The Fall and Rise of Kade Hart: A Hart Brothers Novel (22 page)

“Whoa there!” Kade calls out. “You can’t run
outside without a coat.”

What the heck am I thinking? Laughing, I
head back to where I dropped off my coat, hat, and gloves.

“Now let’s go.” I run out the door.

“Slow down, baby doe. I’m coming.”

I’m waiting for him by his truck when I
notice them. The shadows and silhouettes. I haven’t spent much time
outside in a few days so they haven’t crossed my mind for a change.
Kade catches up to me and unlocks the door. When he opens it for
me, I lean into him and tell him about our visitors. “Can you see
them?”

He looks around, nonchalantly, and says he
can’t. Why is it I detect their presence, and he doesn’t? When
we’re both in the truck, I ask him, “Do you believe me or do you
think I’m crazy or hallucinating?”

“No, I believe you. There was evidence of
those footprints in the snow. Remember?”

“Yeah, but I don’t understand why you can’t
see them.”

Kade grabs my hand and asks, “Tell me where
one is now, but don’t be obvious about it.”

“Okay. The tree at one o’clock.”

Kade looks and asks, “What is he
wearing?”

“He blends in with the surroundings.
Shifting as though he’s part of it. Like some super special
camo.”

He focuses on the tree for a bit and says,
“Ok, I saw something, but not anything I could really put my finger
on. More like a blur.”

“Damn. I swear this makes me feel like I’m
going nuts!” I am exasperated.

“Stop. I saw the footprints.” He grabs my
hands and says, “I believe you, Juliette. I do.”

I am somewhat relieved to hear those words.
It eases my insecurity over this whole thing. But I still don’t
understand why I can see them and he doesn’t. What is it about me
that makes it so?

“Juliette, I know you don’t believe this, or
don’t want to hear this, but I can’t help think that they’re out
there to protect you. Why else would they still be following you?
If they meant to harm you, they would’ve done it by now.”

The logical part of my brain agrees. It’s
the other half I have issues with. It just doesn’t sit well having
them around me, watching my every step.

“They give me the creeps, whoever they are.
I want to see them. If they’re there to protect me, why don’t they
show themselves?”

We’re both quiet as Kade drives. Neither of
us has answers to my question. It unsettles me. Who are these
strangers? What do they want from me? Does it have to do with this
necklace or is it information they may think I have?

Kade’s hand on my knee makes me jump out of
my skin.

“Hey, calm down. Don’t let all this spoil
your day. You get to take Ethel for a couple of days and you two
will have a blast together. You know how much you enjoy her.”

“I know.” I force a smile. All this talk and
seeing those stupid shadows has put me in a downer of a mood. Not
only that, it has me edgy as all hell.

We pull into Kade’s driveway and I
immediately bob my head, my eyes darting around, checking
everything out to see if they’re there. And they are. How do they
move so fast? Unless there are more than one or two—an entire team
of them, perhaps?

“Kade, they’re here, too.” Irritation takes
over and I yell out, “Who are you people and why do you keep
following me? What do you want?” Silence is my reply, as I
expected.

Kade throws an arm around my shoulder and
hugs me close to his side. “Come on. Let’s go see your puppy.”

“She’s our puppy, I think.”

When Ethel sees me, she scratches the crate
door and whines. Her tail wags so much I laugh. Her entire butt
wiggles. “Get out here, fluff ball.” I open the door and pick her
up. My face is cleansed by puppy tongue, from forehead to neck, and
it makes me laugh. Her puppy breath smells like coffee and gives me
warm fuzzies. What is it about puppies? They love unconditionally
and are so happy to see you every time; I can’t help but glow
inside.

“There’s that smile I’ve missed,” Kade says.
He stands in front of us and hugs us. “I like the three of us
together. I’ve missed this.”

“Me too.” And it’s the truth. This coziness
here is something that’s been lacking in my life.

“I’m going to take her out back for a minute
so she doesn’t wet on me.”

“Good idea. You hungry?”

“Starved.”

“I’ll fix us something to eat then.”

When I get Ethel outside, I take her to the
spot under the eaves. The snow is still way too deep to take her in
the yard. I wonder how long it will take to melt. With this much,
who knows? Could be weeks. I look across the yard and I notice one
of them again.

