47. Caleb
Chapter forty-seven
I’m drunk on love right now. Lex is wrapped up in my arms, baring her neck to me with soft giggles and sighs as I trace my lips and tongue up her throat and behind her ear while we ride up the elevator to my penthouse.
There isn’t a moment when I’m with Lex that isn’t utterly fulfilling. To my mind, my body, and my soul. She’s every part that completes me. Not that I felt incomplete before her, but having her in my life has opened my mind and my heart to new possibilities. And I can’t go back.
The doors ding and open. I lean down to pick up Lex’s bag, then wrap my arm around her shoulder as we walk to my door. She cuddles into my body, and I know there’s no way I can keep my feelings about her a secret any longer. She’ll figure it out in the gifts I plan to give her tonight, anyway.
I unlock my front door and walk us straight to my bedroom to drop her bag on the armchair near the window.
Lex sits on the edge of the bed, unclasping the strap of her heel.
“Hey, maybe I wanted those left on,” I say as I stalk over to the bed, taking her ankle from her and bringing it up to my chest, forcing her to fall back against the bed and laugh .
I smile down at her, running a palm up and down her calf, and then I kiss the arch of her foot.
“Do you want something to drink? I still need to give you your present.”
“For the record, the date you planned tonight counts as a present.” She sighs wistfully.
“Plenty more where that came from, baby.”
“Okay. Well, can I give you my present first?”
“You got me a present?”
“Of course I did.” She laughs as she rolls over the side of the bed, then starts rifling through her bag.
She turns back to me with a beaming smile on her face and a silver gift bag in her hand.
I take the gift bag from her outstretched hands. “Thank you, baby.” I give her a soft kiss, and we both sit on the end of the bed.
I peer into the bag and pull out a frame. It’s a photo of the two of us from the charity ball a few weeks ago. Photographers took so many photos that night, it took forever to go through the entire gallery, but this is one I haven’t seen before.
Lex and I are on the dancefloor. Everyone else around us is blurred, as if they were all moving too quickly and we were frozen in time.
I’m holding one of Lex’s hands against my chest while the other is wrapped around her waist, pinning her against me.
We’re both looking at each other with love.
I already knew I felt it for her, but in this photo, I can literally see it. The way my world spins around her.
“I thought you could put it on your desk at work,” she says as she leans her head on my shoulder.
“I absolutely will. I love it.” I kiss the top of her head.
“There’s something else in there.”
I put the frame on the bed beside me and reach back into the bag, pulling out a small rectangular box. When I open it, there’s a gold tie bar in the shape of a trident. Red stones shining at the end of each tine .
“Lex.” I stare at her in disbelief.
“Do you like it?” I know how much the trident means to her. Not only is it the symbol on the Legacy Malt logo, but it’s a tattoo both she and her brother have, each tine representing them and their father.
“I love it,” I whisper.
“Oh, good. I had it custom-made, so I can’t really take it back.”
“Custom-made? I hope you didn’t spend too much money.”
“Like you’re one to talk.” She smiles and playfully slaps my thigh.
“It’s my job to spoil you.”
“No, it’s not.” She laughs. “It’s your job to love me.”
She gasps as soon as she says the words. Her head drops into her hands, muffling her next words. “I’m not suggesting you do or should.”
I grab onto her wrists and slowly pull them away from her face. “Hold that thought.”
Walking over to my dresser, I open the top drawer and pull out a small square box. When I rejoin her at the end of the bed, I kneel on both knees so there’s no confusion, but my heart still beats in my throat.
“I know we’ve only been together for a few short months, but I know you’re not someone I’ll ever regret or tire of. In fact, forever feels far too short.” I open the box to reveal a white gold ring, diamonds and rubies set all around the band.
“This is not an engagement ring, but I do hope you’ll wear it on your ring finger so you know the level of my feelings for you and where I hope we’re leading.”
She touches her lips, and her eyes fill with tears, gaze bouncing from me to the ring.
