Shifting Positions

by Jennifer Dellerman

  “Better for you.” His voice was low and harsh as if words were beyond him. Then he slipped between the soft globes of her ass and plunged inside, not as deep, but now rubbing over just the spot she need.

  “Oh, God. Caleb,” she cried out, her body shaking as blood roared in her ears.

  “Fuck yeah. You like me fucking you from behind.” His hand came around to her belly and pressed her close, fingers skating over her aching clit. Her breathing became loud and gasping. She dropped her head, focusing every cell on their joined bodies, where his thick cock rasped and stretched tender folds. The pleasure was so intense, the hunger so strong, she instinctively tightened her inner muscles around him.

  So. Damn. Close.

  “That's it.” His fingers moved frantically over the little knot of nerves, the pounding of his shaft sending her to her toes with each hard thrust. “Come all over my cock.”

  His hips moved side to side, his shaft swirling over the sensitive flesh, again and again. Finally something snapped inside and she arched back, her body taut as a bow. Pinpoints of light flashed behind her closed eyes as an unbelievably powerful orgasm exploded, turning her deaf and blind in ecstasy.

  Caleb let out a guttural howl, plunging in once, twice more and then froze as he followed Tess over the edge into sweet abyss.

  As limp as a newborn, she would have fallen to her knees without Caleb's support. As it was, she fell against the door, unable to do anything else except breathe. She felt his heartbeat on her back, the fierce hammering slowly easing to a measured beat. When he slipped from her body she barely held back a whimper of disappointment.

  He moved away from her briefly to dispose of the condom. Then in a graceful motion bursting with power and dominance, he swept her off her feet and headed to the bed. He tossed her down and covered her with his body, settling between thighs that automatically parted to accommodate him. Violent pleasure surged through her at the feel of all his hard muscles fitting so perfectly to her soft curves.

  What was wrong with her? She didn't know if it was this mating heat that made her react with such sharp hunger to this particular man or not. And she couldn't come up with enough irritation to care.

  Lust quickly re-ignited. Caleb responded to the prickling heat, his nostrils flaring and eyes darkening with carnal knowledge. A dangerous grin curved his lips up, causing Tess to squirm under his heavy body with reluctant eagerness.

  “Oh no you don't,” she breathed out, her voice embarrassingly husky. Self-preservation insisted she brush him off, but her body refused to obey.

  “Don't what?” He lowered his head to nuzzle a spot just behind her ear, causing a full body shiver.

  “Don't get to have another go at me.” She tried to swallow her groan of pleasure. It was maddening how easily she turned into molten liquid for this man.

  “Really.” His tone mocked her as his seeking lips found another point of weakness, this time at the base of her throat.

  She arched her head back and sighed. “Really.” His scent seeped into her skin, clouding her mind and tearing at her defenses. She lifted her hands to stroke down the hard planes of his back. “What are you doing to me?”

  His soft laugh tickled her ear. “Loving you.” He drew in a deep unsteady breathe. “I can't get enough of you. I don't know if I ever will.”

  He reared back to grasp the hem of her sweater and shoved it up and over her head. Her bra came next and when discarded, he ran a searing gaze over her bared breasts. “I didn't pay near enough attention to these beauties before. Shame on me.”

  The hunger in his eyes was a tangible force. Everywhere he looked her skin danced with heat. “This is insane.”

  He trailed a fingertip over her burgeoning nipple and hummed in appreciation. “No. This is good.” Leaning down, he flicked his tongue over the nub, wrenching a moan from her throat. “Very good.”

  She felt his hardening erection pressing against her wet folds. Digging her hands in his hair, she held him first to one breast and then the other, each rough stroke of his tongue shooting bolts of desire straight to her groin. “Caleb.”

  He surged upward to claim her lips in an openmouthed kiss that blazed with possession and unrestrained lust. “I want you.”

  She swallowed. “You just had me.”

  With a soft chuckle he nibbled her throat. “Your point?”

  “It's too intense. This isn't normal.”

