My Soul For You

by Morgana Phoenix

  By the end of the night, Katie was ready for bed. She was so exhausted she nearly fell asleep in her pudding. Kaleb must have noticed, because he made their excuse and tucked her into the car.

  Ten minutes later, they were on the road, headed back to the city.

  “I should text my aunt,” Katie murmured as she dug into her purse for her phone. “She’s probably staying up waiting for me.”

  She was. The moment Katie hit send, her aunt responded.

  “You have school tomorrow,” her aunt said to Katie’s text about spending the night at Kaleb’s.

  “I’ll be back early to shower and change,” she promised. “I love you. Goodnight.”

  A moment passed.

  “Love you back. Be safe.”

  Katie stuck her phone back into her purse and yawned loudly behind her hand.

  “Everything okay?” Kaleb asked.

  She nodded. “Yup. She just wanted to make sure I got home in time for school.” She lay her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes. “I told her I would.”

  Something feather light touched the side of her face. Her eyes opened a slit and she peered over at Kaleb. She captured the hand grazing the curve of her cheek and brought it to her lap.

  “Did you mean all that stuff you said back there?” she asked.

  “About being my woman?”

  A warm, delicious shiver raced through her. “All of it.”

  Eyes still on the road, Kaleb gave a brisk nod. “Every damn word.”

  Katie smiled sleepily. “That shouldn’t make me so happy to hear.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because I promised myself I wouldn’t take you back.”

  He shot her a quick glance. “Take me back? I didn’t realize we’d broken up…”

  She chuckled softly. “I was just confused because of what you said and…” She yawned again. “The letter.”

  He squeezed her fingers. “Letter?”

  “I got a letter the afternoon we argued.”

  His fingers tightened around hers. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because you were angry with me and I was upset with you and…” She blinked at the cloudy heavens through the windshield, trying to battle back the cloak of sleep creeping up on her. “I don’t know.”

  “I wasn’t angry with you,” he said, his tone tender. “I was angry with myself and I stupidly took it out on you. I’m sorry.” He tugged gently on her hand. “What did the letter say?”

  Giving another yawn, Katie answered, “Something about secrets. X thinks you know something. At least, I think it’s you. I don’t know. He didn’t say.”

  “X?”

  She nodded. “That’s what it was signed as. X.”

  He was staring hard out the windshield. “What else did the letter say?”

  Katie shrugged, trying very hard to think straight. “That I would be sorry if I didn’t do something…”

  “Katie!” He nudged her when she started to trail off. “Do what?”

  Shifting higher in her seat, she brought her knuckles to her eyes and remembered at the last second that she had makeup on and stopped herself.

  “It didn’t say,” she said. “Only that if he didn’t get answers, something bad would happen.” She turned her head towards him. “Do you have secrets, Kaleb?”

  He took a long time to answer and when he did, it wasn’t to her question.

  “I won’t let anything happen to you, Katie.”

  The rest of his words faded as she slipped into a dreamless slumber.

  She didn’t stir again until the distinct jerk and jingle of keys being yanked from the ignition jolted her awake. She groaned as her stiff muscles protested, but she tried to stretch.

  “Welcome back,” Kaleb teased.

  Katie squinted at him and grinned sheepishly. “Sorry. I haven’t slept well the last few nights.” She turned her attention to the gloomy, gray slab of concrete outside the windshield. “Where are we?”

  Pocketing his keys, Kaleb kicked open his door. “Apartment parking garage,” he said as he rolled out.

  Katie was still wrestling with her seatbelt when he rounded the trunk and yanked open her door. She let him help her from the seat and guide her towards a steel elevator.

  “What time is it?” she wondered.

  “A little after midnight,” he replied, jabbing the button.

  The ride up was made in silence. There wasn’t even any elevator music. Katie couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed by that fact as they stepped off into a fairly worn corridor with dull blue carpets and equally dull white walls. They followed the stench of burnt supper, sour milk and body odor to the very far end. Kaleb tugged out his keys, all the while keeping a firm arm around Katie’s waist.

