Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
CALEB
E very time I’m with her, it’s as thrilling as that first time she let me lay her out on that blanket and knot her in the middle of the forest. Her breaths come in short, shallow pants as I ease the dress over her head, tossing it into the corner of the small room. She pushes down my jeans and underwear, her hands wrapping around my dick the literal second it’s freed from the constrictive fabric. I can’t help but groan as she squeezes my base, right where my knot is just starting to inflate.
And then we’re a frantic movement of bodies. Her limbs are long and lean where they stretch along the bed. I undo the front clasp of her bra, not bothering to move the straps off her shoulders before closing my lips around one nipple. She bows off the bed on a strangled cry. As I ease the fabric off of her, I focus on her other breast, giving it just as much attention. Before pulling away, I scrape my teeth across the hardened bud of her nipple and grin as she whimpers.
Her bra ends up in the opposite corner as her dress, tossed carelessly over my shoulder. I nudge her knees farther apart with my own as I strip out of my shirt and toss it in the same general direction as her dress. Her hands twist into the bedspread above her head.
She’s gorgeous. Like every fantasy I’ve ever had, every centerfold spread that’s existed for men’s eyes, laid out before me for my own enjoyment.
“You’re so fucking beautiful, Brielle,” I mutter.
Her throat ripples with her swallow, but she doesn’t shy away from me. Instead, she tilts her hips toward me in universal question.
Her skin is smooth as silk as I duck my head and run my nose along her thigh. I press my nose into the lace covering her cunt, breathing in her scent—lavender, salt, and woman. It’s like a drug, rushing through me and making me ravenous. I bite the lace panties and then pull, ripping the delicate fabric at the seams.
“Holy crap,” she gasps. “You did not just rip my panties.”
I chuckle, the sound full of hunger, and then trace the line where her thighs meet her core with my tongue.
“I absolutely did,” I say against her skin. “They were in my way.”
“Caleb,” she whispers. Her hand twists into my hair, her nails running along my scalp. I nip at her inner thigh, and she rocks her hips toward me. She shudders in a breath. “Caleb, those are—were—La Perla.”
Hot damn. I didn’t realize she’d wear anything that expensive when she wasn’t even expecting to see me. Shit like that is what women wear when they’re wanting to impress the person fucking them. Had she been hoping I’d stop by? Had she worn them on the off chance we’d run into each other in town today and I’d fuck her in my truck?
The thought has my voice dropping, filling with the hunger coursing through me.
“Sweetheart,” I mutter, “they could be made of real gold, and I’d rip them to shreds right now.”
A rush of her slick coats her skin, and I groan. The next moment, I have my mouth on her, tasting every single inch of her I can. She’s so damn sweet. I’ll never be able to get enough, certainly not right now. Her legs start to shake, and I double down on my efforts, running my tongue across her clit while palming her knees, keeping them from closing around me. I want to be able to see her as she comes. I scrape my teeth across her clit, and she arches on a desperate gasp, her feet digging into my back.
I rise over her before she’s gotten a chance to really come down from the orgasm, wrapping her legs around my hips and then twisting us. My back lands on the plush mattress as her hands splay across my chest.
“Caleb,” she gasps. I grin and mess with her nipples, a feral need overcoming me as I watch them tighten into tight buds begging for my mouth.
“Ride me, sweetheart,” I command her, low and fervent. She perfumes again, and I grunt, the need doubling over again. “Use me to make better memories.”
Her chest shudders with her sudden deep breath. And then she’s moving, her nails biting into my chest as she chases her pleasure.
Holy god damn , she’s gorgeous. Her lips are red and swollen, and her eyes are hazy with her need. Her hair spills over her shoulders and down her front, blocking her nipples as she leans forward to change the angle. She clenches around me, so hot it’s like a branding fist around my dick. I shove up into her, trying to get deeper, get under her skin the way she’s under mine.
Her movements grow more unsteady as she gets closer to her orgasm. I palm her hips and take over, pushing up into her until her legs are shaking all over again. As soon as her body locks, her head thrown back on a desperate moan, I let myself fall apart, too. The orgasm races through my veins, so intense it robs me of sight for a heartbeat. My knot swells, and I pull her down tighter over me, forcing it all the way inside.
She collapses against my chest with a scream. Satisfaction roars through me. I kiss her temple and comb through her hair, easing her down from the extended bliss of our knotting. She shivers and burrows deeper into my chest, wiggling until her arms are under my body and playing with the strands of my hair.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
I close my eyes, not trusting my voice. I kiss her temple again, and she relaxes against me.
“I’m going camping this weekend,” Brielle says, her cheek pressed against my chest and her hand resting on my stomach. “Melissa’s going, too. And Olivia and Hudson. There’s a spot some of my friends know about south of the Tetons. Would you…” She trails off and takes a deep breath. “Would you like to come, too? Camden would be welcome. Faedra’s girls are five, so they’re about the same age. I’m sure they’d love to have another person their size.”
Her words grow closer together until they run over each other, her voice rising with her nervousness. I pull her into me and press my lips to her temple. She quiets instantly, the tension in her body easing away.
“I’ve been called to a fire,” I say, making sure my voice is heavy with my regret.
Did I think I regretted Sam’s text an hour ago? I absolutely resent it now.
