Kaleb (33 page)

When
she didn’t speak immediately, Kaleb froze, wondering if she was going to turn
him away. She had alluded to friends with benefits over the last few months,
and they’d obviously managed to set the sheets on fire, but they never admitted
to having feelings for one another. But he loved her. He had always loved her.

“You
love me?” The question was riddled with disbelief, but Kaleb leaned his
forehead against hers, sliding his hand into the hair at the nape of her neck.

“I’ve
always loved you, baby. Since the first day I laid eyes on you, I knew I had to
have you. And every single day since, I’ve loved you that much more. I settled
on friends because I would’ve done just about anything to keep you in my life.
But, Zoey, I do love you. And I want more from you than just friendship.”

“Friends with benefits?”
She asked, but he saw a sparkle in her eyes.

“Yes.”
He stated, and her eyes widened. “I want that and more. I want you to be my
best friend, my lover...
My wife.”

♀♂

Zoey
couldn’t believe her ears. She was beginning to wonder if maybe she did have
too much to drink. A minute ago she’d been wallowing in self-pity, which was so
unlike her and now she was standing here, listening to Kaleb confess the exact
things she’d been feeling for the last few weeks.

Wife.

Did
he really just say wife?

“Zoey?”

She
saw the question in his eyes, and that little bit of insecurity made her heart
burst. She loved this man. She loved his strength, his nobility, his kindness, and
that little hint of insecurity. He was human. And he was a man. And she loved
him.

“I
love you.” She whispered, needing to say the words out loud. “I love you so
much.”

Those
stormy steel blue eyes brightened, and for a moment, she thought she saw
a sheen
of tears, but then they were gone, and he was
smiling.

“Marry
me, Zoey. Be my wife.” Kaleb gently kissed her lips as he continued to speak.
“I want to wake up next to you every morning and go to sleep with you in my
arms every night. I want to have babies with you. Grow old with you.”

She
wanted those things too. She had always wanted those things and maybe that was
her problem. Maybe she had always known what was right in front of her, but she
was just too blind to see it.

“Yes.”
She said, kissing him back and pulling him closer.

“Yes, what?”

That
dominance she found so damn appealing was back, and she could see Kaleb’s need
to hear the words.

“Yes.
I’ll marry you, Kaleb Walker. I’ll marry you and grow old with you and have
babies with you and go to sleep in your arms and wake up every morning with
you. Yes!”

“You
make me the happiest man alive, you know that?”

“Well,
you’d make me the happiest woman if I could get you out of these clothes.” Zoey
laughed as she started in on the buttons on his shirt.

Kaleb
growled, making her laugh. “You’re going to kill me, woman!”

♂♀

Two
weeks later...

“Hey.”
Kaleb smiled as soon as Zoey walked through his front door.
Their
front door
.
She looked good for a woman who had just put in eight
hours cleaning without any help. Kaleb offered to go with her that morning, but
she refused him, insisting that he had plenty of things to worry about.

Ever
since the night when he proposed, and she said yes, their lives had been a
whirlwind of activity. As soon as the ink was dry on the final paperwork and
the money was transferred, both Zoey and Travis had been out of control. Travis
immediately kicked everything into high gear, insisting they’d been sitting
around on their asses long enough.

Then,
of course, there was Zoey. The woman was a force to be reckoned with, and she
didn’t waste a single second in getting things moving along.
Including
the renovations on her father’s house.
Well, their house – or soon to be
anyway.

As
soon as Zoey told her father the good news - although he already knew because
Kaleb would’ve never proposed without getting her father’s permission to do so
– Carl insisted on some changes. First, he was moving to the guest house.

Apparently
Carl wasn’t happy roaming around the giant house all by himself any longer, and
he wanted to move to the smaller guest house where he wouldn’t have to deal
with the stairs. Or at least that’s what he said. In turn, he wanted Zoey to
take the house, but he insisted that she fix it up to suit her needs. By needs,
Carl told her that he expected grandchildren in the very near future.

Zoey
argued, as had Kaleb, but Carl didn’t listen to a word either of them said.
Instead, he insisted he was going to move his recliner out to the guest house
by himself if he had to. In turn, Zoey agreed after seriously trying to
convince her father otherwise but to no avail. And thankfully, the renovations
were going to take a few months, and since Carl was hell bent on moving into
the guesthouse immediately, Zoey agreed to live with Kaleb in the meantime.

Worry,
maybe. Do, yes. The most important thing at the moment was greeting his future
wife appropriately. He met her halfway,
then
pulled
her against him, crushing his mouth down on hers. A little sigh escaped before
Zoey did what she did best, she kissed him back and then attempted to climb his
body.

“I
missed you.” He groaned, licking and kissing her lips, before pulling back to
look at her. Holding her in his arms, her legs wrapped around his waist, he
didn’t hesitate before carrying her toward the bathroom.

“Where
are we going?” She asked, chuckling.

“Shower.
Now.”
He knew that was the first thing she did every
day, and after the events of the last couple of weeks, he normally left her
alone while she did, but today, he wasn’t able to keep his hands off of her.

“You’re
going to join me?” Zoey asked sweetly, running her hands through his hair.

“I’m
going to be inside of you is more like it.” He warned her as he set her back on
her feet in the bathroom. He let go of her long enough to turn on the water so
it could heat, but when he turned back to face her, he smiled. She was half
naked already and trying to get her jeans off as he stared back at her.

“You’re
wearing too many clothes, Kaleb Walker.” Zoey said when she stood up,
gloriously naked.

