11. Caleb
ELEVEN
Caleb
I winced as I walked across the grounds toward my quarters. The new patch on my cheek was better than what had been dressed on the water, but the stitches pulled tight and hurt. There was a bottle of painkillers rattling in my pocket. I dropped them in the first trash can I saw. I didn’t want those things. I could take a few aspirin and get through it.
I spotted Jacob outside the door. “What are you doing out here?” I asked.
“I think she wanted a little space.” He straghtened his back. “I didn’t want to leave her alone. She was pretty shaken up, man.”
I nodded. “I could tell. How was she when she went inside?”
“Better.” He rested his hand on my shoulder. “I know you need sleep. But I do want to know what happened. You scared the hell out of me tonight.”
“Tell Mom not to worry. I’m okay.”
“You’ll call her tomorrow?” he pressed.
“I’ll go by and see her. How about that?” It would buy me some time with Margot.
He nodded. “Dad already headed out. He saw you in medical?”
“He did.” It wasn’t a long visit, but he supervised the stitches and made sure I knew exactly how many boats had been patrolling. What coordinates he used. What comms everyone used. Nights like tonight I wondered if he would sign a new contract with the Coast Guard.
“Any word on Gabe?”
“Not much. I know he’s at Pointe Harbor. He’s stable, at least, but he got knocked out pretty hard. Front and back hit to the skull.”
“Shit,” Jacob whistled.
“Yeah. It was rough. But could have been worse.” My eyes lowered to the tops of my boots. I didn’t want to relive it yet.
“Get some sleep.” Jacob backed away from the door. “It was nice to finally meet your mysterious Margot. Cool girl.” He grinned.
I chuckled. “Yeah, she is.”
Jacob strolled toward the parking lot and climbed into his truck. I opened the door, not sure what to expect seeing Margot the second time tonight. Would it be as intense? Was she really okay now? I didn’t know how long she had been at the base waiting for me. I didn’t know what information she had about the theft or abduction. Jacob seemed to be in the dark. I assumed she was too.
“Caleb?” Margot’s voice was soft. After all the blaring noise and commotion, she sounded like a whisper of an angel. I didn’t know how else to describe it.
“It’s just me.” I closed the door behind me. I took my boots off by the doorway. “Jacob headed out.”
Margot walked toward me. She wrapped her arms around me. “Hi,” she whispered.
“Hi.” I folded my arms around her. “You okay?”
She pressed her face into my shoulder. “I can’t believe you’re asking me that. I wasn’t missing.”
I exhaled. “I’m not missing anymore.”
“How is your face?” She studied the new patch across my cheek.
“I think you’ll be happy with this scar,” I teased.
She smirked. “I wouldn’t care if you had a hundred scars. You know that. I have plenty of them.”
I scanned her body. That’s when I noticed there was a bandage on her knee. “What happened there?”
“It’s nothing. Nothing compared to your face or anything else you’ve been through.”
“It’s never nothing if you’re hurt.”
“Please don’t worry about me,” she whispered.
It felt good to be in each other’s space. To hold her in my arms.
“I guess we’re staying here tonight?” I asked. We usually stayed at her cottage at the Blue Heron.
“Yes. It’s easier, right? Josie drove me here and I don’t think you should drive, and I do have a toothbrush. And?—”
I touched a finger to her lips. I knew she was nervous. I knew it would take a while for the adrenaline to work its way through her body. Mine too. Then we would crash. Hard.
She tipped on her toes. I leaned forward and she pressed her forehead to mine. Our eyes closed.
“I was scared, Caleb.”
“I know, baby. I’m so sorry. I’m here. I swear I’m okay.” I lifted her chin, and my mouth brushed against the sweetness of her lips.
My tongue slid against hers and she purred, circling her arms along my neck. I lifted her from the floor. Margot’s heels locked around my waist as if she had been waiting to do that all night. There was an instant knowing of two puzzle pieces sliding into place.
I winced when she wriggled tighter to my hips. I didn’t mean to let the groan out. My entire body was sore from being thrown around the boat.
