by Afton Locke
Pearl cleared away their empty soup bowls. “Will there be anything else while we wait for the main course?”
He looked at her from across the table, his eyes telling her he wanted a lot more than food. At least she’d forgone the long skirt and worn her most attractive dress, the blue one. Forced to stay home to entertain his guests, he couldn’t escape temptation by going out. At least he’d gotten some reprieve when he’d taken the Abbotts to the Sapphire Crab the night before.
Mrs. Abbott sniffed as if she smelled something bad. “Caleb, your girl is more competent this evening but now she’s putting on airs.”
Caleb leaned back in his chair. “I suppose I’ll have to punish her again.”
What would Mrs. Abbott say if he enacted the “punishment” across the dining room table? He quickly lifted his arm to muffle his gasp of laughter. Luckily the tablecloth hid the bulge in his pants because thinking of Pearl’s bare cheeks in his hands made him harder than concrete.
A restless wind blew outside the open window, which faced the street, scattering some dried leaves across the sidewalk. In the distance, thunder rumbled.
“I believe a storm is brewing,” Mr. Abbott commented as he sucked his teeth.
Pearl served the roast beef with green beans and potatoes. After they’d eaten for a while, Caleb spoke while she refilled their water glasses from a glass pitcher.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said, Elizabeth.” Caleb watched Pearl’s expression as he spoke. “Maybe I should remarry.”
Alarm flashed in Pearl’s eyes and her hand shook. Caleb winced inside, hating himself for putting her through this. This will be over soon, honey. Trust me.
The older woman smiled with approval. “Excellent. That young lady, Betty, at the restaurant had her eye on you all night. It’s unseemly of her to be a waitress but if she stands to inherit the restaurant, she’s a good enough match for you.”
Caleb dabbed his mouth with a napkin. “She’s the daughter of my best customer too. You’ve convinced me. I’ll court her.”
Elizabeth Abbott reached across the table and patted his hand. “We should have visited you sooner.”
“If everything goes well,” Caleb said as he carefully set down his napkin, “Betty Lewes will be my wife in time for the holidays.”
A small sound escaped Pearl’s throat as she rushed into the kitchen with water sloshing from the pitcher she carried. The sound of shattering glass sent Caleb’s heart into his throat. He almost knocked over his chair in his haste to get to her.
“I’ll take care of this,” he told the stunned-looking Abbotts.
He walked into the kitchen to see Pearl’s face wet with tears, her mouth trembling and shards of glass on the tile floor. Hell! What had he done? The pain in her eyes made him wish he could undo his miserable plan. Now that he’d gone this far, though, he needed to see it through.
“We’ll talk upstairs in my room,” he told her.
* * * * *
Pearl ran upstairs with her hand over her mouth as thunder from the storm grew louder. Her chest felt as if one of those shards of glass had lodged in it. When Caleb ushered her into his bedroom and locked the door, it reminded her of their trysts in the shucking room.
How could he do this to her!
She clenched her hands into fists and took a breath so deep it filled her lungs. “I cannot live in this house with you and a…a wife.”
Caleb’s face was solemn and unreadable in the dim, stormy light. “And I can’t keep living with this temptation. I’m a man and I have needs.”
Pearl folded her arms. “I don’t understand. You told me you lived like a monk for years after your wife died.”
“That was before I met you.” He smacked the nearest bed post with an open hand. “It’s not just about sex, Pearl. Believe it or not, I could live without that. You won’t even let me hold you, kiss you or love you.”
“I explained my reasons,” she said, “and I-I don’t want you to marry anyone else. Please, Caleb.”
His eyes flashed with blue fire as he glared at her. “You can’t have it both ways, honey.”
She walked to the window and looked out at the leaden sky. Drops of rain speckled the roof of the back porch below and the wind pulled the river into white-capped peaks. Despite the furor outside, she’d never felt more dead inside.
“I suppose I need to find another job and place to live,” she said to the windowpanes.
