Chapter 24
“My new assignment is to not dwell on the past. I’m probably gonna fail.” ~ Maya
Maya
I sigh as I wake. I’m surrounded by Caleb’s warm and earthy scent. This is what I’ve always wanted. What I’ve dreamed of since the first time I tutored him in math.
And I finally have it. Although, I could have had this for over a decade. If it weren’t for my dad.
Caleb kisses my neck. “How are you feeling about everything?”
“I’m mad at Dad for lying to you. I’m upset we lost all of these years together. I’m sad to give up on ever being the recipient of my parents’ love.”
His arm around me tightens. “I’m sorry, Maya. I should have told you what your dad said at the time but I didn’t want to hurt you.”
I squeeze his hand. “I don’t blame you. It’s not your fault. The fault lies entirely with him.”
“Try not to dwell on your anger.”
I snort. “Not dwell on my anger? What do you want me to do instead? Be devastated because my parents don’t love me. I know they never loved me. But I thought…” I sigh. “It doesn’t matter what I thought.”
Caleb rolls me around until we’re facing each other. “Bunny, what you think matters.”
My nose wrinkles. “Even if what I’m thinking is how to convince you to drive to Pirates Pastries to buy me some goodies for breakfast?”
He chuckles. “I’ll buy you whatever you want, but you’re not getting out of this conversation.”
“When did you become this tenacious?”
He lays his palm on my cheek. “When I met this adorable seven-year-old with honey-blonde hair and whiskey-colored eyes on the monkey bars.”
My heart flips in my chest. “You remember?”
“Of course, I remember. How could I forget? You were terrified but the second you were safely on the ground, you ran off to your girlfriends to plot against those bullies. As I recall, they ended up with mud on the butt of their pants. Everyone thought they’d shit their pants.”
“It was Chloe’s idea. She always has the best ideas.”
He taps my nose. “Now tell me what you were thinking about your parents.”
I sigh. He’s not going to let this go. I fiddle with the hem of his t-shirt. “It sounds stupid.”
He pinches my chin to lift my face. I meet his gaze. “Nothing you say could ever sound stupid. ”
“You obviously haven’t met drunk Maya yet.”
“I can’t wait to meet her. Now, stop stalling.”
I blow out a breath. “I thought if we made Five Fathoms Brewing into a success, my parents might start to speak to me again. We’d slowly reconnect and eventually, they’d learn to love me. Told you. It’s stupid.”
He wraps his arms around me and hauls me to him. I bury my face in his chest.
“It’s not stupid. Wanting your parents to love you is normal. I have no idea how you became this amazing woman I love considering how they treated you.”
I shrug. “I…” Hold on. What did he say? I lean back to gaze up at him. “Did you say, ‘woman you love’?”
“Nope. I said, ‘amazing woman I love’.”
My mouth gapes open. “You love me?”
He chuckles. “Isn’t it obvious? I came back to Smuggler’s Hideaway determined to hide away from everyone – you and my family included – because I thought everyone in my life was better off without me. And yet you barreled your way inside this cabin in no time.”
“I wouldn’t say barreled my way.”
“And I managed to keep our relationship fake for about a second.”
“It was definitely more than a second.”
He smiles down at me. “I love you, Maya.”
“Phew. What a relief.”
He tickles my ribs. “Why is it a relief? ”
I slap his hands away. “Duh. Because I love you, too. I’ve loved you since high school. I was devastated when you left to join the Army. I thought you’d be gone a few years. Not twelve. At least you wrote back when I started writing you letters. I worried you’d ignore me.”
He lays his forehead against mine. “I could never ignore you. Those letters were my lifeline.”
Heat radiates throughout my chest. “Your lifeline?”
“They kept me sane. Whenever I thought I couldn’t run another mile or sleep another night in the sand, I’d re-read your letters.” He smirks. “Plus, those care packages you sent made me the most popular guy in my platoon.”
“I wish I would have sent you more.”
“Bunny, you sent a care package practically once a month.”
“The postal workers all know me by name.”
