Chapter 7 Caleb
SEVEN
CALEB
“Something happened earlier,” I say, washing tonight’s dishes while Cassidy nurses a bottle of beer. She appears to be more a red wine kind of woman, though she hadn’t passed on the offer for the only alcohol I have left.
With a sigh, Cassidy brings the bottle to her lips. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that mouth since the kiss, but it seems like it’s the last thing she wants to talk about.
“She made me promise not to tell you,” Cassidy says, lowering the bottle without looking at me. “Can’t break a promise for my girl.”
“I can respect that,” I reply, finishing the dishes with a groan. It’s not like we had anything special. Just three-bean chilli. An easy staple in my home—both here and when I lived with my parents. “But she’s okay, right?”
“Oh, yeah, she’s going to be fine.” Cassidy rolls the beer bottle between her hands. “I just…I want them to have stability so bad, and I can’t…” She looks up at me then, eyes sad. “I can’t put that at risk.”
She doesn’t have to spell it out to me. “I get it.” Even though I’m a little disappointed, I know there’s no room to fight.
Not because I don’t want to—my heart is telling me to make promises I don’t know I can keep, give her everything even though it makes no sense. But she isn’t only thinking about her.
And if I fight, if I give in and get on my knees for her now, then it’s because I’m selfish and not thinking about them.
The kids who would end up hurt in the end.
She’s not just protecting herself, but them, too.
“Do you, though?” Cassidy asks quietly, still watching me, still reserved. “Do you want kids, Caleb?”
I stiffen, even though my answer should be obvious—at least, to me it should.
No. I never wanted them, even though I spent most of my life surrounded by them.
I don’t like the mess they cause, and I especially don’t like the noise.
Even though I don’t have a problem with my nieces and nephews, I wouldn’t have my own.
At least, that’s always been my stance. My position when asked by my family and friends.
My manager used to joke the bears would be my only company when I grew old in this cabin, and they’d be the ones to claim my bones.
Even the guy who I consider being my closest friend finds it funny that it would be me opposed to children, and not Winnie since she’s the one caught in the middle of the storm constantly.
And yet, as my gaze flickers to Cassidy’s, the response dies on my tongue. Instead, I pull open the fridge door and pull out a beer for myself.
“I think if we’re going to have this sort of conversation, I should also be drinking,” I say, popping the top. “Join me on the sofa?”
I offer her my hand, which she considers quietly before taking. As I help her off the stool, I can’t help but breathe her in. “Maybe I should go to bed,” she says, though she doesn’t pull her hand from mine.
“Or you can finally talk to someone who isn’t going to talk over you,” I reply, smiling when she pulls her hand from mine to smack me. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
“You are,” she says, grinning. “Winnie is fantastic. You’re lucky to have a sister like her.”
“Do you have a sister? Or any siblings?” I take a seat on one end of the sofa, while she takes the other, leaving one cushion between us. I hate the space, but I understand why she wants to keep it.
Maybe it’s for the best.
Cassidy eyes me for a moment before nodding. “I do. One. Her name is Olivia, and she has a baby boy named Christopher.”
I can tell there’s more to that story she isn’t willing to tell me. “And do you two have a good relationship?”
“Better than most. Let’s just say certain things run in our family, unfortunately.”
“Like what?” I take a sip as she rolls her eyes.
“Getting accidentally knocked up,” she says, chuckling.
“Of course, she had her baby a couple months ago, one-night stand and she can’t find the father.
I was a teenager in love with a boy who couldn’t see past himself to be a father.
I was a single mother before his death, moved on, and now I’m a single mother again. There can’t be a third time, Caleb.”
Her dark eyes find mine, suddenly serious. Enough so that I put my beer on the side table. “What makes you think I want to do that to you?”
“Because you never answered my question,” she replies, finishing her drink in one pull. “Thanks for this. But I should go to bed.”
As she rises, I grab her arm, a breath catching in my throat.
With only the light of the fire to illuminate her face, she looks otherworldly.
Soft, like an angel doused in the golden hue of firelight.
The way her golden hair frames her round face gives her an innocence that makes me want to protect her. Makes me want to hold her tight.
Slowly, I take the empty bottle and set it with my own. “I don’t,” I tell her honestly, the hope in her eyes flickering to disappointment. “At least I didn’t. I don’t know anymore.”
“I don’t think that’s a good enough answer,” she says quietly as she watches me stand. “Not when my kids are the only thing I care about.”
A lump forms in my throat as I pull her in close. “What if I told you that you and your kids are the reason why I’m questioning everything? Why I’m even wondering what a future might be like outside of all this?”
“Outside of what, Caleb? Winnie gave me a pretty good idea of what you’re like, and we don’t fit into that.
