He gave her a warm, intimate smile. “Anytime.”
She left, her chest and belly aching with emotion. But she closed the door behind her and made sure his assistant wasn’t at her desk. Then she hurried over and opened the top drawer, grabbing the master key, which was still where she’d seen it placed a few weeks ago.
Under normal circumstances it was probably a perfectly safe place to keep the key, since security was high in the building as a whole.
These were not normal circumstances, and she closed her hand around the key as she hurried down the hall to the elevator, her heartbeat racing as she prayed that Caleb wouldn’t find her keys and come after her.
She needed an excuse to come back up here and return this key.
When the elevator doors slid open, she hurried on, breathing a sigh of relief. She pressed the button for the basement level and hoped that the coast would be clear.
Hardly anyone was in the building right now. There were the normal security guards stationed at the entrance, but it was the weekend, so they’d seemed bored and laid back.
She didn’t think they’d be making rounds at three in the afternoon, and no one else should be down here.
She hoped.
When the doors opened, she took a cautious step out, but the lights were dimmed to only safety lighting, and there wasn’t a sound at all from the floor. She walked quickly and quietly, checking out each door that she passed.
She wasn’t sure which one would be the storage room.
There were a couple of offices down here, but they didn’t seem to be in use at the moment. Probably just spares if they ran out of space on the main floors. Then there was a maintenance room.
And then finally a room that was closed and locked, with no posted purpose.
She tried the key, and the door opened easily.
It was definitely the storage room. The room was filled with packed boxes and enormous file cabinets.
The drawers were labeled clearly, so she easily found the one marked PERSONNEL and started looking through the tab identifiers as quickly as she could. There was nothing on Sean Moore or Caleb. These records went back farther than them, she assumed. She found the file with the name of Thomas Earnest, the former CEO, which Jack had wanted. It was enormous, which meant looking through it and just taking pictures of certain documents was impossible, so she pulled out the file and put the whole thing in her bag.
It was dangerous, but there was nothing else she could do.
She zipped her bag and then closed the cabinet drawer. She hurried to the door, peeked out at the hall, and then closed and locked the door behind her.
Not until she was back in the elevator, heading up to the top floor again, did she finally take a full breath.
She seemed to have made it. No one had stopped her. Now all she needed to do was return the key.
To her relief, the executive suite was still empty and Caleb’s door was still closed when she returned.
She opened the drawer and placed the key back where it had been, but she gave a gasp when Caleb’s door started to open.
She closed the drawer as discreetly as she could and forced her panic back down.
Caleb’s brows drew together as he saw her, obviously confused.
Flustered and terrified, she still managed a casual smile. “Sorry. I left my keys on the floor in there, so I had to come back.”
“I know.” He smiled at her and held up her keys. “I just found them.”
“And you were going to bring them down to me?” She took the keys, hoping he wouldn’t notice that her bag was a lot fuller than it had been when she’d arrived. That file was really weighing it down.
“Of course.”
She looked at his face, and her heart melted a little. He’d been worried about her getting to her car, only to find out she didn’t have her keys.
Fuck, she was a bitch. A coldhearted bitch, to use him this way.
But maybe what was in this file would finally bring this whole thing to an end.
Chapter 6
The key thing was strange.
Not that she had left them in his office. That was understandable. But Caleb was sure Kelly had been returning the master key to Linda’s desk drawer, although she’d played it off so well he almost second-guessed himself.
But he was sure of what he’d seen, and he couldn’t figure out why she would have wanted the master key in the first place.
The keys could get her into anywhere in the building, but what could she possibly want in this building? She wasn’t any sort of corporate spy for a different company. It was too easy to track that kind of thing, and her background was all wrong for it. But there was nothing else here. Nothing else a pet portrait artist could possibly want.
Maybe she was arranging some sort of surprise for him.
It was the only explanation he could think of.
The question kept nagging at him, though. All afternoon, after Kelly had left, as he tried to focus once again on work. He couldn’t push it completely from his mind.
He’d arranged a phone call in a half hour, so there wasn’t any sense in leaving before then, and he really needed to get through some more email before he called it quits for the day. But he just stared at the screen and thought about Kelly, about what she still might be hiding from him.
She loved him. He knew it was true. She felt for him the way he did for her. He wasn’t a fool, and he could tell her feelings were genuine.
Whatever she was hiding wasn’t intended to hurt him.
Maybe it had something to do with her bastard of an ex-lover, whom she still hadn’t opened up about to Caleb yet.
When his phone rang, he grabbed it, glad for a distraction from the direction of his thoughts.
It was Wes.
“Hey, I thought you were flying back today.”
“I am.”
“How’s your mom?”
“About the same. Thanks. How’s Kelly?”
Well, that did nothing to distract Caleb from the focus of his thoughts all day. “She’s fine. Why wouldn’t she be?”
“I don’t know. You tell me.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Doesn’t anything seem strange to you about her? She comes out of nowhere, and all of a sudden she’s the most important thing in your life?”
Caleb was silent for a long time. Then he finally said, “Isn’t that how it always happens?”
