Kade: Santanas Cuervo MC (23 page)

She whimpered once then twisted his face so he had to look at her. “Do you mean that? Do you
really
mean that, that you want the job to continue so you can still be near me?”

“No. I want you to be safe.”

“Okay, but after the job, once I’m safe, would you want me to stay with you?”

“Yes. I’d like that very much.”

She whimpered again. “What if I said I’d like to stay?”

He licked his lips. “Are you saying that…what are you saying?”

She pulled his lips to hers and kissed him quickly. “I’m saying I think I’m falling for you, too. I’ve been fighting it, trying to convince myself it wasn’t real, that what I was feeling was gratitude and, and I don’t know what, but I think maybe it is real.”

He looked into her eyes and they broke into smiles at the same time. He pulled her to him, kissing her passionately as he held her face in his hands. “I won’t stop until I find who’s responsible for this. I swear!”

“I know. I trust you. I trust you more than anyone else I know.”

He pulled her to him again and kissed her, his heart thudding in his chest. He felt alive in a way he never had, as if he were ten feet tall and bulletproof. He’d help Hayden turn Kelly Oil upside down to find the culprit, and if it were Hayden himself, he’d learn the error of his ways.

The intensity of his kiss stole her breath as his lips left hers and traveled under her jaw to her ear, then down to her neck. His lips and tongue were electrifying, lighting her up with passion. She couldn’t believe he loved her; the most desirable man she’d ever met was falling in
love
with
her
. She kissed his neck, wanting to kiss him and never stop, to feel his touch until the end of time. She knew she was in a euphoric rush, the escape from danger and his profession of his love a one-two combination that exhilarated her beyond anything she’d experienced before, but she didn’t care.

He kissed down the valley of her breasts, tasting the salt of her sweat as her head tipped back, holding his lips to her flesh as she gasped and moaned. He couldn’t believe a PhD geologist wanted him, a regular guy, but he’d earn her love every day, keeping her safe, cherishing her as no other man would.

She fell over as he leaned in, dragging him down with her, his lips firing her desires, making her heart pound and her blood rush. She tugged at his pants, reaching inside to take his engorged member into her hand. He tore at her shirt, her heat rising as the day cooled, the dry Texas dust coating the inside of her mouth, but none of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was them.

They stripped each other, their mouths never long or far removed from their lover’s lips or flesh. He fell to his back, the baked ground hot on his naked skin, but his blood was running hotter still. She fell across him, taking his cock into her mouth as he pulled her hips over his head, drawing her down tight as his lips and tongue teased her. She moaned, the sound sweeter than any music, as he tried to destroy her with pleasure.

She couldn’t breathe, his lips and tongue caressing her and sending her desire soring to heights she’d never experienced. She wanted cry her joy to the world, not for what he was doing to her, but for who he was. He was hers, and she’d never give him reason to doubt her love for him.

She was destroying him with pleasure, the touch of her lips and tongue more searing than the desert heat. As he licked and probed with his tongue, pinched and pulled with his lips, he slid a finger into her wetness to tickle her with hard and fast strokes, her gasps and moans at his rapid insertions acted like a whip crack to his own desire, driving it higher.

She pulled his cock from her mouth as her climax began to surround her and rob her of control. She clawed at the sandy soil as she began to twist in pleasure, her orgasm pressing in as it rose higher and higher, sapping her will and stealing her breath. She pushed up, her back arching, her mouth opening in a silent scream as her face twisted into a mask of intense pleasure and erotic pain.

She went stiff and silent, her legs quivering as he continued to lick and kiss, pausing his fast finger fucking long enough to slide another finger into her to join its mate before he pistoned his two fingers into her hard and fast.

Her breath exploded from her as she sagged, breathing hard as he slowed his driving fingers and flicking tongue. After a moment her strength began to return and she pulled away from him, turned, and fell across him, kissing him like she’d never kissed a man before. He was sweating from the heat and his exertions, his skin glowing in the fading light to make him more desirable still. She swung a leg over him and settled, reaching between them to steer his hardness into her.

They way her face crinkled as he slid into her made his heart surge.
He
was giving her pleasure,
he
was the one she wanted,
he
was the one she was falling in love with. He took her face gently in his hands, caressing her cheeks with his thumbs as they became still, two becoming one.