He rolls his eyes. “This is Smuggler’s Hideaway. They already knew who you were.”
Speaking of Smuggler’s Hideaway. “Why didn’t you ever come home before? Your family met up with you in Germany a few times but you never came home. Why?”
He glances away. “I was being stupid.”
“Only I get to say when you’re being stupid. Tell me why and I’ll render my verdict.”
“I was afraid to see you.”
Those words stab my heart and fill my veins with ice. Caleb – the man I was obsessed with – was afraid to see me. “You were afraid of me? ”
“Not afraid of you.” He presses a quick kiss to my lips. “I could never be afraid of you.”
“Are you saying I’m a wimp?”
“I’m saying I was afraid if I saw you, I wouldn’t be able to resist you.”
Oh. This I can handle. I waggle my eyebrows. “I am pretty irresistible. But why would you want to resist me?”
“I didn’t want to screw up your life.”
“Screw up my life by giving me love and affection?”
“Told you I was being stupid.”
“It’s over now.” I blow out a breath. “We need to stop dwelling on the past and move forward.”
“Agreed.” Caleb caresses my turquoise bracelet. “I can’t believe you kept this all this time.”
“Of course, I kept it. You gave it to me for my twenty-first birthday. The only gift you gave me by the way. You owe me a bunch of gifts.” So much for not dwelling on the past anymore.
“I do, do I?”
“Yep. I’m keeping track. I’ve given you birthday gifts every year for the past twelve years. You’ve given me one. You owe me eleven gifts.”
“Can I pay you back in orgasms?”
My nipples tighten at the promise in his voice but I feign indifference. “You’re going to give me orgasms anyway.”
He twirls a strand of my hair around his finger. “Maybe you could get some of those smutty books you read out and we can reenact the best scenes. ”
I sniff and stick my nose in the air. “I’ll have you know not all my romance books are smutty.”
He smirks. “But some of them are.”
I can’t deny it. Some of them are more than a bit smutty. A girl’s gotta eat when the man she’s obsessed with is overseas fighting enemies.
“But you’re not an alien or a werewolf.”
He nibbles on my jaw. “I’m happy to bite you.”
“And there’s only one of you. There’s no way we can recreate a reverse harem sexy scene with just the two of us.”
“We will not be partaking in threesomes or orgies. I’m all you need.” He twists my nipple and I rub my thighs together to relieve the tension he’s building.
“Orgasms don’t count as birthday gifts,” I gasp out.
“Too bad,” he mutters. “Because I’d get at least three years of gifts taken care of this morning.”
“T-t-three?”
He shrugs. “Maybe four.”
I cling to his t-shirt. “No way can you give me four orgasms in one morning.”
His blue eyes sparkle. “But I can try.” He sneaks his hands under my t-shirt and begins lifting the fabric off of me. “Unless you don’t want to? Unless you’d rather have a shipwreck cookie from Pirates Pastries? ”
“I want four orgasms and a shipwreck cookie. Maybe a baked peaches and cream whiskey muffin, too.”
He chuckles. “Are you ordering orgasms?”
I raise my eyebrows. “Unless you can’t deliver. ”
“Don’t you worry. I can deliver everything I promise and more.”
“Love you, my sexy soldier.”
“And I love you, Bunny.” My chest fills with warmth at his words. I could float away on a cloud.
He kisses my nose. “Now, take off your clothes.”
Forget about the cloud. My body tingles in anticipation. I giggle as I wiggle out of my panties.
“Four orgasms,” I remind him.
“Don’t you worry. I’ll give you one with my mouth. One with my fingers. And two with my cock.”
I shiver.
“On your back. Spread your legs. You’re coming on my tongue first.”
Oh goodie. “You say the sweetest things.”
Caleb settles between my thighs and I forget all about the heavy stuff. The years we lost together. The fear I’m unlovable. All of it is wiped from my mind as his tongue finds my clit and he sucks.
I thread my hands through his hair and hold on for the ride.
I don’t plan to ever let go. I’m in this through thick and thin. Because Caleb is mine. My person. My love. My family.