CASS
Charlotte climbs into bed, pulling the covers up over her as I kneel beside her. She stares up at me with her big green eyes, filled with so many questions I’ve been avoiding answering since I came home with Kennedy a few hours ago. “How long is Kennedy staying?”
Thank God.
That one isn’t so bad.
I smile at her and brush her hair back off her forehead. “I don’t know, Bebelle. I hope a really long time.”
She grins at me and nods. “Me, too. I’m glad she isn’t mad at you anymore.”
Laughing, I shake my head. “I think Kennedy is still plenty mad at me, sweetheart.”
Her brow furrows. “But she came back.”
Over the last two weeks, I’ve had to field endless questions about why Kennedy never stopped over to say hi after she went home. Eventually, saying I didn’t know wasn’t good enough, and I had to tell Charlotte that I had fucked up and done something to upset Kennedy. That was something she could understand, but she has yet to fully grasp the intricacies of apologies and forgiveness.
I nod slowly as I think about everything that happened today and the anger Kennedy still had for me, even as I approached her across that lot. “Yeah, she did come back, but you can care about someone and still be mad at them for the way they act and things they do. Haven’t you been mad at Daddy before for certain things?”
“Yeah, like when you beat me at Monopoly.”
“But you still love me, right?”
She nods. “Do you love Kennedy?”
Fuck.
My hand stills on her forehead.
I haven’t had the balls to ask myself that question, mostly because I was too afraid of my own answer. But after seeing her jump in front of her father today, the sheer terror that raced through me at the thought that anything could happen to her—again—I know the answer. “I do, Bebelle.”
“Does she love you, too?”
My chest tightens at her question, and I lean in to kiss her on the forehead and try to end the conversation before it completely goes off the rails.
“She does.” Kennedy’s voice from the open door makes me stiffen.
I turn slowly to find her leaning against the jamb in one of my T-shirts and a pair of shorts that show off every inch of her long legs.
Holy shit.
How much of that did she hear?
Clearly enough to hear my confession of love to Charlotte, but I definitely never expected her to reciprocate. Not with everything I’ve done. I thought she would make me suffer, never say the words or wait until I had been saying them to her for so long that her silence became painful.
But maybe there’s been enough suffering—for all of us.
Turning back to Charlotte, I flip off her bedside lamp. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Daddy.” She waves at Kennedy. “Goodnight, Kennedy.”
Kennedy smiles at her and waves back. “Goodnight, kiddo.”
She pushes off the doorframe as I approach her and gives me a knowing grin. I urge her out into the hallway with a hand at her waist and tug the door closed behind us. As soon as it clicks into place, I immediately pull her into my arms and back her against the wall next to the door.
“Did you mean it?”
Her grin only grows. “Mean what?”
I issue a low growl and pin her tighter, my growing cock caught between us. “Did you mean it when you said you loved me?”
She tries to fight the smile, but the corners of her perfect lips twitch.
This woman who holds my heart in her hands is enjoying toying with it far too much.
I dip my head closer. “What? You’re going to say it once and then torture me by withholding the words forever?”
She loops her arms around my neck. “That might not be a bad idea.”
“It is a terrible fucking idea.” I press my lips to hers, relishing the feel of having her back in my arms again, back in my house, back in my life, where she belongs. Because somehow, over the past month, she’s become an integral part of it.
I don’t know how or why fate would throw such a twist like this at me, would make me fall in love with the one woman I never should have touched. But now that it’s happened, there’s no escaping it. There’s no denying that I can never walk away from Kennedy Hawke.
Not for all the money or power in the world. Not for revenge. Not for anything, except maybe Charlotte. But Kennedy would never put me in a position to have to make that choice.
It’s just one of the many things I love about her.
I tear my mouth away from hers and lift her to wrap her legs around my waist. She grinds her cunt against my cock, the heat searing me through the thin fabric of her shorts and even my pants.
Everything this woman does is pure fire. There’s no denying it. I’m a cliché—a moth drawn to her, sucked in by the heat and beauty. But I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
I walk us back toward my room, devouring her mouth, unable to give or take enough, and she matches my eagerness, her lips moving over mine until we’re both breathless.
But when I set her on her feet next to the bed, she presses her hands against my chest, stopping me from moving farther. “What?”
I drag my head back and search her gaze.
She raises a blond brow. “You don’t think it’s that easy, do you?”
“That what’s that easy?”
“That I’m just suddenly back and we can go on like nothing ever happened?”
I flutter my lips over her forehead and press them to her skin. “Of course not, Cherie. I know I fucked up. I fucked up worse than anyone has ever fucked up in their entire life, probably.”
