by Nana Malone
She kept giving the command to her eyelids to stay closed, but no, they stayed open as if propped up by some invisible sticks. It didn’t help things to know that Caleb lay less than a hundred feet away from her. If she strained her ears, she could hear him breathing. It did feel better to have him here as far as her safety was concerned. She knew he meant it when he said he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. But for how long? Sooner or later he would have to return to his life. Shit, he had other cases. Having everyone on her was probably taxing his resources.
The tiny voice in her head reminded her that Caleb wasn’t here of his own volition, though she didn’t doubt he would have been, if she’d asked. But he was here on Adele Westhorpe’s dime. Meddling old lady. Micha flipped onto her belly and clutched her satin pillow.
No matter what she did, she couldn’t shake her awareness of him. Of how he studied her. And every time she thought of how he watched her, she also remembered what he’d done to her in that elevator. The feel of his hands, so tender and hot. His lips on hers. How her body had hummed and come to life under his sure strokes and caresses. She also remembered how she’d begged him to make love to her. She tossed her head trying to dislodge the memory. It didn’t matter how much she wished, there was no recalling those words.
Micha groaned. Simply thinking about how else Caleb could touch her made her ache and had heat pooling between her thighs. His sure and nimble fingers had brought her to the precipice of orgasm with no effort at all. And then the way he’d refused to make love to her. Backing away from her and insisting on holding her. She didn’t need his pity then, and she didn’t need it now. She needed him, the man. If he’d given her what she’d asked for, he could have chased away those shadows, but as always, Caleb with his moral code and what not.
Micha felt the pull and ache deep within her. Her sex crying out for relief. Geez, how long had it been since she’d gotten some? She did the quick mental calculation. A year. Wow. What the hell had she been doing for a full year? Oh yeah, she’d focused on her career because she knew sleeping with anyone besides Caleb wouldn’t have done the trick. Shit. No wonder she was nearly climbing the walls with lust.
She fidgeted in her bed again, trying to get comfortable, but nothing worked. Her muscles were too tense.
“Oh, fuck it.” Reaching into her bedside table, she pulled out old faithful. The vibrator she’d bought from one of those women-only sex toy parties the magazine had done a feature on, had come in handy on more than one night like this. Yeah, except that was different. Before she didn’t have an available male sleeping in her living room.
He would never know. And once she climaxed, she could finally get a good, deep sleep. Turning it on, she put it on its lowest setting. No need to wake Caleb. Closing her eyes, she forced her brain to her fantasy of choice—Boris Kodjoe and Channing Tatum attending to her every need. Imaginary Channing kissed a path between her legs, and she slid her hand down her body, but try as she might, she couldn’t get into it. Every time imaginary Boris looked up from her breasts, what she saw was Caleb suckling her on the elevator.
When imaginary Channing licked at her core, telling her how good she tasted, it was Caleb’s voice she heard. Pissed beyond belief, Micha tossed the vibrator back into her drawer. Damn Caleb Atkins. That fantasy always worked. Without fail. And he’d ruined it with his expert touch.
Irritated, she tossed off her duvet cover and sat up. Maybe some hot chocolate with Amarula would help her relax.
Standing, she slipped her feet into her bunny slippers; she remembered belatedly that Caleb was asleep on her couch. She’d have to bypass him to get to the kitchen. And she’d likely wake him in the process. Plopping back onto her bed, she moaned and covered her face with her hands. She needed to get some fucking sleep. Then why don’t you go out there and get the best sleeping pill money can’t buy? Because she couldn’t just go out there and screw him. There would be repercussions. They were friends. It would blow up. Not to mention she’d already tried that before, and he’d turned her down. Flat.
But that was when you were hysterical and vulnerable. Now she knew exactly what she wanted him for. She didn’t need to fill some fearful, emotional void. She desperately needed release. He was there, and he wanted her. He’d said as much. But what if he turned her down again?