“I could find another housekeeping position for you,” he replied from across the room.
As she nodded and leaned her forehead against the glass, more tears slipped down her cheeks. Caleb cursed under his breath. Moments later, he came up behind her. Feeling his warm hands on her shoulders and his breath on her neck tugged at the knots she’d tied so carefully over the last few weeks.
“I don’t want to marry Betty,” he told her. “I want you. I’ve always wanted you, Pearl.”
She’d once said those same words to him when Jimmy was in her life. Lightning flashed, illuminating the reflection of their faces in the window—black and light.
“Why does it have to be this way?” she asked.
“Because we can’t change society. Are we going to work around it or are we going to let it ruin our lives?” He sighed. “We only have this lifetime, Pearl, and it’s short.”
Would Mama understand? She loved him and that made it all right, didn’t it? The circumstances weren’t their fault.
When she turned to face him, he cupped her chin in his strong hand. “You know I’d marry you if I could.”
She squeezed her eyes shut as she nodded. “I know.”
“Then let’s stop this madness,” he whispered in her ear. “Let me love you again.”
Emotion welled up inside her like the stormy sea outside, flooding all the walls she’d built. To her surprise, she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled it open, sending several buttons to the floor. Her hands devoured the hot, bare skin of his chest.
“I missed this so much,” she cried.
Lightning forked across the sky.
“Not as much as I.” He pulled out her hairpins, sending them to the floor to join his buttons.
When his mouth locked onto hers, claiming her fully at last, her knees gave out. The texture of his hair under her fingers and the slickness of his tongue inside her mouth flooded her senses. Even the roughness of his moustache against her face sent juices flooding from her cunt.
Slowly, they sank to the padded rug together. We won’t even make it to the bed, she thought. He ripped the front of her dress open and tugged down her bra straps. Her nipples jutted out, hard and aching for his mouth.
When he sucked and bit down on each one, as if to punish her for denying them pleasure for so long, she moaned and put her hand to her mouth. “Your guests will hear us.”
“Not with the storm.”
He yanked her dress up and undid her garters. As she helped him pull off her shoes, panties and stockings, her pussy throbbed with the insistent pulse beating inside her. While rain gushed against the windows, the insides of her thighs grew hotter and damper by the moment, hungry for Caleb’s fingers and cock.
Her hands trembled as she reached for the front of his trousers and pulled out his magnificent hardness. She’d watched him take pleasure by his own hand too many times. It was her turn. She swirled the pearly cream at the tip with her finger and clasped the base of the shaft.
“This cock is mine,” she said, barely recognizing the ferocious lust in her voice. “No other woman will have you.”
“No other,” he agreed, smiling as he thrust his hips against her hand.
Next, her frantic fingers tugged his suspenders down and pulled off his pants and shoes until all he wore was a shirt open in front.
“Promise me you won’t marry anyone else. Promise me, Caleb!”
He bathed her in his blue, fiery gaze. “I promise.”
After he tugged off her dress and bra, leaving her completel
y nude, she pressed her mouth to his neck and chest, feasting on the scent and taste of him—clean and breezy laced with musky arousal.
Thunder rumbled, vibrating the floor and adding to the sweet urgency building inside her pussy. Caleb’s pale hands stroked her body lovingly and possessively—her arms, her legs and her belly.
She tugged his hand to her cunt where she needed him most. When he thrust a finger into her depths, her head fell back with pleasure. Oh this felt so sweet, so right. Her usual inhibitions were gone as if the storm had blown them away. Would she regret this tomorrow? For once, she didn’t care.
Pearl watched, breathless, as Caleb’s finger swirled around her clitoris and into her slick depths with expert precision. Her hand closed around the end of his cock, stroking the swollen head. The force of their attraction pressed around them with the strength of iron, making her wonder how they’d managed to fight it off this long.
She didn’t argue when he pushed her shoulders to the floor, sheathed himself with a condom and spread her legs wide with both hands. As he leaned over her, about to enter her, she saw such love and relief in his eyes her heart felt as melted as her body.
