24. Unapologetic #3
Caleb’s fingers clutched so tightly that his nails dug into his skin, and his palm started to bleed.
Deja instinctively threw her arms around him as he heaved into her chest. He hesitated before his arms wrapped around her body, and agonizing sobs tore through his chest. Deja could feel him trembling against her as he held onto her like his life depended on it.
“I’m sorry, Caleb…” she whispered, tears slipping down her face.
“I’m s-so sorry…” It felt like he needed this.
Like this cry had been pent up in him for so long, and he hadn’t had anyone to comfort him from a pain that still haunted him and crippled his heart.
Deja pulled back and, holding his face between her hands, wiped his tears with her thumbs. “Hey…” she said softly.
Cheeks flushed, nostrils quivering, Caleb’s bloodshot eyes searched Deja’s before his lips attacked hers.
His hands rounded her waist as he pulled her tightly against him.
Deja’s fingers combed through Caleb’s hair as she kissed him fervently.
She breathed desperately into his mouth, eager for more of him as she fell over and he mounted her.
Hovering above her, Caleb sucked on her neck as his fingers fell between her thighs, rubbing her aching pussy just over her pants.
But thunder abruptly cracked the air before the sky opened to torrential downpour.
Deja squealed and hid under Caleb. He chuckled and tried to shield her.
“Playtime’s over,” he said, kissing her temple.
“We'd better get out of here before it gets worse. Take Chloe back to the truck. I’ll grab our things.”
Deja looked up at Caleb as the rain soaked their clothes and tenderly kissed him. She ran towards Chloe and picked her up. Deja smiled down at her baby girl when a sudden growl stopped her heart.
Slowly turning around, all the air left her lungs as she stared at a large black bear going through her bag.
Her breathing escalated as she clutched Chloe to her chest and slowly, quietly stepped back.
Keeping her eyes on the bear, Deja silently walked backward, hoping the bear wouldn’t notice her… until Chloe sneezed.
And the bear looked up…
“...oh god…” Deja had never felt fear like this before.
She tried to stay still, but the bear started stalking towards her.
She immediately turned and ran. Deja could hear the bear growling behind her before she was rammed forward.
Cocooning Chloe with her body, she landed hard on the ground.
She scrambled backward as the bear charged towards her, when it abruptly growled in agony.
Deja’s eyes widened as the bear turned around, and an ax was lodged into its back. The bear fell on its side as Caleb furiously tackled it with the full brunt of his body.
She quickly shot up, trying to get away as far as possible, but afraid to leave Caleb at the mercy of the beast. “Get out of here! Deja, run!” Caleb shouted, trying to fight off the bear with his ax. But Deja was paralyzed with fear at their grim situation.
“ Deja! Protect Chloe! ”
As if she had snapped out of it, Deja took off towards the truck. She quickly and carefully placed Chloe into the car seat before grabbing the garden hoe in the trunk and taking off back towards Caleb.
Fear gripped her heart, and dread consumed her. What if she found Caleb mauled? Dead? What if the bear was headed towards her?
She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Caleb approaching her. His entire body was soaked. His bloody ax, dangling from his grip. He was covered in so much mud and blood that Deja couldn’t tell where he was wounded.
Caleb stopped when he spotted Deja. Her eyes were wide with terror as her chest rapidly moved up and down from breathing so heavily.
“...baby, are you okay?” he asked breathlessly. Tears welled up in Deja’s eyes. She couldn’t believe that after fighting a bear three times his size, his only focus was her. Caleb panicked at her lack of response. “Is it Chloe? Is she-”
Deja cut him off by throwing her arms around him. She sobbed into his chest, shaking with terror. “I thought you- Oh god!” she cried.
Wrapping his arms around her, Caleb held her tightly as he kissed the top of her head. “I’m fine, baby...”
Grabbing his bicep, she felt the deep wounds in his skin. Her eyes bugged. “Holy crap!”
Caleb shrugged. “It’s just a scratch.”
