Fated (37 page)

“How
long,” he murmured as his lips caressed my heated skin. “How long will you love
me?”

He increased
the pressure of his palm between my legs as he kissed his way to my other
breast and showed it the same attention. My head shifted restlessly, my arousal
and the frustration of having clothes between us combining until I felt out of
control.

“I’ll
love you forever,” I cried. “I’ll love you for the rest of my life. Please,
Caden. I need you.”

He
wrapped his arms around me, supporting my weight, and then swung me up. He
walked quickly to my bedroom and gently laid me down on the bed, his eyes
glittering with love and desire as he looked at me. Despite the intensity of
his expression, the corner of his mouth lifted up. “Get comfortable. I have a
lot of lost time to make up for.”

My
response was lost as I watched him undress. I felt a deep coil of tension
tightening inside me as I drank in the sight of his naked body. He looked so
powerful and masculine, yet he loved me with a tenderness that left me aching.

Caden
leaned down and discarded my shirt and bra. His eyes darkened when he saw my
eagerness as I quickly unfastened my jeans and shrugged them off along with my
panties.

I
laid back down on the bed when I was totally naked and reached out, wrapping an
arm around his neck and pulling him towards me.

“Love
me,” I whispered.

His
face tightened with desire as he settled in between my legs. “I do, Lauren,” he
said huskily. “I’ll spend my entire life proving it to you.”

He
crushed his lips against mine, and I immediately opened my mouth, stroking his
tongue with mine. I wantonly sucked his tongue into my mouth, kissing him with
a fierce hunger that I had so desperately missed during our time apart. He made
a sound deep in the back of his throat, and he seemed to lose control, kissing
me so wildly that nothing existed except our bodies coming together.

I
arched my hips, reveling in the feel of his hard erection pressing against me,
but I needed more.

I
broke the kiss and we were both panting heavily. “I need you inside me. I can’t
wait,” I whispered unevenly.

“Not
yet.” His words were muffled as he kissed his way down my body, pausing to suck
on each nipple. His hot mouth traced its way down my stomach to the top of my
mound. “I can already see how aroused you are. It’s too tempting. I need to
taste you first.”

I
mewled at his words, feeling helpless as he gripped my thighs and restrained me
when I tried to buck my hips closer to his mouth. He licked the crease of my
thigh, so close to my aching center yet so far away.

“I’m
going crazy. Are you trying to torture me?” I tried to lift my hips again, to
push it against his face, but his grip on my thighs was ironclad.

“I
want this to last,” he said, his voice guttural as he watched me with burning
eyes. My breaths were growing shallow, my chest rising and falling with my
efforts to take in a full breath, as his eyes pierced into me. “I want to
remember this for the rest of my life. The way you look right now. The sounds
you’re making. The way you smell and feel. And soon, the way you taste.”

I
felt hypnotized as I watched him lower his head again, my eyes closing as I
moaned when I felt the rasp of his tongue against my wet folds. He devoured me
like he couldn’t get enough, pausing every now and then to flick my engorged
clit with his tongue. It was torture each time, my need growing more powerful
every time he denied me the pressure I hungered for.

My
feet curled in a mixture of arousal and frustration, my legs tensing until I
felt like I was going to break as my need made me go crazy. “Please, Caden! I
can’t take anymore!”

“What
do you want, Lauren? Tell me.” I opened my eyes and met his gaze. Seeing his
mouth and chin wet with my arousal almost made me climax right then and there.

“Suck
my clit,” I pleaded, my voice cracking. “I need you to use your tongue and
mouth to make me come. Please.”

I
barely had uttered the last word when Caden dove in between my legs, sucking
and laving my clit like a madman. I cried out, my pleasure becoming almost
unbearable when he slid two fingers into my wetness, curling up and pressing
against the front, pushing me over the edge as my body lifted off the bed and
convulsed again and again. I don’t know how long it was until the last shudder
left me, my hips collapsing against the bed, feeling too weak to move.