“I don’t know. It’s never happened to me. But she’s hiding something. I can tell.”
“She has things in her past she doesn’t want the world to know. All of us do.”
“Yeah. Maybe.”
“Why have you gotten this thing between your teeth? Kelly thinks you have hidden desires for me that go way beyond friendship.”
Wes snorted. “Nice. She’s good at deflection. I’ll give her that. But there’s something weird about her past. It’s too well hidden.”
Caleb’s whole body tightened like a fist. “Have you been investigating her?”
There was a moment of silence. Then, “Why would I bother investigating some random chick you happen to be screwing?”
Caleb took a breath. Controlled the surge of resentment at this reference to Kelly. “I don’t know why. But you’ve been overly curious about her. And you’ve been asking far too many questions.”
“Of course I’ve been asking questions about her. She’s, like, this gorgeous, unsolved puzzle. Any man would be curious about her.”
“What the hell are you thinking?”
“You know me, Caleb. I have many, many thoughts. And no man in his right mind wouldn’t have X-rated thoughts about Kelly. Just her hair alone makes me want to—”
“Do not finish that sentence.” Caleb’s hand was clenched, and he stared down at his whitening knuckles. He knew Wes was doing it on purpose. Trying to rile him up so he would reveal something.
“Why should you get all the best girls?”
Caleb knew Wes wasn’t being seriou
s. Until the last couple of months, they hadn’t spoken in more than a year, but they would always be friends, and Wes would never poach on his territory. “Well, you’re welcome to make a play for her if you’d like,” Caleb said drily, feeling more like himself when the primal instincts had settled back down. “But I don’t know why you would, since you seem to be convinced she’s up to no good.”
There was a slow exhale on the line. “It’s not that I assume she’s up to no good. But she’s hiding something, and it’s not just the normal kinds of things that women hide. My instincts tell me there’s a secret here. And it has occurred to me that she might be after something other than the obvious with you.”
Caleb didn’t like that clench in his gut as his friend’s words confirmed his own belief that Kelly was hiding something. “The obvious?” he prompted curtly.
“The obvious reason women go after you is that you’re rich and powerful.”
Caleb bristled again. Spoke without thinking. “Because no woman could ever actually want me for me.” He practically bit his tongue trying to hold the thoughtless words back, but they were spoken before he realized it.
What the hell was wrong with him? This kind of vulnerability wasn’t like him. It had never been like him before.
Before Kelly.
This time there was a very long stretch of silence on the other end of the call. Then a softly spoken “Damn!”
And Caleb knew he’d given something away. Something important. Something he couldn’t even admit to himself.
Covering his brief vulnerability, Caleb gritted out, “Is there something you wanted to say?”
“No.” The answer came quickly, the matter-of-fact tone shifting the tense, awkward mood. “But I genuinely think she’s hiding something. She puts on a good show of being innocent and sincere. But there’s something about her. The way she looks at you, the way she moves, it’s like…”
“Like what?” Caleb asked frigidly.
“I don’t know. I really don’t know how to explain it. I’m just sure there’s something off about her, about the situation. If you weren’t in so deep with her, you’d be able to see it too.”
“I’m not in too deep. I know what I’m doing.”
He didn’t really know what he was doing. He’d never been in love before, so everything with Kelly was brand new.
He was like a boy fumbling around in the dark, trying desperately to figure out the next move.
He wanted it to be right. He needed it to be right. Because if he did the wrong thing, he might risk losing what he had with Kelly.
And that was something he couldn’t allow.
—
That evening Caleb was buried in Kelly, as deep as he could get.
It wasn’t deep enough.
He couldn’t seem to get enough of her. They’d moved into his bedroom more than an hour ago. The kissing and foreplay had gone on a long time—much longer than he was used to. And now his cock was sliding inside her, surrounded by her tight, wet heat. Her legs were wrapped around his middle, her heels digging almost painfully into the small of his back. And it felt like he was drowning in her, felt like he’d never pull out.
She’d already come twice, but Caleb just couldn’t bring himself to end it yet. Her inner muscles were gripping his cock ruthlessly, and she was arching and shaking beneath him as if she were on the way to yet another orgasm. Her long hair was all over the place, covering the pillow and clinging to her damp, red face, as well as to her shoulders and breasts.
Some of the strands were clinging to Caleb’s skin too, as she tossed her head restlessly, shaking their tangled bodies. And all Caleb could breathe in was Kelly—hot, urgent, panting, golden Kelly. She was everything, everywhere. And yet still Caleb couldn’t seem to touch, feel, taste her enough.
He loved how she kept coming for him, how she responded so hungrily to his body and his deepest rhythm. She was clawing lines down his back—the pain awaking a primal instinct that made him want to roar. And she kept grunting and bucking beneath him, desperately trying to claim yet another release.
Her whole body was flushed and wet with perspiration, but she still seemed frantic for more.
Caleb had angled his hips so he could rock against her G-spot, and in this position he couldn’t get any deeper. He wasn’t thrusting, just pushing into her in a way he thought she would like.