“I love you,” he whispered.

She smiled, a soft smile, the smile of a friend, lover, and companion, a smile that said a million words and the three he wanted to hear. She loved how he looked at her, his face softening, his eyes bright as he said the three words that warmed her in ways the desert couldn’t. “I love you,” she murmured, then lowered her lips to his.

He held her in the kiss as he slowly pumped his hips. He never wanted this night to end, the fading light made her body glow as if with an internal light. They moved together, whispering of their newly discovered love, their passions feeding their love while their love fed their passions. They were bathed in sweat, as they slowly made love, his arms holding her in a tight embrace he never wanted to release.

She heard his grunt and felt the shudder pass though him. “Harder,” she breathed into his lips.

“I’ll come,” he murmured.

“I want you to come. I want you to come with me.”

“Are you going to come again?”

“Yes,” she sighed. “Harder. Make me come again.”

He began driving into her faster, his climax swelling with each stroke.

“Faster, please, faster” she panted as her orgasm closed in around her again.

He cinched her down tight, taking her lips as he began to drive into her hard and fast. The taste of her sweat, the feel of their bodies sliding against each other, the heat of the night, the stars glowing in a billion tiny sparks, the woman he was falling desperately, madly, deeply in love with begging him to please her all combined into one perfect moment.

He pulled her crushingly tight as he barked his pleasure into the still Texas night, pounding into her fast and hard. His cry of completion, his hard, pounding strokes wound her tighter and tighter, until her climax crashed over her. She wanted to add her voice to his, to cry her pleasure to the world, to tell all of Texas that Kade Goddard could please her like no other man, but she couldn’t draw the breath, her rapture depriving her of her voice.

He shuddered hard, sucking in a great lungful of air, as his climax washed out of him. He was almost dizzy with the power of his orgasm, another aftershock roaring though him and making him twist as he gasped.

“Fuck,” he muttered as he struggled to gather his wits about him.

“Fuck is right,” she giggled, pushing a strand of hair out of her face before blowing out a cleansing breath. “It’s a good thing we’re out here in the middle of nowhere. You sure are a loud fuck.”

“I wasn’t before I met you,” he said, then pulled her lips back to his. “You make me come so damned
hard
.”

She sighed, her galloping heart slowing. “I know the feeling. You do the same to me.”

He began to slowly pump his hips again, pulling her down into a leisurely kiss. He was still hard and he wanted to enjoy her for as long as possible.

“Oh God, that feels good,” she breathed, slowly pulling back as she smiled down at him before taking his lips again.

They were slowly making love, taking their time, enjoying the giving and taking of pleasure, when the sound of an approaching vehicle finally registered. They were still scrambling to get dressed when Nolan and Big Dick pulled to a stop beside his bike.

“Are you two done, or should we come back later?” Big Dick asked as Nolan burst into laughter.

“Winter? Baby girl? What are you doing here? What happened to you?” Hayden asked as he opened the door to his office.

Winter and Kade had ridden through the night and were waiting in Hayden’s office when he arrived. They had grabbed a couple hours sleep, Winter sleeping on the comfortable leather sofa, Kade in two of the guest chairs. They were still covered in sweat and dirt from their race through, and tumble in, the Texas desert. They had woken up about an hour ago and she was sitting behind his desk, where she catnapped as she waited for her father’s arrival.

“Sit down, Mr. Kelly,” Kade said as he quickly moved to shut the door. His weapon was out but not pointing at Hayden. “We have a few questions to ask you.”

Hayden stared at the pistol in Kade’s hand. “What’s the meaning of this?” he demanded.

“Just a friendly conversation. Now sit down.”

Hayden glanced between his daughter and Kade then sat in one of the guest chairs. “Winter! What are you doing! What’s going on?”

“That’s what we’re here to find out. Who did you tell I was in Rio Bonita?” she asked as Kade sat on the sofa.

“What? Nobody! Why are you here? What happened to you?”

“What happened to me is someone tried to kill me yesterday. Again.”

