Chapter Eight
Ella’s dress lifted, showing off more of her lean legs as she sped to the bedroom like a bat out of hell. The trail of wind from her racing exit sent her sweet ginger perfume up into the air. Cade breathed her in, and his cock rose to attention.
The door slammed shut. His erection died.
He lowered his chin and raised his brow as he gazed down at the boys. What did you do?
“Is everything okay?” Everything couldn’t be okay with her reaction to dessert, but he would do whatever it took to convince her to stay.
Kyle took a dessert glass and spoon off the tray, seemingly unaffected by his mother’s sudden departure. “Mr. Jackson, what do you think?”
He dipped his spoon into the dessert and lifted whipped cream and sliced strawberries to his lips. He opened his mouth, placed the spoonful inside, and closed his lips. His intelligent blue gaze focused on Cade. He removed the spoon from his mouth and held it in contemplation like a university professor.
Jason folded his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair like a father sizing up his daughter’s boyfriend. “I’m very interested in finding out your thoughts on what just transpired.”
“I’m thinking she’s not okay. What happened?” Cade sat down. “I’m kind of in the dark here.” Should I barge into the bedroom and find out what is wrong, or wait to see what information the boys surrendered before barreling in and talking to her?
Kyle placed the spoon down on the table. “I’m in the dark too. What do you want from my mom? We know what happened last night.”
Cade cleared his throat. Crap. Was that why Ella ran out of the room? How would they know about last night when they didn’t know anything earlier? Did they get a text? Did Ella say something? Maddie and Josie wouldn’t say anything. Maybe Maddie sent the boys to pick Ella up this morning because of the phone call last night? What if Ella told Josie he sucked in bed and had Josie text the boys a few minutes ago to bring her home after lunch? No. Josie would have called and bitched him out first.
“Last night wasn’t what either of us planned. Not that we planned anything.”
“What are your intentions toward my mom?” Jason asked.
Cade’s heart raced a mile a minute under their scrutiny. He needed to calm down. They were Ella’s boys, not her father. Why did he feel like a guilty child? They didn’t know about the sex or Jason would be throwing punches, not talking to him about his intentions. I’m the adult in the room, not them. The pressure of their approval was killing him.
Her boys were formidable, but so was he. He had a lot more experience in hostile situations in personal and business matters. He stared Jason straight in the eye.
“I really like your mom. I’d like permission from you and your brother to date her. I’d like to take her out alone. I’d like to hang out with all of you, get to know you better, and you get to know me.”
He thought he saw a glimmer of acceptance in Jason’s eyes, so he turned his attention to Kyle. “Your mom is smart and funny. She’s straightforward and honest. She’s an incredible massage therapist and business woman. I respect her immensely. She’s a great listener which comes in handy because I like to talk.”
Jason laughed. “Mom is a good listener, but Mom talks too. Actually, she talks a lot.”
Kyle smirked as if he kept a secret from him. “She discusses things.”
“She discusses everything.” Jason rolled his eyes. “Do you know what it’s like to have your mother talk with you about guy things she shouldn’t know about, let alone explain?”
“Are you talking about the birds and the bees?” Cade asked. That would be awkward for a teen.
“That is exactly what I’m talking about. If it’s embarrassing, she wants to talk about it at length,” Kyle said. “If she thinks it’s going to impact our lives, especially our childhood, we’re in for an hour-long discussion.”
“Doesn’t she get embarrassed?” The person they described didn’t sound quite like his shy Ella. But he could see her pushing through difficult conversations because it was the right thing to do.
“Dude, it so doesn’t matter whether she is embarrassed or not.” Jason shook his head. “Mom is not like other moms.”
Cade waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t.
“What do you say about giving me permission to date your mom?” He glanced from one to the other.
“Depends on what you’re going to do now,” Kyle said. “Go with your gut or your head?” He crossed his arms over his chest, mirroring Jason.
The two cornered him like seasoned businessmen. Kyle hid his intelligence well, but no teen spoke to him like Kyle had. No normal teen would have asked him what drove his decisions in a simple question. “Gut and head, Kyle. Never make a decision without both agreeing.” He pushed away from the table and went after Ella.
“Interesting,” Kyle mumbled. He didn’t seem too pleased with Cade’s answer by the change in the tone of his voice.
“You’ve got our permission,” Jason added.
The boys shifted in their acceptance of him. Now he had to win over Kyle, not Jason.
Cade knocked on the door. “Ella?”
“Yes?”
He opened the door and walked into the bedroom.
Her luggage lay on the flawlessly made bed. She zipped up her suitcase and faced him.
He closed the door behind him and strode right to her. “Ella, please don’t leave.”
She turned away as he wrapped his arms around her.
“Please stay,” he whispered.
