01 Cade (6 page)

Her gaze dropped to the ice bucket for a moment. “I guess I wasn’t thinking,” she said.

Cade swore under his breath. How could he have thought she’d ever do as she was told? The woman had some pathological condition that prevented her from listening to anyone.

“That’s your problem, Riley! You never think!” he growled. “You were almost killed back at that safe house tonight. If that bastard had followed us here, he could have grabbed you the moment you stepped foot outside the room, and there’s not a damn thing I could have done. Hell, I probably wouldn’t even have heard anything over the water running in the shower.”

Riley chewed on her lower lip as she looked up at him. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’ll be more careful next time.”

Cade’s jaw tightened. “I’m going to make sure that there isn’t a next time!”

Taking the bucket of ice from Riley’s hand, Cade slammed it down on the desk and marched her over to the bed.

In one swift motion, he sat down on the edge of it and dragged her over his knee, then lifted his hand to bring it down on her upturned bottom in a flurry of quick, hard spanks. This time, he told himself, he wasn’t going to stop until he was sure she wasn’t going to ever do anything that foolish again.

Riley bit her lip to stifle her cries; they were in a hotel after all, and she didn’t want anyone to hear. The smacks stung fiercely through the thin material of her shorts, though, and part of her wanted to protest each and every stinging spank he gave her. But the other part of her knew she deserved this spanking. She couldn’t believe she had been so stupid leaving the room like that. Cade was right. She didn’t think. She just did whatever she felt like doing without any thought to the consequences. This wasn’t about just some silly set of rules anymore. Someone had really tried to kill her tonight, and she had just foolishly risked her life for a bucket of ice. Truth be told, she had been risking her life ever since she’d come into the Witness Protection Program. And her carelessness had finally caught up with her. A spanking was the least that she deserved, she thought bitterly. So, she submitted willingly to Cade’s firm hand, hoping that this time, it would have an effect.

But as Cade’s hand continued to come down over and over on her poor, defenseless ass, she couldn’t help but start to squirm and kick. She might deserve it, but yikes, did it sting! It didn’t help that her shorts seemed to be riding up even higher with each spank to give him easy access to her bare cheeks.

“Owwwww!” Riley finally squealed, unable to keep silent any longer when his hand came down on the tender area of her sit-spots for what must be the umpteenth time. “Cade, please...”

But it seemed Cade was determined to make sure she learned her lesson this time because he only spanked her that much harder, and Riley pressed her face into the soft bedding to muffle her squeals of protest. Her ass felt like it was on fire!

Just then, Cade stopped spanking her, and she breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that he was done. But to he rshock, Riley felt him grab the waistband of her shorts. With one quick yank, he pulled them all the way down to the middle of her thighs! Oh my God, she thought. She wasn’t wearing any panties!

Her face flaming scarlet, she craned her neck to look at him over her shoulder. “Wh-what are you doing?” she squealed.

Cade lifted a brow. “You said it yourself,” he told her. “These spankings don’t seem to be having the desired effect. So, I’m going to make sure this one does.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but his hand was already coming down on her bare bottom. She inhaled sharply at how much more the spanks stung now than they had before. She wouldn’t have believed that the shorts could have provided that much protection, but apparently, they had.

What made it even worse, though, was the knowledge that she was completely exposed to Cade now. Riley tried to clench her ass cheeks tightly together, hoping to hide her pussy from his view, but that only made the spanks sting that much more, and she quickly gave up on the idea. To heck with it, she decided. He probably wasn’t even paying attention to her more feminine attributes, anyway. Clearly, she thought as his hand found her tender sit-spots, he was only interested in spanking her.

Even so, he couldn’t help but see her pussy, she thought. The idea alone was enough to start a rebellious tingle between her legs. It wasn’t her fault, really. She hadn’t been with a guy in a long time, and regardless of the fact that Cade was in the process of spanking her right now, he was still utterly gorgeous.

Oh God, how could she even be thinking things like that? He was spanking her!

So what? she told herself. She shouldn’t be complaining. This was the first time she’d been even half-naked with a guy in a long while. If a spanking was what it took, then maybe she should volunteer for one more often.

She suddenly realized the spanking wasn’t stinging nearly as much as it had when Cade had first started. That wasn’t a surprise, she thought. She was barely paying attention to anything other than her pussy, which was getting wetter by the second!

Riley wondered if Cade could tell she was becoming excited. She hoped so. Because if not, she was going to have to do something extreme. That thought brought her up short. Was she saying that she wanted to have sex with Cade? When had that happened?

