Page 34 of Return to You

That finally sent him over the edge. He couldn't hold back any longer at the vision of her face, flushed with ecstasy and screaming his name. It was just too much.

His entire body shuddered in pleasure as he unleashed his orgasm into the flow of hot water. His stomach clenched in aftershocks as he watched the evidence of his release wash down the drain. As his heart began to slow and his breathing returned to normal, he tried to put the entire episode out of his mind and quickly washed his body and his hair and then shut off the water.

He stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist and did his best to push down the shitty feeling he had in the aftermath of jerking off to Ali. It wasn’t the first time it had happened, and he knew it wouldn’t be the last. He’d learned a long time ago that fighting his desire for her was a practice in futility.

Still, it felt worse doing it here. In her house. In Patrick’s house.

He seriously needed to get a grip on himself, at least until he found a place to live. Ethan had mentioned that Kennedy Dawes was a realtor now. As one of his ex-girlfriends, Kennedy was also on his list of people he needed to make amends with. His drinking had played a large role in breaking them up and made him treat her in ways he never would’ve otherwise.

Kade wasn’t sure how he could possibly apologize for how much of an asshole he’d been to Kennedy, but he figured admitting that he had been and saying he was sorry was a good start. His mind was busy rehearsing what he’d say when he opened the door of the bathroom, stepped into the hall, and ran smack into Ali.

His left arm automatically snaked around her lower back, steadying her as she started to stumble backward and his right hand wrapped around her upper arm. Her hands ended up clutching his chest like a cat hanging on a screen door.

Their bodies were plastered against one another and Kade could feel the swell of her soft breasts pressing against the hard planes of his abdomen. She had changed into her pajamas which meant she was wearing a baggy cartoon T-shirt and cutoff sweats. Her hair was wet, telling him that she’d also just taken a shower and his mind filled with images of her naked body, dripping wet.

“Sorry.” Her voice was barely a whisper as she started to push away.

When she did, he became painfully aware of two things. First, he was sporting a fairly significant hard on. And second, the collision had caused his towel to come loose and their current position was the only thing keeping it up.

“Wait.” He tightened his grip around her.

His efforts caused her to gasp as she looked up at him with wide, trusting eyes that made his heart clench. He watched as a pink flush rose from her chest to her high cheekbones. Their breaths were shallow and their stare locked as they fell into an electrifying silence. Between the sensation of their chests moving up and down against one another and her sweet curves molding against him his dick was swollen, steel hard, and pulsing painfully.

Kade knew that the right thing to do would be to release her arm, secure his towel, and hightail it to his room. Unfortunately, he wasn’t really known for doing the right thing, especially when wrong felt this good. He couldn’t bring himself to let her go. He needed one more moment, one more second, of this intimate contact.

He swallowed over a lump that had formed in his throat as he rasped, “My towel slipped and if you move back, you’re going to see a lot more of me than you bargained for.”

“A lot, huh?” A shy grin lifted on her cherry lips as her fingers tightened ever so subtly, her nails dug into his skin as her body rocked into him and the sensation shot straight to his cock. His balls tightened against his body as his erection strained against the terrycloth barrier. “I would make a joke about your ego, but in this case, I can feel that your big head is justified.”

Fuck. He inwardly groaned as he forced himself to release his hold on her and grab his towel as he took a step back from her. If he’d held her for even a second more, he would’ve lowered his head and covered her pretty little mouth with his.

When he let her go, she stumbled back and used the wall behind her to steady herself. He was about to apologize for his abrupt behavior when he saw her eyes fly down to the towel tent he was rocking and she licked her lips. He was sure it was just a nervous gesture and not meant to entice him even more, but that’s exactly what it did.

“Aunt Ali!” KJ’s voice carried up from downstairs.

Kade watched as Ali blinked and looked up at him, her whiskey-colored stare clouded with what he hoped was lust and not embarrassment.

“Can we ride down to the lake? We’ll be back by midnight.”

That snapped her out of whatever haze she’d been in. She started shaking her head no as she walked away from Kade and started addressing her nephew. “No, KJ. It’s already after eleven. You know the rules.”

“But it’s my birthday.” He heard the kid plead as she disappeared down the stairs.

“No. Your birthday was two weeks ago. Today was your party, but that doesn’t change the rules.”

Kade wanted to go back her up but they hadn’t really talked about what his role would be and he didn’t want to overstep. Plus, he was still very affected by their encounter.

A thought hit him as he crossed the hallway to the spare room. What if the boys had been upstairs and seen his reaction? If he stayed here any longer, he was afraid it would be inevitable.

He needed to call Kennedy. He needed to get his own place. He needed to stop popping wood like a teenager who’d never seen boobs before.

That last one would be a lot easier said than done if Ali was within a square mile of him. Maybe he would look for a place on the other side of the lake.

12

Ali lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, after hours of tossing and turning. Her hands fisted in her sheets as frustration bubbled to the surface.

This was so unlike her. She generally fell asleep within ten to twenty minutes of her head hitting the pillow. Those ten to twenty minutes were usually spent crying before she drifted off into an emotionally exhausted coma, but still.

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