18. Caleb #2
The way she says it so naturally makes warmth spread through my chest and heat pool in my groin. Like she’s not just being polite about my plans.
“Want to see what we can make out from the upstairs windows?”
We circle around to the back of the house where a trellis gives us a boost to peek through the second-floor windows. She’s laughing as I help steady her, my hands at her waist, both of us feeling ridiculous but not caring.
When she wobbles slightly, I pull her closer to steady her, and suddenly we’re pressed together, her back against my chest. Her laughter fades as she becomes aware of how we’re positioned.
My cock is hard against her lower back, and her scent spikes with something that makes every alpha instinct I have roar to life.
“Four or five bedrooms up here,” she observes, voice slightly breathless.
“And look at the size of that master bedroom. You could fit a king-size bed in there easy. And is that...” She squints through the window.
“It looks like there’s a room with built-in shelving and cushioned seating. Like a nesting room.”
The mention of a nesting room makes something possessive unfurl in my chest. My omega, in a space designed for her comfort and safety. The fantasy hits me so hard I have to fight not to grind against her.
From up here, we can see the whole property layout. The bones of what it used to be, the potential for what it could become again. Several acres of rolling land, mature trees providing privacy, space for gardens and maybe even outbuildings.
“You’re really considering this?” she asks when we’re back on solid ground, both of us slightly out of breath from more than just the climb.
“I’ve been thinking about it for weeks. Driving by, imagining what it could be like.”
“Imagining what?”
“A place to belong. Somewhere permanent.” I move closer to her, drawn by her scent and the way she’s looking at me. “I know the timing’s fast, but I also know what I want.”
“What do you want?”
Her voice is softer now, and I can see her pulse fluttering at her throat. The urge to press my mouth there, to taste her skin, is almost overwhelming.
“This. Us. A life we build together instead of just getting by separately.”
She looks up at me, and in the golden light of late afternoon she looks like everything I’ve ever wanted but never thought to ask for.
“All of us?” she asks quietly.
“All of us.”
We end up on the front porch as the sun starts setting. Sharing the steps, but closer now, her shoulder pressed against mine. The air between us feels different. Charged with more than just possibility.
Her scent has been growing richer all evening, and this close I can smell the subtle shift that tells me she’s affected too. It takes everything I have not to pull her into my lap.
“So what do you think?” I ask when we’ve sat in comfortable quiet for several minutes.
“I think whoever buys this place is going to be very lucky.” She leans against my shoulder, and I can smell how her scent has deepened with something warmer. “I can see why it caught your attention.”
“Can you see yourself here?”
The question hangs between us. She’s quiet for a long moment, and I wonder if I’ve pushed too hard.
“Is that what you’re asking? Whether I can see myself living here with you?”
“I’m asking whether you can see us building a life here together. All of us. Whether this feels like home.”
Her breathing changes. I can smell the shift in her scent. Deeper, richer, with an undertone that makes my alpha instincts respond with fierce satisfaction.
“Four bedrooms,” she says quietly. “Plus the nesting room. And all this land.” I know she’s been doing the same calculations I have.
“I can absolutely see myself here. See all of us here.” Her voice gets softer. “Cooking dinner together in that kitchen. Reading in the living room while Levi works on his poetry. Reid setting up a home office in that back bedroom.”
“What about you? What would you do here?”
“Plant flowers. Lots and lots of flowers. Make this place bloom the way it’s meant to.” She pauses, considering. “Maybe expand my business. Take on bigger projects now that I’d have proper workspace.”
The vision she’s painting makes my chest warm and my cock ache with need. “You really think it could work?”
“I think it could be perfect.”
We sit there as darkness settles around the mountains. Both of us lost in the same fantasy. When she shivers slightly, I pull her closer without thinking, and she melts into my warmth with a contented sigh that makes my body respond with fierce want.
“I should probably get you home,” I say reluctantly when full dark arrives, though every instinct I have wants to keep her close. “You’ve got an early morning tomorrow.”
