by Luna Maye
When she was finished, the clock read 1:00 a.m. and she gently kneeled by the sleeping mountain man on her floor, whispering his name as loudly as she dared before tapping him on the shoulder.
“Wha-what is it? Shelli? Baby girl, are you okay? What are you doing down here?”
His hair stuck up in little tufts to the sides of his head, and his eyes were so wide and bewildered that she couldn’t help a little giggle.
“I’m okay, Cal.” She soothed him, rubbing his shoulder a little until he eventually dropped his head heavily back onto his pallet.
“What time is it?”
“It’s around one.”
He peered up at her, dazed and confused, but his honeyed eyes were fueled by such tenderness it took her breath away. She felt overwhelmed by the scope of the affection she saw there and her request came out more like a stuttering child seeking comfort in the night than the grown woman she really was.
“I just…wanted to be held. Would you come to bed with me?” She peeked up at him through her lashes, not wanting to be rejected but understanding if he felt she was too fragile or too much effort. He eyed her carefully, his gaze piercing, assessing. His findings must have been satisfactory, because he rose to a crouch, swooping his arms under her legs and back before depositing her on her side of the bed. He tucked her in snuggly and lifted the blankets on his side to slide in behind her. His body was warm, solid and hard against her back. His arms quickly came around her, one snaking underneath her head until her neck was cradled on his bicep, the other wrapping around her waist where his massive, callused hand palmed her lower belly.
“Is this okay, Shelli? Are you and your head comfortable?”
She wiggled a little back into him, feeling his length harden against her rear. A little reluctantly, she rolled to face him, nodding in answer to his question.
“I’m trying not to overthink this, but I need to know, why do you want this now? Did you have a bad dream, did something happen?” His eyes searched hers in the pale moonlight filtering in from her open windows and she met his gaze completely openly for the first time since the accident. She wanted to memorize him in this moment — his warm body encasing hers, the soft light shining down on his semi-wavy hair. His beard was a little scraggly and she reached out to brush her finger through it, then pushing her hand up to glide her fingers over his warm, soft lips.
“I found my journal from the last year and read it tonight.” The words left her lips in a rush, cascading out more quickly than expected once she got them started.
Cal took a deep breath, sucking in air with his surprise and she felt it rush past her fingers. She moved her hands lower, tracing down the soft slope of his throat and lightly tracing his pectorals through the soft worn cotton of his t-shirt while he processed what she’d revealed.
“Anything interesting? Did you remember anything?” His eyes looked guarded but hopeful. His head leaned back so he could make eye contact easier as he spoke and when she lightly ran her fingers over his chest in delicate little circles he shivered.
“I don’t remember much more than what I read tonight, but I’m a pretty detailed journal-er so I got a lot of specifics.”
She let her finger rove lower, outlining the squares of his abdominal muscles slowly one by one as she spoke.
“I read about Victor and Mina and how they fell in love.”
“Mhhmm.” His voice was throaty and a little strained as she continued tracing, moving from his top two abdominals down to the middle. His eyes were glassy and glazed, his pulse thumping hotly in his throat.
“And then, I read an interesting entry from several months ago where I met a new guy at the resort and somehow got the undeniable urge for dick for the first time in six years.” She could hear the smile in her own voice, as she moved her hands down another level. Knowing she was torturing him, keeping him on edge was giving her a sense of satisfaction she couldn’t deny.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, Cal. Somehow you gave me my first orgasm in twelve years and put a baby in my belly, all in a day’s work.”
She let her hands trail the just under the elastic lip of the old athletic shorts he’d been wearing to sleep, surprised to feel bare skin and no underwear underneath. He let out a tortured groan as she continued speaking, and she could tell he was gripping tightly to his own control.
“I need to know. Did you do the things you’d planned? Did you go make a life for us?”