Before she could puzzle that out, the spanking was over and Riley was back on her feet. She didn’t bother to pull up her shorts, but just stood there, panting for breath and cupping her flaming ass cheeks with her hands. Lifting her gaze, she looked up at Cade from beneath lowered lashes. Her breath caught at the look of anguish on his handsome face. He wasn’t mad at her, she realized; he was worried about her.

He pulled her close. “You scared the hell out of me when I walked out of the bathroom and found you gone,” he said hoarsely. “Don’t ever do that me again, Riley.”

Riley gazed up at him. This wasn’t just a U.S. Marshal talking, she thought. This was a man who was concerned about someone he cared for. She knew that in her heart, without a doubt, and that made her want him even more.

She leaned closer to him. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “It won’t ever happen again.”

But Cade didn’t seem to have heard her. Instead, he was gazing intently at her lips. Knowing the effect it would have on him, she slowly wet her lips with her tongue. He must have been as close to the edge as she was because that little bit was all it took.

With a groan, Cade slid his hand into her long hair and lowered his head to cover her mouth with his. Riley didn’t resist, but instead pulled him even closer, and as he molded her against him, she could feel the heat from his body.

It had been so long since she’d been with a man, and she reveled in the sensation.

The kiss went on and on until Riley didn’t think she could breathe. Only then, did Cade lift his mouth from hers to trail hot kisses down her neck. His nibbling made her shiver and, clutching him to her even more tightly, she tossed her head back with a sigh. God, that felt so good!

Still heady from his kisses, she was barely even aware that Cade had stopped nibbling on her neck to urgently slide his hands underneath the hem of her tank top. Desperately wanting to feel his hands on her naked body,

Riley lifted her arms over her head so that he could take off her top. Suddenly realizing that her shorts were still banded down around her thighs, she wiggled her hips to push them the rest of the way down.

Cade’s eyes turned to molten gold as he studied her, and Riley felt herself blush as he took in her rounded breasts and slender waist before it dropped to the gentle curve of her hips and long, shapely legs.

Standing there completely naked while he was still fully clothed made Riley feel utterly wanton and terribly shy at the same time, and she would have reached for the buttons on his shirt, but he caught her hands in his and pulled her close to kiss her again. This time, his hands gently cupped her breasts for one long delicious moment before sliding down her back to cup her red-hot ass cheeks. Riley gasped against his mouth as he squeezed her freshly- spanked bottom. She hadn’t realized how tender it still was! And yet the firm pressure of his fingers had her pussy clenching with excitement, and she moaned as she realized how wet she was getting. Deciding that the foreplay had gone on long enough, she slid her hands up the front of his shirt and began to savagely pull at the buttons.

With a soft chuckle, Cade released her to lend his assistance, and within moments, his clothes had joined hers on the floor. Now it was her turn to study him, and Riley let her hungry gaze rove over his naked body. God, he was so gorgeous! From his broad shoulders and muscular chest to his tight abs and long, powerful legs, he was perfect, she thought. And to top it all off, his extremely hard cock was just waiting for her attention! She would have knelt down in front of him and taken him in her mouth right then, but he didn’t give her the chance. Instead, he took her hands and nudged her backward until she was up against the edge of the bed.

More than ready to have him inside her, Riley lay back on the bed, but Cade surprised her by leaning down to slowly kiss his way up the inside of her legs. Perhaps a little more foreplay would be okay, she thought as he alternated from one leg to the other.

But Cade seemed determined to take his time, and within moments, Riley was impatient again. Sliding her fingers into his hair, she tried to urge him up to her pussy, but he refused to play the game her way. Instead, he stopped at mid-thigh to tease and nibble at the skin there. While what he was doing felt incredibly wonderful, it was also incredibly frustrating, and she heard herself groan in exasperation. Only then did he begin to kiss his way up her legs again.

But even once Cade reached the junction of her thighs, he continued to tease her. He slowly trailed his tongue along either side of her pussy lips, dipping inside occasionally, but never allowing himself to come too close to her throbbing clit.

Riley groaned again in even deeper frustration. At the sound, Cade lifted his head to look at her with amusement.

“Something wrong?” he asked softly.

“Stop teasing me, Cade,” she begged. “Please.”

His mouth quirking, he lowered his head to immediately focus his attention directly on her plump clit.

Sliding his hands up her legs, he cupped her still-stinging ass in a tight grip that made her gasp. The combination of sensations was so intense that it was almost too much, but at the same time, it felt so amazing that she didn’t want him to ever stop. Lacing her fingers into his hair to hold him in place, she slowly began to rotate her hips in time with his licking.

