Chapter 16
Aspen
Pain.
Sweet pain. Okay, so it was more of an ache—a rather delicious one at that—as I stretched out for the first time upon waking.
Well-used. That’s how I could sum up how last night had gone down with Cade.
The man was a sex god! He could pull off any of the following: the sultry and sweet, the downright dirty, and the vanilla.
My mind flitted to the part of the night before, when he had mentioned the addition of toys, spanking, and light bites of pain to more future sexual forays, causing my body to warm with need. The mere thought of it all now had me wriggling as I squeezed my legs together.
Cade’s arms around me tightened.
“Good morning.” He kissed the back of my head, then nuzzled into my neck, scraping his teeth against the tendon ran down to meet my shoulder and I felt myself moisten. The tingling in my nether regions caused me to press my ass snugger to Cade’s hardening cock. His devious chuckle shook the entire bed and had me creaming myself further. “Hungry?” he asked.
I reached behind my ass, giving myself enough room to grab on to his length and squeezed it until he hissed. “Famished.” I smirked, turned in his arms to face him, then nipped at his chin, urging him to his back. Proceeding to shimmy down his body, my lips and hands tortured him in a similar way he had done to me the previous night.
Pushing the blankets down to the bottom of the bed, I coaxed Cade’s legs apart with my knees, making room for myself between them.
“This is by far the best buffet I’ve ever had,” I said, as I lowered my head to lick the indentation of the deep ‘V’ at his pelvis, nudging the tip of his cock out of the way with my chin.
“Really,” he husked.
With no warning, I opened my mouth and slid my lips and tongue over his length, lowering until I nearly gagged, then pulled back until only the head of his cock remained in my mouth.
“Mm-hmm,” I hummed.
Cade’s eyes widened. “Jesus, woman!”
I released him, licking the tip of him and the accumulating precum there, as if he were the best tasting lollipop, before pulling back enough to grin up at him, then I got back to work.
“Dammit, Pen…” he groaned, as I plunged down on him once more, trailing a hand to play with his balls. “You’ll be the death of me,” he finished as I sucked him deeper, attempting something I’d never felt eager enough to try before. “Oh, fuck!”
Cade
The moment my cock nudged the back of her throat, my mouth ran dry as she swallowed. I’ve always been a fan of the mutual giving of head, but never had I had a woman able to take me down her throat like Aspen was doing right then.
Her eyes watered, saliva leaked out the sides of her mouth, but my grunts and groans only seemed to spur her on. So much so she straddled my leg and began rubbing her dripping pussy in such a way that her endgame would have both of us satisfied, as well as leaving me with an added excuse to have her coming on my cock again before we had to head out for our meeting with Dalton and the rest of the crew on shift at NSI.
The instant my balls drew up, I gasped out, “Baby, I’m gonna come. If you don’t want me blowing in that sinful mouth of yours, you better?—”
She didn’t give me the chance to finish, because she pulled back, grabbed my hand, laced our fingers together, then directed them to the back of her head, tangling our digits in her tresses. Plunging her mouth down, her suction seemed to double in intensity before swallowing once more.
I was done.
She killed me, but what a fucking way to go!
I swear she’d sucked my brains straight down my body and out through my dick.
By the time the fog of bliss cleared from my mind, our entwined hands were still where Aspen had brought them, and she was delicately nuzzling my cock, her head resting against my thigh, her breathing heavy, and eyes glazed over.
“Get up here, baby,” I whispered to her, releasing her hand, then threading my fingers in her hair in such a way I could fist it without causing her any pain. I tilted her head up so I could see her entire face.
She was wobbly in her movements, so as soon as she was close enough for me to grab on to, I pulled her the rest of the way up, settling her so she was draped over my body, her head resting on my chest while we both finished coming back down to Earth.
By the time we reached Nightshade’s headquarters, it was nearing lunch and therefore Aspen and I had picked the guys up an assortment of sandwiches, soft drinks, and potato chips after calling beforehand for a head count.
“‘Bout fucking time you showed up,” Brycen approached hurriedly, grabbed our bags, and ran off to the back of the office suite where the small eat-in kitchen was. Rex, Dalton, and his wife, Devolin, were hot on his heels.
“Vultures,” I blurted, laughing at Aspen’s humored expression. “All of them,” I mumbled as kissed her temple.
“It is one thirty,” she responded, then her body stiffened, her gaze her gaze having trailed from me, had set itself on someone else and widened.
When I turned to see what had captured her attention, Devolin had returned to us, and was standing in front of my woman, eyeing her from head to toe. “You’re not at all what I’d pictured you to be,” she said. “Rex told me who you were back there. Please tell me he wasn’t yanking my chain. You…you’re Penny Sexton, right?”
The woman at my side proffered her hand and said, “Aspen Ridge. The photo on the back of those books isn’t the real me. It’s the corporate world exerting their rights to dictate things.”
