Kaleb (15 page)

The
water was pouring down over them, and as she stood facing off with the big,
brooding man in her shower, she noticed he hadn’t so much as touched her since
he walked into the small glass enclosure.

“Answer
me, Zoey.” Kaleb demanded.

“Yes.”
She huffed, turning back to face the wall. She understood him clear as day.
Didn’t mean she was happy about it. She just needed a minute to get her head on
straight and with him filling her shower, towering over her, there wasn’t a
chance in hell she could wrap her mind around what was happening between them.

Zoey
stood motionless when Kaleb wrapped his arms around her, pressing his warm
chest against her back. His touch was like the warm and brilliant light of the
sun, infusing her while chasing away all shadows of doubt that had plagued her
the second her feet touched the floor.

“I’m
sorry.” His gruff voice echoed in the small space. “I shouldn’t have done
that.”

“Why?”
Now he was confusing her. She wasn’t by any means offended by the wild way
they’d just come together, she was just a little surprised. Her past experience
with sex had been missionary for the most part, definitely lacking fireworks
the likes of which the two of them created when they were together. But it damn
sure didn’t mean she wanted him to stop, she just wasn’t exactly sure how to
handle it.

Kaleb’s
hands trailed around to her breasts, cupping them as she intently watched the
stark contrast of his sun bronzed hands against her pale skin. She was
mesmerized, caught up in the sensation of his callused fingers teasing her
pebbled nipples while his palms sensually scraped the tender underside of her
breasts.

“You
deserve more than that. I should’ve teased you, got you hot... wet...
Before I rammed my cock inside of you.”

Her
stomach flipped, his words setting off mini flames on the tips of her nerve
endings. How did he do that? Was it intentional? Or was there something wrong
with her that she liked the lewd words and the raspy sound of his voice?

He
continued to pinch and pull one nipple while his other hand trailed down her
stomach before sliding between her thighs. She opened her legs wider, giving
him better access because she was on fire now, her body prepared to take
anything he had to give her.

“I
should have teased your clit with my tongue.”

God!
Could his voice get any sexier? He mimicked the action with the tip of his
finger, slowly pressing against her clit until she would’ve been sweating had
it not been for the water.

Leaning
back against him, Zoey lifted her leg, placing it on the low ledge in the
shower, opening herself, all but begging for him to continue.

“Or buried my finger in your sweet
pussy.”

Zoey
moaned. His finger delved deep inside, not thrusting, but swirling over nerves
she hadn’t known existed. “Please, Kaleb.”

“And
I should’ve had you begging.” He kissed her neck, suckled the sensitive skin
there as he continued to drive her mad with his finger. “Damn, Zoey. All the
things I want to do to you.”

“Tell
me.” She groaned. If he wasn’t going to fuck her again, he could at least give
her that much.

“I
want to watch you come apart. Touch you in ways you’ve never even dreamed of.”

His
finger slipped from her pussy while his other continued to pinch her nipple – a
sharp burst of erotic pain that had her whimpering.

Her
body stopped responding when he moved his hand around behind her, sliding over
her bottom, easing down between her cheeks to that forbidden place no one had
ever dared to touch. She held her breath, fear and excitement waging a war in
her stomach.

“I
want to fuck you here, Zoey.”

His
finger caressed her anus, not breaching it, just teasing. Who would’ve known it
would feel that good?

“Kaleb,”
she didn’t want to respond to his touch, especially one so carnal, but she
suddenly wanted more.

“You
like that, don’t you, baby?” He nipped her ear lobe and Zoey heard his tortured
groan as he continued to tease her.

“I
want to bury my cock in your ass. Fuck.”

Heaven
help her, she wanted it to. She wanted Kaleb in ways she shouldn’t. She had
imagined him doing wicked things to her, but never like that. There’d even been
a time when she dreamed about him and Gage...

“Kaleb!”
Zoey screamed his name when he thrust two fingers in her pussy, not giving her
time to accept what was happening before her body exploded in a rush of heat
and flames.

“Bend
over.” Kaleb instructed, and her brain fought to process his words.

The
water was beginning to cool, but it was a welcome relief to the heat swamping
her senses. She leaned forward, putting her hands on the tiled wall, bending at
the waist. When he pushed her feet apart, she braced for the invasion, and he
didn’t disappoint. Oh, God, he was going to torture her until her body came
apart at the seams.

“Fuck
me!” She bit out as she tried to push against him, wanting to take him deeper
into her body. It couldn’t have been ten minutes before when his cock had been
filling her, but her body didn’t seem to realize that. She was desperate,
aching for the feel of him.

With
his chest pressed against her back, Kaleb slid forward, filling her to
overflowing before gently moving his hips until she thought he would pull out
entirely. One forceful thrust and he was inside of her again.

“Fuck
me, damn you!” She was tired of this game, needed more and if he wasn’t going
to give it to her willingly, Zoey was prepared to take what she wanted.

Thrusting
her hips back, she took him inside of her again, and Kaleb groaned, standing
again as he gripped her hips.

“Fuck
me, Zoey. That’s it, baby. Fuck me just like that.”

He
was standing still as she rocked forward and back, unable to move much in the
small shower with the wall so close, but she was doing everything she could to
increase the friction, another orgasm just out of reach.

He
must have heard her frustrated breath because he began pumping into her,
holding her hips still as his movements became harder, faster until he was once
again slamming into her, the only sounds were those of their wet bodies
slapping against one another, the water as it continued to rain down on them,
and the various grunts and groans as they both were lost to it.

