27. Bailey
CHAPTER 27
Bailey
I ’m filled with so much gratitude as I listen to Charlie tell me all about her day with Caleb. Not only did this man arrange for me to spend the day at the spa with Liv and insist on paying for it, he also spent the entire day with my daughter. He took her shopping, painted her room, and bought furniture for her, helping her decorate it just how she wanted.
Derek would never spend an entire day with Charlie, let alone take her shopping and do all the work that Caleb did today. He never cared for me enough to realize I needed a day of relaxation, let alone do everything to ensure I got it.
I’ve fallen for this man, but something is still holding me back from telling him how I feel. I’m still worried the ground will be ripped out from under me. Not by Caleb, but rather some outside force.
When Charlie finishes her bath, I help her get dressed, and we head into her room. I have to stand beside her bed to read her a bedtime story now. When I finish, I kiss her forehead before heading into Caleb’s room.
Stepping into the room and closing the door, the sound of the shower running has a smile spreading across my face. I walk into the washroom, strip out of my clothes, and step into the shower with Caleb.
He grins, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me into the stream of water before leaning down and kissing me. He kisses me deeply, and I melt into him, feeling his erection pressing into my stomach. When we break apart, I immediately drop to my knees in front of him. He groans as I reach forward and grab his hard cock in my hand, pumping it twice.
One hand reaches out and steadies him while the other comes to my head. I feel so powerful right now, holding this man in the palm of my hand, being in complete control of his pleasure. He’s allowing me to be in complete control. My breathing quickens as this heady feeling rushes through me. I squeeze my thighs together, trying to quench the ache growing between them.
Leaning forward, I lick him from base to tip, flicking my tongue over his slit. His grip on my hair tightens. I tease him, slowly licking the other side and flicking my tongue the same way. I tighten my grip slightly as I give him another pump before my other hand finds his balls and rolls them.
“Fuck, you’re a naughty little minx, aren’t you?” he says as his hand flexes in my hair.
A devilish grin spreads across my face as I nod and lean forward, taking as much of him in my mouth as I can. I moan around his length. He hits the back of my throat and I need to use my hand to work the rest of him. His moan wraps around me, filling me with pride as I bring him pleasure.
I continue to work him slowly, drawing out every last bit of his pleasure. His thighs tense, and I can tell he’s close.
“I’m going to come, baby,” he says as his grip on my hair loosens, allowing me the freedom to move.
But I don’t want to. My hand leaves his balls, and I find his taint and massage it. His grip on my hair tightens again and his hips buck. Within seconds, he’s coming. He groans my name as my mouth continues to move along his length.
When he’s finished, I release him with a pop and use my thumb to collect any stray drops from my lips before licking them off. As he watches me, his eyes fill with hunger. His hands come under my arms and he lifts me. He spins us so I’m pressed against the cold tile of the shower wall before his lips descend on mine. He has no hesitations about tasting himself as his tongue invades my mouth.
His kiss is full of power and control, and I completely turn myself over to him. I follow his lead as he adjusts the angle of my head to kiss me deeper. I moan as his hand comes up and tweaks my nipple. This man is consuming me in the best ways possible, and I’m not sure I’m going to survive it.
He drops to his knees in front of me. “My turn,” he says with a grin.
Before I can even say anything, he’s spread my legs and his tongue has found my clit, flicking it. It’s so sensitive my back pushes off the wall at the one touch. He chuckles between my thighs, lifting one leg over his shoulder to give him better access.
He’s not slow like he’s been in the past. He devours me with quick and relentless strokes of his tongue. His fingers join in, and within minutes, my legs are giving out as I come, calling his name.
He slowly kisses his way up my body until he’s standing at his full height. He stares at me, his eyes full of emotion as he tucks a stray piece of hair behind my ear.
“You’re stunning,” he whispers.
I hold his eyes and see nothing but truth in them. If I’ve learned anything about this man, it’s that what he says, he means.
He reverently kisses my forehead, cheeks, eyelids, nose, and then leaves a feather-light kiss on my lips. He rests his forehead against mine, closing his eyes.
