I ride him harder, faster, the pressure building fast—like a dam about to burst. His hands slide up my back and into my hair, tilting my head back to expose my neck to his mouth. He nibbles gently until he reaches my most sensitive spot, and then he bites hard.
I scream as pleasure explodes in my core. Then I’m shuddering, my nails digging into his shoulders as I ride out my orgasm. Cade moans and tenses beneath me, his hips pistoning in short, uncontrolled jerks as his own climax hits.
He lifts me off him at the last moment, and I whimper at the loss of his hard length inside me. The sounds of his pleasure and the feeling of his cum on my skin is almost enough to make up for it. Almost.
For a moment, everything else disappears.
I look up to find his head tilted back, eyes closed, and mouth slack, completely oblivious to the rain pelting his face.
“Wow, Caden,” I smirk, ignoring the tremors still wracking my body. “You look like you just had your brains fucked out.”
One brow arches as his eye cracks open, lazy but sharp. “Really?”
I lean closer, my lips brushing his ear. “Bet you’ve never come so hard in your life.”
Both eyes snap to mine now, dark and electric. “You can try being a smartass after you’ve stopped twitching like a broken vibrator.”
A breathless laugh escapes me, spilling out until it’s loud and unrestrained. Cade’s low chuckle joins mine, and soon we’re both shaking with laughter, the sound rising above the rain.
Before we tip off the bike, Cade sets me on my feet. I bend to grab my soaked jeans, but his arm snakes around my waist, pulling me back against him.
“Leave it,” he growls, his voice rough with hunger. “We’re not done yet.”
My arousal spikes despite my recent orgasm but I try to play it cool. “Fine. Can we at least go inside before we catch pneumonia?”
“Of course,” he murmurs.
Then, before I can fully process his intent, he lifts me back onto the bike’s leather seat, stepping between my thighs. One smooth thrust, and he’s deep inside me again.
“Cade! Really?” My gasp melts into a moan.
“ We’re going,” he rumbles, snagging his shirt off the handlebar before scooping me up like I weigh nothing.
Each deliberate step jolts me, sending sparks shooting through my body as he keeps me fully impaled on him. By the time we reach the porch steps, I’m breathless with need, every stride pushing me closer to the edge.
“Hold on, hold on,” I gasp, my nails digging into his shoulders.
“What?” His voice is all teasing gravel, his lips grazing my neck.
“Fuck me now.”
He chuckles wickedly. “I thought you didn’t want to catch pneum—”
“Now, Cade!” I snap, desperate, my hips already chasing more.
“Greedy little thing, aren’t you?” His smirk sharpens, sinful and smug as he pins me against the wall. “Fine. You asked for it.”
He angles himself just right and thrusts into me with relentless, sharp strokes. My head falls back as cries tear from my lips, the world blurring as pleasure detonates inside me.
“Just like that!” I gasp, nails digging into his shoulders. “Harder!”
My cries get, louder with each thrust, with each mind-bending moan from Cade. The splattering of rain beyond the porch muffles our sounds but also loosens my tongue.
“God, you’re so big . . . So hard . . . Fuck me like you mean it, Cade. Until I can’t walk.”
“Jesus Christ!” His hands grip my thighs like iron, spreading me wider as he pounds into me with brutal precision. “Your mouth is going to be the death of me.”
“ More! Don’t stop. Ruin me—”
“That’s it. Fuck!” Clearly triggered by my words, he loses his rhythm, and he huffs out against my neck, voice fractured with need. “I’m coming!”
My eyes snap open, and my head jerks up. “What? No! Not yet—Cade, wait—”
“Fucking get there now, Luciana!” His command is rough and desperate and sends a shockwave straight through me. My body clamps down hard around him, the edge of my orgasm creeping close. But it’s not enough—Cade’s too far gone, shuddering, his thrusts short and erratic.
“Geez, Tarzan,” I gasp, half-laughing through my frustration, “a little more help, maybe?”
“Smart mouth,” he groans, his breath ragged as his fingers fumble between us. “Ass? Clit?”
“Like I care—just make me . . . Oh, Cade!” My words dissolve as one finger slips into my ass and his thumb finds my clit, stroking in perfect, teasing circles.
“There you are, baby,” he coaxes, his cock thrusting once, twice—
“Come in me, Cade,” I beg, my nails scoring his back in needy desperation. “I want your cum—need it. Please.”
The sound that rips out of him is a feral, primal thing as his cock sinks impossibly deep. The sharp collision of pleasure and pain knocks the breath out of me.
“Take it,” he snarls, his thrusts turning jagged as his release pours into me. “Take every fucking drop.”
And I do. Christ, I feel everything—every pulse, every thick, hot spurt, every slick pump that fills me until I’m dripping with him. The sensation is too much, too perfect, and it’s that final push I need to send me hurtling over the edge. I shudder, my body greedily milking him until we’re both spent.
