Eternal (24 page)

Cayden interrupted me by saying, “The studio
received it. They gave it to Zander. He showed it to me.”

“What did it say?”

“It said the same thing Dane told you tonight.
It said he loved you, and you were a whore for being with us.” Cayden had a
hard time, struggling to tell me this.

I asked, “Us?”

“It mentioned
Chandler
…and me.”

I thought about it. This is why Cayden has been
so fierce about me, about my safety, about Brad and Logan.

“Cayden, if Dane wrote that letter he would have
associated you with me. You look like
Austin
.
He would automatically guess I was with you. That’s why he said you are a
demon. He thinks you are
Austin
or some twisted evil version of him.”
What
if Dane would try to harm Cayden?
“Cayden, if Dane has gone over the
edge he may try to hurt you.” I started to panic then cry.

“Winter, please….” Cayden brushed his fingers
over my cheek.

I sobbed into Cayden’s chest. “Cayden, I cannot
put you in danger.”

“You are not putting me in danger, Winter. We
will handle this. He has been arrested. You are safe, and no one is going to
hurt me,” Cayden assured before he kissed the top of my head. “Please, do not
cry. It kills me when you cry.”

“Winter, is Dane related to Jennifer Segal?”
Chandler
asked.

I looked at
Chandler
. “Yes.”

Cayden looked confused. “What?” he asked. “Who
is Jennifer Segal?”

“She went to the same high school I went to. She
moved to
California
when I was a sophomore. She would have been a junior.”
Chandler
explained to Cayden, but he never mentioned
Austin
to Cayden.

“So you think he may have been staying here with
his sister?” Cayden asked.

“Possibly, but if Jayden is correct I think he
knew Winter would be here. Visiting his sister may have been his cover.”
Chandler
’s face looked
fierce.

“What are you not saying?” Cayden asked.

“I think he is hell bent on taking Winter,
Cayden.” Cayden tensed.
Chandler
got up and went to the phone. “Zander,” he said. “Winter knows the man from the
premiere. You need to meet with us in the morning….”

I woke early the next morning and found a
handwritten note on Cayden’s pillow….

Baby, I love you. I’m down stairs working out.

Cayden

I figured this would be his new way of
communicating with me when he left. I was sure Cayden thought some of my
strange behavior last night was due to waking after making love and he not
being there with me. And while I would rather wake to find him in bed, I didn’t
mind finding the note. It was sweet, thoughtful, not to mention a whole lot of
sexy.

I unbraided the tangled mess that was my hair.
It took me a while to remove all the emerald clips. Once they were out, I
placed them into the box from where they originally came. I pulled off the
emerald earrings and bracelet, placing them back into their box as well.
I reminded myself to call Melissa and tell
her to come get the borrowed jewelry.
I jumped into the shower. With a
contented sigh, I rolled my neck across my shoulders, luxuriating in the heat
of the water as it beat down upon my body. I noticed my breasts felt a little
tender but was immediately reminded why when my hands crossed over my soon to
be belly. I had no idea what I was going to do. After everything that was
happening, it wasn’t the best time to say, “Surprise, I’m pregnant!” I worried
about how to best deal with this news, coming up with no real plan of attack
regarding the baby, however I had to tell Cayden someway, and soon.

Tonight.
 
I’ll tell Cayden about the baby tonight.

After my shower, I stood in the room-sized
closet, staring off into space before realizing I needed to get dressed. I
thought about not wearing a bra, so I chose to wear one of Cayden’s loose
T-shirts with an old pair of cotton shorts, which I usually wore to bed. This
would hopefully address two issues. First, the need to be pain free and
unrestricted by my bra and second, maybe if I dressed casual Cayden wouldn’t
notice how anxiety ridden I was.

I had all my original worries about Cayden, our
relationship, his career, and new worries such as Dane, Cayden’s safety, and the
pregnancy. I would try hard not to think about things. If I could get through
the day without any further anxiety was about all I could ask for, for the
moment.

I went downstairs and made a detour so I could
peek inside the exercise room. Cayden was on a rowing machine. He was wearing
some baggy cargo looking shorts and no shirt. I watched the muscles on his
back, arms, and stomach. They seemed to relax then flex with the forward and
backward movement of the rowing. Immediately I felt flush, thinking I wanted to
feel his body, his muscles, flex over the surface of my skin. I needed his
strong hands on my body. I longed for the sensation of him on my lips, in my
mouth....

What’s wrong
with me?
Am I
depraved?
I would think Cayden could do such simple things such as talk
on the phone or workout without me wanting to sexually attack him. Cayden
stopped what he was doing. He turned to look at me.

“Hey…beautiful.” His silky voice smooth.

“Hi,” I said, looking at him with evident lust I
was sure.

“What are you doing?”

I bit at my bottom lip. “Nothing, just looking.”

His face changed. I watched the corners of his
mouth turn up into his crooked guilty smile. “You have that look. I have seen
it a couple of times before.”

I was really beginning to worry myself. I had
visions of doing very naughty things to him.

“You have? When have you seen this look you are
talking about?”

Cayden laughed his low even laugh. “Well, once
when you ripped the buttons off my shirt and I believe I was on the phone when
my pants ended up around my ankles the other time.”

I smiled. “Oh,” I said. I thought about that for
a minute. It was a good thought or a bad thought however you wanted to look at
it.

“Baby, do you want to work out with me?”

“Um…I-I,” I stuttered, unsure if he was asking
me if I wanted to work out or “Workout.”

“Baby?” he asked. He must have thought I was
taking too long to answer him.