“Oh God, I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?” Her eyes flared open. “Where are you hurt other than your face?”
“I swear this doesn’t hurt.” My lips returned to hers. I walked her toward the wall, pressing her back into the solid surface.
This was what I wanted. To forget the assault. To forget the fucking nightmare Gabe and I went through. I wanted Margot’s softness. Her voice. Her hands. Her tongue on my body.
My erection was already solid and pressed against her as I pinned her to the wall. Her hands coasted up my back. How could I think of anything else when she touched me like this? When her mouth made those seductive sounds?
“We’re moving this to the shower,” I growled against her ear. “I need a shower, but I need you more.”
She nodded. “I’m going where you’re going,” she sighed.
I carried her into the next room and reached through the glass door to turn the shower nozzle to the hot side. I sat her on the counter.
“Don’t go anywhere,” I instructed.
She smiled. “I promise.”
Margot pulled the shirt over her head and tossed it by the cabinets. I lowered my mouth to the outline of her bra and kissed against the fabric. I kissed her nipple through the cotton, leaving a wet circle where he tit hardened and perked.
She hissed when I peeled the bra down and took her full tit between my teeth. Her head rocked back. My tongue flicked back and forth teasing her. I stepped back to unbuckle my belt. I let my pants hit the floor.
The water was heating up. It always took too long in the barracks. But the steam had started to coat the mirror over Margot’s shoulder.
We finished undressing and I lifted her with me into the shower. Our bodies instantly collided. All I could think about was being inside her. She lifted her leg to my hip.
“I just want you to fuck me,” she whispered.
“Oh, is that all?” My mouth coasted over her shoulder, tasting the water on her skin. I drew a line with my tongue along her throat.
My cock throbbed. It fucking pulsed and ached for her. I lowered her leg to the shower floor. She whimpered. “What are you doing?”
I sank to my knees, pressing my face between her legs. “I want you.”
Her fingers threaded through my hair. “Oh shit.” Her thighs widened, allowing me explore her clit with my tongue and my fingers.
“That’s it,” I coaxed. Her hips began to dance over my lips.
My tongue touched the tip of her entrance. It darted back and forth, enough to drive her fucking insane. She gripped my head. “Caleb,” she begged.
My tongue thrust upward as I gripped her hips, sliding her against my mouth. Her hands flattened against the side of the shower wall. It was already an intimate space with almost nowhere to move.
I lapped at her juices and reveled in how she squeezed my tongue with vicious grips. My fingers worked her clit with tiny jolts of pressure at first until I knew she was about to come. I twisted my tongue with a final lashing and she lowered herself fully onto me. That’s it. She was fucking amazing. Giving herself over to me. To worship and to taste.
I gulped and kissed her while she rode my tongue without inhibitions. She took what I gave her. The pleasure eased from her lips when she whispered my name over and over.
I kissed her clit, then slid out from between her legs.
“Now, I’ll fuck you,” I growled, knowing I had made an unspoken promise when I walked through the door that tonight we would heal each other like this.
I hoisted her to my hips and backed her against the shower wall. My cock nudged at her entrance, still vibrating from her first orgasm. My kiss was consuming. Obliterating. I slammed into her like a man reborn. A man who had been given another chance to live. I drove deep with slow precision. It was the kind of sex I knew happened once in a lifetime.
Her nails dug into my back. “Don’t stop.” She pleaded. “I need you.”
“I know,” I groaned, as desperate as she was to feel alive. To feel gratitude that we still had each other. That I was going to spend the rest of the night buried inside her.
I pulled out and slowly pushed inside again. Margot squeezed the sides of my waist with her thighs as a long sigh fell from her lips.
“Feel good?” I taunted. I hilted myself deeper and deeper still.
She nodded. Her tits rubbed against my chest. The shower pelted us with water that was becoming less than hot. We were going to have to move. Neither of us wanted to be cold tonight. But she needed one more orgasm before I turned off the water and took her to bed. At least one.