“What?” he cried. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. But isn’t it funny how nothing happened for almost three weeks, then only a few days after you find out where I am, I’m suddenly attacked again. Kade thinks it’s you who’s feeding information to the cartel.”

“Me?” he cried again, looking at Kade. “You’ve got to be shitting me! My own daughter!”

Kade shrugged. “You just said you didn’t tell anybody, so how’d they know?”

“I don’t know! But you’re crazy if you think I would have my own daughter killed!” He started to stand but Kade’s weapon popped up and pointed at him, and he settled back into the chair. “What possible reason would I have to kill Winter?”

“You tell us.”

“There isn’t one!”

“So you explain it.”

Hayden paused. “I can’t. I didn’t tell anyone. Nobody except…”

“Except who?” Kade asked.

“Gail.”

“Aunt Gail?” she asked.

“She was worried, so I told her you were with Kade in Rio Bonita and okay.”

“Aunt Gail?” she repeated. “That’s almost as hard to believe as you doing it.”

“It has to be her,” Hayden said softly. He’d gone pale and the life seemed to have drained out of him. “It has to be. My own sister.”

“Maybe she told somebody else.”

Hayden shook his head. “I told her what was at stake,” he said softly.

The three of them looked at each other and Kade tucked his pistol away. “We have to know.”

“We need to talk to her. We’ll tell her we have proof it’s the cartel and we found the mole. We’ll blame it on somebody in Winter’s group. Who would make sense?” he asked as he looked to her.

“Pam. She’s my backup.”

“Okay, we’ll tell her its Pam, but to not say anything to anyone because we need proof and I’m working on getting that. We’ll tell her we’re staying at Winter’s place, but we’ll actually be at the Houstonian.”

Hayden nodded. “And if they show up at her house…”

“Right,” Kade said. “Winter and I will talk to her in a moment. I need you to pretend like you know nothing of this. We aren’t here as far as you’re concerned until she tells you, okay?”

Hayden nodded slowly. “I still can’t believe it’s her.”

“Maybe’s it’s not,” Kade said. “Maybe she told someone. We’ll take the chain one link at a time.”

“If it’s her, I’ll kill her myself,” Hayden growled, his color returning.

“Don’t say anything like that ever again,” Kade snapped. “If she’s mixed up in the cartel, and something happens to her, shit like that will come back and bite you in the ass big time.”

Hayden nodded. “I understand. I underestimated you, Mr. Goddard. What I don’t understand is, if Gail wanted Winter out of the way, why did she hire security?”

“Probably to make it look good and she thought we would fail. We’ve been damn lucky these last three times. By all rights, Winter should have been killed at the drill site. If not there, certainly at the RV, and we only just managed to escape yesterday. A lot of my people have been hurt or killed protecting her.”

Hayden nodded. “I believe we make our own luck. You have all expenses related to this, medical, funeral, educational, whatever sent directly to me. I can’t bring your people back, but I can help with the living, and I can help the survivors. I won’t forget what the Santanás Cuervo have done for Winter. For me.”

Kade nodded. “Count on it. If you’re serious, I have some brothers who sacrificed their bikes to make sure we got away.”

Hayden nodded. “Have them pick out what they want and then have the dealership send the invoices to Kelly Oil.”

Kade chuckled. “Repairs on bikes that were crashed during the last attack?”

“Same. I want to make this right. It’s a small price for keeping Winter safe.”

Kade nodded. “I’ll let the brothers know.”

Hayden rose and offered his hand. “Thank you, Mr. Goddard. Thank you for keeping her safe. If you ever need anything, anything at all, you contact me. I want you to stay by her side until this is resolved. Send me any expenses you incur, but you keep her safe, no matter the cost.”

“You have my word.”

“That’s good enough for me.”

“Winter! Let’s go pay a visit to your Aunt Gail.”

She rose from her the chair and circled around Hayden’s desk to hug him. “I love you, Daddy. I knew it couldn’t be you.”

“I love you, too, baby girl.”

They hugged a moment then she pulled out of his arms and gave him a sad smile before turning and following Kade out, nodding to Greta just settling in at her desk as they walked past.

“Is she in?” Winter asked as she walked into Gail’s office suite, not slowing as she passed Melissa’s desk.

