Chapter Twelve
“You Kissed Me”
It’s happening again.
The second Melissa’s lips touched Cal’s, she felt her body tighten, then relax, heat surging through her insides like someone had set her on fire.
Not that it was far from the truth. Cal was a fire—a large, dangerous one.
With everything she knew about him, she shouldn’t be getting too close.
She’d done the right thing, staying away from him for ten years.
Even being in the same room as him was playing with fire.
Kissing him was something else.
A part of her was aware that this shouldn’t be happening. Kissing was the last thing they needed to be doing right now, especially after what had just happened in the woods. But Melissa couldn’t bring herself to stop. And honestly, she didn’t want to.
And clearly, neither did he.
Cal’s lips were warm, gentle and familiar, and her body responded immediately to the kiss as it grew in intensity.
Melissa felt her extremities tingle; her nipples rose to attention, poking against her blouse, and a wetness gathered between her thighs.
Cal grunted into the kiss, and she felt his tongue scrape her teeth for a moment.
Her heart thundered in her chest. With each second that passed, she couldn’t help feeling like the breath was being sucked out of her lungs.
But she wanted more of this, more of him.
It was quite ironic how much she’d found herself craving him in spite of everything she knew about him.
Cal was the one man she should be avoiding, no matter what.
But he was also the only man she wanted.
The kiss grew hotter, burning away what little was left of her hesitation. She dropped her hands to his arms, and felt his own creep to her torso. When they found her breasts, kneading them gently, she moaned into the kiss, arching against him.
Cal broke the kiss then, just long enough to stare into her eyes. His were already burning with desire.
“You have no idea how badly I’ve missed this.” His breath was hot against her face. “How badly I’ve missed you.”
Amidst her overwhelming desire, Melissa felt her heart throb. She’d missed him, as well—enough that she’d considered returning to Maine to be with him, more times than she could count over the years. She’d certainly missed his gentle, yet firm, touch, missed the hardness of his body.
Before she could respond, he crashed his lips over hers.
She gave his bicep a squeeze before caressing his solid chest, feeling the hammering of his heart against her fingertips.
A delicious thrill raced through her body as he pulled on her bottom lip.
There were so many sensations filling her, sending her closer and closer to the brink of ecstasy.
And they hadn’t even gotten down to business yet.
Without really thinking, she swung a leg over his, and he pulled her closer, letting her straddle him. She felt his erection throbbing against her butt and ground against him teasingly.
“Fuck,” Cal groaned against her lips. “Melissa, you’re going to drive me insane.”
Coming from the man who was currently pinching her nipples through her blouse, that was pretty rich.
A moan rose in Melissa’s throat. If he kept that up, she was going to lose her mind.
She tugged at the hem of her blouse, and he helped her pull it over her head, baring her breasts to him.
His eyes widened with awe, then narrowed with lust.
The way he looked at her only added to their intensity. Melissa felt his cock pulse again. The temperature in the living room was rising by the second, fueled by their desire.
When he took her breast into his mouth, caressing the nipple with his tongue, she let out a low moan.
Only then did it occur to her that they might not be alone in the house.
She hadn’t seen Bryon or Henry when she came in, but there was no telling whether they were at the sanctuary or not. What if one of them walked in on them?
“Cal?” she breathed, her eyes fluttering shut for a second as he suckled harder on her breast. “A little privacy, please?”
At first, she worried he wouldn’t know what she meant, but despite the haze of their combined lust, Cal seemed to understand. He wrapped his arms around her and rose to his feet, picking up her blouse. She wound her legs around his waist, holding on to him as he moved from the living room.
Moments later, they arrived at a bedroom she suspected was his, and he set her gently on the bed, stretching his large body over hers.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured. “Feels like an eternity since I last told you that.”
There it was again, that throb in her chest. A sigh parted her lips, her breasts heaving as he trailed kisses down her torso.
His fingers brushed her skin at the same time that his lips did.
A moment later, he tugged at her pants, drawing them down her legs.
Within seconds, her panties had followed, and she lay completely bare, exposed to his roving eyes.
The next few seconds were silent, but for the sound of their joined breathing.
Then Cal lowered his head to her body again, kissing his way down to the apex of her thighs.
With a soft sigh, she parted her legs wider.
His hot breath caressed her clit, and a shiver raced through her body.
When he touched his mouth to her, flicking his tongue against her clit, she nearly came apart, immediately clutching at his head to keep him there.
“Oh, yes,” Cal,” she moaned. “Don’t stop doing that.”
She wasn’t expecting him to slip his fingers into her, but didn’t object to the added pleasure.
His fingers pumped into her, working as his tongue did, driving her closer and closer to her climax.
Melissa’s body quivered, bowing slightly off the bed.
With one hand, she kneaded her own breast and twisted the nipple between her fingers, her eyes shut as she neared her release.
A minute or two later, she did come apart, a sharp cry erupting from her throat as wave after wave of ecstasy flooded through her. As she convulsed, clenching around his fingers, Cal continued to taste her, lapping at her juices.
It seemed that forever had passed by the time the spasms ceased.
Cal straightened, keeping his gaze on her as he carefully divested himself of his clothing.
His erection sprang free, pulsating between his legs.
A gleam in his eyes, he tossed his clothes aside and brought his cock to the part of her that ached for him most, pausing just inches away from her wetness.
