As soon as Delilah entered the house, she went to the bedroom to hastily repack the overnight bag she’d thrown together not that long ago. After a moment, Caleb walked in behind her holding a glass of water in one hand and two little brown pills in the other.
“What’re you doing?” he asked.
Oh god, she was going to have to do this now.
“I’m leaving.”
“Why? Because of your migraine? You can rest here--”
“Not because of that,” she interrupted as she zipped the bag closed. She didn’t have very much to begin with.
“Stop, Delilah,” he said as he sat the glass and tablets on the nightstand. When she went to move around him to go into the bathroom, he grabbed her arm. “Talk to me.”
“What do you want from me, Caleb?”
“I want you to talk to me!”
“I don’t want to talk. This is over.”
He reeled back as if she’d struck him, but his fingers tightened on her upper arm when she tried to pull away. “What do you mean, this is over?”
“You and me. It was ridiculous to start something that couldn’t go anywhere.”
“I didn’t start this thinking it wasn’t going to go anywhere, Delilah.”
She shook her head. “Don’t tell me you thought of anything else then having a great vacation fuck.”
“Don’t you dare call this that,” he said, shaking her a little. “What the hell is wrong? Everything was going great until…”
He trailed off as comprehension flared to life in his blue eyes.
“You and I both know saying good-bye was inevitable,” she said, softening her tone.
“What did Jake say to you?” he demanded.
“Nothing I didn’t already realize.”
“Stop being so damned cryptic! Whatever he said proves he’s just a dumb son-of-a-bitch.”
She bent her head wearily. There was no chance in hell she’d repeat anything Jake said. She had to stick to her guns, otherwise Caleb would be looking at her through different eyes and call her selfish, but she didn’t want him staring at her with disgust. Better he just gets angry. Anger she could handle.
“I ask again, Caleb. What do you want from me?”
“I want you,” he said a bit desperately. “I want you to trust me. I want to hold you, comfort you. I want to make love to you.”
She blinked. “You mean fuck.”
He shook his head. “No, I didn’t say fuck. We did not fuck.”
“What’s the difference between fucking and making love? It’s the same concept.”
“It’s about the emotion behind it,” he explained. “We can be as dirty as we want to be, can do all types of wicked delights to each other, but with love behind it all.”
She froze. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? “I don’t understand.”
“I’m falling for you, Delilah.”
She yanked her arm away and took a few steps back. He watched her with narrowed eyes. “Ridiculous,” she admonished. “We’ve known each other for a week. People don’t develop feelings in such a short amount of time.”
“Not true,” he argued back. “I know what I feel. And it’s just not fucking.”
She hugged her arms around herself. “Don’t do this, Caleb,” she pleaded quietly.
“Do what, Delilah? Tell the truth?”
“Don’t…Please,” she whispered. “I don’t want to be overwhelmed with this.”
An angry frown bracketed his mouth. “You mean you don’t want to be burdened with my pesky emotions.”
“That’s not what I said.”
“What are you so afraid of? Saying the word love?”
“You don’t love me!”
“Don’t tell me what I do or don’t feel!” he yelled. He raked a hand through his hair. “You’re always on my mind. You’re the first person I think of when I wake up and the last name on my lips when I go to bed. When I’m around you I’m in a permanent state of arousal and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve jacked off to thoughts of how beautiful you look when you come.”
“That’s lust, Caleb. Don’t you see--”
“I live for your smile,” he continued, as if she hadn’t said a word. “I hang onto every word you say to me. In the night I’m reaching out for you and feel so empty when I touch cold sheets. I love our dates, when I finally have you in my arms, when I can finally reach out and be with you. It’s love, Delilah.”
“Don’t say that. You don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“I’ve been in love. I know what it is, I know how it feels.”
They stared at each other. Hurt darkened every line on his face and it made her heart ache a little in return.
“You need to find another Claire,” she said.
“I had Claire and I loved her. But I don’t want a replacement. I could never replace her and that’s not what you are to me.” He took hold her upper arms. “You’re completely different than her, and I’m not just talking about skin color. Claire was gentle and passive and gracious. She was my best friend. But you’re vibrant and fiery and you drive me insane with need. I needed Claire in my youth, but I need you in my future.”
“I’m scared,” she whispered.
He pulled her into his arms. She closed her eyes and savored his warmth and the beat of his heart.
“It’s okay,” he murmured into her hair. “We’ll figure this out together.”
No, they wouldn’t, she thought. But she didn’t voice her opinion. Because to do so would mean she’d have to reveal more of herself and that she wasn’t prepared to do so. She leaned back to look into his beautiful cerulean eyes.
“Make love to me,” she ordered in a subdued voice.
****
He almost went up in flames right then and there. His dick instantly hardened, tenting his board shorts. She reached for the string and quickly untied them, and they pooled to his feet. She fell to her knees and engulfed him with her hot mouth while her hand encircled the base of his cock to begin pumping him up and down.
God, she was beautiful. And as much as he loved getting head he wanted her even more. Her words had scared him and for a moment he thought he just might have lost her. That lingering fear had him reaching for her, pulling her off his cock and stripping her quickly. Off went her top, along with her bra. He spent a moment on her breasts, gently biting each turgid nipple before soothing them with his tongue. Delilah moaned and arched her back, so he figured she liked the soft bite of pain. Then he kneeled to help her take off her shorts and panties. She stood before him like some African Goddess, her coco skin gleaming in the twilight.
He urged her to part her legs then used two fingers to part her pussy as his tongue found her clit to play with. She gave a gasp and grabbed his hair, holding on as well as keeping him in place. He pushed a finger into her, finger fucking her until her hips got into a rhythm. It didn’t take long until her body tightened around his fingers. He worked her G-spot until she cried and splintered apart, her cream ran over his fingers and flowed into his mouth.
Only then did he retreat from her body to guide her onto the bed. He quickly found a condom and rolled it onto his dick. The frenzied need for release wiped out all coherent thought. They moved against one another. Seeking. Claiming. Pleasure built. Exploded. Pushing them both over the threshold.
When he woke up early the next morning, Delilah was in his arms. He closed his eyes and sniffed her hair, feeling as if everything was right in his world. What he’d said to her yesterday, the emotions he’d admitted to her were real. That didn’t mean they didn’t terrify the devil out of him.
He’d fallen in love with a woman who probably would do everything in her power to run away from him. He never would have suspected Delilah was a skittish woman, but yesterday showed him that she was ready to bolt at the first sign of something deeper.
It didn’t bode well.
Delilah stirred beside him, and he glanced down at her. She eased out of his arms and turned to face him.
“I have to show you something,” she said softly.
“Okay.”
“Not here.”
“Where?” he asked.
“At my apartment.”
“All right.”
She took a deep breath. “I’ve…not told you something about me. But now I want to tell you.”
“You didn’t want to tell me earlier?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because once you know you’ll…”
She trailed off.
He raised a brow. “I’ll what?”
“You’ll look at me differently.”
“Nothing will make me look at you differently.”
“We’ll see,” she said a bit cryptically but didn’t give him a chance to say anything back because she was already rising from the bed to enter the bathroom.
Damn. Her nervousness now edged him on, leading to a heavy sense of foreboding.