“Yeah.” But she doesn’t move away from my side. Her hand finds mine in the darkness. “Thank you for showing me this. For including me in the decision.”
“It wouldn’t be right without your input. None of this would be right without you.”
The drive back to her apartment is different now. Charged. Her hand finds mine across the console, and every time I glance at her, she’s watching me with an expression that makes my pulse quicken and my jeans uncomfortably tight.
When we hit a red light, I turn to look at her properly. The way the streetlights catch her hair, how her lips are slightly parted. Without thinking, I reach over and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, my fingers lingering against her cheek.
“Caleb,” she breathes, and there’s something in her voice that makes my alpha instincts stir.
“I know.” My thumb traces across her cheekbone, and the simple touch makes my cock throb. “I feel it too.”
The light turns green, but the moment stays with us for the rest of the drive. Her scent in my truck grows warmer, richer, and I have to concentrate on the road instead of how much I want to pull over and show her exactly how much she affects me.
When I park outside her building, neither of us makes an immediate move to get out. The air between us feels thick with possibility and want.
“Caleb?”
“Yeah?”
“When you call the realtor—and you should definitely call the realtor after we snooped around—you should tell them it’s perfect.”
Something warm spreads through my chest. “You think it’s perfect?”
“I can picture us actually living there.”
When we reach her door, I don’t immediately step back like I usually do. Instead, I move closer, close enough that she has to tilt her head back to look at me. Close enough that my scent wraps around both of us and I can see her pupils dilate in response.
“Thank you,” she says softly, but her voice is breathless now. “For showing me the house. For including me.”
“Thank you for seeing it the way I do.” My hand finds her waist, settling there naturally. The simple contact makes my body respond with fierce need. “For wanting the same things.”
She looks up at me, and in the soft glow of the hallway light, I can see her pulse fluttering at her throat. “What do we want, Caleb?”
“Each other. A life together. Something permanent and real.”
The awareness that’s been building all evening crackles between us now, impossible to ignore. When she steps closer, eliminating the last inch of space between us, every restraint I’ve been maintaining starts to fray.
“Would you like to come up?” she asks, her voice carrying an invitation that makes my pulse jump. “For coffee. Or... not for coffee.”
The way she says it, the heat that blooms in her scent when she looks at me, makes my body respond with fierce need. Every alpha instinct I have snaps to attention.
“Sadie.”
“I know we said we’d take things slow. But seeing that house tonight, imagining all of us there together...” She reaches up, her fingers tracing along my jaw, and the simple touch makes me want to groan. “I don’t want to wait anymore. Not for this.”
The simple touch undoes something in my chest. I frame her face with my hands, watch her pupils dilate in response to my proximity. “Are you sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything.”
Her apartment still smells like the vanilla candles she lit earlier, mixed with her natural honeysuckle sweetness. But now there’s something else in the air. Want, thick and intoxicating, mixing with my own arousal until the space feels electric.
The moment her door closes, I’m aware of how different this feels from Monday night. Then it was spontaneous, driven by desire we couldn’t contain. Now it’s intentional. A choice we’re both making.
And I’ve been aching for her all evening, my body wound tight with need.
“Come here,” I say softly, and she moves into my arms like she belongs there.
The kiss starts tender, careful. My hands frame her face like she’s something precious, and she sighs into my mouth. But when she pulls me closer, her fingers fisting in my shirt, something shifts.
“I’ve been thinking about this,” she confesses against my lips. “Since Sunday night. Wondering what it would feel like to have more.”
“More?” My voice comes out rougher than intended, and I can feel my control slipping.
“More of you. More of this.” She arches against me as my mouth finds that sensitive spot behind her ear. “All of you.”
Her honesty breaks down whatever control I’ve been maintaining.
I back her slowly toward the couch, my hands settling more firmly at her waist. When the backs of her knees hit the cushions, she pulls me down with her, and suddenly we’re sprawled together, the careful gentleness giving way to something hungrier.