“Winter? Yes, she’s in, but she has a meeting in—”

“We won’t be long,” she said, not even slowing as she opened the door to Gail’s office and walked in.

“Winter? Kade? What happened to you two?”

“We had a bit of a problem yesterday. Someone took another shot at Winter,” Kade said as Winter shut the door.

“What?” she squawked. “Where?”

“In Rio Bonita,” Kade said. “I think it’s her father,” he said.

Winter snapped her head around, staring at Kade, but said nothing.

“Hayden? You must be joking!”

“No. It all fits. Winter told him a few days ago where she was. There were no attempts for three weeks, then only a couple days after he finds out,
bang
!”

Gail stared at him wide-eyed. “I can’t believe it. Why would he do such a thing?”

“I don’t know, but he was the only one who knew.”

“Well, he told me. Could he have told anyone else?”

“He told you?” Winter asked, playing along with Kade.

“Yeah, and how you suspected it was someone in Kelly Oil, but I didn’t tell anyone. You must be mistaken. Hayden is a lot of things, but a killer isn’t one of them. We should call him and find out if he told anyone else,” Gail said reaching for her phone.

“No!” Kade barked, stilling her hand. “If it’s him, I don’t want him to know we suspect him. We’ll call him later and tell him we’re staying at the Houstonian. We’ll rent a room there, but we’ll actually be staying at Winter’s house.”

Gail nodded slowly. “And if someone breaks into the room at the Houstonian…”

“We’ll know it’s him.”

She nodded slowly. “Makes sense, but why would he want to have Winter killed? That’s what I can’t understand. There must be some mistake.”

“I hope so,” Kade said. “But if you two were the only ones who knew, it has to be one or the other of you. I don’t think it’s you because if you wanted her dead, you would have just played off the first shooting as some random act until you could have gotten another chance.”

“That’s a relief. I was afraid maybe you suspected me.”

He grinned at her. “It crossed my mind, but you did hire me to protect her, which sort of defeats the purpose of trying to have her killed, don’t you think?”

“I guess so. But I still can’t believe it’s Hayden. There
has
to be another explanation.”

“If you have an idea, I’m all ears.”

Gail was silent for a long moment. “No. If Kelly Oil can help in any way, let me know.”

“We’ve had a lot of brothers take it on the chin. We had two brothers sacrifice their bikes yesterday so Winter and I could escape. A lot of funeral and medical bills, too.”

“We’ll take care of the funeral and medical bills. I’ll talk to Hayden about the other items. I won’t tell him you were here, only that you asked for reimbursement. I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try my best to get this all taken care of. It’s a small price to pay for keeping Winter safe.”

“Thank you, Gail. The brothers will appreciate anything you can do to help.”

“I’ll do what I can. And, Kade…thank you.”

“We need to go before we’re seen,” he said, taking Winter by the hand. “We’ll be in touch.”

He dragged her out of the office and down to the parking lot without saying a word. “You’re playing them off each other!” she exclaimed when they arrived at his bike.

“That’s right.”

“I assume we won’t be at either the Houstonian or my house?”

“Partially right. We’re going to rent a room just like I said, and we are going to your house. But we won’t be staying at either place.”

“So what’s the plan?”

“The first thing we need is your Jeep. We need a set of wheels nobody has seen.”

She giggled as she mounted up behind him. “How convenient we just happen to have a set ready for us, huh?”

“It’s about time we caught a break on something,” he growled as he thumbed the bike to life.

***

They spent most of the morning and afternoon getting ready to execute their plan. They picked up Winter’s Jeep, then spent a near eternity working through the paperwork to get her temporary tags.

Her Wrangler legal, they had lunch of po-boys at the Ragin’ Cajun because it was close and looked interesting, then they were off to the Houstonian. They stopped along the way for a change of clothes, paid for by Kelly Oil so they could clean up and get out of their dirty and scratchy clothes.

With their dirty, ruffian-like appearance they were getting a bit of snide service by the hotel until Winter slapped down the Kelly Oil credit card and ordered one of the Executive suites for five nights. Suddenly their bedraggled appearance didn’t bother anyone.

They stepped into their room with a sigh. They were exhausted, dirty, and the bedroom with its large bed looked
so
inviting.