Page 20 of Chaos & Carnage
“I’ll bet she knew that. Kinobi knows that. Every time you go to her. I can see it in her eyes and that little wag of her tail. You know, babe, you really have a heart of gold.”
He whispered those last words, spilling out of his mouth softly. I didn’t know whether I could agree with him, because right now that voice of crushed velvet was stirring something inside me, and it wasn’t in any alleged gold heart. The bitter memories of the cat faded, my body distracted by the way his fingers crept over my ear and into my hair. He was so warm where his jacket opened, and he smelled so good. Clean and sharp, like a spring morning on top of a mountain range. His chest looked hard, chiselled, and suddenly I wanted to touch him, to see how he felt underneath the t-shirt. Shit, I must be exhausted. I was. I hadn’t slept in days.
“How is Kinobi’s owner?” I needed to change the subject. Regain some control.
Cade paused, something playing on his mind. I could feel it by the way he sucked in a little extra air, his chest hardening even more.
“He’s doing ok. He’s still with us. God only knows how.”
“You believe in God, Cade?” I asked, staring into his eyes. How I could fall asleep here, with his touch on my face and the heat from his body warming mine, even though only our clothes brushed, nothing more.
“I do, Al. Do you?”
I shook my head. “I don’t. I can’t. I can’t get how he can let these little creatures suffer. I don’t give a shit about humans. But those kittens might not survive now. And all because the humans that he was supposed to have created in his image can’t even look after a cat properly.”
“Maybe? But that cat found her way to you. And you saved her babies. God works in mysterious ways, they all tell us.”
“But I couldn’t save her,” I was babbling again, tiredness and emotion welling up out of control. “I tried. I really did.” The tear slid down my cheek before I had time to stop it.
“I’m so sorry, Alice,” Cade purred, swiping his thumb over my cheekbones, catching the drip of the tear, stopping it in its tracks. “I’m so sorry you’ve had a horrid day.”
“Why?”
“Because I like to see you happy.”
“Don’t think you’ve ever seen me happy. I’m too exhausted to be happy.”
Green-brown eyes stared at me, studying my face, pushing into my soul, and I could almost feel him in my chest, heat prickling against my ribs. And those eyes got closer, his face moving towards me, his lips touching mine, soft, gentle, plush, hot. I could feel them part, waiting, feeling. His breath dusted over my flesh, giving me time to pull away from him, waiting just that second longer. And then I exhaled, the little flush of air making my lips part, a signal to us both. Now he pushed into me, plump fleshy lips pulling at mine, his tongue sliding out to taste just over my mouth. It probed, gently, tentatively. An unvoiced question. And when I pushed back against him, I answered it.
The kiss changed. The gentleness dissipating, something hungry and urgent taking its place. And now I was responding, kissing back, my lips moving over Cade’s, my tongue darting in and out of his mouth, the action mirrored as his tongue caressed mine. I was gasping, drawing air in where I could. His teeth nipped my lip, a tiny prick of pain and I moaned against him, instantly embarrassed.
But that moan signalled something, because the hand in my hair tightened, fingers winding and entangling, leaving a hot stinging numbness along my scalp. He tightened his fingers, trapping my hair into his fist, tiny pricks of pain now in my scalp, not on my lips. On my lips, his mouth still moved, his tongue still duelling with mine, my heart racing, heat igniting in every nerve ending. So much heat, like I might self-combust at any minute.
Cade’s other hand snaked under my scrubs and the thin white top beneath them. Cool, rough fingertips sliding over the hot skin of my stomach. I tensed, sucking against his tongue, and he groaned this time, a deep, vibrating noise that flowed into me.
“Fuck, Al. Please don’t do that to me.”
His words dusted my lips, the heat of his breath lingering over the trails of his kisses, and I tensed my legs, pushing them against his waist.
“Or that,” he gasped. “Don’t do that either.”
“Why?”
My voice was barely audible, forced from my throat. But he still heard that.
“Because if you do, I might not be able to stop.”
“Stop? What do you mean you won’t be able to stop?”
And even though I thought I had only visualised it in my mind, I felt my legs squeeze around his waist. His fingers gripped into the flesh of my sides and his hand twisted in my hair. What came from either his chest or his throat was more a growl than it was a groan, the sound vibrating deep into my stomach and right into my core. And, involuntarily, I squeezed around him again.
Chapter Nine
“Fuck!”
The words tumbled out against her lips. Sweet, fleshy, swollen lips. I pulled myself away, pushing my forehead against hers, stilling for a moment with my fist wrapped in her hair and my fingers wedged into her stomach.
“Cade?” she asked again, her little voice unsure, gentle, innocent.