Defy Fate (Fated Duet 1)

“What?” I asked, looking down at him. I didn’t think he could get any hotter than he already was, but seeing his lips against my skin and his tattoo-covered chest was my undoing.

“Fuck. Say fuck again. You sound so goddamn hot when you curse.”

A blush burned at my cheeks, and I opened my mouth, about to tell him I wouldn’t say it again, but he pushed a finger inside me, drawing a “Fuck,” from me.

“Yes.” He pushed his finger in and out, and I winced at the pinch. “You’re so goddamn tight.”

“Cade…” I wrapped my arms around his waist, searching for his lips with mine. “It’s too much. I can’t…you can’t…”

“Close your eyes, baby,” he whispered, pressing his chest against mine and laying me flat on his desk again. “Feel it. Feel my finger inside you.” He kissed my lips gently. “Feel my lips against yours.” I pulled in a breath. “Feel my fingers against your nipple.”

I closed my eyes and did just as he said. I let myself feel it. I let myself bask in his thumb rubbing against my clit as he pumped his finger in and out of me, widening me with his thrusts. I let myself feel his lips against my skin, and his fingers pinching my nipple.

I let it all in, but I wasn’t sure I’d survive it.

Something started low in my stomach, a fizzle of some kind, and then without warning, I exploded. I screamed his name, but his mouth cut me off, and I forgot about everything with him against me. I forgot about who we were. I forgot about where we were.

“Cade,” I gasped as he slowed his thumb on my clit, my orgasm drifting away. “I can’t even…” I didn’t know what to say. He’d

blown my mind, and I was speechless.

“Say you’ll stay with me on Saturday night.” His finger didn’t move from inside me as my walls pulsated around it. His forehead leaned against mine as he said, “Say you’ll stay the night and let me love you the way you deserve to be loved.”

I heard what he was saying, and there wasn’t a doubt in my mind as I nodded and told him, “Yes.”

Chapter Twelve

CADE

If there was one thing my dad and Lola knew how to do, it was a cookout. I hadn’t been to one where everyone attended for what felt like years, and when I really thought about it, I realized the last time had been when I was a college senior. Back then, Aria hadn’t been in attendance.

Aria.

My cheeks hurt with how wide I grinned. My mind immediately took me back to the image of her being spread out on my desk, half-naked, my lips whispering over her skin, and my fingers between her legs. Fuck. I was getting hard just thinking about it.

She’d promised to stay over at my house tonight, but part of me wondered if it was a good idea. She was seventeen, and my student, but damn if I could resist the temptation when it came to her. She had me tied up in knots I couldn’t undo, no matter how much I tried. I was crossing boundaries I had no right to cross, but I couldn’t stop.

She was my kryptonite, and I had no cure.

I picked at the label on the beer bottle, my gaze swinging around the backyard. Asher and Belle were running around chasing each other, Dad was manning the grill with Sal next to him, and Lola, Jan, and Aria were in the kitchen. I couldn’t see her from where I was, which made getting up from the table and walking away from Dad’s team—Jord, Kyle, Ryan, and Ford—all the easier.

The guys didn’t look my way as I crossed the yard and walked past Dad and Sal. They were talking about some case they were all working, which meant I didn’t have a place in their conversation. I was used to hearing them talk about cases since I moved in with Dad when I was fifteen. They’d trained and worked together. They were a family, anyone from the outside looking in could see that.

But they weren’t my family. Not really. They’d been there for me when I needed them, but only one person in this house knew what had happened while I was away. I was keeping a secret from them all, much like Aria was. She’d shared hers with me—through no choice of her own—but I hadn’t told her mine. Maybe tonight would be the night I confessed what happened. Maybe I could confide in her and strip myself bare the way she had with me.

I heard her laughter before I stepped into the kitchen, but I hadn’t been expecting her to be walking into the living room. Jan and Lola were preparing some side dishes, paying no mind to me as I moved through the kitchen.

I caught sight of Aria as she headed for the stairs, and I drifted toward her. If she knew I was following her, she didn’t give any indication as she went up the stairs. Her ass swayed with each of her movements, and I groaned at the sight.

My stomach dipped as I got to the top of the stairs, and she finally looked back at me. “Are you following me, Cade?” She raised her brow and propped her hand on her hip. I’d never seen her in a dress before, not since she was a little girl, but fuck, she looked hot.

“Maybe I am.” I stalked toward her, the beer bottle hanging from my fingers. “What would you say to that?”

She bit down on her plump bottom lip as her gaze tracked over me. My light-denim ripped jeans hung low on my hips, and my black T-shirt showed both tattooed arms.

“I’d say…” Her chest expanded on a breath as I closed more of the distance between us. There were only a few steps separating us now, and she backed herself against the wall between the bathroom and my bedroom.

“What would you say?” I asked, taking another step. I leaned my arm on the wall above her head, not an inch of my body touching hers. Her lips parted, and her tongue swiped along them, calling to me, begging me to touch them.