Well, there’s only one way to find out. If he turned her down again, she might actually die. She straightened her spine. She’d have to make him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
Taking her hair out of its high ponytail, she shook it out and slipped off her robe, leaving only her panties and camisole. Hopping to her vanity, she quickly dabbed the lightly sweet floral scent of Chanel Mademoiselle onto her wrists and behind her ears, then went to the door. With her hand on the knob, she paused. All she had to do was take the first step.
***
Caleb knew what his problem was. He was a fucking masochist. Instead of trying to sleep like any normal man would do, he’d been straining to hear anything going on in Micha’s room. It had become a special brand of torture when he heard the low buzzing. His cock had gone instantly hard and throbbed against his leg. Enough was enough, he was on the brink of going in to see her, when she opened her bedroom door.
He sat up, shifting his gun from under his pillow to the coffee table. “Micha? What’s wrong?” Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he immediately wished he hadn’t. The sight of Micha in tiny, black undies and a cotton camisole that stretched thin over her heavy breasts and barely covered her belly was not what he needed. What he needed was to bury himself inside her. Yeah.
A couple of hours with her pinned beneath him, then on top of him, then in front of him would help take the edge off. But it wouldn’t quell his desire for her. He’d been living with it for two years. He’d need at least half of that to bank some of the raging need.
Her voice was soft. Husky. “I…uh…couldn’t sleep.”
“Bad dreams?” He simultaneously wished for and hoped she wouldn’t ask him to hold her.
She shrugged. “I’d have to be asleep first.”
He cleared his throat. As she strode closer, he picked up the floral scent, and his dick twitched. “What do you need, Micha?”
“I need a little help getting to sleep.”
Her long strides ate up the distance between them in less than a split second. Caleb’s mind blurred as she stood before him. With her sweet pussy directly at eye level, he couldn’t traverse the length of her torso to meet her eyes. Tearing his gaze away from his prize wasn’t an option.
She reached for his face, then threw one leg over him and straddled him. In an automatic gesture, his arms wound around her. With soft, grey eyes, she searched his face as if looking for permission. She shifted her hips ever so slightly, bringing her hot sex right up against his straining cock. The only things that separated them were the flimsy scrap of material she called underwear and his boxer-briefs. Holy fuck. Caleb wanted to slide into her so deep he couldn’t find his way out ever again.
But this was her show. So he waited.
When she placed a soft kiss on his lips, his whole body tensed. The scent of her perfume intoxicated him. The way her soft fingers brushed against his bare chest made his whole body tingle.
Micha slanted her lips over his again and kissed him harder. As if he could hear the steel snaps of his control break, he slid his hands up her back and into the nape of her neck. Taking control of the kiss, he angled her head so they fit better. He used the tip of his tongue to tease the seam of her lips until she opened for him. Once she did, he took.
Two years of frustration and need boiled out in the kiss. Caleb demanded that her tongue meet his. He tasted and teased and sucked on her tongue in a sensual rhythm that spoke of how he was going to ride her. Soft hands caressed his back and clung to his shoulders as her hips rose and descended involuntarily.
Shit. And he’d thought dry humping as a teenager was frustrating. Clamping both hands on her hips, he held her still and conti
nued to devour her. When she came, he would be inside her. When her orgasm hit, it would be with the slick walls of her sex around the length of him.
He broke their kiss and traced a path of open-mouthed kisses along the column of her neck. His hands controlling the movements of her hips now, he eased her moist heat against his throbbing erection in a pace that he could manage. He tucked her close, then tilted her away, tucked her close again, and away. Over and over he set the new pace, letting her know that he was in charge.
She tasted sweet and spicy. And her hair smelled like heaven—summer strawberries. With a growl, he shifted their positioning, tossing her beneath him on the couch. With too rough hands, he tugged at the fabric of her panties, and a small tearing sound echoed in the quiet of the night.
Micha moaned at the sound, and if possible he felt more heat pouring off her already wet center. Her fingernails dug into his back, scoring the skin, and she called out his name. Fire burned where her nails tore flesh.
