CHAPTER 32
Victoria
I open my eyes to see weak sunlight streaming through the wall of glass overlooking the San Francisco Bay. It takes me a moment to get my bearings. I must have drifted off to sleep.
And why wouldn’t I?
I’m up to my collarbones in perfectly warm, swirling water.
The large Japanese hot soak bathtub holds both of us comfortably.
I slowly recall that I’m in the most luxurious bathroom in the most luxurious suite in the Fairmont Hotel.
Cal’s long and perfectly muscled arms hold me close.
One of his large, calloused hands rests protectively on my belly. The other gently cups a breast.
I snuggle my back into him, knowing that he’s solid and safe. He softly kisses the side of my throat. Lifting my hair, he leaves little kisses at the nape of my neck and across my shoulders. He lightly sinks his teeth into the flesh of my upper arm.
“Mmm.” My voice sounds strange to my own ears. I’m relaxed. Happy. Satisfied.
So.
Damn.
Satisfied.
A tray on the marble floor holds an empty champagne bottle and two crystal flutes. Several fluffy white bath towels are scattered on the white marble floor.
I hear faint music coming from the built-in speakers in the living area and remember that we listened to music while we ate our late-night dinner. I’d had a salmon and quinoa salad, and Cal enjoyed another king-sized steak and all the fixings.
We listened to music a second time just a few hours later, when witching-hour snacks were delivered to the suite—fresh fruit, nuts, a cheese plate, and guacamole and chips.
A long and deep sigh escapes my lips. Cal snuggles me tighter and places his cheek against mine. Together, we watch the western horizon come to life, a deep, threatening red.
“Red sky in the morning, sailor’s warning,” I whisper.
“Red sky at night, sailor’s delight,” he says. “Just like you.”
He kisses my cheek and turns my chin so that he can leave a full kiss on my mouth. His kisses are amazing. Sometimes sweet. Often demanding. Like the man himself.
It dawns on me that I don’t want to leave this cocoon of make-believe. I’m not ready to go back to reality, though I know Declan will arrive soon to take us back to Yosemite Ranch. I don’t want to go back, where things will be so much more complicated.
“What time is it?” I ask.
“Probably somewhere between six-ten and six-thirteen.”
“That’s oddly specific.”
“Well, it’s early spring, and San Francisco is about thirty-seven degrees north in latitude, which means sunrise is in that range. That’s the kind of shit they beat into your skull in the Navy.”
“Gotcha.” I stroke the forearm that’s wrapped around my side.
I brush my fingertips along the top of the hand that rests on my belly.
His roped and muscled arms are covered in a fine dusting of hair as dark as that on his head.
The tendons and veins are prominent along his forearm and on top of his hand.
Cal is, by far, the most spectacular male specimen I’ve ever seen. “What time is Declan picking us up this morning?”
“You got a hot date, Miss Backlund?”
“I’m on a hot date as we speak. Has Declan texted you?”
“Weird, but I haven’t had much of a chance to check my phone in the last twelve hours. Not sure why. It’s all a blur.”
“So, you’re blaming me?
“You’re the insatiable one. I still can’t believe how you dragged me into the butler’s pantry and begged me to fuck you up against the silverware drawer.”
I gasp, pretending to be insulted. It’s good he can’t see me smiling like an idiot.
“Listen, sailor boy, I stepped into the pantry to look for more paper towels. You followed me in there. So let’s get this straight—I didn’t beg you to fuck me in the pantry specifically. It’s just where I happened to be when I began begging for more.”
“You were naked, Victoria. What did you expect from me? I’m only human.”
I feel his laugh rumble through his chest, vibrating against my back and down my spine. It’s a delicious sensation, one of many I’ve experienced with Cal in this hotel suite.
My smile widens, because that about sums it up for me—naked and begging. And damn happy about it.
This wild sensual ride started in the private elevator, where the heat and desire pulsed off Cal in waves.
It has since continued in nearly every corner of the penthouse suite—bathrooms, the kitchen, two of the four bedrooms, the living room, theater room, dining room, billiard room, and—it’s true—the pantry.
If the weather would have cooperated, I have no doubt the balcony would have found a spot on that list.
I’ve had more sex in the last twelve hours than in the last year. It’s better than anything I’ve experienced since I lost my virginity at age eighteen. And if that hard poke at the base of my spine is any indication, we’re not done yet.
“Baby, I want you to spread your legs for me. Put the backs of your thighs on the tops of mine. I want to play with you some more.”
I don’t even hesitate. I do as I’m told—which is fucking bizarre. I never do what a man tells me to do, not when it comes to sex or business or anything, really.
As a rule, I do what I want.
And I sure as hell never go all brainless and braless for a man I barely know.
So why is Cal MacLaine the exception? Why is he always the exception?
As I press my palms on top of his rock-hard quads and ease myself a few inches out of the water, I think about the ingredients that go into this man’s secret sauce, because he’s absolutely got one. It’s so irresistible that it deserves its own patent.
Equal parts rough and romantic.
Serious but funny.
Way too bossy while somehow generous and kind.
I’ve never known a man like Cal. I don’t think there’s another one like him. And in my heart, I know I’m in deep, deep trouble.
Cal MacLaine is what I’ve always wanted but never thought I’d find.
But why—why—did I have to find him on a ranch in the middle of Bumfuck, Nevada?
I forget that annoying detail when he cups my pussy in his palm.
I can’t get over how big he is—everywhere.
His hand seems huge compared to my pussy, and his thick middle finger pushes in and spreads me open.
His fingers find my clitoris, and he strokes me, circling the swollen tip tighter and tighter until I’m barely hanging on.
My head suddenly feels too heavy, and it falls back against his solid chest. He brings his lips to my ear, his breath hot against my face.
“That little clit of yours gets so hard, baby, and it’s so sweet when I suck on it.”
My breath is coming faster. I feel myself rolling my hips into his hand, wanting more. He makes me insane. He makes me forget everything and everyone else. Nothing exists but his hands on me. His mouth on me. His cock in me.
Cal raises his free hand to one of my nipples. He pulls, flicks, and pinches it, then moves to the other. He tortures my breasts while his hand stays busy on my clit.
I let out a groan of pleasure just as he slides one finger, then two, up inside me.
“I’m going to cum.”
“You like when I play with you, don’t you?”
“You know I do.”
“You’re right. I know. But tell me—which do you prefer? When I tease your clit like this?”
He slips his fingers from me and rubs my clitoris faster, with a little more pressure. “Cal—”
“Or when I’ve got my mouth on it, sucking and nibbling and flicking at it with my tongue?”
“Oh—”
“Or maybe when I’m fucking you good. Shoving my big dick all the way up in you, pulling it out again, grinding my meat back and forth over your clit until you explode?”
I gasp. I shudder. I’m in the middle of cumming when he grabs me by the waist and lifts me all the way out of the water.
He growls. “Fuck, yeah. I wanted to watch your legs shake, you greedy little thing.”
I’m disoriented. Trying to catch my breath. Cal turns me around until I’m facing him.
I look between my spread legs to see his cock sticking up from the water, swollen and purple with a perfectly shaped head. I have no idea how big it is, only that it just barely fits inside me and it’s the biggest cock I’ve ever experienced.
Every time he’s inside me, I’m filled. Completely.
His mouth claims mine. His tongue pushes between my lips as the head of his cock splits me in two. Before I know what’s happening, he’s got his arms under my knees and is holding me in place as he fucks up into me.
It’s too much. I’m cumming again. I feel myself shattering as I scream out Cal’s name.
From somewhere in the penthouse suite, I hear what sounds like a teenage kid shout out, “Oooooh! Navy SEALs!”