by Layla Silver
“They’re married?” I clarified in surprise. That wasn’t common among shifters.
“Yeah. We’re odd like that,” he shrugged.
At the restaurant, he touched his fingers to the bare skin at the small of my back as the hostess showed us to our table. The touch was light but protective in a way that made my whole body tingle.
“Have you eaten here before?” I asked, glancing through the menu once we were seated. “I’m told everything is good.”
“Everything is good,” he agreed. “I’ve been a couple of times. It was a favorite of one of my medical school professors, so we used to come here when it was my turn for mentoring.”
We decided to share a pizza and two appetizers. He waved away my protests that we probably wouldn’t need all that much. “You need to be well-nourished. And I’ve got a healthy appetite, so it won’t go to waste.”
“I do track my food,” I assured him after the waiter left. “I follow all of the guidelines. I want the …” I swallowed. “Our baby to be as healthy as possible.”
He looked startled. “I didn’t mean to imply you weren’t.” His eyes roved over me again, making my skin heat in the most delightful way. “Just, like I said, I’ve got five sisters-in-law and a bunch of nieces and nephews. I know what pregnancy can do to an appetite.”
That made me feel a little better.
“What about you?” he asked curiously, taking a sip of his water. “Do you have family?”
“Sisters,” I nodded. “Younger.” I bit my lip. Be honest, I admonished myself. “I didn’t put it on my application to the agency, but my upbringing was a little … unusual. My parents wanted us to be able to shift whenever we wanted, to not be afraid of that part of who we are. So when I was little, they moved to a commune. It’s called Pride of Peace.” I fiddled with my napkin. “It used to be really great. And then the leader died, and things changed.”
I paused when the waiter returned with our appetizers, smiling my thanks, then resumed, aware of Caleb’s eyes on me. I told him about how oppressive things had gotten. About losing my father and being assigned to marry Brother Markus. How I’d barely gotten out and had been working so hard to get my feet under me since. How determined I was to free my family.
“Are you sure you’re safe?” he asked when I finished, his tone sharp. “They wouldn’t try to hurt you?”
“They don’t know where I am,” I promised, pausing with another bite of pizza on my fork. “I would never put our baby in danger, Caleb.” I hesitated. “Is it okay if I call it that? Our baby? I mean, I know things are weird right now …”
“It is our baby,” Caleb said firmly. He leaned over and put his hand on mine. His touch was warm and strong, and it made me feel safe. He frowned a little, and it looked like he was about to say something, then changed his mind. He shook his head. “I know there’s a lot we still need to talk about, to figure out.” He made a face. “I don’t even have a job at the moment, which doesn’t give me a lot to offer just now.” His expression went serious again, those gorgeous eyes fixed on me. “But I want to court you, Gemma. Hearing you talk about your family—you’re even braver and more amazing than I realized. If you’re open to it, I want us both to raise this baby, whatever that needs to look like.”
I was so happy I could have cried. “I’d like that.”
The waiter interrupted, disturbing the moment, but things felt lighter after he left again. The conversation turned to less weighty things, and I discovered that Caleb had a wonderful sense of humor and an easy laugh. We shared a dessert, and there was something alluring about letting him feed me bits of lava cake. It was thick and sweet on my tongue, and the way he leaned in close to lift the fork to my lips made my body throb with unfamiliar desire. When he reached over, laughing, to wipe a smudge of chocolate off the corner of my mouth, I felt a rush of boldness. Before I could lose my nerve, I flicked my tongue out and licked the sticky syrup off his finger. I watched his eyes change and knew with a certainty I couldn’t explain that he felt the same desire I did. It made me feel powerful. Beautiful.
The feeling lingered when he paid and we left. In the car, he slid his hand across the space between the seats to hold mine. His thumb stroked the delicate skin on the inside of my wrist, making my pulse pound.
“I’ll walk you up,” he said, parking in one of the guest parking spots at the apartment building.