Taking the cue from her, he reached for the hem of her camisole and shredded it from belly to neckline, baring her breasts to his view. Her nipples were a dusky rose.
He sucked one pebble into his mouth and grazed with his teeth. He tugged gently and used his fingers to pinch and pluck the other puckered nipple. When he’d had his fill of one, he moved to her other breast and laved at her like she was ice cream on a hot summer day.
“Caleb, please.” She reached between them and cupped him through his boxers. Her eyes flared. “God, you’re big.”
With one stroke of her delicate hand, she had him on the brink of orgasm. Lust raged in his veins, and he couldn’t for the life of him remember why he was supposed to go slow. He burned for her.
Impatient, he divested her of the remainder of the barely-there panties, the same way he’d taken care of that worthless cami. Merely hearing the tearing of the rest of the fabric brought him closer to the brink.
Impatiently, he reached over to the coffee table and snatched up his wallet and pulled out a condom before tossing it back on the coffee table. After making quick work of his boxers and the condom, he positioned himself between her thighs again. With wide, grey eyes, she stared up at him like she was holding her breath.
He stroked her wet slit with the backs of his knuckles, and she rolled her hips into the caress, moaning for him. Her wetness coated his knuckles with her juices. “God, you’re already so wet.” He stroked again.
Micha tossed her head back. “Jesus, Caleb, please don’t tease.”
He chuckled as he slid a finger inside her, reaching into her slick depths. Slowly, he retreated then added another finger. With his thumb, he teased her clitoris by making light circles. Her hips rocketed off the couch, and still he slid his fingers into her.
When she widened her thighs, he inhaled. He loved her scent, spicy and decedent. He had to taste her. When he lowered his head, she mewled. He deliberately blew a cooling breath over her pussy lips, and she shook beneath him. He licked the length of her cleft and relished in her unique flavor. Devouring her. He avoided her clit deliberately. He meant what he’d said—when she came, it would be because he was inside her.
She attempted to tug him up by yanking on his hair, drawing him closer to her. “Caleb please, I need you. I can’t—”
He kissed a path up her body again, pausing momentarily at her breasts. Then he positioned his cock at her entrance. With one stroke, he slid into her to the hilt. She cried out as he groaned.
“You are so tight.” He withdrew an inch and re-seated himself inside her. “Fuck, you feel good.”
Ecstasy and white-hot bliss exploded in his body. He buried his face in Micha’s neck as he struggled to conquer the blistering need to claim her hard and quick. She felt like heaven. Soft, silken heaven wrapped around his cock. At that moment, a hundred armed men could have come charging through her front door and he would have been powerless to leave her.
“Caleb, I need to come. Please make me come.” She dug her nails into his back again.
Though clenched teeth, he muttered, “Shit, Micha. Stop that. Otherwise, we won’t be here for long.”
She placed an open-mouthed kiss on his shoulder. “I don’t want to stop. I want you hard and fast, Caleb. I’m not some delicate flower. I need this.” Her hands slid to his ass, massaged the bunched muscles, then drew his hips forward and tucked him further inside her.
That was the moment his body snatched control from his brain. He drove into her with enough power to make her gasp. No matter what happened, he was never leaving Micha Bennett if he could help it.
***
Micha arched her back under Caleb as his cock stretched her. As he slid into her again, he rubbed against her G-spot, and she moaned. God, he felt so good. His cock sliding in and out of her was what she needed. What she’d been craving since she’d first met him.
With a growl, he shifted their position so she sat astride him and he stared up at her under hooded eyes. “Ride me, baby, it’s your show.”
And she did. Rising over him again and again, she took what she needed. He clamped his hands on her hips and held on, digging his fingers into her flesh.
As he drove into her with thrust after thrust, he stared up at her, eyes adoring, full of lust and…something else she couldn’t quite place. Unable to take the intimacy, she closed her eyes, wanting to only focus on the feelings, how he touched her, how the desire and need unfurled within her. But Caleb had other plans.
