Kaleb apparently wasn’t having any of that because he slid his hands up her thighs before gripping her hips. “Ride me,” he insisted, striking a chord deep in her womb.
Zoey caught something dark and possessive flash in those quicksilver smoky eyes as she lowered herself gently onto his cock, taking him fully inside of her in one quick thrust. There was initial pain as her body fought to accommodate the width of him, but it was quickly subdued by the increasing pleasure.
“Ride me, Zoey.”
Zoey detected a different side of Kaleb lying beneath her. Gone was the sensitive lover from the night before, replaced by a man looking to force her to take what she wanted. There was no way she could resist, rocking her hips back and forth, letting the friction ignite the nerve endings in her clit as it brushed against his pelvis.
“Lift your hips.” He stated, his lips a hard line.
Zoey could feel his tension, knew he was trying to hold back from her. Here she was reveling in this new side of him that she’d never known, and he was probably worried he’d scare her. She did exactly as he told her, but nothing more, waiting for his next instruction. This was new for her. New and erotic.
Last night, their first time, he’d been sweet and loving; exactly the opposite as he’d told her that he would be. But this morning, there was an intensity in his gaze and in his words that she could relate to. That she wanted more of.
“Tell me.” Zoey stated, continuing to ride his cock as he lay perfectly still on the bed, giving her complete control. She didn’t want control. She wanted to be controlled. Dominated. Taken with the lust and hunger she felt pulsing just beneath his warm skin.
There was a spark of recognition in his eyes, and Zoey was pretty sure Kaleb realized what she needed almost as much as she did. In a move that damn near stole her breath, Zoey found herself face first on the mattress, Kaleb kneeling behind her. Gripping her hips, he pulled her to her knees, thrusting his cock into her in one swift move that had her body spasming, her orgasm igniting, threatening to break loose.
With his fingers digging into her hips, Kaleb began ramming into her from behind, his cock filling her with every thrust, but there was no pain, only mind numbing bliss.
“Fuck.” He groaned from behind her, and Zoey began rocking her hips, so she met each body slamming assault, her muscles involuntarily clamping down on him as she fought to stem the orgasm that was building.
She screamed, reveling in the way he’d lost control, taking her, claiming her, possessing her.
“Kaleb!” Oh, God. She was going to come, her body couldn’t take any more, it was too sweet, too hot, too good. “I’m coming!”
And as she did, her body propelled itself into the ether, every nerve ending ablaze with the ferocity of the way he used her body.
There was an animalistic growl that shattered her mind at the same time her second orgasm tore through her. Kaleb stilled, his cock pulsing, filling her, igniting another mini explosion deep in her womb.
♂♀
Kaleb stilled, momentarily unable to do more than breathe. What the hell just happened?
Well, he wasn’t stupid, he knew what happened, but how the hell had he let it go that far?
“Kaleb?” Zoey’s sweet voice broke through his momentary trance, bringing him back to the present and the soft, female laying on his bed, looking back at him from over her shoulder.
“Are you ok?” He asked, ready to apologize profusely. After the way they made love the night before, for him to have taken her like a wild fucking animal was so uncalled for, he didn’t know what to think.
“Better than ok.” She said, her soft hand sliding over his thigh.
“I’m –” Wait, what? Kaleb looked at Zoey, really looked at her and noticed the smile tipping her lips.
Relief, warm and welcome washed over him as he eased himself back down on the bed, pulling Zoey against him. When she turned in his arms, her small, cool fingers trailing his neck, Kaleb closed his eyes.
“Promise we’ll do that again.”
She couldn’t have surprised him more than she did in that moment. Although what they had just done was tame in comparison to what Kaleb had done in the past; to know that he hadn’t sent Zoey running and screaming from his house made it easier to breathe.
Turning away from her, he still found it difficult to look her in the eye. If she’d only known the things going through his mind, all of the ways he wanted to pleasure her, to possess her, she’d probably blush fifty shades of crimson. In fact, if she knew the fantasies he wanted to live out with Zoey, she would probably never look at him again.
