He pulled away from her, their breathing ragged.
"I can't wait anymore. Please."
Their eyes locked for a moment. Her chest rose and fell as she tried to catch her breath. The fire in Caleb's eyes; the way he touched her was everything she'd wanted. His touch, the fuel to ignite her smothered soul.
The head of his dick played at her entrance, a slow ache as her body prepared to take him in.
He slowly pushed into her. Her muscles burned as they stretched around him.
She sucked in a breath as inch by inch he filled her, he slowly pulled out, and then pushed back in. Slowly repeating the motion, easing her body to fit his. Lifting her hips to meet his next thrust, her breath rushing out.
Her fingers dug into his shoulders as he found a rhythm rocking within her. Every thrust filled with the raw power of everything that was Caleb. The muscles of his back flexing under her hands with every stroke.
She wanted him. The walls of her core grew tighter and tighter, greedily pulling him back. She wanted more of him. She hooked her heals around his back, driving him harder and harder. The world began to fall away as her body wound tighter and tighter needing a release, needing him to release her.
She began to tremble as he drove harder, faster, until her breaths were gasps, and she nearly begged for him to finish her.
He braced himself above her, her fingers digging into his back.
The pulse of her muscles around him as he continued to thrust into her one more time was almost too much. She couldn't stop herself. She cried out as her body quivered in exhaustion and pleasure. She gasped as he retreated one last time. Pushing into her one last time. And only then, when she whimpered in need, did he let himself go. Her body pulled from him everything he was giving, taking everything she wanted. She trembled until even that grew to be too much.
Her last thought was where had Caleb been her entire life?
12
Caleb peeked out at the early morning sun streaming through a crack in the drapes. The quiet of Marci breathing oddly calming. He glanced at her wrapped within one arm. She was beautiful. How he ever thought the only reason she'd wanted him was because of a spell he didn't know. How he'd actually thought staying away from her would stop him from wanting her was pretty much the dumbest thing of all. He'd been miserable trying to avoid her, trying to pretend that his bear wasn't practically breaking down trees in his spare time to keep his need to have her in check.
Caleb tried to let the pain back in from his past. The pain of losing his best friend, the pain of never knowing who he really was, the pain of always being alone.
It tried, but in the end, the peace she gave him overshadowed the memories. Maybe everything he'd heard about mates was true. Who knew his mate would be an odd little witch. A sexy witch, who he couldn't get enough of. The sheet pooled around her waist leaving little to his imagination.
He rolled to the side, facing her, taking in her even breathing, studying the rosy pink of her lips.
Smiling, he circled her nipple with his index finger and watched as it peaked. She moaned, but she still didn't open her eyes. He ran his hand further south, feathering her skin with his touch until he came to the apex of her thighs.
Slowly he ran his finger along her slit, watching her breathing, listening to the beat of her heart. Carefully he slid between her folds, finding her sensitive clit still swollen and ready. A small gasp escaped her lips as he gently stroked her.
He smirked as her breathing grew shorter. Slowly he traveled down to her now-slick entrance and dipped a finger inside. She moaned and pushed against him. His hand cupping her as she rocked against him.
Looking up, he caught the fire in her eyes as she moaned. God, she was gorgeous, flushed and his, ready to be taken.
He pulled his finger out. Her eyes flew wide.
"You don't play fair." She whispered, trying to catch her breath.
"No bear can stay away from something sweeter than honey. Tell me what you need, Marci."
The sheet fell away and she moved her legs. God, she was gorgeous.
He climbed over her, lowering himself so that his shaft brushed her abdomen, in case there was any mistake in his intentions.
"You. I need you."
He dipped his head for a kiss; her taste sating his hunger.
"This time it's my turn, though. Let me show you what I want."
Caleb's dick twitched in excitement as she pushed him onto his back.
He nearly lost it as he watched her climb on top of him, her breasts swaying with each movement. He gripped her waist as she poised above him and began to lower herself onto him.
He liked watching himself disappear deep within her tight core. Her muscles flexed around him against the tight fit. Laying his hands on her hips, he tried to keep himself from taking over.
Her hips started to rock over him. He helped her along, thrusting his hips up and listening to her moans of pleasure. He pulled her hips along with their new found rhythm, his mouth watering as her breasts bounced with every thrust.
He pulled himself up and took one nipple in his mouth; she shuddered as he nibbled at the peak.
Caleb couldn't take the torture of her anymore; he'd let her take control another day. Right now he needed to take her and show her exactly what she did to him, what his bear wanted from her.
Wrapping her within his arms he sat up, letting her squirm as he held her secure, tight against him.
"Caleb," she breathed out.
"I need you. You are my soul." He kissed the words on her lips away as he flipped and pushed into her over and over until she quivered around him and her body shook. He thrust into her again and again until she nearly begged for him to slow or finish her, and then he let himself spill into her as she whimpered and cried his name pulling him into her.
"I had no idea." Her words choppy.
"No idea?" His own breathlessness mirroring hers.
"That, that it could be like this."
He smiled. "Neither did I."
Slowly he pulled out of her, her body quivering at every inch he removed.
"I might sleep for days."
