11. Naked in Your Eyes #2
Deja smiled as he poured her a cup of OJ. "...you were perfect."
Caleb glanced at her, slightly surprised, his cheeks flushing. Biting his lip, he placed the juice in front of her. "So… Rage Against the Machine," she said, as he took a seat across from her. "Never took you for a rebel, friendly neighbor that you are."
Caleb smirked. "People are useful. The government is not. Their songs resonate with me."
Deja raised a curious brow before she started on her pancakes. She took a bite and groaned with satisfaction. "This is so good." She looked up and saw Caleb smiling at her as if he were mesmerized. "...what?" she asked.
"I like looking at you." He provocatively bit his lip. "I like knowing that you're naked underneath my shirt. To be honest, I'm thinking about fucking you right over this table."
"Can I eat first? Damn!" Deja laughed. Her smile waned as she stared at her pancakes, and her eyes welled with tears, remembering last night. No matter how much Caleb made her laugh, thinking about Jax stripped it away, invoking pure fear.
"Deja?"
She looked up at Caleb just as a tear slipped down her cheek. "...baby?" he asked, concerned.
"I can't stay here," Deja said suddenly. "I appreciate you-you taking me in for the night, but-"
"Tell me what's wrong," Caleb insisted. "You can trust me, Deja. I can't help you if you don't talk to me."
Deja shook her head, more tears falling. "If I say anything, I'm putting your life in jeopardy. And I can't. I can't do that to you."
Caleb's grip tightened on his knife as he exhaled sharply.
These stupid rules from the Society irritated him.
Regardless of how much he distanced himself from them, he had no choice but to abide by their rules.
No matter how much he wanted to help Deja, he knew he couldn't. He couldn't tell her anything… unless she asked.
Deja stared at her plate. "I need to leave town."
Caleb sighed. "You're pregnant, Deja. You're too far along to be-"
"You don't understand!" she blurted desperately. "I can't stay here!"
Caleb looked at her seriously. "...Deja… I won't let anyone hurt you. I won't let anything happen to you."
But she scoffed as her face fell into her hands.
Caleb got out of his seat and crouched down in front of her, putting his hand on her thigh until she looked at him.
His chest tightened at the distress on her face.
"Why don't you stay with me for a bit so you're not alone and have someone to look after you?
Take a few days to think on it, and if you still want to leave… I'll help you move."
Deja couldn't believe his generosity. It was a huge risk, but the thought of going back to her apartment, where she was potentially being stalked, disturbed her. "Okay..." she resigned. "Oh, wait! My pets! They're still at my apartment!"
Caleb looked at her, confused. "You have pets?"
Deja laughed nervously. "...yeah, um. Someone just… dropped them at my door last night."
Caleb tilted his head before the realization hit him. "I'll pick them up for you."
Sitting on Caleb's couch, Deja used his laptop to check her emails. She loved how open and generous he was with her. Like there was nothing to hide.
Scrolling through her emails, her eyes widened. Her mentor emailed her that her life globe projects were requested in five different states. This was huge. State figures were actively seeking her work.
As she typed her response, she saw an email come in on one of Caleb's open tabs. Something about a charity donation. Deja knew it was wrong to snoop, but she was interested. Just how charitable was he?
She slid over the browser, quickly glancing over the email. And her eyes bulged.
Thank you, Mr. Byrne, for your quarterly donation of $500,000 to the Children's Cancer Fund. Your recurring automatic payment has been processed.
Quarterly? Automatic payment? This was regular for him?
Deja went on snooping when the door opened, and Caleb walked in, holding her pets. "So, I hope your little demon here has had her shots cause she scratched the shit out of me when I tried to put her in my truck," Caleb said, trying to declaw Scully from his chest.
"Oh no, Scully," Deja chuckled, grabbing her animals. "I'm sorry. They're probably just antsy, jumping from owner to owner."
Caleb raised a surprised brow. "You named them already?"
Deja blinked at him. "Uh… yeah. Mulder & Scully. Like the X-Files. Because they mysteriously showed up at my door."
Caleb stared at her blankly before his face broke out into a grin. "That's hilariously brilliant."