Pulling her against him, he held her close; wondering if now would be the time to insert some distance between them again. Maybe he was on to something all those years ago when he hadn’t touched her, because what he wanted from her now bordered on raunchy and lascivious. To know that she was open to his more carnal urges, he was scared of what he might ask of her.
But he could sense it within her. She loved sex. She was open and eager, the complete opposite of the innocence he’d expected.
Figuring now was not the time to go into that, he forced his eyes closed, willing himself to sleep. For just a little while longer, he wanted to enjoy the feel of her in his arms.
▫▪▫▪
By the time Tuesday rolled around, Kaleb was feeling the whiplash from the emotional roller coaster he’d been strapped to since Saturday night when he brought Zoey back to his house. After their little encounter Sunday morning, Kaleb had battled with some internal demons where she was concerned.
But, she’d had a smile on her face when she asked him to take her home. He’d been surprised to tell the truth, having expected her to stay until he moved her along, which he never would have done if he had a say in it. It was as though the tables had turned, and he’d turned into a clingy woman.
She told him that she hoped to see him later, but as of yet, he hadn’t heard from her. Nor had he called or stopped by to see her and he was feeling like a complete and total asshole. The funny thing was, he wasn’t avoiding her because he didn’t want to see her again.
Shit, if he had a choice, Zoey would be in his bed every night, and he’d wake up to her beautiful face each morning. And wasn’t that a swift kick in the nuts? He did not do relationships, not since the psycho bitch had all but torn his heart out.
“What’s up, Bubba?” Braydon called out as he came banging through the back door, a cluster of energy, just like always. He’d come to call every one of them “Bubba”, with the exception of his twin, and he still did so, even at twenty nine years old. Half the time they had no idea whom he was talking to but since Kaleb was the only one in the small office he knew he was the intended target.
“Why are you here?” He asked. “Thought you’d be out at that garage tear down.”
“Brendon’s got it covered. His job’s been pushed out a couple of days. Problems with the permits or something. He didn’t want to be stuck in the office, so he offered to head on over there.”
Fucking permits. Kaleb hated that part of the job, but thankfully Sawyer had taken over that piece, along with his sales position. Something about being better equipped to flirt with the ladies down at the permit office in order to get what he wanted. Flirt. Right. Sawyer was likely bedding them if they were under the age of thirty anyway.
“So, what’s up with you and Zoey?” Braydon asked, grabbing an energy drink from the fridge and plopping down in one of the chairs across from Kaleb’s desk. As if he needed any more fucking energy.
Kaleb didn’t answer the question, just threw a glare in his general direction, one that told him that he wasn’t interested in having this conversation.
“Come on, man.” Braydon leaned back, sitting his drink on his flat stomach and eyeing him with that look that said he was in it for the long haul. “I always knew you had a thing for her, but seriously? I’m surprised she’d give you the time of day.”
Braydon and Brendon graduated with Zoey, and Kaleb kn
ew his twin brothers liked to give him a hard time about her, but it was only because they were close to her. They might not have been as close as she and Kaleb had been as far as friends go, but they looked out for her just the same.
“Shut the hell up.” Kaleb grumbled, clicking through the images on his screen. They had a big project coming up, and it didn’t have anything to do with demolishing something. If he didn’t figure out a way to get his shit together, he might just be single handedly responsible for sending Travis over the edge. The man was hanging there as it was.
“Did you get ol’ Stranford to come around on the land?” Braydon asked, apparently giving up on the Zoey conversation, which Kaleb certainly wasn’t prepared to have.
“Not yet.” That wasn’t exactly true because Kaleb had another meeting with Carl Stranford that afternoon, at the other man’s request.