He smiled. "You have my permission. If the weather prediction is correct, we'll be snowed in for a day or two."
Watching her sated and calm, brought him a foreign peace. There was no sarcasm masking her feelings, no worries, just her. Even his damn bear was resting peacefully instead of fighting him for control.
Caleb had wanted for nothing. Simplicity, his own goal. Until now. He tried to picture her leaving, heading back to the inn, and he nearly lost it. Every fiber within his soul screamed, and he nearly reached over and marked her right there and now. Like that would keep her from leaving. No, it couldn't stop her from having her own will. Tying her up though, now that had some appeal.
She rolled over, her eyes boring into him.
"Caleb McIntyre, what are you thinking?"
He couldn't keep the smile from his lips. "How do you feel about being tied up until you agree to be mine?"
He nuzzled her neck, kissing the soft skin along her collarbone. A natural motion, his hand reached out and splayed across her belly. He would take her over and over and over until she was too tired and too sore to leave his bed. That seemed like a solid plan.
"Please stop that. I can't think with you kissing me like that." She smiled as he pulled away.
"You're considering me tying you up?" Caleb teased.
She stretched. "Right now I'd consider anything you asked. Too bad I need to go back to the inn."
He propped up on one elbow. "But why? No one said you had to live in the inn to run it and Frank seems to like that chicken, stay here."
She jerked up to a sitting position.
"Crap. I'm the worst chicken parent ever. I have to go get Hazel."
He shook his head in amusement. "That darn chicken ruins everything, doesn't she?"
Marci huffed. "Hazel is special. Besides, I promised her I'd take care of her, and here
I am deserting her in a dog crate."
Nibbling on her earlobe, he could smell her desire stirring in the air. He licked a trail down her jawline.
"No. No. Stop. Hazel."
He mumbled against her neck. "Annie went and got her last night. I got a text after you passed out. Speaking of. You're okay, right?"
She scoffed. "A little late to show concern, don't you think?"
He eyed her. "I was trying to warm you up. Body heat is best transferred when naked; it's not my fault you're irresistible."
She angled her body to meet him face to face. "I'm not sure you're thinking of me right now? Irresistible?"
The bed wiggled as she shifted her weight. "Marci, you are exactly who I was thinking of. I have no idea how to say no to you, and with you naked right now?" He lowered his voice. "I'll tell you a secret. You could control my bear and me and do anything, and I mean anything, if you never put clothes on again."
He loved the sound of her laughing, even at his expense.
"Who is this fun, Caleb? And where was he while I've been painting the inn?"
He shrugged. What could he say that Marci didn't already know? He'd been a ball of sexual frustration from the moment he'd scented her in town? Or how about the fact he was fighting back his bear at every turn being around her. Yeah. He'd just let it go.
"You looked like you had it handled. I don't think you'd have gotten much work done with me around."
She punched his arm. "Feisty, aren't you?" He gripped her wrists and pinned her hands to the pillow. "I like you feisty."
Her face flushed. "Well, a woman can know her own mind. And why wouldn't we have gotten work done? It's not like I can't keep my hands off you. What did you think, I'd be ready and willing? Men. Seriously."
Her words were baiting. Caleb could smell the sweet scent of arousal, hear the erratic beat of her heart, and her body pressed against his.
"Well. From what I recall you said yes several times already. Very enthusiastically I might add. If you want me to let you go though, I can. I mean, I'd hate to make you do anything."
Her eyes turned away from him. He released her.
"Really though. I wasn't going to date for a while. I thought I needed time alone."
A sour taste rose up in his mouth. He might have derailed her plans and yet all he'd done is drag her out into the wild, nearly freeze her to death, and then had the greatest mind-blowing sex ever. The last one might have made of up for the first three.
"Well, technically we aren't dating."
Her mouth gaped. Apparently, that wasn't the right thing to say.
"Uh. Well. I mean yet?"
Mouth still agape.
Well, shit. Okay. Not getting better. "Can I take you on a date?"
He straightened. His brow rose. Please let that have been the right thing.
At least her mouth closed.
"Caleb! I don't just sleep with people. I never do. If you think that I would have a one night stand with you, well you're a real asshole."
She jumped out of bed, and his eyes couldn't turn away from her ass. He'd love to grab it right now and - no wait. That was the wrong move, and well, shit, she was looking for clothes.
"Wait. Marci. Stop. No. I want to date you. You had just said you planned to not date anyone for a while. I thought that you -"
His bear woke and screamed. We want to mate her. He shook that off, because yes eventually. Stupid bear.
Somehow, he didn't see that going over well right now.
"Marci. Stop." He hopped out of bed and grabbed her from behind, holding her around the waist, and she wiggled and squirmed.
"Marci. Stop. I would never use you. I promise."
She stopped, but the damage to his libido was done. She didn't know the power she held over him, and all that squirming had pressed the right button. God, he hoped she couldn't tell.
Think of fishing. Nope. Not working.
He kissed the top of her head. Trying to play it off. He was listening, or he was trying to.
"Are you open to that?"
She stood straight.
"I would have an easier time believing you if you didn't have the world's largest hard-on right now."
