Chapter 16
HOLLY
“How can you pick apple cobbler over bourbon bread pudding?” I plant my hands on the island counter across from Caleb. “Oh, I don’t think so. I’m going to prove you wrong right now.”
He shrugs. “I’ve always been an apple cobbler guy. Is that wrong?”
“No.” I lean in to level him with a grave look. “But it’s not right, either. My bourbon maple pecan bread pudding is the best in New England. As soon as you try it, you’ll change your mind.”
It’s the middle of the day. After he made breakfast—something I’m growing accustomed to, allowing myself the simple enjoyment of being looked after without having to worry about one more thing like what I’ll make to eat—I got the belated approval back for a New Year’s party custom cookie order.
If I test the designs today I can email a detailed step by step guide to Leo for him, Hazel, and Leta to at least get the base cookies done by the time I’m back at the bakery to manage the decorating stage.
That is, until Caleb challenged my beloved bourbon bread pudding, my favorite holiday treat. The cookie test run will have to wait until I make him reconsider this.
He circles the island and catches my wrist as I reach for one of my aprons.
“You don’t like the idea of not being right,” he muses.
My chin lifts. “Hate it. I’m right and I’m going to make you eat your words. Right after you eat my pie.”
He tugs me into him, his breath ghosting over my ear. “How about I have you instead? You’re my real favorite meal, morning and night.”
I fight off a blush. “Nice try at distracting me. You just don’t want me to make you the best damn winter dessert you’ll ever taste.”
“Easy. That’s you.”
He kisses the sensitive spot beneath my ear, smiling against my throat when my resolve to work evaporates and I sag against him. My teeth drag over my lip as his fingertips skim beneath my sweater to trace my skin.
“Put your apron on,” he rasps, pausing a beat before adding, “Just your apron.”
My stomach dips with arousal. I hold my arms overhead to help him peel my top off. His rumble of approval reverberates from his chest against my back. He takes his time caressing my bare skin, leaning over my shoulder to watch as he pulls the cups of my bra down to expose my breasts.
My eyes fall shut and my breathing quickens when he circles my nipples with a light caress.
“Caleb,” I whimper. “Please.”
“Please what, baby?” He sounds so relaxed and nonchalant compared to the blaze of desire he’s igniting within me.
“More.” I push my tits into his hands.
“My greedy girl.”
He chuckles, gratifying me with a firmer touch. His hands cup my tits and he rolls my nipples with his thumbs until they’re aching in time with the sensual pulse of my desire.
I audibly mourn the loss when he lets go to unclasp the bra and work my leggings off. I’m not wearing any underwear. He spares a kiss for my ass cheek before he pulls me back against his chest, completely bare. The stiff ridge of his cock in his pants teases me when it brushes me.
“Look at you,” he whispers in awe.
Caleb gets one of my brightly colored aprons off the hook and puts it on me. A delicious thrill runs through me at being nude beneath it, barely covered by the cute patterned fabric.
Winding the ties around his hands, he pulls the material taut against my front and makes a rough noise by my ear.
“I’ve been thinking about this nonstop,” he rasps.
“Have you?” I reply tartly.
“It’s those fucking bows you always wear. Makes me want you like…”
His fingers curl gently around my wrists and he guides them into place folded behind my back before loosely wrapping my apron ties around them.
“Is this okay?”
Molten heat spills through me.
I tip my head back to peer at him through my lashes. “Do I seem bothered by the idea of you tying me up?”
“Yes or no, sugar. Use your words.” He nips my shoulder, then kisses it.
“Yes,” I answer cheekily.
He rewards me by capturing my lips with an open-mouthed kiss that makes my knees weak. His strong arm holds me up.
“See how sexy consent is?” Caleb murmurs.
I can’t help swaying. He makes me feel out of control when I’m with him in the best way possible. Normally I cling to control with a vice grip, yet with him I can let go knowing he’s got me.
“Well? Tie me up with a pretty bow and fuck me already,” I sass with a teasing rotation of my ass against his erection.