It didn’t take long for her orgasm to build, and within moment, she was crying out as wave after wave of pleasure rushed over her. Somehow, Cade seemed to know exactly how she liked it, and his light, feathery licks let her ride out the orgasm for an unbelievably long time. Only then did he stop and climb into bed with her.

Riley had planned to return the oral favor, but Cade didn’t give her the chance, instead slipping between her legs to slide his hard cock up and down the opening of her pussy. Realizing that he meant to tease her again, she wrapped her legs around his hips to immediately draw him inside of her.

“No more teasing,” she growled, hooking her hand behind his head and dragging him down for another searing kiss.

Cade didn’t argue, but kissed her passionately as he thrust himself deeply inside her.

Time lost all meaning for Riley then as he continued to move in and out of her. As excited as he obviously was, she was amazed at his stamina. Her orgasm seemed to have no beginning or end, but was just one, long, glorious burst of pleasure.

Riley didn’t think it was possible for it to get any better until she heard Cade groan with his own release.

Knowing that she had the ability to make him come so hard made her own orgasm that much more powerful, and she clamped her legs more tightly around him as he pushed his hard cock deep inside her and held himself there.

The pleasure that rippled through her as she came again was so intense that it almost brought her to tears. That had never happened to her before, and she could only wonder what it was about this man that had brought on such powerful emotions.

The next morning, Riley awoke to find herself curled up against Cade’s side, her head pillowed on his muscular chest, her arms thrown over him possessively. With a sigh, she cuddled closer to him. It had been so long since she’d been with a man, especially one so strong and protective, and she had missed it more than she’d realized.

As she lay there, her lips curved into a smile. Last night had been amazing, she thought. No man had ever made love to her so passionately and completely as Cade had. That first frenzied lovemaking session had been followed by several more, each slower and more tender than the one before it. Oh yes, she thought again, it had definitely been amazing.

And, she suddenly realized with a sickening lurch, it had also been a really big mistake. While she could admit that the sex was the best she’d ever had, sleeping with Cade had definitely been a stupid thing to do. But she hadn’t been able to stop herself. She had wanted Cade, plain and simple, and so she hadn’t bothered to think about what it would mean.

She wasn’t the type to sleep with a man on a whim. Usually, it took her weeks of dating a guy before she even considered it, and that was only after she really fell for him. When she did fall for a guy, though, she fell hard.

And after making love with Cade last night, she had fallen for the sexy Marshal with a really big thud! She would have to keep her distance from him at the next safe house, she told herself, or else risk losing her heart to the man altogether.

As if on cue, Cade’s cell phone rang. He seemed to be sleeping so deeply that for a moment, Riley wondered if he would even hear it, but when he immediately reached out to grab it, she realized that he must already have been awake.

Though she had been expecting the Marshals Service to call, Riley couldn’t help but let out a sigh as she listened to Cade talk to the caller about transferring her to another safe house. From what she could hear, it sounded like they wanted to move her right away. She had hoped she and Cade would be able to stay at the hotel a little while longer.

Assuring the caller that they would be there, wherever “there” was, Cade flipped his phone closed and set it down on the bedside table. Knowing she couldn’t pretend to be asleep any longer, Riley held the sheet to her breasts with one hand and used the other to push herself into a sitting position.

Tucking her hair behind an ear, Riley tried to ignore the way her pulse leaped at the sight of Cade’s tousled hair and dark stubble. She hadn’t known it was possible for anyone to look that gorgeous the first thing in the morning. “Do they have another safe house ready?” she asked.

Cade nodded. “My boss wants us to meet him at the Seattle office.”

Riley said nothing. She wondered if Cade was as uncomfortable as she was after the night of unbridled passion they’d spent together. She wished she could think of something to say to make the situation less awkward, but nothing would come to mind. So instead, she just sat there, clutching the sheet to her breasts. The same sheet that was riding low on his hips to reveal his well-muscled chest and tight, sexy abs, she noticed. Oh God! If she didn’t get out of bed soon, she was going end up jumping him!

Riley was still trying to figure out how to make a graceful exit from the bed when Cade cleared his throat. “I told him we’d be there as soon as we could.”

Her face colored. “I’d better go get dressed then.”

Realizing she’d have to leave the sheet where it was or else leave Cade completely naked, Riley avoided his gaze as she blushingly slid out of bed. Naked, she scooped her clothes up from the floor, and then, grabbing her bag as quickly as she could, she padded into the bathroom.