“Cade, I—”
He turned her around and kissed her sweet lips. She tasted too good, too delicious, too perfect.
She hesitated.
He parted her lips and delved into her mouth. He needed her. He needed to make her see what they could have together.
She slipped her hands under his tee. Her hot touch dipped down under the waistband of his loose-fitting jeans and made his sudden erection throb to be let out.
Her tongue dipped into his mouth and slowly stroked his.
She pushed away from his chest and left his lips. “This is complicated. Cade, I can’t do—”
“—Stay,” he whispered. He cradled her head and brushed his lips against hers. “Please stay with me.”
“This is too complicated. You’ve just met my boys, and it’s already a disaster.”
He drew her closer and pressed his body against hers. “I like your boys. They’re protective as they should be. They love you. You love them. That isn’t complicated.”
She curled her hands around his neck. “But this thing between us—”
“—Doesn’t have to be complicated.” He kissed her. “Give me a chance. Stay. I’ll drive you home later, if you really want to go.”
He dropped his left hand to the small of her back. Her boys worried about her for a good reason. She took care of everyone else before herself.
“If you’d rather not stay here, we can go to my house in Memphis.” Her warm breath on his lips sparked more than desire. It reached into the center of his soul, making him work harder to win her. Let me take care of you the way I want to.
“I should probably go home with my boys.”
He held her tighter as she relaxed into him. “Stay. When your boys leave, we’ll be back in bed. I’m thirty seconds from ripping off your—”
“Mom?” Kyle interrupted.
Cade glanced over his shoulder. Shit.
Kyle and Jason stood at the open bedroom door staring at them like two deer caught in the headlights.
“Get your hands off my mom, or I’m gonna toast your balls on a stick over a barbecue pit.” Jason lunged toward him. “I’m gonna…”
Kyle pulled Jason away from the threshold.
“We’ll call you later tonight,” Kyle shouted over Jason’s growing epithets. Slapping and grappling sounds echoed from the living room into the bedroom. “Have a nice afternoon,” Kyle said. “We do not need to talk about this. Ever. We didn’t see anything. You didn’t see anything. Thanks for lunch, Mr. Jackson. We’ll talk to you later.”
The front door slammed, leaving the cabin silent.
The two obstacles in his way were gone. She hadn’t moved from his arms. Unless he read her wrong and he was a total idiot, she wanted him.
Ella sighed. “I do not want to deal with that when I get home.”
“Then don’t go home.” He rubbed his bulge against her belly. “Tell me you want to stay with me.”
She closed her eyes. “I want to, but—”
He crushed his lips to hers, shutting off any excuses.
Rip. Rip.
Her panties dropped to the carpet.
The suitcase landed on the floor with a loud thud.
Like a tornado, he lifted her, strode forward, and dropped down on the bed with her underneath him. “This weekend is not over. We’re at the beginning.”
She pushed down his jeans and boxers. Her fingers traveled over the head of his cock and caressed the slit. Precum slipped out the top.
He rolled his hips and slid his cock along the length of her hands. I can’t come, yet. I’ve got to make you orgasm so fucking hard you’ll want to move in with me.
Then we’ll get married.
Her hands closed around his shaft. “I want you inside me,” she whispered.
Hot damn. Yes.
“As much as I want to come inside you—and I will—I want something else too.” He rocked his hips back and her hands slipped from his cock. He had to show her he wanted all of her. He crawled backward to the foot of the bed and dipped his head between her legs. “I’ve been dreaming about licking your luscious juices. In my fantasy, I look into your blue eyes as I dip my tongue into your pussy and lap up all your cream. You taste so sweet in my dreams. Do you want me to lick you?”
A rush of juices slid from her sex.
Yeah, you want me. But I need you to want more than my body. I’ve got to keep working on those rules to convince you to marry me. He had to ask her more questions. Find out more about her. Sex questions counted, didn’t they?
“Tell me you want me to lick you.” Okay, maybe not questions. Sexual demands counted as part of the rules. She likes sex but what about oral sex? Fuck. What if she hated it? He couldn’t live without licking her pussy.
Her breathing turned into panting.
“Open your legs wider if you want me to lick you,” he whispered. “I won’t quit until you come on my tongue.”
“Oh God.” She widened her legs and lifted her hands over her head.
“I want to hear your voice,” he whispered. “I like encouragement.” He loved hearing her moans with his every touch. If she didn’t want to talk, he was good with that too.
She shuddered. “I…uh…I.”
He gently rolled her onto her belly. “Oh, my shy, little Ella is a secret screamer. I know you are.” He lifted her hips. She drew in her knees and arched her back. Her pussy glistened with juices. He kissed the center and licked his lips. “You taste like sweet honeysuckle.”
