Paradise Found: Cain (Paradise Stories Book 2) (14 page)

I liked my women hard and fast. It was a means to an end. Until her. Sofie proved once again the power she could have over me. Reacting to her watching me, in my old ways, Sofie made the whole experience new. The way she clenched around my fingers. The way she rocked over my hand. Her mouth, it was just made for sin. Thoroughly fucked, even though we hadn't, we laid on my bathroom floor breathing in exaggerated breaths at the exhaustion of heated foreplay. Because that's what that was, foreplay for what I intended to do, once I actually got her body under me. For the moment, she was draped over the lower half of my body, relaxed and malleable as if she was a part of me. She was a part of me, and I wasn't letting go. I was determined to make her want me for real. No more pretending.

She began to stir after several minutes. The shower roared to life in the background, after being drowned out moments before from the groans and grunts of our activity.

“Need shower,” she mumbled, pushing up slowly, her hands braced on either side of me. She didn't look at me, but I needed to know she was okay with what just happened.
Who was I kidding?
I wasn't okay with what happened. Once again, she'd stripped me to nothing.

A trembling hand raked through her dark hair. Once seated, she pressed upward and walked out of the bathroom without looking back at me.

Fuck.

It was too much. I'd come at her again like I promised myself I wouldn't do. I was too worked up from this morning. The apartment. The workout. The kiss in the garage. Relieving myself hadn't been enough, not when I saw her watching me. I rolled on the cool tile floor and stood to re-enter the shower. This time I'd allow myself the pleasure of warm water.

I figured she'd be avoiding me, but I wouldn't let her. Being the snake I was, I wanted more time. I found her in the guest room, where she'd showered and was going through the pile of clothes I tried to salvage from her place. She startled as I said her name. Looking over her shoulder at me, her hand firmly holding closed the towel around her chest, she sighed. Baptismal blue glistened with tears not yet shed. She blinked and smiled weakly.

“There wasn't much left behind?” She was trying to joke, but her voice trembled.
“Thank you. I wasn't certain I could go back, but I needed some things. Anything, if it remained.”

“I’ll buy you new clothes. Whatever you need.”

She shook her head and turned back to the pile, quickly brushing at her cheek.

“Should we talk...” Possibly about what happened, I wondered.

“Don't,” she cut me off. It was fine with me if we didn’t. I wasn't going to apologize. It was amazing and pleasant visions flashed before me, but her tone told me we needed to move on. I cleared my throat and asked for something else.

“Sofie, I was wondering if I could take you somewhere today. I would ... I could use your opinion.”
I don't know why I was hesitant. I would typically just demand someone do something, rather than ask for assistance. I didn't really need her opinion for where we were going, but I wanted it all the same. I wanted to know what she thought. She twisted to look at me again, her eyes narrowing in distrust. Visually questioning me, she must have found her answer because she agreed. My heart skipped a beat at the thought of what I'd show her next.

Once outside, Sofie stared at me in disbelief.

“I’m not getting on that,” she sputtered at the black machine before her. My Suzuki Hayabusa was a mean looking twist of metal that could scream on the road. Making Sofie scream had been my goal, but now my motive was to get her to touch me again. At the very least, I wanted her to hold onto me, and the bike was the perfect way to assure she would.

“This is our ride,” I stated, handing her a helmet.

“I’ve never … I’ve never been on a motorcycle before,” she whispered, as if the words were too wicked to say louder. The way her voice rasped only increased my excitement to have her spread her legs behind me and wrap around me.

“Well, there’s a first time for everything,” I stated sinisterly. I wanted to be her first for many things. I climbed on the beast then held out my hand to help her straddle a leg over it. She was trying to sit away from me, but I wasn’t having it. The moment I started the engine, her hands hesitantly went to my side. When I revved the throttle, I warned her to hold on. The initial jolt down the drive reinforced my demand. Her hands wrapped around my waist and her chest pressed into my back. I couldn’t release the throttle to rub her arm like I wanted. I wanted to reassure her she could trust me, but she had to hold tight. We peeled down the road, and her grip increased as we drove out of the neighborhood onto the open road.

I don't know where I thought he'd take me, but pulling up in front of the brown, rusted warehouse wasn't it. The gravel was still settling behind the motorcycle on the path we'd taken to cross the vacant lot. Only one other vehicle was present. A woman in her mid-forties exited the four-door sedan, as Cain assisted me off his bike. I’d never felt anything like it. The vibration between my thighs lingered in a dizzying sort of way. Shaky legs forced me to balance against the bike while the woman walked directly to Cain. Extending a hand, she shook his vigorously, her smile consuming her face.

“It's such a pleasure to see you again. I'm such a big fan, as you know, because of course, I follow the fights. You're just so pretty,” she drawled, practically drooling as her eyes couldn't leave Cain's face, nor could her hand remove from its grip on him. Something prickled inside me. I'd witnessed women act like this before. The First Wives Club was a group of women who gathered at the vineyard to celebrate each divorce. It was there that I witnessed a woman, similar in age to this lady, act in the same manner toward Cain. Her posture told him she was willing to do anything he asked. Her eyes screamed for him to take her.

Turning away from the display, I eyed the large flat space. It was like a metal box had been dropped in a dry, open land. I couldn't imagine why we were here.