“Oh,” she whispers. “When do you have to leave?”
“Tonight.”
“And you don’t know when you’ll be back?”
I shake my head. “It’s a small localized fire burning north of Cheyenne. So it’s possible I’ll be back in time. But I can’t promise anything.”
“That’s all right,” she says, offering a small smile that doesn’t touch her eyes. I tuck a piece of hair behind her ear and offer the same half-hearted curve of my lips. She settles back against me, her hands tracing down my side.
I grab my phone from the side table and send a text I’ve never actually sent to Sam before.
I’ll be there. I have to be back by Thursday, though.
Scent match things?
Yep.
You willing to file the Council’s announcement? It’ll get you more time off than just the confirmation info.
Goddamn, I wish I could. But I can’t file anything unless Brielle does, her Matchless status with the Council making it impossible for me to make any of this official with them. Sam is an Alpha, though, so he’ll understand it. Probably.
It’s on my radar. Can’t do it quite yet.
Ah. Got it. No promises, but I’ll do what I can.
I send off a quick thank you and then stash it away again, running my hand along her thigh. She twists into me, burying her face in my chest. Lavender surrounds us, overlaying the older smells of our knotting. My dick twitches, but I ignore it, focusing on the feel of her skin under my hands and the brush of her hair against my cheek.
“Brielle,” I whisper, turning until my lips are against her temple. She hums and wiggles against me.
I love you.
Fuck, it’s too early to be saying those words. But that doesn’t stop them from sitting on the tip of my tongue, ready to spill out at the first moment. I trace shapes along her hip to keep myself from being an idiot.
Her scent strengthens again, and I groan. She presses a giggle into my skin even as she traces my happy trail with a featherlight caress. My dick twitches, and I press my hips up, encouraging her lower. She gives me open-mouthed kisses down my sternum as she adjusts, rolling until she straddles my thighs. Her hair falls over her shoulder in a beautiful wave. I sink my hand into it, twisting the strands around my palm until I can see her eyes.
She glances up at me through her lashes, her hand flattening against my hip. My breath saws out of me as I nod in silent permission. Her lips brush along the underside of my dick, and I drop my head back on a groan.
A girl’s laughter cuts through the quiet cabin. A moment later, a baby’s cry does, too, followed by a low murmuring—a man’s soothing hum. Brielle freezes, her eyes so wide I can see the whites all the way around.
Footsteps on the porch echo all the way to the back of the cabin.
Brielle squeaks as she pulls away from me. I drop my hand out of her hair before it can hurt her as my groan turns mournful. Her cheeks flush a dark red as she pulls her dress from the floor and disappears into the bathroom, though she leaves the door open. I run my hand through my hair as I sit up and pull my own clothes from where I’d left them on the floor near the foot of the bed, sliding back into my jeans and shoving my phone into the back pocket.
Once my shirt is back on, I run my hand through my hair.
Three knocks on the door have Brielle muttering a curse.
“Brielle? Is now still a good time?” a woman says. It’s not a voice I recognize.
“One second,” she calls. Her gaze catches on me, and she blushes again, the red tracking down her throat and onto her chest. I raise an eyebrow before leaving the bedroom, crossing the small guest house.
A woman about Brielle’s age stands on the porch, two girls maybe a year or so older than Cam giggling as they run around her legs. Beside her, a blond man holds an older baby against his chest, her eyes red and her hand pressed into her mouth. The wind cuts through the house. Brielle must have opened a window in the bedroom.
The mingled scents of lavender and cinnamon waft around us, betraying what we’d been doing to anyone that isn’t a Beta. The man doesn’t even blink, an eyebrow rising as he takes me in.
The woman clears her throat, blushing nearly as deeply as Brielle.
“Sorry, we didn’t mean to interrupt,” she says. Her blush gets deeper before she groans. “Logan, save me.”
The man laughs and pulls her into his side, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
“We’re supposed to be meeting Brielle for a tour of the chicken coops.”
“She’ll be out in just a minute,” I offer, leaning against the threshold.
Not even thirty seconds later, Brielle slides past me and eases her way onto the porch. Her dress is a little wrinkled, and my scent clings to her even with her own hidden by her scent blockers. A dark bruise sits just under those damn flowers. That deep part of me that needs her to be mine, needs to claim her, settles at the sight. She’ll have a new mark that won’t be gone for at least another week.
The women hug as they greet each other, and both of the girls grab onto Brielle’s legs.
“Is this him?” the woman asks, glancing back at me.
Brielle nods and takes a step back, not bothered by the young girls vying for her attention. No wonder she’s so comfortable with Cam.
“Caleb, these are my friends Faedra and Logan,” she says. “Faedra, Logan, this is Caleb.”
I offer my hand and an easy smile. Logan takes it in an easy grip. Faedra runs her hand through her hair, moving it off her shoulders, revealing two silver bond scars along the left side of her neck.
“Nice to meet you,” she says.
I wrap an arm around Brielle’s waist and pull her toward me, kissing her before she can protest. She melts into me, and I smile against her lips.
“I’ll see you when I get back,” I say.
Her happiness dims as she nods. “Be safe.”
I carry the words with me all the way to my truck and down the gravel drive.