Hold Me (6 page)

Outside, as she and Cady reached the mountain track, her tears returned full-force. She clung to Cady’s strong shoulders and cried into his shirt. He held her tightly, murmuring soothing words, kissing her hair. As the release subsided, he took her hand and led her to the road. Perfect in a crisis—Cady made her feel so damn safe.

He stuck out his thumb and hitched a ride back to town. They rode in the bed of a rusty, red pickup, jarred by countless potholes. Everything took on a dreamlike quality in the setting sun. Jane’s father was coming home. And she was falling for a movie star who gave the best hugs.

Emotions rose and fell in her gut. “I need to get wasted,” she declared, laughing and resting her forehead against Cady’s chest.

“Really?”

“After I eat.” She looked into his eyes for comfort.

He brushed a remaining streak of salty tears from her face, sending sensation all the way to her fingers and toes. Her heart clenched.

They sat in silence the rest of the bumpy journey back. She decided to delay calling Ally and Margo with the news about Zach. Best to wait and see if he changed his mind.

But Jane hoped he wouldn’t. Surely, if he saw his three daughters and the Five C Ranch, he would want to remain there for good. They would make up for lost years and shower him with affection. And maybe he would do the same with them. Having him change his mind and stay here simply was not an option. Jane couldn’t take another abandonment. She shunned the depressing thought.

The pickup halted in the main street of El Remate. Little hotels and restaurants dotted either side of the dirt road and reminded her of her current accommodations. Would Cady expect her to move into town? She enjoyed the convenience of staying at his house… among other things.

“I know a place where you can get that drink,” he said, his eyes on the road.

The bar and restaurant overlooked the lake. Tucked into the jungle on three sides, it felt protected, isolated, intimate. Cady ordered her a beer and a traditional bean and rice plate at her request. He ordered something with plantains for himself.

“Can I try one?” she asked.

He dipped the banana-like fruit into a yogurt sauce, called
crema
, and handed it to her. Her heart jumped and she paused for a split second, then folded her mouth around the fruit, sucking a little before taking it fully in.

His eyes responded, sharpening, darkening. He leaned over and licked her mouth with his tongue,
crema
or no
crema
. She swallowed quickly, wanting access to his lips. He kissed her, and then pulled back when the server came to refill their water glasses.

Jane realized she’d never seen him order alcohol. “You don’t drink, do you?”

He straightened. “Not in recent years, no.”

She sensed that Cady wanted to say more and wished he would open up to her, but the man was a clam. Reaching for his fingers and meeting his gaze, she tried to telegraph what she needed. He took a sip of water and stared at the lake.

“Jonny Cassy was my best friend,” he said, finally. “You know who I’m talking about, right?”

Everyone knew who Jonny Cassy was. Or
had
been, rather.

“He took a trip to Mexico with some other guys. I was working on a movie at the time. I guess he scored some coke in Cabo, which wouldn’t have been unusual. The next day he turned up dead, floating face-down in the hotel swimming pool.” Cady shook his head. “He was twenty-three.”

The lights of the restaurant shimmered on the darkening lake and cast shadows in the jungle. The moon was on the rise, adding to the haunted feel of the fast-approaching night. An animal wailed. Cady’s hand remained beneath Jane’s.

“And you stopped drinking and drugs out of solidarity?” she asked.

He laughed bitterly. “Are you fuckin’ kidding? I was worse than him. Total coke-head. My friend died and that didn’t even make me quit. It took three tries and giving up my entire career to get off the stuff. Then I came down here. I’ve been clean for seven years.”

He’d left everything behind for good reason. Jane couldn’t imagine what it must be like to be so attracted to illegal substances that he’d needed to leave his home, job, and family. If faced with a similar situation, she wasn’t sure what she would have done. Would she have had the strength to give up everything she’d worked for? His reasons for hiding down here now made sense. “So what do you do with your time?”

“I write music—for other people.”

Her heart flipped. “What kind?”

“Songs for popular bands.”

“Anything I’d know?”

He hummed a few bars of a well-known, recent hit.

“Wow, you wrote that?”

He smiled.

The man had serious talent. “I didn’t see any hi-tech equipment in your house.”