“Are you ready?” His voice was thick with barely contained desire, his entire body taut as he stared down at her.
Melissa almost had to remind herself to breathe. She managed a small smirk. “I was ready minutes ago. Of course I—”
He slid into her in one swift, single stroke, cutting her off effectively.
A gasp escaped her throat as he filled her, and she shifted her hips instantly, trying to accommodate him.
Cal wasted no time beginning his thrusts, slowly easing his cock in and out of her.
A ragged moan filled Melissa’s ears, and it took her a couple of seconds to realize it had come from her.
She bit her bottom lip, loving the way that he filled her.
How long had it been since she’d felt this good?
Ten years. It had been ten whole years since she’d been with anyone, with Cal.
Before she could dwell on that fact, he lowered his body to hers, kissing her as he moved into her; she responded by surging her hips against his, matching his strokes.
“You feel so amazing, baby,” he murmured against her lips, thrusting harder into her. “So...fucking good.”
She could already feel the pleasure building up within her again. Between the feel of his cock and the pressure of his groin on her clit, she was bound to erupt again. She clung to him, her nails digging into his back as his thrusts quickened.
It wasn’t very long before she felt her second orgasm hovering near.
Cal’s thrusts grew more erratic, and she knew that his climax was upon him as well.
A shudder raced through her body as she came again, clenching around his cock.
Cal stifled her cries with his mouth. He grunted into the kiss, slamming harder into her until he, too, found his release, spilling his hot seed into her with a final thrust.
She held onto him as he collapsed atop her. Trying to catch her breath, she closed her eyes, reveling in the lingering sensations from their lovemaking.
***
Panting, Cal rolled off her body, lying next to her.
When she opened her eyes, he was staring up at the ceiling.
His face was covered in sweat, glowing in the aftermath of what they’d just done.
His hair was plastered to his forehead, his lips parted slightly.
Melissa was certain she looked a similar sight.
She stared down at her own naked body, also covered with sweat, and couldn’t resist a grin. “That was amazing. I haven’t had sex that good in ten years. I haven’t had any kind of sex in ten years,” she admitted, feeling heat rise from her belly to her cheeks.
“It can’t happen again.” Cal’s tone was low, but firm.
When she turned to look at him again, he still had his eyes fixed on the ceiling. Melissa blinked at him. “What...what do you mean?”
“I mean exactly what I just said. What we just did was wrong. It shouldn’t have happened. It definitely can’t happen again.”
The atmosphere in the bedroom grew suddenly tense. She saw his jaw clench. Confusion and embarrassment washed over her. Just minutes ago, they’d been rocking together in his bed, clinging to each other’s bodies. All of a sudden, he’d gone cold. “But I thought...? Cal, I thought we were—”
“Bonding? Getting back together?” He scoffed, and this time he did glance in her direction. The desire was gone from his eyes, replaced with something else, something heavier. “Just because we had sex? You kissed me, Melissa.”
Before she knew it, she’d sat up in bed, subconsciously pulling the covers up to her chest. “But Cal, I—”
“For some reason I can’t quite fathom, I’m still attracted to you,” he said. “But you can’t just walk back into my life after everything that’s happened, after so long. I seem to recall that you walked out on me.”
“I was scared!” The words burst from her lips before she could stop them.
A lump had formed in her throat, growing by the second.
Emotions she’d felt and suppressed and felt again over the years came surging back.
“I was scared. You turned into an animal—a grizzly bear—right in front of me. What were you expecting, that I’d instantly leap into your arms?
I’m human, Cal. That isn’t something that happens to us every day. ”
His jaw clenched harder, but he said nothing.
“I loved you, Cal. I...” I love you, she almost added, but held herself back before the words could come out.
She climbed out of the bed, turning to glare at him.
Tears filled her eyes, but she made no move to wipe them.
“Even after what I saw, I wanted to be with you. I wanted to make it work somehow. I just...I just couldn’t. I needed to be away from you.”
“You never came back. Not once in ten years.” He sat up slowly. “You didn’t take my calls, didn’t answer my texts. You didn’t bother to reach out. I might as well have been dead to you. And I’m supposed to understand that you did it because you were scared?”
The tears were streaming down her face now.
She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out.
He had a point. But so did she. How could he not see how it must’ve felt for her to find out that the man she loved wasn’t even human?
He’d upended her world in a single evening.
Running away had been the sanest thing she could think of.
“This isn’t working,” he said. She thought she heard a quaver in his voice. “This can never work.”
His words hit her like a barrage of bullets, piercing through her heart. They shouldn’t hurt so much, Melissa knew—only days ago, after all, she’d decided nothing could possibly happen between her and Cal. So why did she feel this way?
It didn’t matter. Cal was right: This could never work. Their relationship had been doomed to fail from the day he revealed his true nature to her. There was no coming back from that.
“I understand,” she said softly.
The tears were falling faster now. Without waiting for whatever else he had to say, she bent to pick her clothes, pulling them on as quickly as possible. A gleam on her finger caught her eye as she adjusted the hem of her blouse. A ruby.
She stared at the engagement ring for a few seconds, the lump in her throat too painful now to utter a word. Then, with trembling fingers, she pulled it off, tossed it at Cal, and left the bedroom before the first sob wracked her body.