“Actually, I was on my way to the kitchen. I
thought I would make us some breakfast. I got a little sidetracked seeing you
in here,” I admitted.

Cayden smiled quite pleased with himself in this
moment. “Are you sure you are okay? You look a little flush, and you’re
stuttering.”

“I’m fine.” I paused then twisted my hair up in
a knot on the back of my neck. “Can I tell you something?”

“Sure, baby, you can tell me anything you want.”

           
“Can I say I am a lucky woman?”

He laughed. “I guess you can say it, you just
did.”

“I mean, you are so very…hot!” I couldn’t
believe I said that. I was trying hard to be good.

“Thanks.” Cayden chuckled. “You are pretty
scorching yourself.”

“Can I do one thing? Then I will go, start
breakfast, and let you finish your workout. I didn’t mean to bother you.”

“You can do anything you want, and you are not
bothering me.”

I put one foot over the threshold and walked
forward to where Cayden was sitting. I reached out toward him. In a move that I
think surprised him, I slicked my hand over the surface of his forearm, his
bicep, his shoulder then ran both hands over the muscular canvas of his back.
Oh, my God.
I closed my eyes for a
moment, taking in the glorious oxygen and the sweet fragrance of his sweat
glistening skin into my lungs. Satisfaction tingled on my own skin from
touching him. I saved Cayden’s spectacular washboard stomach for last.

While I do not smoke, I would imagine the
sensation I experienced to be something close to that of a smoker. Just as the
smoker craves their next hit of nicotine, I required a hit of Cayden. I
anticipated the feeling of satisfaction the smoker must feel as they raise
their desire to their lips, inhale their wish into their lungs, and hold on to
that wish before they experience exquisite release. I envisioned their
satisfaction of blowing the glorious burn from their lungs as the relaxation
begins and their craving is completed, extinguishing their need as they
extinguish their cigarette. The completion of my hit left a tingle, burning, a
lightheaded feeling then the relaxing sensation of release with complete
satisfaction after touching him.

“Thanks,” I said and bit my bottom lip.

“Um…. No, thank you,” he replied quite
appreciative yet stunned, blinking. “But….” I placed my fingertip to his lips,
stopping him.

I amended my earlier statement. “Okay, maybe two
things before I go.” I kissed him long and hard.

It was difficult, nonetheless I made my way into
Cayden’s oversized kitchen, flushed but set on the idea of working diligently.
I needed to be good. While it is true, I have found Cayden sexually attractive
from the very minute I laid eyes upon him, it did seem like lately all I thought
about was making love with Cayden. Yes, this was a pleasurable idea, though it
was unrealistic. It would be impossible to be with Cayden sexually twenty-four/seven.
My idea of cooking breakfast was a good one. It would keep my mind, my hands
and my mouth busy for the moment. I sliced off a piece of cheddar cheese and
ate it. I also suspected Zander would be over this morning to discuss
yesterday’s events, so more than likely my love would be doing other things
today. The notion of Cayden having a whole day to spend with me was nice
however probably silly.

I was finishing up with the omelets when Cayden
walked up behind me, brushed my hair over my shoulder, and placed his warm lips
to the side of my neck and nibbled. “Hi,” I said as I slid the last omelet out
of the pan and onto a plate. Cayden’s hands slipped underneath my shirt and
gently clasp his two palms over each of my breasts.

“Nice…” he whispered in my ear. His voice
sounding satisfied with his conquest. I flinched slightly at his touch. “What’s
wrong?”

“A little tender,” I admitted.

Cayden moved his hands. “I’m sorry. I don’t want
to hurt you.”

He wasn’t hurting me. It was actually kind of
nice, both pain and pleasure.

“Cayden, you didn’t hurt me,” I assured.

“Why are you sore?”

I shrugged, placing the spatula in the sink.
“It’s a woman thing. Something we have to deal with from time to time, don’t
worry.”

Cayden turned me around so I was facing him. The
look on his face was serious. “Baby, are you sure you are okay?”

I smiled and traced my fingertip over his
perfect lips.

“I am fine, Cayden. I promise.”

“So when you say it is a ‘woman thing,’ being
sore,” he clarified, “is it because it’s that time of the month?”

I giggled. “Cayden, do you really want to
discuss my periods?”

Cayden smiled his crooked smile. “Baby, I have
seen, tasted, and touched every square inch of this beautiful body.” He ran his
warm hands down my arms. “Talking about your periods does not bother me.”

I turned to move the pan from the burner on the
stove. Desperately trying to avoid this subject because I wasn’t having
periods. I figured Cayden was scrutinizing me. He brushed the hair from the
side of my face, placed his hands upon my shoulders, and flipped me around to
face him again.

“Winter, what did the doctor tell you?” Cayden
asked.

Tell him,
Winter.

Chandler
’s husky voice broke in. “You have got to be kidding me! What is it
about the kitchen?” He chuckled

“Winter?” Cayden asked.

“He said I am fine.” I brushed my fingers over
the scowl on Cayden’s forehead and continued to assure him. “Don’t worry,
Cayden. I really am okay.” I glared around Cayden’s arm. “Good morning,
Chandler
.”

“It smells good in here,”
Chandler
commented, reminding me of the smell
of cooking eggs.

“Have an omelet,” I offered.

“You made me an omelet?”

“Yep,” I said, picking up the plate and handing
it to him.

“Thanks, snowflake,”
Chandler
said, smiling.

“You are welcome,” I returned as I picked up
another plate and handed it to Cayden.

“Where’s your omelet?” Cayden asked.

“I don’t feel like eggs.” I grabbed a bowl and
poured some Captain Crunch into it.