“Ms. Candy, this is my ...” I spun in his direction.
Ms. Candy
, really?
“... Sofie Vincentia.” The woman finally acknowledged my presence by acting startled, as if she hadn't noticed another being in Cain's presence.

“Oh, well hello.” She didn't shake my hand. She immediately addressed Cain again. "Shall we?"

Following her lead, we waited while she unlocked the giant padlock across the door. Cain had his hand on my lower back at first, but the instant Ms. Candy turned to look at us, Cain reached for my hand. I struggled to release mine, but he gripped tighter. He walked through the open space, tugging me behind him. I continued to resist.

“Just hold my hand,” he hissed in my ear when he turned to face me. His face lingered near my neck. Ms. Candy inhaled sharply and I assumed she heard his tone. Then I realized from her perspective, it looked like Cain was whispering something intimate to me. My eyes met hers and she looked away in a fluster.

“I've already discussed the specs with Donaldson. An inspector is expected to meet me in half an hour. Could you give us a moment to look around?” Cain directed to the woman.

The space was large and empty. Light filtered in from windows clouded with dust. The sunlight danced in streams down to the cement floor littered with debris of discarded Styrofoam containers and bottles of alcohol. I wasn't certain what I was supposed to be looking at. The place looked like a pit.

“What do you think?” Cain asked me and I hesitated in my response.

“Uhm ....” I watched him as he turned in a full circle, arms outstretched. He closed his eyes as he spun, looking peaceful and thoughtful. It was evident he had a plan for the space. The enthusiasm was reverberating off of him. His eyes opened and stilled me. While typically dark orbs that gave off a cold glare, they gleamed with a sparkle of energy. The excitement was contagious. Unable to help myself, I laughed.

“What is this place?”

“My new gym," he announced, with pride. He must have seen something on my face because his own expression shifted.

“You don't like it?” His voice fell; his disappointment evident.
I didn't see why it mattered if I approved of the place or not, but I was further confused why he was building one here.

“Don’t you live in Vegas?” I asked, clearly misunderstanding.

“No. I told you, I live here.”

I stared at him, my eyebrows pinching.

“You don't need to any longer,” I reminded him, hinting that he could move now that we were divorced.

“I like it here,” he stated, shrugging his shoulder. He was also brushing off this conversation.

“Can I tell you about it?” he asked hesitantly. My heart dropped.

“Of course,” I replied with a smile.

With growing enthusiasm, he described how he always wanted to own his own gym. He wanted to train others, but specifically those young, new, and unknown. He assumed it would be mainly boys, but he wouldn't discourage girls.

“Don't want to be considered sexist,” he said, raising an eyebrow at me.

“Of course not,” I laughed again. He was just so excited about this place. He continued to describe his vision: where the ring would be, where the weight room would be, where private rooms would allow for personal training. Offices. Entry space. Showers. He had it all in his head, and he was laying it out for me.

“Does this place have a name? Genesis Gym is already taken, unless this is a second location?” Genesis Gym was the name of the place Cain had trained in Vegas. It was owned and operated by his father. The playful expression on his face could not be contained.

“Actually I was thinking of calling it Eden2.” His tone grew sheepish. The name was not lost on me. Eden was the nickname I gave the private space on my grandparents’ property where I took Cain last summer. An oasis garden in the middle of the vineyard, it was important to me. Calling this place a second Eden tugged at my heart.

“I suppose there really is only one,” I giggled, attempting to lighten the strange tension growing between us. His eyes darkened with a knowing gleam.

“Only one,” he said, growing serious and watching me.

I observed the space a second time, trying to envision all he saw.

“What about Abel's gym, Highlands?”

“What about it?” His tone bristled. I didn't mean any offense.

“Can the area support two gyms?”

“It will,” he stated, determination resounding in his voice.

“It's very exciting,” I said, unable to contain my pleasure for him.

“Yeah?” he said, questioning me with those dark eyes and a growing smile.

“Yeah.”

After the inspection, Cain asked me to lunch. We drove further out of the city to a small diner.

“Best chili you’ll ever have.” He grinned. Literally, his face lit up like I’d never seen before. It was the afterglow of his excitement about the gym and the positive inspection the space received. Chili didn’t sound like the type of food he’d eat, nor was it what I’d order on a hot summer day, but I was willing to humor him. His good mood was contagious and a welcome distraction from my impending issue of where I would live and how I would recover my loss. My mind drifted at one point, despite his enthusiasm.

“Don’t worry about it, Sofie,” he said, interrupting my thoughts.

I blinked at him and apologized for drifting off.

“You can just stay with me,” he said nonchalantly.

“I can’t stay with you,” I laughed slightly.

“Why not?”

“Because we’re divorced,” I blurted without thinking. I hadn’t received an official copy of the decree, but I knew these things took time, and it had only been a little over a week. He ignored my distress as our food arrived. Suddenly not hungry, I was a bundle of nerves instead, so most of my food remained untouched as Cain asked me what I thought of his new venture.

“What about the fights?” I questioned. He looked out the dirty, dusty window at the greenery that surrounded us.

“I love the fight, but I can’t keep this up forever. I have to start thinking about the future.” He remained staring out the window; a line of worry creased his forehead. He seemed older, rather wise beyond his twenty-four years. Concern was etched into his face.