Chapter Twenty
CADE
Meredith was quiet on the drive home. So quiet, in fact, that I thought she fell asleep when she rested her head on the window. It was only when the car arrived in front of my building and I leaned in to wake her up that I realized she wasn't sleeping at all.
"We're here, babe," I said.
She nodded, straightening up. She was still a bit tipsy.
"Stay put. I'll go around and open the door for you."
The cold bit my cheeks when I got out of the car. I hurried to her door, opening it and then holding out my hand for her. She gripped it tightly and leaned on me as she got up. I was steady on my feet, supporting my woman, and immediately put an arm around her as we walked up to the building.
"Man, it's cold," she said. I unlocked the door as fast as possible, waiting for her to step inside first. "This place looks amazing." She glanced around the second I turned on the light in the mudroom. “Do you have a fireplace?”
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t take you for the type to live in a brownstone.”
“What did you imagine?”
“A penthouse.”
“Not my style.”
I looked at her closely. She seemed completely different than back at the fair. Something was off. "Babe, what's wrong?"
She shrugged.
"Esther bothered you," I concluded.
"Obviously, and I hate that because I'm always so confident, and I don't let people get to me."
"And I love that about you."
"I don't want you seeing me like this."
My woman was feeling vulnerable because of that snotty bitch. Esther and I had gone out a few times but were never a thing. Conversations were dull, and we had nothing in common.
"I don't mind. Babe, I'm honored that you can feel this comfortable around me, that you're showing me this side of you. Really, it’s okay."
"But I don't want to show it to you," she whispered.
"I'm sorry we ran into her."
"Who was she?"
"We dated a year ago. I met her at an event—the Coffee Formation. She was one of the presenters the host hired. It meant nothing." And that was an understatement.
"Sure seemed like it did to her, since she is still bragging about it."
"Forget about it. I never felt a thing for her.
I don't even want to compare her to you.
You mean so much to me, Meredith. You're fucking gorgeous.
" I was going to show her that tonight so she had no doubt.
"If I could, I'd go back in time and cut that fucking conversation short before it even happened. "
But that was impossible, so I was going to do the next best thing. I was going to show Meredith exactly the effect she had on me.
"Now, let's get all these clothes off you," I said, starting with the thick scarf around her neck. Then I lowered the zipper of her jacket. I put both our coats on the chair by the entrance, not bothering to hang them up.
"Let me start with that," she said, pointing to my shirt.
"How can you still look this hot in winter?
Aren't you cold? What are you made of?" she mumbled.
I liked her when she was tipsy. She had no filter, and I liked listening to her inner thoughts.
The one downside was that she took forever to unbutton my shirt.
I helped her by starting to undo them from the bottom up.
I finished all of them by the time she undid the second one.
"Someone's in a hurry," she said with a lazy smile.
"No, babe, I'm going to take all the time in the world with you. I just want to get these clothes out of the way. I want to see you. I want to feel you. Every inch of your gorgeous, sexy body."
She sucked in her breath. "Let the best one win."
"At what?"
"Taking off clothes."
"Babe, no offense, but I think I'm going to win that one."
She giggled. "So am I." She shimmied her hips. "Go on, ravish me."
"I will. First, I want to kiss you."
She tasted like cherries and rum. Everything she drank tonight.
I couldn't understand how the simple act of kissing this woman had such a profound impact on me.
I didn't want to stop savoring her, not even long enough to take off her clothes.
I ran my hands down her sweaterdress as she pushed her hips into me.
I groaned. And just like that, I needed skin-on-skin contact more than my next breath.
I grabbed the hem of her dress, knowing this one probably didn't have a zipper. And I was right. It came off easily as I pulled it over her head. Her hair was in complete disarray, making Meredith look wild, and I loved it. Her eyelids were hooded, and she bit her lower lip.
"I'll take care of the rest," I said. She didn't say anything, just leaned against the wall while I slowly peeled off her garters. "Your lingerie is driving me crazy."
