Cassie woke up early. The light was not yet peeking over the horizon. She rolled over and moaned. God, what a nasty piece of work I was last night. The way she had retaliated towards Kayden was childish and uncalled-for. It is his house and I should have more respect. No way does he bring girls here and flaunt them in my face. She knew she could be so damned hot-headed sometimes.
Feeling bad that they were fighting, she sneaked into his room. It wasn’t the first time she’d gone to him to apologise and she felt a little nervous in case he might reject her. After all, she had upset him. Sliding under the covers, she hugged him remorsefully.
‘Sorry,’ she whispered and was so glad he pulled her closer and hugged her back.
‘I’ve been waiting for you, little one. Thanks for forgiving me,’ he whispered.
Contented to have their friendship again, they fell straight back to sleep.
When Cassie woke, still embraced in Kayden’s warm arms, the sun was pouring through the window. He must have felt her wiggle, preparing to get up and readjusted his hold. It felt so warm and natural that she settled back into his arms with a sigh.
‘Don’t go,’ he said in a husky voice.
His lips found hers. The kiss was so soft and tender that Cassie thought she was going to pass out from the sweetness of his mouth. Her breath quickened and her body was strangely wrapping around his. His lips moved from hers and smiled, his eyes sparking like chips of bottle-green glass, the brown in them intensifying the colour. She knew she was under his spell and didn’t ever want him to stop.
‘Was that a better first kiss?’ he smiled and his eyes still danced as he watched her.
God, does he want me to answer that? She had never felt anything so divine.
Kayden gazed into her eyes and she followed them as they settled back on her lips. She melted under another of his kisses and this time the feeling gave her tingles all the way down to her toes and her mind liquefied, the feeling, sensational. Her body was having extraordinary sensual desires as his tongue moved deeper inside her. She heard him groan as he hardened against her, matching her slow movements. The urge to have him naked and feel his raw passion made her feel light-headed. Her lips missed his as soon as he pulled back and rolled away from her.
‘Come with me, princess. I have to check the horses before the morning gets away from me.’ His voice was deep and shaking. Cassie wanted to drag him back to her lips. Grinning and pulling her up, they walked back to her room. His thigh pressed against her, the strong taut muscle and the feeling of his masculinity made her insides tremble.
‘Get changed and I’ll meet you at the car.’ He looked down at her with a tormented expression. ‘Cassie … oh shit,’ he said, kissing her again. When their lips parted he lifted his head up and she saw him close his eyes as if he was struggling too.
She sighed. ‘The horses—they need you, don’t they? I can feel you almost communicating with them.’
He smiled. ‘How do you know that?’
‘Womanly intuition. I’m right, aren’t I?’
He nodded. ‘Well, if you know I’m being dragged from you, you also know not to keep me waiting. Move it, princess!’ He slapped her gently on the behind and chuckled as he shut the door.
He left Cassie feeling dazed and unable to function. As her heart slowed, she began to register what she had to do and quickly dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. She went to the bathroom and splashed water on her face, which still tingled from the sensation of his kisses before racing out to join him.
The horses were grazing when they arrived except one that moved with a slight limp towards them when they pulled up. Kayden grabbed his bag out of the car and worked on its hoof. Unable to fix it completely they brought the mare back to the stable which was nearly full of horses he’d treated lately. This won’t be their last run, she thought as he readied a couple of stallions to go back into the paddock.
That morning was the first time she had ever made breakfast. Cassie setup a makeshift table on a bale of hay and told Kayden not to expect this kind of service every day or she would have to start burning it and make him come and help again.
He rolled up the morning paper and tapped her with it, encouraging Cassie to retaliate and attack him and sending them both rolling in the hay together. Cassie loved the way his eyes glazed over just before he kissed her again. The sensation of his hold and those yummy lips didn’t last. At that exact moment, the horse Kayden had been attending kicked up a fuss about its sore hoof. Kayden pulled them both up out of the hay, drinking down his coffee and focusing his efforts back on the mare.
Cassie started sleeping in Kayden’s bed but he never took their relationship any further. After a couple of weeks she realised he didn’t want her the way she wanted him so she didn’t go in to him anymore.