My only consolation was that it wouldn’t have been any different with Daisy.
I’d keep myself apart from her too.
Because there was just no way I wanted either of them to know how deep the ugliness inside of me really ran. If they did, I’d lose them both for sure.
I wanted to laugh at that. I couldn’t lose them both because I didn’t have them both. I barely had Cash.
“Open your eyes, baby,” I heard Cash say. “I want to see where you’re at.”
I did as he said, not even realizing I’d closed them. I didn’t say anything as he studied me, but I knew what he’d see. His brow tightened just a little, then he was gently pulling free of my body. He kissed my cheek and whispered, “I’ll take care of you, Sage. Always.”
I felt a tear trickle down my cheek.
They were the words I needed to hear, but on their own they weren’t enough, and that was what had the shame burning deep inside of me. Followed by relief when Cash said, “Turn around and get on your knees.”
I let out a choked sob and dropped to my knees. I could feel Cash’s cum dripping from my ass and it made my belly hurt.
Empty.
I was too empty.
Cash tipped my head back, then leaned down and kissed me gently on the mouth. “Get me hard again. I’m going to be spending the foreseeable future buried deep inside either this gorgeous mouth or your tight ass” – he gripped my chin as he spoke – “but if you don’t get me off before the water turns cold,youwon’t be getting off at all. Do you understand me?”
The water was already turning lukewarm so I eagerly nodded. The command was heaven and hell.
And it was exactly what I needed.
Chapter 4
Cash
“Damn it,”Sage muttered as he scanned the notifications on his phone.
“What?” I asked as I got the car started. Sage and I had just finished up a case and were preparing to make the long drive home.
“We missed a call from Daisy,” he said.
I didn’t comment on the fact that he’d used “we” even though it’d been his phone she’d called.
The only time we’d heard from Daisy in the month since that night at the motel had been when she’d sent us information pertinent to a case. Sage had tried to draw her out via calls and texts in the hopes he could get them back to some form of communication, but she’d resisted his advances.
The whole thing was taking its toll on Sage, which was just more proof that his feelings for the young woman ran deeper than he was willing to admit. Sage adamantly refused to talk about it, but there was no escaping the guilt he was feeling. He hadn’t said as much, but it was obvious because his need for me to control more and more of his day-to-day life had continued to grow in the weeks since leaving Seattle and returning to our home just outside the Ozark National Forest in Arkansas. In the past, it wasonly on the rarest of occasions that I had to take things to such an intense level outside the bedroom. Now it was happening on a daily basis. The only time he didn’t need it was when we were working.
I knew the whole thing was my fault. By taking things as far as I had with Daisy, I’d given Sage a glimpse into something he needed but couldn’t have.
Problem was, I was starting to think maybe he wasn’t the only one who needed it.
“She left a message,” Sage said. He looked to me and I immediately nodded. My heart broke for him that he was so far gone in his own mind that he needed me to tell him it was okay to play a voicemail message. I suspected most of his behavior stemmed from his fear that I was going to leave him. No matter how many times I reassured him that I wasn’t going anywhere, he still couldn’t focus on anything but the need to please me.
Sage hit the button and made sure the phone was on speaker.
Um, hi, it’s me. I, um… I just wanted to say… I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I just want… I want things to go back like they were.
There was a good ten seconds of silence before Daisy’s uneven voice continued.
I can’t stop thinking about it.
Her admission sounded pained.