“Let me take care of you,” I murmur against her throat, and there’s an edge of command in my voice now that wasn’t there before. The alpha in me responding to her need, her trust.
“Yes,” she breathes. “Please, Caleb.”
I capture her mouth again while my hands map the curves I’ve been wanting to explore all evening. When I cup her breast through her sweater, she arches into my touch with a gasp that goes straight to my already aching cock.
“So responsive,” I murmur, my voice taking on that rough quality I can’t control when she affects me like this. “So perfect.”
My hands find the hem of her sweater, and she helps me pull it over her head. In the soft light from her living room, she’s gorgeous. Flushed and wanting, looking at me with trust that makes my chest tight and my body burn with need.
“Your turn,” she whispers, reaching for my shirt.
I let her undress me slowly, her touch reverent as she explores the muscles of my chest and shoulders. When she traces the scar along my ribs with gentle fingers, I tense slightly.
“Does it hurt?” she asks softly.
“Not anymore.” Not when she’s looking at me like this. Like I’m something worth wanting instead of something that’s been broken and put back together.
“You’re beautiful,” she whispers, pressing a soft kiss to the old wound. The simple tenderness of the gesture makes my throat tight, but it also awakens something more possessive in my chest.
I gather her close, rolling us so she’s beneath me on the couch. She looks up at me with trust and desire, and I’ve never wanted anything more than I want to make this perfect for her.
“I want to taste you,” I tell her, my hand sliding down to cup her through her jeans. She’s already warm and responsive, even through the denim, and the knowledge that I affect her this much makes my cock throb.
“Yes,” she breathes. “Please.”
I take my time with her jeans, pressing kisses to each inch of skin I reveal. By the time I’ve worked them off her legs, she’s trembling with need, her scent so rich and inviting that I’m drunk on it.
“So beautiful,” I breathe, settling between her thighs.
When I put my mouth on her, she cries out and arches beneath me. She tastes like heaven, sweet and addictive, and I want to memorize every sound she makes as I work her higher.
“Oh god, Caleb, that feels—” Her words dissolve into soft moans as I find the rhythm that makes her wild.
I take my time, learning what makes her gasp and what makes her beg. Her hands fist in my hair, holding me against her as she rocks into my mouth, and the trust she shows in letting me lead like this makes something primal stir in my chest.
“Please,” she gasps. “I’m so close?—”
When she finally falls apart, my name on her lips like a prayer, satisfaction rolls through me like nothing I’ve ever felt. I hold her through the aftershocks, pressing gentle kisses to her inner thighs while she catches her breath.
“That was...” she starts, then trails off with a blissful sigh.
“Good?”
“Incredible.” She reaches for me, but I catch her hands gently.
“This was about you,” I tell her, pressing a kiss to her palm. “About taking care of you.”
“But what about you?” Her gaze drops to where I’m obviously hard, straining against my jeans.
“I’m fine.” And I am. Seeing her come apart for me was better than any release I could have asked for. “This was perfect.”
She looks like she wants to argue, but I silence her with a soft kiss.
“I should head home,” I say reluctantly. “Let you get some rest.”
“Stay,” she whispers. “Just to sleep.”
The offer is tempting, but I know if I stay, we won’t stop at sleeping. And despite how much I want her, I want to savor this. To build something that lasts instead of rushing toward something that could burn out.
“Another time,” I promise, helping her under the covers. “When we have more time to explore this properly.”
I dress quietly while she watches from bed, looking thoroughly satisfied and beautifully disheveled.
“Call the realtor tomorrow,” she says as I lean down for one last kiss.
“I will.”
“And Caleb?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. For tonight. For showing me the house. For...” She gestures vaguely at herself, cheeks flushing pink. “For taking care of me.”
“Always,” I promise, and mean it completely.
Outside in the cool night air, I can still taste her on my lips, can still hear the way she said my name when she came. The memory will keep me awake tonight, but it’s worth it.
Tomorrow I’ll call about the house. Tomorrow I’ll start building something permanent.
Tonight, I gave Sadie exactly what she needed, and that’s enough.