Chapter Six
Myla opened the door the next day, and her breath caught in her chest. Kaleb stood in a black t-shirt that molded to his massive chest and arms. He wore faded jeans that seemed to emphasize his muscular thighs and showcase the large bulge behind his zipper, and boots that were perfect for hiking.
“Hey, are you going to let me in?” Kaleb said and smiled.
She felt her face heat with a scarlet blush, took a step back, and turned to grab her small backpack. “Yes, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. I love the way your eyes eat me up.”
She turned back toward him and sputtered in embarrassment because that’s precisely what she’d been doing.
He went to her and pulled her into his arms. “Don’t, Baby. I love that you like looking at me because I definitely like looking at you.”
He tipped her head back with a finger under her chin and then bent and pressed his mouth to hers.
She felt his body stiffen when she hummed and tightened her grip on his waist to get closer to him.
He lifted his head. “Unless you want me to strip you and lay you down on the nearest bed, we need to go.”
Her tongue slipped out and ran over her lips, needing to taste him.
He groaned. “Woman, you are testing me here.”
She smiled at the hot but teasing look in his eyes. She walked past him out the door and shivered when he followed closely behind her.
He kept glancing at her as they drove, never releasing her hand.
She loved the way his eyes kept returning to her as they sat at stoplights.
That morning, she had pulled her hair into a ponytail, and she wore a short-sleeved, button-down white shirt, khaki shorts, and tennis shoes.
She’d also tied a gray sweatshirt around her hips in case she got cold.
She knew it was stylish, and it was practical for hiking.
Within thirty minutes, he parked and then stepped out of his truck, grabbing his backpack from behind the driver’s seat. He walked around and helped her down. He watched as she started to pull on the small backpack she’d brought.
“Hold up. Let me feel that,” he said and held a hand out.
She handed him the backpack. “What’s wrong?”
“I just don’t want it to be too heavy for you. I’ve got everything we need in my backpack.”
“I don’t feel right making you carry everything.”
He smiled and cupped her chin to raise her face. “I’m twice the size of you. I think I can handle a twenty-pound backpack.”
She gripped his wrists. She noticed the veins and tendons that ran down the back of his hands and up his arms, showing his strength. His whole body was one fine-tuned machine, she could tell he took care of.
“All right, I’ll leave mine in the truck,” she said, setting it behind the seat, and waited until he closed and locked the doors. He held out his hand for her and then started down a path that would take them a few hours to hike.
He made her stop several times to drink and eat a granola bar. He was impressed with her stamina, and she did well to keep up with him, although he slowed his pace, taking into account her legs were half the size of his.
They both had a sheen of sweat, and their breathing had accelerated when they got back to the truck. Kaleb opened the passenger side door and lifted her into it. He handed her water. “Drink, Baby.”
She smiled and shook her head. “If I drink too much more, I’m going to need a ladies’ room quickly.”
He chuckled. “You’ve got three choices. There’s a public one down the road a bit you could use, you can wait until we get to a restaurant, or there are several trees behind you.”
Myla’s mouth dropped open and then closed as she caught the smirk on his face. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think he was daring her. She pushed at his shoulders and then hopped down.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Kaleb asked.
“First, I’m going to look for a Kleenex, and then I’m going to use that tree over there,” she said, pointing over his shoulder at one of the larger trees.
His gaze scanned the area. “Do you have to go that badly?” he asked worriedly.
She bit her tongue to keep from laughing. “No, not really.”
“Then why can’t you wait until I get you to the restrooms?”
She flung her arm out. “But why, when there are perfectly good trees right there?”
He narrowed his eyes on her. “You would do it too, wouldn’t you?”
“Yup. Make a note, bud. Don’t dare me, because I’ll most likely do it.”
He shook his head and grinned. “You’re going to keep me on my toes, aren’t you?”
She plastered herself against his body, tilted her head back to see him, and then tapped his chest with a finger. “You better believe it.”
He slid a hand behind her neck and his other around her waist. He bent until his mouth was just about against hers.
“Don’t worry about me, Sweetheart. I think I can keep up with you.”
His mouth took hers, and he instantly deepened the kiss. Her arms came around his neck, and she opened herself up to him, giving him everything he was asking for. She felt dazed and panted when he raised his head.
Both stood and stared at each other.
“I’m afraid of what’s going to happen when I finally have you under me where you belong.”
She took in a breath that stuttered in her throat. “Why?”
He laid his forehead against hers. “Because I’m afraid I won’t want to let you up.”
She ran her hand down his scarred cheek. “I wouldn’t complain if that’s what you’re worried about.”