She held her breath, not wanting to hear the answer she expected, that she felt she deserved. Why would he alter his whole career, his life’s work for a woman he’d met only twice, despite their intimacy? He tipped her chin up to meet his gaze, his eyes shining with an earnest light she couldn’t mistake even in the dimly lit bedroom.
“I did.”
She felt emotion well in her eyes. This man, the father of her child had been planning for them all along? He’d rescued her and cared for her tirelessly the past few days, and she felt overwhelmed by the implications of his actions, by the purity, the loving light in his gaze. She leaned in, her lips softly meeting his.
He was warm and sweet, his lips lightly chapped by his time outdoors and his beard teased her lips up into a little smile. He kissed her back, taking control and softly, slowly learning every corner of her mouth as she opened for him. Their tongues tangled together, the muted passion of their sleepy kiss escalating until Cal rolled, bringing her body to rest on top of his, her legs spread across his hips as she worked her fingers into his hair, unwilling to let their connection go.
He nipped her lip as she shifted her core against him, grinding her center down on the hard ridge of his length. Cal’s fingers trailed down the front of her tank top, the skinny-strapped contraption doing little to contain her round, heavy breasts. His thumbs across her pebbled nipples, before he brought his lips down, sucking one areola until it showed pink through the soaked fabric of her shirt.
She cried out, her back arching, her neck tilting back in a graceful line as she rubbed harder against his length. Her silky boyshorts slipped and slid against the fabric of his sleep shorts, aided by the moisture pooling between her thighs. She whimpered needily as she pressed hard and ground down more frantically against him. She felt Cal’s hands trail up her smooth legs and latch on to her ass. Each palm gripped one of her cheeks tightly, giving her better friction as she rode wildly against him.
His mouth popped off her sensitive, reddened nipple and he looked into her wide eyes as she neared her peak.
“Listen to me, Michelle Sutton. You’re mine, you’ve always been mine and you always will be mine. Ya hear?” He thrust up harder at the last moment, causing her to whimper loudly and press herself back into him before he gripped her and pulled her back, denying her need for relief.
“Wha-what? No, please, I need it.” Her hips wiggled in midair as she frantically searched for pressure. Cal looked up at her, a small smug smile on his face, no doubt remembering her earlier torment as he held her back. She had a wild idea of her own and popped two fingers in her mouth, wetting them as she made eye contact with her ruthless captor, and then pushing them down toward the waist of her sleep pants.
“No,” Cal bellowed, swatting her hand away and dropping her back down onto his own aching center. She was just about to grind down on him again when he stopped her.
“I’ll provide you pleasure from now on, baby girl. I just need to hear you tell me who you belong to. I need it, Shelli, as much as you need the release. Please. Who do you belong to?” His voice from gruff and desperate, his eyes wild, escalating with each request. He gripped her ass cheeks again and ground her down onto him as he took her mouth in a hard, desperate kiss, his beard abrading her cheeks, as he owned her completely.
“I’m yours, Cal. Always only yours.” She breathed her answer out as soon as they broke apart for breath. As soon as he heard the words, he pressed up against her, pressing her ass apart with his hands and giving her the friction she desperately needed. Sh
e went off like a rocket, and he swallowed her cries of ecstasy with his mouth, gently, thoroughly kissing her as she rode out the aftershocks of her orgasm. She collapsed onto his chest, and he pushed her hips up onto his abdomen so her head could fit more comfortable against his torso. Brushing her hair back from the nape of her neck and pressing his lips against her hair, he whispered something she couldn’t quite make out. As she let her weariness from the day and the soft buzz after her orgasm carry her over into sleep, she couldn’t help but think, whatever he’d said sounded an awful lot like love.
20
Cal
A light tickling sensation brushed against Cal’s nose and he swiped it away, only for it to return seconds later, sticking against the wiry hair on his upper lip. Light filtered in between the gauzy curtains over the windows and he was slowly but surely realizing he wasn’t in his own room. A heavy weight braced his body and he opened his eyes to discover Shelli, still asleep on his chest. He smiled down at her, memories of the night before filtering through his mind like shadows of a dream. A very, very good dream.