Cade watched Riley go, his body responding to the sight of her nakedness with an eagerness that made him groan.

He’d like nothing better than to drag her back into bed with him and spend the day making love to her. She was just that amazing.

Last night had been incredible. Riley was not only more beautiful than he had imagined, but more passionate than he could have dreamed. He could make love to her a thousand times, and still never get enough, he thought. And waking up with her in his arms that morning had felt good. Too good, he told himself.

As enjoyable as the sex had been, there was a part of Cade that regretted taking her to bed last night. He’d known all along that Riley was the kind of woman he could fall for, the kind of woman he could see himself spending the rest of his life with. He’d also known that nothing could ever come of their relationship, not when she could be leaving at any time. But he had allowed himself to get close to her anyway.

Sleeping with her had been stupid not just because the relationship couldn’t go anywhere, but because having sex with a witness was just downright unprofessional. He was supposed to be protecting her, not sleeping with her. If this ever got out, his career in the Marshals would be over.

Swearing under his breath, he got out of bed and collected his clothes from the floor.

When Riley walked out of the bathroom half an hour later, it was to find Cade already dressed and waiting for her. He had ditched the jeans and button-up shirt she’d gotten used to seeing him wear in favor of a suit and tie, she noticed, but he still looked just as gorgeous.

“Ready to go?” he asked, and Riley nodded.

They drove up to Seattle in silence, Cade obviously as preoccupied with his thoughts as she was with hers. Was he regretting last night as much as she was? she wondered.

Once inside the building where the U.S. Marshals had their offices, Cade led her directly to the one belonging to his superior. At their entrance, the man got to his feet and came around his desk to join the two other men that were standing in front of it.

“I’m Deputy Chief Conner,” he said, extending his hand to Riley. “And these are Deputies Thompson and Morris.”

Riley reached out to shake his hand, and then did the same with the other two Marshals when they offered their hands as well.

Deputy Chief Conner glanced at Cade. “No problems on the way, I take it?” he asked.

Cade shook his head. “No, Sir.”

The older man nodded. “Good.” He turned his attention back to Riley. “You’ll be staying at a safe house just south of Olympia with Deputies Thompson and Morris for a couple of days until we get you relocated, Ms. Barnett. With any luck, we’ll have you on your way within the week.”

Riley’s brow furrowed at the mention of the other two Marshals. Did that mean Cade wouldn’t be going with her to the safe house? She glanced at Cade to see him looking just as puzzled by Deputy Chief Conner’s words.

“I thought I would be staying at the safe house with Ms. Barnett,” he said to the older man.

Deputy Chief Conner shook his head. “I want you working on finding out who the shooter was,” he said.

“Deputies Thompson and Morris will take care of her until we can get her relocated.”

Riley felt her heart sank at that. She might have thought sleeping with him was foolish, but nevertheless, she had hoped to be able to spend a couple of more days with Cade before she had to move. But maybe it was better this way, she told herself. If she were with Cade, she had no doubt she would end up sleeping with him again, and that would only result in more heartache. It was easier to make a clean break of things, she thought. But as her gaze strayed to the handsome Marshal, she realized it wasn’t going to be easy at all.

“Ms. Barnett,” Deputy Thompson said from behind her. “If you’re ready, we can go.”

She glanced over her shoulder at the men, before turning back to Cade again. At the hotel that morning, she hadn’t been able to think of anything to say Cade, and now there was so much she wanted to say to him. Like how much she appreciated him saving her life. And how comforting it was to be in his arms, even if it had been only for a little while. But she couldn’t tell him any of those things, not with his boss and the other two Marshals looking on.

Cade gave her a nod. “Take care of yourself,” he told her.

Riley felt a slight pang of disappointment that he hadn’t said something more personal, but she realized that he couldn’t very well say anything in front of his co-workers either. She offered him a small smile. “You, too,” she said softly.

Realizing that the other two Marshals were waiting for her, Riley swallowed hard and turned away. Surprised to feel tears welling in her eyes, she quickly made her way to the door before anyone could see. But unable to resist one more look at Cade, she paused and glanced back at him over her shoulder to find him studying her with those remarkable gold eyes of his. For a moment the urge to run back into the office and throw herself into his arms was almost too much to resist, and she had to force herself to turn away.

Cade watched her go, his gaze following Riley until she disappeared around a cubicle and out of sight. He had hoped that she would look back at him once more before she left, but she hadn’t. Well, what had he expected? He was just another in a long string of Marshals what had been responsible for keeping her alive.

