CHAPTER 17 #3
He wasn’t. Neither of them were. I just didn’t know how to do this. Whatever this was.
“Come here,” Cav said, his warm hand curling around my arm.
Unable to resist, overcome with emotion, I allowed him to steer me away from the door. The room wasn’t all that big, so there really wasn’t anywhere to go. But that didn’t matter. The only thing that did was being with him.
“I haven’t figured out where I’m going to live,” he said, as though I needed an explanation.
When he led me to the bed, another sob tore at me.
“Sit,” he commanded, the single word clipped.
I sat on the edge of the mattress.
Cav bent down, removed my shoes. He moved over to the mirrored closet doors, rummaged inside. When he returned, he was carrying a T-shirt. His T-shirt.
After taking my clutch and setting it on the single bedside table, he slipped the shirt over my head, then pulled me to my feet. While I slid my arms into it, he worked my dress down, allowing it to pool at the floor. Then his warm arms settled me into the bed.
“Please don’t leave me,” I begged, not caring how I sounded.
His eyes perused my face momentarily, followed by a reluctant nod. When I shifted over, he crawled in behind me, his arms warm and secure as they encircled me. I gripped his forearm, holding him tight, letting his presence settle me.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, tears streaming from my eyes. I was a blubbering mess, and I hated myself for it. I wasn’t the sort to break down like this, to allow all the emotion to escape. If I’d learned anything from Zeke, it was that you kept it all in, bottled it up, never showing weakness.
Unfortunately, that was how I felt. Maybe not weak, but definitely hopeless.
Cav’s lips brushed my neck as his arms tightened around me. “I’m sorry, too.”
“For what?” I blubbered.
“For interfering.” His voice was soft, warm. Tormented. “I had no right. I never should’ve gotten involved that night at the club.”
I turned my head, needing to see him. “Please don’t say that. Don’t make it sound like a mistake.”
He propped himself up on his elbow, stared down at me. “It was, Jamie.”
“No.” Pain, fierce and hot, shot through my chest. “Don’t say that. It wasn’t a mistake.”
Remorse filled his gaze, and I knew he was regretting what had happened between the three of us. I didn’t want his regret.
Not thinking, I leaned up, pressed my lips to his. I wanted to be closer to him.
For a brief moment, I was. Cav kissed me back. It could’ve been instinct or the simple need for affection. Either way, the kiss deepened, our tongues hesitantly brushing. Seconds turned to minutes, our lips fused together as I turned in his arms, moving closer.
When he jerked back, I stared up at him.
Neither of us spoke. Not with words, anyway. Our eyes, on the other hand, spoke volumes. I could tell he was searching for answers, and I was doing the same. I needed this man. As much as I needed Edge. It certainly didn’t feel like a mistake, being here with him, having him hold me, kiss me.
When I thought he would ask me to leave, Cav exhaled sharply, then dropped back to the pillow. He nestled me against him as he rolled to his back. I inched closer, resting my head on his chest as his hand came around, his finger teasing my hair as he brushed it back from my face.
“Sleep,” he said softly. “We’ll talk more after.”
I didn’t want to sleep. Or that was what my mind said. Clearly my body had other plans because not too long after, I drifted off, safe in this man’s arms.
CAV
She smelled like him.
That was my first thought as I came awake.
The sun was peering in the wide window, slipping between the buildings of downtown Chicago. When I got back here last night, I hadn’t bothered to close the curtains, and it wouldn’t be long before the room was flooded with sunlight.
I cut my eyes to the right, peering down at Jamie, where she slept on my chest, one arm flung across me. I loved that she was so close, had been for the last few hours.
Unable to resist, I caressed her arm with my hand, her smooth, soft skin under my fingertips.
My thoughts drifted back to last night, to a different hotel room. To Jamie. Edge. The whole situation had been a clusterfuck of epic proportions, and I had no idea how things had gotten so out of control. But that was exactly what it was. Out of control. Pure chaos.
Not once in my thirty-five years had I felt this much for any one person, let alone two.
And yes, I’d been in love before. Young love was something I’d strived for.
Again, none of my past relationships compared to what I was feeling now.
While Jamie had slept for the past few hours, I had stared up at the ceiling, thinking about her and Edge, what was happening between us.
At some point, I’d fallen asleep, but it hadn’t been peaceful.
