by Afton Locke
“I’m so sorry I put you through that, honey,” he whispered.
“It’s not your fault we’re not the same color,” she said, hugging him back. “At least I can be a decent person going forward.”
What a woman she was, always trying to work hard, live an honest life and do the right thing. The very qualities that made him love her were going to drive him out of his mind.
She pulled back just enough to look at him. “Do you see? Getting this housekeeping job is like having my past restored, the way it was before Mama died. It’s my second chance in life to do the right thing.”
He did understand, more than she knew, but that didn’t make it any easier. Heaving a sigh of resignation, he grasped her chin between his thumb and forefinger, wishing the velvety texture of her skin wouldn’t make his groin so tight.
“Pearl, I want you to know I’ll never make you do anything you don’t want to do.”
She gently removed his hand. “Thank you. Now if you’ll show me to the attic, I’ll freshen up before I cook your dinner.”
“The attic?” Did she honestly expect him to let her sleep up there? “Nonsense. You can have the large spare bedroom.”
“The small one will be just fine.” She reached for her suitcase by the door. “What would you like for dinner?”
He took the luggage for her. “I’m afraid I don’t give a damn about dinner right now.”
What he truly hungered for he could no longer have. He had no idea how he was going to live with such temptation without losing his mind but he would try his best, for her.
Chapter Fourteen
When Pearl woke up the next morning, Caleb had already left for work. After going out to buy some new hairpins, she found cleaning supplies in the kitchen and rolled up her sleeves. Where to begin? The house needed a lot of work but it couldn’t all be done in one day. She grabbed the feather duster, deciding to start with dusting.
She wanted to do a thorough job since she’d disappointed Caleb with her vow of chastity. He was a fine man to respect her wishes. It wasn’t easy for her either. She’d dreamed about being in that big bed of his last night with his lean hips flexing between her open thighs.
As she dusted a picture of him hanging in the parlor, she lingered to admire his pale eyes and dark moustache. Even his serious expression intrigued her. He held up a big fish in the picture. She clung to the textured wallpaper for support because looking at his strong hands made her skin burn to feel them on her again—caressing her inner thighs, tugging at her nipples…
Get that thought right out of your mind, Pearl Wilson. You have a job to do.
The Victorian chairs and heavy antique tables reminded her of Annapolis and she dusted each one with care. Everything was heavy and solid with quality. The thick rugs on the wooden floor cushioned each step and she hadn’t felt this clean in weeks after soaking in the big bathtub last night. Even the flushing toilet delighted her.
Caleb’s home was worlds apart from the Johnson cottage and standing at the shucking table all day.
This is your second chance, child. Don’t ruin it. Pearl heard her mother’s words as if she were in the room with her.
She saved the upright piano for last. After dusting it, she sat on the padded bench and rolled back the cover from the keys. The window next to it, on the side of the house, had a view of the street and bend of shoreline where a seagull squealed, wheeling against the autumn breeze.
Would Caleb mind if she played his piano? She just tested one key, resolving to ask his permission this evening. The resonance of that one note pulled her back to the past and Annabelle’s piano lessons. Unable to stop herself, she played a song she knew by heart and then another.
How happy Caleb’s wife must have been, she thought as she looked out the window. How lucky, too, to be able to marry him. She looked down at the keys, black ones mixed with white. If the music from these different-colored keys could harmonize so well, why couldn’t she and Caleb in the eyes of society?
She put the key cover back down and stood, thinking she should be at the shucking plant instead where there was too much commotion to think about the impossible. To distract her thoughts, she turned on the big radio.
Next, she cleaned the intricate crevices of the curlicues in the carved wood of the furniture and started polishing. The hours flew by as she worked. When the sun began to set while she worked upstairs, she realized the task wasn’t going to get done today. The constant physical activity finally made her eyelids and limbs heavy.
She went into Caleb’s room, inhaling the faint masculine scent from his shaving supplies. The heavy furniture, combined with the dark green of the rug and broad stripes in the wallpaper, reminded her she was in a man’s lair.
Then she stared at the bed. It looked massive and imposing yet inviting and comfortable at the same time, just like the man himself. He’d made it very clear how much he wanted her in it. He had no idea how much she wanted to be in it too.
As she ran her hand down one of the dark, glossy posts, she pictured the two of them there waking up on a Saturday morning, nestled in each other’s arms. She also saw their arms and legs tangled in the sheets, their skin damp with passion. Something that could never be.
It wasn’t fair!
She touched the smooth, white coverlet, realizing Caleb had not only made up his own bed but very neatly too. Her feet ached from being on them all day. Lying on that bed would feel so good.
If housekeepers didn’t play pianos without permission, they certainly didn’t lie in the master’s bed.
One moment wouldn’t hurt, she decided. She just wanted to see how it felt and imagine what it would be like to share it with Caleb. After that, she’d never go near it again. After making sure there was no stray dust on her dress, she took off her shoes and placed them beside the bed.
It was so high she had to hoist a leg up and climb on. As soon as she flipped onto her back, she exhaled a sweet sigh. Never in her life had she lain on something so soft and heavenly. It was like lying on a fluffy cloud.