He held my hand on the way up, the heat and strength of him seeping through me. I didn’t know how I was going to let go. Caleb kept glancing over at me, and I got the impression he was as reluctant to let go as I was. He did, though, when we got to my door so that I could punch in my keycode. Opening the door, I lingered, loathe to let the evening end.
“Caleb …” I looked up at him, trying to find the right words.
He stepped in close, one arm sliding around my waist. The feel of him so close made me catch my breath.
“I didn’t get to kiss you properly last time,” he said, his voice low and husky. “Can I kiss you now?”
I nodded, eager and breathless.
Caleb leaned down, and I held my breath as he pressed his lips to mine. It was a confident kiss, bold and possessive. I felt myself melting from the inside out, delicious shivers running through me when his free hand lifted, his fingertips stroking up my bare spine. He made a noise, a low sound of pleasure, and tilted his head, deepening the kiss. Certain my knees would give any second, I clutched his jacket and kissed him back eagerly.
Down the hall, I heard the elevator whir—someone else was coming up. Caleb heard it, too, and pulled back, his expression uncertain. “Gemma …”
“Do you want to come in?” I half-gasped the words, but Caleb’s smile in response was blinding.
“Very much.”
I fumbled with the open door behind me and pulled him in, shutting the door behind us and locking it. Once inside, I dropped my purse onto the small table beside the door and reached for him again.
He was already there, eagerly pulling me into his arms and kissing me until I couldn’t think straight. His tongue teased my mouth open, and I opened it for him, curious and thrilled. His hands never stopped stroking me, moving steadily up and down my back, teasing the draped fabric along my sides. I felt like my blood was simmering inside me, every inch of me flushed and warm and wanting.
Caleb’s hands grazed the sides of my breasts, and I moaned.
His hands stilled, and he pulled back from the kiss, just a little. “Not okay?” he asked, nuzzling my jaw.
“No, I mean yes. I mean …” I closed my eyes and tried to put together a complete sentence. “Really good.”
He chuckled and mouthed a kiss to a spot beneath my ear that made me whimper. “Come here.” Lacing his fingers with mine, he led me to the couch.
I followed in a daze, happy to let him tug me into his lap so I straddled him. He tugged me in close and returned to kissing me, long, slow kisses that defied thought and made damp heat pool between my legs. My hands clung to his shoulders while his skilled hands roamed. Everywhere he touched felt electrified, vibrantly sensitive, and alive. I’d never felt anything like it. I never wanted him to stop.
At some point, his mouth drifted down, leaving me to gulp air like a woman drowning while he trailed kisses along my jaw and beneath my ear. His beard was soft, but when he turned his head just right, the fine, bristly hairs prickled along my skin, making me whine and squirm.
Chuckling, he gently reached up and circled my wrists with his fingers. He drew my hands off his shoulders, into my lap. I shivered again as his hands slid up my arms slowly, then curved around my shoulders. In an easy, unhurried move, he hooked his fingers into the thin straps holding up my top. With a single tug, he slid the fabric down my arms to my elbows, baring my breasts to his gaze.
It was shocking and erotic to be so exposed, doubly so when he hummed in approval and dipped his head to pepper kisses across my collarbones.
“Oh.” The feel of his bearded jaw brush
ing across my bare breasts made me arch, shamelessly thrusting them up in a silent plea for more.
Caleb purred, the deep rumble of a shifter and obligingly nibbled kisses across my chest, rubbing his jaw against me in a way that had me clenching my thighs around him. I could feel my pulse everywhere, and there was an ache between my legs begging to be satisfied.
Caleb’s mouth dipped, and I cried out when his tongue roughly laved over one taut nipple. My eyes squeezed shut, but stars burst behind them at the pleasure that shot through me hard enough to make my toes curl.
He paused. “All right?” he asked, his breath warm on my skin.
“Do it again,” I gasped.
He rumbled softly but did just that, running his tongue in a light circle around my peaked nipple before sucking at the tip of my breast lightly. I moaned, a ridiculously wanton sound, and shifted in his lap needy for more. Switching sides, he repeated the move on my other breast, the arm he had around me snugging me in closer.
That was when I realized he was hard. For me.
