Page 50

“You’re not really going to fight, are you?” I ask quietly as we enter the apartment. It’s the first thing I’ve said since we walked out of Behind Closed Doors hand in hand. I was too afraid to talk in the car with the reality of everything weighing heavy on me.

Stanley trots up to greet us, his tail wagging, and Cade crouches to pet him, his jaw tight and eyes far away.

Sighing, he turns back to me. “Of course not. That’ll risk everything I’ve worked for. I only agreed to it because I wanted to get you out of there and I figured that would have much less bloodshed than beating the shit out of everyone who thought it was okay to touch you.”

He takes in the bruises on my arms and I try to swallow down the pain, but my throat still burns from Mark’s hands.

The implications of what he’s done aren’t lost on me.

Luke isn’t just threatening me now. He’s threatening Cade’s entire existence.

His family, his friends, his dog, and Cade is risking that all on the off chance he can get me out of there without a fight.

Tears burn at the back of my eyes because this man is willing to burn everything just for me and I’m so undeserving of it.

“You shouldn’t have saved me,” I whisper. “I can figure out another way.”

Cade steps toward me, and his hands cup my face as his thumbs brush softly over my cheekbones. When his fingers tighten ever so slightly, I only feel us and the connection we have with each other. “Yes, I do,” he counters, his voice unwavering. “Because somewhere in all of this, you saved me.”

I try to take a step back to process the gravity of his words, but he won’t let me leave him.

“You saved me, Savannah.”

My breath hitches and I shake my head, completely lost. “Cade, that’s not—”

“I don’t know how or when it happened,” he goes on, voice low and full of conviction, “but you did. You walked into my life, and suddenly, everything made sense. Every choice, every mistake, every moment that led me here, it was all for this. For you.” His thumb skims over my lips, reverent and slow.

“And I’m not about to stand by and watch you get dragged down any further by a guy as terrible as Luke. ”

I exhale shakily, my entire body betraying me, and lean into him like he’s the only thing keeping me standing. I should be pushing him away, protecting him, but I can’t. Not when he’s looking at me like I’m something precious and worth fighting for.

“Cade…” My voice trembles.

He dips his head, his forehead resting against mine, his breath fanning over my lips. “I would tear the world apart for you, Savannah,” he whispers. “You just have to let me.”

Cade tilts my chin up, his eyes flickering between mine like he’s searching for something—permission, maybe, or a sign that I want this just as badly as he does.

How doesn’t he realize he’s all I ever wanted?

His lips brush against mine, and he gives me a soft, tentative kiss at first. When I don’t pull away, he deepens it.

It’s firm and all-consuming, cementing everything we’d been dancing around since the moment we met.

His hands drop to my waist as he pulls me closer, pulling me flush against him and I feel the tremor in his grip.

He breaks the kiss, his eyes burning into mine. “Marry me this week,” he says.

“What?” I whisper, certain I’ve misheard him.

“I need you to marry me legally this week.” His voice is firm and urgent as his fingers press into my hips. There’s no hesitation in his face. No doubt, just certainty. “I know it sounds crazy, but we need to do this.”

“Why?”

His grip tightens like he’s afraid I’ll slip away if he doesn’t hold on.

“Because I’m going to do everything I can to figure this out before the fight,” he says, his voice steady but filled with conviction.

“But if I don’t… if something happens to me…

I want it all to go to you. I need it to all go to you. ”

I shake my head, overwhelmed by the sheer weight of what he’s asking. “Cade… No.”

“Please,” he says, his voice softening as he reaches for my hand. His fingers are warm despite the chill in the air. “I want you to have it all. Every last thing. Stanley, my assets, the apartment. You can take everything. It’s not like my family or my sister need it. You do.”

Tears sting the backs of my eyes. Not because I feel pressured, but because even in this situation, he’s thinking of me. Always. Even when he’s the one risking everything, he wants to make sure I’ll be okay at the end of it.

He lifts our joined hands and presses his lips against my fingers.

“I want you to be happy, Savannah,” he continues, his voice barely above a whisper. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted. If that’s the only thing I’ve accomplished in the world, then so be it.”

The words wrap around me and settle into every fractured piece of me that has never quite fit. This is it. This is real.

Something inside me breaks. Maybe it’s the resolve I’ve always tried to hold myself to.

I don’t know. All I know is that I’m so far gone for this man that I’d do anything for him.

Instead of waiting for him to kiss me, my lips meet his, and I pour every unspoken emotion into it.

Fear, gratitude, and just as much devotion to him as he has for me.

“Yes,” I say.

His lips are still against mine, but his pupils are blown wide open.

“Yes. I’ll marry you this week.”

That’s it. It’s as though I’ve set off a live wire running through Cade. His hands are on me, exploring every part of my body, before rounding my ass and then down to the back of my thighs, I straddle his waist, squealing when he carries me across the apartment to our bedroom.

“Stay there for a little bit, Stanley,” he calls to our dog, who grumbles but obeys.

I’m clawing at his shirt when he shuts the door with his foot and walks me over to the bed, then drops me onto the mattress with ease.

Cade claws at my jeans as I yank my shirt off, leaving me in only a black bra and panties.

“God, Sav,” he says, his voice dark, as our chests rise and fall with anticipation. His eyes devour me and I squirm under his intense gaze. “You have no idea what you do to me.”

“Let me show you what you do to me,” I say as I unfasten my bra, letting it fall.