To his surprise, Carl had called Monday morning, asking Kaleb to come by so they could work out the deal. It looked like Kaleb’s frequent visits got the man to thinking, but now, based on the news Kaleb had learned just that morning, there might be a bigger problem. He only hoped he could figure out what to do about it before Travis got involved.
“I’m meeting with him this afternoon.” Kaleb told Braydon when he continued to stare at him.
Surprised when Braydon leaned forward, lowering his voice, Kaleb stared back at his younger brother.
“Seriously,” Braydon said, his voice tight, “be good to her, man. That Jason prick she was married to... He was a class act. She might not know all that he did, but the bastard was running around on her for quite some time. Too bad for him, Bren and I found out about it. Let’s just say he was inspired to want to see the world.”
Fuck.
Kaleb stared back at Braydon, trying to grasp what he’d just told him. His brothers had run Zoey’s husband out of town because the slimy bastard was cheating on her. “What the fuck?”
“It wasn’t pretty, Kaleb. He’d been through more women than all of us together.” Braydon said with that lopsided grin that women flocked to. “That’s saying something.”
“Does she know?” Of course she didn’t know, or Zoey might very well never forgive the twins for interfering in her life.
“Hell no. Let’s just say Jason relocated... With his pregnant girlfriend. I warned him not to make his presence known when he comes back to visit his folks.”
Holy shit.
Kaleb couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Granted, he didn’t know much about Zoey’s split with her ex-husband, but that was because his own life had been in utter chaos at the time and it had been all he could do not to drink himself into a blind fury each and every night.
“She’s a friend.” Braydon confirmed, sitting up straight once again. “No one wants to see her hurt.”
Kaleb was top of that list. The problem... He wasn’t so sure he wouldn’t be the one to do just that. The woman stoked a fire in his blood, one he feared he wouldn’t be able to control. More than that, he worried he’d push her beyond her limits and she’d be disgusted by what she learned about him.
The rumors about the Walker boys weren’t just rumors. It was a hard fact – one their parents weren’t exactly fond of, but had chosen to turn a blind eye to – that they shared women. Braydon and Brendon were notorious for it, but the others, with the exception of Ethan that they knew of, had had many of women between them. At the same time.
Kaleb would be the first to admit the difficulty in denying the urges. The pleasure that they could bring a woman when there was more than one of them was intoxicating. They didn’t flaunt it, but they didn’t deny it either. Kaleb knew when it came to Zoey, he’d dreamed about taking her, watching her come apart at the hands of one of his brothers, or hell, his best friend Gage, but he also knew he could restrain the urge if needed.
He hated himself for it, but heaven help him, he didn’t want to hold back. And that was what he feared would be the final straw when it came to what might be happening between them.
“You don’t have to worry, Bray. I hear you loud and clear.” Kaleb mumbled as his brother walked out of the room, but he knew he heard him.
Now if he could just get the situation with Carl Stranford taken care of, he might have half a chance of proving to Zoey that he had her best interest in mind. Not that what he had to do was going to be easy, nor was it going to make any of his brothers happy with him.
Chapter Ten
♂♀
“Mr. Stranford?” Kaleb called from the porch, after rapping his knuckles on the door.
Zoey’s truck wasn’t in the drive, which meant she was probably working or maybe out with Vanessa. Likely Carl’s reason for scheduling this impromptu meeting so late in the day.
Being that it was a little after five, Kaleb wasn’t sure when Zoey was going to be home. He only hoped he and Carl could come to a decision before then because he was almost certain she wouldn’t be any happier about the situation than his brothers were going to be. Which couldn’t be helped.
“In here, boy.” Carl’s gruff voice called from the interior of the house.
Kaleb let himself in, glanced around just to reassure himself that Zoey wasn’t there. Not that he didn’t want to see her. Just the opposite. But if he was supposed to have a conversation with Carl, having Zoey close by would likely be too much of a distraction.
“Thanks for coming over here.” Carl said from his reclining chair.