“You can wear it on the opposite hand if you prefer,” I whisper, hoping I haven’t scared her off. I still have one other thing to show her, and now I’m feeling immensely nervous about it .
She nods, and I expect her to hold out her right hand, preferring to wear my promise on the more conservative side. But she doesn’t. Her left hand reaches over steadily, flaring her fingers so I can place the band on her ring finger.
As I do, I imagine the next time this happening with a fucking huge diamond, because I’m going to make sure that thing can be seen from space when I ask her to be my wife. And there goes my dick again.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
“I love spoiling you, Siren.”
She shakes her head. “Not for the present. For all the ways you make me feel treasured. You fill the moments of doubt with devotion.”
I remain kneeling in front of her and remove my jacket, keeping my eyes on her as I toss it aside.
My shirt was already unbuttoned a little to ease the pressure off my chest, but now I release them all, slowly peeling it open and over my shoulders.
Lex gasps when she sees it. I’ve never been shy about taking risks in my business. Once I know the answer, I go all in. Lex is no different. She is every answer, before I even knew the question.
I throw my shirt to join my jacket and stay before her with my chest bare, an anchor and her name inked over my heart.
It’s still covered with the plastic film from earlier. I need to clean and treat it like Gage instructed me to. Lex stands, bringing her body flush against mine as her finger hovers over my chest.
“When did you do this?” she whispers.
“Straight after I dropped you back at your place this morning.”
“ Why did you do this?” She finally looks up at me, her question lingering in the air.
“Because”—I place a hand against her cheek—“I’m so in love with you, Lex. I want to carry you with me everywhere, especially inked over my heart, since that’s where you live, anyway. ”
The tears that were building spill over her lashes, tracking down her cheek. She throws herself at me, and I easily catch her as she locks her arms around me, burying her face into my neck.
“I love you so much, too.”
With a hand on the back of her head, I pull back so I can look into her eyes. Time feels as though it stops. The world doesn’t spin, and my heart doesn’t beat until I crash my mouth against hers.
Is it possible that every move I’ve made in my life was designed to bring me to this very moment?
The moment where I’m loved by this woman.
My body feels weightless as I’m filled with a kind of happiness I never expected.
It’s different because it’s entirely mine.
It’s not tied to obligation or expectations.
All I need to do is love her right back, and that’s as easy as breathing.
I continue to kiss Lex as I lower us both onto the bed. What started as red-hot need transitions into languid and savouring devotion. Our tongues stroke against each other as our fingers trace patterns, shedding items of clothing until we’re lying on top of the sheets, completely naked.
My hand inches over the silken skin of Lex’s thigh until I find her knee, then I hook it over my hip. Before I find my home inside her, my hard cock nudging her entrance, I halt my kisses to look into her grey eyes.
“I love you,” I whisper.
“I love you, too,” she says, and before the words are even finished, I’m slowly pushing into her.
She throws her head back with a moan that’s both sweet and satisfying. I pull out and thrust back in, keeping my movements slow and deep, soaking up every zip and tingle that darts through my body.
My arms shake, my back shudders, my stomach squeezes as pleasure licks all over me. Lex wraps both legs around my waist, her hands dig into my hair, and she drags her nails along the back of my neck as I continue to make love to her. Something that’s reserved only for her. My love.
Infinite kisses are traded as the fire in my spine turns scorching, my balls tighten, and my dick feels impossibly hard, ready to explode.
I bring a hand between our bodies so I can gently massage circles over her clit. Her pussy flutters on contact and she sighs into my mouth. I keep my pace unhurried, holding myself deeper as her legs wind tighter around me. Our breaths turn ragged, and I know we’re both on the edge.
She clenches around me, and I groan into her mouth as I feel her arousal flood around me, and then I’m pulsing my release into her. I wait until every drop spills, and then I tuck my knees up alongside her torso and scoop my arms under her back, hugging her body to mine as we come down.
Her fingers run up and down my spine as I just exist within her arms.
“Promise you’ll never let me go.”
I squeeze her tighter. “Never.”