10. Caleb
Chapter 10
Caleb
Past
M om was gone. She didn’t say where she was going before she left. One minute she was standing with me in the foyer of my uncle’s house, kissing the top of my head, and the next…
I kept thinking she would come back. But it’s been two days. Two days of moping, staring out the window, and avoiding my uncle’s gaze. He was relentless, though. I couldn’t seem to hide from him for long.
“You look like your father.” Uncle David filled my bedroom doorway.
He was in slacks and an olive-green sweater. The collar of a white dress shirt was visible around his neck. He was even wearing loafers in the house, which struck me as odd. His expression was stoic. Not good or bad.
I slowly turned on the bed and faced him.
“I’m sure that’s why she hasn’t come back,” he added.
I flinched. I’d been trying to stop but hadn’t mastered my face yet. He liked it when I reacted to his words. He came out with these awful thoughts. He spoke them into existence and then watched the damage they inflicted. That happened before my dad died. But now…?
“Ben and I looked alike, too.” He came closer and sat on the bed beside me. “Lydia… she’s troubled.”
“Mom?” I asked. “Troubled?”
“Always up to her ears in mischief.” He grimaced. “It was what attracted Ben to her in the first place. Like a moth to a flame…”
“Mom was the flame?”
“Indeed,” Uncle said. “Still is.”
I didn’t know what to make of that.
“Stand in front of me,” he said softly.
Hesitation hurt. I learned that this morning. Now, I jump off the bed and stand before him. Uncle did look like Dad. He had the same mean glint in his eyes, too. But that meanness only came out in Dad after a few drinks. It was ever-present on Uncle’s face. He was like a supermodel in the magazines Margo used to flip through. Beautiful and ice-cold.
There was no chair in front of him, but I already knew what he meant. We’d done this a few times— lessons , he called them.
I sank to my knees, keeping my eyes on Uncle’s shoes. They were polished.
“Tell me again how it happened,” Uncle urged.
“We were playing hide and seek.” I glanced up. “Margo was hiding. She saw…”
“Your father fucking her mom.”
I blinked. Mom never let me swear. She practically vibrated with anger when hell slipped out of my mouth. To say the f word seemed wrong on so many levels.
“She saw Dad…”
“Say it,” he prodded. “It’s just a word, Caleb. It’s what they were doing. They were fucking. Right?”
I couldn’t. Mom would be angry.
He exhaled. Disappointed.
The next thing I knew, I was flat on my back. He knelt beside me, his hand wrapped around my throat. The pressure was just enough that I could barely suck in air.
“Continue,” he said.
Tears burn at the backs of my eyes.
“She came up to… tell me.” It wasn’t quite right, but the details were blending together. Did she find me or did I find her? “Her mom realized we saw her and begged her not to tell.”
Uncle David leaned down. “But she did tell, didn’t she? And then her father took matters into his own hands.”
I shuddered.
“She should’ve listened to you, Caleb. If she had, your father would still be alive. Your family would still be together.”
He squeezed harder, until white spots exploded across my vision.
“Say it,” he repeated.
I knew better than to grab at his hands, but the urge was still there. The last time I did that, he backhanded me.
The easiest way to get out of this was to give him what he wanted.
“It’s Margo’s fault,” I whispered. “She ruined everything.”
“And what was your father doing with Amber Wolfe?”
“Fucking.” The word was barely audible.
He released me and sat back, smiling. He was a bit maniacal, wild hair and a crazy grin. “That’s it. One day, we’ll demand justice. Action is the only way things get done around here. Trust me, son. It’ll make you feel better.”
I swallowed. I didn’t believe him, but I would do anything to keep him calm.
“Yes, Uncle.”
Present
What if everything I believed was… twisted ?
“Wake up.”
I open my eyes. I look up at Eli, my brows furrowing. How did I get in the car?
“You still have a concussion,” he says. “In hindsight, we shouldn’t have gone for a fucking run after dinner.”
Right.
I touch the back of my head. The wound my uncle gave me is all but closed.
“I’m fine.”
He grunts. “You’re in denial, is what I think.”
I don’t bother with a response. He gets out, and I follow him up into the house. Mr. Black comes down the stairs as we’re kicking off our shoes. Eli tosses his truck’s keys into the bowl on the foyer side table.
