Chapter 21
It took a few days to return to the Nest. They’d take a couple weeks’ break before they headed onto the eastern Settlements, including the newly conquered Rockland.
They emptied their wagon of supplies, with food going to the kitchens, clothes to Lana and the women to sort, and so on.
The largest two wooden boxes were full of weapons.
“Dom will get those,” Cade said to Asha when he noticed her staring at them. “He’ll make sure they’re stored safely.”
“Why do we need so many?” she asked. “Most people in the Nest have guns, even if those outside don’t.”
“But there’s always room for more, right?” Cade joked, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Asha got the strange impression he wasn’t being entirely honest.
He distracted her with a kiss that took her breath away, backing her up against the near-empty wagon.
“Now that we’re home,” he murmured in her ear, “I plan to use our bed to its full advantage. No more sleeping on the edge for me.”
Asha laughed. “You’re getting cocky, soldier.”
He nuzzled his nose against hers in the sappiest gesture she’d ever seen him make, and that only made her laugh more.
“You’re melting into a puddle right in front of me,” she teased.
“I know,” he said with a shrug. “I just don’t care. I’m long since gone for you, my angel.”
Is this what it’s like to be happy? Asha wondered. Being with Cade like this made life far more bearable than it’d seemed otherwise.
When they got back into the house, Cade kissed her again, pressing her against the wall, and she moaned into his mouth. They both jumped at a knock on the door, and Asha groaned in protest when Cade moved to answer it. He grinned at her.
“Lana,” he said in greeting, and stepped aside to admit her. “What a nice surprise.”
Lana’s strawberry blonde hair was up in a messy bun, and Asha liked how the stray pieces framed her pretty, peaches-and-cream complexion. She found it hard to look away from Lana’s lush, full lips.
“Just came to see how the first trip was for Asha,” Lana replied kindly, touching Cade’s bicep. She was carrying a covered basket in her arms. “You look like you’re doing well, Cade. Travel agrees with you.”
“I agree,” he replied, with a wry look in Asha’s direction. “You look pretty good yourself, darling. You’ve got some colour on your skin.”
Lana rolled her eyes. “Well, you always tease me about being so pale.”
Darling. Asha bristled. She didn’t like when he called anyone else that now, though it hadn’t bothered her before. She’d seen him call women, children, and animals darling from the moment she met him. He probably barely even registered doing it.
But it felt special now. She didn’t want him to think of anyone else like that.
What was wrong with her that she cared so much? It meant nothing.
But what if it means something? she couldn’t help worrying anyway.
“You look good too, Asha,” Lana said, putting her hand on Asha’s shoulder and sending an electric current through her body. “Was it nice traveling to the Settlements? I’ve never been.”
“Never?” Asha repeated, surprised.
“Women aren’t allowed. Present company excluded,” Lana replied with a sweet smile, and in a surreal moment, Asha realized that Lana actually admired her for breaking the mold. She probably saw Asha as adventurous. How strange.
“I thought I’d make us all dinner,” Lana continued. “The other girls will be alright without me for one evening. I want to hear all about how the trip went.”
“That’s nice of you,” Cade said with a smile, looking over at Asha. “Isn’t it, Asha?”
Why did it seem like he was taunting her?
“Yes,” Asha said slowly. “I’d like that.”
Dinner turned out to be a lot of fun. They made a hearty stew with day-old bread from the kitchens, and everything was delicious. Lana was her usual sweet, affable self, and all in all, Asha enjoyed herself. If only she hadn’t been analyzing the friendly looks between Lana and Cade the entire time.
Lana left shortly after, and there was an uneasy silence between them in her absence. Cade still sat across from Asha at the table, sipping on his water, looking utterly unaware of the brewing tension inside her. Finally, she couldn’t stand it anymore.
“You and Lana seem close,” Asha said, trying to sound casual. A strange, churning discomfort had started in her gut that she didn’t understand. She’d never felt it before.
Cade shrugged. “She’s a friend. I’m glad the two of you get along.”