Deja quickly closed his browser. "So, um, I heard back from the Research Lab. They're green-lighting my project in five states. I get to work remotely, but I still have to visit the life globe sites to check on development."
"Whaaat? That's awesome!" Caleb smiled. Leaning towards her, he kissed the side of her cheek. "You deserve it, Deja. You have an incredible vision, and you deserve to see it through."
Deja smiled as Caleb grabbed a small shopping bag he brought with him. "You deserve to be pampered."
Leaning back against the tub, Deja sank into the warm, soapy water scented with chamomile and lavender. She watched Caleb standing at the bathroom sink, searching the bag before he grabbed a bottle of Shea Moisture shampoo and conditioner.
"Uh-what in the-where did you get that Black-ass shampoo?" she asked.
Caleb grinned as he crouched behind her.
"I actually did a bit of research. I went through a bunch of YouTube videos.
So many fucking YouTubers. And then this one channel called…
KinkyCurlyCoilyThirdEyeAfricanQueen recommended it.
But I had to order them online because, well, our town is too damn white apparently. "
Deja laughed out loud. "And what exactly did you type in the search bar to find KinkyCurlyCoilyThirdEyeAfricanQueen, Caleb?"
Caleb paused. "...don't make me answer that question..."
Deja cackled, and Caleb grinned. He loved the sound of her laughter.
He preferred her smile to the look of fear that always seemed to wash over her whenever her mind darkened with the thoughts of his cousin.
Placing his hands on her wet shoulders, he breathed into her hair. "...just relax. I've got you."
"It'll be a cold day in hell before I let a white man do my hair," Deja snorted.
"You gotta trust me, beautiful. KinkyCurlyCoilyThirdEyeAfricanQueen taught me," he teased.
Deja chuckled with a shake of her head as she gradually relaxed.
He felt her muscles loosen as she sank further into the water.
He squeezed shampoo into his hands before gently working his fingers into her shrunken hair, massaging her scalp.
Caleb knew the last thing she needed was to be alone. Leaning down, he tenderly kissed the back of her wet neck and felt her shiver. She needed someone to love on her. To protect her.
"...god, Caleb. That feels so good..." she sighed, leaning her head back against his shoulder.
Someone to keep her safe...
With a towel wrapped around her hair, Deja leaned back on the bed and watched Caleb gently massage lotion into her skin. His fingers moved up her calf and over her knee. "And you do this after… every shower?" Caleb asked.
"I have to. Otherwise, I'll get dry and ashy."
Caleb looked at her, confused. "...ashy?"
"Yes. Y'all get ashy too, ya know? You just don't see it as much cause you're pale," Deja smirked.
Caleb snickered. "As long as I have an excuse to touch you." Sucking on her bottom lip, Deja looked at Caleb anxiously until his hazel-green eyes met hers. "What?" he asked.
"Why do you want me so much?" she asked.
Caleb snorted. "Have you seen yourself?"
Deja's cheeks got hot. "I'm a mess, Caleb. I have so many issues-I'm just really fucked up, and-"
"I don't care," he said, cutting her off. Deja looked at him anxiously as he leaned over her and caressed her lips with his. His fingertips grazed her nipple as he eyed her like the goddess she was. "I want you, and nothing will change that."
"...besides..." Caleb pulled back, smiling. "...we're all a little fucked up in our own way. "
Staring down at her exposed pussy, he breathed shakily as he ran his fingers through his hair.
"I should go. I have work to do. And if I stay here any longer, I will fuck the living daylights out of you.
" Deja laughed as Caleb leaned down again to kiss her.
"I'll be back in a few hours. My home is yours. "
"Kay," she smiled, watching him leave. Deja threw on one of his oversized shirts, a pair of clean panties, and grabbed her hair products before she started on her hair.
She anxiously pulled out her laptop, which he had brought over, along with several other things she had requested, and called Esme.
"Hello, sweetheart-" Esme stopped short, tilting her head curiously. "You look… different ."
"I just got out of the shower," Deja said.
"...uh huh… Were you fucked in that shower? Cause you look like you just got fucked."
Deja's eyes widened. "No! I mean-did you find out anything?"
Esme sighed. "I checked with the entire North American division of the Society. No one has dealt with a body in your region."
