Chapter 29
The key thing was strange.
Not that she had left them in his office. That was understandable. But Caleb was sure Kelly had been returning the master key fob to Linda’s desk drawer, although she’d played it off so well he almost second-guessed himself.
But he was sure of what he’d seen, and he couldn’t figure out why she would have wanted the master key in the first place.
It could get her into anywhere in the building, but what could she possibly want in this building?
She wasn’t any sort of corporate spy for a different company.
It was too easy to track that kind of thing, and her background was all wrong for it.
But there was nothing else here. Nothing else a pet portrait artist could possibly want.
Maybe she was arranging some sort of surprise for him.
It was the only explanation he could think of.
The question kept nagging at him though. All afternoon, after Kelly had left, as he tried to focus once again on work. He couldn’t push it completely from his mind.
He’d arranged a phone call in a half hour, so there wasn’t any sense in leaving before then, and he really needed to get through some more email before he called it quits for the day. But he just stared at the screen and thought about Kelly, about what she still might be hiding from him.
She loved him. He knew it was true. She felt for him the way he did for her. He wasn’t a fool, and he could tell her feelings were genuine.
Whatever she was hiding wasn’t intended to hurt him.
Maybe it had something to do with her bastard of an ex-lover, whom she still hadn’t opened up about to Caleb yet.
When his phone rang, he grabbed it, glad for a distraction from the direction of his thoughts.
It was Wes.
“Hey, I thought you were flying back today.”
“I am.”
“How’s your mom?”
“About the same. Thanks. How’s Kelly?”
Well, that did nothing to distract Caleb from the focus of his thoughts all day. “She’s fine. Why wouldn’t she be?”
“I don’t know. You tell me.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Doesn’t anything seem strange to you about her? She comes out of nowhere, and suddenly she’s the most important thing in your life?”
Caleb was silent for a long time. Then he finally said, “Isn’t that how it always happens?”
“I don’t know. It’s never happened to me. But she’s hiding something. I can tell.”
“She has things in her past she doesn’t want the world to know. All of us do.”
“Yeah. Maybe.”
“Why have you gotten this thing between your teeth? Kelly thinks you have hidden desires for me that go way beyond friendship.”
Wes snorted. “Nice. She’s good at deflection. I’ll give her that. But there’s something weird about her past. It’s too well hidden.”
Caleb’s whole body tightened like a fist. “Have you been investigating her?”
There was a moment of silence. Then, “Why would I bother investigating some random chick you happen to be screwing?”
Caleb took a breath. Controlled the surge of resentment at this reference to Kelly. “I don’t know why. But you’ve been overly curious about her. And you’ve been asking too many questions.”
“Of course I’ve been asking questions about her. She’s like this gorgeous, unsolved puzzle. Any man would be curious about her.”
“What the hell are you thinking?”
“You know me, Caleb. I have many, many thoughts. And no man in his right mind wouldn’t have X-rated thoughts about Kelly. Just her hair alone makes me want to?—”
“Do not finish that sentence.” Caleb’s hand was clenched, and he stared down at his whitening knuckles. He knew Wes was doing it on purpose. Trying to rile him up so he would reveal something.
“Why should you get all the best girls?”
Caleb knew Wes wasn’t being serious. Until the past couple of months, they hadn’t spoken in more than a year, but they would always be friends, and Wes would never poach on his territory.
“Well, you’re welcome to make a play for her if you’d like,” Caleb said drily, feeling more like himself when the primal instincts had settled back down.
“But I don’t know why you would since you’re convinced she’s up to no good. ”
There was a slow exhale on the line. “It’s not that I assume she’s up to no good.
But she’s hiding something, and it’s not just the normal kinds of things that women hide.
My instincts tell me there’s a secret here, and I’m still half-convinced I’ve seen her somewhere before.
So, yes, it has occurred to me that she might be after something other than the obvious with you. ”
Caleb didn’t like that clench in his gut as his friend’s words confirmed his own belief that Kelly was hiding something. “The obvious?”
“The obvious reason women go after you is that you’re rich and powerful.”
Caleb bristled again. Spoke without thinking. “Because no woman could ever actually want me for me.” He practically bit his tongue trying to hold the thoughtless words back, but they were spoken before he realized it.