“I have a small studio set back into the jungle. As much as I love my work, I hate taking it home.”

“So you got into music after you quit acting?”

He shrugged. “Got to put all that angst somewhere.”

She smiled, delighted he’d found a market for his talents despite his isolation. Squeezing his hand, she brought his gaze back to hers. “You’re an admirable man, Cady Hewes. And I can’t imagine what you’ve been through.”

He didn’t speak, yet searched her eyes for a long moment, then squeezed back.

A couple of Guatemalan men entered the bar and drew Cady’s attention. He gave one of them a nod—a burly man with curly black hair. A familiar-looking younger man took a seat next to the group, talking into his cell phone.

“Isn’t that the teenager who helped us today at the store?” Jane asked.

“Yeah.” Cady nodded, absently. His gaze returned to hers, then he stood and waited for her to join him. “Let’s go.”

Hand-in-hand, he led her along the moonlit road back to his place, comfortable silence between them. She could definitely get used to this. To him. A lump formed in her throat. Was she really imagining him in her future? Cady Hewes, reclusive movie-star and ex-addict?

Yes.

Fervently wishing, more like.

As if he would move to New Mexico, leave everything and marry her.

Marry her?
Christ where had that come from?

He let her into his house, closing the screen door with a gentle
click
. The moonlight illuminated his hair and shoulders, shadows obscuring his features from her gaze.

“I could be forming an addiction to you, Jane Caldwell,” he said in a sultry tone. “You’re definitely hazardous to my state of mind.”

How hazardous?

He slid his hand along her hip and cupped her waist. “You make me want things I shouldn’t.”

He gently pulled her to him. His erection pressed against her pelvis, hard and ready. Need enveloped her, physical and emotional. She wanted him close.

“Things I can’t give, and won’t take,” he whispered.

Warning received and understood. Not marriage, then. Her heart tugged with disappointment, but the pressure of his cock between her legs made her forget everything but the moment. He was right. Being with him
was
like a drug. She focused on his face. He seemed to be waiting for a response.

She’d found Zach. Mission accomplished. She could go home tomorrow as long as her dad came with her. If all she could have with Cady was this final night, she would make it count. She had the rest of her life to come down from the high, and to miss him terribly—each a distinct possibility.

After grinding against his hard shaft, she broke away and walked to the bathroom. “I could use a shower.” She turned and shot him an inviting glance. “Coming?”

…

Cady soaped her body, taking his sweet time lathering her breasts, between her legs. Every nerve ending shouted for joy, demanding more. Reaching for him, Jane stroked his cock, its large tip expanding under her fingers. Water sprayed on the back of her head as she stared into his eyes. Needing him inside of her, like, right now, she reached behind her and turned off the spray. Smiling, she led him out of the stall, her hand still wrapped around his dick. She grabbed a towel released him, then dried her hair.

Seeing Cady naked and glistening was more than she could handle. She became wet between her legs, her body responding to the male god before her. Seriously, he must spend hours working out with the kettle weights she’d seen on the porch.

Breasts tight, she headed straight for his bedroom, knowing he would follow. Instead of heading for the bed, she nudged him toward an armchair by the window, making him sit. He looked tempting as hell, legs splayed, cock standing at attention. Kneeling on the rug before him, she cupped her breasts and pressed them around his shaft, massaging it between the globes. Wanting to smooth the ride, she took the tip in her mouth, leaving it moist.

He pressed his cock upwards, filling her mouth, groaning, jerking. “Jesus, Jane.”

She loved when he lost control, as if he couldn’t believe how hot she made him. She allowed him deeper, gagging a little at his entry into her throat. He pulled her head down and back, lifting her wet hair.

“Ahhhhh,” he sighed. “Baby, that’s it.”

She continued to stimulate his cock, lapping at him, cheeks pumping and sucking. An unearthly feeling of power overcame her. He was at her mercy, loving every motion of her tongue. She slid her hand up to cup his balls, tugging gently at the rolling flesh. His strong thighs flexed.

He pulled her up by her shoulders, catching her buttocks, lifting her on top of him in the chair. He leaned his forehead on her breasts, breathing heavily.

“Condom. In the dresser,” he said.