Deja groaned in frustration.
"But think about it, Deja. If someone took the body and they haven't raised a ruckus, then they're obviously on your side," Esme reassured her.
"Or, it's the Donovans torturing me. They're watching me, aren't they?!"
"That would breach their contract to be anywhere near you-"
"No," Deja said quickly. " Interacting with me is breaching the contract. But that doesn't mean they aren't watching me..."
Esme twisted her mouth. Deja looked frantic. Her eyes wild. She could tell the poor girl was slowly unraveling. "I'll keep digging. Don't worry," Esme said finally.
"Make sure to remove the fungi before you add those plants," Caleb directed as he walked around his men working in a new client's garden.
Sitting on his knees, Caleb dug his fingers into the old soil to make room for his compost. As he worked, his mind drifted to the dark-skinned beauty occupying his home.
His fingers itched to touch her again. He already missed her taste.
As much as he loved his career, at that moment, he preferred to be in bed with her.
Cuddling her. Kissing her. Fucking her .
There was something dangerously addictive about that woman as it dawned on Caleb why his cousins seemed so obsessed with her. She was like forbidden fruit.
And just like that, his mood soured. But the thought of his cousins always annoyed him. Ian hadn't changed—still a pompous, condescending asshole. And Keith seemed to have gotten worse: more chaotic, impulsive, and significantly more violent.
And Jax...
Caleb's eyes glazed over with nostalgia.
"Are you sure this is gonna work?!"
"Course it's gonna fucking work."
"I'm just sayin'. Last time you did some shit like this, it backfired, and you almost took off Ian's head and blew up a fucking school. So, I'm gonna ask again-"
"Caleb! It's going to work! Shit!"
A young Caleb looked from his brother, leering over a box of homemade detonators across from city hall to his cousin Jax standing across from them. Jax's bright blue eyes met Caleb's as they shared a look of concern.
"...Jamie… maybe you should let me do it," Jax insisted.
Jamie growled as he spun on Jax. "Why? So you could take the credit? Again ?"
Jax furrowed his brow. "What? No-"
"So you don't blow your stupid fucking head off," Caleb snapped. "Just let him do it, Jamie!"
"She assigned this task to me. Not Jax!" Jamie snapped. "If you two have a problem with it, take it up with her!" Caleb's jaw tensed with anger as he watched his brother grab a match.
"Wait, Jamie-" Jax started before Caleb roughly grabbed his brother by the shirt and punched him so hard in the face that blood spewed from his mouth.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Jamie snarled, bleeding from the mouth.
"You're gonna get yourself killed!" Caleb growled.
"Stop! Both of you!" Jax shouted, shoving them both back.
Jamie looked at Caleb angrily before violently shoving him. "Fuck you, Caleb!"
Caleb swallowed hard as he watched his brother storm off. "What is happening to us? What is happening… to my brother…?" Caleb exhaled.
"It's priming season. He's just… stressed..." Jax sighed.
Caleb looked at Jax with bloodshot eyes. "I knew it was gonna be rough, but this is… this is fucking hell, Jax. I barely recognize him. What if we don't survive this-"
"We will," Jax said, putting his hand on Caleb's shoulder. "I know we will. We're family. I won't let anything tear us apart. I promise."
Caleb looked at Jax with a mixture of uncertainty and relief.
Caleb's nostrils flared as he pushed the red soil into the ground. "What a goddamn liar you turned out to be, huh, Jax…?" he muttered.
Standing to his feet, Caleb wiped his face and headed for his truck. "I'm heading out," he said to his men. Caleb was usually the first to arrive and the last to leave. But Deja made him eager to get back home from the moment he left her in his house.
Pulling up to his house, he spotted a group of women standing on the sidewalk several feet from his house. They looked lost. And very unfamiliar. "Can I help you, ladies?" Caleb asked, approaching them.
"Hi!" A beautiful, pale-skinned woman with dark brown hair walked up to him. "Do you know if a Deja lives around here?"
Caleb narrowed his eyes with concern. "Who's asking?"
"I'm her friend Kristin," she said. "Actually, all of us are friends of Deja visiting from Georgia. We're here for her baby shower."
Caleb blinked at the women, confused. "...baby shower?"