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Navy
I CHANGED INTO yoga pants and a t-shirt, then took off my makeup and piled my hair into a messy bun on top of my head before leaning against my bathroom counter. I didn’t know exactly how much I should share about John because it was bad, and I knew that Cade was going to absolutely lose his mind.
John Shetner was an assistant attorney for the city of Seattle when I met him. He’d quickly moved up the ranks, but when we’d started our relationship, he was pretty low on the rung of the corporate ladder, so to speak. He was handsome, he was well-spoken, smart as a whip, and he was chivalrous.
He also reminded me of Cade.
Until we’d moved in together.
“You moved in with the guy?” Cade asked.
I was currently snuggled up against Cade on my sofa, a glass of wine in my hand, Pickles curled into my hip and a blanket covering all three of us.
“Not my finest hour, but he caught me at a weak moment and fooled me into believing he was just like you.”
“Yeah, I get that,” Cade grumbled.
“The abuse was subtle at first. He’d separated me from my friends, but I didn’t have a whole lot of them to alienate, so I didn’t really see that part coming and since my family had already moved down here, he didn’t have to work all that hard to stop me from keeping in touch.”
Cade gave me a gentle squeeze.
“He’d always play this stupid game with me. ‘Tag, you’re it’ where he’d slap me, but he didn’t hit me, hit me until about a year in.”
“He hit you?” Cade asked.
It was a whisper, and it was a lethal one.
“Lumpy, I’m not going to tell you this if you’re going to lose it.”
He growled low before saying, “Continue.”
“He only did it once, Cade, because I left.”
“He hit you once? That’s why you left? He didn’t hit you again or do anything else?”
I bit back tears.
“Navy?”
“I don’t want to tell you the rest.”
“Because it’s too hard?”
“Because I’m pretty sure if I do, you’ll kill him and then I’ll lose you too.”
He shifted so he was facing me. “What did he do?”
“Promise me you won’t do anything that will get you locked up or dead.”
“Baby, what did he do?”
I squeezed his hand. “Promise me.”
“I promise that I won’t get locked up or dead,” he said.
I swallowed. “He raped me.”
Cade shot to his feet and slammed his hand through the wall as he bellowed like a man in agony, causing Pickles to jump up and let out a series of barks.
I picked her up and hugged her to my chest as Cade paced my living room, dragging his hands through his hair. “Fuck.”
“Cade—”
“I need a minute, baby,” he snapped. “Just give me a minute.”
He pressed his palms to his eye sockets and took several deep breaths.
And then he walked out my front door.
* * *
Cade
Pain and rage coursed through me, the likes of which I’d never felt before. My girl had been violated and it was all my fault.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called my brother.
“Hey, Cade. You got the address Booker sent you?”
“Yeah. Tomorrow. Two o’clock. You and me. Yeah?”
“Fuck, what happened?”
“Not my story to tell, but he’s gonna walk with a permanent limp when we’re done with him,” I avowed.
“Right. If that’s the case, I’m taking point.”
“No. This is my fight and I’m the one who’s gonna fuck this asshole up.”
“Didn’t say you weren’t gonna fuck him up,” Connor said. “Just sayin’ I’m gonna take point so there’s no blowback. We’re gonna do it clean. In, out, no one’ll know we were even there.”
I took a minute to process his words. “Okay, yeah, that works. Thanks, brother.”
“Got your back, Cade. Always,” Connor said. “Whatever happened to your woman, I’m gonna help you fix it. In the meantime, I’ve got a couple of recruits who are prospecting, and they can watch Navy’s house when you can’t. She doesn’t need to know unless you want her to.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. “Yeah.”
“Meet me here at two tomorrow,” he continued.
“Okay.”
“You good?”
“I will be,” I said.
“Call me if that changes.”
“I will. Thanks, Con.”
“Talk soon.”
He hung up and I took a few minutes before heading back inside.
Closing and locking the door, I took a deep breath and called out, “Navy?”
“Kitchen,” she called back, so I walked that way.
She was pulling a fresh beer out of the fridge, which she handed me before pouring herself another glass of wine.
“I’m sorry I lost my shit, baby. I’ll fix your wall.”
“I know you will.”
I twisted the top of the beer off. “Did I scare you?”
“No.”
I cocked my head. “Are you lying?”
“You’d know if I was, Lumpy,” she pointed out.
“I’m so fuckin’ sorry, Navy.”
“It’s just a wall, honey.”
“Not about that, although, I am sorry about that, more because I never want you to think I’d ever do that to you.”
“You would never do that to me or anyone else,” she said. “And the other isn’t on you, either.”
“If I’d stayed—”
“Lumpy,” she admonished. “None of that was within our control. We were kids.”
“I should have tried harder to find you when we weren’t kids anymore. I just felt stuck.”
She set her wine down and closed the distance between us, wrapping her arms around my waist. “Stop it. You can’t turn back time. Please don’t let regret swallow you up. We have to move forward. I can do that, Lumpy. Can you?”