“How are you real?” he asks.
I chuckle, and his eyes open.
“I could ask the same thing about you,” I say.
We stare at each other for what feels like minutes before he reaches out and grabs my shampoo. He puts a generous amount in his hand before twirling his finger, and I spin. He slowly massages the shampoo into my scalp and down through my hair.
As his fingers work, he says, “You’ve chased the nightmares away.” His voice is soft as he says it, as though he’s scarred to put the words into the universe.
I don’t say anything, waiting to see if he’s going to say more.
“Before you started staying in my bed, I had nightmares every night. I would wake up in a sweat, my heart pounding out of my chest. Ever since you started spending every night in my bed, I haven’t had a single one. You’ve saved me.”
He rinses the shampoo out before working the conditioner into my ends and grabbing the bar of soap, washing every inch of my body. He’s gentle with me. There’s nothing sexual about this it’s so much more. It’s a simple act of taking care of me.
When he finishes, I do the same to him before he washes out the conditioner from my hair. He dries me off before drying himself, and we climb into bed together. As I snuggle into him, I realize that right here in his arms is the place I feel safest in this world, and that scares the shit out of me. What happens when this ends? Will I be able to find that place of safety with just myself?
“Stop overthinking,” he whispers against my temple before kissing it.
“What?”
“You’re overthinking about som ething. Stop.”
“How’d you know?” I whisper.
“Baby, I know you. I can read your body, your feelings.” His grip around me tightens as he holds me as close to him as possible. “Whatever you’re thinking, it’s all going to be fine.”
He kisses my temple again, and I do my best to relax into him. His thumb runs over the skin under my left breast and the movement has me relaxing even more. He’s learned all my tells and what relaxes me in such a short time. I fall asleep to the movement of his thumb and his steady breathing.
T he sound of the door creaking open wakes both Caleb and me. He sits up, and I follow. Charlie is standing in the doorway, clutching her Princess.
“Caleb, can I sleep with you? I had a bad dream.”
“Of course, Little Bear. Can you give me one minute?”
She nods and steps outside the door, and he quickly jumps out of bed and pulls on a pair of grey sweats and a black VPD shirt before opening the door and picking up Charlie. He carries her back to the bed before climbing in and bringing her with him. She nuzzles her way into his side, and he rubs a hand up and down her back. He leans down and kisses the top of her head, and my heart skips a beat.
“Do you want to tell me about it?” he asks her.
Silence fills the room. I think she’s not going to say anything until her barely there voice comes out. “I had a dream you left and I never got to see you again.”
Her little sob at the end of her sentence echoes around me.
His hand stops moving on her back. “Little Bear, can you look at me.”
She moves her head so she’s looking right at him.
“I will never leave y ou. You will always have me. No matter what happens, you can count on that. You can call me day or night. You can always talk to me. You will always have me. As long as you want me to be here, I will.”
I have to brush away my own tears as I listen to him. That’s such a big promise, yet I know he means every word of it. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t say it. He holds her tight to him and his other arm finds me, pulling me closer with Charlie positioned between us. He holds my hand over Charlie’s back as she stays cuddled into his side.
“I will always love having my girls in my arms,” he says before we drift asleep.
O n Wednesday, I walk to the café on the corner for lunch. While I’m waiting in line, the hairs on the back of my neck rise, and I stiffen. I slowly move my head, looking for something, but I’m not sure what. I make my way to the front of the line and order a sandwich and a peppermint mocha. Grabbing my items, I move to a table that places my back in the corner and provides me a view of the entire café.
I scroll through the group chat finalizing plans for Boxing Day. As I read Olivia’s last text, the chair across from me is pulled out, and someone sits in it. I don’t have to lift my head to know who it is. My grip on my phone tightens, and I position it in my lap, out of his view. I look up and work to keep my face even. Derek looks at me, a look of triumph on his face. Cold washes through me as I look around to see if anyone is paying attention to us.
Derek leans forward. “Hi, honey. It’s been so hard to get a hold of you. Is your phone not working? I’ve texted you several times.”
