It shouldn't have taken him by surprise. He knew what the pressure deep in the base of his cock meant. But somehow, he was unprepared for just how blindingly brilliant the swelling of his knot would feel. How perfectly he would lock inside Emily's body. How satisfying it would be to fill her with his come.
Cade knew for certain that his entire life had led him to this moment.
Emily knew that hours had passed because the sun had moved across the sky outside the bedroom window, but still, the only thought that she managed to hold in her mind was Wow.
Sex with Cade had been…amazing? Wonderful? Perfect? There wasn't a single word that could convey the sheer glory of making love to Cade.
So Emily stopped trying and let herself drift along, enjoying the sensations humming through her body. With her eyes closed, she could almost believe that she was floating on a cloud high above the earth without a care or worry on her mind. She couldn't remember ever feeling this relaxed before.
Even back in the beta world, Emily had been a little too tightly wound. She liked to think of herself as driven. The constant pressure certainly helped her accomplish many things, but it had also kept her from ever experiencing moments of contented bliss like this.
Eventually, Emily opened her eyes and slowly made her way to a sitting position, then stood up for the first time in what felt like days rather than hours.
Her clothes were nowhere to be seen. Neither was the shirt she'd borrowed from Cade. So she made her way unsteadily to his closet and took another from a hanger. She buttoned it up and belted it with a different belt she found hanging from a hook before heading outside.
It was even later than she'd thought, the sky fading to purple with the approach of dusk. But Cade was still hard at work, pulling out a damaged post near the edge of the patio. Cracks splintered the wood about halfway up, almost as if truck had plowed headlong into it.
Emily only knew one creature powerful enough to do that kind of damage to such a sturdy post.
"Do you make work for yourself just to keep busy?" she asked, taking a seat on a wooden bench that ran the patio's length, running a hand along the smooth bentwood arm.
A smile tugged at Cade’s lips as he positioned his boot on a pickaxe he'd buried deep in the earth next to the post. "Sometimes it sure seems that way."
Then he stepped on the blade, and the post groaned as its concrete base was lifted from the ground. Cade's muscles strained with the effort, his bare chest glistening with sweat, his massive shoulders bulging.
Damn, that alpha was sexy.
More than sexy, Emily thought—Cade was actually proving to be a good man.
The post pulled the rest of the way free and fell away from the house, dirt clinging to the base. Cade wiped his brow and leaned on the pickaxe, surveying his work. Maybe it was only the pheromones in his sweat, but an overwhelming feeling of possessiveness took hold of Emily, one she'd never felt before.
Especially not toward Sloan. An unpleasant shiver ran up Emily's spine at the thought of him. It had been over twenty-four hours since she'd seen him—an entire day during which she hadn't once cowered in fear, or watched her words, or braced for punishment.
Back in the beta world, a day could pass in the blink of an eye. Fridays arrived when the week barely seemed to have started; Sundays came even quicker.
But here in the Boundarylands, where a woman's entire nature could change in the span of a single touch, a day could be an eternity.
Even now, it was hard for Emily to remember how she gotten by before Cade had appeared in her life. It was almost as if…she felt silly even thinking it, but yes: as if they were meant to be together.
Was it really so outlandish? Sloan's touch had obviously been a horrible mistake, at least as far as Emily was concerned. Wasn't it possible that all of this had been orchestrated by some higher power, just to make sure that she would finally find the one she was meant for? Wasn't it possible that there was kindness in the universe's design, a natural order that favored happiness?
Emily had never been a big believer in fate, but looking at Cade now, remembering how perfectly they'd fit, it was hard to imagine that she was meant for anyone else. She let out a contented sigh as she relaxed against the carved back of the bench and gazed out over the forest. Even the trees looked different—more varied and interesting—now that she had a chance to simply experience them without worrying about what she was supposed to be doing.
Cade's land felt peaceful in a way that Sloan's compound never had. Emily could breathe here; she could order her thoughts and take in her surroundings. She could voice an opinion or make a decision without being shouted at.
She could smile.
But just because she was enjoying the moment didn't mean that she was going to become a lazy slug. Already, she was starting to feel the urge to be productive again.
"Tomorrow, I'll help you with replacing the bottom step," she promised.
"You will?" Cade's voice sounded distinctly devilish.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Because I was hoping you might want to go back to the creek with me tomorrow."
"Is there another obstruction that needs to be cleared?"
"No." Cade gave her a slow, wicked smile. "But we could splash around until we have to strip off our clothes again. I liked how that turned out last time."
Emily's cheeks flamed, but she was relieved to know that even after several hours of passionate love, Cade still had an appetite for more. God knew that she wasn't anywhere close to finished with him yet either.
"With a work ethic like yours, we won't get a damned thing done around here," she teased.
His smile broadened to a grin, an expression she'd never seen on an alpha before.
"What is it?" she demanded. "Why are you looking at me that way?"
His gaze locked with hers. "I liked the way you said 'we.'"
That seed of hope and trust that had managed to lodge inside Emily wound its roots a little tighter around her heart. She was seized with the urge to kiss him, hard and long and deep. To hold him close and never let go.
She launched herself off the bench, but before she could get to Cade, he tilted his head back, his eyes wide open.
Emily knew that look—it was the same with every alpha who sensed something amiss.
Emily felt the old, familiar tension stealing back into her shoulders. The peace of a moment before dissipated like smoke in the wind. She tried to resist fearing the worst, but it was impossible.
Only seconds had passed when the sound of a truck engine gunned so loud that even her far less sensitive ears could hear it.
"Who is it?" she asked, frozen in fear.
Cade turned to her, a deep frown etched into his face.
“Trouble."
Chapter Thirteen
There was a reason no one ever came onto Cade's land unannounced: he'd never given anyone a standing invitation to visit. If he'd been a different kind of alpha—one with a longer fuse on his temper, for instance—maybe someone would have asked for one. But the truth was that Cade was perfectly content with his own company, and had never given his isolation much thought.
Not until today.
Not until there was a truck barreling down his dirt drive too damn fast, hitting the dips a little too hard.