Caleb rolled my nipple between his thumb and forefinger, and I squeaked, unprepared and overwhelmed. He lifted his head again, this time leaning back to meet my eyes. “Too much?” he asked. Arousal made his eyes bluer, and they flitted over my face inquisitively. “You might be more sensitive now than normal, with the baby.” He didn’t quite frown, but his expression went a shade more serious. “I’ve never done this with a pregnant woman before, but I’m pretty good at following cues if you tell me what you like.”
I fidgeted awkwardly with the shirt at my wrists, my eyes darting around before finally returning to his. “I don’t know,” I whispered, abashed, chewing on my lip. “I’ve, um—I’ve never done this before. At all.”
He blinked once, then again. I felt my stomach drop when his hands fell to my thighs, resting carefully away from the delicious places they’d been touching me. “No?” he asked cautiously.
I shook my head, suddenly feeling embarrassed and overexposed. “We weren’t allowed,” I said, lifting my hands a little fretfully. “On the compound, there was always someone watching. The Elders wanted ‘innocent’ brides. I never …” I swallowed. “I never even kissed anyone before you.”
“Shit.” Caleb ran a hand through his hair. “Okay. We don’t have to do this.”
“No!” I gripped his jacket again. “I want to!” My voice was pleading now, but I couldn’t help it. “It feels so good, and I trust you, Caleb. I …” My voice faltered. A thought occurred, and I knew it was absolutely playing dirty, but the thought of him stopping now was too horrible to contemplate, so I did anyway. “I’m having your baby,” I said softly, stroking one hand down his chest. “I don’t want to do this with anyone else. I want you.”
“Dammit.” His jaw tightened, and then both his hands were cupping my face, and he was kissing me thoroughly, fiercely. I kissed him back with everything I had.
“Not like this,” he gasped, breaking the kiss and pressing his forehead to mine. “If this is your first time, we’re going to do it right.”
My heart soared.
Cupping my jaw in one hand, he met my eyes. “If you change your mind,” he commanded, “you’ll tell me to stop.”
That wasn’t going to happen, but I nodded anyway.
“And if something doesn’t feel good, you’ll tell me that, too.”
“Yes,” I agreed readily.
“Right,” he said, seeming to gather himself. “Where is your bed, Gemma?”
My legs wobbled when I climbed off his lap, rendering the entire maneuver terribly ungraceful. He didn’t say anything, just rose and followed me, our fingers laced together as I led him to my bedroom.
Moonlight shone through the uncovered window, and I guessed we didn’t need the lights on. The room was terribly plain, but Caleb didn’t seem to care. He glanced around just long enough to get the lay of the space, and then his eyes fixed on me. He kept his gaze on mine as he stepped out of his shoes and shrugged off his jacket. He put the shoes in front of the room’s only chair and tossed his jacket over the back. I watched, riveted, as he stripped off the rest of his clothes, tossing them over the chair as well.
He was gorgeous. The moonlight made his skin look silvery, the light and shadow playing over his muscular form in a way that made my mouth water. I’d never seen a naked man in person before, and I couldn’t help but gape a little at Caleb’s thick cock as it jutted toward his stomach in proof of his desire. He let me look a moment, unselfconscious and unhurried, then stepped closer.
I shimmied out of my borrowed shirt, draping it over the nightstand. With it gone, I was very aware of the way my jeans didn’t button. Caleb noticed, too, his fingers trailing over me. Suddenly, the swell of my belly felt like a boon instead of something to feel nervous over. Caleb spread his hand over my stomach, his touch infinitely tender, and I knew he was thinking about it being his baby inside me.
A thrill went through me as he dropped to his knees. His hands were warm on my skin as he eased my jeans and panties down. He pressed a kiss to my hip as the fabric came away, and I sighed.
Standing, he pulled the covers back and guided me down onto the center of the bed on my back. “All right?” he asked.
I knew I wouldn’t be able to lie on my back comfortably for much longer, but for now, it was still fine, and I nodded.
