Pretty in the Dark (Dark and Wild #2)

Chapter 9

9

JUNIPER

I woke to a heavy weight blanketing me.

A thick, muscled leg was thrown over mine and a powerful arm held me snug against a broad chest, while another arm pillowed my head.

I turned my face, and my lips met the warm, hard muscle of his tattooed chest. His shirtless chest that bore tattoos which I’d designed for him all those years ago.

For a brief moment, I questioned how he had gotten in here, or into the house at all, but then I remembered his messages from last night, and decided I didn’t want to know.

Wiggling, I tried to get him to loosen his grip, but all he did was shift his hips against me before pulling me closer, and I realized he was completely naked beneath a throw blanket I normally kept on the back of the couch.

The fire had long since died down, and the office was now a freezing box of ice. The only warmth in the room was the giant of a man pressed against me on the couch that we were laying on.

What was it about couches with him? Did he have a thing for sleeping on them?

I huffed and raised my head to check if the office doors were at least closed. The last thing I needed was Dean or Bess to walk by and see Cade in all his tattooed glory, snuggling up to me like a polar bear to an ice-cube. Satisfied that the doors were at least closed and hopefully locked, I rested my head on the pillow of his bicep once more.

I had no idea what time it was, but I knew I needed to get up and find my clothes before anyone else woke up.

But we were alone. And he was naked. The temptation was too much to resist, and it didn’t take much for me to wiggle the silk pajama bottoms down my hips.

Cade grunted when I tried to create enough space to remove my top and I froze, thinking I’d woken him up. But then he flipped suddenly onto his back, taking me with him, and I landed squarely on something that was hard, warm and definitely ready to say good morning.

I glared at his peacefully sleeping face and smacked his chest. But he only snorted and continued to breathe in that deep, dreamless sleep sort of way.

Rolling my eyes, I quickly slipped out of my shirt, the cold air kissing my body, before shifting again, only to be met with Mr. Happy to See Me rubbing against my very naked center. And damn it if she wasn’t equally excited to see him. He let out a grunt as I moved against him, sliding my wetness over the hard length and then back again. If he was going to leave it unattended like this, what was a girl supposed to do? Resist? I grinned and sat up, rocking against him a little harder; the friction sending electric tingles through my body.

One hazel eye peeked open in the dim light. I rocked my hips again, setting a slow and agonizing rhythm, trapping him between our flesh. He gripped my hips with a groan. “Careful, pretty girl.” His eyes burned a bright greenish-gold as he gazed up at me beneath hooded lids.

“Careful with what?” I smirked, and did it again, this time rotating my hips and adding more pressure just to hear him hiss with pleasure. “How did you get into my house?”

He tightened his fingers on my flesh, took control of my movements, and slid my slick core against his cock until it pressed against my clit, making me gasp from the pressure and friction.

“I have my ways.” He sat up, his mouth latching onto my nipple as he drew it between his teeth, the pain and pleasure sending need coursing through me. “Good thing too. Your teeth were chattering in your sleep.”

“So you decided to get naked and cuddle?”

He switched sides, his tongue swirling around the peak as he rocked his hips up into mine, our bodies flush to each other, but the delicious friction was only partly what I wanted. I arched my hips, searching for him, needing to feel him inside of me.

“I decided to delay what I originally had in mind and get you warm instead.” He held himself back, not letting me sink down onto his thick length like I wanted. I whined in frustration.

“I need to tell Bess to change the locks.”

He smirked as his hand snaked up to grip the back of my head, his fingers winding into my hair, gripping me at the base of my neck and pulling me back just slightly so I could look at him.

“There’s not a lock, door or gate that could keep me from getting to you, Juniper Wild. Trust me on that.”

“I can’t decide if that's romantic or creepy.” His thickness was sliding against my opening again, just beyond reach and driving me insane.

“Neither. I am what I am Juniper. I won’t apologize for it.” Large hands held my hips still, not letting me move and seek the pleasure my body demanded.

My eyes narrowed into slits of frustration. “What you are is a damn tease. Is this what you had planned? Denying a girl perfectly good morning sex?”

A grin split his lips, and I wanted to gasp at the beauty of his smile. No man should have a smile like that. “No, that would make me crazy. And I’m not.” He shifted his position and leaned back, lifting my hips until I was suspended just over the broad tip, and could feel it teasing my opening. “Tell me you’re mine.”

“What?” I blinked, distracted by what I wanted, being so close and yet so far away at the same time.

