by Jill Sanders
His hands cupped her, causing her to throw back her head with a moan. He used this opportunity to bury his head in the crook of her neck, tasting and exploring every enjoyable soft curve.
He felt her hips moving against him and couldn’t stop a matching groan from escaping his lips. His fingers shook slightly as he brushed them over the apex of her jeans.
She reached for his shirt and started pulling it over his head. She stopped with a gasp.
He glanced down and cussed under his breath. His bandage was covered in dried blood.
Instantly, she pushed away from him, trying to sit up. “I need to clean that.”
He held her still by putting his hands on her shoulders. “Later.” He almost didn’t recognize his own voice. When she made a face, he chuckled. “Willa, I’m begging you.” He pushed his hardness against her and watched her eyes go wider.
“Caleb, I...” He could see the hesitation in her eyes as they moved back down towards his bandage.
He sighed as he rolled off her and sat up on the end of the sofa. He kept his eyes closed as she moved around gathering the tools she would need to clean him up.
He opened his eyes again when her fingers brushed up against his ribs.
His hand snaked out and took her smaller one, holding it away from him. “You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?”
Her eyes locked on his, and she shook her head. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
He laughed, still holding her hands in his. “Not what I meant.” He took them and covered his painful hardness.
She made a sexy growling sound, but then pulled her hand away. “First things first.” Her eyes locked with his again.
Since he couldn’t find his voice, he nodded instead. She bent her head and got to work cleaning his wounds. It was pure torture to have her fingers brush his skin as she worked. He wanted to be skin against skin, but the more she worked, the more he returned to reality.
After she’d covered his stitches with another white bandage, she leaned in and placed a kiss over his lips. He pulled back and took her shoulders with his hands.
“Willow, we need to talk.” She leaned against him and frowned.
“You can tell me the rest of the story later.” She started trailing kisses along his collarbone. She’d removed his shirt completely. Now he was sitting on her sofa, her skin pressed up against his and he knew he had to leave as quickly as possible. If not for her protection, for his own heart.
“I can’t afford to be distracted right now.” He watched her move away slightly. “Not to mention, it would be very bad if Al or Tony found me here, with you.” He felt his blood turn hot at the thought of what they would do if they found out she was Billy’s daughter. He pushed up from the sofa quickly and pulled back on his shirt. Then he walked over and picked up his jacket. “I’m sorry.”
When he turned back towards her, he realized she hadn’t moved. “I wish things were different.” Her eyes avoided him and he could tell that the more he talked, the madder she was getting. So, instead of explaining, he walked over and grabbed the door handle.
“Caleb.” Her voice stopped him. “Stay the night. It’s late.”
He glanced over his shoulder at her, his eyes heating at the sight of her standing a few feet away. Her hair was still messy from his hands running through it. Her lips called to him, making his desire jump to life again. But he knew he couldn’t, shouldn’t, get involved.
She quickly held up her hands. “You can have the sofa again.” His eyes zeroed on the uncomfortable thing. “You checked out of your hotel. This way you can get a fresh start in the morning. I can even drive you to the bus station.”
He thought about spending a night holed up somewhere waiting for the next bus to anywhere. He doubted they had been followed back to her apartment, so he figured there was no way the gang was going to find him here for one more night. Besides, he had to admit that he really didn’t want to go. Not yet.
“Fine,” he sighed. “I guess I could spend another night on that thing.” He flipped the door lock and set his bag back down.
“Something tells me you know more about the journal, are you going to tell me what it means and why you have it?” Her question stopped him and he thought about heading out once more.
Willow waited. It was clear he was struggling with telling her everything. She still felt like she wasn’t getting the entire story from him, but couldn’t imagine why he was holding anything back.
Finally, after a moment of silence, he walked towards the sofa and sat down once more.
“This thing is uncomfortable as hell.” He frowned and leaned back on the pillows.
Chuckling, she agreed. “It’s the best I could afford at the moment.”
“I thought you had a fancy job at the Gulfarium.”
Her eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“How do you know where I work?” she asked, watching his face turn a light shade of pink. His eyes moved around and he nodded to her backpack.
“I noticed the Gulfarium patch on your emergency bag. Besides, I guessed that you had some medical training, after the way you stitched me up so well.”
She could tell he was lying so she crossed her arms over her chest and waited.
“Fine, I told you I’ve been in town for a while. The first night, I went to your sister’s work.” She felt a spike of anger jump in her chest instantly, but he continued talking, his eyes zeroed in on her feet. “I watched her for a few hours, but knew that it would be impossible to approach her because of all the guys hanging around her. Then I saw you and followed you instead. I figured you’d lead me to Billy, but...” His eyes grew sad and she moved over to sit next to him.
“He really meant a lot to you?” she asked as she took his hand in hers.
His eyes moved back to hers and he nodded. “He’s the only reason I’m alive. I can’t tell you how much your father taught me in the short years I knew him.”