  He froze. “You want me to stop?” He sounded hurt and she didn't blame him. Desire burned a scorching path through her body but her brain demanded a break. Just to take a minute and re-evaluate.

  “No. Yes. I don't know.” The last came out as a near wail.

  With a heavy sigh he rested his forehead to hers, hands tenderly cupping her flushed cheeks, weight held up by his powerful arms. “What are you afraid of?”

  She looked up into his eyes, so dark she wanted to dive in and let him take her over. Meaningless sex she could handle. But whatever this was between her and Caleb went far beyond sex. . He was unafraid to love, to laugh and to share his innermost feelings with her and he made her want to reciprocate on every level. The risk to her independence was unnerving enough, but she was afraid a broken heart would destroy her.

  Kaylie should have been his mate, not cold-hearted Tess who was terrified of the unknown.

  The thought of her sister lying with Caleb like this twisted her heart, leaving an ache so painful she nearly cried out.

  Yes or no, Tess? This is the deciding moment that will change your life forever. Do you want to remain closed off, always feeling like something is missing, or do you take a leap of faith?

  “Tess?” Caleb urged gently, stroking her jaw with his thumbs.

  The thought of not having Caleb in her life made her stomach churn and her wolf claw and howl in abject rage. When she thought of having a life with him, everything settled in place and a sense of peace came over her.

  Time to be open and honest, just like him.

  She drew in a shaky breath. “You.”

  He shifted back, brows tight in surprised anguish. “You're afraid of me? Why? I would never hurt you.” His voice grew thicker with every word. “Ever. I'd rather die first.”

  She licked her dry lips. His eyes strayed to follow the movement of her tongue, the gleam of undisguised hunger easy to spot through his thick lashes. “H-how do you know? Is it because I'm one of a thousand that could be your mate?”

  “You are my mate. Yes, I've met a few women who possess the DNA required to carry my cubs, but their scents didn't raise my hackles in total awareness. And I certainly didn't want to beat my chest, throw any of them over my shoulder and haul ass to the nearest flat surface. You are special. Everything about you calls to me. Your scent, your beauty,” he tapped her head, “your brains and courage. If all I wanted was to mate for the sake of increasing the shifter population, I could have settled long ago. Settled being the operative word, Tess, and ‘settling’ is not for me. I want more. You're that more. I know this because I'm right where I want to be.” He tilted his head to the side, studying her. “How about you?”

  Flabbergasted, she opened her mouth, closed it and tried again. “I, I don't know.”

  He studied her with a brooding gaze, then let out a sigh and rested his forehead against hers. “As much as I want to hear you say ‘with you’ this is at least a start.”

  “What do you mean?”

  His eyes crinkled with his smile. “Because it means you're seriously thinking about it. Thinking about me. Us.”

  Shying from his possessive tone, she glanced away. A subject change was in order. Preferably something lighthearted. She lifted her hips suggestively and waggled her eyebrows. “You bet I've been thinking about us.”

  A brief look of disappointment crossed his features before he shook it off, as if accepting she needed time to process everything. When he didn't press the issue, Tess felt her chest unclench.

  “I understand. It's my irresistible manly charm.”
He smirked, eyes twinkling with smug merriment.

  Caught off guard, her lips parted on a shocked gasp. “Not likely.”

  Rather than answer with words, he skimmed one hand down her body. His lips followed, leaving light as air kisses. He bent to tug one nipple into his mouth, rasping the hard aching peaks with an easy skill that triggered the fires inside her to burn brighter. Just laying with him, skin to skin, heart to heart, had kept her aroused. The instant he moved to stoke the flames, she ignited.

  When he paused to lave her other creamy mound, his warm breath teased over her wet flesh, the hand sliding over her ribcage causing her belly to quiver in anticipation. He moved lower as he rose slightly to his knees, pressing a hand between her thighs, testing and teasing the damp slit. She lifted up, pressing against his roaming touch, moving to position the throbbing knot of nerves begging for attention. When he touched her clit she nearly came off the bed, her hips jerking in tandem with his clever fingers.