She chuckles softly, the sound so beautiful coming from her when there’s been so much anguish lately. “I can agree with that assessment, Counselor.”
It’s probably an understatement.
I take her face between my palms and tilt it up to me, forcing her to look into my eyes and hear me when I say this. “I’ve known since the first time I saw you that I wanted you, Kennedy. That I wanted this, and I never thought I could have it. Not in the long term. I couldn’t have this and my revenge. But now…I don’t have to choose.”
Kennedy shakes her head. “No, you don’t.”
“We’re a united front, right?”
She presses her forehead to my chest and releases a heavy sigh. “We are.”
“Do you think your family feels the same way?”
They did let me walk away from the confrontation today with my life and with her, though I think that was more because they knew fighting her wouldn’t get them anywhere, anyway. But it’s a far cry from accepting me into the family, accepting that I’m a part of Kennedy’s life in the long term.
“I’ll talk to them.”
“You really think talking is going to solve anything?”
She shakes her head and lifts it from my chest. “I don’t know because I don’t know what’s coming for us.”
The suddenly somber mood settles over us, but I refuse to let this night go to shit with fears of tomorrow. “Whatever happens, whatever that fucker Damiano is planning, we’re going to face it together, and I’ll protect you always, the same way I do Charlotte. I’ll never promise you anything I can’t deliver and will never lie to you.”
“I believe you.”
“Do you believe me when I say I love you?”
She stares up at me through her thick lashes and nods. “I do because I love you, too.”
They’re the most beautiful words I’ve ever heard, and I crash my mouth to hers again. She tightens her hold on my neck and groans against my lips, shifting her hips to press against my cock.
The worries of tomorrow are forgotten on a wave of lust. We both crave this moment to reconnect, to have what we did for that brief period in time, what we both want again so badly.
Maybe it is possible to have second chances in life because I just found one with Kennedy, even though I’ve done absolutely nothing to deserve it.
I lower her onto the bed, and she shifts back until her head lands on the pillow, looking as beautiful as ever—in the place she swore she would never be.
Where she belongs.
After all the fighting, all the angry words tossed at me, all the betrayal and pain, it’s time for us to have something else.
I crawl across the mattress and lower myself over her, pressing my length between her spread legs.
She moans and tangles her fingers through my hair. “But you did break one promise to me already.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“That first night, you said the time would come when you would destroy me…” She grins. “But you haven’t yet.”
The challenge in her words releases a carnal hunger, a primal drive in me that makes me growl and smash my mouth against hers.
She has no idea what she’s asking for.
* * *
KENNEDY
The change in him is instant, his eyes, switching from the pale green to a dark emerald, sharp enough to cut me. Maybe it wasn’t my best choice of words, but after everything that’s happened, I want to feel alive the way only he can make me. And I don’t want him to handle me with kid gloves just because we almost died today.
The exact opposite.
This is what I want—him, totally and completely unleashed.
He devours my mouth so hard that it sucks all the air from my lungs. Then he tears his lips away and reaches down to rip off the shorts that cover my thighs.
The sound of the fabric ripping fills the room.
I should probably be pissed about it because I love them and hated that I left them here when I fled without my bag, but all it does is make moisture pool between my legs where I’m already aching for him.
His fingertips brush against my sensitive skin as he pulls away the ruined material. I try to press my thighs together against the throb, but he shoves his hand between them, clutching my pussy and keeping me from moving.
“That was a bad idea, Kennedy. I hope you’re ready.”
Fuck, why is that so hot?
He grinds his palm against my clit, sending a jolt of pleasure through me, and my hips buck up against it, seeking more. Then his hand is gone and gripping my hip to flip me over onto my stomach.
Cass uses his knees to spread my legs wide, exposing me completely to him. A shudder rolls through me as he pushes my shirt up and drags kisses down my spine until he gets to my ass.
“Do you want me to you fuck you here, Kennedy?”
Fuck.
I squeeze my eyes closed, pressing my face against the pillow, and nod.
His low rumble of approval rolls through my body. “Good, because I want to take your ass more than I want just about anything right now.”
Jesus Christ.
How can this man be like this in bed and so gentle with me and his daughter when we need it?
My mind has such a hard time wrapping around the dichotomy every time we’re together. It’s the same thing that allowed him to be Falco while he was also trying to destroy the family.
But that’s over now.
The sound of his zipper lowering and him shucking off his pants hits my ears a moment before the press of his warm body along the back of mine. His hard cock nudges against my cunt, and I squeeze my legs, pinning it between my thighs.
He groans and brushes his lips to my ear. “Don’t worry, Cherie. I’m going to fuck you there, too.”
Good God.