The kids are quiet and docile now, but they’re almost teenagers.
They’ll be loud and annoying, and soon they’ll be talking back and fighting.
You don’t sound like the kind of guy who can handle any of that. ”
I try not to let the hurt show as her words hang between us. The me of last week would agree wholeheartedly with her statement and prove her point.
But the me of now, that wants her, that thinks he has a chance at winning over her kids? He wants to prove her wrong.
I swallow hard, glancing down at her plush lips. “Maybe it’s too soon, but I can give you what you need.”
Cassidy shakes her head sadly. “You’ve known us two days, Caleb. You can’t give us anything.”
Even though I know I should let her go, I don’t. The soft brush of my lips against hers tickles at something deep within me, a need I’ve never felt before. I’d noticed it during our first kiss, but with the next swipe of our mouths, it seems to awaken with a fierce need I can’t quench.
Cassidy makes a sound in the back of her throat, part moan and part something else.
A curse, if I had to guess. But she doesn’t shove me away.
Her hands fist in my sweater before tugging it up, and for the split moment our lips are apart, I pull it off and toss it to the side.
Throughout our deep, almost feverish kisses, her shirt disappears, then my jeans, and finally her tights.
When we’re both naked, I guide us to the sofa, sitting with her straddling my hips, the heat of her body enveloping mine.
“How—” she gasps as I move my mouth down the column of her throat, hands shifting to her plump ass and spreading her wide for me. “Caleb!”
“Shhh,” I whisper, licking her pink nipple lightly. “You might wake the kids.”
Her hands grip my shoulders, nails digging into my skin, but she doesn’t move. Good. I suck her tit into my mouth, tasting her sweetness on my tongue as I hold her still. And yet, her soft gasp has my dick standing to attention, pushing against the wetness of her pussy.
Fuck, I can’t imagine what she’d taste like. There’s not enough space to spread her out like she deserves, and as much as I want to, I also badly want to feel her. I want to know if she’ll squeeze me when she comes, if she’ll strangle me until there’s only her imprinted on me forever.
I circle her nipple with my tongue and use my hands on her hips to grind her against me. My cock almost perfectly aligns with the seam of her pussy, and each slow move of her pelvis has me sliding right through her.
Cassidy sucks in a sharp breath, biting down on her lip. “That feel good?” I ask, keeping my voice low.
She bows her head in a quick nod. “Yes.”
I rock my hips into hers, applying more pressure. She’s soaked, and in return, so am I. My cock is rock hard just from this alone, from watching her breasts sway and knowing that she’s already so reactive to me—for me.
“Give me a chance to make you feel good,” I beg, thrusting against her again. “Then I’ll never ask for anything from you again.”
Her dark eyes find mine, cloudy from lust. I almost expect her to say no.
But she reaches between us and fists me, stroking her arousal over my shaft. I have to bite down on the groan that wants to fall from my lips, especially when she runs her thumb over my slit.
“One time,” she whispers, “promise me.”
“I can’t,” I reply, as she brings me to her entrance. “I might just be too tempted to fight for you after this, Cassidy.”
Something shifts in her expression, but she doesn’t stop.
She hitches me at her entrance and plants her hand on my chest over my racing heart as she slides down my shaft.
I feel all of her in a moment: the flutter of her walls, the tightening of her channel.
Even the soft breath she pulls in when she fully seats herself on me and lets her head fall back.
“That’s it,” I murmur, rocking my hips into hers. “You take me so well, Cass. Now let me feel you explode.”
Her eyes meet mine. Slowly, she rises on her knees and with just as much restraint, she comes down, sheathing herself perfectly on my dick. It tests my restraint and strength, because if I have my way, I’d lay her out on the sofa and fuck her endlessly.
But there’s something almost gentle about each stroke, and it’s enough to have pressure building inside me, slow and powerful enough that has me breathing harder to remain in control.
Cassidy keeps her eyes locked on me, her walls fluttering, clenching hard. It’s the only warning I have that she’s close, so I reach between us and rub her clit, matching her speed.
“Caleb—” she bites out before falling.
She slams down on me, her orgasm making her falter.
I keep rubbing her through it, rocking my hips into hers until I feel my orgasm slam into me.
It comes hard and fast, exploding with a power I don’t expect.
I hold Cassidy close until the waves of it recede, until it’s only us and our heavy breaths left in the room.
As she slumps into me, I rub a hand down the back of her head. There is no way this will be the only time. I knew the moment she asked for that promise I wouldn’t be able to keep it, and now I know for certain.
I want Cassidy to be mine, and I’ll fight if I have to. If not now, then soon. It’s the only certainty I know.