“So, did Caleb tell you to stop by and check on me?” I directed my question to the both of them.
Winter nodded, smiling.
James said, “To meet you and take you to dinner actually. Caleb’s instructions are to bring you and Winter to dinner at Callihan’s, and he’ll meet us there. He should be in Boston in under two hours—he just texted me and ordered it done. The bastard’s a bit of a dictator sometimes.”
“I see. Please don’t tell him that I find his dictator-ing utterly adorable, okay?”
Yeah, you love him all right.
Caleb
What in the hell had I been thinking?
Reuniting with Brooke after so many days apart in a public restaurant was the worst idea ever. And I couldn’t even begin to understand why James and Winter were here, too. James was supposed to deliver Brooke to Callihan’s, not invite himself along on a double date—with my baby sister for fuck’s sake! Asshole. The restaurant was situated on the level directly above the Blackstone Global offices, and just below the helipad. I’d thought it would be extra convenient for me to arrive via chopper, and then merely take the elevator down to meet Brooke for dinner. But things were not even remotely going to plan tonight.
Fail.
I’d wanted Brooke alone in a private dining corner of Callihan’s where we could make out over a plate of food and not have to worry about being seen. After dinner we would’ve taken the elevator down to my executive offices where I’d give her the grand tour, and if she were game—we’d break in the bed in my attached en suite apartment. Then I would’ve taken her home to the penthouse and fucked the longing I’d lived with for the last seven days out of my system, until we were both too exhausted to move. Finally, I would have fallen asleep with my beautiful woman safe in my arms and in my bed.
That was how this motherfucking night was supposed to go.
But—no—I was being cock blocked by my best friend while trying to tamp down a raging hard-on.
Brooke was sitting beside me, though, and I had zero complaints about that. Inhaling the scent of oranges, I squeezed her hand under the table and turned to her ear. “I want to be alone with you so badly I might die before this dinner is over,” I whispered.
She curled her neck into my lips and laughed quietly. “I’m not in the slightest bit hungry, Caleb . . . for dinner,” she answered so softly only I heard.
Not one more second was wasted before I was standing up from my chair and helping Brooke from hers. As soon as I comprehended what she’d said to me, I knew I was done here with the public show. I needed privacy and her naked—and in that order. “We have to leave,” I said.
“But you just got here,” James said. “What about your dinners?”
“It’s an emergency, so thank you for picking up the tab for this one. Next time is on me.” I really hoped he heard the silent you fucking idiot attached to the end of my explanation. I think my sister did, because she looked away with her lips pressed together like she was trying to hold back from laughing. Christ, I hoped he could get Winter home safely without any problems. What the fuck is wrong with you tonight, James? If I wasn’t so desperate to be with Brooke, I would probably be worried about him.
Nah.
As I got her the hell out of Callihan’s, I knew my desperation for Brooke far outweighed any worry I could possibly ever have for James.
THE second the elevator doors shut, I had my tongue in her mouth and my hands up her top. I found breasts, and held one in each hand, remembering the weight and shape as I tried to get in close to her. I thumbed her nipples through the material of her bra and felt them tighten as she moaned sexily in my mouth. Doors opened. I prayed there was nobody standing behind me getting one hell of a show, because only a bullet to the head would’ve probably stopped me, I was so needy to touch her.
Not true.
Brooke had the magic, calming presence capable of settling me down.
She had equal powers really, because she could make me instantly wild and raging to take her, but then switch me down to a more mellow need—just by using her voice. Both worked in tandem, but only she held that power over me. Nobody else had ever possessed such powers, and never would in the future, either—only her.
Brooke put her hands to my face and pushed me back a bit out of her personal space, her lips sensuously red and puffy already. My whole body throbbed at how sexy she looked with her swollen lips. Lips I could imagine wrapped around my hard cock in a few, short minutes.
“Let’s go.” I pulled her by the hand out of the elevator.
“Where are you taking me, Caleb?”
“My office has a suite with a bed in it.” Relevant information was all that was needed here. My Brooke was very smart, and I knew she would understand.
I think I was nearly at a run, and dragging Brooke along by the hand, when we made it inside the executive offices of Blackstone Global, and then the suite. I fumbled for lights and made sure to lock the door. The most critical tasks were behind me now.
Thank fuck.
“How has my beautiful girl been?” I asked against her neck.
“Dying to be with you again,” she said as her hands buried in my hair.
Yeah, I might come before my dick ever made it inside her.
“Get naked for me, baby.”
“Okay,” she said breathily as she bent down to unzip her boots.
I lost my suit jacket and tossed it somewhere, conscious only of her personal strip show as I tried to get out of my own clothes.
She went to work at peeling away each layer as I watched in silent appreciation.
And my dick grew painfully harder.
When her perfect tits came into view as the black lace bra went away, I knew I had to have a taste of them on my tongue, or I wouldn’t make it past five minutes. I would be dead from sexual torture.
“You are the most beautiful thing in the world, Brooke. Don’t ever doubt my feelings about that.”
As the vision of her came into view—an angel kneeling, naked on the bed with her soft womanly curves and long legs folded beneath her—I relished my lovely prize and came forward to meet her.
