#cla writes

She’s a brat for pulling that admission from him, but she can’t help herself. Lately, Emme’s been feeling more and more jealous about their situation. She’s his childhood friend. He’s the boy she’s always loved and looked up to. He’s family. It would be wrong for her to want more from him, but she does. She does so badly that sometimes it keeps her up at night, especially on the nights that Caleb calls to chat with her.

The tone of those conversations has been changing lately as well. Caleb’s always done his best to keep in touch with her, no matter where he happens to be. While at Skyhaven University, he calls and messages often. And sometimes, late at night, when they’re both tired and not entirely thinking straight, he’ll say sweet things that make her heart race, and her body crave.

She beams up at him as he appraises her. Of course, she knows she looks good today. She dressed for him, didn’t she? Couldn’t look anything less than perfect while standing next to someone as painfully hot as Caleb, or she’d stand out.

Of course, Caleb would never expect her to be anything other than herself, and he’s certainly seen her at her worst—and nursed her through many sicknesses throughout their years together. But this is all Emme. She doesn’t just want to show up and stand behind him, she wants to show up and make a statement at his side.

He’s mine.

Even though, he’s not. Well, he is, but maybe not in the way she’d like. But that’s thanks to her heart, which sees fit to covet him and keep him all to herself, just the way he is, even though it is clear as the cloudless sky above that they both want more.

She doesn’t want to ruin what they have, but that comes at the expense of experiencing more. But these moments are starting to feel a little bit like a game that they’re setting themselves up to lose. Caleb doesn’t date because he is ‘too busy’ with coursework, and she doesn’t date because… she is ‘too busy’ with studying.

Those are the lies they tell themselves, and she knows it. She wonders if he knows it, too. Reality is such that Emme can’t see herself dating anyone because no one would ever compare to her Caleb. But taking things further with him means opening herself up to the potential that it could ruin all that came before or, worse, that she might lose him forever.

And she can’t lose him. She wouldn’t survive something like that.

The thought of Caleb not being in her life makes her sick to her stomach, so she pushes the thought aside and decides not to think about it. They don’t normally see each other much outside of summer vacation, but their time off managed to line up well enough that she’s free to indulge him in his quest to be single for all of eternity.

But why…? Why keep playing these games, when they could…?

She knows why, but she pretends the reason is dissimilar to her own. Pretends that Caleb doesn’t want her just as badly as she wants him, but is too afraid to bridge the ever-widening gap between them.

“You okay, Pip-squeak?” he asks, noting the shift in her mood.

“Oh, yeah. I like your jacket,” she deflects, though she does like the way the jacket looks on his body.

“Wanna wear it?” he teases. “Might be a bit too big on you.”

She gives him a look. “Just take the compliment, flyboy.”

He laughs and it makes her heart ache. She so desperately misses making him laugh.

“Flyboy? That’s a new one.”

“I think it works.”

“Sure, whatever you say, Pip-squeak. You hungry? There’s a great place nearby the university that I’ve been dying to take you to.”

So, he’s been thinking about her while at school, just the same as she thinks of him while she’s at home. Every day, in a thousand different moments, she’ll think of him. Wonder what he’d think or say or do, wonder if he’d like the new dish she cooked up—not as good as his, never as good as his—or whether he’d notice the important stuff, like how Gran is getting older and more frail, and how life feels like it’s pulling her in a strange, unknowable direction.

Caleb is right, though, she loves the restaurant. It’s a great little sushi place that’s filled with other students, probably since it’s tasty as hell and cheap.

“No cilantro on the menu?” she teases.

He makes a face. “’Course not.”

She snickers. “Baby.”

Caleb shrugs. “Not my fault it tastes like soap.” Emme picks up a roll with her chopsticks and pops it into her mouth while shaking her head. Caleb almost immediately reaches across the small table and brushes her lip. “Rice grain.”

“Oh.”

“Still such a messy eater.”

“Yeah, well. I’m hungry, and this place is great.”

“I knew you’d love it,” he says, chest puffing with pride as he leans back into his chair.

He looks good, she thinks. Relaxed, even. Sometimes, when they talk on the phone, Caleb sounds like he’s stressed and holding it back so that he doesn’t upset her. But now, he looks great. Better than great, even.

Hot, the word flitters through her mind, unbidden but not unwelcome.

When they finish eating and pay—well, Caleb pays, he insists—she asks, “Where to next?”

He shrugs. “The cherry blossoms are blooming at the Quad, if you wanna see. It’s pretty spectacular right now.”

She beams. “I love cherry blossoms, plus, you can show off your cute girlfriend there.”

“Yeah, yeah. Exactly, ” he laughs while seamlessly wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “I’ll show you the way.”

Caleb is a great tour guide, and he points out all the places where he has classes, and where he frequents. He tells her little anecdotes about his daily life, makes her laugh, and makes her miss him so fiercely that she almost feels a little afraid, as if something could pull them apart, even now, when he’s standing right beside her.

As if sensing her distress, Caleb tugs her around to face him. “What’s going on, Pip-squeak?”

And she’s just about to brush it off and ignore her stupid feelings, but someone calls Caleb’s name. The voice is high-pitched, a little nasally, and most definitely feminine.

“Shit,” he grumbles.

“Showtime?” she smiles up at him gamely.

“Please,” he murmurs while brushing back a lock of her hair. “She’s a whole problem just on her own.”

“Charlotte?”

“The one and only.”

Caleb’s spoken of this girl and how she just can’t take a hint, no matter how many times he brushes her off. She’s the specific reason that Emme is here with him today. Leaning into Caleb, she turns and looks as the girl crosses the Quad to see Caleb.