“Do you think you got a good enough look at the shooter to sit down with a sketch artist?” Conner asked.

The words jerked him from his thoughts and Cade gave himself a mental shake as he turned to look at the other man. “I should be able to, yeah,” he said.

“Good,” Conner said. “While you do that, I’m going to talk to the DA that prosecuted Donatti and see if he can shed some light on this whole thing. There must be a reason if Donatti put out a contract on Riley Barnett at this point.”

Taking that as his cue to leave, Cade headed for the door. Regardless of the fact that he’d told Conner he would be able to work with a sketch artist, he wasn’t sure how much good it would do. Not because he hadn’t seen the hit man well enough, but because he was too distracted with thoughts of Riley.

Cade had really been taken aback when Conner had announced that Thompson and Morris were going to be taking Riley to the safe house. He had just naturally assumed he would stay with her until she was relocated. But maybe it was better that he didn’t. The more time he spent with her, the harder it was going to be on him when she left. Besides, Conner was right. It was more important to track down the hit man that had tried to kill her.

With that in mind, Cade spent the rest of the day focusing his attention on doing just that. He was just frowning at the drawing the sketch artist had made when Conner walked over to his desk. The older man studied the drawing for a moment.

“So, that’s our shooter, huh?” the other man said when he’d taken a look at it.

“Yeah,” Cade said. “This guy’s face is really familiar for some reason.”

He hadn’t realized it when he’d first seen the man the other night, but after thinking about it, Cade was sure he had seen the hit man somewhere before.

Conner regarded the sketch thoughtfully. “Take a look through the NCIC database,” he told Cade. “If we’re lucky, maybe the guy has a record. Start with known mob enforcers.”

Looking through the online National Crime Information Center database would be a whole hell of a lot easier than thumbing through old mug books. Of course, everything depended on the guy having a record and being in the database. If he didn’t, things would be much more difficult, Cade thought.

“What did the DA have to say?” he asked Conner.

Conner shook his head. “He wasn’t in the office,” he said. “I’m waiting for him to call me back.”

Cade knew that with the time difference between the east and west coast it could be awhile before the man returned Conner’s call. Hopefully, Cade would have a solid lead on the hit man by then.

As it turned out, though, Cade had no luck finding the guy through the NCIC database. He came up with a lot of known hit men, mob enforcers, and just general bad guys with organized crime connections, but none of them resembled the shooter from the other night. Thinking that he was using too narrow of a scope, he broadened it, but again, his search yielded nothing but hours of wasted time.

“Anything?” Conner asked when he came up to Cade’s desk later that evening.

Cade sat back in his chair with a sigh. “Not a thing.”

The other man frowned. “I just got off the phone with the Manhattan DA. Turns out that Albert Donatti has been more interested in making deals than in taking out witnesses,” he said. “He’s in the WitSec Program himself now.”

Cade’s brow furrowed. “He flipped on someone else?” he asked rhetorically. “If that’s the case, then it doesn’t make sense that he’d go out and hire a hit man.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Conner said, and then sighed. “Maybe we’re just looking at this the wrong way. Look, go home and get some rest. We’ll look at it a different angle first thing in the morning.”

Cade went, but only reluctantly. He would much rather have stayed and looked through the criminal databases some more, but as exhausted as he was, he’d probably only miss something if he did.

Despite being wiped out, however, Cade couldn’t sleep at all that night. Finally tired of tossing and turning, he got out of bed a little after midnight and wandered into the living room to watch television. But despite having plenty of channels to choose from, none of them could hold his interest, and before long, his thoughts turned back to Riley.

After spending a week in the safe house with her, his apartment seemed so quiet and empty. He had never thought of himself as the overly talkative type, but it turned out that he had really enjoyed the time he and Riley had spent together talking. And he couldn’t help but remember what it had felt like to spend the night with her in his arms.

It might have been foolish, but it had felt good.

He found himself wondering what Riley was doing at that moment. Had she gotten settled in at the safe house?

Was she asleep, or was she making the other Marshals sit through whatever chick-flicks she’d talked them into renting for her? That thought made Cade smile. But then almost immediately, it turned into a frown as he was reminded again of how much he missed her. Did she miss him as much?

Cade let out a derisive snort at that. He would like to have thought that the sex they’d had the night before had meant something to Riley, but her actions that morning had made it clear that it had been nothing more than aone-night stand to her. He wished it could mean so little to him.