I shift under him, needing something to happen to release this tension. “Please, Cass, I need…”
Cass presses a gentle kiss to my cheek so tenderly that it’s almost painful. “I know what you need, Cherie.”
He’s right.
He always has.
From that first day we met, the first time he ever touched me, he’s always given me exactly what I need, and I know he will now, too.
He shifts back, and the head of his cock nudges inside my slick core. Strong hands grip my hips and drag them back and up, spreading me wider and exposing me even farther. He drives into me in one hard thrust that sends me rocking forward, gripping the comforter for purchase.
“Fuck.” The word falls from my lips, and the next slam of his hips wrenches my breath from my throat. I drop my cheek back to the pillow. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”
It’s so hard, so deep. He fills me so completely that the tears start to stream down my face before I can stop them. He keeps driving into me, his hands tightening at my hips, and I clench around him, forcing the head of his cock to drag against that exact spot that I love so much.
He issues a low growl and lowers his head, reaching to grip my chin and force my face back slightly to take my mouth in a mind-bending kiss while his hips continue to slam against my ass. “Do you want to come like this?”
I nod against the pillow, but his dark chuckle sends a rush of trepidation through me.
“I don’t think so, Cherie. That isn’t what you need.”
“Yes, it is.” I open my eyes and look back at him. “Please…”
He shakes his head, his lips brushing back and forth against my cheek with the movement. “No, trust me, Cherie.”
I do.
Even though he’s given me so many reasons not to, I do trust him, and with each thrust, he drives himself deeper inside me, cements himself even further into my heart.
I cling to the comforter, allowing him to manipulate my body and move me where and how he wants me as he continues to pound into my core. My whole body starts to shake, my orgasm so close, that low burn starting deep in my belly.
He can sense it, too, and he jerks his cock free.
I almost cry out at the loss, but then he reaches into the bedside table and pulls out a bottle of lube, spreading the cool liquid across my asshole.
“Shit!” I jerk at the sensation, but then he’s right there, kissing me again and gliding his fingers inside my cunt where his cock just was.
“Fucking hell are you wet, Kennedy…I probably didn’t even need lube for this, but I would never hurt you. You know that.”
I give a sharp nod as the head of his cock presses against my tight entrance. Instinctively, I squeeze my ass cheeks together, trying to stop the intrusion.
“Shh. Relax for me, Cherie. Take a deep breath and let it out slowly.”
Instead of fighting him like I naturally want to, I do as I’m told, sucking in the air scented with that slight ocean smell that always lingers around him, then letting it out slowly as I sink deeper into the mattress.
The head of his cock slips past the tight opening.
“Fuck.”
That word falling from his lips ignites an inferno inside me, as does the strange feeling of him spreading me there. He shifts his fingers inside my cunt and drags them along the wall, and when he gets to where his cock is, it makes my whole body twitch.
He slowly eases himself in farther, then drags back a little so that he can push even deeper. A few more slow, cautious movements like that, and he’s finally settled fully inside me.
I’ve never experienced anything so strange and so glorious as having my ass filled by his cock, with his fingers jammed inside my cunt. He starts a slow rhythm, dragging his fingers inside me, his thumb slipping up over my clit while his cock moves in and out of my ass.
I buck against him, and he hushes me again as he moves inside me. Heat spreads through every part of me, a searing rush that builds and builds until it feels like I might explode and literally light the bed on fire.
“Almost there, Cherie. You need to relax and let go.”
Instinctively, I fight his command, clenching around him in both places, and I open my eyes to find him gritting his teeth, the pure blaze of lust burning across his gaze as he stares down at me.
“Always wanting a fight, aren’t you, Kennedy?”
I shake my head and grin at him. “Not always.”
He leans down and kisses me again, stilling his hips. “No, not always, Cherie. And never again like what happened when you left me.”
It’s a promise I know he’ll keep, for mine and for Charlotte’s sake.
Cass resumes his mind-bending ministrations until my entire body is trembling so badly beneath him that the entire bed shakes. And then it hits me, the orgasm to end all orgasms. A conflagration that ignites my entire body and sets me rocketing off into the stars that flash against my closed lids.
He doesn’t even beg me to look at him this time.
I couldn’t, even if I tried.
He just keeps pounding into me. “Fuck, Cherie. Feeling your cunt tighten on my fingers as you come and your ass tightening on my cock—” His words trail off as he comes on a roar, emptying himself inside me and collapsing on top of my prone body with his glorious weight and heat pressing me down into the mattress.
I never thought I could feel so complete, that anything other than work and ensuring the Hawke empire grows and maintains its strength could ever be so important…
But this moment has changed everything.
I do love Cassius Whitaker, the man I probably should still despise, and I always will. Even if sometimes I hate how easily he broke me.