She reached back and found one, tearing the packet apart with her teeth, and pushing the sheath over him. His dick strained against the latex, pulsing. So wet she might burst from her arousal, she slicked against him, pulling him up and almost in, before sliding down.

His fingers dug into her sides, before subsiding, allowing her a modicum of control. She repeated the move, loving the feel of his wide head against her pussy, the rasping friction. Fire spurted between their almost joined bodies. Fire and liquid.

“Jane,” he said, eyes forcing her responding look. “Let me fuck you?”

God, she loved it when he talked dirty, even more when he asked so politely. She nodded, raising her hips, positioning above him, wet and beyond ready. “Yes, please.”

She bore down.

Chapter Six

Heaven was Jane’s pussy closing around him like a fist. Cady bit back a moan as she lowered herself, hips rocking. Exquisite sensation zipped from his groin to his heart. With his thumbs against her abs and hands splayed, he guided her further down, widening her buttocks with the tips of his fingers, making her take more of him. She gasped at the depth of his entry. He fixed his eyes on her breasts, straining and sensitive.

Gripping the back of the armchair with a desperate hand, she lifted off him, not completely, but enough to send shuddering waves of ecstasy through them both.

Yes, Jane was dangerous to the life he’d built. He hadn’t lied about forming an addiction to this, to her. Addiction in any form had proven exceedingly bad for him. But, lord, he didn’t know how he would get over her once she went home. There was no rehab for a lonely heart.

She jerked down and forward again, and he hissed. He watched, thrilled, when she touched herself with two fast fingers. The sight of her masturbating while he filled her sent him over the edge in one sudden burst.

“Jane,” he bit out in warning, but too late. He shot up, coming in rapid, intense spurts.

She kept writhing for a moment longer, fingers flying in moist circles around her clit, hips riding him in a quick canter. Her breath came out in short gasps. He watched her face as she reached orgasm. It was one of the most beautiful things he’d ever seen. Flushed with effort and pleasure, she stilled, head back, and keened one long, high-pitched scream. Suspended for a second, she gave a wordless cry, and then crashed back down, surrounding him one last time. Her muscles milked him for a final response and he couldn’t help bucking deeper.

“Oh,” she whispered, jerking again in aftershock.

She leaned over and kissed him, eyes hazy with lust. Her lips tasted like spice and sin. Lifting her hips, he guided himself out and they stood, mouths still tasting, sucking. Walking her backwards, he disposed of the condom and spread her on his bed.

Seeing Jane naked on his white sheets was a sight to remember. His dick pulsed with renewed energy. If she went home tomorrow with her dad, tonight would be their final night together. He wanted to make it last.

Stretching out beside her lean form, he trailed a knuckle over one perfect breast then lower to her belly. “So that man is really your dad?”

She nodded, shrugging slightly. “He knew who I was.” Her eyes clouded. “I don’t remember him that well.”

Something about the guy hadn’t set right with Cady. “Do you think he’ll come back with you?”

“He’s got to. I don’t think Allison or Margo could take one more loss.”

“And what about you?”

Her eyes focused. “What do you mean?”

“Can you take it?”

She stared at his chest. He increased the pressure of his knuckle on her skin, sliding it lower, tangling his fingers in her curls, finding her, stroking. She gasped, her ab muscles clenching. He saw her effort to concentrate on the conversation.

She shook her head. “I’ll drag him onto a plane if I have to.”

She caught her breath when he pushed one thick finger inside of her wet, sleek core.

“I bet you would.”

Her gaze shot to his. “Are you making fun of me?”

He shoved two more fingers deep inside of her, and her hips bucked. “No. I think you’re amazing.”

He did.

Jane was a determined soul. He doubted anything could stop her from getting what she wanted and admired her loyalty to her family. Cady wished he could keep her here, but knew she couldn’t stay. He could, however, give her intense pleasure to remember him by. He stroked her again. Her breasts lifted toward his face and he took one nipple in his teeth and tugged.

“Yes,” she murmured.

He pulled her up to a seated position, rolled onto his back, and sat her on his face, evoking a surprised gasp. His grip kept her from moving away. He needed to taste her. Holding her pink folds above his mouth, he touched her with his tongue, then slid it inside, spearing her flesh.