Chapter 14
Cade
By the timeAspen finished her tale about finding her place in complete disarray and that whoever had been inside had escaped through her bedroom window, my concern for her safety had grown exponentially.
Needless to say, my suspicion the shadow figure I’d spotted on arrival was of the human and not animal variety had me worried about our dogs who were still running amok outside.
“We need to find Molly,” Aspen said.
“Renegade won’t let anything happen to her,” I stated, as sure as my words sounded, “but you’re both coming home with me.”
“What? No!”
“Until we have this figured out, you’re not staying here alone, and since I have to give a SITREP to Dalton about this last case, I can’t stay here with you tonight,” I explained.
“I’m not going to give this asshole all of the power,” she argued.
“That’s not for debate, sweetheart.” My eyes bored into hers, pleading she’d give me just a small reprieve. Tomorrow would be another day to reevaluate things and figure where we would go from there.
“Fine.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “For tonight.”
Thank fuck!
“Good. Now that we have that settled, let’s go find the mutts, pack some clothes for you, and get out of here.”
And that’s what we did.
Aspen
Okay, so I was annoyed as all get out with the way Cade seemed to have swooped in and rescued me from my stressful predicament, but I’d be lying if I didn’t preface that with the fact his utter alpha bossiness had also been a sexy-as-hell trait. For the first time since I’d been younger, someone had taken charge of things and allowed me the luxury of feeling my emotions instead of fighting them for self-preservation purposes. It was a foreign concept for me, but not an unwelcome one.
As I sipped my peppermint tea, peering at an otherwise dark backyard that overlooked another dense copse of trees from the large picture window, illuminated by the sliver of moon peeking out from the occasional cloud in the starry night sky, I pondered the facts as I knew them, and wondered what my options would be at this very point in time.
“Those must be some heavy thoughts,” Cade muttered, as his arms came around me and tugged me back into the warmth of his chest before kissing the side of my hair. His breath stirred goosebumps over my flesh.
“Mm—hmm.”
“Penny for your thoughts?”
The saying had me giggling silently as I turned to catch sight of the scruff on his chin, unable to turn my body to face him completely with the lock he had around me. “Seriously?” I smiled.
He chuckled. “My mom used to ask that question when she suspected my dad or I had something weighing heavily on our minds,” he said by way of explaining.
“Just thinking about what I can do,” I told him. “I could go to the police, but who’s going to post a unit that far into the woods? Chances are, whoever it was would just move on if they saw a cruiser parked out there on the regular. What I can’t seem to wrap my head around is this person’s motive. That’s what bothers me most.”
“The world is filled with freaks,” he said.
A singular eyebrow arched at his words. “Yeah, but in the bush?”
“You’d be surprised, and with what you’ve been through as a kid, you would know better than anybody what kind of degenerates lurk in the oddest of places.”
That had me pulling away from him, anger bubbling up. “Why the fuck would you say that?” The appeal and calming effect of my tea was all but gone and my body had grown cold at his words. The look of regret strewn across his face did little to assuage the frustration I felt.
“I’m sorry,” Cade said, “but it’s not like we can forget what happened to Willow.” He ran his hand through his hair and down his face before shaking his head. “Forget I brought it up.”
The loss of my sister was something I’d never get past. Hell, he felt his own variation of loss with regards to my own experience, seeing as his father had been deeply linked with the investigation. Christ, he’d lost his father in part because of my sister’s case.
Before I could say something I’d regret, I turned toward Cade’s kitchen and marched to dump the rest of my drink in the sink before reaching for the dishwasher to stow my soiled cup.
I was startled by the man of the house grabbing my arm gently. “Pen…please.” He turned me toward him, the worry he’d really screwed things up so palpable that my anger dissipated some.
I sighed. “It wasn’t fair of you to bring that up,” I said, even though I knew he didn’t mean it in a malicious way.
“I’m sorry,” he repeated, but I couldn’t quite meet his gaze until his hand lightly forced my chin upward. “I’m just worried about you.”
My eyes searched his right then.
“I want to make sure you’re safe.” He sighed, shaking his head as though trying to figure out how best to proceed next. “Hell, if I thought you’d be in agreement, I’d pack your shit and move you in here until we figured this situation out, but I know that shit isn’t going to fly with you and we’re not at that stage of our relationship yet.”
Relationship?
We didn’t really have one, but I’d be dishonest with him—with myself—if I denied that emotions and attraction were guiding us in that exact direction. Just a few mornings ago, had the time permitted it, I’d have had him cradled between my naked thighs, reveling in the power he exuded over my body. Oh, the pleasure he could bring a lonely spinster like myself!
“I respect you too much to stifle and strong-arm you into making you do my bidding,” his eyes glittered with the sincerity of his words. “It’s so far from the reason why I’m attracted to you.” My heart fluttered. “Your independence, that fire you’ve got, it’s all part of what draws me in.” He kissed my forehead, then lifted his head, his arms pulling me toward him, settling on my waist. “And as much as I hate the idea of you alone out there, and maybe it’s the fact that today has shaken you, babe, but I can’t let go of the feeling in my gut that tells me whatever is going on with this fucker isn’t quite done yet.”
My hands lifted to land on his chest as I relaxed into Cade’s hold. “Can we look into a security system?” I blurted out.
Cade’s eyes widened in surprise, and the warmth in his smile and his gaze told me he was definitely supportive of the idea.
“First thing tomorrow,” he assured me. “And we’ll log a report too. I want you to come with me into Nightshade and talk to the guys about what’s going on.”
“Cade,” I started, but the man shut me up with a quick peck.
“We’re not going to the cops. Not right now. The guys and I can handle this, and you’re right…whoever this is will fuck off if they know they’re being watched. I want whoever this is to be caught,” he explained, “and part of that is us catching him in the middle of whatever act he’s got coming next. It also gives us something to give to the police when the time is right, if we ever get to that point.”
As insensitive as this conversation had started, Cade sure knew how to redeem himself in the way of painting a picture of why his thoughts had initially led him to say what he had that set me off. The man cared and if I’d let him, he’d help me grow into myself, giving my life a new and increasingly beautiful meaning.
“Kiss me,” I whispered.
And he didn’t disappoint.