More tired than she realized, she decided to close her eyes but just for a moment.
Not long after, a dream of Caleb filled her mind while her limbs still floated on that soft cloud. His sea-breeze scent beckoned until his moustache brushed across her nose. Hot, strong lips found hers and kissed. His tongue slipped inside her mouth as the dream image penetrated her mind more deeply.
Heat built between her legs as her hands reached for the man who enticed her. Short hair brushed her fingertips and the mouth burned a wet, fiery path down her chest. Her nipples ached for attention. At the same time, a strong, warm hand traveled up the inside of her leg.
She moaned when a finger slipped inside the wide leg of her cotton panties, replacing her sweet, dreamy paralysis with urgent need.
“Caleb,” she whispered as she rocked her hips and the sound of her juices filled the air. She wanted all of him. Not just his finger. His cock…
“Mmm. You feel so wet and good.” The familiar voice rumbled in her ear. “Thank God you’re back, Pearl.”
Pearl blinked several times and finally gasped when she opened her eyes wide. This was no dream. Caleb was on top of her with his searing mouth on her neck and his hand under her dress.
Oh no! How could she have let this happen? She should never have lain on his bed! The cleaning had worn her out so much she’d fallen fast asleep. The events pieced themselves together in her mind with hopeless clarity. Caleb must have come home, found her in his bed and assumed she’d changed her mind about everything she’d told him the day before.
Which meant they would have to go through that painful conversation all over again.
“Caleb, no,” she managed to utter but her voice was barely audible, much less convincing.
“I told you I don’t like to be teased,” he said with a growl as he clamped her earlobe between his teeth. “Come for me, Pearl. Christen my bed, honey, with one of your screaming climaxes.”
> Worse still, she couldn’t seem to summon the willpower to make him stop. Her hands moved to his chest, intending to push him away but they didn’t have a bit of strength in them.
“This is a big misunderstanding,” she said. “Let me explain.”
But his finger kept stroking, working magic inside her. She could barely even find the strength to stop her hips from writhing. Oh this wasn’t what she’d planned at all! Sweet, familiar tension clawed at her spine and abdomen. If one of them didn’t stop, Caleb was going to get the climax he’d asked for.
“Caleb, I mean it. We can’t do this! We talked about this yesterday.”
His mouth sucked the tender skin on her neck, the pressure of his moustache and lips making her nearly blind with passion.
“You’re in my bed,” he stated as if that negated all their previous negotiations.
He stroked her harder and faster until her thighs vibrated with the electric rings of pleasure surrounding her. With no strength left to fight him, she simply laid her hand on his arm, feeling the muscles bunch under her fingers.
Tears of frustration stung the backs of her eyes as Caleb rubbed one of her rock-hard nipples through the fabric of her dress. She’d planned her new life so carefully and it hadn’t even lasted one day. Her needy cunt didn’t seem to give a damn about her plans.
Before she could stop it, her body contracted in on itself and a scream ripped out of her throat.
“Oh, that’s it, honey,” Caleb said as he stroked her pussy. “Climax all over my big bed.”
Pearl’s arms dropped to her sides in defeat. It was too late to stop him now. Once again, her passion had overwhelmed her common sense. At least it was over now. She would make sure to stay away from his bed from now on.
Shock chased away the afterglow of her climax when she saw him fumble with his trousers and pull out a very hard organ. Just seeing it sent a sharp ache of longing through her. She struggled for strength with all her might.
“I only meant to lie on your bed for a moment,” she said, “but I was so tired I fell asleep. Please don’t do this.”
Doubt wavered on his face, competing with lust as he grabbed her knees and spread them.
“But you’re so wet and ready for my cock, Pearl. Please let me fuck you.”
Having that blue gaze bathing her outspread cunt made it even wetter. Why did her body betray her so?
“I’m sorry, Caleb. We can’t. We just can’t!”
He let go of her knees and stroked his shaft, filling the air with the scent of male arousal. Seeing the engorged head, slick with his pearly juice, made her clitoris throb no matter how tightly she pressed her knees together.
“Then why did you let me get this far?” he asked. “You climaxed.”
She lifted her head and pulled the hem of her dress down. “I didn’t mean to. At first I thought I was dreaming about you. When I woke up, I didn’t have the strength to stop you.”
“Then suck me,” he said, his voice raspy with need as he stroked himself. “I need to come too.”
Her mouth watered as she eyed his cock. Oh she’d made such a mess of things. Now she was torturing the man she cared for and he didn’t deserve it.
She sat up and hugged her knees. “I can’t do that either.”
He crouched on his knees, stroking himself even faster. His lubricating juices sounded almost as slick as her pussy had moments before. Her thighs trembled beneath her dress as if the world would end if he didn’t come inside her. She was so desperate to join with him it nearly brought her to tears. Deciding to be celibate was difficult enough. Standing by that decision while watching his hard, gyrating penis was more than she could bear.
“I must have imagined having you in my bed a hundred times,” he bit out as he breathed hard. “Somehow this isn’t quite what I pictured.”
“I’m sorry about this terrible misunderstanding,” she said quietly.
