by G E Griffin
And boy, I discovered how incredibly stubborn she could be, until I finally broke through her defenses by bringing up the subject of babies.
Shit, I’d even scared myself talking that way, but it was true, I could see Faith as the mother of my kids one day, even though I’d pushed away all thoughts of having a family since my divorce.
But just as I was getting through to her and making progress, stupid fucking jet lag meant I fell asleep as we cuddled up together on her bed.
Next thing I knew was waking up with a start, unable to work out where the hell I was for a few seconds. My next reaction was panic, because Faith had disappeared again, and all I had for company was Stan, her big, fluffy, tabby cat, sharing the bed with me instead.
Then I found her note on the nightstand.
‘Gone to see Harry to apologise for last night. Back soon. F.x’
So she hadn't run out on me again. I heaved a huge sigh of relief as I stretched out and put my hands under my head. The cat also stirred and stretched, as he lazily opened one green eye to look at me.
“So, Stan, how am I going to get her to agree to come back to the States with me?” I scratched behind his ear, making him purr loudly. “I know she’s gonna come up with all sorts of obstacles for why she can't leave here, and I bet you're gonna be one of them, hmm?”
Stan meowed loudly when I paused from my attentions, then closed his eyes in bliss when I scratched under his chin instead to mollify him.
“She could come back for a vacation if she wanted, as well as having her family visit with her anytime. That’s one of the reasons I figure it’ll make sense to meet them while I'm here if I can, to try and get them onside. I also figure meeting her folks will show her I’m serious about wanting us to try to work something out.”
Suddenly, the cat’s ears pricked up at the sound of the front door opening, and he leapt off the bed, no doubt to go begging for more food from his human provider.
Cats. Eat till they’re sleepy, sleep till they’re hungry.
I got off the bed and followed him out to the kitchen where Faith had headed.
“Hi,” I smiled, as I stretched, yawned and ran my fingers through my hair. “Sorry about crashing out like that.”
“You were out for the count, which is not surprising all things considered,” she smiled back, as she filled her electric kettle from the faucet. “Tea? Or would you prefer I make you some coffee?”
“Coffee, please, strong and black. Think I need a good strong hit of caffeine to wake me up. So, how are you feeling now?” I inquired.
“Better, thanks.”
She did indeed look much better, fresh faced, wearing skinny jeans and a simple white top, her silky wheat colored hair hanging loose and natural. I wandered over and took her in my arms, bending down to kiss her soft cheek.
“I’m glad you're back, because I really miss you whenever you’re not around,” I whispered, as I nuzzled her soft, warm neck. She smelt really good, not perfumed, just clean and sweet and nice in her own special unique way. Hard to explain, but she just smelt right to me.
“You’re all scratchy,” she laughed, as she ran her fingers over my stubbly chin.
“Sorry about that, didn't get round to shaving this morning,” I apologised.
“No worries, I rather like it actually,” she murmured, as her eyes started to go all dreamy. I’d noticed before how they seemed to turn a softer shade of blue when she got turned on, which was incredibly sensual. “In fact, I think it’s rather hot, if you must know.”
“Oh, is that so?” I lifted her to sit on the kitchen worktop, and stood between her legs, as I felt myself immediately growing hard as rock.
“Uh-huh, very hot indeed.”
And just like that, the electricity was sizzling between us again.
I leaned back to pull off my T shirt, and then helped Faith pull off hers too. I couldn’t wait to feel her fantastic breasts brushing against my skin again, so I reached round to unfasten her bra, threw it across the room, then pulled her up against my chest. Fuck, I nearly came on the spot when I felt her hardened nipples teasing against my chest.
“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about your sexy little body, how good it feels against mine,” I breathed in her ear as I grabbed her hips and slid her towards me along the worktop until she was perfectly positioned with her hot core pressed up against my length. “I don't know how to explain it, but no one has ever made me feel the way you do.”
“Oh Caleb, this is madness, you know that, don't you? What the hell are we getting ourselves into? Wouldn’t it be easier, safer, not to let ourselves go down this path?” she whispered, as she pulled back to look into my eyes.
“Maybe it would, but it’s not happening, Faith. Admit it, you want me just as much as I want you, because you have feelings for me,” I murmured as I met her gaze, determined to get her to face up to things. “Admit that you missed me when you left. Admit that you like being with me. Admit that we have fun together. Admit that we could have a future together.” I punctuated each statement with a kiss, as I slowly kissed my way down from her eyes, down her neck, until I reached her nipple and sucked it into my mouth and then bit it.
“Fuck, Caleb!” Faith threw her head back as she took in a deep breath.
“Say it. Say you want to be with me. Admit you do care about me.” I sucked in her other nipple, and bit that one too, as I undid her jeans and slipped my hands inside to run them over her soft skin. “Just fucking say it, Faith!”
“Okay, maybe I might have feelings for you, Caleb. Now, for fuck’s sake will you just get on with doing me please.”
She fumbled to pop the button on my fly, then slid her hand inside my boxers to grab my cock, running her hands up and down my length, gently squeezing and teasing my tip.