I finally say, “Look, I know you’re there.
Would you just come out and show yourself? It’s ridiculous to hide
when I can see you.” Again, nothing happens. I decide I’m going to
keep at this. Maybe they’ll give it up and introduce themselves one
day. The thought makes me laugh as I walk inside with the pup.

“What are you laughing at?”

I explain to Kade and he shakes his
head.

“Do you think I’m weird?”

“Yeah. How can I not? But I’m fucked up as
hell, so it’s fate. Haven’t you figured that out yet? Think about
it. How many guys would pursue a nun?”

I laugh. “I’m not a nun.”

“Oh, come on, Juliette. You live in a
fucking convent. You’re the next best thing to a nun. Just answer
my question.”

“You do have a point.”

“A damn good one.”

“Okay, I concede. You are fucked up to chase
after a nun. What the heck is wrong with you?”

“You are. I can’t stop thinking about you.
You’re the only person I’ve ever had an interest in since I’ve come
back to life. And if you ask me why, I’ll have to give you more
than one reason.”

“I’m listening.”

This is an unexpected conversation.
Curiosity has me wondering where it will lead. I hope he doesn’t
bring up the L word. I’m so not ready for that.

“You’ll get a rise out of this one, but
honesty. I know you lied about some things, but not the guts of the
matter. You withheld the real truth because you had to, not because
you wanted to. The rest of the stuff, well I sensed deep honesty
inside of you. You’re not like other women I’ve met. And don’t take
this the wrong way, because I don’t care about this. But all they
see is a pretty face. And it annoys the hell out of me. Out of
everything I’ve been through, the last thing I care about is the
shallowness of my exterior. I want someone to care about what’s in
here.” He bangs his hand against his chest. “And what’s in my head.
You get me, Juliette.”

My heart pounds with each of his words. He’s
wearing a navy blue sweater that stretches across the expanse of
his chest. I place my hand over his heart.

“I love what’s in your heart, Kade. It’s so
pure.”

His hand covers mine. “Juliette. I’m
anything but pure. If you only knew how I lived, where I lived for
years, you wouldn’t say that.”

“That doesn’t change what’s inside of you,
Kade.”

“You see things others don’t.”

“No, I think they do. You are still that man
who doesn’t believe in himself. And you should. You are so humble
and giving of yourself. You have all these fine things around you,
but I get the impression you don’t care about materialistic things.
And maybe it’s because you’ve learned to live without. You’ve lost
the most important things and know that cars, or clothes, or
jewelry aren’t what counts in life.”

It strikes me then that Kade is so wrapped
up in looking at others he’s missing the whole picture. He doesn’t
have even a tiny glimpse of himself.

“You don’t have any idea of what you do for
others, do you?” I ask.

“I do … somewhat. But when you’ve been
beaten down your whole life, it’s hard to believe you’re not that
person.”

“You’re not. At all. Not even close.”

“Annnnnnd, one more thing I like about you.”
A million dollar smile lights up his face. My bones soften, then
turn to butter. And he does have a pretty face. No, not pretty.
Much better than pretty.

“Don’t look at me like that or I’m going to
have to rip your clothes off,” he says.

“Only mine?”

His ice blues heat up and so does something
else. My sex. I squeeze my thighs together, and stop the moan that
is dying to escape from me. Hot heavens. This man has way too much
power over my body. My nipples threaten to bust right through my
bra. I turn to melted goo around him. Is he some kind of sexual
genie that escaped from his bottle?

Hands on the waist of my pants have me
dissolving into a puddle of pure lust. He’s not the only one who
gets to do this. I grab the button on his jeans and tug, then yank
the zipper down. Holy shit, he’s not wearing his boxers today. And
he’s shaved down there. Oh, Jesus! Come into this house and help me
so I don’t make a fool out of myself. Is it sacrilegious that I
just called upon Jesus to help me
now
? Oh my God, what am I
doing
? Forgive me, Jesus. I didn’t mean to do
that
,
but I’m helpless here. Pushing Kade’s hands off of me, I drop to my
knees and savagely tear his pants down his legs, letting them stay
at his ankles.

“Juliette …”

“Shut up, Kade.”