Her throat had started closing up, so she swallowed hard and blinked a few times. “He was never really around long. Not that I can remember. Wendy remembers more of him than I do.”
His hand reached out and he started rubbing her shoulder. “I can only imagine what it was like. Always having him gone. But, know this, it wasn’t his choice.” He took a deep breath.
“How could it not be? He chose to leave each time.” She leaned back as his hand dropped from her. She didn’t want him touching her, not when he had gotten so much time with her father while she and Wendy had been left on their own.
“One of the first things I learned about the Lone Outlaws was that the higher members, like your dad, were so devoted, most of them gave up everything, including jobs, wives, and kids, to run the business. After your dad decided to start collecting evidence, he told me, the safety of you two became his number one priority. The more time he spent with you, the more chance the gang would have of finding out about you.”
She felt her heart skip. “They didn’t know already?”
He shook his head. “No one did. Your dad was a pretty private man. I only found out about you after we’d started talking to the cops.”
“What does all of this mean?”
“All I know is that he always called it his insurance policy.”
“For?”
He sighed and leaned his head back. “I’m not too sure on that myself. When your dad left, the last time”—his eyes locked with hers— “he told me to hold onto it.”
“Then why bring it back here? Why try and give it back to my father?”
“Because it’s no longer safe with me.” He was silent.
“Where are you going from here?” she asked after a minute or two.
“Does it matter?” His voice was low and she could tell he’d answered enough questions for the night.
“Well, if you’re ever near here...” He sat up a little.
“What?” He almost laughed it. “Stop by and pretend to have a normal life?” Sarcasm rolled off eve
ry word.
“Why not?” She shook her head. “I mean; why can’t you have a normal life?”
He leaned closer to her, running the back of his finger down to her chin. “Because for the past thirteen years, I’ve been under this great nation’s protection as a witness, and now that several of the men I helped put away are running free in the streets, I doubt anything else in my life is going to be normal ever again.”
Chapter Seven
Willow lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling fan, and felt like her eyes would never close. It wasn’t as if she wasn’t tired. Honestly, she was very tired, but Caleb’s words kept playing over in her mind.
Witness protection. She’d never really thought it was a thing. I mean, sure, she assumed that it happened, but only in the past. She never really imagined that someone today could be in the program.
If her dad and Caleb had put everyone away for their crimes back then, why had he spent thirteen years, most of his life hiding? From whom? Why? Didn’t the cops know everything they needed to lock everyone up?
She was sure Caleb wasn’t telling her everything. She could hear him in the next room, moving around, trying to get settled.
She’d never thought that her sofa was uncomfortable. Actually, when she’d bought the secondhand thing, she’d thought it was the softest one she tried out. But she was at least a foot shorter than he was, and she’d never actually tried to sleep a whole night on it either.
Finally, after almost a half an hour of hearing him wrestle with comfort, she opened her door and stood in the doorway.
Both of his feet were hanging off the end, his head was shoved into the corner, and half of his hip hung off the edge.
“Come on,” she drawled. “No one ever said I was a bad host.” She motioned towards her king-sized bed.
He sat up a little, his eyes going to the large bed. “Are you sure?”
She chuckled. “The bed is big enough for us each to take a side.” She thought she noticed a slight frown on his lips, but he jumped up quickly and followed her back into her bedroom.
She thought having him next to her would settle some of the nerves in her, but instead, it just ignited even more.
Now, she could hear him breathing deeply next to her. Not to mention she could actually feel the heat radiating off his body from under the blankets.
“Caleb?” she said into the darkness.
“Hmm?” She felt him turn towards her, so she turned towards him.
“Why aren’t you back under witness protection?”
She heard him sigh before he answered. “I was until Tony walked into the bar I was working at last month. By the time I called in to notify my contact, I was already on the run from them. So, I figured I’d hide out for a while, then swing by and drop this off to your dad before heading back in. Who knows where they were going to send me next.”
She sat up a little. “But you said my father called you to Miami?”
He sat up a little, tucking his head under his elbow. He’d removed his shirt to sleep only in his boxers. Had she known that ahead of time, she would have never invited him into her bed. Or, maybe she would have.
“Yeah, he sounded like your old man, but something was off. So, when I reached out to my handler, I was told that they had been working on moving me anyway, since they had proof that my position was compromised.”
“What does that mean?”
She felt him shift and guessed that he’d shrugged his shoulders lightly. “From what I can tell, after moving into Miami, it took less than two weeks for them to find me. I’m guessing the call was a setup to lure me somewhere they could get to me better.”
“Why are they still after you?”
“Payback maybe. But, in the alley, before shooting at me, Al and Tony sounded like they were trying to recruit me again.”
“Maybe they don’t know you were the one to turn them in?”
He chuckled at that. “It would be hard for them not to since I sat across from them in the courtroom and confessed to everything I’d seen since becoming a member of the gang.”
“Ohhh.” She lay back down and crossed her arms over her chest. “What kind of things?” she asked after a moment.
“Willow?” His voice was softer.