She reached out her hand and put it over my heart, drawing over my nipple and leaning in with her lips to kiss me there and suck it into her mouth. I hissed at the feel of her tongue abrading my sensitive flesh, knowing this would have to be a quick and dirty fuck in order to clear my head.
I pushed her backward onto the bed and spread her legs wide, admiring her feminine assets, because her pussy was just as perfect as her tits. Bare and pink with just a sculpted strip of pale hair for decoration . . . I. Fucking. Loved.
I braced myself over her, hesitating on what to do first. It was a hard decision, and the delay just made it a little sweeter. Brooke looked up at me with her amber eyes glowing like golden fire and licked her lips. I drew two fingers through her oh-so-fine pussy and separated the folds, found her clit, which was slippery and ready, and rubbed up and down. She arched and thrust against my hand, making the sexiest sounds imaginable, until I just couldn’t wait anymore.
“I need to take you now.”
“Yeees, please, I want—”
She never finished whatever she was going to say.
Because I’d already aligned my cock and slid home deep—all the way to my balls.
Tight, hot, and wet perfection gripped my bare cock—and it was a fucking joyful feeling, too. Skin on skin with Brooke for the first time. It stole my breath for a moment, in fact, because I’d never done it before.
My first time.
I’d never been in a relationship with anyone that’d made it to this point before. There had to be a certain level of trust, and before I met Brooke, that trust just hadn’t been present for me with any of the women I’d ever known.
“Okay, baby?” I asked her through a haze of desire.
“Yes . . .” She squeezed the walls of her cunt and gripped around my cock blissfully tight.
“Oh holy f
uck, you feel good. Do you know how much I’ve thought of this moment when I could put myself bare inside this tight little pussy, ready to take my cock?”
“Oh God, Caleb—please!”
“What, baby? What can I do for you? I think I need to hear the words come out of your pretty mouth.”
“You can get busy with fucking me,” she moaned with a thrust of her pelvis to bring me even deeper.
No more talking, my girl had spoken. I circled her wrists and dragged them over her head, pinning her, bound to the bed and captured by my driving cock. I fucked her like a madman, hard . . . deep . . . and wildly.
She loved it, and met me at every stroke, her legs folded and spread wide, quivering and shaking from the building climax I was going to give her. Along with a hot load of my cum to mark her as mine. I’d never done that, either.
I took her mouth in an almost punishing kiss, showing her how deeply I could possess her body, because she’d possessed mine from the moment I’d laid eyes on her. Moving down to lick at her nipples, I suckled on her tits, demanding each one in turn, leaving marks behind to show I’d been there. She made those sexy sounds of pleasure that made me say every dirty thing my pitiful brain could think up to say to her—half out of my mind with lust. How much I needed to have her spread out underneath me like this—how good she smelled with the scent of us fucking in the air—how beautiful she looked with my cock drilling in and out of her tight cunt. Crazy shit I would never say out loud to her when I was sane.
But like this—with her—sanity was fuckin’ impossible.
I felt her spasms clench around my shaft as it started the tightening rush of blood that swelled my cock. “Come with me, Brooke. I need that with you right now. I need you to feel me loving you so you never forget what that feels like—coming from me.”
She arched her back and froze, lifting off the bed as she cried out her release, along with some really fucking beautiful words. “I do feel you loving me, Caleb.”
Her golden eyes filled with tears as I filled her with my seed, spilling every last drop I had to offer in some primitive gesture of claiming her as mine—screaming to the world she belonged to me and no one else.
Total bliss with my girl.
I moved my hands down to grip her hips and pumped the last few delicious slides into her body before I collapsed, my skin fevered with sweat and the heat of her surrounding me. I rolled us to the side, still joined, and stared into beautiful golden eyes. She continued to spasm and tighten around my cock as she settled down from her rush, drawing out our pleasure. I brushed the strands of hair off her face and kissed her gently, finally able to relax with her in my arms after a week of longing for her.
Also adding to my euphoria was the way in which Brooke allowed me to possess her. She accepted my crazed need to get lost in her body, only making me need the intimacy with her even more. Brooke was the whole perfect package for me, and I loved every glorious inch of her, even if I wasn’t supposed to tell her with words yet.
But I could show her by letting her know how it could be like this . . . with us . . . forever.
“Thank you for that welcome home,” I whispered against her lips.
“I missed you very much, Caleb, and I’m so glad you’re back.” She smiled before tucking a piece of hair behind my ear, her hands roaming over my body wherever she wanted to touch me. I loved when she touched me.
“I still have lots of missing you to fuck out of my system, but I want to do it properly in my bed at home where I can take my time. This was just a frantic detour to help tide me over, so I didn’t lose it in front of a restaurant full of Boston’s finest. I have no idea why James and my sister were there, either. The plan was to have you all to myself in a dark, private corner. He must have gotten his wires crossed.”
“I didn’t mind. James and Winter are lovely and both went out of their way to make me feel welcome in your life. So, thank you for sending them round to meet me.” She cupped my cheek and traced over my lower lip with her thumb. “I’m just really grateful you have this convenient apartment.” She winked sexily.