Kaleb glanced around the tidy living room; one he remembered being exactly the same for most of his life. Only now it seemed a little dated. That didn’t say much for Kaleb’s age either. There was a time in his life when the room would have been in style so to speak.
“Have a seat.” Carl pointed to the couch, and Kaleb did as he was told. Folding himself down to the couch, he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, giving Carl his attention.
“I’ve been thinking about this offer. You know,” Carl said, swinging his arm as though encompassing everything around him, “the one you boys made.”
“Yes, sir.” Kaleb replied, knowing exactly which offer he was referring to.
“If you’ve done any research, I’m sure you found out more than you should have.” Carl continued, not looking directly at him.
On the short drive over, and for the better part of the afternoon, Kaleb wondered whether Carl was going to bring it up. He’d been struggling with how he was going to approach the man with his new offer. One that would likely have his brothers going ape shit, but not something Kaleb had given a second thought to.
“I’m aware of your situation, Carl. Which is why I came without Travis. My brothers aren’t yet aware, and I didn’t want to bring them into it until I spoke with you.”
“Son, this house has been in my family for generations. My great, great grandfather built it with his bare hands, and knowing I’m going to lose it after all this time has been almost as heartbreaking as losing my sweet Isabelle.”
“Sir, about that...” Kaleb interjected, but Carl quickly cut him off.
“When you boys first started talking about buying the land, I was furious. Completely out of my mind with grief knowing that I was being backed into a corner, and didn’t have any way out. It’s a good offer,” Carl said, looking at Kaleb for the first time. “Not the best,” he chuckled, “but a good offer.”
For a few minutes, both men sat in silence while Kaleb tried to come up with an easy way to say it. When he finally realized there wasn’t an easy way, he blurted out what had been hanging on the tip of his tongue just a few minutes before.
“Mr. Stranford,” Kaleb clasped his hands between his knees, looking down, then back up at Carl, “I’d like to buy all of the land.” When Carl would have interrupted yet again, Kaleb held his hand up. “Now wait, hear me out.”
There was a glassy sheen in the old man’s eyes, and Kaleb swallowed hard before he managed to force the words out. “As you may know, Travis, Sawyer and I are looking to build this resor
t, which is why we approached you in the first place. My younger brothers will take over Walker Demolition completely while the three of us focus on this. We’ve secured the approvals and have submitted the permits, but without the land, we can’t move any further.
“I’d be happy to show you the plans, which consist of the one hundred acres we approached you about originally.”
Carl stared back at him, speechless, but giving Kaleb his full attention.
“I talked to the bank this morning, Carl.” Kaleb admitted reluctantly. “I’m prepared to offer you the original amount we discussed for the one hundred acres adjacent to the Walker land. That’s where we’d like to build the resort.”
Carl nodded his head, and Kaleb didn’t know if it was an agreement to their offer, or just an acceptance that it was being made. Either way, he continued.
“You’re going to lose your house, Mr. Stranford. You’re on the brink of foreclosure.”
Carl turned away, his eyes glassy yet again.
“From where I sit, you’ve got three options. First, you take that money, and you refinance to save your house. Or, you let me buy the entire property,” Kaleb didn’t have a chance to continue because the gasp from behind him told him that Zoey was standing there, obviously listening to the conversation.
“Daddy!” Zoey exclaimed, not looking at Kaleb.
Fuck.
Kaleb turned, saw her standing in the doorway, looking just as radiant in a pair of leggings and an oversized t-shirt with her hair pulled back in a ponytail as she had on Saturday night dressed up in that sexy, frilly dress.
“Zoey.” Her name was on his lips, but he couldn’t seem to move from where he was. The glare she shot him was filled with confusion and... Anger.
“Honey,” Carl said firmly, “this doesn’t concern you.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” She insisted. “I’ve heard about the Walker’s plan to buy out the land, and if you want to know the truth, I wondered why you were being so damn stubborn, holding onto it, but Daddy, you can’t sell them everything. You just can’t.”
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