  “It’s not much,” he said, feeding the key into the lock. “But it’s home.”

  It was a whole lot better than Katie had pictured, honestly. It was clean, which was surprising in itself. She had always pictured college boys to be pigs. The furniture was faded, clearly previously owned, but made comfy with pillows and throws. It wasn’t overly decorated, but there were enough touches in the right places to make it feel homey.

  She shrugged out of her coat and wandered deeper into the tiny foyer. It opened into a small sitting area with a corridor to the left and the kitchen shoved into the right corner. A long counter and three stools separated the two. What surprised her most was the whole place actually smelled clean, too. Like sun-warmed laundry on a line.

  “I like it,” she said honestly.

  He took her coat from her hands and moved past her to drape it over the back of an armchair. Katie tried not to grin at the gesture.

  “Thanks. I’ve only been here a year.”

  Slipping out of her pinching shoes, Katie let her toes uncurl across the small patch of linoleum that made up the foyer. She stepped onto the soft carpet and moved to the wall of curtains closing them off from the balcony. She shoved the heavy fabric aside and stared at the solitary building on the other side. They were clearly high enough so they weren’t eyelevel with the adjacent building, but they were also high enough that if they looked down, they had a perfect view of another person’s apartment.

  She glanced around behind her.

  “What?” Kaleb moved to stand at her shoulder.

  “Just looking for the telescope,” she replied.

  He snorted and shouldered her. “I’m not that kind of neighbor.”

  She moved away from the sliding glass and squinted at him. “So you say.”

  He poked her lightly in the side, making her squeak. “Did you want to change into something else, or are you okay with what you’re wearing?”

  She looked down at the dress. It was comfy, but not comfy enough to sleep in.

  “I would actually like a shower,” she admitted. “All this gel and hairspray is beginning to make my head itch.”

  He grinned. “Sexy.” Still grinning, he pointed towards the narrow hallway. “Last door that way. Towels are in the cupboard. Feel free to use whatever you need. I’ll get you something to wear.”

  Thanking him, she ducked into the bathroom and did a quick sweep of the place. Either he knew she was coming, or he actually cleaned … on purpose. The place was spotless. Even the toilet seat was down. Something just wasn’t right.

  “Do you normally have company over?” she called through the door as she stripped out of her dress.

  “Jake comes over sometimes,” he called back. “But not usually. Why?”

  “Just asking.”

  She didn’t stay long under the hot spray, just long enough to undo the curls she’d spent hours creating and to scrub her face clean of makeup. She felt about thirty pounds lighter by the time she stepped out and reached for a towel. At some point, Kaleb had left a pair of black sweats and a white t-shirt on the counter for her, along with a brand new toothbrush and a comb. She eyed the latter a bit warily. The thing was tiny, big enough for a guy with reasonably
short hair, but for her heavy mass … She opted to skip combing her hair. But she did brush her teeth and tugged on the t-shirt over her panties. The shirt went all the way to her knees.

  Kaleb was in the kitchen when she stepped out. He had his head down and was mixing something fiercely.

  “Hey,” she said.

  His head jerked up. He did a double take. “Uh, hi…”

  She touched her damp, tangled locks and scrunched her nose. “I was afraid I’d break your comb,” she confessed. “But thank you.”

  He raised the hand he was using to stir and ran the tip of his pink tongue up one finger, all the while scrutinizing her from beneath heavy lashes. Katie flushed at the dark flicker in his eyes.

  “What are you making?” she asked, needing him to stop watching her like she was a tasty slab of meat and he was a hungry coyote.

  He lowered his hand and his eyes. “Pudding to celebrate our five month anniversary.”

  Katie blinked. “We have an anniversary? And didn’t we just have pudding?”

  She crossed the room and took a seat on one of the stools across from him. Sure enough. He was making chocolate pudding, at one in the morning.