“Margo’s curiosity cannot be tamed,” his dad says. “It’s either a good talent or a dangerous one.”
I pause. “She talked to you?”
He watches me with eagle eyes. “Wanted to get more information on Masters. And her father.”
I grimace.
“Get some rest, boys. Caleb, you go back to school tomorrow.”
I raise my eyebrows. “They’re letting me back?”
Given the detective’s interest in me and everything happening with Margo’s family, I figured…
“Yes. Since no formal charges were brought against you, they can’t expel you. Understand?” The expression he levels me with says I can’t make any more mistakes.
I nod. “Yes, sir.”
He exhales. “Goodnight, then.”
He and Eli head up the stairs, but I hesitate. I should go see Margo, make sure she’s okay. And yet…
Guilt overrides my decision. I can’t see her, knowing I failed. I failed her in so many ways, I can’t even count them.
I shove the emotion down and clear my throat. I’ll see her tomorrow before school—or after, if she’s still sleeping.
I get to the basement and stop. My bathroom light is on, throwing a warm, dim light across my room. I scan it, uneasy.
This wouldn’t be the first time my uncle ambushed me. If Josh was upstairs, he could’ve slipped in without detection.
Instead, my gaze lands on my bed. My unmade… lumpy bed.
A knot forms in my chest. She was waiting for me in my bed while I was being an idiot. My headache suddenly seems very distant. Like it’s not my head.
I go closer, and her hair fanned across my pillow becomes clearer. She faces me, but her lips are slightly parted. Eyes closed. She’s beautiful and innocent in sleep, with no walls between us.
Well, none of her walls.
I sit on the edge of the bed and brush her hair off her face. She shifts, and I about die when her tongue pokes out, sweeping over her lower lip.
“You’re back,” she murmurs.
“You’re in my bed.” My chest tightens.
She sighs, reaching out blindly for me.
I catch her hand and kiss her knuckles.
Her eyes open, meeting mine. “I don’t know if you’re the best or the worst thing to happen to me.”
Where is this coming from?
“Definitely the worst,” I reply. “I went for a run with Eli and I think I passed out. He had to go back for his truck.”
She huffs. “You have a concussion.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m aware.”
She watches me for a moment. I could sink into her gaze.
“You’ve been avoiding me,” she accuses. “Minus, you know, being in jail.”
She was kidnapped because of me.
She’s been hurt, over and over, because of me.
And the worst part is, I haven’t been able to prevent any of it.
Ian, our parents, her abduction.
“Stop thinking,” she orders, pushing herself upright. “Caleb. I’m right here. I’m okay .”
“But you…”
She touches my face.
“I couldn’t save you,” I mutter, and a piece of weight lifts off my chest. See where honesty gets you? “God, I didn’t even know you had been taken until Detective Dickwad showed up?—”
She pulls me toward her. Her hands are gentle on the back of my neck. I go with the pressure until our lips are inches apart.
And then I resist.
“Margo—”
She closes the distance between our lips and kisses me.
I’m shocked into immobility. She’s not usually the pursuer in our fucked-up relationship. I’ve hunted her down, bullied her, broke her. But in the end, she turned out stronger than I could’ve imagined.
Her lips move against my frozen ones. It isn’t until her teeth tug on my lower lip that my body thaws.
I slide my hands up her sides, over her shoulder blades and into her hair. She gives me the control. She broke the ice but now surrenders. I tilt her head back, and my tongue dips into her mouth. Her tongue moves along mine, forcing me out so she can explore my mouth.
She tastes sweet.
I lay her back down gently, cupping the back of her head even after it rests on the pillow. My body follows, hovering just over her. It was like this upstairs. Injured, wild. We’re still fully clothed, and my skin is too hot. She breathes hard, too. The urgency is unmatched.
We’re a mess, her and I.
Her leg hooks over my hip, drawing me closer.
I groan into her mouth, shifting so she can feel exactly what she does to me.
She tears her mouth away from mine, panting. “Caleb.”
I shift to her neck, licking and kissing a spot just below her ear that drives her crazy. She wriggles beneath me, her head lolling to the side to give me better access. Her hands go to my pants and shoves them down.
She gets my boxers off next.
I bite her neck, and she shudders. I grin.
“I need to feel you,” she whispers.
I roll my hips, the head of my cock brushing her panties. She’s soaked, and it only makes me harder.