“I’m yours, Pearl,” he told her as his searing-hot erection slid inside her. “I’ll always be yours.”
Her hips cradled his and her swollen breasts pressed against his chest as they rocked together. He caressed her face and kissed her as their bodies merged with blessed relief. Their hearts thundered together so violently she hardly noticed the raging storm going on outside. As his short, panting breaths cooled the perspiration on her cheek, she realized keeping him away so long had been a terrible mistake.
This was right. This was where they belonged.
“It’s a good thing we didn’t try the bed,” Caleb said. “The rocking would’ve made a terrible racket.”
The thought of rocking his bed made her nipples tighten to painfully swollen peaks. He slid his hand under her back and rolled her onto her side as thunder rattled the windowpanes. He lifted her top leg up under the knee and she watched his slick shaft gliding in and out of her body.
“That’s such a beautiful sight I never get tired of watching it,” he told her.
A tiny shudder went through her as her pussy swelled even tighter. “Faster, Caleb.”
He gripped her ass from the back and she gasped when he spanked her.
“What was that for?” she asked as lightning filled the dark room with sudden brilliance.
“For holding out on me.” The growl in his throat blended into the next clap of thunder.
She shifted her weight until she was on top of him. “Wasn’t I worth the wait?”
Caleb replied by digging his fingers into the flesh of her hips and pushing her onto his cock with the faster rhythm she’d begged for. With no warning, he flipped her down until he was on top again, claiming her with such deep strokes she couldn’t help moaning with each breath. While his shirt tickled her belly, hot cream trickled from their thrusts, tensing the muscles in her body.
“C-Caleb, I’m going to come soon.”
“You’re damn right you will.” He breathed hard, his face damp with sweat.
“I’ll scream,” she muttered. “They’ll hear me.”
He nodded as a lock of damp hair fell across his forehead. “I’ve been timing this storm. Don’t come until I tell you to.”
Her thighs trembled with her mounting pleasure. “I don’t think I’ll be able to control—”
When hot-blue lightning flashed through the room, she nearly felt the electricity sizzle every nerve ending.
“Now, Pearl! Now!”
She grabbed fistfuls of his shirt as she ground her hips against his, taking his long cock even deeper inside. The sound of tearing fabric competed with the rain outside. As one blinding spasm after another ripped through her a couple of seconds later, she screamed against the roar of thunder Caleb had perfectly timed.
Barely a moment later, Caleb’s hot semen spilled deep inside her pussy, filling the condom.
They lay side by side on the rug afterward, their bodies as spent as the retreating storm. Caleb’s hand grasped hers.
“Thank you,” he said. “I think I can accept chastity now.”
She rolled to her side and stroked his damp chest. “I can’t.”
He raised an eyebrow. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying I want this, all of this, with you from now on,” she replied.
“I must be dreaming.” Caleb leaned up on one elbow and grinned. “What changed your mind?”
“Realizing I might lose you.” When he winced, she asked him what was wrong.
“I have a confession to make,” he admitted. “I never intended to marry Betty Lewes.”
Relief, quickly followed by anger, coursed through her. She punched him in the shoulder. “What? You put me through that for nothing?”
“I didn’t know how else to make you see that we belong together,” he told her. “Do you regret making love?”
Pearl sighed and shook her head. “You said life is short. I guess I’d never thought about it that way before.”
His pale gaze locked onto hers. “Does this mean we’re done with the rules?”
“On one condition. Treat me like a wife, not your whore.”
He pressed a gentle kiss to her mouth. “In my heart, you are my wife, Pearl.”
She nodded as mixed emotions swirled through her sated limbs. Was getting Caleb back worth letting down Mama? She hoped so.
No, she would make it so.
hapter Seventeen
When Caleb woke up the morning after next, he blinked at the unusual warmth nestling next to him. Was he dreaming? He opened his eyes, delighted to see Pearl’s face on his pillow.