“Keep running that mouth, baby. You know how much I like it when you give me that bossy attitude,” he says against my ear as he cinches the ties to secure my arms.
A shiver races down my spine. My nipples are stiff, dragging against the material of the apron when I arch my back seeking more of his touch.
He caresses my sides, pushing beneath the apron to splay his hand over my soft abdomen while kissing a path up my throat.
I sigh at the first brush of his fingers on my clit, rocking my hips with each stroke.
I strain with the need to touch him back, turned on even more when I can’t because my hands are bound behind my back.
He stops playing with my pussy just as the building heat in my core is close to exploding. I protest, only to choke it back when he encourages me to bend over the counter. A smoky rumble sounds from him, making my toes curl.
I’m tied up and spread on display for him in the filthiest sense.
“Do you like me like this?”
“You look like a tasty fucking treat,” he says, hushed and reverent.
His praise lights me up from within, sending a wave of satisfying tingles across my skin.
“You’re so damn beautiful. I’m going to enjoy eating you up until you’re a gorgeous fucking mess for me,” he promises, voice dripping with sinful intent.
A gasp tears from me when he kneels and spreads me further. I squirm from the invisible weight of his gaze. He leans in, ghosting his hot breath over my pussy. My breath hitches when, at last, he flicks his tongue out to taste me with a deep, passionate hum.
He abandons the teasing licks in favor of burying his face against the back of my thighs with a ragged whimper and devouring me.
It’s as if he can’t get enough of me. My back arches and my fingers flex, grasping at nothing from the confines of my apron ties.
Caleb knows exactly how to take me apart at the seams with his talented mouth. Although I’m the one at his mercy, bound and spread for him, there’s something heady and powerful about having him on his knees groaning like he’s in heaven giving me pleasure.
I’m close to the edge when he pauses. Fabric rustles, followed by a click and an audible buzzing sound. He presses a smooth fluttering silicone object against me—my vibrator.
A louder moan flies out of me. My body spasms, both in shock and heightened pleasure from the toy being sprung on me unsuspectedly.
“H-have you just been carrying that around in your pocket this whole time today?” I push out breathlessly, fighting to speak through the mind-melting ecstasy.
A smirk is evident in his voice when he responds, “Yup. I was planning to make out with you and surprise you with it. This is better.”
He sounds so casual, like he’s reading hockey stats rather than using a vibrator on me while I’m tied up by my own apron strings and bent over the counter for him to play with. Before I can respond, my body erupts in a throbbing current of orgasmic bliss.
“Oh! Oh god!”
He praises me through it. “There you go, sugar. Does that feel nice on your clit? Give me another one. Make that pussy a mess for me.”
The orgasm feels endless from his devoted attention and his dirty talk. It stretches into another before the first one fades. My hips buck with a gasp against his face and the toy.
“So good for me,” he murmurs against my sensitive skin.
His tongue glides through my folds and delves into my hole as he works my clit with the vibrator.
My mind whites out. All I know is the delirious euphoria of his mouth, the toy, and his encouraging murmurs tipping me over the edge again and again until my body is a twitching, trembling wreck.
When I’ve lost track of how many orgasms I’ve shuddered through, he sets the toy aside and stands.
Caleb kisses my spine. “Are you doing okay? Do you want a break, or are you ready for more?”
I writhe, not caring how desperate I sound. “Don’t you dare fucking stop yet.”
He chuckles warmly. “Can I fuck you like this?”
“Yes,” I plead. “I need you inside me so badly.”
He covers my body with his and kisses my temple. “You want my cock, baby?”
“Yes, damn it. Fuck me. Use me.”
He stifles a gruff noise. “So worked up. Me too, sugar. You feel how hard you make me?”
His erection grinds against me. I’m frustrated by the barrier of clothes, wanting to feel the silken heat of his cock completely.
“I’m going to fuck you hard and fast right here on the counter until your pussy is so full of my come I get to admire it dripping out of you after,” he croons.
I moan, nodding fervently at the image he paints. “Caleb, please.”
