25. Margot
TWENTY-FIVE
Margot
W e were tangled on top of Caleb’s bed. The quilt wound between us, dipping and twisting through our limbs.
Caleb drew a series of circles on the inside of my thigh.
“What is that?” I asked, watching his index finger repeat the pattern.
“A waterspout,” he answered.
“Interesting leg doodle,” I teased.
He inched the circles higher and higher until I let a whimper seep through my lips. He kissed my shoulder.
“You’re so fucking sexy,” he teased his tongue against my skin.
I felt happiness warming me. Pure rays of sunlight. It pushed out the loneliness and the sadness that had been plaguing me for months. I nuzzled closer to him. Caleb wrapped his arms around me. We fell asleep as the wind howled through the Coast Guard station, whipping rain against the windows, but I’d never felt safer and more content.
T he next morning, I had to get my bearings. Waking up in his room threw me off for a second. Going home with Caleb had felt like a dream or fantasy. My nose was pressed into the crook of Caleb’s neck. I could still pick up the scents of his aftershave. I traced the hard ridges of his bicep. It wasn’t a dream.
“Good morning.” His voice was husky and sexy.
“Good morning,” I whispered.
He rolled onto his back. My hand reached under the quilt, caressing his cock with certain strokes.
“Ahh,” he moaned as it grew harder and more like steel in my palm. My nipples perked. Caleb’s thumb began to rub them, gently at first and then with more friction until I straddled his frame.
.We shivered at the impact. His fingers curled into my waist. I stared into his eyes as my hips rocked back and forth. There was something ultra-erotic about having sex with a man who handed me control. He trusted me. He wanted what I had to give.
“You like this position?” I squeezed my thighs around him, still straddled and firmly planted on his body.
He nodded. “You’re a sex queen, Margot.”
I laughed, wanting nothing more than to sink onto him and take him inside. But this foreplay was fun. It was sweet and hot all wrapped up together.
I lowered my lips to his neck, nipping along the side, all the way to his ear. I could still hear the rain outside the window. The storm must have settled over Marshoak Island. Maybe it would be here all day.
I wondered if this was how we would spend the entire rainy summer day. It seemed we were capable of tasting, kissing, and fucking for hours on end. My heart began to beat faster. The butterflies flocked to the outer edges of my limbs. Our tongues flicked and danced together. I purred when Caleb’s fingers threaded through mine. I dragged his arms over his head as my hips moved with a new slower, deeper rhythm. My intentions were clear. My body only wanted this. Only wanted him.
“Condom,” I whispered. Neither of us could wait any longer.
He stretched his arm toward the bedside table and opened the drawer. I looked inside, but it was empty.
“Oh, I have more in the top drawer of my dresser.”
“I don’t want to move,” I whined.
“I don’t want to either, but we need that condom.” He winked.
“I’ll get it,” I volunteered. I was reluctant to leave my position, but I was motivated. I wanted that damn condom. I felt his eyes on my eyes as I walked toward the dresser. I felt like the sex queen he claimed I was when my hips swayed back and forth.
“How many?” I toyed with the idea that we could have a sex marathon in the rain, in the storm, and hide out all day from everyone we knew.
I opened the drawer and heard Caleb’s protest. “No! I just remembered.”
I saw what was lying next to the stack of condoms. It was a check. I knew I shouldn’t look. It wasn’t mine. It certainly wasn’t my business. I didn’t listen to him or to the instinct shouting inside my head. I picked it up between my fingers and turned slowly.
“Is this Carrie? Lucas’s mom Carrie?” I felt such a jolt of pain. A betrayal I didn’t know I could feel.
Caleb was next to me. He pulled the check from my hand.
“Let me explain. I wanted to tell you about the check last night.”
I couldn’t see clearly. Tears had started forming. I choked on a sob I didn’t know was going to break free.
“Move,” I pushed him out of the way so I could fish for my clothes under the bed.
“Margot, it’s not that big a deal. Stop so we can talk about this.”
“Not that big a deal?” I gawked at him. “You’ve seen Carrie since the accident? You didn’t bother to tell me?”
He exhaled. He was jumping into clothes at the same rate I was, which was pretty damn fast.
“A lot happened last night. It didn’t come up. I was planning on it.”
My eyes whipped toward him. “Planning on it?” I pinched my lips together. “Your last apology was much better.”
“Hey, that’s not fair. I didn’t ask for this money. I didn’t want it.”
“But you have it,” I hissed. “You took a check from her for twenty thousand dollars? Who does that?”
He waved his hands as if it could erase what I had said. “She left. I didn’t have a way to give it back to her.” He raced around me, blocking my exit. “Stop. Let me explain. Talk through this with me.”
It was then I listened. I stopped trying to push past him. I stopped trying to shut him down. I stopped trying to take every word he said and twist it into something it wasn’t—something Caleb wasn’t.
I sighed. “I’m sorry. You deserve a chance to explain. You’re right.” The words stuck in the back of my throat. They were some of the hardest I had ever spoken. Admitting I was wrong and rash was something I’d never been able to do before.
He closed his eyes. I saw the relief wash over him and felt so much guilt and embarrassment for flying off the handle. But that’s what I did. I believed the worst, the absolute worst in people. I didn’t know if I could give him the chance he needed, but I was going to try.