  “Thank God,” Caleb groaned as if in agony. Then he slid two calloused fingers through the juices coating her pussy and thrust into her writhing body, stroking over the ultra-sensitive flesh. Her back arched and she cried out in pained relief. She clenched around him, gripping fistfuls of the bedding and riding his fingers with a wild abandon that would have embarrassed her if it hadn't felt so damn good.

  He came fully to his knees, blindly reaching for protection that had somehow appeared on the nightstand with one hand as he continued to fuck her with his fingers. “Fucking beautiful,” he hissed, eyes glinting with intense fire as he watched his glistening fingers dip in and out of her body.

  “Don't stop, please,” Tess nearly sobbed.

  “Never,” he rolled on a condom single-handedly and then leaned back over her. He withdrew his hand from her swollen pussy, grasped his cock and parted her tender folds. She felt him press against her, the thick juices flowing from her entrance coating him, slickening for quick penetration.

  He thrust upward, diving into her slow and sweet, as if that first stroke was to be relished, treasured and remembered forever. She wrapped her hands around his biceps, holding on for dear life while silently pleading for more.

  Withdrawing just as carefully, he bent to kiss her, driving his tongue in her mouth as he drove in her body, harder, faster, creating a spiraling pit of longing that terrified and thrilled with equal fever.

  When the need for air became too much, she broke the kiss, filling her lungs as she looked into his face, his features pulled taunt as he concentrated on her pleasure rather than his own. And his eyes. The look in them nearly undid her. They gleamed clear and true, as if willing her to see into his soul, the brown and amber colors mixing with heat and some emotion she didn't want to identify.

  Disconcerted, she ducked her head, pressing her lips to his shoulders, nipping and suckling his sweat-soaked skin, eliciting a long groan from his lips. His taste was addicting, his scent intoxicating, and the sex. Wow. She'd never before felt the scorching pleasure that now gripped her in primal abandon. Never had the sensations reached a ferocious pitch she could not escape. All inhibitions were lost as she became a being of pure sensation.

  She felt the storm building inside her, circling in ever-tightening bands of erotic agony. Her muscles flexed around his cock as he forged through her wet pussy. Her hips churned with each plunge, grinding her throbbing clit over the steel-hard shaft.

  Hard, shimmering tremors of bliss tore through her, coiling, building, until she exploded with a force that sent her arching backward, convulsing as the white-hot sensations raged up her spine. He powered into her deep and hard, raking over exquisitely sensitive tissue, prolonging her orgasm as he fell into his. Caleb threw his head back with a guttural shout of sublime pleasure. He stiffened, shook and then collapsed over her. Though limp and exhausted, Tess wrapped her arms and legs around his trembling body, swamped, for the first time ever, with the need to hold a man close to her with all her might.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Tess pulled into Dolen's the next morning, ready to tackle the daily soup, triple up on the chili to cover the weekend, and get her shift over so she could pick up her mom.

  While mulling over Caleb's words from last night, she'd succumbed to a deep sleep. Though he never voiced his thoughts, she knew what rattled around in that thick skull of his. Just because she held her emotions close, not tossing them out to be trampled on willy-nilly, didn't mean she was afraid to trust or love.

  Turning off the engine, she sat a moment, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. Okay. So she was. But dammit, just because she felt biologically compelled to mate with Caleb didn't mean she had to love him or that he had to love her. And truly, that's what she wanted. To be loved. Which meant she needed to get past the belief that all men will leave like her father did. It was cruelly unfair to Caleb, or any man, to judge them based on another's actions. If the situation were reversed, she would be pissed.

  Feeling lighter, she shut her truck door and headed to the café's rear entrance. Unbidden, her eyes were drawn to the left, and there he was. Her traitorous heart leapt once, then proceeded to do a foxtrot in her chest. Caleb stood just outside the police station talking to one of his deputies, his tall, muscular frame clothed in his normal attire of jeans and flannel shirt, hand gestures graceful for such a large man.

