Page 144 of Cross Checked
My legs wrapped around his waist automatically while he carried me toward the house like it was the most natural thing in the world. Music pounded louder the second the front door opened, heat and noise swallowing us immediately as bodies packed the downstairs. Somebody wolf-whistled from the kitchen while Briggs nearly dropped his drink across the island.
“There he goes!” Briggs yelled. “Our fearless captain finally snapped.”
“Go away,” Cade said calmly without taking his eyes off me.
I buried my face against his shoulder laughing while he carried me straight through the middle of the party. The entire room blurred around us beneath neon lights and bass-heavy music, but Cade’s attention stayed completely locked on me like the rest of the house didn’t exist.
That should’ve concerned me more than it did.
“You’re doing it again,” I whispered against his mouth while he took the stairs two at a time.
“You keep looking back, Pip.”
That stupid line again, mine and his. I was so fucked, because we had a special cue now, and nothing about that felt like benefits-only behavior.
I kissed him harder just to punish him for being the best friend I never knew I was missing and needed.
Cade laughed against my lips before gripping my thighs tighter. “Careful, Pip.”
“Or what?”
His eyes dragged slowly over my mouth before settling back on mine. “I fuck you right here on these stairs and skip all the pussy eating you had your heart set on.”
My stomach flipped violently.
“Oh wow.” I pressed a hand dramatically to my chest. “That was wildly inappropriate.”
“You liked it.”
“I’m filing several complaints with HR.”
“You think Hockey House has HR?”
“I doubt Hockey House has a mop, but I am nothing if not resourceful.”
Cade barked out a laugh just as he shoved open his bedroom door, and holy fucking shit, the second we were alone, the energy shifted instantly.
The noise downstairs dulled beneath the walls. The door slammed shut behind us.
And Cade kissed me like he’d been holding himself back all night.
The world tilted as he dropped me onto his bed, the mattress bouncing under me. I scrambled back against the pillows, laughter still bubbling in my throat from whatever stupid thing I’d just said, but he didn’t let me get far.
He was on me before I could take a full breath, crawling up the length of the bed with a focused, predatory grace that stole the air from my lungs. He didn’t settle beside me. He laid his big body directly over mine, his weight pinning me to the mattress in the best possible way. His hips slotted between my thighs, and I felt it immediately—the hard, insistent ridge of his erection pressing against me through our clothes. A jolt of pure, liquid heat shot straight to my core.
Before I could muster a quip, his mouth was on mine. It was a claiming kiss, deep and consuming, all tongue and teeth and barely leashed hunger. His hand came up, his thumb brushing my cheek before his fingers gently framed my jaw, holding me still for him.
Taking.
The possessiveness of it, the sheer physical control, made me melt underneath him.
He broke the kiss just enough to speak, his lips brushing mine. “You talk so much shit, Pip,” he murmured, the words a warm, dirty caress against my mouth. His hips shifted, grinding that hard length against me with deliberate, slow pressure. “But your body never lies. You’re fucking soaked for me right now, aren’t you?”
A hot flush spread across my skin. “That’s a biological glitch. Don’t flatter yourself.”
“That hurt, Pip.” He kissed me again, a quick, hard smack of lips. “You know you crave me as much as I crave you.” He rocked against me again, the friction through the layers of denim and cotton making my eyes flutter shut. “This is all your fault. This constant fucking ache. It’s for you.”
His hand slid from my jaw, down my throat, over the straps of my halter top, coming to rest possessively on my rib cage, his thumb stroking just beneath the curve of my breast. He was everywhere, surrounding me, and the awareness of it—of his size, his strength, his total focus—was dizzying.