“Christ, that feels too fucking good,” I groaned, thinking I’d be shooting my load any minute at this rate. She wrapped her legs around my waist and her hands round my neck as I picked her up from the worktop and made for the bedroom.
“I really need you inside me, so just get on and fuck me,” she demanded as I threw her on the bed and quickly stripped off her jeans and panties, before stripping my jeans off too.
“So, what's it to be?” I asked breathlessly, as I stood naked before her by the bed and held up the condom I’d retrieved from my jeans pocket. I’d managed to pull myself back from the edge now, and I was determined not to let us just be swept along by passion without getting Faith to admit what there was between us. “I don't do mindless fucking any more, I'm not interested in quick lays. However, I am prepared to make love to you, but only if you’ll accept that’s what it’ll be, Faith. Making love.”
“I’d say your cock says otherwise,” Faith teased, as she knelt up and reached for me. “In fact, I'd say your cock is very interested indeed in giving me a quick fuck.”
“Oh no you don't,” I grinned as I stepped back out of her reach, knowing I wouldn’t be able to hold back if she managed to get her fingers wrapped round my length again. “Please, Faith. No more messing around. No more dirty talk. Let me hear you use the ‘L’ word. Please. Ask me to make love to you.”
The atmosphere changed, as Faith realised that I was being deadly serious.
“This is really important to you, isn’t it?” she said quietly.
“Yes, it is. This is the moment when you start accepting that we are falling in love, and where you allow it to happen.”
“And if I don't?”
“If you turn your back on us? If you refuse to accept what I’m offering you here?”
“Yes. What will you do, Caleb?”
“Then you’ll leave me no option, Faith. I’ll have to walk away, leave you to your choice of a solitary future on your own.”
“I see.”
“So, what’s it to be?”
“Oh Caleb, there’s really no choice to make, is there? So, will you please make love to me now?”
***
“You are ama
zing in bed, Caleb,” Faith was resting on my chest afterwards, gently running her fingers through my chest hair.
“Glad you think so,” I murmured.
“Well of course you are - you do know that, don't you?” She’d obviously picked up something doubtful in my tone.
“My ex wife wouldn’t agree. In fact, Cassie told me I was useless in bed, along with the fact that she found me physically repulsive,” I confided.
“What? You? Never!” Faith exclaimed, as she pulled back to look at me.
“Yep, and actually at the time she was right. I'd gotten lazy, neglected to take care of myself, so I'd put on a lot of weight. And as far as sex was concerned, in all honesty, things had never been that great between us. We didn't communicate, never told each other how we really felt, or what we wanted. And as I didn't have that much experience before I started dating Cassie, in hindsight I guess she was right, I was a pretty crap lover,” I confessed.
“You are kidding me, right? No one starts out as an expert, but part of the fun in the beginning is experimenting together, so you can figure out what works, and what doesn’t, for both of you,” Faith pointed out.
“We stopped experimenting pretty early on, after Cassie made it plain she wasn’t keen on a couple of things we tried, and I guess I lost confidence after that. Like I said, we were never very good at communicating or talking about anything important. Looking back, I just assumed we wanted the same things, without actually ever checking with Cassie.”
“But how could she possibly not find you attractive, even if you had put on a few pounds?” Faith asked in apparent disbelief, as she ran her hands over my chest and arms.
“Back then, I’d put on a lot more than just a few pounds, because I’d stopped making time to exercise regularly, and so I’d gotten pretty unfit. Flabby, was how Cassie described me, and when I took a long hard look at myself, I couldn't deny she had a point. So, after the divorce I got myself a personal trainer, and set about getting back into shape. I also got to thinking maybe she also had a point about me being too boring and sensible, so instead of carefully investing my hard earned bonus as I always had, I decided there was no reason I shouldn't have a new, fun car for a change, instead of my usual practical choice. Next, I invested in some sharper suits to update my image, which got me noticed and undoubtedly helped my career progression. So I guess in the end, maybe I ought to be thanking Cassie.”
“But what I don't understand is that didn't you tell me that Cassie was a fitness instructor? So surely she could’ve given you some constructive help to get you back into shape?” Faith puzzled.
“You’d think, wouldn’t you? And if she’d been interested enough, maybe she would’ve. But instead she told me she would prefer it if I didn't use the gym at the health club where she worked, because she ‘needed her own space’, so that was part of the reason I got out of the habit of exercising. Turned out that’s where she picked up her lovers, so no wonder she didn't want me around to spoil things for her,” I elaborated.
“And you had no idea?”
“None whatsoever at the time, although looking back it was pretty obvious. I guess hindsight has a way of giving you twenty twenty vision,” I commented.
“Well, whatever your ex-wife may have said about you in the past, Harry certainly thinks you’re hot, and can't understand why I’m not jumping on the next flight over to the States to be with you. But I told her, it’s not that simple,” Faith sighed.