"I know," she murmured, her inhibitions gone, left back at the festival, thank God.
I kissed up her thigh, stopping at the hem of her panties. I felt her suck in her breath and tighten the muscles in her belly.
No, I have a better plan. I stood up.
"What are you doing?" she murmured.
"Not here in the foyer. I want you on a horizontal surface, so when I make you come and your knees give out, you have all the support you need, babe."
She exhaled sharply. "Cade!”
I liked seeing her at a loss for words. I led her to the dining room, patting the table. "Sit here. But first lose your panties."
She cleared her throat, pointing up and down at me.
"First I'm going to get you naked." She took off my undershirt and then opened my belt buckle with surprising dexterity, considering how much trouble she had with the buttons on my shirt earlier.
She pushed my jeans down, along with my boxer shorts.
"Oh yeah." She palmed my cock as I stepped out of my jeans, and my eyes rolled into the back of my head when I felt her thumb and then her tongue slide over the crown.
"Meredith," I groaned. I looked down at her. "Fuck me! You're so sexy." I loved seeing her on her knees, taking me in almost to the base of my cock while looking me straight in the eyes.
She pulled back, licking her lips.
"Come on, beautiful. Sit on the table like I told you to."
She hopped onto it, and I parted her thighs wide, but not before I reached around her back and undid her bra. It snapped open, and then she let it fall to her middle. I pushed it off her belly, and it landed on the floor.
“Meredith, I’m clean.”
She licked her lips. “So am I. And on birth control. We don’t need a condom.”
"I want to memorize everything about this moment. Seeing you naked, thighs spread wide for me, right here on my dining room table. I want you everywhere in this house—on my desk, my couch, my bar, the bed, the shower."
Goose bumps broke out over her skin. First only on her thighs, then also on her arms. I pulled her to the very edge of the table, kissing her mouth softly.
She cupped my face with both hands. The unexpected tenderness stirred something inside me.
She parted her legs even wider as I stepped between them, rubbing the length of my cock up and down against her entrance and her clit.
She shivered every time I touched the crown to her clit.
I increased the pace, knowing deep in my bones that I could make her come just like that.
I wanted it. I wanted her to come once before I buried myself deep inside her and took what I needed. This was just for her.
I felt her entire body brace for orgasm.
Her nails grabbed at the table. The muscles in her back tensed.
She pushed her pelvis back and forth in a small movement.
Clearly she needed more friction. I explored her beautiful, voluptuous body with my hands.
I liked this position; I could easily reach down her thighs and her torso.
"Oh my God, Cade! Cade, I need you."
I took both her hands, putting them on me. I knew she wanted to dig her fingers into something, and the table wouldn't do. My skin would, though. I liked feeling her unrestrained pleasure rippling through her body.
She exploded beautifully, thrashing around on the table, crying out my name. I wanted to kiss her, but it was impossible.
Fuck, I was nearly losing my mind! I needed to be inside her, but I was determined to let her ride out this wave of bliss. Even though my cock was pulsing like mad, I rubbed it up and down her clit, drawing in a deep breath and expelling it even slower, all the while kissing her neck.
When her breathing fell back to a normal rate, I straightened up, looking at her, and then stepped back so we weren't touching anymore. I knew she needed to catch her breath. Her eyes were unfocused, and she had a mark on her lower lip from where she’d bitten it.
"I love seeing you this wild."
"You make me wild. I didn't even know… what you… could do to me." She wasn't coherent, but I knew what she was getting at. Fuck yes, it filled me with a caveman sort of pride that she hadn't done this with anyone else.
I stepped back farther, holding her hands. "Come on, beautiful. Down from the table."
"Why? Your next plans include the bed?"
"You bet. I'm going to need you to lie down for what I have in mind."
She shivered as she turned around, walking in front of me. I liked seeing her walk, her hips moving from side to side. The sight of her gorgeous ass turned me on just as much as her screams had a few minutes ago.
