Kaleb flung his head back and laughed. “Man. Pops, you tripping.”
“Humph, Pops ain’t tripping. Pops still dipping,” he said. “Ask your mama if you don’t believe it.”
Kaleb frowned. “Man, I don’t need to think of you with my mama, and I’m about to eat, man.”
“Matter of fact, as soon as you bounce and we rock this one to sleep, Pops gots some work to do,” Kael assured him, loving to tease his sons.
“Let me get my plate and get out of y’all way, then,” Kaleb said over his shoulder.
“Got work to do,” KJ mimicked.
Kael chuckled long after Kaleb waved his hand at them and walked into the kitchen.
CHAPTER 12
Two weeks later
Zaria was in line at Home Depot when she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. She shifted the scarf she wore around her neck, thinking it was irritating her skin. When her neck tingled again as she stepped forward in line, she snatched the scarf off and pushed it down into her oversized tote in irritation. When she felt a nervous energy shimmer over her body, she froze and frowned before waving her hand dismissively. That would be insane, she thought at the idea of even being in the vicinity of Kaleb would set off her triggers.
As she moved forward to the register, she smiled at the cashier as she lifted the boxes of new light fixtures from the cart onto the counter to be rung up.
“Kaeden, don’t touch that. You know you allergic to everything,” a deep, masculine voice said.
Kaleb had an allergy-prone brother named Kaeden, Zaria thought before turning to look down the length of the line of customers. Her heart slammed against her chest to see Kaleb and his three brothers at the end of the line. And what a sight the four of them made with the tall and broad physiques, good looks, and silvery hair.
She jerked back around, feeling breathless as she closed her eyes and covered her mouth with a quivering hand.
“Ma’am, are you okay?” the cashier asked.
Zaria nodded and gave him a big smile that was as fake as a six-dollar pack of weave hair. “Um, I’m not going to get these after all. I’m so sorry,” she leaned in to whisper to him. “I’m sorry.”
She ducked her head and walked out the doors of the home-repair chain as quickly as she could, not stopping until she was surrounded by the early November winds. She rushed on her heels to her VW Bug, but she froze with her key in hand before she turned and looked back at the store. The man she loved—still loved—was in there.
She thought about the last time she saw him—at Oscar’s with another woman—and she turned to open her car door.
Zaria, you have spent too much time focused on the negatives of your relationship with Ned that you are denying the many positives that were in your relationship with Kaleb.
Dr. Dennison. Zaria faithfully went to her weekly sessions and felt like it was worth the money. But these days, little bits of her wisdom or insight came to her like she had a mini Dr. Dennison sitting on her shoulder like the Great Gazoo from the cartoon The Flintstones.
Zaria turned again and looked at the store. Was running into him a sign? What were the odds that a woman who never frequented a hardware store would run into the man she pined for on the one and only time she planned to visit one?
What if Kaleb Strong is the one for you? Your soul mate? What are you missing out on because of your fear?
Zaria pushed her car door shut with her butt before she headed back toward the store. If nothing else, she wanted to lay eyes on Kaleb again. Just once.
The four brothers were walking out just as she was about to step through the automatic doors. “Hello, gentlemen,” Zaria said, smiling at the brothers before she turned to look up at Kaleb. Her heart was racing and she felt a swell of love for him fill her. “Hello, Kaleb.”
He squinted his eyes as he looked down at her and shoved his hands into the pockets of his charcoal wool peacoat. “Zaria,” he said in greeting.
“Nice seeing you, Zaria,” Kade said.
“Yes, it’s nice seeing y’all too,” she said, her chest light and her heart fluttering like butterfly wings as she struggled not to release emotional tears. Just being in Kaleb’s presence made her feel more alive than she had in weeks. She wanted nothing more—nothing more in the world—than to wrap her arms around him and feel him. Just feel his body against hers.