“Yeah, baby, I can do that. If it’s with you.”
She looked up at me. “Well, I have no intention of going anywhere. Do you?”
I smiled. “No chance in hell.”
“Glad we’re on the same page.”
“Where are you on your healing journey? Is there anything I can help support you in?”
“How do you know words like ‘healing journey’?”
“Got a sister, Navy. You’d be surprised by how many words I know.”
She smiled. “I’ve had a lot of therapy and I still have maintenance on occasion, but I’m doing really well. And, honestly, so much stress left my psyche the second I saw you again. But I’ll keep you posted if anything comes up.”
“Hypothetically, should I see your ex, would you have a problem with me roughing him up a little?”
“Hypothetically?”
“Yeah.”
She chuckled. “No.”
“Okay, good. Just checking.”
She settled her cheek to my chest. “But you won’t, because he’s in Seattle.”
“Like I said, hypothetically,” I lied, stroking her hair.
“I love you.”
“I love you too, baby.” I lifted her chin and kissed her. “Anything else you need to tell me?”
“No, that’s all of it.”
“Okay. Nothing like that’s ever going to happen to you again, I swear to god. We’re going to need to figure out some protection for you over the next few weeks, but my brother and his club are going to help with that.”
“What do you mean, ‘protection’? Like, someone following me around?”
“If I’m not with you, yes.”
“Um, no, thanks,” she said.
“Navy, this is serious.”
“Oh, I’m aware.” She patted my chest, pulling away from me. “I can tell this is serious because you’re using your serious voice, but that does not mean I’m going to give up my privacy.”
I smirked. “Serious voice?”
“The one you use when you’re about to be bossy, or have just been bossy, or are in the middle of being bossy.”
“Your degenerate of an ex had a P.I. find you, Navy. I plan to be with you as often as I can, but if I’m not, my brother has offered to have someone watch your house, either on the street where you won’t know they’re there, or you can meet them first.”
“Cade, this is too much.”
“It’s not fuckin’ enough, Navy. Why aren’t you taking this seriously?”
She sighed. “I am taking this seriously, Lumpy, I just don’t want John to take anything more from me.”
“I get that. I don’t want him to take anymore either.” I tugged her back to me. “So, let’s make sure he doesn’t okay? Hatch’s guys won’t bother you. They’ll be inconspicuous. I promise.”
She dropped her head to my chest. “Fine. But I want to meet them first. I need to know who they are if they’re going to be stuck watching my house.”
“Okay, baby, I can make that happen.”
“Thank you.” She raised her head. “Are you going to sleep in my bed tonight? Or the couch?”
“What do you think?”
“No shenanigans.”
“I know the rules, baby.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Don’t act like I like the rules any better, Lumpy.”
“You’re the one making them,” I pointed out.
“I know, I know,” she breathed out. “I’m my very own clam jam.”
I chuckled. “Come on, let’s shut down the house and settle Pickles in her crate.”
“Good luck with that. She’s going to demand to sleep with us... guaranteed.”
“She can demand all night long, she’ll sleep in her crate.”
“Considering the fact you can’t say no to me, and I can’t say no to her, I’m pretty sure she’s going to get her way,” Navy predicted.
“We’ll see.”
In the end, Navy was right, and the little bitch got her way.
* * *
Navy
The next morning, I awoke, my face buried in Cade’s chest. I couldn’t stop myself from kissing his pec, my tongue swirling over his nipple seemingly of its own accord, and his hand slid down to my bum and squeezed. “You need to stop doing that, baby, or I’m gonna lose my control.”
I groaned, wrapping my arm around his waist. “But, but, but you’re so unbelievably tasty.”
His body locked. “Last chance, Navy.”
I pounced. I couldn’t help myself. I needed him.
All of him.
“Jesus,” he hissed, rolling me onto my back and kissing me as he slid his hand under my T-shirt, rolling my nipple into a tight bud.
Like a man possessed, he pushed my shirt over my head and cupped my breasts, drawing one nipple into his mouth, then the other, sucking deeply before biting down gently.
“Cade,” I rasped, arching into his touch.
I wove my fingers into his hair and mewed as he continued to lavish attention on my breasts.
“Jesus, baby, I knew your tits would be gorgeous, but I had no idea, they’d be this magnificent.” He paused his delicious assault and met my eyes. “No, that’s a lie. I knew they’d be this magnificent, I just never dreamed I’d get to worship them.”
“Are you going to keep jabbering on or are you going to take care of said tits, Lumpy?”
“I just need a minute, Madame Sassy Pants,” he retorted.
“Why?” I dropped my head back with a groan. “Is it because that’s as long as you can last?”
He tweaked my nipple. “Just for that, I’m gonna make you come twice before I even spill a drop.”
“If you can only last a minute, how—”
I was unable to utter another word, as my knickers were ripped from my body and his mouth was suddenly between my legs.