"Yeah," he said sheepishly, he wasn't proud of it, or well, not the situation anyway. "I. Right. But I can't help it. Have you seen yourself? Have you ever seen you mad and naked?"
Slowly she turned within his arms. "No. I can't say I've ever wanted to see myself in a mirror let alone naked."
Staring down at her he knew he'd never be able to walk away from her. He'd never hurt her - but would she hurt him?
"You should. Your hips are sexy as fuck, your ass makes my dick twitch in excitement, and," he paused as he raised her hand, "you asked me when we first met if I was looking for something, and I said no. Do you remember that?"
She nodded. "Yeah. My magic was going crazy around you. It seemed logical."
"Right. Well, the thing is I was looking for you. Only I'd never admitted that, not normally. Because to me, having someone to love is having someone to lose. I've lost more than I ever thought I could handle."
His bear nudged him to keep going. Caleb wanted to back off and start curling back into his metaphysical hole. He didn't want to be vulnerable, but it was out there now.
She sat down on the bed.
"Tell me about you, Caleb. Tell me what you've lost. I can't get my finger on you or your past."
Fuck. Caleb needed to stop pushing her away. His bear was going to rip him apart if he didn't. His skin started to itch. Yeah, the bear was going to take over if he didn't man-up.
"My life's a bit of a mess. I was found as a small child, alone in the woods. Who knows what happened? Shifters can be unpredictable at times, at least from what I've met. At the time no one knew I was a shifter and the humans placed me into a human foster system. Imagine their surprise when I shifted. After that, it was one home after another as they tried to figure out where I fit. Crazy how the world says we all exist and yet at the end of the day the paranormal world and the human world still don't operate as one."
He closed his eyes as Marci absently ran her hands down his back. Her touch had his bear shimmying as if she was the best tree he could find to rub up against. Caleb couldn't disagree though; he definitely didn't have complaints rubbing against her soft skin as he buried himself within her.
"So, what happened next?" she asked.
"What?" Oh right. He'd been talking. "Well, I finally found a house that accepted me. They had a son my age, and we hit it off. That kid was the driving reason I went on to join the military only he went for the human branch, and I was filtered off to the special forces for shifters. He was my brother in every sense of the word."
He broke off. The heat of her touch keeping him out of the depression that rolled in like storm clouds off the ocean.
"That's where I got to learn that we, shifters, are superior, or so they said. In the end, it didn't matter. We can all die; even a shifter can't heal from a shot to the heart."
Frank came to the edge of the bed, his large body shaking the mattress as he rubbed up against them.
"Oh my God. Has Frank been here the whole time?" Marci squeaked.
"Uh. Yeah."
"But he didn't make a peep last night - between all the ..."
Caleb laughed. "Moaning and screaming?"
"For lack of a better word - sure."
"Yeah. Well, Frank's pretty much deaf. Once he's asleep, you won't usually be able to disturb him."
Caleb reached out and played with Frank's ears. Even Frank hadn't made him feel as calm as Marci had.
"But, I thought I'd heard you call his name."
"Have you actually ever seen him come? I do it out of habit; I don't know that he hears me much anymore."
She glanced at the dog. Caleb swore he could see the gears turning in her head.
"Right. So does Frank need out?"
Caleb shrugged. Franks' tongue lolled out the side of his mouth. "Do
ubt it. I took him out this morning before you woke up."
She shifted and tucked her legs back under the blankets. "Oh. I didn't even notice."
He laughed. "I'm not sure I like the idea that you didn't notice." He leaned over for a kiss.
She started to giggle and sunk into the bed. "I guess I haven't slept well since I got here."
"I'm not planning to help you sleep ..." he said.
He planned to help her forget that there was ever a life before him and her.
13
Marci's eyes fluttered open. He hadn't lied when he'd guessed the town would shut down for a few days. Annie had checked in yesterday. The thought that Hazel was adjusting to her small flock well, weighed more on her heart than she'd ever have imagined.
That chicken was coming home if Marci had to build her the Buckingham Palace of coops. Once she figured out how to build a coop.
Stretching, every muscle in her body ached. Muscles in her toes protested, what the hell had she done to her damn toes? She didn't care.
How could she not have realized that this was what life should have been like? This is what love felt like. This is what it meant to find the right one.
Right, because she grew up in a bunch of politically motivated bat-shit crazy witches. Her coven didn't believe in fated mates, let alone love.
Marci dug deep into the recesses of her mind and remembered hearing about a witch who'd married a wolf-shifter. That might be the only witch she'd ever known to marry for love. Olivia and Ethan if she recalled. But that wasn't a typical union either. Well hell. She'd already thrown caution to the wind and welcomed chaos into her bed.
Her toes curled as memory flooded her body. That explained the sore toes at least.
She smiled and reached out for him. Two days and she already didn't want to live without the feel of him. Something tugged at her in her mind, and her magic woke from its sleepy hibernation. Not what she wanted, not here, not now.
Being in a small town, she shouldn't feel the need. In the city, she'd figured out how to surprise her senses, most of the time.
Snowy With A Chance 0f Mating (Move Over Fate Book 3) Page 9