Asha kept her eyes down, but she could feel her features hardening. The thought of Lana in Cade’s bed, her lips against his, her soft, pale thighs wrapped around his powerful body…
She was torn between the urge to bleach her brain and the unsettling desire to get herself off.
“What’s up?” Cade asked, ending the fantasy. When she glanced up, he was looking at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Nothing,” she huffed. “I’m fine.”
He scoffed. “You’re not. What’s on your mind?”
A brief, tense pause. Then, “Have you slept with her?”
Cade frowned. “Is that what you’re worried about?”
“You like her,” Asha said, more accusatory than she intended.
He barked an incredulous laugh. “Green is a lovely colour on you, darling.”
“I’m not jealous,” she shot back, convincing no one. “And you didn’t answer the question.”
He shrugged. “We hooked up once, when I first came to the Nest. One night, just sex. We had fun, but nothing more came of it.”
Asha felt another pang of jealousy, along with another painful bolt of heat that shot directly to her pussy. She was caught between hatred that Cade may have ever had feelings for Lana and keen, erotic curiosity about what they’d been like together. And what it might be like to be with them.
It was altogether very confusing, so her tone may have been sharper than she intended when she said, “Did you break up with her?”
“We were never together, so there was no need. What’s got you all upset? You want me all to yourself?”
Yes, Asha thought, but then the image of Lana’s big, soft thighs resurfaced. And no.
She stood up, unsure what to do with herself. “I just saw the way you look at her, that’s all.”
Cade’s eyebrows shot up, and he sat back in his chair.
“And what about the way you look at her, huh?” he asked, his gaze darkening. “You thought I wouldn’t notice how you watch her lips when she talks? Or the way you smiled when she touched your arm? How you like it when she flirts with you?”
Asha opened her mouth, but no words formed. She closed it, feeling suddenly parched.
“I don’t know what you mean,” she said, but her throat was so dry that it almost came out as a whisper.
His small smile was predatory. “Oh, I think you do. Tell me, how wet are you right now?”
He said it conversationally, as though asking about the weather. A wave of mortification swept over her.
“I’m not,” Asha answered primly, smoothing her shirt.
She moved to walk past him, but he caught her wrist in a tight grip.
“Asha,” he said, and his tone was the same commanding, clipped one he used to give orders, “you’re going to show me. Right now.”
Her nipples peaked as Cade pushed his chair away from the table. She couldn’t help meeting his wicked gaze, filled with amusement and arousal. He stood with agonizing slowness, tormenting her.
“Bend over,” he murmured, his hands curling around her hips. He eased her onto the table, face down. “Keep your hands at your sides.”
His silky, authoritative tone sent shivers down Asha’s spine, and as usual, it made her want to give him what he wanted.
She breathed deeply through her nose as he took his time unfastening her pants and pushing them to her knees.
Bare-assed and desperate for relief from the pulsing heat in her pussy, she whimpered as Cade sunk two thick fingers inside her.
“Oh, greedy girl, you’re soaked,” he crooned. “Lana gets you that worked up, huh? I don’t know whether to be jealous or fucking hard. What do you think?”
He pumped his fingers, and Asha squeaked out, “Both. Oh God, both.”
Cade’s dark chuckle prickled her skin with awareness. “Is that you too, my angel? Jealous and sopping wet?”
“Yes,” she croaked, and he rewarded her with a third finger. “Oh fuck, yes, sir. I hate the idea of you together, but I-I also…”
“You also what?” When she didn’t respond, he stopped, and she let out an embarrassing whine. “Tell me, or I’ll punish you by leaving you high and dry. Your choice.”
Asha took a deep breath, then said in a rush, “I also want you both. So badly.”
Cade made a sound of approval deep in his throat.
“Good girl, telling me what you want,” he growled, and his fingers disappeared as she heard him fumble with his belt. A minute later, she moaned wantonly as he slid his rigid cock into her and started to fuck her.
He settled one hand on her hip, holding her steady, and the other squarely on her back, pressing her firmly against the table. She loved his gentle restraint, the way it paradoxically made her feel safe. He had her. He wouldn’t let go unless she gave the word.