My emotions were sitting too close to the surface. Anger, frustration, hurt. It all warred inside me. Then again, I’d always allowed emotion to lead me, to make me impulsive.
Last night, before Jamie had appeared at my door, I’d been thinking it was time to head out, to go somewhere else.
I wasn’t the sort to put down roots. It never worked for me.
A few times I’d considered it. Oddly enough, it was usually when I was here.
Some inexplicable force always seemed to draw me back here. Back to Chicago. To Edge.
And now Jamie.
Although I’d been pissed and hurt, I hadn’t come up with a plan. The thought of leaving was worse than the idea of spending every day with Jamie and Edge at arm’s length.
Jamie stirred, her hand sliding over my chest. I felt her lashes flutter, her soft sigh.
“Mornin’,” I greeted, continuing to caress her arm with mine, staring up at the ceiling.
She groaned softly but didn’t move away. “What time is it?”
“Almost seven.”
She moved closer. I held her tighter.
“Do you have class this morning?”
“I’ll be fine,” she said softly.
I could’ve spent all day like this, holding her, touching her. If only there wasn’t that ache that ran so deep. There was only one way to get rid of it. I needed her. In the most basic of ways.
I knew where this was headed, and I was helpless to stop it.
I didn’t want to stop it. I wanted to feel this woman wrapped around me.
I’d wanted it since the first night I saw her at the club.
That felt like ages ago, when in reality, it had only been a few weeks.
Not enough time for me to feel this strongly, that was for sure, but I wasn’t like Edge.
I didn’t feel the need to rationalize everything, to ensure it fit into some perfect little box.
When she lifted her head, I met her gaze, getting lost in her dark eyes. She was so fucking beautiful.
Her hand slid up, curled around my neck.
I allowed her to pull my head toward hers as she shifted.
Our lips touched, heat igniting into a firestorm, consuming me.
I gave in to her kiss as I slid my hand down to her hip, brushing her warm flesh with my fingertips.
I pushed the blanket down at the same time I lifted the T-shirt, needing to feel her whisper-soft skin against my palm.
Somewhere deep in my conscience, there was an argument taking place between my brain, my heart, and my dick. My heart was insistent that this was a mistake, my brain agreeing, while my dick was calling them both stupid, insisting they shut up.
Not for the first time, I let my dick lead me, groaning as I succumbed to the need overwhelming me.
At some point during our heated make-out session, my boxers disappeared, as did her T-shirt, until we were skin to skin.
Before I knew what I was doing, I was settled between Jamie’s thighs, her long legs wrapping around me.
I held myself above her, our mouths feasting while our bodies made a desperate attempt to get closer.
My brain registered what I was doing, giving approval.
I knew she was on the pill, had seen her test results at the club, and she’d seen mine as well.
There were no secrets there, which my dick took to mean it was okay to do this, to slide into the furnace of her body, her pussy warm and wet as it sheathed my cock.
Her hips rocked with mine as I rode the wave of ecstasy, neither of us saying a word. No permission, no coaxing, just pure, unadulterated need. As though this was meant to be, and there was nothing either of us could do to stop it.
Desperate to look in her eyes, I broke the kiss, stared down at her. Her dark hair fanned out over the pillow, her lips swollen from my kiss, eyes hooded with desire as our bodies worked in tandem.
Her nails tickled over my sides, my cock twitching inside her. I didn’t stop, rocking my hips forward, back, her pussy clamped around my cock. She felt so good. So fucking perfect.
Our eyes said everything there was to say as our bodies communicated on the most basic level. When her head tilted back, her mouth falling open, I circled my hips, burying myself as deep as I could go.
“Cav…”
I slipped one hand between us, pressed my thumb against her clit, teasing the sensitive nub as I thrust in deeper, retreated. Her soft moans, her wandering hands had my body tightening, electricity sparking at the base of my spine. She took my fucking breath away.
I worked her to a frenzy, watched as she slipped over the edge, my name on her lips.
Only then did I kiss her again, fusing my lips to hers as I began fucking her in earnest, driving us both higher and higher with every thrust of my hips until I couldn’t hold on any longer.
I fought back as long as possible, riding the waves of pure ecstasy that I found in her body.
And when her pussy clamped down on my cock for a second time, I swallowed her cry of release at the same time I allowed myself to tip over the edge.
Two hours later, I woke to the sound of someone pounding on the door. When my eyes opened, it took a moment to orient myself.
My hotel room.
I glanced over.
My girl.