He tilts his head, taking me in like I’m his salvation and his downfall rolled into one. Maybe I am.

Tired of waiting, I find the waistband of his jeans and start tugging them down. Cade’s head falls back, just as the fabric pools at his feet, revealing his thick, hard, and magnificent cock.

“Fucking hell, Pretty Girl,” he breathes, yanking his shirt off in one fluid motion.

I reach for him, desperate to feel his hardness in my palm, but he stops me by taking my wrist.

“I need to be inside you, Sav,” he rasps.

Those eyes, those goddamn eyes, burn into mine with an intensity that makes my knees weak. I shift back onto the bed, letting my thighs fall open in silent invitation.

“Yes, please,” I whisper and mean it with every fiber of my being.

He crawls over me, his mouth finding my collarbone first, trailing hot kisses down to my breasts.

His tongue circles one nipple before taking it into his mouth, sucking and nipping until I'm arching beneath him.

He lavishes the same attention on the other breast, his hands kneading and worshipping every inch of my skin.

“So fucking beautiful,” he murmurs against my chest before kissing his way down my stomach and settling between my legs. His large hands grip my thighs as he spreads me wider and presses his mouth against the damp fabric of my panties.

“Cade, please,” I gasp, my hips bucking against his face as I feel his tongue working against the barrier. The sensation is maddening, and even though I can feel everything, it’s not enough.

He hooks his fingers into the waistband of my panties and pushes my thighs up so he can slide them off with agonizing slowness. “Patience, baby. I want to savor this.”

Once I'm bare before him, his mouth is on me, and the world tilts off its axis. His tongue flattens against my slit, licking from bottom to top before he circles my clit. I arch off the bed with a broken moan as he alternates between gentle flicks and firm pressure, driving me wild.

“Fuck, you taste so good,” he groans, the vibration making me cry out just as he slides two fingers inside me, curling them just right to hit that spot that makes me see stars.

“Cade,” I gasp, my fingers tangling in his hair, holding him against me as my hips buck against his face.

He sucks on my clit as his fingers pump in and out of me in a rhythm that has me teetering on the edge. Just when I think I might shatter, he pulls back, leaving me desperate and aching, my pussy clenching around nothing.

“Not yet,” he says, his lips glistening with my arousal as he presses a kiss to my hip bone. “I want to feel you come around my cock this time.”

He moves away from the bed, and I want to whimper at the loss of his heat, but watching him move with all that lean muscle and controlled power, is its own kind of torture. When he retrieves the foil packet from the nightstand, his grin is pure wicked promise.

“I've got one this time,” he says, tearing it open with his teeth like some sort of beautiful savage.

Before he can take another step, I'm reaching for him, pulling him down because I need his hands on me more than I need my next breath.

He moves without hesitation and settles beside me on the bed.

Without words, I take the condom from his fingers and roll it down his length with deliberate slowness.

He takes a sharp breath and his muscles bunch beneath my touch, and I enjoy it too much, knowing I can unravel him this way.

Once he's sheathed, he crawls over me, crashing his mouth against mine. The kiss is warm, demanding, and absolutely devastating. His hand fists in my hair, tilting my head exactly where he wants it, and I dig my nails into his shoulders hard enough to leave marks.

When his body is settled between my thighs, the blunt head of his cock nudges at my entrance, and I'm already trembling.

“Are you sure this is what you want?” His voice is strained, like holding back is killing him.

I arch my hips, pressing against his tip. “I've never wanted anything more in my entire life.”

He kisses me one last time, soft and reverent, before he pushes inside in one brutal, perfect stroke that splits me open and puts me back together all at once.

I cry out against his mouth, my nails raking down his back as I arch beneath him, my body stretching to accommodate every magnificent inch of him.

“Fuck,” he groans, the word vibrating against my lips. “I can officially die a happy man.”

He pulls back, then drives in again. Harder this time. The bed rocks beneath us, and all the oxygen leaves my lungs in a rush. He's not gentle or careful, and I love it because this—this claiming—is what I've been craving.

Every thrust is a brand. Every grip of my hips, every scrape of his teeth against my jaw, all of it screams the same message: Mine. Mine. Mine.

My legs lock around his waist, refusing to let him go, and my body clenches around him greedily. I'm on fire, desperate, completely undone.

“Please don't stop,” I gasp against his throat.

His hand slides between our sweat-slicked bodies, his fingers finding my clit, and he plays with me relentlessly.

The climax hits like lightning. Fast, merciless, and earth-shattering. I cry out his name as I come apart around him, my back bowing off the mattress.

“That's it, baby,” he grits out, his voice wrecked. “That feels so fucking good.”

His rhythm falters, and with a broken groan, he follows me over the edge, burying himself deep as he comes.

Then he collapses against me, our bodies slick and tangled, our hearts beating in perfect sync. His lips drop to the curve of my neck as the weight of him presses me into the mattress.

Safe.

That’s how I feel about the man who is willing to give up everything for me.

Minutes pass in blissful silence before he shifts just enough to look down at me, brushing a damp strand of hair from my face. His eyes are soft now, unguarded in a way that makes my chest tight.

“I love you,” he whispers, the words falling from his lips like a confession. “So damn much it scares me.”

My throat constricts as I slide my fingers into his hair, marveling at how this beautiful, broken man became my everything. “I love you too, Cade. More than you'll ever know.”