We walked up the stairs to the next floor. In the bedroom, I only turned on a few of the lights, the ones over the dresser.
"Get on the bed, Meredith. Hold your hands close to the headboard."
The headboard was a wood panel with an intricate pattern. I’d never paid much attention to it before, but now I had a good use for it.
"Why?" Meredith asked.
"You'll see."
As she climbed onto the bed, I went to my dresser, taking out two ties. She exhaled sharply when I returned.
"I want to use one of these to cover your eyes and the other to tie your hands to the headboard. I promise it's going to make everything I do to you so much more delicious."
She pouted. "But that's going to limit what I can do to you."
"Trust me, watching you come is reward enough for now. What do you think?"
"Yes. I want to try everything.”
I started by putting the tie around her eyes. I made sure she couldn't see much, though it wasn't important for her eyes to be completely covered, only enough so she couldn't fathom my next move. Then I used the other tie for her wrists.
"They're very loose. Are you comfortable?” I asked.
"Yes." She tugged at them lightly.
The sight of her tied up in my bed like this was insanely sexy. She was sitting with her ass by the headboard, legs spread wide and bent at the knees. I pulled at her ankles, and she understood my message—I wanted her lying down.
I dragged my fingers from her ankles up to her knees, then moved to her inner thighs. Going farther up, I parted her legs even more. I positioned my mouth right over her pussy, blowing cold air over it before pressing the flat of my tongue straight over her opening.
"Cade!" she screamed, pushing her heels down into the mattress. She shoved her pelvis against my mouth, and I knew exactly what she needed.
I pressed my tongue inside her, alternating between that and paying attention to her clit.
She was wild. I felt her tug at the ties, writhing around on the bed.
Then I kissed back up, because I wanted to see her up close when she came undone for me.
I moved my mouth in a slow, torturous kiss over each breast while I slipped my fingers inside her, pressing my palm on her clit at the same time.
"Oh my God. Oh my God." She clamped her thighs together, trapping my hand. I stilled, watching her intently, drinking in the way she gave in to me.
This orgasm was even more intense than the one before. I took off her blindfold when she seemed to have come down from the release, then I undid her hands as well.
"Oh my God. I didn't even know I could come twice."
"You'll come again for me before the night ends, babe. When I'm inside you," I assured her.
I kissed her long and deep, feeling the vibrations of her body against me before straightening up. Resting on my knees, I lifted her ankles off the bed, keeping her thighs to the side, and put two pillows under her ass until her entrance was level with my cock.
"What are you doing?" she murmured.
"You'll like this angle, babe, I promise."
When I couldn't stand it anymore, I slid inside her. She was still pulsing. The skin-on-skin contact sent me into a tailspin. Pleasure was already building in my body, and I buckled forward at the unexpected shot of heat. I straightened up, dropping my head back.
"Fuck!" I exclaimed. "Have I died and gone to heaven?” This couldn't be real. The sensation was impossibly good. Nothing I’d experienced before had ever come close to it.
"Cade… Cade," she chanted. She tugged at the remaining pillow next to her. I instinctively knew she wanted to cover herself with it.
"I want to hear you. I want to see you," I murmured as I moved my hips back and forth.
Her eyes widened. "Oh my God, how is this happening?"
She rolled her own hips back and forth, and I knew what that meant. She was close again. Her nerve endings were so sensitive. She probably hadn't even finished coming yet. I brushed her clit on every thrust, feeling her pussy get tighter and tighter around me.
"Cade, oh my God."
Another shot of pleasure made me buckle, but this time I didn't straighten up. Instead, I put a palm on the mattress, leaning over Meredith. I took her nipple into my mouth, circling it with my tongue.
She came almost violently, squeezing so tight around my cock that my breath was cut short for a few moments.
My entire body seemed to be frozen in space.
All the sensations were concentrated in the places where our bodies touched.
And then I gave her all I had. My climax had never felt this good or this powerful.
Meredith was mine. And I knew without a doubt that I was hers too.