The urge was overwhelming to make certain she knew honest truth controlled what I said next. “I want you to know that I only use this suite to shower, change clothes, and for an occasional night’s sleep when I’ve worked so late there is no point in going home. Before tonight, I’ve never done this here.”
“Good to know,” she said with a half smile. I wished I knew what she was thinking right now, because it would have helped me feel better. But how fucked-up was that concept? I needed reassurance from her about my whoring sexual past? I just needed her—period. Brooke made all of the emptiness of the days and nights I’d known before her fade away into nothingness.
I kissed her thoroughly and tried to memorize the feeling of being inside her as we were right now. I didn’t want to leave her body. I wanted to stay connected like this for a long time, because I needed to feel her. She made me this way. Brooke had turned me into a fuckin’ needy bastard. Just the facts—I’d realized during our time apart. Distance did indeed make the heart grow fonder, and I’d already accepted it without struggle long before tonight. Being with her now merely cemented the feelings even more deeply.
Before reluctantly pulling out of her warm depths, I thrust back into her slowly one last time. The sensation was different without a condom. One hell of an amazing sensation for me—but a lot messier for her. So, I wet a washcloth with warm water in the bathroom and brought it back to clean her up. Intimacy pretty much on its deepest level, and it made me happy she allowed me to do it for her.
Her eyes never left me as she watched. “You are amazing, Caleb Blackstone. The way you take care of me—right now after making love to me so well—and while you were away by having your family and friends check in on me—by showing me you couldn’t wait through a tortuously long dinner to be with me again. I’m having such a wonderful moment with you, I think I’ll start crying.”
“Go ahead, baby, that’s what I’m here for—to give you wonderful moments.”
I plan to give them to you for the rest of my life.
Caleb
November
Herman Blackstone and Ellen Casterley were married in a small, elegant ceremony at Stone Church with the autumn sun shining in an arc over Blackstone Island where it merged with the sea. It appeared that Mother Nature had been clued in that the day was a celebration. As I held hands with Brooke and witnessed their vows, the irony wasn’t lost on me that a Blackstone and a Casterley were being joined in holy matrimony.
And if I had to guess, I was pretty certain the same thought was crossing more than a few minds in this ancient stone chapel right along with me.
Only Wyatt was missing from my siblings, which wasn’t a huge surprise given he kept his life a mystery and could be in another country at the moment for all I knew. Herman’s children were there to support their dad, obviously. Reese, Jason, and Jordyn had been blessed with the temperament of their father rather than their mother—thank God—or I doubt we would have ended up so close to our cousins. Aunt Cynthia’s death fifteen years ago had loosened her hold on her children, but her marriage to Herman had been long over when she’d died. My mother had pseudo filled the role of mother to Cynthia’s children, even if in her own particularly detached method of parenting, for the intervening years.
My mother and Herman had an understanding over his three kids, and neither overstepped each other’s roles. They both adhered to the cardinal rule that blood family took precedence over all else—even when you couldn’t stand to be around said family member. Personal feelings were the last thing to matter in our world. Instead, wealth and status were next in line, right below blood connections.
Which was the very reason she had to grace us with her presence today. Madelaine Blackstone was showing support for her brother-in-law at his wedding. The key word was show. We all knew she’d rather chew glass. The whole thing was just another example of ignoring the pink elephant
in the room. My family had a whole zoo full of elephants we ignored. Fucking experts—every last one of us.
My mother had managed to behave herself thus far, but I didn’t trust her to continue with the celebratory charade for very much longer. She would grow weary of faking it after a while. It took exceptional energy to swallow the bitter pill of knowing her former housekeeper was now her sister-in-law. That part was legitimately weird, though. Brooke’s grandmother was now my aunt. My uncle was now Brooke’s step-grandfather. We were definitely connected by family, and as much as I tried to set the thoughts aside for the time being, it was impossible for me to deny my truth.
It was very simple really. I was going to marry Brooke. Someday, it would be the two of us in front of a priest. Another Blackstone and Casterley would be joined in holy matrimony. I knew she wasn’t ready yet and probably wouldn’t be for a long time, but I would wait until she was. We had plenty of time to get there.
The few weeks since I’d been back from Abu Dhabi had been the best of my adult life because of her. Every simple and mundane task was interesting and fun when doing it with Brooke. She liked cooking for me and said it was healthier than eating out all the time. In fact, she didn’t want to go out very often because clubs and parties did not interest her. When I could convince her to stay overnight at the penthouse with me, we did simple things like shop for the ingredients to make dinner and watch cable TV. More likely we were making love in front of the fireplace while the TV was on because I don’t remember much of anything about the shows we “watched.”
Even right now in the middle of a wedding ceremony, I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. She had on a pale-gold, lacy dress that only served to make her eyes . . . shine in contrast. My golden girl looked beautiful, of course, but today she didn’t have one trace of the usual present sadness. Today she was joyful. Joyful for her grandmother—and it showed.
Seeing Brooke this way gave me a goal. My plan was something only I needed to know as I worked out a way to achieve it. But achieve it I would.