“Please!” she begged. “Oh God, please!”
Rather than indulge her, he pulled his chest off her back and neatly undid the strappy ties over each of her shoulders, undoing her nightdress. He yanked the material down and slid his hands beneath her to cup her breasts. He scissored her nipples between his index and middle finger, pinching them until sweet pain pulsed through her already throbbing body.
“Please…” she sobbed, wriggling her hips. “Please.”
He pushed down, nailing that spot perfectly and making her see stars only to jerk back up again.
“No … please … Kaleb … Kaleb…” His name became the only word she knew how to say. She chanted it over and over again, begging him to end her suffering.
“I’m right here,” he purred. “Deep inside your hot...” He eased with maddening slowness inside her. “Wet body.”
He released the pressure on her nipples, making them tingle and ache deliciously. Her clit throbbed and she tried to grind it into the blanket for even the semblance of relief. She reached for it instead, sliding her hand under her body.
“Oh no, you don’t.”
Her wrists were captured and forcibly pinned just above her head.
“Bad girl!” he scolded, moving inside her, but deliberately avoiding that spot. “I didn’t say you could come yet.”
“Please, Kaleb. Please. I need to come … I need to come so badly.”
“Do you?” he taunted. He reached beneath her, forcing his hand down between her legs. But not to ease her torment. He made a barrier so she couldn’t even touch the mattress. He turned his head and nipped her earlobe. “You’re lucky all I’ve thought about since the other day in the art room was how much I want to feel you come on my cock, or I would make you wait.”
“No more waiting. Please,” she whimpered.
Threading his fingers through hers, he used their hands to position his weight as he tilted his hips. He plunged down, slamming into her, into that spot, again and again, but it only took three thrusts for her break.
It was nothing like before. The sheer intensity was on a scale that didn’t even exist. The entire world was just the sound of her heart roaring in her ears. Her whole body seemed to implode and explode at the exact same time. The pressure blinded her. Something hot and wet squirted down her thighs, soaking the blankets and Kaleb.
He jerked out of her and wedged a hand under her to press his fingers against her pulsing clit, guiding every last quake out of her until she was sobbing and limp against the mattress.
“Oh, my God. Oh, my God…” she wept over the wild drumming of her heart as her entire body continued to tremor as though she’d been electrocuted. Every nerve ending sizzled to the point of pain. She wasn’t even wholly certain she was alive anymore.
It seemed like hours before the world slipped into semi focus again and she became aware of the dampness between her legs. For one horrific moment, she thought she’d had an accident. That the pressure had been too much for her body to withstand. Then her mind reminded her of an article she’d read once about female arousal and how some women were able to expel liquid when they were under intense, sexual pleasure. Yet, somehow, even this knowledge didn’t stave off her embarrassment. For all she knew, he had no idea about that and thought she wet herself. Her mortification knew no bounds as she scrambled up and away from Kaleb.
“I didn’t … it’s not—” she gasped. “That’s never happened before. I am so sorry!”
She felt the bed dip a second before hands were on her, pushing her down onto her back. Her arms were forced above her head and her thighs were filled by his hips. He pushed inside her, still hard. Possibly even harder. Her sensitive walls sent a violent tremor through her that sent her head reeling and her back arching.
“Again, Katie,” he growled into the side of her face. “I want you to do it again. I want you to completely come apart for me like you just did.”
Chapter Twelve
It was dawn when Katie opened her eyes and squinted at her unfamiliar surroundings. A Garfield cookie jar grinned at her from a shelf and she looked away as memories of the previous night washed over her and she felt herself grinning back.
“Awake?”
She rolled onto her back and peered across the rumpled terrain to the foot of the bed where Kaleb was fastening the buckle on his belt.
“You’re dressed … I mean awake,” she corrected quickly, feeling her cheeks warm.
He chuckled. “I didn’t think you wanted your aunt to find us like this.”
Gingerly, body sore in the most fantastic way, in a way only Kaleb could make it, Katie sat up, holding a blanket to her chest.
“Thank you for last night,” she said. “Thank you for coming.”
He dragged his shirt over his black cargos and crawled over to her. His mouth closed over hers in a toe-curling kiss. Katie forgot all about keeping covered and circled his neck. She returned the kiss with the hunger he so easily managed to awaken in her.
“Katie.” He pulled back just an inch and she found herself on her back with him balanced over her with one forearm next to her head on the pillow. He smoothed the side of her face with his free hand. “This isn’t what I want.”
Katie stiffened. “What?”
He pressed his finger to her lips, bottling back her confusion and fears. “Only this,” he amended. “I don’t want to sneak into your room at night and then sneak away in the morning like we’ve done something wrong. I don’t want you to think this is all I’m after. It’s not. Last night, I would have been satisfied just holding you.” He kissed her, slow and beautiful. “I care about you, Katie. A lot.”
Tears blurred his features and she had to blink them back. “I care about you, too, Kaleb.”
With a grin, he kissed her, long and deep. It was enough to get her blood humming and the place between her legs wet.
Kaleb drew away, his eyes dark and his smile wicked.