  With a soft sigh, Tess remembered how those work-roughened hands touched her so gently last night, arousing and petting, and then became inflexible as he gripped her hips as he rode her hard. A heated shiver passed through her, pebbling her nipples in a way the cold air never could. Dampness began to collect between her thighs and her lips pursed, worry mixing with the instant lust. Not that the desire ever actually died. The emptiness, simmering heat and constant low-level throb low in her belly were all consistent with what her sister called “in heat”. It made her sound like a dog and made her damn near crazy with the need to fuck.

  As if sensing her nearness, Caleb suddenly turned his face and caught sight of her. A warm smile split his face and she melted on the spot.

  Face flushing, she sent him a brief smile before turning tail and hurrying into the café.

  That mild throb bloomed into a full-fledged ache and she could not help but fantasize on how soon she could get him alone and naked.

  Maybe a quick trip to the police station is in order before I head off to get mom.

  She ran the scenario in her head, trying to picture Caleb's expression as she waltzed into his office, shut and locked his door and then stripped. She clamped her hand over her mouth to hold in the snicker. The man made her head spin. He confounded, astonished, irritated and aroused her, but he also made her want to have fun. By far their relationship was the strangest she'd ever had. She either wanted to smack him upside his hard head or fling her legs around his waist and hold on tight.

  Decisions, decisions.

  Lost in naughty thoughts of seducing Caleb at his work, she voiced an offhanded good morning to the kitchen in general and hung up her coat and gloves. A heavy silence greeted her, so at odds to the day before, and she warily rotated to see two solemn faces peering back. One of the morning shift waitresses, Penny Kroden, nodded once before exiting through the swinging door into the dining room.

  “Ah,” she muttered, immediately wondering who died. Then she remembered and her mischievous thoughts went up in a cloud of smoke. She twisted her features into a perplexed look because, after all, who knew if the grim reception was due to the death of Dave Collins. Maybe, God forbid, something else had happened last night.

  “What's going on?” She directed her question at Dolen who suddenly appeared in the doorway that led to his small office.

  He crossed his meaty arms over his chest. “Thought you already knew, what with you and Caleb dating.”

  No snappy retort because, frankly, you and Caleb are dating, she told herself.

  . “Knew what?”

  “Dave Collins was killed last night.”

  Te
n years of absence made both her ignorance and guarded tone very real. “I'm sorry. Was he a friend of yours?”

  Busy at the gigantic kitchen range, Sean let out a snort of laughter. Dolen shot him a glare then turned back to Tess. “No he wasn't. He was just a kid, barely in his twenties and still finding his way in the world. I only knew him because he and Gina dated a bit until she broke it off about six months or so back.” He rubbed the back of his neck with a hand the size of a platter. “Not sure how she's handling it.”

  Tess glanced around. “She's not here?”

  Dolen shook his head. “She doesn't work Fridays.” He cocked his head back and stared up at the ceiling as if searching for an answer.

  Tess looked to Sean who just shrugged. “What is it, Dolen?”

  “Kids are weird nowadays.”

  “Okay,” she stretched the word out, not sure how to respond, or if Dolen even expected a response.

  At his continued silence she gathered the makings for the daily soup, set them on the large prep counter and retrieved a cup of coffee.

  Dolen watched her silently for a moment as if contemplating his next words. “Here's the deal,” he finally stated. “Gina's relationship with the Collins kid wasn't well known, like she was ashamed or something. After the breakup, he'd come around a time or two, try and talk with her, but she always stopped him cold. From what she said to Dave, not that I was eavesdropping or anything, she got herself another man, someone with balls is what I remember her saying.”

  Tess took a sip of coffee, savoring the heat as it slid down her throat. “Your point?”

  “Just that no one knows who this guy is. Gina's keeping mum and why the secrecy? Makes a body wonder if the new beau took care of the pesky old beau.”

  Sean chortled and both Tess and Dolen looked at him. After a beat, Dolen narrowed his eyes. “You know who it is, don't you?”