  “There’s no wrong time to have pudding,” he said. “And yes, it was five months today that I ran into you in that hallway. We’re celebrating with pudding, because I like pudding.”

  Me too, Katie thought when he licked chocolate off his knuckle again, then his thumb. She watched his lips close around the finger, sucking until she was fidgeting in her seat and squishing her thighs together. He knocked the whisk against the metal siding and dropped it into the sink with a resounding clang. He reached into the drawer by his hip and removed a small spoon. He dropped it into the bowl and looked up at her.

  “What do you want to do?”

  Katie stared at the thick confection then at his lips and thought of a few things she wanted to do.

  “It’s one in the morning,” she mumbled stupidly. “What do you normally do at this time?”

  He seemed to think about this a moment. “Probably sleep,” he confessed at last. “But I’m not tired.”

  Neither was she, now that she thought about it. Between the nap she’d taken in the car, the shower, and watching him lap pudding from his fingers, she and her body were wide awake.

  “Plus I made pudding.” He raised the bowl as though to prove it.

  Katie chuckled. “Well, we can’t let that go to waste.”

  He raised the spoon and slipped it into his mouth. He placed the hollow side flat on his tongue and sucked the utensil clean.

  Katie’s mouth went dry. All the moisture in her entire body seemed to trickle down until it was dampening her panties. Against the soft material of her shirt, her nipples hardened. They tingled.

  “Want some?” he asked, raising one brow in a sort of challenge.

  “Are you willing to share?” she replied with much more calm than she thought herself capable at that moment.

  He grinned around the spoon still touching his lips. “Only with you, baby.”

  Her fingers gave the slightest tremble as she reached for the bowl. But rather than relinquish it, he jerked it away. Spoon and bowl in hand, he skirted around the counter separating them and stood over her.

  “On second thought, I don’t think you’re worthy.”

  Katie started. She blinked. Then she laughed. “Not worthy? Of pudding? On our anniversary?”

  Kaleb shrugged, his face a mask of all the seriousness of the pope. “It’s special pudding. Not just anyone is worthy of it.”

  “Uh huh.” She slid off the stool. “And just how does one become worthy?”

  His grin was wicked and extremely inappropriate. “That depends on what you’re willing to do for it.”

  Cheeks tingling, Katie met his gaze squarely. “Well, what if I don’t want your special pudding?”

  He straightened. “Don’t you?” He dipped just the tip of the spoon into the pudding, then raised it to her lips. “Are you sure?”

  Her traitorous lips opened, her brain fully knowing it wasn’t going to be that easy, but she was so lost in his eyes that it didn’t dawn on her until he was snatching it away and licking it clean himself.

  Katie sulked. “You’re mean.”

  He caught the tip of the spoon with his canines and smirked. “Just say you’ll be mine and I’ll give you all the pudding you can handle.”

  As tempting as that was, Katie narrowed her eyes. “Oooor, I could just…”

  Before he could react, she reached out and scooped her finger into the dessert. She popped it into her mouth before he could stop her. She burst out laughing at the look of confusion and then betrayal on his face.

  “You contaminated the holy pudding,” he gasped, horrified, which only made her laugh harder. He glowered at her. “I suppose now I have no choice but to share.”

  He stuffed the bowl and spoon into her hands, bent at the knees and scooped her up into his arms. Katie squeaked and clutched the bowl tighter as he carried her to the armchair. He sat, placing her in his lap.

  “All right, woman, feed me.”

  Katie snorted. “Feed you?”

  He arched a brow. “That’s right. You stole the pudding, you’re responsible now.”

  Taking her bottom lip between her teeth, she dipped the spoon into the pudding and raised it to his mouth. But as he’d done to her, the moment his lips parted, she stuffed it into her own mouth.

  “Mm, so good,” she garbled around the spoon.

  The corner of his mouth quirked. His fingers lifted, curled around her wrist. He drew her hand down and reached for her face. He coaxed back a damp strand of hair behind her ear.