“Hey, my girl and I are getting married in a couple of weeks,” Kaeden said, reaching into his pocket for a small square invitation. “You should come to the reception. We just bought some things for it.”
Zaria looked at Kaleb, his expression stoic, before she reached out and took the invitation. “I just might come,” she said with a smile.
The brothers all nodded before they walked away, leaving her and Kaleb standing there alone. He didn’t walk away from her, but he looked off into the distance at something—at anything but her.
“You look good, Kaleb,” she said, reaching out to lightly tug his coat jacket.
“I didn’t fall apart when you dumped me, if that’s what you mean,” he said.
Zaria felt a pang in her chest. “You’re too strong a man for that, Kaleb, and I know that,” she told him softly.
Kaleb finally rested those deep-set eyes on her. “You don’t have to feel obligated to come to the reception,” he said.
“If you don’t want me to come, I won’t, Kaleb,” she said.
He shrugged before he looked away again. “It’s up to you. It’s not my party.”
“I’m sorry, Kaleb.”
He looked back down at her. “For what?” he said, his tone clipped.
Zaria’s eyes filled with tears. “For hurting you.”
Again he looked away with another shrug of his shoulders. “I’m good.”
“I did what I thought was right.”
“Who said you got to choose all by yourself what was right for us?” he asked, his voice hard and his eyes angry when they landed on her.
Tell him. Tell him you love him.
But she couldn’t. She couldn’t.
“It was good seeing you, Kaleb,” she said, reaching out again to tug on the edge of his coat.
“A’ight,” he said before brushing past her to walk away.
Zaria clutched at her throat, her emotions nearly strangling her as her head hung low to her chest. It took all of her will not to crumble to the ground.
That energy between them radiated over her body. She knew before he spoke that he had come back to stand behind her. She couldn’t turn. She didn’t want him to see her tears.
“I never called that girl or even wanted to call her until you and I were over.”
Zaria bit her bottom lip, loving him even more for that. He was a man of honor, and he wanted her to know that he never dishonored her. When Zaria finally turned, he was gone. Her eyes searched the parking lot just in time to see him climb into the back of a four-door pickup.
She watched the vehicle until it left the parking lot.
Kaleb was silent on the ride back from North Charleston to Holtsville. Thankfully, his brothers let him be. They were men in love, and they understood that their brother was in the middle of an emotional storm, and it was particularly important because of all the brothers, Kaleb was the one who kept his emotions close to his chest.
When they walked out of the store and he laid eyes on Zaria standing there, like she walked out of his thoughts, he almost had to shake his head to make sure it was really her. And then the wind brought him her familiar scent and she was smiling up at him, unsure of his reaction.
And that familiar vibe that hadn’t faded one bit was still there. Still between them. Still undeniable. He had felt as if a jolt of electricity was sent through his body, and he had to shove his hands into his pockets to keep from touching her, grabbing her, pressing his hands to her face and kissing her. It took all of his might to resist.
To keep looking away from her at the trees, at people pushing their carts, at random cars dr
iving by, to keep from looking into her eyes and seeing her beauty. Every second made him love her even more.
He had taken small steps to get over her, but that one chance meeting would be a setback. The words I love had rested on the tip of his tongue from the moment he saw the tears well up in her eyes. He literally had to swallow them back, because only he knew how vulnerable and exposed he was when he said the words the last time and she told him good-bye in response.
Kaleb had to be free. He had to put distance between them. To begin his recovery. To not be affected by what looked like love in her eyes. He’d thought he’d seen that look before. He had been wrong.
When he first climbed back into the truck, he had watched her through the window and had seen her watching them. It was the action of a woman in love, but then why not say it? Why not just say it? he wondered.
Because she doesn’t love me.
She misses my dick.
She even missed the good times we shared.
But she doesn’t love me.
Period. Point blank.
That hurt like a motha.
But . . . something with Zaria wasn’t adding up. He couldn’t figure the woman out for the life of him. If it was just a fling, then why the tears? Why the sad eyes? Why the look of love? What was that all about?
