“I suppose part of me has always known,” he murmured as she ran her hand over the small, flat screen television that sat on the floor. “I knew something was off about my family, I won't deny that, but I didn't put a whole lot of thought into it. My father's a businessman, so it made sense that he would have private meetings with his colleagues.” Daniel shrugged. “But I suppose the first time I really began to second guess and wonder about my father's numerous cover stories for his illegal behavior was when I opened a suitcase. I found it in the downstairs basement. It was full of cash.”
“What?” She let out a laugh of disbelief. “Cash? Like, literal cash?”
“Yes,” he said with a nod. “Filled to the brim. I never got a chance to count it because I heard my brothers calling for me. I slammed the suitcase tight and dashed upstairs. When I went back to look for it later, it was gone.”
“And you never asked about it?”
“No,” he said, his eyes distant as if alive in the memory. “I didn’t want to get in trouble for snooping. But also, I don't know, part of me wondered if it was my mother.”
“Your mother?” she asked as she felt the chill in her arms. “What about her?”
“I was afraid that it was her way of leaving. We always hear of wives stashing money before they go. Well, I know my father can be a hard man at times. He loves us, of course, but affection is not where he shines,” Daniel said, a wry smile on his face. “So I was afraid to ask about it and find out that mom was leaving. I just watched you lose your mother,” he said, his voice quiet. He looked away, unable to meet her eyes. “And I saw what it did to you and your father, and I didn't want to go through that with my family which is why I pushed you away, too. I think when you lost her,” he whispered, “I worried it would happen around the same time. I think I looked at you and saw everything that I was afraid of. I just couldn't be there and I wasn't mature, so I made it worse. I am deeply sorry,” he said as he hung his head low and slid his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “Believe me when I say I never meant to hurt you. Not really. I'm sorry, I was a bully to you,” he whispered. “I know I always turn around and say, ‘yeah, well, you did it too,’ but that doesn't negate what I have contributed.”
That last confession might have been the most surprising thing she'd heard all evening. “Dan,” she whispered.
“I mean it, Cait. I really truly am sorry.”
“I am too,” she whispered and crossed over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist, crushing their bodies together. When he still didn't meet her eyes, her hands rolled up over his firm chest and rested around his throat until she lifted his head so he would meet her gaze. “I forgive you. And I'm sorry, too.” She stepped close to him, so close that their bodies touched. When he lowered his mouth to hers, she sank in his arms, enjoying the gentle teasing of his lips as he traced slightly down her jaw and up to her ear.
Her heart pounded harder in her chest as she ground her hips against his and arched into him. “Think we might have done this a hundred times by now,” she whispered. Her fingers lazily tracing the lines of his sweater, she added added, “if we had set our pride aside and apologized all those years ago.”
“I guess we'll have to make up for lost time,” he murmured. He scooped her up into his arms and carried her down the hall to his bedroom, tripping over his own shoes and crashing onto the mattress. Hysterical laughter erupted from her lips as his body slammed into hers. “Christ, Cait, are you okay?” he asked as he rose on all fours and stared down at her.
She laughed wildly, her red hair a stark contrast against the white sheets and spread like rays of the sun. “Yes,” she said. She ran her hands over the soft fabric of his shirt, “I'm surprisingly wonderful.”
Pulling his sweater from his shoulders, he tossed it to the ground.
She became busy with his belt and in one fell swoop, freed him.
“God you’re good at this,” he gasped. “Do I want to know why?”
“You could ask,” she teased and slid her hands into his pants and cupped him, enjoying the feeling of him hard in her hand. “But I would tell you it wasn't any of your business.”
His eyes rolled back as she slowly slid her hand up and down the length of him.
“You feel good,” she whispered. She used her legs to slide his jeans down and admired the firm muscle of his legs. “But you feel better when you're inside of me.”
His eyes opened in surprise as he stared down at her still fully clothed. “You've always had a way with words, Caitlin Murphy.” Gripping her sweater, he pulled it high over her head and let it fall to the ground. He slowly pressed his lips to her throat and nibbled at the tender skin until she was moaning beneath him. His fingers laced with hers, and he held her hands above her head on the bed as he ground his body into her. “Do you want me, Caitlin?”
“Yes,” she said as he sent a blazing trail of kisses down her breasts, over her abdomen, and at the hem of her jeans. “Yes,” she gasped.
He moved agonizingly slow as he slid her jeans from her hips and continued the slow burn of kisses down to her center.
She gasped at the contact and arched beneath him as his tongue flicked there. Her body shuddered when she cried out his name. He rose above her and filled her. “Daniel,” she whispered against his body as he thrust slowly into her, rocking them deeper into the mattress.
“I know,” he hummed the words against her lips as her legs wrapped around his waist and his hands fisted in her hair.
Tugging down her jeans, he surprised her, flipping her over as she landed on all fours in nothing but her bra.
“I thought we’d try something different tonight,” he murmured, as he skimmed his hands along her back, over her hips and pressed her bottom against him.
The smile she gave him over her shoulder as she leaned against him, inviting him in, sent a shiver down his spine.
“You’re so fucking hot,” he groaned as he teased his hard cock along her thighs, and she all but purred. Forcing himself to move slowly, and not take her here and now, he slid himself slowly higher until he rested against her center and teased. When she made that killer hum of approval, and pressed herself harder against his cock, it was more than he could stand.
Grasping her firmly with one hand, he pressed himself to her center, and slid inside where she was warm and tight. He groaned as his eyes rolled back in pleasure and he grasped her with both hands, filling her body with his.
Stealing his eyes from her ass, he looked up to the mirror by his bed and saw her smiling at him, her eyes dark with pleasure. Heart pounding in his ears, he pulled out slowly once, then thrust hard, a quick jerk as a gasp and moan escaped her lips.