Searching,
reaching, taking...

White
dots filled her vision, and she slammed her eyes closed as her orgasm tore
free, radiating from her core before shattering.

It
was all she could do just to keep standing.

♂♀

After
the shower, Kaleb dried them both,
then
pulled Zoey
into her room and right into her bed with him. Now, he was lying on his back,
her small body curled up next to his, her head in the crook of his shoulder. It
was the peace he had been searching for over the last few days.

Ever
since that one night and morning, Kaleb had been torn about what the hell they
were supposed to do now. Did they turn back to their friendship and pretend
none of this had ever happened? Or worse, were they going to let whatever this
was slip away? Truthfully, he hadn’t known the answer until now.

“Zoey,”
Kaleb whispered her name, wondering whether she had fallen asleep. Although it
was still daylight, because technically August was still the middle of summer
in Texas and the days were still long.

“Hmmm?”
The vibration of her voice rippled over his chest as he pulled her closer.

“About
what you heard earlier...” Kaleb needed to make sure Zoey understood exactly
what was going on with her father’s land, and he wasn’t so sure she did, but
before he could say another word, the sleepy, cuddling woman disappeared from
his grasp, darting up out of bed.

Kaleb
had no choice but to get up, find his jeans and pull them on as he watched her
walk out of the room, wearing nothing but the t-shirt he had discarded earlier.
Damn that was sexy as hell.

“Zoey, damn it!”
He called out as he followed her to the kitchen, zipping his jeans and
buttoning them as he went.

“You
listen to me, Kaleb Walker,” Zoey stated adamantly turning on him as she stood
in her kitchen.

He
nodded, waiting to hear what she had to say.

“First
of all, I’m all for this friends with benefits thing,” Zoey stated, lifting and
lowering her hands, “but there are some rules to this little game.”

Little game?

“And
what would those be?” He asked, humoring her.

“Rule
number one. You can’t ignore me.”

“Ignore
you?” Kaleb stood up straighter. “It works both ways, sweetheart.”

“Fine.
We
can’t ignore
each other
.” Zoey bit out, turning to the
refrigerator and pulling out a pitcher of tea. “And two, I expect us to be
friends like we were before we started this.”

Now
Kaleb was all for the not ignoring one another part, but he wasn’t so sure the
friendship thing was going to work for him anymore. Not after what they had
just done. From his eyes, the friendship thing consisted of them hanging out,
talking, and then going their separate ways, usually with him having some woman
on his arm for the night. That wasn’t going to happen ever again. Not while
this was going on. Instead of arguing with her, he just nodded his agreement.

“And
three, you cannot use me to get to my father.”

“Now
wait just a fucking minute.” Kaleb demanded, seriously getting pissed. “I have
never used you, Zoey. You walked into this with your eyes wide open. I didn’t
try to hide the fact that we were looking to buy your father’s land before this
started, and since that is still my intention, I’m not hiding it now.”

“No?
So why are you talking to my dad about buying all of the land, including his
house.”

Kaleb
turned and headed toward the living room, needing a minute to breath.

“That’s
what you’re doing, aren’t you?” Zoey asked; her voice much softer, sadder.

“No,
honey, that’s not what I’m doing.” Kaleb refused to lie to her, although he
would much rather her hear this from her father.

“Then
what are you doing? I heard you tell him you were going to buy the land with
the house on it too.”

He
knew when he’d come over here that she had heard that part of it, but he
suspected now that she hadn’t heard all of it. “Zoey, have you talked to your
father about his finances?”

Now
it was her turn to turn away from him. She went back to the kitchen, pulled down
two glasses from a cabinet and proceeded to pour tea into them.

“Zoey?”
Kaleb knew from her reaction that she was aware of what was going on, but did
she know how serious it had just gotten in the last week?

“Yes,
I know my father is running out of money. I know he’s been having a hard time
lately. Since he remortgaged the house a few years back, it has gotten worse.”
She said, turning to face him once again. “I can’t afford the land on my own,
Kaleb. I’ve tried. I went down to the bank and tried to get a loan, but they
denied me. My company isn’t strong enough to support that kind of loan.”

Kaleb
knew every gory detail, and it broke his heart to stand here watching Zoey.

“But
I can.” He said, placing one hand on her shoulder and lifting her chin, so she
looked at him once again. “That’s the offer I am making your father.”

“What
do your brothers think about this?” She asked.

Well,
that was the hard part. His brothers didn’t know the whole story. And Travis
would likely go ape shit once he found out, but Kaleb didn’t care. If it came
down to it, they would buy the one hundred acres for the resort and Kaleb would
do the rest on his own.

“We’re
only looking to buy the acreage that backs up to the Walker ranch.” He told
her. “And I haven’t told them about the foreclosure, Zoey. I didn’t think it
was any of their business.”

When
her eyes brightened with unshed tears, Kaleb’s heart constricted. He’d had a
hard enough time in the past dealing with Zoey when she cried because his heart
broke for her every time. Now, after what was happening between them, he didn’t
think he’d survive her tears.

“I
want to do this, baby.” Kaleb whispered. “I refuse to let Carl lose his house,
so I’m offering to buy the land and let him or you make payments to me.”

“What
did he say?”

Kaleb
fully expected Zoey’s pride to interfere because that was who she was. Zoey was
a strong, independent woman, and he had never known her to accept help from
anyone, let alone him. So he considered this progress.

“Well...”
Kaleb grinned. “Since I’ve spent the last hour here, I never did get a chance
to talk to him about it.”