Chapter 19 #2
She saw him shift into another memory a moment before he punched her in the stomach, sending her backward into the mud puddle. The breath gushed out of her, from the impact and the shock. Her Dragon heated, but she restrained it, scrambling back as he approached.
“Where should I start? Being a hotheaded asshole who skipped past me up the ranks because of his daddy, even as he broke all the rules?”
He was Dune! Somehow so affected by those vile words, he’d assimilated them.
She held out her hand as the dagger materialized in his hand. “Back, Kade!”
Magick crackled along the blade’s edge; his fingers tightened on the handle. He stared at her and saw himself.
“We made love in this mud puddle, Kade. Get down here, on your knees. Down, now!” She jabbed to the place in front of her.
He was caught between the warped memory and that sensual place she’d reached.
“You love me, Kade. You want to feel the mud over my breasts.” She grabbed a handful and rubbed it over them.
He stood frozen, his body reacting as his mind warred with his warped memory.
“Touch me, Kade. I need you to touch me.” Her hand moved over her breasts, fingers sliding between them as she held his gaze.
His dagger slid back to a tattoo, and he took three stiff steps toward her and dropped to his knees.
His hands slid over the places her own hands had just been, their mouths colliding.
She let go and slathered mud over him. He kept stroking her, kissing her fiercely.
She ran her hands down his back, slippery with mud.
He gripped her around the waist and pulled her against him.
He made sounds of pleasure as he plundered her mouth like a man starving.
He kissed to her jaw line, her neck. Her Dragon instincts, already on alert, reared up as his mouth moved across that vulnerable area.
He had her in his grip, his strong hands splayed on her back.
She wouldn’t be able to move if he shifted to a violent memory and attacked her.
Hold on.
He arched her back as he kissed down her collarbone. His teeth grazed the inside curve of her breast. She could barely move within the confines of his grip. She couldn’t swallow past the fear in her throat.
“Kade, stop kissing me. Now.”
He didn’t. His fingers dug into her back as he held her tight. She’d lost control of him.
“Kade, you will obey me. Now!”
He took her mouth so abruptly they both fell into the mud with a splash.
Beneath him, trapped, not good. The hose was right by her head, pouring water over her hair, gurgling softly.
She could reach for it if she could get her hand free and use it as a weapon.
But he was still ravaging her mouth. She tasted the mud, felt the grit of it as their tongues slid together in a mad rush.
“I can’t…can’t stop kissing you, Vee. I…”
She clutched at his hair. “You have to—wait, what did you call me?”
“Need…” he said, breathless, talking and kissing her at the same time. “Need…you, Vee. Burning through me.”
He’d called her Vee.
Hope rushed through her, as hot as desire. “I’m here, babe. I need you, too.”
His body pressed hers into the soft earth. He cantilevered his weight, mindful of not crushing her. When he pulled back, he looked down at her with affection, running his hand over her face and painting her with even more mud. The smile he wore, the mist swirling in his eyes…
The mist was fully back.
“You’re my Owner?” he asked.
He was still in the fantasy. “Yes.”
“And we’re married.”
She nodded. “And trying to have a baby.”
He kept looking at her, his mind working to make sense of it, she guessed. She held her breath.
He slid his finger across her chin. “I don’t remember marrying you or seeing you in a wedding dress.”
“It was a lovely wedding. Five bridesmaids and groomsmen, on the beach.”
Panic flitted across his expression. “Why can’t I remember?”
“It’s okay. You have holes in your memory. Let’s not talk about that right now.”
“I do remember making love to you.” He slid his hand down over her breast. “And touching you like this. In the mud. In bed. Bits and pieces of heaven.”
She could hardly breathe. “Who am I?” She wanted to make sure.
He sputtered a laugh. “My wife. That’s what you just said.”
She felt like she was balancing a gem on a wire. Tug the wrong way, it would fall and shatter. “What’s my name?”
“Vee. Violet when you’re mad at me.”
She laughed, though it came out as more of a sob. “Who are you?”
His eyebrows furrowed again, just for a second. “Kade. Every time you said my name, it tugged me out of some dark place. I was in a shadowy alley, and then I was dancing with you. I was fighting a demon and then I was touching you.”
He looked down at her, letting his gaze move over her slowly.
“I remember being in the mud with you. How beautiful and sexy you looked.” He got to his feet, then extended his hand and helped her up.
He took the hose and poured the water over her, watching it wash away the mud.
“How much more beautiful you look without it.”
He held it over her head, and she closed her eyes. She was afraid, so afraid, to hope he was coming back to her permanently. But that was all she had, hope and Kade there with her, right now. She took the hose and sprayed him down, then dropped it.
He pulled her into him, kissing her with such ferocity that they staggered back until they hit the workshop’s wall.
He dug his fingers into her wet hair, then dragged them down her sides.
“I need you. The need…it’s like a fire inside me…
devouring me,” he said on staggered breaths.
She felt the truth of his need in the desperate growl of his voice.
Because I brought you back, reached deep into you. She touched his face. “I need you, too. Because I’m madly, crazy in love with you.” The words slipped out. She was. Oh, she so was.
His mouth crashed into hers. He grabbed her and hoisted her up, bracing her back against the wall.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and felt him—all of him.
A sound between a gasp and groan came from deep within as she clutched him.
She tilted her head back, and he moved his mouth down her throat.
He held her securely, moaning as made love to her. “I’m madly, crazy in love with you, too, Vee.”
Her name. Her.
She lost herself to him, to their lovemaking. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, softly biting her skin. Those nips only ramped up the coil of pressure building and swirling inside her. Her Dragon loved them, urging her to nip back. She dug her nails into his back.
He held on tight, their bodies as one. She watched him come back to himself, catching her breath as his chest rose and fell in sync with his breathing. She waited for his eyes to open, for him to see her. Her and not an enemy or some other woman.
He smiled as he took her in. “I’m taking you to the house and properly loving you on our bed.” He blinked, relief coloring his expression.
A whistle pierced the air, rising high, low, and high again. Are you all right?
She stuck her pinky in her mouth and answered. “My brothers are coming to the house. We’ll have to wait on the chair and the bed.”
“The couch, the kitchen counter…” He set her down, then picked up the hose and gently washed her thighs and then himself. “It’s like I can’t get enough of you, babe.”
Babe. She stifled a sigh.
They turned off the hose, retrieved their clothing, and walked to the house. He laced his fingers with hers, just as she’d ordered him to do earlier. He gave her a devilish smile. “Playing Dominant and Submissive is a huge turn-on.”
She gave him the same kind of smile. “I like ordering you around.”
Once they reached the house, they dried off and got dressed. She heard the three approach. “Wait for me inside, Pet.”
He raised an eyebrow at her command, which was so much better than the robotic way he’d obeyed before. He was in there.
“Say yes, Mistress,” she whispered.
He bowed. “Yes, Mistress.”
Her heart clutched at the sight. She didn’t want to lose him. “I have to talk to my brothers alone for a few minutes.” She kissed him, a quick peck. “Start dinner. There’s some chicken in the fridge, and pans are in the big drawer.”
He went inside, and she met them halfway across the yard. She had to prepare them. Mia looked as though she’d been crying, which made Violet feel vaguely guilty for having incredible sex at the same time.
Jessup said, “Where is he? And why is your hair wet?”
She touched her damp strands. “Long story.” No way was she getting into how she’d reached Kade’s mind. “He’s inside, getting dinner ready.”
“Does that mean—”