Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
Alice
My mind was a battleground, fighting to accept Caleb was in love with me. Logic knew, understood, and embraced every word he’d shared, but the dark corners of self-doubt tried to shove it away—cloak his love in impossibility, denying it could be true.
He hugged me through it. As my thoughts rushed and clashed within my skull, his embrace never wavered. He didn’t demand a response or seem to be put off by my silence. Caleb was patient as ever, relaxed with me tucked in his lap, circled by arms so strong, they were close to breaking through to me.
If he hugged me a little longer…
If his heart stayed steady for a few more beats…
If his chest warmed me enough to melt…
I said the only three words I could: “I’m so tired.”
His hum vibrated my cheek. “Didn’t sleep well?”
“No, not really.”
“I didn’t either.”
He shifted us on the cushions, never letting me go as he laid us on our sides, his big body spooning around mine. I pressed my cheek against the cradle of his arm and sighed.
“Are you comfortable?”
“Yeah. I’m just right.” He smoothed my hair from my face and pulled me closer. “Let’s get a little rest, then we’ll head back to the ranch.”
The tiny ball of tension in my stomach unfurled a little bit more from knowing exactly where we were headed next. “I like the sound of that.”
“I do too.” He kissed the back of my head. “Close your pretty eyes. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”
I woke to Caleb's even breathing next to my ear and the deeply comforting rise and fall of his chest against my back.
Sometime during my sleep, my shirt had ridden up.
His roughened hand rested against the bare skin of my stomach, his thumb drawing slow circles that kept me floating in that hazy place between dreaming and fully waking.
I didn’t open my eyes right away. Just let myself soak in the feeling of being cradled in his arms, the heat of his body at my back, the gentle weight of his palm on my stomach.
Turning my head, I found him watching me, his gaze hazy but intent, and wondered if he’d slept at all. “Hi,” he mouthed. My lips curved, and I leaned back, brushing a kiss against his mouth. Sleepy, unhurried, giving myself a taste.
He answered with the same slow sweetness, fingers gliding over the curve of my hip, tracing the line of my ribs, trailing along the underside of my breasts. Like maybe he was soaking me up too.
His hand drifted lower, toying with the waistband of my panties before sliding beneath. I sighed into his mouth, our lips brushing more than kissing. But every time we parted, we rushed back together to continue the connection.
His fingers slipped between my thighs, and I draped my leg over his to welcome his touch. He knew me, had learned my body through careful study, and easily found the spot that made me tremble with a slight roll of the pad of his finger.
We kissed in fragments—delicate presses, breaths mingling, the scrape of his jaw against my cheek as he nuzzled close. His fingertips moved without haste, exploring, stroking, circling until pleasure tightened in my belly.
When my release came, it spread through me like winding rivers of heat, my body shaking against his, breath caught in my throat as he held me through every quiver. Caleb kissed my temple, my jaw, the corners of my lips—everywhere he could reach without moving away from me.
Before the shivers faded, he shifted, his hand leaving me only long enough to tug at the barriers of fabric between us.
When he returned, his heated skin pressed against mine.
I lifted my leg higher, allowing his thick length to slide between my soaked folds.
His broad head nudged at my entrance, and I gasped, arching into him.
He entered me slowly, filling me until there was no space left between us.
A low groan rumbled from his chest, and he buried his face in my hair. He took his time, holding me close as he slid into me. Stroking my skin. Kissing me everywhere. I let him set the rhythm and gave my body over to him. Because I trusted him and knew he would take us where we both wanted to be.
I reached back to touch his face, our cheeks rubbing together, our mouths finding each other again and again.
The world shrank until it was just the two of us, making love on a couch on a sunny afternoon.
And what a perfect world it was. I couldn’t think of a book or dream that could compare to this.
Caleb began to deepen his thrusts, still unhurried but powerful, every stroke stealing the breath from my lungs. His arm banded across my stomach, holding me snug against him, and I pressed my hand over his as pleasure built and built, until it unraveled.
I trembled around him, shudders rippling through me as he groaned my name into my hair. He thrust once more, twice, then stilled, burying himself deep as his release broke through him in a long, raw sound that seemed torn straight from his chest.
We stayed like that, locked together, as time slid by and our breathing evened out. His lips brushed the back of my neck, light kisses trailing over damp skin, while his hand never left mine.
When he softened and slipped free, I turned in his arms, needing to see him, needing his eyes on me.
He looked beautiful. Ruddy cheeks, heavy-lidded eyes, kiss-bitten lips smiling back at me.
But it was the way he was looking at me that undid me.
If he’d had walls, they’d been demolished, bringing any part he’d been holding back out into the open.
He was mine.
Really mine.
His mouth curved into a smile so sweet it made me ache. Then he said it again. The words I wanted him to write down on a piece of paper so I could feel the infinite weight in my hands.
“I love you.”
This time, giving it back to him was as easy as breathing.
“I love you too, Caleb.” My chin trembled, but my heart was sure.
“I wish I could tell you the one moment I knew I had fallen for you, but for me, it would be a list of a thousand little seconds. It’d started that first night, with Hannah, then there were small things you did without a thought, like saying my name when you gave me your order, and bigger things, like the way you love your son and family.
Then there were the moments that were only ours.
Laughing in bed with you, reading my favorite books and debating the story.
You never letting me sit in a chair when your lap is available. ”
He chuckled. “Doesn’t make sense to waste a chair when you fit just right on my lap.”
“Yeah. That’s a good point.” I grinned, the war in my mind finally, mercifully over. “Would you write it down for me?”
“Write what down?”
“The words. That you love me. I want them on paper.” I bit down on my lip, wondering if I sounded as foolish as I felt.
“So you can feel them,” he supplied.
“Yes.” My heart kicked, and my soul rested easy at being understood. “That’s it exactly.”
“I can do that for you, darlin’. Besides that, I have my mission now: I’m gonna keep adding to your list so it never runs out.”
“You just have to exist for that to happen.” I slid my fingers through the side of his hair. “You might not have noticed, but I’ve got a thing for you I can’t seem to shake.”
“I noticed. I notice everything about you.” He dragged his nose along mine. “I’ve got a thing for you too, and I have no interest in shaking it.”
For a while, we stayed there, kissing, grinning, lazing the afternoon away. Eventually, he gave a little groan and nudged his forehead against mine.
“As much as I’d like to keep you here all day, we need to get back to the ranch.” He stood and pulled me to my feet, bending to steal one more kiss, then gave my backside a pat. “Pack enough for a few nights. I don’t want you out of my sight more than you need to be.”
It didn’t take long to gather a small bag of clothes and toiletries—everything I needed for the upcoming week. Caleb waited by the door. When I stepped out with my bag, he immediately reached for it, slung it over his shoulder, then his free hand found mine.
I squeezed his fingers as we headed out the door. “Let’s go home.”
His hand tightened around mine, the barest hitch in his stride as he stopped and stared down at me.
A slow, pleased smile spread across his face.
“Home,” he echoed, like he was tasting it. “Yeah, darlin’. Let’s go home.”