“Yeah?
Well, why don’t you help me take them off?”

“Hmmm...
I thought you’d never ask.” Her sweet smile made his entire body roar to life.

It
didn’t take long for Zoey’s nimble fingers to remove his jeans and boxers, the
only clothing he had on when she came in, and by the time she was finished, he
was hard as stone and eyeing her sexy mouth.

“Zoey.”
He warned her, it was the only thing he could do because suddenly, all of the
pent up frustration and emotion that had been bottled up for the last two weeks
was coming to the forefront and the only outlet he could possibly imagine was
her.

When
her soft hand gripped his shaft, slowly stroking him as those enormous blue
eyes stared up at
him,
he almost lost touch with
reality.

“Tell
me, Kaleb.” She whispered, slowly moving toward the shower. He followed
closely, not wanting her to let go of his cock because the sweet caress was too
good.

“I
need you.” He growled.

“Need
me
to do what?” She asked again, her voice but a
whisper, barely heard over the sound of the water from the shower.

Once
inside the slate lined walls of the shower, the warm water pelting down on
them, Kaleb was breathing harder because Zoey was stroking him faster. She tore
her gaze from his and was watching as she did so, his eyes locked on her pale
fingers wrapped around his cock.

“Put
your mouth on me, Zoey.”

She
didn’t question him as she lowered herself to her knees before
him,
the water cascading over them both as she gently sucked
him deep into her mouth, no teasing kisses, and no torturous swipes of her
tongue. No, this was blessed wet heat, her mouth wrapping around him, pulling
him in as she began moving down his shaft.

He
slid his fingers into her hair, holding her firmly. “Damn, baby. That’s it.” He
groaned, pushing past her lips, feeling her tongue as it curled around the
underside of his cock, her teeth grazing the sensitive nerve endings. “Suck me,
Zoey. Harder.” He was going to lose it, and she knew it as well as he did.

Not
wasting any more time, Kaleb held her head still, his eyes meeting hers as he
buried his cock farther into her mouth. He watched her cheeks hollow as she
sucked,
the head of his dick meeting the back of her throat.
A lustful groan emerged from his chest, ricocheting off of the tiled walls as
he began fucking her mouth faster. “Fuck, Zoey. It’s too fucking good, baby.
I’m going to come. Swallow me.”

When
she swallowed, the head of his dick pressed as far in as he was willing to go,
he damn near lost his footing before pulling out and shoving back into her
mouth. “Fuck yes!” He groaned, coming fast and hard, filling her mouth and
watching as she swallowed again.

When
she stood, Kaleb closed in, backing her up against the wall, and pressing his
much larger body against hers. Then she was teasing him again, stroking his
semi-erect cock slowly. “You want me to fuck you?” He asked, knowing her answer
before she said anything.

“More
than I need air.” Zoey moaned. “I want to feel you inside me, Kaleb.”

God,
he loved it when she talked like that. Not that Zoey was much for talking
dirty, but when she told him what she wanted, or voiced her pleasure while he
was buried to the hilt in her pussy, it took everything in him not to come too
soon. And just like now, he was hard again because that’s what she did to him.
He’d come to terms with the fact that he would never get enough of her.
Ever.

“Turn
around.” He told her, taking a step back to give her room. “Put your hands on
the wall.”

She
did, thrusting her ass out toward him. He bent his knees and gripped his cock
before guiding it into the sweet, warm depths of her pussy.

“So fucking tight.”
He groaned as he slid in slowly.

“Not
slow, Kaleb.
Hard.
Fast. Fuck me.” Zoey moaned as she
rocked her hips back against him.

Never
one to disappoint, Kaleb gripped her hips and slammed home. Ramming his cock
deep, retreating and then going even deeper, Kaleb fucked her with blind fury,
aware of only the feel of her pussy wrapped around his cock, her sensual moans
as she begged for more. How he managed, Kaleb had no idea, but the second her
orgasm detonated, he followed her right over into the abyss, coming with a rush
once again.

♀♂

Zoey
was putting the finishing touches on dinner when Kaleb joined her in the kitchen.
They had lingered in the shower for a little while longer, but when her stomach
growled, he laughed at her and insisted they get out so they could eat.

Zoey
didn’t bother to tell him that she needed him more than she needed food,
although it was true. Instead, she toweled off, slipped into one of Kaleb’s
shirts – her new favorite outfit – and hurried to the kitchen, wanting to get
there before he did. If she let him, he would’ve cooked for her, but with all
that was going on – namely all of the work they were putting in on the resort –
Zoey was trying to do all she could for him. It wasn’t because she felt she had
to, it was because she loved him and right now, that was the only thing she
knew to do as they prepared for the rest of their lives.

“How’s
the resort coming along?” She asked when Kaleb brushed up against her back,
pulling her wet hair back and nuzzling her neck.

“Almost ready for the ground breaking
ceremony.”

Zoey
had been on pins and needles ever since they made her a partner, and even more
so after she had finally gotten over her serious moment of self-doubt. Thanks
to Kaleb, Zoey felt as though she could do anything she set her mind to and
decided, rather than feel inferior, which was so unlike her anyway, she was
going to give it all she had. This was a new chapter in her life, one she
planned to embrace with open arms and an open mind. In the past few months,
Zoey had opened up in ways she never could’ve imagined, and honestly, she liked
the woman she had become. She especially liked the woman Kaleb brought out in
her.

Did
she consider herself lucky?
Incredibly.
To have found
the love of her life, the one who completed her in ways she never even
considered, was a gift to be cherished. And to top it all off, he was her best
friend.