Satisfied, Caleb stretched out alongside me, his body tucking along mine from shoulder to ankle. He propped himself up on his left arm, and his right began to roam over my body as he kissed me again. The kisses were slow and deep. Hypnotizing. Intoxicating.
He sipped at my lips as if he had all the time in the world while his hand traced over me, exploring and coaxing me to greater pleasure. His fingertips circled my nipples, teasing them to aching points, then pinched and tugged lightly until my hips rocked, the ache between my legs desperate for the same attention. Every time I moved, I felt the searing heat of his cock where it pressed against my leg. I wanted him. Needed him so badly.
Still, he refused to hurry. In the moonlight, we learned my body together. Where I liked to be touched, what pressure made me moan, what made me shiver. By the time his fingers trailed along the inside of my thigh, my skin was soaked with my own fluids.
I moaned when his fingers moved up and stroked feather-light along my folds. How could something so slight feel so good? “Yes,” I gasped, trying to push myself harder into his hand. I pressed my hands into the bed, arching for him. “Yes.”
“You’re so beautiful, Gemma,” he murmured, nuzzling my throat.
I couldn’t make my words work and just moaned again when his fingers dipped between my folds, gliding along my slit. He worked me patiently, stroking me until I trembled with pleasure.
Only then did he circle the pad of a finger around my clit. I wailed, my whole body clenching with the intensity of it. Caleb gave a low, rumbling purr and did it again, making me shudder.
“Caleb!” I panted, my hands fisting in the sheets.
“That’s it, my beautiful girl,” he said against my throat. “Let me make you feel good.”
My hips were moving of their own accord, rocking in time with his touch as he fell into a rhythm, stroking along my slit then circling my clit. It was bliss. I floated on it, drunk on the sensation. When I could barely remember my own name, he changed the angle of his hand. His middle finger pressed gently inside me while his thumb took over rubbing my engorged clit. Instinctively, my inner muscles clamped down on his finger. It was both incredible and not nearly enough at the same time.
“Caleb,” I whined, my hips writhing. “I want you.”
“Mmmm,” he agreed, amusement in his voice. “But you’re going to come for me, first.”
The words were intensely erotic, and my eyes snapped open. I gaped at him, my mouth moving soundlessly as I tried to summon some fragment of coherence. “Really?”
“Oh, yes.” He kissed me again, his tongue flicking against mine. “You are my mate, Gemma. I’
m going to love you so well you can’t even think of being with anyone else, ever.” He eased a second finger inside me, and I whimpered. “I want to watch you,” he growled, his eyes burning with a possessiveness that left me breathless.
Lowering his head, Caleb lapped at my breasts again as his fingers began to pump steadily in and out of me. His thumb kept to its path, swiping up and swirling around my clit at the same pace.
I wailed and bucked my hips. “Caleb! Please.”
I felt his purr all the way through my body, felt myself vibrate with it as he lifted his head. His eyes fixed on me, and he flexed his hand, pressing his fingers just a little deeper into my sopping core. His thumb brushed up again, just a glancing touch over the tip of my clit, and everything shattered. The world dissolved into a wash of stars, and I was weightless, disembodied on a rush so high and sweet it defied description.
Distantly, I was aware of the bed creaking, of the wall of heat that was Caleb beside me moving. I dragged my eyes open, my entire body feeling liquid and leaden. Caleb knelt between my legs, his hands stroking my hips as he waited for me to come back to my senses.
“All right?” he asked, his smug—if slightly strained—tone belying the concern of the words.
“Yes.” I grasped for his hips, my hands clumsy in the afterglow.
“Hmmm.” Humming his approval, Caleb settled between my legs.
I felt the press of his cock against my entrance, then the stretch as he eased in. Slowly, he went so slowly. He was infinitely careful as if I were a precious treasure. He felt enormous but so good as he filled me.
Braced on his elbows over me, Caleb worked his cock inside me inch by inch. Gossip had suggested it could hurt the first time, but there was no pain here. Not even when he pressed all the way in, his cock perfectly sheathed inside me. Only overwhelming pleasure. I thought I might burn up from the inside out at the heat and intensity of it all.