My knees fell open of their own accord as Cade dragged his tongue through my throbbing wetness. I moaned as he sucked, licked, and dare I say, bit, his way around my pussy and inner thighs. When I moved to arch into his mouth, he wrapped his hands around my legs and anchored me to the mattress with a growl, eliciting another one of my needful whimpers.
“Cade,” I begged, as he focused on my clit, sucking deep.
“You want me to stop?” he taunted.
“God, no.”
He slid one of my legs over his shoulder and I dug my heel into his back as he continued his assault and I seriously thought I might lose my mind as I squirmed beneath him. When his tongue dipped inside, though, my body lost control, and I cried out as an orgasm hit and it hit hard.
Cade ran his tongue through my folds one more time, then kissed his way up my body, kissing my pulse, then my mouth.
Pickles kept trying to interrupt our moment, so Cade shut her in the bathroom where she couldn’t do any real damage, then came back to bed where he removed the rest of his clothes and kissed me.
“Your turn,” I rasped, breaking the kiss.
“Nope,” he countered, sliding his hand between my legs. “You get two.”
“You can’t be seriou—”
His fingers drove inside of me, cutting off my retort, and eliciting yet another whimper. Jesus, this man knew his way around my vagina, and I was here for it.
“Ride my hand, baby.”
As his fingers worked me, I rocked against him, then his thumb pressed against my clit, and I arched into his touch. He kissed me, his tongue driving deep, and I matched his energy with my own as he finger fucked me.
My second orgasm rolled through me slow and sweet, and I wrapped my arms around Cade’s shoulders, holding tight, kissing him again as the wave crested.
“Oh my god,” I whispered.
“You okay?”
“Exceedingly.” I buried my face in his neck. “Now, is it your turn?”
He chuckled. “You wanna give your body a second to adjust?”
I met his eyes. “No, I want to make sure my man gets to feel what I just felt.”
“You want me to do that by fucking you, or do you want to return the favor?”
“I vote for both,” I retorted, pushing him onto his back and kissing my way down his stomach.
Before I could hit the glory that was his dick, his hands caught me under my arms and dragged me back up his body, flipping me onto my back. “What the hell?”
“The first time I come inside of you is not gonna be in your mouth, beautiful,” he growled, kissing me quickly, before reaching over the side of the bed and grabbing a condom from the pocket of his discarded jeans.
Sitting up, he rolled it on, then hovered over me again, kissing me gently. “If you need to stop for any reason, you let me know.”
I settled my hands on his chest. “I won’t.”
“But if you do...” He kissed me again, his cock pressing against my entrance.
I hooked one leg over his hip and arched up, inviting him in and he slid deep, letting out a feral, “Fuck,” as he buried himself to the hilt.
“Cade,” I rasped as his girth filled me.
“You okay?”
“God, yes.”
“You want more?”
“If you stop, I will murder you in the face.”
He chuckled, then fucked me.
Hard.
And I took every glorious inch.
He hooked a hand under my knee, hitching it up as I dug my other heel into the mattress, matching every thrust with one of my own and he slammed into me until I could barely breathe.
“Cade... I...”
“Hold it, Navy.”
“I—”
“Hold it,” he growled.
I was about to lose my mind, so in an effort to control myself, I opened my mouth and bit his neck. Hard.
“Jesus,” he hissed, and I felt his dick pulse inside of me. “Let go, baby.”
And I did.
“Oh my god, honey, I’m so sorry,” I cried once I came up for air and saw the wound I’d created.
“Don’t you dare say another word,” he ordered, kissing me deeply.
“I drew blood, Lumpy.”
He grinned, sliding gently out of me. “It ain’t worth it if you don’t bleed.”
I sat up as he rolled onto his back. “We need to get that cleaned up.”
“We’re gonna jump in the shower in a second,” he said, tugging me over his chest. “We’ll take care of that then.”
I tried to inch closer to his neck to see the bite mark. “Does it hurt?”
“No.” He held me tighter.
“Lumpy.”
“Baby, you need to lie here and tell me how you’re doin’.” He squeezed my bum. “You okay?”
“You just gave me three mind blowing orgasms while I bit the shit out of your neck.”
“Your point?”
“Oh my god, Cade, I maimed you.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Maim might be a bit of an overstatement.”
“You look like you had a date with Dracula.”
He cupped my chin. “I was always more partial to Count Chocula myself.”
“Come on, I’m being serious.”
“Me too. Count Chocula only comes out at Halloween time. And don’t let anyone tell you that Cocoa Pebbles tastes the same. They’re heathens.”
I slapped his chest. “Cade.”
He grinned. “Gonna get rid of the condom. You gonna shower with me?”
I let out a quiet huff. “Are you going to let me clean up your neck, then suck you off?”
“Hell yeah I am.”
I dropped my head back dramatically. “Fine. I’ll allow it.”
He laughed, climbing out of the bed. I followed Cade to the bathroom where we were both accosted by a very angry puppy but after a few snuggles, she calmed down and we were able to continue with our morning.
