To Love and Obey [The Doms of Club Mystique] (Siren Publishing Allure) Page 22

  “No,” Cade said as Jackson said, “How much?”

  “You are not buying Remington and sending him to Ireland, Addison. And, you are not going to Ireland. That’s final.”

  Addison ignored him while she spread some marmalade on her steak. “Augustus Rosie is drawing up the papers. Whatever Harrelton offered you, plus twenty percent. I want him, Jackson.”

  “Sold,” Jackson told her.

  Addison smiled. “Wonderful. It’ll take a week or so to get the paperwork done so he can be flown over. Now, I have one more favor to ask. I’ve decided my parents should be together, but I need permission for the workers to come onto the ranch.”

  Logan nodded. “That won’t be a problem, Addison.” He looked around and saw Luc and Jackson nod in agreement. “What do you think, Cade?”

  “Fine with me,” he told them, wondering what she was up to now.

  “Great,” Addison told them with another smile. “Augustus Rosie is making the arrangements for my father to be moved to Ireland.” She sat back, content with the way her plans were coming together.

  “What?” Cade shouted. “What do you mean you’re moving your father?”

  “Well, of course,” Addison told him, her Irish accent lyrical. “My mother’s family has been in County Kildare for hundreds of years and that’s where I plan to settle down and have my child.”

  “A child?” Luc asked then gave Cade a sympathetic look. “Boy, you’ve really fucked up this time, you poor bastard.”

  She laughed. “I’m not pregnant, Luc. Cade and I aren’t together anymore. But, I’m the last of my mother’s family, so my child will inherit the stud farm in Ireland. I’ve decided he, or she, should be born there as well so it’s time for me to go home and settle down.”

  Luc grimaced at Logan. “I give up. I can’t keep up with all these changes. I thought they were in a D/s relationship now?”

  “We’ll talk about it later, Luc,” Logan told him, feeling Cade’s tension and eager to see what Addison would do next. She had always been able to tie Cade in knots.

  “I’m going to call Maggie and see if she wants to go home, too,” she told them. “Her older sister’s husband is my farm manager.”

  Cade stood up, ground his fisted knuckles on the table and leaned in Addison’s direction. “You are not going to Ireland. You are not buying Remington and sending him to Ireland. And, you are not moving your father to Ireland. Do you understand?”

  “I don’t know why you’re saying that,” she told him calmly. “It’s a good plan. It hits all the bases.” She ticked the points off on her fingers. “It gets Remington settled somewhere off the ranch. It reunites my parents, and, most importantly, it gets me out of your hair. See, a win, win, win situation.” She sent a bright smile around the table. “What do you all think?”

  “I think you should run, Addison,” Jackson told her.

  Cade’s face had turned red and he was rumbling like a volcano getting ready to blow. “Don’t be silly, Jackson. We’ll just talk and work this all out.” She scooped up a small bite of potatoes. “Now, Cade, do you object to my buying Remington or my decision to take him to Ireland? Because I’ve already thought about that. I can give you the same deal my father gave Jake.” Smiling widely at him she told him, “Exclusive breeding rights! See, now wasn’t that easy?”

  His chair crashed to the floor as he stormed toward her, lifted her over his shoulder, and left the room. “You’re giving me exclusive breeding rights, all right!” he told her as he swatted her ass, hard, the sound echoing off the walls.

  “Ouch! Dammit, Cade, that hurt.”

  “Good,” he told her. “I’ve had enough of your shenanigans. They end now, Addison.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just trying to help you,” she yelled at him.

  “Well, stop it,” he told her as he stomped up the stairs then kicked the door to the playroom open and dropped her to her feet. “You’ve got five seconds to strip and get into position before I decide to take a riding crop to your ass.” He disappeared into the attached bathroom and she jumped up and ran down the hall, hearing him curse behind her.

  Once in the spare room, she locked the door then backed away from it. A few seconds later he tried the knob then pounded on the door.

  “Addison, open this door, now.”