He gently brushed the hair away from his face, laying a soft kiss on the top of her head. Joy surged through him as he remembered her coming to him the night before, remembering their time together and showing him she wanted to move forward. Now, they could officially be a family.
She stirred a little, scooting herself deeper beneath his chin and curling further into him. He traced a line down her back through the thin fabric of her tank top and relished her closeness, her warmth.
Shelli leaned up, a sleepy, dreamy smile on her face as she kissed the tip of Cal’s nose before laying her head back on his chest, eyes still closed. He chuckled a little at her reluctance to wake up, from what he’d experienced so far his baby girl had not become a morning person until after starting her catering business and she’d reverted back to her old grumbly morning ways after the accident. He rubbed his hands down her back, lightly trying to wake her up a little, when the shrill ring of her phone sounded off from the bedside table and had her leaping from his arms to retrieve it.
“Hello?” She answered breathlessly and her voice was a little scratchy, probably due in part to all the desperate moaning she’s let out late last night. He smiled smugly to himself, enjoying watching Shelli as she sat up on the edges of the bed. His satisfaction was short lived however, as a soft, worried frown furrowed her while she listened to whoever was on the other end of the line.
“I’m sorry, we had what scheduled tonight? Uh huh and for how many? Do you have a contract detailing what we agreed on that you could send me?”
Shelli’s eyes grew wider and more panicked with every minute she stayed on the phone. Her responses were short, practical and composed but Cal could almost feel her fracturing under the stress of whatever the caller was telling her. A contract? There must be a catering obligation today, but he had no idea what it could possibly be. The lodge slowed down a bit during the fall, other than guiding elk hunters who mostly camped in the backcountry and wouldn’t need meals.
Oh no. He remembered what it was just as Shelli apparently heard it from the owner of the hotel or the planner, whoever was calling her to confirm the job.
“A wedding?” For the first time Shelli’s voice sounded shrill and on edge with her response. The owner of the resort’s daughter was getting married, apparently tonight. He’d lost all track of time since the accident and as he looked over at the calendar hanging on the back of Shelli’s door he saw it was already Saturday. The resort owner’s daughter was having a sizeable party, with around 300 guests. With Shelli’s inability to cook, they were going to have a lot of work on their hands to pull off an event of that size, especially a wedding. He pulled up his phone, firing off a text to Mina and Victor as Shelli wrapped up her call.
“Umm… I don’t even know what to say. Or do. How am I supposed to have everything ready for a wedding with freaking 300 guests by six o’clock tonight?” She hopped off the bed and paced back and forth beside it, her feet stomping frustratedly and wringing her hands in front of her. Cal’s eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to her breasts jiggling with every step through her thin tank top and he tried to pull himself together to focus on the task at hand.
“Come back over here, baby, and sit with me. I’ll tell you what we’re gonna do.” He scooted himself up the bed so his back was against the headboard and held out a hand to the sassy stomper across the room.
“Up you go.” She clasped his hand and he pulled her into his lap facing him. Locking his arms around her and threading his hands together at the small of her back, he gave her the security he knew she needed in order to be able to calm down and process what would happen over the next few hours.
“Now, this is a big event but thankfully, there are a lot of people here who love you and want to help you, so throughout today I want you to see what we do as a labor of love. You got me?” He raised his brows at her as he asked the question, searching her eyes for understanding. She sighed a little and settled back against his hands, laying her hands on the tops of his shoulders. She met his gaze a bit reluctantly, her eyes warm but cautious as she answered.
“Got you.”
“Alright, that’s good baby. Now, I’ve already texted Mina, and she’s rallying the troops for you. You’d already hired some of the girls as servers so that part is taken care of and they’ve served events at the lodge before so you don’t have to worry about that.”
She nodded softly, urging him to continue, at least one thing removed from her plate.
