Sound of Silence(34)

He twists his fingers in my hair, tipping my head as his gaze narrows in on mine, intense and needy. "I want all of your pieces. Every single one." Pulling me slowly into him, eyes open the entire time, he very deliberately brushes his lips against mine. Need sparks low in my belly, need and lust and desire, coiling like a snake ready to strike. Caden plays on my weakness. "Who is to say we can't have this, have something between us? You once told me a relationship is about timing. What if this is our time? Don't deny what I feel in your body's reaction, the swift intake of your breath when we touch, your tits tightening against my chest. I feel you, Piper. Don't deny me what's between us and the baby I want to call my own."



       
         
       
        

Little by little, boundaries slip away as the desperation in his words and actions sink in. How can I deny him this chance? The simple truth is I can't. JT looks at Caden as he does me, full of hope and wonder and love. And I look at Caden like a woman in need, hungry and impatient for what comes next. My heart opens a little more to the man who's done so much for me since he burst through my door two months ago.

"Okay," I say, pressing on his chest for some distance.

"Okay, what?" he asks, not budging.

I take a step back, but he stalks forward for every move I make and before I know it I'm crowded against the wall and staring up at the hulk of a man before me.

"Give me another second to think," I whisper as he leans closer. His thigh wedges between mine, and my lids flutter closed.

"Sunshine, I may have been going about this all wrong."

"Yes," I say, all too breathless. "Space, choices-those are things I need."

"No. No more thinking. Just do what feels right." He shakes his head, so close his nose brushes across the edge of mine. All I can feel is him. "Little by little, I'll prove this is real. When I'm done, you'll know this is about the beginning of you and me. You'll have a new truth."

"But I'm not . . ."

His lips touch mine. "Stop talking."

"Caden." His mouth is on me. Touching.

"Piper." He kisses me. Pressing. Pressing hard.

He doesn't ask, he takes, nipping at my lips until they part and his tongue teases inside. The thick ridge of his growing erection digs against my stomach as he aligns his body with mine. Thoughts retreat as I get lost in him, in his kiss, his mouth and arms as they wind around my waist and haul me up so once again I freefall into Caden's emotions. I give in. I mold to every rigid line of his body, my nails dragging down his flannel to feel his muscles ripple beneath my hands. My nipples pebble into hard knots, aching as they rub against cotton and his chest. Good God.

His fingers find my hair, tugging my head back to open my neck. He drags his teeth along my jaw and to my ear. "I like you."

I groan, a lusty, wanton sound that brings his mouth back for a hard and demanding, totally mind-blowing follow-up kiss. My head spins. I'm going 'round and 'round on a roulette wheel, and I don't know if I'll win or lose. But I place my bet. I like him too.

"Here's my truth. Are you ready?" he asks with enough force that I feel it in my toes.

"Yes. Every time, all the time."

"I want you in my house, in my bed. I want to fuck you. Every day, all day." 

"This is . . ." I swallow hard. "Sudden."

"Is it? We've been flirting around this topic for weeks. I've given you time and space. I've slept on that goddamn couch for two months when I wanted to be wrapped around you."

I nod and look over at my sleeping JT, snuggled in his car seat, and back to Caden. "Okay, I understand. But here's my truth. I like you too. But I don't do casual, not anymore. I have a baby, and he's my number-one priority. You're in his life for good, forever, but are you in mine in any other way besides a friend with benefits? I can't do a revolving door, Caden. I need more than that now. I can't fuck you unless I know we're on the same page and your thoughts are taking us through to an epilogue and not a mid-plot tragedy."

He takes my bottom lip between his teeth and coaxes out another moan. "I am," he murmurs against my mouth. "As much as I can predict my future, I see you and JT in it. I'm not writing a short story here, sunshine. I built the fucking picket fence for you. It doesn't get more domesticated than that."

Everything he offers is so tempting, but I've been swept up in a torrent before, and I can't let the hurricane of his emotions shake my foundation. Yet we already live together, and he's right-this place is amazing. It wouldn't be a stretch for us to relocate with established boundaries.