Without breaking eye contact, he started a slow descend down her body, pushing away blankets to get to her flesh.
Her nipples puckered under the kiss of cool air and his heated attention.
He flicked one with his tongue and pinched the other with his fingers. Katie moaned and threaded her fingers through his hair. But he didn’t stay there.
He continued downward, pausing to press a kiss to her navel before moving all the way to her mound.
Katie bit her lip as her knees quickly parted for him, eager for him to sooth the fire he’d started with only a single kiss. She hissed when he traced her opening, then worked his way up with the flat of his tongue. Her fingers tightened in his hair, urging him on.
“I think I might be addicted to her,” he mused solemnly, working his tongue over and around her clit. He nipped at the bud with his teeth, making her gasp and buck. “I know I’m addicted to you.”
Katie opened her eyes and peered down the length of her flushed body to where he watched her, pink tongue working the blood into the little nub. Her heart tripped over itself at the passionate gleam in the pools of honey.
“Kaleb…”
He pressed an open mouth kiss to her sex and grinned mischievously. “To be continued.”
Katie bolted up right when he climbed nimbly off the bed. “What?”
“Consider it an incentive to meet again.” He smirked at her open-mouthed horror. “Come show me out.”
“But…”
Seeing that he wasn’t relenting, she crawled out of bed and located her rumpled nightdress. She slipped it on and tied the straps as she led the way to the kitchen.
In the doorway, she made him wait as she padded to the bottom of the stairs and peered up, listening for signs that her aunt was awake and moving around.
Silence floated back and she expelled the air she was holding hostage in her chest. She showed him to the backdoor and cursed herself for forgetting to rearm the alarm and to lock the door the night before.
“I’ll see you in a few hours,” he said as
he plucked up his jacket off the chair and swung it on.
They shared one final kiss before he yanked open the door and disappeared into the raising dawn, leaving her behind, feeling hot and achy, yet satisfied.
She shut the door and hurried to clean the mess they’d made before her aunt woke up.
“You look uncharacteristically happy today,” Ashlee decided as they made their way to school, coffees and muffins in hand.
Katie, feeling uncharacteristically happy, snorted. “No, I don’t.”
She felt rather than saw Ashlee scrutinizing her face. Knowing her friend, Ashlee’s eyes were narrowed, her lips pursed in contemplation as she came to her conclusion. But Katie didn’t dare glance over and see. She knew she would never be able to keep a straight face, and telling her best friend she’d spent the entire night having the best sex ever just felt like overshare.
Although she knew she could tell Ashlee anything, this was just something Katie felt she wanted to keep to herself. Her relationship with Kaleb seemed like such a fragile thing whenever she thought about it. But even if it hadn’t been Kaleb, talking about having sex with anyone felt odd. In Katie’s mind, something that personal should be kept between the two people having it, not shared with every person, not even best friends.
“Yes, yes you do.”
Katie laughed. “Can’t I be happy?”
“Uh, no. Not when it puts that goofy clown smile on your face.”
Katie elbowed her. “Shut up!”
Ashlee staggered, foot catching on snow. But she righted herself quickly and caught up with Katie. “That wasn’t nice. You almost made me spill my coffee.” She flicked a coil of hair off her shoulder. “So now you have to tell me.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” she lied. “I just feel really good today.”
Ashlee, eyeing her warily, raised an eyebrow. “Uh huh … and feeling really good includes freezing your ass off?”
She slanted a pointed glance down Katie’s bare legs, exposed to the cutting elements in all the places her boots and skirt didn’t cover, which felt like a lot every time the wind blew.
“I have coffee.” She held up the precious nectar of life for her friend to see. “And school is right there.”
No way was she going to admit that she was secretly hoping Kaleb would make good on his promise to appease the fire he’d started earlier. She had also learned from past experience that pants complicated matters. As did underwear. So she had opted to go without both, which was a strange and atypical move on her part. The skirt was long enough so it wouldn’t flash London and France with her bare bottom, but it was flowy enough so that it could easily be shoved aside if need be. It amused her how much thought she’d put into something that would help her break many school rules.
“Okay, but I still think you’re out of you mind.”
Thankfully, the topic was dropped as they approached the front steps and melded with the crowd going in.
“Lunch!” Ashlee called over the din.
Katie waved to her friend and they parted ways.
Kaleb was in the first class she walked into after exchanging her books at her locker. He stood at the head of the room, perched on the edge of the teacher’s desk with his arms folded and his ankles crossed. He didn’t notice her right away and she took the moment to study him.
He wore black cargos and a navy blue shirt. His hair was swept back and tucked behind his ears. Katie felt a stirring at the memory of her fingers sliding through the dark strands and holding him to her as he did the most amazing things to her body. She shivered and gripped her books tighter to her chest.
A group of girls slinked past her, giggling and murmuring quietly to each other. Kaleb offered them a smile as they passed and their giggles increased. Katie was about to roll her eyes when those tawny eyes reached past them and brushed over her. They lingered a moment too long on her bare legs before roaming back up to hold her gaze.
“Morning, Katie,” he murmured as she walked over to him.
She had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from bursting into a fit of giggles herself. “Morning, Mr. O’Reilly.”