As soon as they got back to their parents’ ranch, the brothers saw Kaitlyn sitting on the porch looking decidedly petulant. Kaleb bit back a smile and shook his head as he jogged up the porch. “What’s wrong now?” he asked, playfully brushing her cheek with his fist.
“My friends are all going to Paris and Daddy won’t let me go,” she said, sighing like the world was over.
“Let you go?” Kahron asked. “You’re twenty-four.”
Kaitlyn crossed and uncrossed her legs. “Okay, fine. He won’t pay for me to go.”
“I’m out of that,” Kahron said, backing into the house with the large box he held.
“Me too,” Kade said, climbing into his pickup. “Tell Pops I went to check on the new paddocks real quick.”
He pulled off and headed away from the house and toward the farm on the far side of the property.
Kaitlyn eyed Kaleb, who instantly shook his head. “You know I have a lot of money tied up in the dairy store. Sorry. I’m on a spending freeze.”
She sighed. “It’s just eight grand.”
“Just eight grand?” Kaleb balked.
Kaeden chuckled. “It must be nice on planet Kaitlyn,” he drawled. “Just eight grand.”
Kaeden disappeared in the house as well with a large box of supplies.
“I am going to Paris,” Kaitlyn said, her voice determined.
“Good luck with that, kiddo,” Kaleb said, jogging down the stairs to walk over the same well-worn path Kade had driven to reach the farm.
“Where you going?” she called out. “Sunday dinner almost ready.”
“I’ll be back,” he said over his shoulder, reaching into his pocket for his snug sweater cap to pull down on his head.
He was going to ride the property and just wanted to be alone. He knew if he told his sister that she would have joined him. Kaitlyn loved horseback riding just as much as her brothers—well, all except Kaeden.
Kaleb made his way to the barn quickly and saddled one of the horses himself. It was Sunday, and all of the ranch hands were off for the day. Soon he was guiding his horse toward the north of the property where Kade and his father grazed their cattle. He rode at a leisurely trot, not looking to work the animal and not looking for a workout for himself. He just wanted the peace and the quiet. Reflection couldn’t be accomplished around noise, and as much as he loved his family, they were loud when they all were gathered in one place.
Growing up, he would sneak away from them and just enjoy the quiet. The sounds of nature. The rustle of trees. The cries of birds above. That brought him peace, and it was some semblance of peace that he searched for now.
When he came to the break in trees, a less knowledgeable eye would think there was nothing to be explored, but Kaleb guided the horse through the break and down a path that ran along a stream and eventually came to a small circle of trees. Dismounting, he led the horse to a safe clearing and loosely tied his reins around a sturdy branch of a tree.
He had discovered this little piece of earth when he was just ten or eleven. There were many occasions he would grab a horse and come here—whether to read or to play his handheld video games or to just lie in the middle of the circle under the heavy blanket of leaves to nap during a sudden rain.
He grabbed the rolled-up blanket tied to the saddle and folded it thickly, then dropped it on the ground in front of a tree and settled back, leaning against the trunk and closing his eyes to listen to the sounds of the water running gently and the fall winds causing the browning leaves to rustle against one another.
He would have loved to bring Zaria here. Although he had never shown his hideaway to anyone, not even his brothers, he could have easily seen him and Zaria there in the circle huddled together naked beneath blankets with nothing but the sounds of nature and their sex cries filling the air.
Kaleb released a heavy breath. He wasn’t over her and was beginning to wonder if he ever really would be. What would that mean for the woman he chose to marry one day? She would be running second place to his feelings and his desires and his want of Zaria.
He opened his eyes and looked over to the stream. His breath caught in his throat as a vision of Zaria, nude and wet emerging from beneath the waters, shone before him, playing out like a movie in his head....