  “No. This is for your own good. You don’t love me.”

  He froze. His eyes blazing an emerald green. “Do you really think a man who didn’t love you would have put up with your plots and schemes for almost fourteen years, Addison?”

  “I know you love me, Cade. Like a friend, or, or a sister…but not in a creepy, against-the-law kind of way,” she assured him.

  “I do not think of you as a sister of any kind,” he shouted, his temper frayed. “Now, open the door.” He pounded on it wishing they hadn’t installed such sturdy doors with heavy locks. There was a key to it somewhere in the house. He stormed back down the stairs. “Where do we keep the keys to the upstairs bedroom doors?” he asked Jackson as Logan came back into the dining room from the kitchen. He set an apple pie in the center of the table then sat down.

  “Jane may have them,” Luc told him. Cade hurried into the kitchen and Logan held up a key ring and chuckled then shoved the keys into his pocket. A few minutes later Cade came back in and dropped into his chair. His hair was mussed, as if he had combed his hands through it multiple times. “Give me some pie,” he told Logan.

  “It’s gone,” Logan told him. “Thor ate two pieces.”

  “Hey, I’m a growing boy and I rarely get to eat Jane’s apple pie.” Then, rubbing it in, he added, “It’s the best in the state.”

  Cade sent him a resentful glare. “That was my damn pie.” What he really wanted to say was that was my damn woman who locked me out of her room and her bed.

  “I have faith in you,” Thor told him. “Someday when you brighten up you’ll get the pie you deserve.” Then he and the brothers broke into roars of laughter.

  “B–breeding rights,” Logan choked out.

  “Trying to help him,” Luc repeated in a bad imitation of an Irish accent as Jackson added, “Then stop it,” in a really good imitation of Cade’s low growl. The room rang with their laughter.

  “Fuck all of you,” Cade told them as the door from the kitchen opened and Jane walked in carrying another apple pie. She set it on the table then hurried from the room. Anytime this group of men got together there was always mischief going on.

  Chapter Ten

  Cade scratched his back against the frame of Addison’s bedroom door while he waited for her to come out. Glancing at his watch, he wondered what the hell was keeping her. It was already half past six. Across from him Luc’s door opened.

  “Dude, she left over an hour ago,” Luc told him, not bothering to tell him he had been sitting in his room talking to Logan on his cell, the two of them enjoying knowing Cade was wasting his time.

  “Fuckers,” Cade cursed, knowing whatever Luc did Logan had a part in. He shoved him out of the way as he headed for Remington’s stable. The instant he stepped out the back door he saw Jackson and half a dozen ranch hands lining the fence along the exercise arena. Beyond them he could see Addison putting Remington through his paces. The men moved out of his way as he rushed to the fence and took a place next to Jackson.

  “She’s really good with him,” Jackson told him. “He hasn’t hesitated to follow her commands a single time.”

  Cade watched Addison as Remington stopped on her command then sidestepped to the right, stopped then moved back to the left. She looked so tiny sitting on the broad back of the huge stallion, her red hair a contrast to Remington’s shiny black coat. “How long do you think she’s been riding him?”

  “At least a year, maybe longer.”

  Cade tensed as Addison reached over Remington’s crest and wrapped her arms as far around his broad neck as she could. The horse’s ears flicked toward her as she spoke to him, and he turne
d his head in her direction. She patted his neck then sat up, her riding posture perfect.

  “I was hoping after Diablo died she would choose a calmer horse. Maybe a mare. One I wouldn’t have to worry about her riding.”

  Jackson glanced at him, his brows raised in astonishment but his eyes narrowed against the morning sun. “I know how you feel but I don’t ever see that happening. She’s very protective of him because he reminds her of Diablo. And, you.”

  “Me? Why would a horse remind her of me?”

  Sighing, Jackson had to remind himself, again, that his older brother had a blind spot when it came to Addison. “Because she was riding Diablo the day she first met you. In her mind the two of you are connected. Two things she wanted. Maybe two things she fell in love with on the same day.