For a moment, neither of us moves, our hearts pounding in frantic beats. His breath is hot and ragged against my neck, matching my own huffing. The steady drum of rain against the porch roof fills the silence, a reminder of just how undone we are.
“Wow,” I finally gasp, my voice weak, broken by my need for air. “That was . . . a little unhinged.”
“I’m not done yet.”
I clench around him experimentally, and sure enough, he’s really not done. “How the hell are you still hard, Cade? You literally lost the plot the last two times.”
His grin is wicked. “Exactly. Which is why I’ll need a few more tries before I get my bearings. There’s a good chance it won’t return until I’ve fucked that sassy mouth of yours into submission. Your tits and your ass, too.”
“You’re . . . unbelievable,” I laugh, ignoring the way my body betrays me with another spike of heat.
“Says the woman who’s been cramming herself full of toys. Well, guess what? It’s time to show me every trick you’ve learned in the past week.”
Oh My God. I’m so fucked. Literally . Not that my pussy minds—she’s already begging for round three.
“Come on.” Cade pulls out of me, earning a soft whimper of protest. He grabs his shirt and slips it over my head, smoothing the wet fabric down to mid-thigh before scooping me up into his arms.
“I’m going to need a few hundred pillows,” I snicker as he carries me across the threshold into the common room. “The walls are super thin here.”
“You have no idea how thin.” Nico’s warm, baritone voice sends a jolt of ice through my veins.
Oh shit.
My eyes bug out in absolute mortification. If I could move, I’d throw myself back into the rain. We’re soaked to the bone, dripping water everywhere. Cade’s shirt, plastered to my body, is practically see-through.
Cade doesn’t seem bothered. He kicks the door shut behind us as he takes a few steps further into the room, radiating smug satisfaction even with his fly down.
“Well, if it isn’t Quinn and his Old Lady,” Nico drawls, lounging against the bar with a glass of amber liquid and a shit-eating grin. “Stealing the storm’s thunder, are we?”
“And you stayed in here the whole time?” I accuse, my face burning. “You couldn’t have . . . you know, given us some privacy?”
“Why the hell would we do that?” Nico’s grin widens.
We? Oh God. It gets worse.
My eyes flick to Phoenix, who’s slumped at the bar, white-knuckling a glass of what must be straight whiskey, looking like he’s just endured a marathon of torture porn.
He throws back his drink and winces in disgust. “And I used to think Nico and Sparrow made me sick . . .”
Nico raises his glass to us in a mock toast. “Happy to relinquish that honor.”
Cade shakes his head like a wet dog, spraying water everywhere. “Phoenix, come on. Surely you’ve got a stronger stomach than that.”
Phoenix slams his glass down with enough force to make the bottles rattle. “Have you ever heard of a bed? A room with a fucking door?” His voice rises with every word. “And maybe keeping your noises a few thousand decibels lower? Or—Jesus—not saying everything out loud?”
“ Clearly you’re a few years too late on that particular home training, Dad, “ Cade sneers, starting toward the stairs. “Besides, you have legs. Could have spared yourself the agony.”
“Hey! The door’s the other way. Get the fuck out of my clubhouse!” Phoenix barks, looking dangerously close to throwing his glass at us.
Cade stops. “Don’t you mean my clubhouse, Phoenix?”
Both Phoenix and Nico freeze, with varying expressions of shock on their faces.
“Well.” Phoenix recovers first, swirling the last drops of whiskey in his glass. “You can have your patch tomorrow. You’re not my Prez—not with your junk hanging out. Noon tomorrow should give you plenty of time to fuck the demons out of yourselves.”
“Excellent.” Cade keeps walking toward the stairs.
“I mean it, Caden!” Phoenix shouts. He reaches for the bar like he might be sick again. “Keep it sane or get the fuck out.”
“Sane,” Cade mocks. “I don’t think so.”
Phoenix glares then tosses a key at Cade.
Cade catches it one-handed and smirks. “We’ll go, then.” He pivots toward the door.
“Suck it up, Nico, what did you expect? Homing pigeon.” I hear Phoenix brag as we leave.
Nico’s reply is lost as the door clicks shut behind us.
Back in the rain, we dissolve into laughter, our stifled snickers spilling out in waves.
My arms wrap tighter around Cade’s neck, my cheek pressed against his shoulder. Warmth floods through me despite the cold as he carries me to the pickup truck.
“There’s a hotel just outside Harmony,” Cade rumbles. “We’ll be even more comfortable in L.A, which is only forty minutes . . .”
“ Take me home, Caden,” I whisper.
Cade’s steps falter. His eyes flicker down to mine, searching. “It’s two hours away, baby.”
“I’m sure we’ll find a way to pass the time, Prez.”
For a beat, he doesn’t move, as if weighing what I’ve just asked, but I can feel the shift in him, something quiet but profound.
He adjusts me in his arms, the corners of his mouth curving into a faint smile. “Home it is, then.”