Zaria held her hand up to run back over her hair, squeezing the water from the ends. The movement caused her breasts to be thrust forward and moisture clung in droplets from her nipples. She smiled at him as she came to bend to her knees beside him on the blanket where he lay naked and hard and waiting for her. She massaged her soft hands across his hair-covered chest, teasing the tight brown nipples before outlining the jagged grooves of his six-pack and then stroking the tight curls surrounding the base of his hardness. With a wicked smile and a little lick of her lips, she wrapped her fingers around him tightly, causing his hips to thrust up off the ground. She blew a cool stream of air against the tip.
Kaleb shivered as he entwined his fingers in her hair.
She used her tongue to circle the tip before pursing her lips to release another stream of air that made him cry out and arch his back. He tensed his body, trying to prepare for the feel of her mouth in the seconds just before she took his hard heat into her mouth so deeply that the smooth tip touched the back of her throat as she circled the length of him with her tongue.
“Zaria,” he cried out roughly, squeezing his eyes shut as grabbed the ground around him so roughly that a patch of dirt filled his hand. He flung it away.
Zaria hummed as she tasted his drizzle and sucked the tip deeply as if to draw life from him. She enjoyed the taste of him against her tongue. The smell of him filling her nostrils. The soft curls of his hairs teasing his chin. “Good?” she asked, her words barely intelligible because her mouth was filled with him.
Kaleb nodded vigorously as he swallowed over a lump in his throat. “More,” he begged.
Zaria used her hands to guide his thighs wide open and then moved to sit between them. She wet him before she wrapped both of her hands around him and massaged the length of him from tip to base deeply and slowly as if milking him. She bent so low her back ached, but she didn’t care. She massaged the base and took the head into her mouth to tease and taunt and titillate the tip with her tongue with tiny featherlight flickers and licks.
“You know I love you, Kaleb,” she sighed, rubbing the length of him against the side of her face and against her mouth before she again tasted him.
“And I love you.” He moaned, his entire body shivering as he felt his release building. He gasped hotly as the tip became supersensitive to her touch and taste. “I’m gonna come.”
“No . . . not yet,” Zaria said soft
ly, releasing him just long enough to move up and straddle his hips before she reached to hold him as she guided her tight, warm, and wet core down onto him slowly.
She released a dozen tiny cries as she took him into her inch by inch, trying to adjust to the feel of him spreading her walls to accommodate him. “Kaleb,” she cried out once all of him was hidden deep within her.
Zaria sat up straight and let her head fall back, thrusting her breasts forward for him to massage and tease her nipples. Biting her bottom lip, she reached behind her to grab his thighs as she began to shift her hips back and forth in a steady and even motion that caused her walls to tighten down on the length of him like a vise.
She rocked her hips. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth.
Kaleb leaned up to watch the lips of her core surrounding his thickness as it appeared and disappeared inside of her with each movement of her hips. He reached behind her to tightly grasp her buttocks and tightened his buttocks to thrust his dick up deeper into her.
“Ah!” Zaria gasped sharply, digging her nails into his flesh as she began to circle her hips, being sure to pop her hips, at the end of each circle.
“Shit!” Kaleb swore, soundly slapping her buttocks to echo in the air.
WHAP!
“Ride that dick,” he told her thickly, his hooded eyes looking up at her and enjoying the looks of passion and pleasure on her contorted face.
Zaria picked up the pace of her grinds like she heard a sultry reggae beat in the air around her. She thrust her hips harder, pulling on the length of him. Wanting to draw out his seed with a force that would shake him to his core.
“Come in me,” Zaria begged, opening her eyes to look down into his face as her sweat dripped off her body down onto him like a slow drizzle of rain. “Come in me. I want your baby, Kaleb. Give me a baby.”
Kaleb’s eyes jerked open, and he sat up straight, his heart pounding as hard as the pulse of the vein running alongside his hard erection. He released a heavy breath and covered his face with both of his hands.
The Hot Spot Page 16