Chapter 11 #2
I held back a grin, my lips twitching. There was no need to tell them that they all resembled those birds from the with the black and blue feathers that would do the little dance to attract women.
“I know the manager,” Kyler said in answer, and I laughed along with the others as Hudson sighed.
“If any other Cages walk through that door, we’ll fill the whole place.”
“I wouldn’t mind that,” Ellis said as he came to my other side. “And if those Cages like to buy things, the more, the better. We do have a couple other artists here that aren’t Hudson, that are new to the area. We’d like to use Hudson’s reach in order to help other artists.”
I smiled at Hudson, who closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
I moved my arm so I could squeeze his hand, and when he tangled his fingers in mine, I realized he was nervous.
The grumpy artist who likes to live in his cabin and not talk to anybody was nervous about this show.
Maybe I had made a mistake in not telling his entire family to arrive. But Theo and Kyler were here, so perhaps that would be enough.
I strategically took out my phone and snapped a few photos where Ellis said I could. I had my own group chat with some of the Cage women, so I would let them know what they were missing. And apologize that I hadn’t told them to begin with.
“You should take a photo of the three of them,” Luke whispered, and I turned to see Theo’s business partner standing close to me.
“Oh?” I asked and swallowed hard.
The man was dreamy, though he had nothing on Hudson. Not that I would tell anyone that.
“I’m pretty sure they don’t have a photo of just the three of them. In fact, I don’t even know if this particular group has been together without the other Cages around.”
I thought about that and sadness slipped over me. The expression must have shone on my face, because Luke reached out and squeezed my shoulder.
“I’ve always hated Theo’s dad, not that I would ever tell the man to his face. Oh wait, I did.” He winked, and I smiled.
“Really? You told him that.”
“Of course I did. He was an ass to my best friend. Though he was worse to the others. At least from what I saw. But come on, capture this moment for one of the group chats. Or at least for Hudson. I think sometimes the old man forgets that he does have family.”
I swallowed hard and snapped a few photos as the three spoke, looking so alike it was startling. I knew Hudson had a twin, and I liked Flynn, but in that moment, all three looked like full brothers, who had different personalities and individualities of their own.
What would it be like to not have known of each other’s existence until recently?
The idea that these three had never been alone without the other Cages or some form of combination, astonished me.
But then again since Hudson and Theo didn’t live in the same town, and Kyler was rarely in the state, it made sense.
When Hudson glared over at me, that’s when I realized Luke’s hand was still on my shoulder. He dropped it, and I raised a brow at the other man as he just smirked at me.
“Just testing the waters.”
“You better not be testing them with me. I don’t take kindly to being the center of whatever male testosterone dance you guys feel like having.”
Luke threw his head back and laughed, and then Hudson was at my side, and I couldn’t help but nearly swoon at the sight of him. There was seriously something wrong with me.
“He’s pretty amazing, good on you,” Luke said before he went over to where Theo and Kyler were speaking to one of the other artists.
I looked at Hudson, who shook his head. “Theo invited us to dinner at his restaurant after this, but I declined.”
I frowned. “I’ve always wanted to go to The Teal Door. It’s hard to get in there. I’m just glad that he has another version of it in Cage Lake, or I would never have his delicious food.”
Hudson grunted. “The man can cook I’ll give him that. But no, I have other plans for you.”
I pressed my thighs together and swallowed hard. “Oh?”
“Unless Luke has your attention.”
I narrowed my gaze at Hudson, wondering why men could get so thick in the head. “He was teasing you. And if you think I’m the type of woman who would just flitter away with another man when you brought me down to Denver? You don’t know me at all.”
“You’re right. But I want to know you.”
I wasn’t sure what else there was to say to that.
We stayed for a few more minutes, saying our goodbyes to Ellis and his spouses, as well as the Cages and Luke. I couldn’t help but notice the multiple sold stickers on every piece of art around the gallery. Including the other artists who were here for their first show.
I had seen some of the costs of those paintings, and they had made me nearly drop my drink.
The Cages had money, that was for sure, but Hudson was turning out to be in a league of his own when it came to his career.
And I couldn’t be prouder of him.
And more nervous for exactly what would be happening tonight.