He tilted his head back, drawing in a deep breath before refocusing on her. “We need to get out of here before I take you against the truck.”
She finally heard the sounds of children and adults moving around the area and nodded.
“Probably a good idea. We wouldn’t want to get arrested for indecent exposure. It would be bad for both our professions.”
He tapped the tip of her nose with his finger.
“I’d never hear the end of it. Besides, I don’t want anyone else to see you after I strip you. I’ve never been a possessive man before, but I can’t see being any other way with you.”
“I won’t mind that at all. I feel exceptionally possessive myself when it comes to you.”
He placed a hard kiss on her mouth and lifted her into the truck again. He reached over and pulled the seatbelt over her and snapped it into place. He reluctantly moved away from her, shut the door, and went to his side.
They pulled out onto the highway before Kaleb talked. “Hungry?”
“Yes.”
“How about sub sandwiches?”
“Sounds great to me.”
They rode the rest of the way to the restaurant in silence, but they never released their grip on each other’s hands.
It was late afternoon by the time Kaleb pulled up in front of Myla’s apartment building. He didn’t say anything before he got out, grabbed her backpack, and came around to help her down. He waited until she opened her apartment door and took a few steps inside.
His eyes were hooded as they watched her move around the small living room and turn on a few lights.
She turned toward him and stared. Myla wanted to throw herself into his arms, but she still held back for some reason. She wanted him desperately, but she didn’t want him to think she was clingy or needy. It was hard to read guys normally, but Kaleb being a cop, it was more so.
He must have seen the emotions she tried to hide. “Come here and give me a good night kiss.”
She relaxed and walked to him.
He cupped her face in his hands and bent.
Before she could draw in a breath, he took her lips and instantly plunged his tongue into her mouth. Both moaned as the kiss deepened.
She was powerless to keep from lifting her arms and giving herself over to him. A gasp caught in her throat when he suddenly whirled them around and pressed her back against the door.
She vaguely felt her feet leave the floor and her legs parting to allow his hips to press between her legs and against the part of her body that screamed out for him the loudest. She felt her cunt pulse in need, and her cum slide from her, wetting her panties.
She could feel the evidence of his arousal as his hardness throbbed against her.
The chemistry they’d felt from the very beginning went into overdrive. They couldn’t get close enough, hold each other hard enough, or taste each other enough to quench the overwhelming need that raced through them.
He tore his mouth from hers. He groaned at the dazed, needy look in her eyes.
“Baby, if we don’t stop now, this might go farther than you want it to go tonight.”
She looked up at him. It would be so easy to give herself to him at that moment. The only thing holding her back was the thought that if they moved too quickly, it might damage their growing relationship.
“You’re right. I don’t want to rush into anything.”
He set her on her feet and cupped her face. “We’ll get there when you’re ready, Baby.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed. She lay her head against his chest and let his strength and warmth fill her pores.
“What are you doing tomorrow for the holiday?”
She leaned back and looked up at him. “I have some cleaning to do, but otherwise nothing.”
“How about I pick you up? You can help me find a birthday present for my niece, then we can go to the grocery store, and then to my place. We’ll barbeque steaks and hang around.”
“I’d like that a lot. How old is your niece?”
“She’s eight going on twenty-five.”
She chuckled. “I think we can find something for her.”
“Okay. Good. I’ll leave, but I’ll pick you up about eleven. Will that give you enough time to get your things done?”
She nodded. “Yes, I think so.”
He pressed another kiss to her mouth. “I need to get out of here.”
She smiled and opened the door for him. “Thank you for today.”
He brushed his thumb over her cheek. “You’re very welcome. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
She closed it behind him and locked it before setting her forehead against the cool wood.
It was the hardest thing not to call him back to her.
She wanted nothing better than to have him in her bed, wrapped around her that night.
But she wanted this relationship to work out so much that she didn’t want to make a wrong step and somehow damage it.
Later that night, Myla stared up at her bland ceiling, unable to go to sleep because her mind was full of pictures of Kaleb. He was everything she’d ever wanted in a man, times ten. He was someone she never thought she would find.
Besides that, her body ached. Her desire for him was unlike anything she’d ever experienced. She knew if he hadn’t stopped their kissing, they would have ended up on the nearest flat surface. She’d been unable to call a halt to it on her own, and that wasn’t like her.
She had to remind herself she hadn’t had sex since before the attack, and that might have something to do with it, but she’d been on dates, and none of them had made her feel like Kaleb did.
Maybe he had come into her life at the right time? Or the way he made her feel inundated with feelings of safety and arousal, that her fear was nonexistent.
All she knew was she wanted him, and she hoped and prayed she wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize it.