“Hmm?” She felt her breath hitch. Instead of answering her, he rolled over until she was pinned under his hard body, his breath falling lightly over her.
“No more questions,” he groaned just before his lips dipped to hers.
The kiss was different than before. Earlier it had been urgent. Now, however, his lips were feather light as he trailed his mouth over hers. His hands roamed slowly over her silk tank top and matching shorts.
Her fingernails dug into his bare shoulder blades, holding him closer to her as his mouth trailed down her jaw towards her neck. When he tugged her shirt over her head, she helped him remove the rest of their barriers until they lay skin to skin. Her legs wrapped around his hips, holding him closer. His fingers were gentle as he cupped and brushed over sensitive skin, following each movement slowly with his mouth and tongue until she was writhing underneath him, moaning and begging for something more.
“Caleb.” Her voice sounded too far away. She was marveling in the taste and feel of him when he tugged her legs wider and settled his shoulders between them. His mouth covered her soft flesh as he lapped at her, causing her shoulders to bound off the mattress. Her fingers dug into his thick hair, holding him, guiding him to where she wanted, needed him most.
“My god,” he croaked, then he was back up, covering her completely. “Tell me to stop,” he demanded harshly.
Her mind and body were too heated; all she could do was shake her head from side to side. Then he was plunging into her, sending every one of her nerves shattering at the same time.
Caleb knew he was going to hell. If he doubted it, all he had to do now was open his eyes and look down at the goddess he’d just destroyed. Not that she looked like she’d done anything but thoroughly enjoyed his obliteration. But he knew there was no way now that he could ever leave her without losing part of himself. Not after what they’d just done. What they’d just gone through together.
“Don’t leave tomorrow,” she whispered next to his skin.
He didn’t have the heart to answer her. Especially since there had been a heavy feeling pounding on his chest since the moment she’d invited him into her room.
“Sleep,” he croaked as he turned and tucked her soft body next to his. His arms wrapped around her, holding her as close as he could. If he was going to be damned, he might as well enjoy the moment.
It took several hours for his mind to finally shut down. He’d listened to her soft breathing as she slept next to him. Finally, hours later, as the light streamed into the room, he felt her twist beside him.
“Morning.” She smiled at him, her arms wrapping around his shoulders.
“Hey.” He couldn’t keep his eyes from seeking hers. “You okay?”
“Hmm.” She smiled and leaned up to place a soft kiss on his lips. “Better than okay. You?” He watched her eyebrows squish up as she waited for his answer.
“I’m trying to convince myself that we didn’t just make a big mistake.” His fingers brushed down the side of her face.
“Why would this be a mistake?” He could feel her tense. He knew they had to talk about it sometime, but figured later was better. Especially since her soft body was pressed tightly against his and he was wanting even more of her.
“No reason,” he lied, pulling her closer and leaning in for a kiss. By the time her lips parted, allowing him to swallow her moans, she had gone completely lax in his arms. Rolling, he tucked her underneath him again as her legs wrapped around his hips once more.
“Mmm, more,” he begged, pushing her knee up to her chest. “I could spend an entire lifetime exploring your soft skin,” he vowed next to her breast. “Running my mouth over every soft inch.” He ran his tongue over the peak and lapped at the point and
then took it into his mouth and sucked.
He heard her moan as she grabbed his hair, holding him, pulling him closer.
“Yes, Willa, just like that.” His fingers brushed against her soft sex, parting her until he dipped into her heat and marveled at the fact that she was wet, waiting just for him.
He ran his thumb over the hidden nub as he sucked at her nipples slowly. He felt her hips start to move, grinding as she followed each movement from his fingers.
“Do you want me?” he asked against her skin.
To answer him, she pushed on his shoulder until he was sprawled back on her bed with her straddling him. Her hips and legs held him hostage as she leaned over him. Her long hair fell across his chest as her soft breasts brushed against his pecs.
He held onto the outsides of her thighs and begged her silently to straddle and ride him.
“The question is... how bad do you want me?” The slight smile on her lips caused his hips to jolt with need.
“Willa, you’re playing with fire,” he growled and squeezed his fingers on her thigh until she moved up and slowly slid down on him fully.
His eyes closed with the pure pleasure. His hips moved on their own, thrusting up until she followed his rhythm. When he opened his eyes again, she had leaned back a little, until her hair fell over those perfect breasts as her hips moved slowly over him. Her hands had bunched on his stomach, her nails digging into her soft palms.
She tossed her head back, closing her eyes as pleasure took her. He figured he could watch that show a million more times and never get bored of seeing her in complete ecstasy.
“More.” This time it was a demand as he flipped her over, pushing her legs high up over his shoulders as he continued to pound into her soft flesh. Her eyes were glued on his, her mouth opened wide as he used her relentlessly. He could feel her building again as her nails dug into his arms. He watched her blue eyes go dark before sliding closed with pleasure.
Only when he leaned down and covered her lips with a soft kiss, did he finally allow himself to join her in complete satisfaction.