  “She was just a kid then,” Cade told him. “Too young to know her own mind.”

  “And yet she ended up owning Diablo and engaged to you. Makes a man wonder how she managed all that. Doesn’t it?” He thought he could actually see the light going on in Cade’s mind. Finally, he thought, he’s thinking with more than his cock.

  “I hurt her yesterday. Maybe too much. She won’t even look at me now.”

  “I think just about the only thing that would keep her off that horse now is something else she wants more than him,” Jackson told him as he adjusted his hat and turned away.

  Cade turned back to the corral and watched as Addison walked beside Remington to the washing station. There were only three things he had ever known Addison to want, him, Diablo, and children. Although he wasn’t sure he had the order right. He glanced at the window of her room. It would take her about an hour to wash Remington and put him back in his section of fields. He pulled out his cell phone and called the local locksmith, making arrangements for all the upstairs doorknobs to be changed by tomorrow evening. He hung up then dialed the locksmith again and included the lock on his den. This time he would make sure he kept the keys in his possession because he was bound to piss her off again in the future. He chuckled as he thought about how pissed she was going to be later today. Lucky for him, a pissed off Addison was easier to deal with than that let’s-be-rational-about-this pretender at the dinner table last night.

  * * * *

  Hot, tired, and stinking of wet horse and manure, Addison rushed to her room. It had been a long time since she had gotten up this early and worked a horse beneath the hot Texas sun. She was desperate for a shower, a change of clothes, and breakfast. She grabbed for the door knob and missed. Surprised, she glanced down then bent over and looked through the large hole in her door where the knob used to be. “Cade,” she yelled as she stormed down the stairs.

  “Hey, baby,” he said as she stormed into the den. He slid back and patted his lap. “Let’s talk.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped the toe of her boot on the priceless carpet beneath her feet. Her chin rose in the air as her eyes narrowed. “No.”

  Game on, he thought to himself, grinning. “That’s five. How many does that make now?” He tapped his fingertips against his chin, pretending to think about it. “Ten? No, fifteen. Yes, fifteen.”

  “Zero. It makes zero. We no longer have a contract. Remember?”

  He smiled at her. She shuffled her feet nervously, distrusting the look in his eyes. “Actually, baby, we have over five months left on our contract.” He opened the file on his desk. “It says so right here in black and white.”

  Addison could see that the file held a document of some kind and she warily moved closer, craning her neck to see the writing on it. It was the contract but it didn’t have the dark line slashed through it or the word void on it or his signature and yesterday’s date. She grabbed it and examined it, holding it up to the light. That was her signature with the smiley face next to it. She was sure of it. She shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t know how you managed this but Ben and Mac saw the contract yesterday. They know you voided it.”

  Cade shook his head. “Baby, do you really think after bringing you back to me yesterday they’re going to admit that? Mac was right, by the way. I shouldn’t have lost my temper with you and I’m really sorry I hurt you. I want to make it up to you. Tonight.

  Addison dropped the contract on his desk then took a small step back. “Uh, that’s okay. I think we should just leave things the way they are now.” When he rose and moved around his desk, she sidled away putting more distance between them.

  “Addison, baby, are you afraid of me?”

  “No, of course not,” she answered quickly. “I just think you’d be happier with someone else. Someone, more, er”—her brows drew together as she tried to come up with the right word—“placid.” She smiled at him. “Someone complacent and obedient. Wouldn’t you like that? I could introduce you to someone.” A small line of concentration appeared between her eyes as she tried to think of someone to introduce him to and couldn’t. “I don’t actually know anyone like that, but I’m sure maybe Jenna might? Or maybe Cassie?” Her voice wasn’t sure. “I’ll call them,” she assured him as he closed in on her and she slid away again, keeping him at arm’s length. “Cade? What are you doing?” She stiffened as his arms closed around her.

