Paradise Found: Cain (Paradise #2)(64)

My legs were spread open, almost harshly and he crept forward on his knees as his fingers began again their ministration on my thighs. Sprawled before him, I was undeniably exposed. There was something in those dark eyes that shifted. His concentration returning to the present. He twisted my legs in a way that I opened further, allowing for the girth of his knees between my thighs. He bent my knees to rest over his.

“It’s been a long time,” he said, eyeing my center, which I was certain he could see visually pulsing in rapid rhythm. His glare licked me and split me in half, despite the slip of underwear covering me. My center wept, the moisture darkening the cotton between my legs. Thumbs pressed dangerously close to a place that called to him.

“How long has it been?” he asked, still trained on my core, his voice roughening.

“A while,” I whispered. His eyes flicked up to mine.

“How long?” he asked, narrowing his attention on me.

“You know,” I sighed, breaking away from the dark glare threatening to pin me to the floor.

“Tell me,” he hissed.

My head spun back to face him. My eyes narrowed in response.

“You know,” I said. “It was the last time we were together.” I froze with the thought. Had he forgotten because he’d been with others after me? Had our time been so inconsequential to him that he couldn’t remember the last time we were together?

He exhaled in relief. “Thank f*ck,” he muttered.

“What about you?” I snipped, losing my compassion for a moment, trying to squeeze my knees back together, attempting to cover myself. He didn’t have a right to question me. His strength forced my legs to remain open. My knees pointed in opposite directions and my hot core faced him. His eyes drifted downward.

“It’s been as long for me,” he mumbled softly. “I told you, you’re the only one I want.”

“What?” My voice cracked in surprise.

“I haven’t been with anyone else. Not since I found you again. There’s been no one but you,” he exhaled, letting his eyes slowly draw up my middle to my partially covered breasts. He paused to release one thigh and tugged the bra forward, exposing me completely. I was more than naked to him.

“Cain,” I muttered, the conviction of the warning wasn’t strong enough.

“I’m not going to lie, Sofie. I want you. I want to make love to you in the best way,” he sighed, closing his eyes, as if it would block out what he’d just put in both our minds.

“I’ve missed you, my sweet temptation. I’ve missed your body.” His eyes opened and beamed down at my breasts. “But I’ve missed you more.” Dark orbs instantly focused on me. I’d stopped breathing. Were we really going to do this? I wasn’t certain if the words came out of my mouth, or I merely thought them, but he answered me.

“I’m not going to go there,” he said, releasing my thighs long enough to tug his shirt over his head from the back of his neck. It was a sexy as hell move, and I pulsed again. My body, ever the betrayer, was screaming for Cain’s.

“I’m not going to take advantage of you,” he said, lowering himself over me. His legs shifted so one rested between mine and the other slipped outside my hip. His warm chest braced half over my exposed breasts, but his arm slid around my waist, tugging me to twist and face him. He inhaled my neck, nuzzled my hair then secured me against him. The flat of his chest protecting the curves of my breasts; the length of his legs holding me firmly to him.

“I’m waiting for you to come back to me,” he breathed under my ear with a tender kiss. I closed my eyes at the action and gave into the will to relax. His confession of his history and his admission of his feelings made me feel, for the first time, I was getting a glimpse of the real Cain Callahan.





“You’re still his wife?”

I stared in disbelief, as the rough voice of Atom Callahan slithered over me. I was in the teacher’s assistant office in the science building. Atom’s imposing body braced over the desk and dark, beady eyes focused on me with absolute hatred. His knuckles were folded and balanced his large stature erect, while he towered over me, ready to strike. He had once been a fighter, and I assumed being light on his feet was the only reason I didn’t hear him enter the office. He must have crept soundlessly over the smooth industrial tile.

I still hadn’t answered him when he continued his verbal attack.

“You must have golden *. Real top of the line, graced by the gods above, to lure him away from his dream.”

I blinked once, willing him to disappear; yet knowing he was real in front of me. He hadn’t moved, but his muscles were flexing under his shirt and veins bulged through his thick forearms. His structure was so similar in build to Cain’s; only Cain was taller, younger, softer. Only the tiniest bit, but it was still evident the son wasn’t like the father.

The night before he’d shown me. Massaging me to relax, then holding me in his arms, he asked nothing of me. He simply denied his physical attraction in place of an emotional one. His kindness and revelations the past week had opened the dam and the flood was pouring toward me. The wave of destruction that Cain could dispense was unstoppable, if he walked away from me again, yet I found myself being drawn to him once more. His admission of his father opened up a faucet to understanding him.