She couldn’t seem to move or stop watching his cock. Just as she finally moved her legs to the edge of the bed to dismount, Caleb’s breaths came so fast they melded into one. He pulled a hanky out of his shirt pocket, barely getting it near the head of his member before pearly streams of semen shot into the crisp folds of the fabric.
Pearl forgot to breathe as she watched, remembering his office where she’d swallowed his offering and the island where he’d spread it across her belly. Should they kiss now? Would it matter? They’d already done far too much.
Caleb stuffed his spent penis back in his trousers and balled the soiled hanky in his hand.
“If you want me to play by your rules,” he said, “follow them yourself and stay the hell out of my bed!”
Before she could reply, he jumped off the bed and went through the bedroom door, slamming it behind him. Moments later, she heard the front door of the house slam. Too stunned by everything that had happened to get up, she reached for a pillow and hugged it to her waist.
She’d disappointed her mama’s memory, Caleb and herself. The fleeting pleasure hadn’t been worth breaking her vow, especially without the cuddling and words of love she and Caleb could have shared afterward. Instead, her body felt hollow.
* * * * *
The next evening, Caleb almost dreaded going home. The oyster harvest was in full swing now and he’d been so busy at work he hardly had time to think about Pearl. Now that he was simply driving his car along the waterfront, the images of her on his bed came back to him full force.
How could they have had such a terrible misunderstanding? At the time, he’d been too crazy with desire to believe her story about accidentally falling asleep on his bed and thinking she was dreaming. This morning he’d noticed the way all his furniture gleamed as if it were brand new and he finally believed her.
He wasn’t sure if he was glad he’d gotten another chance to rub her tight pussy or not. It only made him want her more. Sleeping in his bed last night, surrounded by the lingering scent of her passion had given him a few dreams of his own.
The less time he spent at home the better, he decided as he pulled up to the house. In fact, he’d just eat dinner and head back out to socialize with his brother. Maybe he’d find a good card game somewhere.
He walked to his front door and frowned when he heard a piano playing. He was in no mood for visitors tonight. After he entered and hung up his hat, he closed the door gently behind him and stood watching with his jaw hanging slack.
Pearl was playing his piano. Beautifully.
Forgetting all the tension between them, he stood quietly and listened as he admired the graceful curve of her neck beneath the carefully pinned hair. A fire burned in the hearth and the occasional hiss of sparks punctuated the music. The melody she played brought a smile to his face and his heart.
This woman never ceased to surprise him. Every day she did something new. She’d lived in his house for less than three days and already he couldn’t imagine the place without her.
He tried to stifle a sneeze but failed. The music ended abruptly as the key cover crashed down.
“Caleb!” She put her hand to her chest. “How long have you been standing there?”
He winked at her. “Long enough to enjoy the concert.”
“I meant to ask your permission to play it but with everything that happened, I forgot.”
“You don’t need permission.” He flipped the key cover back up and sat beside her on the bench. “Everything in this house is yours…except my bed…unless you mean it.”
She lowered her eyes to the keys. “Understood. Are you still angry with me?”
“No, I’m not angry,” he replied. “I’m sure that misunderstanding won’t happen again.”
“I made some crab soup earlier today,” she said. “I didn’t know what time you’d be home.”
Or if he’d be home, she’d probably wondered. “That’s fine and I’m sorry if I was unkind to you.”
She nodded in acceptance but still looked troubled. “Caleb, if I’m to be your housekeeper, I sh
ould always know where you are in case someone needs to see you.”
Now that was a rule he could accept.
“Last night I went to the Sapphire Crab to see my brother, Henry. If I should go out in the evening again, I’ll most likely be there or the plant.”
He let out a slow breath. Just sitting next to her made his cock stir back to life. He longed to pull out her hairpins and carry her up to his bedroom. Instead, he placed his hand over one of hers as it rested on the keys. Then he picked it up and examined each elegant finger.
“Now I realize why I’ve always found your hands so beautiful. Shucking oysters is a travesty for hands like this. Why didn’t you ever tell me you played?”
She shrugged, making her breasts shift invitingly under her dress. “There was no point. I had to make a living.”
“Well, things are easier now,” he told her. “I want to buy you some new dresses so you don’t have to wear hand-me-downs anymore.”
Her mouth formed a hard line. “I appreciate your generosity but I can’t accept your charity, Caleb. Do you sing?”
He laughed at the unexpected change of subject. “Do I sing? No. Do you?”
“I will if you will,” she said, then suggested a popular tune.
“There’s no sheet music.” He pointed to the bare wood panel in front of them. “You play by memory?”
When she nodded, he found himself surprised once again. As her fingers moved across the keys and her sweet voice filled his parlor, he could easily picture doing this every night of his life. When she reached the chorus, she elbowed him in the ribs to sing along. He did and laughed in the middle of the song when his voice went off key.
By the time the song was over, they were both doubled over with laughter.
“I told you I don’t sing,” he said.
Both of them stopped laughing at the same time. When her eyes grew dark and mysterious, Caleb succumbed to the all-too familiar pull of desire. He’d forgotten all about finding a card game but it was time to get out of here before they broke the rules again and ended up back in his bed.