Tied Up, Tied Down(27)

Sky arched her back, tilting her pelvis, allowing him a deeper angle. “Yes. Like that.”

With her nails digging into his ass and her mouth sucking at his neck, Kade shoved hard, stayed buried balls deep and came with a long groan, sending her into another orgasm.

Still breathing with difficulty, he lifted his head and reconnected their mouths for another slow kiss. Then he whispered in her hair, “Marry me, Skylar.”

She whispered back, “No.”

“It was worth a shot.”





Chapter Nine

Somehow in the following week Eliza settled into a routine, which made Kade happy. He and Skylar settling into a routine didn’t make Kade happy. Not one iota.Wasn’t that why he’d moved in? What he’d wanted?

No. Not like this. Every night was the same. They’d put Eliza down. Skylar would sneak into the guest bedroom, strip, and wait for him. They’d make careful love, only face to face, only in the absolute darkness, only on the bed.

While they were in the moment, it was damn good. But, afterward, when Skylar immediately got up and dressed, he questioned why she bothered with a sexual relationship with him. After they both got off, she’d disappear, leaving him…lonely. At bedtime she’d curl up on her side of the bed and he on his. They’d take turns getting up with Eliza. Business as usual. Sky probably saw nothing wrong with the way things were going between them.

As the week progressed Kade became frustrated with the situation with Skylar and his incompetence in changing it. Or in his ability to be completely honest with what he needed from her. He’d had enough empty sex in his life…well, to last a lifetime. He wanted more with her…for both of them.

For years, Kade had acted in the same manner as Sky did, confusing sex with intimacy. Now that he’d learned there was a difference, he’d hoped to take their relationship to the next level, beyond parenting partners and mattress monkeys.

So what was the problem?

From what he could tell, Skylar wasn’t interested in them becoming more intimate on any level.

Had they taken advantage of Eliza’s sleeping hours by spending time talking, beyond the basic chitchat? No. Had they cuddled up on the front porch swing to gaze at the stars and moon? No. Had they plopped on the sofa to watch TV? No. Hell, he’d’ve been happy as a pig in shit cleaning the damn house and folding laundry.

They did none of the normal couple things. She’d allow him to touch her body within certain parameters, but it never ventured beyond the surface.

At some point, Kade realized his brother hit the nail on the head with his observation about Skylar’s behavior. He’d swallowed his embarrassment and asked to borrow the pop psychology book Buck had spoken of and it just confirmed his suspicions.

It was all about Sky’s need for control. When it came to their relationship, she controlled the where, the when, and how much time they spent in the bedroom. And, she controlled the amount of time they spent out of the bedroom. She controlled…everything. That didn’t surprise him so much because as a successful businesswoman everything in her life was laid out. Scheduled. He’d be damned if they’d schedule sex. If he was just another thing she’d mark off on her “to do” list.

In her tidy world was Eliza a constant reminder of the consequences of Sky throwing caution to the wind?

Maybe Kade could use that mindset to his advantage.

Eliza squeaked. She studied him somberly with those big blue eyes. His heart was a pile of mush when she looked at him like that. “You got me wrapped around your little finger, girlie, and you know it.”

She blinked.

“Like mother, like daughter, eh?”

She appeared to be listening, so he kept talking.

“I won you over, and I’m gonna win over your mama too. It may take some doin’. Think Aunt Indy is right in the no pain, no gain school of thought? No? Me neither. But your mama ain’t gonna like nothin’ I do to force her hand, so I might as well start out balls to the wall. Desperate times call for desperate measures. And between us, sweet thang, I’m desperate to make that woman mine. Body, heart, and soul. Just to make it interestin’, I do believe I’ll start with her body first.”





In the last week Kade had taken to dropping by the shop on his way to the house. Skylar found herself looking forward to hearing his gruff voice bouncing off the rafters.

Today he’d meandered in and flirted with Dee, played a quick game of tic-tac-toe with Josie and the daycare kids, talked horses with Bonita, and checked the alternator in Vickie’s truck. He tried to engage Nadia in conversation, but she went out of her way to avoid him.

Kade was unfailing polite with Skylar, never hinting that anything but a parental bond existed between them in front of her employees, which is what she’d wanted.