Her fingers find my erection, and she tugs her panties to the side.
I thrust into her. No hesitation, no waiting . We both let out a low groan.
Being inside her without a condom is dangerous. She feels so good. Her pussy grips my length while I stay still. I really want to just not fucking think for a little while. And getting lost in her is as good a place as any for my mind to go.
“If this hurts your head, tell me,” I warn her.
“You have a head wound, too,” she says. “So, ditto.”
I chuckle. There is nothing on this planet that will stop me from being inside her right now. I’ve had a constant, minor headache for the last week. And this? Worth it.
My heart beats out of my chest. In the dim light, she appears ethereal. Dark hair, dark eyes, pale skin. So much pale skin. I grip her thighs, lifting her legs and locking them around my waist. I pull out, until just the tip is buried in her.
The muscles of her inner thighs flutter.
I slide her shirt up to her chin. No bra.
Her breasts are perfect, and her nipples harden. I pinch one between my thumb and index finger and push back into her.
She groans, her back arching off the bed. Her pussy clenches around me.
I almost explode right then and there. “You’re going to be the death of me.”
I draw back and slam into her, and she rises to meet me. I set a fast pace, ignoring the demons that’ve been crowding my head for as long as I can remember. She’s beautiful splayed out beneath me, taking my length and begging for more.
“Touch yourself.” My hand is still on her breast, and I tweak her nipple when she blinks up at me.
Slowly, her hand drifts down her body. Her finger pauses on her clit, and she shudders, then rubs in small circles. Her eyes flutter.
I roll my hips, hitting a new spot inside her. Her ass bounces on my thighs from the force of my thrusts, but her finger doesn’t stop moving.
Her orgasm claws out of her.
I lean down and cover her lips with mine, swallowing her loud moan. She rakes her nails down my back.
I pound into her, hissing out a breath as I come. I still inside her and breathe sharply through my nose.
Our lips are still fused together.
She doesn’t let me get away. If anything, we’ve broken through a barrier and she wants me closer . Her legs and arms wrap around me, and she tucks her head into my neck.
“You’re not the worst thing to happen to me.” Her warm breath hits my skin. “Far from it.”
I slide out of her and roll us onto our sides. She immediately shifts again to face the same direction as me. My cock takes approximately two seconds of her ass rubbing it to slowly stiffen again. I push into her from behind, but not to fuck her.
Just to make sure she knows how close we are. How connected. Mentally and physically.
“Caleb…”
I hadn’t realized my eyes closed. “You okay, baby?”
She sucks her lower lip between her teeth and contemplates my question. “I think I’m lost.”
“Then I’ll find you,” I tell her.
“Why did everyone hate me? Shouldn’t they have been mad at the people actually having an affair?”
“Apparently, everyone knew except your dad.” It’s time for a bit more truth around here.
She flinches. “What?”
“I don’t know how, but Uncle David wasn’t surprised. And at the funeral…” I grimace. “Mom didn’t cry. She was more mad than anything else, and she left me with Uncle not long after. I think it was the betrayal…”
“Her husband was cheating on her,” Margo says. “But you don’t think she was more upset that he was…”
Dead . Or was she thinking murdered?
I lift one shoulder. “I was ten. I don’t know.”
“Dad said he didn’t do it,” she says softly.
“You can’t be serious.” The words are out of my mouth too fast. I should’ve held them back. But old, deep rage reignites in my chest. “He murdered my dad in cold blood. Of course he’s going to lie to you and say he didn’t.”
My hips flex, burying my cock deeper into her.
“I shouldn’t have said anything,” she murmurs. She tries to scoot forward, but I hold fast.
“No way,” I argue. “You stay right here. You feel me inside you all fucking night.”
She stills.
I thrust into her again, more lazily. It’s torture, though, to not pin her to her stomach and fuck her hard. Fast. Like she deserves.
She blows out a long breath. “I know.”
“You know what?”
“That your dad’s death still hurts. That your family blames the entire Wolfe family for it—including me.” She cranes back to meet my gaze. Her beautiful lips tip down.
Maybe she’s right. I do blame all of them.
It’s what my uncle drilled into me from the moment I stepped into his house. He liked shows of power. Cutting me down, making me feel small.
I did that to Margo when she arrived back in Rose Hill—but never again.