I can hear the restrained anger in his voice. It has me on high alert.
“I’ve been busy.” My voice comes out weaker than I had hoped.
“You can’t be too busy for me. I’ve wanted to see you, and Charlie, of course.”
He stares at me, and it makes me want to push my chair as far away from him as possible. I force myself to stay put. Pushing away would just provoke him. My eyes dart down to my phone, and I select Caleb’s number, making sure I turn the sound down on my phone so the ringing isn’t audible.
“Well, I’ve got you here now. I want to spend Christmas with you. Why don’t I come by Christmas Eve and spend the night and then we can do a whole thing on Christmas Day.” He sounds so sure, like I couldn’t possibly say no.
“We have plans for Christmas.” My voice comes out stronger this time. The call timer on my phone appears, showing Caleb’s picked up. Knowing he’s on the phone gives me a sense of strength. “We can plan a supervised visit for you and Charlie at a park or somewhere next week.”
His gaze hardens, and his hands that are resting on the table ball into fists. I flinch at the movement. He wouldn’t do anything in public, would he?
“Cancel your plans. You should be spending the holiday with me.” The anger and demanding tone of his voice cause me to shiver, and this time I do move my chair back.
“I can’t and won’t cancel. I made a commitment. Like I said, we can set something up for you and Charlie next week. Now, I’d like you to leave. I would like to finish my lunch in peace.”
He pushes his chair back, placing his fists on the table as he leans in close. “You are my wife. You will spend Christmas with me. I won’t give you a choice.”
“Ex-wife.” Caleb’s voice sends a wave of calm through me.
I watch a look of absolute hatred cross Derek’s face as he stands to his full height, puffs out his chest, and turns to face Caleb.
“This is none of your concern,” Derek spits.
“You’re currently harassing your ex-wife. If that didn’t make it enough of my concern as an officer of the law, the fact that you’re harassing my girl does.” Caleb is taller and broader than Derek, but that doesn’t seem to deter him from stepping closer to him.
“She will always be mine. I had her first, and I’m not letting her go.” He spins and looks at me. “You really whoring yourself out for this thick skull? You really have lowered yourself, Bailey. I’ll forgive it this one time, but know that I don’t take kindly to cheating.”
Caleb steps closer, forcing Derek to take a step back. He continues until Derek’s back is pressed against the wall. Derek seems to lose his vibrato for a second before puffing out his chest again.
“She is your ex-wife. You don’t get to make any decisions about her life. You’d be smart to leave her alone. Like she said, we can arrange for you to see Charlie next week. She will contact you when she’s ready to set that up.” Caleb leans in close and says something that has all the blood drain from Derek’s face. When Caleb steps back, Derek walks towards the door, leaving without a second glance.
Caleb crouches in front of me, and I instantly wrap my arms around his neck. His head dips and his lips find the side of my neck while his arms wrap around my waist.
“Are you okay?” he whispers against my skin.
I nod against him.
He pulls back and his hands come to the side of my face as he tucks my hair behind my ears. “You sure?” Worry laces his voice as his eyes take me in.
“Yeah,” I say before checking my phone. “I need to head back.”
He nods and grabs my food and bag. We walk into the parking lot, and he leads me to his cruiser, opening the passenger side door for me. We ride in silence for the few minutes it takes to get back to the office. When we arrive, he jumps out and opens my door for me. Before I can get out, his lips come to mine as he dusts a light kiss over them. Resting his forehead against mine, he whispers, “Thank you for calling me.”
I stare into his eyes, reaching up and running my fingers through his hair. “Thank you for showing up,” I whisper.
“Always,” he says before kissing my forehead.
He helps me out, and I make my way into the office. I spend the rest of my shift on edge, worried that every time the door opens, it’s going to be Derek that’s walking in.
I power through the rest of the week. Once the weekend comes, I know Derek isn’t going to be able to find me at Caleb’s. Caleb and I agree to try to set up a meeting on the eighteenth. Caleb’s off work and can go with us so I don’t have to do it alone. Knowing he’s going to be there makes it more bearable to think about.