Deja rinsed the rag as blood swirled down the drain. She traced the rag over Caleb’s torn bicep, wiping the blood from his damaged skin. “This… this looks really bad, Caleb. I think you should go to the hospital and get stitches-”
“Baby, I’ve had worse,” he said. “I just need to bandage it. I’ll be fine.”
Deja looked at him worriedly before she dropped the rag and turned around to dig into the first-aid basket.
Holding his bleeding arm, Caleb curiously tilted his head and watched her grab several items. His eyes lingered on her thick, curvaceous backside as he hungrily bit his bottom lip.
Deja turned around, and he quickly looked up at her.
“Were you just checking me out?” she asked with a raised brow.
“Obviously. Have you seen yourself?” he smirked. His eyes fell to her chest. Her damp shirt was practically see-through as her nipples stood at attention. "Well, fuck..."
"Caleb!" she laughed.
"I'm sorry, baby. They're just begging me to suck them," he grinned.
Deja shook her head with a grin as she placed the items on the counter.
Her eyes briefly roamed his naked torso.
Suddenly, all the violent scars that marred his skin made sense.
“And you dared to lecture me for staring,” Caleb teased.
Deja looked at him, caught off guard, before rolling her eyes. “Shut up.” She carefully bandaged his wounded bicep. “Thank you for protecting Chloe and me…” she said quietly.
“There’s no need to thank me for something that came naturally…”
Caleb’s palm cupped her face as his thumb caressed her cheek. She stared up at him as he searched her eyes. “I just know how you feel about animals,” she sighed.
Caleb smiled sadly. “Natos wasn’t good at creating life that didn’t induce nightmares.
He created a creature from his own body that held his ethos, but it was still scary-looking and rotted with decay.
Because, well… he is the god of death. But he had spent so much time on it, hoping that Makena would like it.
This… personal piece of him. The other gods mocked him for it, but…
Makena loved it. She loved it because it was a piece of him… created for her .”
Deja leaned into his palm as Caleb looked at her tenderly. “But one day the creature lost control and tried to attack Makena. But Natos destroyed it before it could. He destroyed a part of himself before it could harm her.”
Looking at Deja’s lips, Caleb shakily exhaled. “Sometimes we have to destroy the things that are dear to us… to protect the ones we love…”
Deja shivered against him as his lips caressed hers. “Caleb, I-”
“I know you’re still angry with me, baby. And I’m not asking you to forgive me…” he breathed anxiously against her lips. “But I can’t help but be unapologetically in love with you. And I don’t give a fuck who has a problem with it.”
Caleb’s tongue slipped between her lips before she could respond. He impatiently grabbed her waist, ardently pulling her against him until she felt his erection pressing against her stomach. Trying to find her balance, she grabbed his wounded bicep and immediately panicked. “Oh god! I’m-”
“It’s fine,” Caleb said, wrapping his hands under her thighs and hastily lifting her onto his waist. With her arms draped over his shoulders, Deja clung to him as he tilted his head back, sensually pulling her lips between his teeth.
He palmed her ass as he kissed her aggressively and tried to peel her clothes off.
“Caleb, I can’t- I can’t,” she said, forcing herself out of his arms. She stumbled away from him and anxiously rubbed her arms.
Caleb’s jaw tensed as he sharply exhaled. “Deja… Baby, this is fucking torture. Why? Why can’t we-”
“Jax,” she said anxiously. “If he found out-”
“I’m not afraid of Jax, ” Caleb snorted.
“Well, I am,” she said quickly.
Caleb furrowed his brow. “...has he ever hit you?”
“...no…”
“Verbally abused you?”
Deja sighed “No, just… given me perpetual trauma… ”
“Welcome to the club,” Caleb scoffed. “Why do you think our interactions always end in bloodshed? If anything, you should be angry with him, not fear him. ” Sucking his teeth, Caleb grabbed his ax. “Reapers just channel their pain and anger through fucking each other up.”
Deja frowned. “That sounds unhealthy.”
Caleb smirked. “Maybe… But it feels so fucking good.”