  When he pulled her toward him, instead of curling into him like she usually did, the top half of her slanted toward him while her feet stayed planted on the floor. It was like trying to hug a two by twelve, he thought with a grin. God, she was stubborn and he loved that about her. For a moment he froze then he surrendered to his feelings. He loved the little Irish hoyden! He threw his head back and laughed as he took a step toward her and lifted her from the floor. She hung straight down, still talking. He spun her around in the air and she squeaked with surprise then finally clung to him.

  “Addison, baby, I love you,” he told her. “I love you and I want to marry you and have a D/s relationship with you, and someday I want to make you pregnant. Actually, I want to do that several times.”

  She froze for a moment then she wrapped around him, clinging, her face buried in his neck, her tears wetting the collar of his shirt as she mumbled into his neck. He couldn’t understand a word she was saying but he got the message anyway. “I love you, too, Addison, always.” He picked her up and carried her out of the den.

  Thor, Ben, and Mac walked out of the dining room as Cade disappeared up the stairs with Addison in his arms. “The true man wants two things: danger and play. For that reason he wants woman, as the most dangerous plaything,” Thor told them.

  “Freud?” Mac guessed.

  “Nietzsche.”

  “Damn,” Mac muttered as Logan and Luc joined them and did their silent communication routine, then Logan nodded and walked away.

  Thor lifted a questioning brow at Luc. “Logan is going to take a breakfast tray up to Cade’s room. Addison hasn’t eaten breakfast.”

  “I don’t think they have food on their minds,” Ben said. “Cade may not appreciate the interruption.”

  Luc shook his head. “Take a deep breath, city boy. By now Cade has her in the shower.” He slapped Ben on the back as Logan appeared with a heavily laden tray with a bowl of orange marmalade in the center.

  “Does she eat that stuff on everything?” Thor asked.

  “Yup,” Jackson told them as he walked in from the back hall, a mug of coffee in his hand. “She can’t seem to get enough of it.”

  * * * *

  Cade adjusted the water then turned back to Addison and unbuttoned her shirt as she unbuttoned his. They shrugged and their shirts fell to the floor. Cade unhooked her bra and slid the straps down her arms, dropping it to the floor as she reached for the top button on his jeans. He slid her zipper down on her jeans. “Kick off your boots, baby.”

  Addison held onto him as she toed off her boots and flipped them across the room. He crouched down, pulled off her socks, then pulled her jeans down and she stepped out of them. He planted a kiss on her bare mound then stood up and dropped his jeans to the floor, kicking off his boots and st
epping out of his jeans at the same time. He crowded her backward into the shower until she was under the waterfall of warm water.

  “Bend your head back.” Cade squeezed some shampoo onto his palm then applied it to Addison’s hair, massaging her head. She closed her eyes and rested her cheek on his chest. He leaned down and kissed the freckles on her nose then walked her back under the showerhead. “Tip your head back.” He made sure the suds were gone before finger combing conditioner through her hair. “I never told you but I like your hair like this.”

  Addison stepped closer to him, resting her cheek on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. “I cut it to piss you off.”

  “I know, baby. Just don’t cut it again.”

  Her arms slid around his waist. Her hands traced circles up and down his back on either side of his spine and over his buttocks. “You said you were sorry and you wanted to make it up to me.”

  He traced his finger over the freckles on her nose. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing, baby. You’re topping from the bottom.” He smiled as her eyes widened. “I just let you get by with it sometimes because I like it when you pet me.” He kissed her nose, then said, “Now, tell me what you want.”

  “I want you to be in charge today, for a while,” Addison said.

  “Would that make you happy?” She nodded her head. “Then, I’ll give you control until breakfast.” He moved her back into the spray and rinsed the conditioner from her hair. Grabbing the citrusy gel she liked, he squirted a generous amount on a sponge. He skimmed it over her body until her skin glowed with a soft blush then gently rinsed her off and patted her on the bottom. “Dry your hair, pet.”

  Addison grabbed a towel from the heated bar and buffed her skin dry then picked up the blow dryer. While Cade dried off she applied lotion to her legs.