  “I’m really sorry about tonight,” he murmured, turning the single taste of sweet to sour in her mouth at the memory.

  She dropped the spoon into the bowl. The handle struck the metal lip with a loud clink. She watched the spoon slide into the brown ooze, finding it funny how it mirrored her life the last few months.

  “It wasn’t your fault,” she began slowly. “I’m sorry if I embarrassed you.” She looked up at him and into his eyes. “I’ve just never meet such horrible people.”

  The bowl was taken from her and set down on the ground. He reached for her next. He touched her face, combed his fingers back into her hair, and cupped the back of her head.

  His eyes were shadowed by fallen wisps of hair and all the places the single lamp across the room didn’t reach, but she felt their hot stare burning into her face. She could feel them tracing her features. She didn’t shy away, even when heat started up her neck.

  “You could never embarrass me, Katie,” he murmured quietly. “I should have done a better job warning you. I should have told you what they were like. It’s my fault you weren’t prepared.”

  “I just can’t believe people like that still exist.”

  His smile was humorless. “Oh, there are more of them than you think.”

  Her gaze searched his. “You don’t think like them, do you?”

  “The first time I met you,” he said rather than answer her. “I thought you had the most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen, even if they were watering—”

  She shouldered him, laughing. “You nearly broke my nose!”

  He chuckled as he leaned in and brushed a kiss to the tip of her nose. He stayed there, lips brushing the corner of her mouth. “I won’t lie,” he drew back to grin at her. “I wasn’t feeling very teachery when I had you in my arms.”

  Raising her hand, she touched the side of his face, loving the feel of stubble beneath her fingers. “It was very hard not to touch you,” she confessed. “I had to constantly remind myself you were off-limits. I hated it.”

  His hand slid down her side to splay across her back, urging her closer. “I can tell you with complete honesty,” he touched his brow to hers. “If you had touched me, even once, I probably would have ravaged you on the spot.”

  Katie chuckled. “Ravaged?”

 
; His lips curved into a lazy grin even as his fingers fisted into the back of her shirt. “Slammed you into the closest hard surface and fucked you until I was good and satisfied you were completely mine.”

  All humor vanished as a hot zing shot through her. The pit of her stomach twisted as his words assaulted all her senses and sent her mind reeling with images of him doing just that.

  “Are you good and satisfied now?” she murmured.

  His eyes were dark when they lifted to meet hers. “That you’re mine?”

  Katie nodded, her throat too dry for words.

  The hand wrinkling her shirt released and moved up to close in her hair. He tugged her face back and nipped playfully on her bottom lip with his teeth. Then soothed the spot with a flick of his tongue.

  “Are you mine, Katie?” he purred against her mouth.

  “Yes.” The single breathy moan was caught by his feather light kiss.

  “All mine?” he coaxed. His hand was on her hip, slipping under her top.

  She trembled. “Yes.”

  “Good.” He pulled back just enough so he could look into her half lidded eyes. “Because the things I want to do to you, do with you, I won’t accept anything less.”

  Weak with desire, Katie could only moan and shiver as his words hit every nerve ending throughout her entire body. In that moment, she wanted him like she had never wanted anything in her life. She wanted him naked and inside her. But he wasn’t finished talking.

  “And to answer your question,” he dragged her shirt up and over her head, leaving her naked in his lap except for her panties. But his eyes were only on her face. “I wouldn’t change a thing about you, Katie. I love your independence. I love how you think and that you know what you want and work so hard to get it. I love that you are nothing like them.”

  Drunk on him, Katie kissed him, savoring the potent taste of him mixed with sweet chocolate. There was something incredibly sensual about being naked while he was still fully clothed, even if it was frustrating as well. The need to feel him naked against her only amplified the ache inside her.

  When his hand slid between her legs, cupping the heat burning through the flimsy material of her panties, Katie hissed and parted her knees. His fingers traced the fabric, pausing at the center to add just a touch of pressure.