Page 55

“Cade this is ridiculous,” I say, clutching onto my husband as he fumbles with the key. “Just put me down and open the door.”

“Oh, please. You weigh nothing,” he says just as the door unclicks. I push it open and catch his green eyes sparking with boyish excitement. “And I’ll be damned if I don’t carry my wife over the threshold, straight to our bed for the first time.”

He punctuates his declaration by slamming the front door shut with his foot and navigating through the apartment like he's done this a thousand times before, but when we get to the bedroom, it looks different.

“Cade,” I breathe out in shock. “When the hell did you have time to do all this?”

Electric candles flicker across the room, casting a golden glow across the rose petals scattered across the navy sheets.

“Before we left for the courthouse,” he murmurs against my ear before nipping at my lobe. I squirm in his arms and giggle in a move that nearly sends us both crashing to the floor.

“Okay, seriously, you're going to break your neck,” I say, trying to wiggle free from his grip.

“Carrying my wife to our bed is completely non-negotiable.” He steadies himself, tightening his hold as he moves toward the bed with renewed determination.

When we finally reach it, he gently sets me down on the bed and gives me a soft, lingering kiss before stepping back.

“You're literally my fucking dream come true.”

I roll my eyes and push him away so he can’t see the smile tugging at my lips. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Ridiculously happy,” he counters as he takes his shoes and jacket off.

Then he relaxes back onto the headboard.

My gaze trails the buttons of his fitted white shirt, and I think about all the lean muscle and hard abs underneath.

Cade’s built like a fighter. A fighter who only wants to fight for me even though I haven’t asked him to.

When our gaze connects, I realize he’s been watching me this entire time. “What are you thinking?” he asks, and when our gazes connect, I feel it deep in my soul. Cade has this way of looking at me that makes me feel like I’m the only thing worth looking at.

I smile faintly. “It’s just, it all feels so surreal, you know?” He doesn’t say anything, just waits for me to elaborate. “A month ago I was sleeping in my car, worried I had no future, no possibilities, and now…” I trail off because the enormity of it all is suddenly crashing down on me.

“And now you're here, married to some psycho hockey player who's completely obsessed with you,” he finishes for me, his voice softer now, loaded with sincerity. He tips his chin, beckoning me to him. I bite my bottom lip and crawl over his body until I’m straddling him.

Grinning, he reaches for my hand and threads our fingers together. “I know it wasn't the fairy-tale wedding you probably imagined as a little girl, but… I'm really fucking glad you're here, Savannah.”

I glance down at our joined hands and brush my thumb over the simple gold band across Cade’s finger. The smooth metal is proof that this isn’t some elaborate dream. It's real. He's real. We're real.

“Me too,” I whisper, barely audible. “I'm glad I'm here too.”

“So, Mrs. Bright,” he drawls, his voice dripping with amusement. “What’s the first thing you want to do as a married couple?”

I lean down just enough so our noses touch. “I think getting out of these clothes would be a good idea. Kind of hard to sleep in,” I tease.

“Sleep?” he asks with raised brows before he rests his hands on my thighs and pushes the fabric of my dress higher. “You can't seriously expect me to sleep knowing my wife is wearing these,” he says, his fingers tracing the edge of the white lace he picked out for me this morning.

I answer him by slowly unzipping my dress, watching his eyes darken as the fabric pools around my waist.

“Fuck,” he breathes, his hands are on me instantly, and I can't help the way my body responds to his touch. Everything feels electric, like my skin is on fire every time his hands touch me.

“I'm officially the luckiest bastard who ever lived,” he growls against my throat.

Cade lets out a growl. Low, deep, and guttural, and is the kind of noise that scrapes across my skin like sandpaper and sinks straight between my legs.

His hands are already on my breasts, greedy and reverent all at once, and I grind against him shamelessly as I feel his hardness grow under me with every slow roll of my hips.

My head tilts back, chasing more pleasure, more friction, more everything, but then his hands grip my hips, stilling me. “As much as I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being used as your human vibrator,” he murmurs. “I was kinda hoping to participate?”

Cocky bastard.

I lean down, press my hands against his chest, and kiss him like I’m trying to brand myself into his mouth. He kisses back. It’s messy and filled with everything he says out loud.

He loves me. He’ll fight for me. I never have to worry with him around.

Without breaking the kiss, he flips me onto my back and shrugs out of his shirt and then his pants. My hands roam his body unapologetically, dragging over every muscle and feeling it flex under my touch.