Caden
made his way up my body until he was kissing me. Despite my fatigue, his lips
were awakening my desire again and I wondered if it would always be like this.

“I
love kissing you after you’ve made me come with your mouth,” I whispered as we
kissed gently.

He
was hovering over me, and he settled his weight to one side, stroking my hip
with one hand as he continued to kiss me. “Why?” he asked between caresses.

“I
love tasting myself on you, on your tongue and lips. It’s so erotic that it
makes me wet all over again.” I paused, smiling faintly. “You seem to bring out
a very naughty side of me.”

Caden
grinned, kissing me deeply before he responded. When he lifted his head back
up, the humor had faded into intense tenderness. “I want every side of you. I
love you, Lauren.”

Now
that he had started, Caden couldn’t seem to stop telling me how he felt about
me. Each time those words passed through his lips, I felt my happiness growing
until I felt like I was going to burst.

“I
love you too, Caden.” He leaned down to kiss me again, but I pushed his
shoulder with a mischievous smile. “Now it’s my turn.”

He
watched me indulgently, going along as I increased the pressure on his shoulder
until he was lying on his back. I sat up and straddled him, my hands stroking
his hard chest. I was well aware of how erect his shaft was, and his look of
amusement vanished when I rubbed his length against my wetness.

I
shook my head when he reached up to grip my hips. “Not so fast. I’m in charge
now.”

Caden
groaned as I continued to rub my wet cleft up and down his shaft. I evaded him when
he lifted his hips and tried to direct his head toward my opening. “I’m dying
here,” he rasped. “I need to be inside you.”

“Not
yet,” I said, echoing his earlier words. “I need to taste you first.”

I
crawled down his body and wrapped a hand around the base of his shaft. I teased
him, licking the sides of his erection, but never touching the head. He
clenched his hands into fists as his eyes burned into me.

“Christ,”
he bit out. “I’m going crazy here.”

I watched
him as I stroked his length with my hand. “What do you want, Caden? Tell me.”

His
eyes glittered as I took control, and I knew he was struggling to not take
over, but his desire to please me won out.

“I
want your lips around my cock,” he growled. “I want to watch you suck it until
I can’t take anymore.”

I
wondered if he felt the same intense arousal that was now flaring inside me
when I told him what I wanted. I could feel how wet I was getting just by his
words.

“Then
what?” I whispered, my voice uneven.

His
voice turned husky. “I want to come in your mouth. I want to watch while you
swallow every drop.”

I
whimpered as I dove down, closing my lips around his length, tasting the
moisture that had already escaped. The sounds Caden was making were animalistic
as he grunted and groaned from my fevered ministrations. I felt wild as I tried
to take as much of him as I could in my mouth, sucking and licking like I was
possessed.

I
made a sound of protest when I felt his hands gripping my arms, pulling me up.
I tried to pull my body down again, wanting to give him as much pleasure as he
had given me.

“Lauren,”
he croaked as he gripped my buttocks. I moaned when I felt his hardness against
me. “As much as I want to come in your mouth, I need to be inside you. Guide me
inside you.”

I
helplessly obeyed, wanting nothing more than to feel him slide inside me. I
gripped his shaft as I sat up, raising my hips until the head of his erection
was hovering below my opening. Caden’s grip on my hips was almost painful, but
he let me take control. From his strained expression I saw how difficult it was
for him.

I
slowly lowered myself, gasping when I felt his head probing, pushing aside my
folds. “Oh God!” I cried out as I sank down, his shaft filling me until I felt
stretched to my limit. It had been a while since he had been inside me, and it
felt so tight and overwhelming. I wasn’t sure if I could continue lowering
myself. “It’s so much. I’m not sure I can take it all.”

Caden’s
grasp on my hips tightened, but he didn’t move. “It’s okay, baby,” he rasped.
“It’s been a long time. Just take it slow. You don’t have to take all of me.”