“Actually, it is that simple. Just stop being afraid of what could go wrong, and think about everything that could go right instead. Can't you see how we could be really good together? You got things right with Drew, so you could show me how to do things a whole lot better this time round, kick my ass if I start messing up, that kind of thing. All I know, Faith, is that everything that was missing with Cassie, I’ve found with you. She was never my best friend, whereas you and me, we talk all the time, we communicate, we’re comfortable and relaxed with each other, we even seem to know what the other is thinking a lot of the time. I like being with you, I enjoy your company. You have a really clever brain, which I find incredibly attractive, because it makes you stimulating and challenging. And on top of all that, we have this amazing chemistry between the sheets. I love how you don't just lie there, you aren’t afraid to tell me how you like things, and what you want me to do to you. I love how you shock me sometimes, that you aren’t as shy and delicate as you appear to be at first. And I fucking love how you’re confident enough to take the lead sometimes. I find that a real turn on.”
“Wow. I can't believe this is me you’re talking about,” Faith murmured. “After all the women you’ve been with, that you could have the pick of…”
“I don't want that kind of lifestyle anymore. I’ve got all that out of my system, it was just a knee jerk reaction to a fuck awful divorce. Now I’m ready to put down roots, because I want a home, a wife, a family to come home to. That’s what I always wanted; what happened between me and Cassie just clouded my judgement for a while.”
“I don't know what to say. This has all come out of nowhere, and what you’re asking of me… it’s huge. …” she hesitated. “You’re a good man, Caleb, and you don't deserve half measures, not after the way Cassie treated you. I just don’t know that I’m capable of giving you what you want.”
“Six months. That’s all I’m asking for, to start with anyhow. Keep your place here in London for now, just take the job, come to the States, give it your best shot. And in those six months, let’s put everything we’ve got into seeing if we can make things work between us. However things work out, at least we’ll know we tried, and not be left with a huge ‘what if’ hanging in the air,” I pleaded.
“And if things don’t work out, if I decide I want to come back to England…?”
“Then I’ll have to let you go, if that’s what you really want,” I reluctantly conceded, but only because I was determined to do everything in my power to make her stay. “What have you got to lose? At the very least, you’ll have some impressive experience to add to your résumé. Just say yes, Faith. Six months. You can give me that, can't you?”
Chapter 15 - Faith
Caleb stubbornly refused to give up on his plan to meet my family before he went back to the States, which knowing my family as I did, was very brave of him, all things considered. I really wasn’t that keen on the idea, as turning up with him would send out a pretty strong statement about us, while I would rather have kept things quiet and not involved my family just yet, at least until I had a better idea of how things were working out.
But Caleb would have none of it, so in the end, I reluctantly took him home one evening when quite a few of my family would be there. It was the only time that worked in before Caleb had to go back to the States, but unfortunately, it had been planned as a girly evening to discuss the floral arrangements for Bryony’s wedding with Mum’s cousin Jeannette, whose hobby was flower arranging. Alec and Paul, my sisters’ other halves, had made arrangements to meet up with a gang of mates at the local pub to watch some big rugby match, so that meant the only other male present would be Dad, but even that didn’t seem to faze Caleb.
I’d only agreed to bring him along on the clear understanding that he’d let me handle things in my own way, that he would follow my lead, and not say anything until I gave him the go-ahead. I’d also warned him to expect a less than enthusiastic response to our news.
“No worries, I’m sure it’ll be fine. And anyway, you’re forgetting I’m used to negotiating hostile takeovers,” he joked.
Naturally, my family were very curious about this ‘friend’ I wanted to bring along, and about this important news I had, but all I would say in advance was that Caleb was a work colleague from America, and that I’d explain everything in due course.
I watched with some amusement as everyone gawped in amazement when I walked in with Caleb, but I’d purposely timed things to arrive late, so we’d be sitting down to eat pretty much straight
away after just a few quick introductions, rather than giving everyone the opportunity to launch into their version of the Spanish inquisition.
But trust my dear old dad to have other ideas.
“Well, Faith, it seems you’ve been keeping us all in the dark, so why don't you fill us in about exactly why you’ve brought Caleb along this evening? What’s going on, what's the big mystery?”
Dad had never been known for his subtle approach, so I took a deep breath as I gripped Caleb’s hand to remind him not to get drawn into any kind of explanation just yet.
“All in good time, Dad,” I smiled calmly. “Can’t we just appreciate the lovely meal I'm sure Mum’s spent ages preparing first? There’ll be plenty of time for talking once we've finished eating. So please, no haranguing of guests, okay?”
Dad raised his hands to signify his capitulation, although he still rolled his eyes.
Caleb valiantly did his best to chatter politely while we ate the roast dinner Mum had produced - things like where he was from, details about his family, how he was enjoying his trip to England, how great our museums and art galleries were, that kind of thing. Bless him, he somehow managed to be the epitome of good manners, while sidestepping the real reason for our visit.
While Caleb was occupied speaking to my mum, cousin Jeanette caught my eye, and nodding towards him, she gave a thumbs up, along with a wink and a sly grin. Obviously Caleb met with her approval anyway, and she gamely tried to take the heat off and run some interference for us by talking through the various merits of different types of wedding bouquets, table arrangements and so forth, but I could tell no one was really giving her their full attention.
My family were obviously bursting with curiosity about this hunk of male gorgeousness I’d brought along, but I resolutely stuck to my guns and refused to be drawn, even though I knew Caleb was itching to get on with things.