What the hell was wrong with him? This kind of vulnerability wasn’t like him. It had never been like him before.
Before Kelly.
This time there was a very long stretch of silence on the other end of the call. Then a softly spoken “Damn!”
And Caleb knew he’d given something away. Something important. Something he couldn’t even admit to himself.
Covering his brief vulnerability, Caleb gritted out, “Is there something you wanted to say?”
“No.” The answer came quickly, the matter-of-fact tone shifting the tense, awkward mood. “But she’s hiding something. She puts on a good show of being innocent and sincere. But there’s something about her. The way she looks at you, the way she moves, it’s like…”
“Like what?” Caleb asked frigidly.
“I don’t know. I really don’t know how to explain it. I’m just sure there’s something off about her, about the situation. If you weren’t in so deep with her, you’d be able to see it too.”
“I’m not in too deep. I know what I’m doing.”
He didn’t really know what he was doing. He’d never been in love before, so everything with Kelly was brand-new.
He was like a boy fumbling around in the dark, trying desperately to figure out the next move.
He wanted it to be right. He needed it to be right. Because if he did the wrong thing, he might risk losing what he had with Kelly.
And that was something he couldn’t allow.
That evening Caleb was buried in Kelly, as deep as he could get.
It wasn’t deep enough.
He couldn’t seem to get enough of her. They’d moved into his bedroom more than an hour ago.
The kissing and foreplay had gone on a long time—much longer than he was used to.
And now his cock was sliding inside her, surrounded by her tight, wet heat.
Her legs were wrapped around his middle, her heels digging almost painfully into the small of his back.
And it felt like he was drowning in her, felt like he’d never pull out.
She’d already come twice, but Caleb just couldn’t bring himself to end it yet.
Her inner muscles were gripping his cock ruthlessly, and she was arching and shaking beneath him as if she was on the way to yet another orgasm.
Her long hair was all over the place, covering the pillow and clinging to her damp, red face as well as to her shoulders and breasts.
Some of the strands were clinging to Caleb’s skin too as she tossed her head restlessly, shaking their tangled bodies. And all Caleb could breathe in was Kelly—hot, urgent, panting, golden Kelly. She was everything, everywhere. And yet still Caleb couldn’t seem to touch, feel, taste her enough.
He loved how she kept coming for him, how she responded so hungrily to his body and his deepest rhythm. She was clawing lines down his back, the pain awaking a primal instinct that made him want to roar. And she kept grunting and bucking beneath him, desperately trying to claim yet another release.
Her whole body was flushed and wet with perspiration, but she still seemed frantic for more.
Caleb had angled his hips so he could rock against her G-spot, and in this position he couldn’t get any deeper. He wasn’t thrusting, just pushing into her in a way he thought she would like.
But he wanted to get deeper. He wanted to be buried in her completely. He wanted to be swallowed up in her. He wanted nothing—not air, not skin, not sweat—between them.
He let out a thick groan of frustration and jerked his head to the side. The tight clasp of her body was incredible, but it wasn’t enough. He wanted more. He wanted to thrust.
He wanted to thrust deep.
Kelly’s body was shuddering violently now, and her thighs tightened around him with brutal force. “Oh,” she gasped, her face contorting in pleasure. “Oh, oh, oh, yeah.”
Caleb pushed against her G-spot more urgently, knowing she was about to come again. He wanted to see it. Wanted to feel it. Wanted to know that he was pleasing her this much.
One of her arms flew out and fumbled around on the bed as her body started to spasm in raw, erotic need.
He felt her channel starting to pulse around his cock, and he kept purposefully pushing against the contractions.
Kelly cried out through the hair that had flown into her mouth. Her eyes were wild and half closed, focused on his face as she rode out her orgasm.
Caleb felt like his chest was going to burst open. Like his head was going to explode. His body was so tense his muscles were starting to ache, but he still seemed to need more. Just couldn’t get enough of her.
As Kelly’s body started to relax again, she wheezed and tried to blow the hair out of her mouth. “Oh God,” she gasped, her voice hoarse and weak. “Oh God, Caleb.” The hand that had been clawing at his back started stroking his broken skin with the palm.
He wanted to kiss her, to bury his face in her hair, but it was taking too much effort for him to hold the fibers of his body together.