She kissed him gently. “Good morning, Caleb.”
“Waking up with you in my bed is a dream come true.” He let out a deep sigh of contentment, enjoying the fact they were both naked beneath the crisp cotton sheets. “I’m glad our guests left yesterday.”
Pearl ran a hand lazily across his chest. “I almost lost my composure when Mrs. Abbott asked you if you’d heard a scream during the storm.”
“Do you think she believed me when I said my housekeeper is afraid of storms?” He threw his head back and laughed. “I should have showed her my ripped shirt and told her the truth about putting my cock in you and making you come.”
Discussing his penis made it harden and protrude against the sheet. They’d christened his bed last night and slept in the nude afterward. His Pearl was back—wet, hot and passionate. He reached down to the soft folds of her cleft, delighted to feel how moist it was. Her hand clasped his cock in return.
He grabbed a condom from the nightstand, reminding himself to buy more. Turning to his side, he reached for her waist. “I want you.”
The sheet dipped below one breast, exposing a swollen, dark nipple he couldn’t resist teasing with his fingers.
She moaned and arched her back. “Don’t you have to go to work?”
Caleb glanced at the clock on the nightstand. “Eventually.”
Moving over her, he slid his aching shaft inside her welcoming depths. Instead of the frantic, deep thrusts he’d pummeled her with during the storm, he moved slowly, filling her body with his love. She moved with him as if their bodies had been made for each other.
While he moved faster, he kissed her eyelids and her delicate cheekbones, swearing he’d never been as grateful for anything as this beautiful gift. Her earthy, floral scent pulled him deeper into her slippery channel as her warm, round breasts pushed against his chest.
The bed creaked under their passion. How nice not to have to worry about being overheard by anyone. They were building a life together right here under the privacy of his roof. A life no one could take away.
He only wished it hadn’t taken them so long to get to this point. More than that, he wished he hadn’t had to hurt her by threatening to marry someone else.
Pearl’s bac
k arched and her brow glowed with perspiration. Her soft pussy ground harder against his cock, seeking pressure against her clitoris, and her wetness coated the front of his balls, making them draw up and tighten. As he slid his arms under her back, he gave her everything she needed and more.
When her moment came, Caleb swallowed her scream with a kiss. It went straight to his balls, squeezing them with liquid fire he couldn’t stop if he wanted to. Mindless with need, he pumped into her swollen pussy until he exploded inside her.
He rolled off her, feeling weak as a newborn foal.
“Even though you didn’t scratch or rip anything this time, I’m still tired enough to sleep a few more hours.” He took her hand. “At this rate, I won’t get any work done.”
She grinned as she sat up and nudged him in the side. “Get up. I’ll fix breakfast.”
Caleb reached up to brush her soft, damp hair back from her face. “I’m so glad you changed your mind about this and…us.”
When worry flickered in her green eyes, he sat up. Don’t regret it! We’ve only just begun.
“Pearl, are you happy?” He caressed the side of her face. “No regrets?”
She glanced down for a moment but when she looked back at him, her face was serene and resolute. “No regrets, Caleb.”
He stretched with contentment. Life had never been more perfect. The oyster industry and even the troublesome mayor seemed hundreds of miles away.
* * * * *
A week later, Pearl shivered from the autumn chill as she dusted in Caleb’s bedroom—their bedroom now. Since the two of them had become so close, the house felt empty during the workdays. At least he came home at night now. They spent their evenings eating dinners she cooked, sitting at the piano and making love. She even made sure they had oysters for appetizers every night.
As she moved, the lacy step-in panties Caleb had bought her caressed her skin. Sheer enough to see through, they weren’t very practical but they made her feel beautiful. So did the long-sleeved dress he’d bought for her. The thick, soft material was the color of reddish-brown autumn leaves. It clung to her hips and flared out over her calves. It was too nice to work in but she couldn’t resist wearing it on this cold morning.