“Tell me, Juniper. Say it.” His smile disappeared and was replaced by a look of such intensity that I shivered. The morning light that came in from the windows cast a dusky-gray shadow across his sharp features, making the scar stand out. Gone was the teasing tone and the husky morning voice. In its place was a dominating demand. His grip on my hips was the same, but he remained poised and tight with tension beneath me.

I stared at him. The words stuck in my throat. Was I his? Yes. Yes. Yes. My heart cried out like a drumbeat in my ears. I was his. I had always been his. Words came back to me. His voice, and the sharp sting of his rejection. “You could never be mine. Go home Juniper.”

“I was always yours, Cade. Always.” His eyes lit up at my whispered admission, then he slammed me down onto his waiting cock, its thick girth filling, stretching and finally easing the ache inside of me.

My spine arched back with pleasure as my hips met his, rocking into him.

“That’s it, pretty girl. Ride me.”

I leaned forward, taking him deeper as I slid up and down his length, my breasts brushed against his face with the movement. With a guttural snarl, he latched on to one tender nipple, and the spike of pleasure his lips sent through me went straight to my core.

“Yesss…” I hissed, as the pleasure built. “Oh my god, Cade.”

He took his time, licking, sucking and teasing the nipple of my breast before turning his attention to the next. All the while letting me take control of the pace, the rhythm. I bounced and rocked.

“Cade, please…” My voice was a whimper of need. I was so close. So close to tipping over the edge. I just needed?—

“Come for me, Juniper. Come on my cock. Show me you’re mine, pretty girl.” He reached between my legs, teasing my swollen clit with his fingers.

Stars burst behind my eyes as his words tipped me over the edge. My pussy fluttered as the orgasm quaked through me. And when I finally opened my eyes, I looked down to see him, heavy-lidded and smirking. He rolled his hips, sending a scattering of pleasure through my body once more as I realized he was still hard and throbbing inside of me.

“My turn.” He growled, and then in one swift movement he pulled out, picked me up and bent me over the couch, my legs spread wide. The cold air hit my core, and I hissed as goosebumps raced across my skin.

“Look at you my pretty girl, such a pretty mess for me.”

His hands traced my backside, spreading warmth where they went, and I arched my back, exposing more of myself to him.

“A needy, fucking mess.” His fingers plunged into my opening and I hissed at the invasion, then moaned when he pulled them out and I felt a sharp slap to my pussy.

“Fuck, you smell so good. Taste so good. Like honey and lavender.” His voice rumbled against me as his tongue did a slow, teasing circle around my clit. My voice was a whine of need. “Oh, fuck…”

“I told you it was my turn, pretty girl.” His tongue dove deep into my slick core and I sucked in a deep breath to keep from screaming and waking up the entire house. He withdrew it slowly. “Beg me for it, Juniper.”

“Cade, please…” I breathed his name like a prayer, and that seemed to satisfy him. He dove back in, his tongue licking and teasing. Driving me once more to the brink of delicious pleasure. I dropped my head, my face buried in the thick cushion of the leather to hide my moans. I couldn’t take it. The pressure built and built. Then he was adding his fingers, sliding and curling them over and over against that sweet spot deep inside me. First one finger, then two. “How many more can you take, pretty girl?” I panted, shaking my head. “Cade please…I need…” He added a third finger and I exploded, my body wracked with quakes as my orgasm dripped down around his face, his fingers, his hand.

It took him less than a second to wrap my hair around one hand, yanking my head back as he slammed home inside of me. His hips pistoned in and out in a punishing rhythm. One hand gripped my breast, squeezing, dominating, as he fucked me against the back of the couch.

“My pussy. My Juniper. Mine.' He punctuated each word with a deep thrust, as his orgasm erupted and I felt him spurt hot and thick inside of me. And as he did, it tipped me over into the abyss once more, and I cried out as my release hit, leaving me breathless.

His hips pumped slowly, his breathing harsh as he cradled me against the back of the couch. “Mine.” His whispered voice was almost reverent as he pressed his forehead to my back, shuddering inside of me one last time.

I curled my hand around his biceps, covering one of the grinning skulls that glared at me with unseeing sockets, and closed my eyes. “And you’re mine.” I whispered back.

My eyes traced the line of tattoos, momentarily wondering who had done the beautiful work, until they dipped and stopped at the knuckles, where something darker than black ink marred his skin.

I gasped.

His hands were covered in blood.