I’m now eye level with all his glory and
what I didn’t notice before, because it was covered by his hair, is
he has a magnificent tattoo right above, well, his dick. And it’s
beautiful. It’s three K’s, a trident, and a series of musical
notes, all intertwined. It’s not large, but I have this
inexpressible urge to lick it. So I do. Followed by some serious
sucking. Then I move to his dick. Where I treat it like the
tastiest Popsicle I’ve ever had the pleasure of enjoying. And I
believe it is.

“Juliette, I promise you I won’t last. I
want to be inside of you. Please.” His husky voice spurs me on, but
I stop when his thighs tense. Oh my, he is so sexy. I nuzzle him,
with his musky scent. It’s so sensual; I’m growing wetter by the
minute.

Strong arms pull me to my feet. He’s so much
taller than I am that I have to tilt my head back to look into his
eyes. They’ve turned a deeper shade of blue, not his normal icy
hue. His lips part and I want to taste the cavern of his mouth.
Before I can raise myself up to do so, he starts to undress me.
Sweater, shirt, bra, and now I stand in my boots and pants only.
His head flicks twice at my feet. I get the idea. Bending down, I
remove my boots, and then my pants. Now I stand in my old fashioned
panties. Sister Helena would never have allowed bikinis or, God
forbid, thongs, so I’m wearing cotton briefs. I am mortified. How
can I not be? But I stiffen my spine and stand as tall as I can, my
chin lifted. I won’t act like some shrinking creature because of a
flimsy pair of underwear. His next words make me forget all about
my stupid panties anyway.

“Your skin—it’s smooth as butter. I want to
taste every tiny bit of you.” One perfectly shaped finger reaches
out and touches my throat, and then runs down all the way to my
panty line. The room turns into a vacuum. All the air has
disappeared. Either that or my lungs have left my body. He takes my
hands and puts them around his neck. Then he lifts me up and
instructs me to wrap my legs around him. Who am I to ignore him?
When I’m settled in, he walks us up the stairs and doesn’t stop
until we get to his room.

“Kade, I can’t stay long.”

“I don’t take long, remember? And as I
recall, neither do you.” His voice causes me to shiver with
need.

Bending over, he lays me on the bed and as
he straightens, he slips my awful panties off. I can’t help but
make a comment about them. “Aren’t those things the sexiest you’ve
ever seen?”

“Jules, you could be wrapped in a brown sack
and it would look sexy to me.”

“Yep, butter.”

“Huh?”

“You said I was like butter? I am, but not
how you think. I’m like butter in your hands because you’ve just
made me melt.”

He gets a glint in his eye and says, “Just
wait.”

And he kisses me. It’s not a perfectly
synced kiss, timed and well thought out, like you read about in
those romance novels. No, this kiss is all out fire and explosions.
Because we’re both sort of clumsy, still learning each other,
finding our way around each other’s mouths and bodies. But that’s
what makes it perfection. The way he takes in my tongue, my lips;
the way he sucks and licks them and the way our noses and teeth
collide and we laugh a little. But the best part of all is what his
kiss does to me. My senses heighten as they fill with his essence.
He’s a mixture of sandalwood, balsam, and the musky aroma of a man.
I want to guzzle him down.

He stops the kiss abruptly and says, “I want
you. Now, Juliette. Is that okay?”

A giggle that sounds like a bubble spurting
out of me pops out before I can stop it. “Yes. It’s good. Great.” I
hold his face, still smiling.

“Are you making fun of me?”

“No! I would never ever do that. I laughed
because I’m
dying
for you, Kade. Touch me and you’ll
see.”

He slides a finger around my sex and I’m so
wet, he doesn’t even have to push it inside to tell. Now it’s his
turn to laugh.

“I think I’ve been this way since I saw you
in church.”

Then his brow arches and says something that
makes my cheeks heat. “You filthy, dirty little nun.” And he kisses
me again. When he pulls away, I protest.

“Hang on a second. I’m getting a condom.” He
reaches in the nightstand and grabs a little packet.

“You got some!”

“Yeah, I thought it would be a smart idea,
just in case.”

“Good thinking,” I agree. “Can I do the
honors?”

“You want to?” He’s surprised I asked.

“Yes, I do.”

He hands me the packet and lies back, arms
spread wide. Gah, I could go into attack mode, but first things
first. I tear into the packet and take the thing out. It’s been
years, so I’ve forgotten how icky they feel—slimy-ish almost. I
examine the thing to make sure I have it the right way and then I
put it on, and roll it down his length.