Devolin snorted at the formal kind of greeting, grabbed Aspen’s hand, and then her into a tight hug. “I’m Devolin. It’s such a pleasure meeting the woman who’s gotten this big lug to smile so much over the last month,” she stated, then promptly released her, and reached out to hold both Aspen’s hands. “And those books of yours…hot!”
The blush that suffused Aspen’s face was the first indication my companion felt slightly uncomfortable from the attention and praise.
“Um…thanks,” she muttered.
“You’re welcome,” Devolin said, then backed away. “I’m sorry I came right at you, but I’ve been reading you since you started and when the guys told me they knew you, I got a little over-excited.”
Aspen simply shrugged, then bit her bottom lip, and I knew her mind had wandered off momentarily. Then her face lit up with recognition. “Devolin…the hacker, right?” She looked over at me with a twinkle in her eyes. I nodded in response and when we both turned to face Dalton’s wife, her eyes held wonder as if she’d scored the biggest prize—being recognized by who she’d deemed a celebrity.
Devolin’s eyes rounded. “You’ve heard of me?” she asked.
Aspen nodded. “I’ve been meaning to call you up,” she said. “Dalton gave me your card. I wanted to pick your brain about a character I’m developing. I was wondering?—”
“Yes!” Devolin jumped up and down excitedly. “Wait until Emberlyn hears about this.”
“Ember is our friend Shane’s wife,” I explained, wrapping my arm around Aspen’s shoulders and tugging her into my side. “Shane’s a detective with the Jacksonville police department. He also works with us here part time, kind of like me, the only difference is he’s looking to shirk his day-job to focus on his new wife, their family, and assuming his part-ownership of this place.” She nodded in understanding despite looking slightly overwhelmed with the wealth of information I’d just spewed at her.
“Come on,” Devolin said. “Let’s go get some lunch before Babyface eats our portion.”
I laughed at her hurried expression, but I couldn’t blame her. If given the chance, he probably would.
Aspen
“Still to this day, I can’t believe I told him he could put me in handcuffs and have his wicked way with me,” Devolin giggled, unaware her husband Dalton’s gaze held a mixture of heat and adoration pointed in his wife’s direction as she prattled on. Every now and again, she’d reach for his hand to give it a squeeze while he was seated, straddling the side of her chair, much like Cade had done to mine.
Suffice to say, as soon as we had joined Devolin’s husband and the rest of the NSI team on shift, I found myself feeling immediately at ease despite the exponential level of testosterone in the smallish room. Even with her initial aggressive approach, I found I liked Devolin almost immediately. Kindred spirits and all, seeing as she wasn’t much for getting out either, due in part to her living with severe medical issues most of her life.
“Aspen, Cade mentioned you’d had an uninvited guest yesterday?” Dalton broke the jovial feel of the early afternoon.
I nearly choked myself to death on the final sip of my soda, causing a ruckus of a cough and sputtering. My only response was in the form of an animated nod, while I attempted to dab at my eyes, which had filled with tears, with a napkin. My throat was on fire, and Cade seemed to pick up on it as he rushed to the sink and filled a glass of water, bringing it over, and wrapping my hand around it.
“Drink.”
After a few minutes, I regained my breath and was able to continue the conversation.
“Yeah,” I rasped and took a nervous sip before continuing. “I was out for a morning hike with the dogs. Nothing seemed weirder than normal while we were out.”
“What do you mean by that?” Dalton leaned forward. His undivided attention was pointed solely at me. I felt the tension ratchet up around me, causing me to look around, noticing every man’s attention—Rex, Brycen and Cade—was focused solely in my direction.
“I thought it was me, that I’ve been off my game… I’ve been distracted lately, but things have been weird at home for the last month or so,” I told them. “They’re just subtle things though, like my keys not always being where I would leave them, or crumbs on the counter when I always clean up after making food. Things like that.”
“The book,” Cade added to which I nodded. “It’s escalating, Pen.” Then he whispered the next so no one could hear, “I have to say, I’m a little pissed you haven’t shared this with me, baby. When we get home, we’re going to have a chat about why you haven’t said anything until now.”
I turned my head to look at him, brows furrowed. “But you knew?—”
“Don’t you finish that sentence, sweetheart.” He grabbed my chin to keep our gazes connected. “We can’t help you unless you tell us everything. The smallest detail can mean so much in the grander scheme of things.” Then, his other hand sifted into my hair, pulled my face to his, and he gently nibbled my bottom lip before sealing his lips to mine in a gesture that soothed my nerves as much as it seemed to do the same for him, if the look in his eyes was anything to go by once he’d pulled away.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
He nodded, but never said anything else as he turned toward the rest of the room, a devilish smirk strewn across his mouth. The guys each sported a look of humor on theirs, and questions in their eyes, while Devolin giggled away before mouthing, “Hot” my way, causing my lips to lift slightly at the edges before I caught myself.
Bugger!Cade had me wrapped around his little finger and he didn’t even know it. Or maybe he did.