“You’ll have the requirements for this job in the contract you asked for and recipes at your shop. I think the main course is supposed to be prime rib, I noticed you had a lot of those in your walk-in when we visited the bakeshop the other day. Victor and I can take care of that in the smoker out back. I’m sure you have a recipe for them somewhere.” He made eye contact with her forcing her gaze to meet his and check-in on how she was doing. She looked a bit more relaxed than before, even if she was almost vibrating with her need to get up and get going.
“Now, I think Rita can come help with the deserts, while you, Mina, Isabel, and Reina handle the side dishes and the early courses. I’m pretty sure I heard the owner complaining about the special baker he had to hire for the wedding cake last time I was in his office, so you don’t have to worry about that. Mattie and Moises can be our gofers if we run into any issues. We’ll get this all taken care of, Shelli. I promise.”
“Sir, yes sir.” She snarked at him, her nose crinkling and her eyes dancing with just a hint of laughter as she peered up at him. “Any chance I can get up now so we can get this show on the road?”
“I’ll think about it and get back to you.” He playfully squeezed her up tighter, happy to see her happy, and then released her with a little pat on her right ass cheek as she hurtled off the bed toward the shower.
Shaking his head as she left, Cal pulled himself out of bed and went to change his clothes, only to realize the inside of his shorts were still a little sticky with his release from the night before. Oh well, looked like he needed a shower after all. He smiled to himself as he opened the door to the steamy bathroom where Shelli was already behind the shower curtain.
“It’s just me,” he said softly as he pulled back the curtain and stepped in behind her, his eyes eating up the soapy expanse of flesh he encountered inside. He rubbed his hands down her back and around to her belly, giving it special attention as he gently washed her with he hands.
“Cal, that feels so good, but we don’t have time for this. We’ve got so much to do.”
“Well, honey, I was just planning on helping you wash, but that kind of sounds like a challenge to me.” He dipped his head, kissing her softly on the collar bone from behind as he ran one had up to cup her breast, the other roving lower and dipping in between her legs as he plucked at one hard nipple.
“How long do you think, baby girl? One minute? Thirty seconds?” He punctuated his questions with a c
ombination of two-fingered thrusts into her channel and deep pressure with the palm of his hand. He laved her neck with his tongue as he whispered a countdown in her ear, never stopping his assault on her body. She was beautiful like this, soft and pliant up against him. The warm, wet air of the steamy shower causing her hair to curl in tendrils around her face and her eyelashes to be dotted with glistening pearls of moisture. He felt wetness coat his fingers and her body tighten as he started the last ten seconds of his countdown, but she apparently needed even less time than he’d accounted for and by the time he got to five she was already shuddering in his arms. She turned to face him and kissed him deeply on the lips, searching out their connection with soft nips and gentle tongue.
“Thank you. Not just for that, for everything. Thank you for believing in me, supporting me, rescuing me, giving me this baby — you’re everything I could have asked for and more.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, Shelli Sutton, I like you, just a little bit.”
“I like you a little bit too.”
A sharp knock on the bathroom door broke them out of their eye-locked trance as they heard Isabel yell through the door.
“Hey lovebirds, wrap it up.” She snickered a little bit under her breath and Shelli rolled her eyes, they both knew some sort of lame joke was coming next. “Hah, guess you guys forgot that last time, huh? I’m here to help Shells get ready, so get out and get a move on.”
They could hear her footsteps trailing down the hallway to the living room as each of them wrapped up in a towel and went back into the bedroom to get dressed. Cal put on a casual t-shirt and jeans since he’d be mostly support staff for this operation and he was done quickly, relishing his opportunity to watch Shelli complete her daily routine. She dug around in her drawer for a stretchy, simple black thong and a pale nude bra that matched her skin, and before she grabbed her clothes out of the closet she spent a little extra time rubbing lotion that smelled warm and sweet on her belly.