With his thumb and forefinger, took hold of her chin. “Look at me, Micha.”
She stubbornly refused to open her eyes. And he immediately stopped thrusting. She snapped her eyes open. “Caleb!”
“I asked you to look at me.”
Heat flushed her face. “I…it’s too much.”
He shook his head and started moving inside her again. “No. It’s perfect.” Pulling her close and levering himself up so they were in a more seated position, he kissed her slow and deep, brooking no argument from her. When he pulled back from the kiss, he resumed the deep thrusts into her. Gently this time, as if they had all the time in the world. “I want you to be well aware of who’s inside you. Who’s making you feel this. I’m not some inanimate object that will get you off. I’m a man.”
Pleasure rode her spine, urging her to go faster, and she rocked against him. “I know you’re a man.”
Caleb pumped inside her again. “I’m glad you know.” Capturing her nipple again, he pinched gently, and her inner walls quickened.
He repeated the motion. Harder this time. She groaned as bliss chased the initial sting of pain.
“You like that?” His piercing green gaze settled on her.
She nodded. “Y-yes.”
He repeated it, and she tossed her head back. “Caleb, please. I need—”
With his other hand, he reached between them and stroked her clit.
“Caleb!” To allow him better access, she braced her arms behind her on his knees as she enjoyed his deft thumb and his hard strokes.
Micha’s orgasm crashed into her so fast she lost her balance on his knees and fell back. Shocks rippled through her body, and she groaned.
With a muffled curse, Caleb grabbed her hips and held tight as he increased his pace. With three more thrusts, he jerked and threw his whole body back. Inside her, his dick twitched and she knew he was coming.
Unable to move on her own, she allowed him to pull her close. He kissed her temple and her forehead and her cheeks, before settling the discarded blanket around them. She made to get up, and he stilled her.
“No. Not yet. I want to hold you for a minute.”
As sleep snuck in like a thief on her consciousness, Micha prayed she would never have to leave his arms.
Chapter 14
Micha woke in a warm cocoon. It couldn’t be morning, because sunlight had yet to stream through her blinds. Micha snuggled deeper under the covers towards the source of the warmth. When she came in contact with a warm body, her eyes popped open.
Was that a—?
Oh yeah, that was certainly a penis. Instantly, her memory wiped away the morning fog. Oh God, Caleb. Micha winced as she remembered how she’d walked out into her front room and climbed on top of him. Oh God, what the hell had she done? Oh, you know what you did. Okay, so she’d slept with him. More like fucked him actually. Right here. On her couch. A couch she would never be able to look at the same again.
Idiot. What the hell had possessed her to do such a thing? His abs. That pretty face, that fine ass. Yeah, so maybe she knew what had possessed her, but she knew better. This was not going to end well. At all. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He snored behind her with an arm firmly around her waist.
Unable to help herself, she inhaled his unique scent. Sandalwood, and musk, and Caleb. God, she loved that smell. It made her feel safe and loved.
But she wasn’t loved. And this was a disaster waiting to happen. It would be awkward as hell for a couple of days. Maybe a week. Perhaps a month or two. No, make that a few years, but this wasn’t going to happen again. He was practically her family, and she wouldn’t fuck up her life here. This was the only family she had, and she would not be screwing it up like this again.
She allowed herself one last indulgent sniff before she gently peeled his arm off her waist. His cock pressed into her flesh insistently, and she smirked. “Yeah, buddy, I’d like another round of that myself, but we don’t always get what we want.”
Rolling off the couch easily, she gently tucked his arm back. As big as he was, it was any wonder they’d fit on the thing together. She’d bought an extra deep sectional because she loved spending her Sundays lying about doing absolutely nothing but reading magazines and watching bad reality TV like Basketball Bitches and Hip Hop Love. Ooh and Shas of Los Angeles. It was her relaxation place. But now, she’d always look at it and think of Caleb, and the way he’d filled her. Caressing her back and kissing her as he sank into her.