He’s down to his black boxers when he moves toward the nightstand.

“If you're getting a condom…” I pause. “We don’t need it. I'm on the pill, and we're married now,”

His hand freezes on the drawer, and one eyebrow lifts. “Duly noted, Mrs. Bright.” His smirk is undeniable now. “But I was, uh, getting something else.”

He pulls out the purple ring pop and gives me a pointed look.

“Cade!” I groan. “I already told you no.”

“And I heard you,” he says, his tone innocent even though there’s a glint in his eyes. “Relax, I’m not putting it anywhere without your express permission, Pretty Girl.” He slides it onto his finger. “But I do have a surprise.”

Before I can argue, he’s on me again, settling between my thighs and pressing me into the mattress. His mouth drags along my jaw, trailing down to that hypersensitive spot behind my ear as his hips grind into mine.

With only thin fabric between us, I can feel every inch of him, and it's driving me completely insane.

“Cade,” I breathe, arching into him.

“Shh, Pretty Girl,” he whispers, his fingers tracing lazy circles between my thighs. The move drives me insane. “Let me worship what’s mine.”

It’s a lie. He doesn’t worship. He consumes.

When his mouth follows the path his hands blazed and he starts pressing kisses along my stomach, I moan his name in frustration.

He lifts his head, his eyes flashing with amusement. “Guess I’ll have to find a new way to keep you quiet, huh?”

Then he backs away, and the cold air hits my skin.

“No,” I whimper, desperate and undone. My fingers claw at the sheets, my body arching toward him on instinct.

He doesn’t blink. Doesn’t soften. He just raises his hand, the one with the candy ring, and holds it to my lips.

“Taste,” he commands

I obey, parting my lips, and he slides the candy inside, past my tongue. With my eyes on him, I close my mouth around it. I suck deep and slow, letting the sweet flavor explode in my mouth.

His jaw ticks and a low groan rumbles from his throat as his hand slides into my hair, holding me in place as he watches my mouth work over the candy.

I hollow my cheeks, and swirl my tongue around the candy, keeping my eyes on him, letting him know that I’m pretending it’s him. The desperate look that crosses his face makes me feel powerful in a way I’d never experienced.

“Fuck.”

He pulls the ring from my mouth only to drag it down my chin, over the curve of my throat, leaving sticky trails of sugar across my skin, making me shiver.

“You’re making a mess,” he mutters, before leaning in and licking me clean. Slow and filthy, his tongue is hot against my racing pulse.

Then he moves lower.

My nails dig into his forearm as he trails the ring pop between my breasts, dragging it toward my stomach and letting the sugary glaze coat my flushed skin.

“Cade…” I gasp, arching into his mouth as he follows the path with his mouth, his tongue hot and thorough, savoring every single inch.

“Still tastes better on you,” he growls softly, pressing an open-mouthed kiss to my hips as his hand slides between my thighs and he gently strokes my center.

I close my eyes in pure bliss. Until—

Buzz.

A sudden vibration pulses directly against my clit. I jolt, my eyes snapping open.

“What the—” I gasp, and glance down. The purple ring is nestled against my center. Glowing. Vibrating against my pushed aside panties.

“Cade!”

He smirks, completely unbothered as he props himself up on his elbow beside me. “Relax. It’s not the actual ring pop.” He raises his other hand, showing me the purple pop, sticky and shining from earlier.

My breath catches as I look back down, and the vibration kicks up a notch. I can’t help but cry out because it feels so damn good.

“W-what is it?” I pant.

His mouth brushes my inner thigh. “It’s a vibrating cock ring. Custom-made to match your precious little ring pop,” he says casually. “Figured we’d see if it’s any good at getting you off.”

As if to test it out, he shifts the angle so it’s sitting on top of my mound and a delicious jolt shoots through me, stealing the air from my lungs. It’s brutal, but heavenly at the same time.

“Looks like it’s doing the job.”

Cade takes the candied ring pop and sucks on it before guiding it back to my mouth. “Suck, Pretty Girl. I want to watch your lips around it while I taste what’s mine.”

I moan around the candy, letting my tongue tease the hard surface, never breaking eye contact as he slides the vibrator across my slit.

He groans, the sound rough and guttural. “You’re going to fucking ruin me.”

He uses the toy to circle my entrance, then he pushes it inside me slowly.

I choke on a moan. The stretch. The pressure. The vibration.

It’s all too much and not enough all at once.

Cade watches me unravel to the point that I can’t help but rock against it, chasing more friction.