She went past him and gained her seat, carefully folding her legs and tugging her skirt down her thighs. She was smoothing a hand over her lap when her phone beeped. She dug it out of the side pocket of her backpack and checked the message.
“You look beautiful today.”
Katie bit her lip. “Thank you.”
She looked up in time to see him draw his bottom lip between his teeth, barely suppressing a grin as his fingers moved over the keypad. Tentatively, she cast a quick glance over the room, praying no one was connecting the dots. No one had. No one was even paying them any attention. Most of them were too busy playing on their own phones.
“Are you still wet for me?” her phone read a moment later.
Katie had to press a hand over her mouth to keep her grin from showing. Carefully, she took the phone in both hands and typed, “Why do you think I’m not wearing panties?”
The moment she hit send, her blood burned beneath the skin on her face. She was momentarily stunned by how unusually bold and relaxed she was with Kaleb. The only other person she was that open with was Ashlee and her aunt. But even then, she had never gone out of her way to seduce anyone. It felt … liberating and fun, if not decisively shocking.
As a final say, she hit off on her phone and slipped it into her side pocket once more. She sat back and watched as he received her message. She watched as the grin melted off his face and his knuckles went white around the phone. He raised his free hand and touched the tips of four fingers against his lip, eyes still glued to the screen.
“All right, people!” Mr. McGuire stalked into the room, briefcase in hand. “Phones off, attentions on.”
Kaleb quickly hefted himself upright off the edge of the table and stuffed his phone into his back pocket. His gaze flicked inconspicuously in her direction, held for a full heartbeat before shifting away. But that split second was enough to make the butterflies in her stomach go wild.
“Books open,” Mr. McGuire instructed. “You’ll be taking notes this class.”
Katie flipped open her binder. She must have done it with a little too much force because several scraps of paper fluttered free and fell to the floor under her desk. Along with them fell a manila envelope that wiped clean every shred of happiness she’d felt since waking up that morning.
Carefully, like a snake had been unleashed from its cage, Katie reached down and picked it up. Her fingers trembled. Her stomach roiled. She suddenly couldn’t breathe. Blood roared between her ears and it took all her strength not to pitch the thing across the room.
Instead, her gaze shot up to where Kaleb stood, systematically organizing a stack of papers on the desk. His head came up as though sensing her eyes on him. He looked down at the envelope in her hand and he straightened.
Swallowing down bile, Katie turned the thing over to the sticky note holding the flap closed.
“Mm, O’Reilly certainly knows how to put on a show. I look forward to seeing a live performance. Soon.”
It made no real sense at first glance, but she knew the answers would lie within, if she could only make herself open it. She couldn’t. She knew she’d never be able to keep it together if she looked, not now, not in the middle of class.
She stuffed it back into the folds of her binder, wishing she could set it on fire instead. Then spent the rest of class willing herself not to look, not to tear the thing open and see what horrors lay inside.
Class ended an hour later and she had taken no notes and barely heard a damn thing. She had spent the majority of the time watching the clock or watching the envelope like she was expecting it to grow fangs and lunge at her.
The other kids all filed out, but Katie couldn’t bring herself to move fast enough. She just wanted school to be over.
“You dropped this.” A note was placed on the corner of her desk by Kaleb. He said nothing else as he
returned to the teacher’s desk.
Katie unfolded it and read the single line.
“Same place at the end of the block. Meet me there @ lunch.”
She did. The moment lunch arrived, she dumped her books into her locker, grabbed her coat and the envelope and all but ran to meet him. He was already there, sitting behind the wheel, waiting for her.
“That was another one, wasn’t it?” he said when she threw herself into the passenger’s side seat. “Have you looked?”
Katie shook her head and passed it over to him. “I don’t think I want.”
Kaleb read the sticky note. A crease formed along the center of his brow. He tore the thing away and flipped open the top.
Pictures were drawn out. Just like before. Katie looked away. She watched a woman jog up the street and an older couple walk their herd of small dogs. She watched snow fall and cars pass. But she didn’t look until she heard Kaleb hiss.
“How bad is it?” she asked.
Nausea, dread and anger brought hot tears to her eyes as she took the photos he offered her without a word.
They were of her and Kaleb, the two of them kissing in the art room, on the desk with Kaleb’s hand between her legs and his mouth greedy on her breasts. But those weren’t as bad as the photos after; photos from the night before, of them in the shop, tangled across the mattress. Every single moment was captured on glossy 8x10 sheets. She could have made a flipbook.
On the very last picture, the one where she was asleep, curled into Kaleb’s chest, was a bright, red sash with a caption.
“Tick. Tock.”
Katie shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
She flipped through them a second time, searching for a clue, something to uncover the identity of the monster set on destroying her life. But all there was to see was her most intimate moments marred by humiliation and fury.
“Who’s doing this?” she exclaimed.
She looked over at Kaleb when he continued to sit in silence.
He had his elbow on the window edge and his fingers curled over his mouth. The other hand was resting on his thigh, holding the post-it. He was staring unseeingly through the windshield with narrowed eyes. A muscle danced along his jaw.
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