* * *
By the time we got back to the hotel, I could barely think. My thoughts went in a million different directions, scattered as if light through a prism. Or did a prism make light go into a rainbow? Why could I not remember basic science or the English language when I stood next to Hudson Cage?
Now we were walking into the hotel suite, as Hudson undid his tie, and I set my purse on the small table near the door.
“Do you want me to order room service?” he asked.
I turned to look at him, confused as to what he wanted or what I was doing in the first place.
“You did really good tonight, by the way.”
He tilted his head as he looked at me, then toed off his shoes.
“I hate those things.”
“Because you have to be the center of attention. But you’re brilliant, Hudson. And I’m not saying that because I had two glasses of champagne. We know champagne doesn’t do anything to me.”
“I do know that. And I’m not brilliant. I can just use a paintbrush every once in a while.”
“It’s more than that. And if you want to play the humble artist, I’m fine with that. But you are a fantastic artist. And I’ve always been a little jealous because I can barely paint a rainbow when I have a color sheet.”
“A color sheet?” he asked, sliding off his suit jacket.
I found myself undoing my bracelet and sliding out of my heels. We were both getting ready for the evening, finally stripping in front of each other. And yet we weren’t saying a word about anything important. Why could Hudson do this to me? And why did I continually want him to?
“You know, with a coloring book? Where they draw the rainbow for you and you just have to fill in ROYGBIV.”
His lips twitched as he moved forward and gently slid his finger along my jaw. I shivered and tilted my head back. When his fingers slid through the back of my hair, his thumb gliding over my jawline, I swallowed hard.
“Did you know they rarely teach ROYGBIV like that in some schools?”
I blinked, confused. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. Just like they don’t teach Pluto in the solar system anymore. The earth is going to hell in a handbasket, and the main things we learned as children just don’t make sense anymore. Even my times tables are now all messed up.”
I grinned at that. “You don’t have to memorize the numbers anymore. Not really. Now you can get there along a path that makes sense no matter what number’s there.”
“You said a bunch of words, and they don’t make sense to me. But I was never good with numbers.”
“Lucky for the resort, I am.”
I licked my lips unconsciously, and then Hudson’s mouth was on mine, and I moaned.
“Tell me you don’t want this,” he whispered against my mouth.
“Tell me you want me to stop and I will. But if you kiss me back right now, I’m not stopping until I’m deep inside you, and you’re riding my cock.
You get that, Scarlett? I don’t want to hurt you, so you need to let me know what you want. ”
I shivered, and then slid my hands up his chest, and dug my nails into his flesh through his white button-up shirt.
“I don’t want to think of the consequences. I just want you.”
“Good answer.” And then he tugged on my hair, and I was lost.
He moved his free hand down my side, cupping my breast. When his thumb went over my nipple piercing through my bra and dress, I groaned.
“Damn it, I nearly forgot about these.”
“Liar.”
Then both hands were on my hips and then underneath my dress. When he palmed my ass, he froze. “You’re not wearing any underwear.”
“It was confining.”
He let his head fall back as he groaned, rocking his erection against my belly.
Before I could say anything, he lifted me up with such ease that I gasped. I wrapped my legs around him, and he carried us to the bed.
“I need to taste you.”
I nodded, unable to speak.
I was on the bed, dress at my waist, and I could barely think.
He knelt at the edge of the bed, my thighs pressed around his face, and then he was moving.
He tongued my clit, taking his sweet time to explore my pussy as he ate me out to the point that my eyes nearly rolled to the back of my head.
I slid my hand through his hair, forcing him closer to my cunt.
His beard tickled my inner thighs, but it didn’t matter.
All I wanted was to come on his face, and then to touch him. I just wanted him.
He continued to explore me, until I could barely breathe, and when I finally came, I whispered his name, and he groaned against my flesh.
He pulled back, and I blinked up at him lazily, my breasts heavy, my body flushed.
He undid his shirt quickly, showing me those rock hard abs, his chest that I wanted to bite.
I noticed the puckered scars there, the ones that I knew had come from bullet wounds when he had been overseas.
But I didn’t ask him. This wasn’t the time.
I didn’t know if there would ever be a time.
I reached up and glided my hands over the hoops in his nipples, and he smiled.
“Like that?”
I nodded and reached back to unzip my dress.