“Asking for it so nicely,” he teases.
Shoving his pants down, he glides the tip of his cock against me before he lines up. We both cry out in relief when he sinks inside inch by inch until his hips brush mine. I feel so impossibly full with him all the way in, eyes fluttering shut.
“Fuck, you’re so wet,” he groans.
His hips snap, working into a pace that sets my nerve endings ablaze. The smack of skin on skin is wickedly filthy.
His grip flexes on my hips every time my inner walls clamp on him with growing need. Gritting out a curse, he adjusts his angle until I scream.
“Right there?” I can hear his grin.
It’s so good, all I can manage is a nod, pushing back against him with each thrust. Electric sparks flash through me as his cock slams into my pussy.
Unable to do more than lay there and press on my tiptoes, my mind becomes a haze of pleasure unlike any I’ve ever known.
It makes a white hot coil tighten in my core, the pulsing pressure alluring and inescapable. My body thrums.
Caleb grabs my tied wrists, holding them as he fucks me harder.
A strangled gasp catches in my throat. I can’t hold on any longer.
I arch, coming hard. My intense release rushes over me, leaving me boneless, floating in the aftermath.
His thrusts speed up, then stutter as his cock buries deep in me. It throbs as his come spills inside me.
Bracing a hand on the counter, he exhales raggedly. “Jesus.”
“Agreed,” I slur with a giggle.
He rubs my back tenderly. “Are you okay?”
“More than.” I feel like a puddle, enjoying the cool counter beneath my flushed cheek.
“I wasn’t too rough?”
“Nope.” I sigh blissfully, squeezing his length with my inner walls.
He chokes, resting his forehead against me for a moment. When he pulls out gently, I crane my neck to find him gazing at me like I’m the most beautiful sight in the world.
I shake my ass to make it jiggle, grinning at the fire it ignites in his eyes.
“Careful, sugar. You keep wiggling that dripping pussy and perfect fucking ass at me like that and I’m going to have to fuck you again.”
“Oh no,” I drawl in a saucy tone that belies the opposite of my words. “Anything but that.”
He chuckles, kneading my hips and spreading my cheeks for one last look at the debauched mess he’s made of me before his demeanor shifts to his doting caretaker side.
“Hold on for me.”
Caleb is careful undoing the apron strings. He helps me up and massages my wrists. I close my eyes, enjoying his big, strong hands rubbing my arms. When he’s done, he kisses my fingertips, then gets me a glass of water. He’s not satisfied until he makes sure I drink all of it.
He cleans me up first, wetting a washcloth and softly stroking my skin with unwavering focus that leaves me glowing from within. Once he finishes, he bundles me in his arms.
Smiling, he brushes my forehead with his lips. “Don’t lift a finger because I’m going to clean the kitchen after I take care of you.”
I tuck my face against his chest, hugging him. He carries me to the couch, setting me on his lap.
The fire crackles in the background, keeping the cabin cozy and warm. He wraps a blanket around us and pulls me closer. Our tree completes the perfect ambiance.
When his attention falls to my mouth and he leans in, I meet him first in a languid, heartfelt kiss. He cups my cheek, thumb grazing back and forth. A content sigh leaves him and I echo it, in no hurry to end the kiss.
Eventually we part. His handsome features are serene as he tucks my hair behind my ear.
I’m caught in his adoring gaze. Neither of us feel the need to speak.
We simply exist together. It’s the most at peace I’ve ever felt.
An incandescent happiness fills me. I never knew I could experience such an immense sense of joy.
I thought all I wanted in my life was to open my bakery. My business does fulfill me, but maybe I still need more. As I picture him at my shop, warmth spreads through me. Maybe all this time I needed to find my way back to him—the one person to completely own my heart.
The work I meant to get ahead on slips to the back of my mind, no longer as urgent to me when I accept that everything will be fine. I don’t have to break myself doing everything at once when I’m on a much-needed vacation extended by our circumstances.
Not when I can spend my time enjoying moments like this without rushing to the next thing.