Never Doubt Me: Judge Me Not #2(19)

“Hey,” she whispers as she presses her cheek to my bare back.

“Hey,” I whisper back. “Where’s Cassie?”

“Sleeping,” she mumbles.

I am freshly showered and have on nothing but boxer briefs. The clean scent of soap and shampoo fill my nose when I breathe in deeply, but it’s not from me. This scent is feminine, flowery. “Babe,” I murmur, breathing my girl in.

From the way Kay is pressed against me, I can feel she’s wearing her sleep shorts and a thin tee. Her nipples, pronounced through the almost-sheer fabric, brush along my back when she shifts her body. She pulls back slightly, just enough so she can kiss the angel inked at the center of my back. Her soft lips linger at the angel, before traveling over to one of the spread wings.

I chuckle to myself. Kay sure loves my tattoos. Now, if I could just talk her into having a small one inked right above where I love to—

“Hey,” Kay says, breaking me from my wandering thoughts.

She slips under my arm, but in a way, that keeps us wrapped up with each other, only now we’re face-to-face.

“You seem distracted, Chase. What’s up?”

I skim my hands down her back and sigh. “It just sucks that Will has to go back so soon.”

She glances up, holds my gaze. “You missed him more than you realized, didn’t you?”

“Way more,” I admit.

She bites her lower lip and I lose her for a minute. “What are you thinking?” I ask.

“I was thinking maybe you should ask Will to stay awhile longer. Another week would be nice.”

“Yeah, another week would be amazing,” I agree. “And I’d ask Will to stay on in a heartbeat. But he’ll never do it with Cassie heading back to Vegas with her mom. Not as long as the perverted stepdad is still in the picture. Will thinks his presence is the only thing keeping Cassie safe from that f*cker.”

“Actually”—Kay loosens her hold and takes a step back—“I wanted to talk to you about that whole situation.”

There’s hardly any light in the hall, but I can still detect a smile playing at her lips.

I can’t help but smile right back at her. “What are you up to, Kay?”

Now she is absolutely grinning. “What if I told you I talked Cassie into calling her mom earlier tonight? And what if I told you she spilled everything?”

“Shit, I’d say you’re f*cking amazing.”

She is amazing, beyond belief. But for so many more reasons than just this one.

However, this is certainly good news.

“So what happened?” I ask.

Kay’s lips thin to a straight line as she recollects. “Well,” she begins, “Cassie told her mom all the nasty things Paul has been saying. She detailed exactly what happened that prompted her to take off with Will.” Kay takes a breath. “And Stephanie—that’s Cassie’s mom’s first name, by the way—took action.”

“What’d she do?”

“She kicked Paul out of the house, Chase. She told him to never come back.”

“How’d she do that? I thought Cassie’s mom was in New York this week.”

“She is, but she called him from her hotel room. She used the landline phone so Cassie could remain on the cell and hear everything that was said. Bottom line, Chase, is that Paul has until tomorrow morning to get all his things out of the house, for good.”

I’m still skeptical, so I inquire, “Yeah, but how will she know he really left?”

Kay replies, “Cassie’s uncle lives near their house. He’s stopping by tomorrow morning to check on things. He’ll make sure Paul is gone. He’s changing all the locks, too.”

It sounds like everything is covered, so I breathe out a big sigh of relief. This is such great news—for Cassie and for Will, for all of us, really. I tug Kay closer to my body and shower her in featherlight kisses of appreciation.

“This is all because of you, baby,” I say, my lips traveling along her jaw.

I move up to her ear, and I guess I hit a ticklish spot, because Kay starts to giggle.

Will, who sleeps through most everything, finally stirs. “I think we’re getting too loud,” I whisper. “Let’s move this down to my bedroom.”

It doesn’t take anything more to convince Kay, as she practically drags me down the hall.

“Anxious?” I teasingly ask when we step into my bedroom.

Her response is to tug at the waistband of my boxer briefs. Chuckling, I reach behind me and close the door.

All playfulness soon subsides, as this raw need to connect with Kay becomes my driving force. I scoop her up into my arms, eliciting a surprised gasp from her.

She nuzzles my neck as I carry her over to the bed, and the whole way, I am telling her, “I love you so much, baby girl. You are my world.”

“Mmm,” she murmurs when I lay her down gently on the bed. “I love you too, Chase.”

Want and need urge me to take her swiftly, but I corral those thoughts. Tonight, I want to love this woman who saves me again and again better than that, I want more than a rushed and hurried encounter. So I take my time undressing her. And as each piece of fabric is discarded, I worship her exposed skin…with my lips, with my tongue.

Kay makes the sweetest sounds as I do things to her that I know drive her crazy. I hear sweet anticipation in her every stuttered breath, sharpness in her every gasp, especially when I taste and explore where she’s so f*cking wet for me.