The
tenderness in his expression mixed with his blatant need was all I needed, and
I pushed myself firmly down all the way, crying out from the mixture of
pleasure and discomfort. Caden groaned although he still didn’t move, letting
me get used to the feeling of him invading my softness.

We
were both panting when I started moving again. Soon, the discomfort disappeared
and all I felt were streaks of hot-edged pleasure as I rode him as fast as I
could. Caden raised his hips with every thrust, slamming up into me as I pushed
myself down on him. His fingers stroked my clit, making me ride him even
harder. The sounds of our flesh pounding into each other and ours cries and
groans filled the room. He reached up with one hand to caress my breasts,
pinching my erect nipples, and the combination of that sensation along with his
finger flicking my clit and his length slamming into me, made me scream as I orgasmed
violently. I lost the rhythm of our thrusts as I arched my back, keening in
pure pleasure while I convulsed around him.

I
looked down at Caden after I came down from my climax, panting to catch my
breath as my hair hung in wild disarray around me. He was watching me, his
expression a mixture of arousal and love.

“I’ve
never seen anyone as beautiful as you,” he said huskily. “I’ve tried to capture
the beauty of a woman climaxing through photographs because I thought it was so
elusive. But I never realized how real it could be. How real and grounded in
reality, in a flesh and blood woman that I can’t imagine living without.” His
grip on me tightened as he twisted his hips, pushing up as if he couldn’t get
far enough into me.

“I
love you, Lauren,” he groaned and then I felt him jerking inside of me, his
shaft pulsing as he shot inside of me again and again. I tightened my muscles
around him, feeling so close to him that I felt we had melded into one.

His
hips collapsed flat against the bed when he had nothing left in him, his
breathing heavy. He reached up and pulled me down, cradling me in his arms. We
were still intimately connected, and even though I was in an awkward position,
I wanted to stay like this forever.

Caden
reached down, stroking my stomach gently. “Are you still on the pill?” he asked
softly.

“Yes,”
I answered, kissing the edge of his jaw.

He
continued stroking my stomach as his eyes gleamed with love. “I think it’s time
you got off it. I plan on making you pregnant as soon as possible.”

I
opened my mouth, but I wasn’t sure whether it was to agree or protest. I didn’t
get a chance to do either as he crushed his mouth against mine. He spent the
rest of the night trying to make good on his word, pill be damned.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

It’s
funny how life can change so drastically in just a year. Last year, I would
never have imagined my life could be so full that I felt like I was going to
overflow with happiness.

Caden
had tried to convince me to move back to New York immediately, but I decided
having a long-distance relationship for a couple of months wouldn’t kill us.
Even though I loved him, and I was sure he loved me, I thought it might do us
some good to try to have a relationship at a normal pace.

That
lasted for three weeks, and then I couldn’t take the separation any longer,
even though we saw each other every weekend. When I went to New York to spend
Christmas with him, I never ended up leaving.

I’ll
never forget that first Christmas. We went to Millie’s in Greenwich, and her
house, full to the brim with friends and family who wanted to share the
holidays with her, reassured me that she would be okay. When they remembered
Michael and past Christmases, they reminisced with love tinged with
wistfulness, instead of pain and regret.

Macie
ended up quitting, announcing that she intended on getting a nursing degree,
something she had always considered but never pursued. That conveniently left
the position of Caden’s personal assistant open, although I think I ended up
bossing him around more rather than the other way around.

Caden’s
installation is an amazing piece of art, but it’s still a work-in-progress.
When he finally shows it, I have a feeling the art world is going to go crazy.
He’s already been hugely successful with his latest collection, surprising the
art world with his departure from photography. His charcoal drawings are making
the gallery rounds, and his showcases are drawing huge crowds. My favorite,
egotistically, is still the one of me, the one he had given me as a surprise that
night he came over to my apartment in Chicago. It captured an expression that
pulls at me every time I see it. A mixture of sadness and hope, a reflection of
everything I had survived and the life I had never known I could have.