Her legs trembled as she inched her knees wider and lifted her ass a little higher.
“Has anyone ever feasted on you?” Her reactions weren’t like a woman that had this done before, but she’d been married for a long time. Surely, they had a lot of oral sex. With a woman like Ella, he couldn’t fathom her lover not taking advantage of every opportunity to explore her body.
She shook her head.
“No?” She had three kids. Maybe her husband tried oral with her but she didn’t like it? Maybe her husband didn’t? Cade loved going down on a woman. He couldn’t give that up for the rest of his life. He had to master her body and make her come fast and hard, so she’d want him to do it often.
She shook her head. She wiggled her ass and showed off her pretty pussy. Her breasts rubbed against the sheets.
You have no idea how sexy you are. God, I love you. He dipped his head down and breathed in the honey scent.
“So sweet.” He kissed her folds. “So wet.” He dug his fingers into her hips and lifted them higher, holding her in position. He had to make this so good she’d beg for him to do it again. “So beautiful.” He lapped in small sections from her clit to her perineum.
She buried her head partly under the pillow and muffled her moans.
“Oh hell.” He flipped her over and grabbed her knees. “I need to watch you.” He lifted her legs over his shoulders and opened her delicate folds with his fingers. “You’re so damn gorgeous.” He licked the length of her pussy. “Tell me you want this.” He swirled his tongue around her clit.
She moaned.
He grazed his teeth gently over her sensitive clit.
She jerked her hips up.
Yes, so sensitive. “Tell me you want this, or I’ll stop, and I don’t want to stop.”
“I want it,” she shouted. “Cade, I want it.”
He covered her swollen clit with his lips and sucked.
“Oh. My. God.” She ground her pussy into his face. “It feels so good. I’m gonna come.”
He released her clit and thrust his tongue into her center. Honey sweet. Delicious.
Already in love with her, he was in the danger zone of revealing his feelings. He slid the tips of his teeth across her clit. He dipped his tongue in and out. I love you. “Come for me.”
She wrapped her legs around his head and bucked her hips.
The gratifying taste of orgasmic cream gushed onto his tongue. He couldn’t slow down. He needed to make her his in body, mind, and soul.
He lapped up her blissful juices. “Was that good?” He kissed a trail from her center to her clit, over her mound and up her belly.
“I…” She paused. Her blue eyes held the beautiful gaze of satisfaction.
“Ella, would you consider…” He kissed between her breasts. He should hold back from asking, but he’d slow down after he came inside her. He would take his father’s advice for a long and lasting relationship, but right then, he needed her.
“What?” she whispered.
He gazed into her blue eyes. He should have watched her when he feasted on her. But he got lost in her taste, her pleasure. He wouldn’t get lost in her this time. He would bask in every—.
“Would I consider what?” Her voice sounded steady and strong.
“Staying over at my place?” Sleeping in my bed every night for the rest of your life. He inched his cock into her wet sex.
The heavenly sound of pleasure left her lips. She nodded.
“Maybe move in with me once the boys graduate?” I love you. He slowly pumped more of his cock inside her.
“I don’t know,” she whispered.
He covered her breast with his mouth and sucked. Her eyelids lowered, but she held his gaze. He rocked his hips, gliding his cock in and out of her warm, slick sex. I’ve been waiting for this feeling for my entire life. You’re my home, Ella.
He raised his head. “Think about it.” He slid his hand under her and cradled her head. “It’s up to you.” I’m going to do everything in my power to make it happen.
She tilted her head up, her gaze weighted with lust. “Mmm.” She reached up and softly guided his face closer to her red lips. She closed her eyes.
“I want you to stay over at my place.” Move in and marry me.
He thrust and retreated faster and faster. Her pussy squeezed him tighter and tighter. I want you exclusively. Tell me you want me too. He kissed her luscious lips.
“I…” He stopped from saying the words that wanted to come out so easily for the first time in his life. He wanted her to know the softer side of him. How he ached to be near her all the time. How he worried about her working late at night without any security. How he wanted to care for and protect her. How much he loved her.
Her channel clamped down on his cock. Yes. Hug my cock and never let me go.
“Cade,” she cried out.
His heart soared hearing her call his name. He erupted like a volcano inside her. “Mine.”
“Mmm.” She sighed.
“My Ella,” he whispered, coming down off the orgasmic high. He intended to have more than a weekend with her. He would spend the rest of his life making love to her in every conceivable way. If he hadn’t gotten that damn vasectomy from that crackpot doctor years ago, he would have had babies with her. He loved kids, but had given up the dream of having them. For the first time in his life, he regretted having it done.
He’d settle for being a stepdad to her kids. He could do that. Their kids wouldn’t carry his genes, but he'd have them and Ella for the rest of his life.