Chapter 8
Daria
Holy shit, his lip ring felt good against my tongue. And his tongue felt even better against my tongue—I knew it would feel amazing against other places, too. Kissing Cade was better than I could have dreamed. It was the best kiss of my life, in fact.
The forceful way he held my face almost immediately after I planted one on him? Epic. Despite me making the first move, Cade quickly transformed into the aggressor. And I was here for it.
Everything about the way he kissed was perfection—the rhythm of his tongue, the subtle groans coming from deep in the back of his throat. I was wetter by the second, especially with the heat of his massive package pressed against my abdomen.
“Damn, Cade.” I moaned into his mouth. “What are you doing to me right now? You’re making me crazy.”
When he spoke, low against my lips, my panties nearly melted off. “You have no idea how badly I want to fuck you right now, Daria.”
“Spoiler alert…” I threaded my fingers through his hair. “I’ll let you.”
“Shit.” Panting, he pulled back. “I can’t.” He shook his head. “God, do I want to, but I can’t.”
I licked the remnants of his kiss off my bottom lip—it suddenly tasted like rejection. And it stung. I cleared my throat. “You can’t…”
He wrapped his big tatted hand gently around my neck. “You’re a little drunk. Actually, quite drunk. I would never know if you truly wanted it. You need to be sober.”
Bending my head back, I closed my eyes as he began to massage the back of my neck. “I promise you, I want it.” I did want him, so badly that my nipples were practically begging me for mercy.
But he had a point. We’d both had too much to drink. And his not taking advantage of the situation proved what a decent guy he really was.
Cade’s eyes were hazy. “I can’t take the chance that you’d feel differently tomorrow. I don’t want you to have any regrets.” He pointed down at his crotch. “Believe me, it’s not that I don’t want it. Fucking look at this thing. I couldn’t get any harder for you if I tried.”
My mouth practically watered as I took him in. But if nothing was going to happen between us, it was better if I separated myself from the bulge in his jeans—and cooled down.
“You know what?” I ran a hand down the length of my hair. “I should probably head to my room. We can clean up this mess tomorrow.”
Before he could say anything more, I left him there with a hard-on as I practically ran up the stairs. What the hell has gotten into you, Daria?
Well, I knew what hadn’t gotten into me in apparently too long a while.
I sighed.
After tossing off my shoes, I climbed into bed.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Cade. We’d been stuck in this cabin not even a day together, but something had shifted.
It was weird. I didn’t know what all this meant—it had happened so fast. After the storm cleared and we left here, would we go back to the way things were?
Was our connection exclusive to being trapped in this cabin—or was it something more?
The prospect of something more with the last guy on Earth I’d ever expected to connect with scared me as much as it excited me.
We work together! What if we screwed things up, and one of us had to quit?
We both loved working at the shop so much.
I was getting ahead of myself and needed to stop ruminating. But I couldn’t help it.
I really like him.
I knew one thing: I would not be throwing myself at him tomorrow when this sex fog cleared. I definitely needed to backtrack there.
***
Later that evening, after a lot of scrolling through my phone, I had just about dozed off when I heard the door creak open. A couple seconds later, the bed sank as I felt Cade’s weight on the mattress. That was followed by the warmth of his body at my back.
“Are you awake?” he whispered gruffly.
I stayed frozen and said nothing. It was just easier to pretend to be asleep.
“Well, isn’t that great.” He chuckled. “You’re asleep, and I’m wired.”
With my back still turned to him, I smiled.
He went on. “I’m gonna have to assume that since you apparently wouldn’t have minded if I stuck my dick inside you tonight, you won’t mind if I sleep next to you. I really don’t feel like sleeping on the couch. But hopefully you won’t kick me in the balls when you wake up and find me here.”
My mouth curved into another smile, which soon faded when he changed the subject.
“I can’t believe I told you about Everly. But I guess I had no choice. I didn’t want to lie.” He exhaled. “I never talk about her. It’s too damn painful. Especially around this time of year.” He paused. “She died close to Christmas…”
I shut my eyes tightly to fight the tears.
“It’s part of why I hate the holidays so much.
” He blew out a breath. “Anyway, you make it easy to open up, Red. Even when we’re fighting at work, I don’t hold back with you.
You give me this…boost of energy that I don’t experience with anyone else.
I like fighting with you more than most things.
That’s probably why I dream of you.” He sighed deeply.
“You’re…fire. Gorgeous fire. And I hope you don’t turn me down when I take my shot again sometime when we’re both sober. ”
Now I really wanted to turn around and plant another kiss on his luscious lips. But instead, I replayed his words in my head and listened to the sound of his breathing as we both drifted off to sleep.