“I need to get out of this.”
“Then let’s work on that.”
He undid my dress, and I wiggled out of it, both of us tossing it to the side. Then he was undoing his pants, shoving them to the floor, and we were all over each other, our hands roaming, our mouths unable to stop moving.
I reached between us, gripping his cock, and realized that my thumb and forefinger didn’t meet.
I groaned, sliding myself along him, leaving my wetness along his length.
“How long have you had your barbell there?” I asked, gently playing with the jewelry at the tip of his dick.
“A while now,” he said softly, looking at where we met. He had one hand on my side, drawing circles with his finger, the other gently fingering me.
I rocked into him, needing a moment to catch my breath.
“Will I hurt you?”
He shook his head. “I can get myself off going pretty hard, Scarlett. You’re not going to hurt me with those dainty hands of yours.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t want to hurt you, Hudson.”
And there it was, the truth on multiple levels, but we did what we did best and didn’t talk about it.
Instead he slid his fingers out of me and tapped them against my mouth.
“Open.”
I did so and tasted myself on him. I nearly came right then, wondering what exactly this man did to me.
Instead he leaned back, and I straddled him.
“Farther up,” he ordered, and I frowned, slowly rocking myself along his cock.
“Excuse me?”
“Sit on my face, Scar. I don’t want to have to tell you again.”
Eyes wide, I crawled up his body, pausing as he lapped at my nipples, tugging at the piercings.
He spanked me, and I laughed before moving forward to the edge of the bed.
“Hold on to the headboard if you have to but sit on my face.”
I looked my legs, at that bearded face of his, and pressed my lips together.
“You’re not going to suffocate me, Scarlett. And even if you do, it’s not a bad way to go.”
Laughing, I gripped the headboard, and did exactly what he asked, and sat on his face.
He held onto my thighs as I rocked myself over his face, knowing that I was going to come again, and probably fall into a puddle.
I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, instead, I just rocked my hips, letting his tongue spear me, and before I could think, I was coming again, this time falling back.
Somehow Hudson caught me, keeping me in his arms. I had never come on a man’s face like that, hadn’t known it was even possible, truly, but Hudson was something else. And then I was on my stomach, thighs pressed together, and he was sliding deep inside me.
We both froze, and I realized what we had forgotten.
“Fuck,” he growled. “Let me get a condom.”
I reached around, unable to speak for a moment, as I caught his wrist.
I was so full, nearly stretched to the limit at this angle. He had filled me with one thrust, and it felt like I could burst. “You don’t have to. I’m on birth control. I’m clean. I promise.”
Hudson let out a curse through gritted teeth as he dug his palms into my lower back and ass.
“I had a vasectomy a few years ago. It’s reversible, but I’m clean and I’m not going to get you pregnant. Not now.”
I didn’t know what the phrase “not now” did to me in that moment, but in the end, I lifted my hips slightly, drawing him deeper.
His piercing hit me and I nearly came again.
In his answer to my movement, he slid out of me, and before I could whimper at the loss, he thrust hard.
I gripped the duvet, hands shaking, as he slowly worked in and out of me, gently at first, before moving harder, faster. He pressed back to me, tangling one hand with my own, as he rocked his hips, both of us meeting each other thrust for thrust.
“You’re so fucking tight at this angle, Scarlett.”
“I can’t, I can’t,” I whispered.
He pulled out of me then, pushing me onto my back and sliding into me before I could even think.
“I’ve never fucked anyone bare before. You’re so fucking tight, so wet. I don’t think I could ever go back to normal.”
I looked up at him then, tears filling my eyes even though I hated myself for it. “I don’t think there is normal.”
He didn’t pause as he continued to thrust, but as he slid one of my legs up so my ankle was at his shoulder, he moved forward and took my lips.
“Never normal. Just us.”
And then he moved.
When I came again, clamping around his cock, he sped up, the bed rocking, and both of us clutching for each other.
He finally came, groaning into my neck, his breath warm, his body heavy along mine.
And I let myself come down from my orgasm, holding him as tightly as I could.
I hadn’t asked for Hudson Cage, and as he kissed me softly and wiped my tears away, I knew he hadn’t asked for me.
But in that moment, he was my obsession.
And walking away would break us both.