Page 41 of Solitary Man

Then thinking was impossible as his hand slid lower, his fingers going between my thighs, working my clit.

My mouth dropped open, and Cash grabbed my chin, turning my head and taking my mouth in a brutal kiss as I came. I fed him my scream, and he groaned as he pulsed deep inside me, grinding, staying deep, prolonging it for both of us.

When I finally collapsed on the desk, Cash carefully slid from me, lifted me from my prone position, and swung me up into his arms.

I rested my head against his chest, too weak to wrap my arms around him. But it didn’t matter; Cash had me. He carried me through the house and into the bathroom, and he kept me in his arms as he turned on the shower. While it warmed up, he stripped us both, then stepped inside.

He held me to him as he lathered me with soap, as he gently washed my hair. Every now and then he’d caress me. His hands sliding over my butt, cupping my breasts, between my legs, pressing kisses to my shoulders, the top of my head, my hand, wherever he could reach.

“You said your last hug…from your mom was ten years ago. Is that when you lost them, your parents?” I don’t know why I asked, maybe because right then I was feeling so close to him and I wanted to try for that “more” I so desperately needed. He hadn’t really talked about them at all since I’d moved here.

He stilled behind me.

“Cash?”

He cleared his throat.

“If it’s too painful…”

“Yeah,” he said abruptly.

Pain sliced through me. “That’s awful. God, I’m sorry. Losing them in a car crash like that, while they were so far away in the city, must have been incredibly hard. But you never mentioned when it happened, and I…I want to know more. More about you. How long you’d been here without them.” I tried to turn to face him, but he wouldn’t let me.

“You know how they died?”

“Yes, you told me in one of your emails. When I asked you about your family.” I tried to turn again—again he wouldn’t let me, then his hands were gone.

The shower door opened and Cash climbed out.

Startled, I spun to face him. “Where are you going?”

“Got work to do.”

He slung a towel around his hips and strode out of the bathroom, leaving me there alone. I stared at the shut door in shock. What just happened? Obviously, his parents and their death was hard for him to talk about, but rather than saying that, he’d walked away.

He’d shut me out. Again.

10

Cash

Riley moaned as I thrust into her, my mouth on her breast, sucking on her nipple. I couldn’t look away as she came for me in the darkness, as her beautiful, soft body arched up against me. Listened to my name on her lips as she came apart.

I let go then, coming hard inside her. Only then. When Riley was satisfied. I’d made her come over and over as an apology for walking out on her the day before in the bathroom.

I didn’t like to talk about my parents or their accident. I never had talked about it. I’d felt blindsided when she brought it up. I assumed it would come up eventually, but I still hadn’t been prepared for it.

But what had sent me running was her knowing how my parents had been taken from me, that I’d mentioned it in my emails. No, I hadn’t done that. I’d told her they were gone but had never given details.

I pulled out of Riley and folded her in my arms. She was exhausted and drifted off moments later. I held her tighter. The book she’d given me when she first came here. The mention of chocolate cake. All things I’d apparently told her in my emails. It had confused me, but I’d been preoccupied with trying to make my wife happy, to not mess everything up. Now I couldn’t get those things out of my head.

An unsettling feeling moved through me.

Landon.

He’d been our go-between since I didn’t have a computer. He’d call, he’d read me Riley’s emails, and I’d tell him what to reply with.

Anger pumped through me. Landon had added his own two cents. Had embellished my words. There was no other explanation.