But he wanted to get deeper. He wanted to be buried in her completely. He wanted to be swallowed up in her. He wanted nothing—not air, not skin, not sweat—between them.
He let out a thick groan of frustration and jerked his head to the side. The tight clasp of her body was incredible, but it wasn’t enough. He wanted more. He wanted to thrust.
He wanted to thrust deep.
Kelly’s body was shuddering violently now, and her thighs tightened around him with brutal force. “Oh,” she gasped, her face contorting in pleasure. “Oh, oh, oh, yeah.”
Caleb pushed against her G-spot more urgently, knowing she was about to come again. He wanted to see it. Wanted to feel it. Wanted to know that he was pleasing her this much.
One of her arms flew out and fumbled around on the bed as her body started to spasm in raw, erotic need.
He felt her channel starting to pulse around his cock, and he kept purposefully pushing against the contractions.
Kelly cried out through the hair that had flown into her mouth. Her eyes were wild and half closed, focused on his face as she rode out her orgasm.
Caleb felt like his chest was going to burst open. Like his head was going to explode. His body was so tense his muscles were starting to ache, but he still seemed to need more. Just couldn’t get enough of her.
As Kelly’s body started to relax again, she wheezed and tried to blow the hair out of her mouth. “Oh, God,” she gasped, her voice hoarse and weak. “Oh, God, Caleb.” The hand that had been clawing at his back started stroking his broken skin with the palm.
He wanted to kiss her, to bury his face in her hair, but it was taking too much effort for him to hold the fibers of his body together.
There was a streak from a tear streaming down from the corner of her left eye into her hair. And her lips were swollen and deeply red. But her eyes now were alert enough to study his face. “What is it, Caleb?” she asked, squirming a little beneath him as her muscles occasionally kept clenching around him. “Do you need something more?”
He wanted to go deep. But couldn’t bring himself to say the words. Something inside him resisted revealing his need.
Kelly’s brows pulled together. “Caleb?” Bringing one of her arms down, she wiped some of the sweat off her face. “Did you want to change positions? Just show me what you want.”
He closed his eyes for a moment to try to focus enough to make himself move. Then he adjusted his body so his weight was on his knees. Reached behind him to unhook her legs from around him. Then pulled out of her hot, sweet pussy with a moan of concentrated effort.
He knew she must have lost some of the circulation in her legs in this position, so he took a minute to rub her feet and calves, not wanting her to be uncomfortable.
Kelly just stared at him wordlessly, as if she couldn’t understand what he was doing.
After a minute she mumbled, “I’m fine, Caleb. Show me what you want.”
He stared down at her for a minute, breathing erratically and with a painful throbbing in his cock. Then he slowly pushed her thighs apart and back toward her chest, adjusting himself so her ankles were against his shoulders.
“Okay?” he grunted as he positioned his cock at her entrance.
“Yeah.” She was moving her body willingly, adjusting to the new position.
So he pushed himself into her again, leaning forward as he thrust home.
“Ah!” Kelly gasped, her body folding in half as Caleb’s upper body forced her knees toward her shoulders.
He froze, deeper now than ever. Almost buried to the hilt in hot, wet, panting Kelly. “All right?”
&
nbsp; “Yeah,” she told him. “Good.” Her hands were fumbling around again on the bed, until they finally moved down to settle on his thighs.
Caleb focused on her face. It was red and damp and twisting a little, but she didn’t seem to be in pain. So he pulled his pelvis back and thrust into her slowly, watching her reactions to his deep stroke inside her.
She grunted and tossed her head. Squeezed his thighs with her fingers and whispered, “I’m good, Caleb.”
Caleb let out a long, guttural groan as he pulled back and thrust again.
The sensations were powerful, overwhelming, and Caleb knew he wouldn’t hold out for long like this. But Kelly was urging him on, panting out “yes” and “good,” and moving her body with his in perfect, pliant rhythm.
And he couldn’t seem to stop. Kept thrusting into her, deep and primitive and irresistible. He was grunting like an animal, but she seemed to like it. And his eyes never left Kelly’s face as she accepted him into her body like this.
He wanted her. All of her. Wished he could somehow get even deeper inside her. Have everything. Never come out.
He wished she would come again, but he knew he wasn’t going to be able to hold on to his control for long enough. He was supporting himself with his knees and his hands, and his fingers were fisted tightly in the bedding. As the rich pressure built up inexorably inside him, his drives into her became faster and clumsier.
“Kelly,” he rasped, her face blurring in front of his eyes. “Fuck, Kelly.”
“Yeah,” Kelly breathed one more time.
Then the pressure exploded inside him.
Caleb pushed into her a last few jerky times as the pulsing made its way from his balls through his cock. He came so hard that he was roaring with it, and he was conscious of nothing else in the world except the force of his pleasure. And Kelly.
He was leveled by it, and he had to fight against collapsing on top of her. But she was folded up in a way that had to be uncomfortable, so he used the last of his shaky energy to pull up, pull out of her, and help her straighten her legs.
She was trembling and gasping, and he couldn’t understand the look on her face.
Couldn’t understand the way he’d just been stripped bare.