Page 8 of The C Agreement

My phone buzzed again, and I sighed.

I loved my brother, but he could be overprotective.

Dragging my feet to the door, I looked out the side window. I frowned at what I saw there.

I flipped the dead bolt and yanked the thick wood open. Cade stood there in a ribbed tank top, looking as handsome as ever, with muscular arms on display and his jeans showing off his perfect denim-covered ass. I didn’t need to actually see it tonight to know how great it looked. Meanwhile, I was in light-pink-and-soft white pajamas. I probably looked like a marshmallow while he looked like he was ready for a magazine cover.

“What are you doing here?” I said with a sigh. “Come to humiliate me more?”

His brow furrowed. “What the fuck, Rayne? No.”

Okay, so Cade had never done anything to purposely demean me, and I probably wasn’t being fair to him. My feelings had been hurt, and I had lashed out at him. Although he could have let me down a little gentler.

My shoulders slumped. I was tired. “I’m sorry I said that. It was uncalled for.” I rubbed my temples. “It’s late. Can we do this tomorrow?”Next week? Never?

He stepped closer and pulled my wrist down. “No. Not until you let me—”

Yanking my hand away, I slammed the door in his face before he could finish his sentence.

Not until you let me apologize, was what I was sure he was going to say.

The last thing I wanted was for him to feel sorry for me. That would almost be worse than a straight-out rejection.

Before I could secure the lock, the door swung open again. I jumped back before I got hit in the face, and my jaw dropped as Cade marched inside.

He kicked it closed, grabbed me, and hauled me up against the wood. One arm was on my waist and the other next to me, effectively blocking me in. I felt every inch of his body heat, and his eyes burned with fury as he stared down at me.

“You just can’t let me say what I came to say, can you?”

I opened my mouth, but only a squeak came out.

I wasn’t afraid. It was just that I had never seen Cade like this—besides the small glimpse I’d gotten at the restaurant. He was my older brother’s fun, laid-back friend who never took life too seriously. Blaze was the thing he was the most passionate about, so I had no idea where this side of him had come from.

“You don’t need to exp—”

I was stopped by the hand on my hip wrapping around my throat. It wasn’t tight, but it sent a message.

“Shut up,” he growled.

That was the one.

My breath caught, and there was a flood in my panties. “Holy—”

He squeezed.

I might have whimpered.

“I said, shut up.” His eyebrows rose, as if he couldn’t believe I was still talking.

I nodded as I squeezed my legs together. This was a side of Cade I would have never thought existed.

He dropped his head toward my ear. “I can’t believe you think so little of me. You’ve known me forever, so you should know I’m not a shallow, judgmental person, Rayne.”

I closed my eyes. He was right. Even though I had never seen him with a fat woman before, Cade had this quality that gave the impression that he saw the beauty in everyone. Which was probably why I had been bold enough to offer for us to help each other out in the first place.

“I am attracted to women. All types. Their smell, their taste, their skin, their breasts, their everything.” He rubbed his nose along my jaw. “Your skin…it’s soft and creamy. You smell delicious.”

His words…his words were everything, and instinctively, I jerked my hips forward, searching.

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