Pleasure surged through her as his hips sped up, and delicious pressure built at her core. The sloppy, erotic sound of their bodies slapping against the table stoked the flame of her desire ever higher.
“Can’t help myself,” Cade said between thrusts, suddenly sounding hoarse. “Thinking of you with her. I keep going back and forth between wanting to tell you that you belong to me, that nobody else can ever fucking touch you…and wanting to order you to eat her pussy while I watch.”
Asha imagined Lana, legs splayed wide and head thrown back, as she licked her perfect pink clit…and knowing Cade stood over them, watching, stroking his substantial cock. The image was almost too much, and she mewled helplessly against the table, her pussy pulsing around him. She was so close.
“Oh, fuck,” Cade grunted, feeling her tighten. “My little slut loves that thought, huh? Making her come with your mouth, all because I told you to?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Asha babbled. “I love it. I want it.”
“You want to come, my angel?”
“Yes,” she sobbed. “So bad. Need to rub my clit. Please, sir.”
“You have permission.”
With another sob, she maneuvered her hand between her thighs.
It was an awkward and uncomfortable position, her arm underneath her against the table, but it didn’t matter.
A few strokes were all it took to send her over the edge, crying out against the hard wood surface.
Her whole body arched to meet the wave of euphoria head on, obliterating any sense of time or space.
It was only in this moment of utter bliss that she felt no inhibition, no self-consciousness—only raw, primal pleasure, followed by a strange tranquility that she treasured.
“That’s it, darling,” Cade murmured roughly, and his approval brought a second wave of pleasure. “Shit, you look so perfect, coming on my cock. Do it again.”
His demand increased the heat in her body, even after she’d already come.
Despite her discomfort, she obediently began to rub her clit again, desperate for more.
She gasped as he grabbed a handful of her hair, twisting it in his fist as he fucked her.
The small pinpricks of pain in her scalp only enhanced her pleasure.
“Tell me what you want with me and Lana,” Cade gritted out. “Now. Before I can’t stop.”
Asha took a sharp intake of breath and squeezed her eyes shut. The pressure of his thrusts was almost too much, right on the edge between pleasure and pain.
“I want to lick her pussy while you fuck me, just like this.”
Her voice was a whimper, and she cried out as her pussy pulsed around him, her orgasm working through every muscle in her body. A second later, Cade groaned as he came, filling her in deep, hard surges.
“You really are something else, my angel,” he breathed.
They took a moment to recover before Cade released her. She felt loose and boneless, barely able to move from her position on the table. He helped her sit in one of the metal dining chairs, then left to retrieve the water jug they kept for washing, and they cleaned up.
After, he massaged her scalp, soothing any discomfort from when he’d grabbed her hair, and she sighed. She liked the way he took care of her after sex, especially after their more intense encounters. He never said much during these quiet moments, but his small acts of care spoke louder than words.
She’d never thought she could feel like this about anyone, let alone a man who’d started out by buying her at a slave market. She treasured the sight of Cade’s face when she woke up next to him. He made her believe in a better tomorrow just by existing—something she never would’ve dreamed possible.
“Are you alright?” Cade asked, without stopping the massage. “You look a little spacey.”
“Yeah. Maybe for the first time, I really am.”
She sealed her words with a kiss that held her whole heart within it, and he returned it—slowly, tenderly, sweetly.
“Maybe I am, too,” he whispered a moment later, leaning his forehead against hers. “Was all that just dirty talk, darling, or would you like me to share you? Because…I might have unlocked a new kink there. One I didn’t even know I had.”
Asha laughed and kissed him again. “It wasn’t just talk. Not if you don’t want it to be.”
He paused for a moment, staring in her eyes. “Not your heart, though. I don’t want to share that. I’ve worked too hard to capture it for myself.”
“Is that so?” she murmured, and she couldn’t stop smiling. “Well…I don’t think there’s much chance of it escaping now, anyway.”
Cade grinned in a way that warmed her all over, and Asha couldn’t stop smiling.