Even now, with Caleb’s arm around her, Emme can tell that the girl isn’t deterred in the slightest, and she understands where her confidence comes from, she’s an attractive woman… who completely ignores the presence of Caleb’s ‘girlfriend’ and talks to him without introducing herself.

“I guess you weren’t lying about being busy,” she says, sounding put out.

Caleb shrugs. “Gotta take care of my girl. This is Emme, by the way.”

The other girl gives Emme a disinterested look, “Charlotte.”

“Oh, nice to meet you. Caleb’s never mentioned you before. I thought I knew all of his friends,” Emme replies, and it’s a bit catty but she doesn’t care. This is what she’s here for. If Caleb doesn’t want this girl around, then Emme is gonna do her damn best to make that a reality.

But Charlotte continues talking as if Emme isn’t there wrapped up around Caleb. And it really pisses her off. Charlotte is talking about going to dinner with Caleb, as if he would ever, and he’s pretty clearly rubbing his ‘girlfriend’s’ back as he shakes his head and declines.

“I mean,” Charlotte huffs. “It’s not like long-distance relationships ever work out. Why want what you can’t have when I’m here.”

Emme can’t believe this woman’s gall and fixes her with a look. “Been working well enough for us,” she chirps, and Charlotte ignores her, leans close, and presses her whole hand against Caleb’s sternum.

“And besides, who wants to date a child when real women are everywhere at Skyhaven University.”

Okay… That about does it. Emme is seeing red now.

Caleb is halfway through backing away and telling Charlotte that there’s only one woman on the planet that he’s interested in when Emme gets her own ideas.

Who the hell did this chick think she was? Standing there propositioning her boyfriend while he holds her. Of course, he’s her fake boyfriend, but Charlotte doesn’t know that! Emme’s seething, and when she gets mad, she gets a little reckless.

Caleb’s always calling her out on it, but sometimes, her anger gets one over on her common sense. And this woman, who thinks she can just waltz over and treat her like she doesn’t exist, and touch him, is about to learn a thing or two about Caleb’s ‘girlfriend.’

Emme lets out a soft growl, gets on her toes, and presses against Caleb so quickly that he’s scrambling to hold her so she doesn’t tip over. And that’s exactly what she wants. Caleb will always be there to catch her before she falls. Her. And only her.

After throwing one scornful look over her shoulder at Charlotte, Emme leans in close to Caleb’s neck, and her breath ghosting over his skin is the only warning he gets before her lips press tight. A few moments more, and lips give way to teeth.

She can feel him struggling as her teeth rasp against the column of his throat. His fingers dig into her hip and back, and he’s completely stopped breathing. She should feel bad for doing this, but all she feels is incandescent with rage. Their games have never gone this far before, never needed to. But Charlotte needs to understand what’s going on here.

Emme slides her eyes over to Charlotte, whose mouth has fallen completely open.

With her lips on his skin, Emme very nearly snarls as she says, “Leave. My Caleb. Alone. Got it?”

And that is precisely too much for Caleb. With a quick sweep and a duck, he’s got her picked up in his arms and is stomping away to… Well, she’s not sure where, but she doesn’t care. She can’t even hear if Charlotte replies, all she can hear is the sound of Caleb’s shoes and the furious beat of his heart against her ear.

But it doesn’t matter. She made her point, and now, Charlotte, and anyone else in this damn school, will know better than to mess with what belongs to her. He walks fast, quickly retreating from the many, many curious gazes while Emme holds on tight.

“Where are we going?”

“Somewhere private,” he hisses softly. “So we can have a chat.”

She nibbles her lip. He sounds annoyed, and he’s got every right to be. What she did was like… way out of line. But she’d just gotten so upset when Charlotte wouldn’t back off. And when she’d touched Caleb’s chest like that… Emme had never wanted to deck someone so badly before in her entire life. Who did she think she was, touching Caleb like that? Never mind what she said, too.

She’s still angry about it when Caleb takes her into an alcove and finally lets her slip from his arms. The smile she’s about to give him dies on her lips as she takes him in. Caleb is the one who is incandescent right now but with rage, or something else? His cheeks are flushed, and his ears are red all the way to the tips.

Oh… shit.

Swallowing, and feeling just the tiniest bit sheepish, she tries to apologize, but his fingers against her lips stop her from saying anything at all.

“What. Was. That?”

She scrunches her nose and tries to be as cute and innocent-looking as possible. It’s always worked before, and it’s probably not going to work right now, but it’s worth a shot, right? Finally, he pulls his hand back from her mouth.

“I was... playing pretend.”

“You bit me.”

“She needs to learn to back off.”

“And you?” he rasps while leaning in close, arms caging her against the brick wall. “What did you get from that encounter?”

Oh, she’d not really thought of that. All she’d been capable of thinking of was how badly she wanted to make sure anyone within a three-mile radius understood precisely where things stood between her and Caleb, only it wasn’t real. Not at all. This was just one of many elaborate games they played while dancing around the issue of their attraction to each other.

She pushed it too far today, didn’t she? Pushed him too far.

Emme looks down, only for Caleb to raise his hand, take her chin in hand, and redirect her gaze to his beautiful expressive eyes. “Explain.”

“I just wanted her to understand.”

“Understand what?”

“Caleb, this isn’t… Come on…” she whines and tries to twist away, but his power shimmers across her skin, and soon, he’s got her right up tight against the wall. He’s gonna make her say it.

“Tell me, Pip-squeak.”

Taking a breath, she shakes her chin out of his grip and glares. “Nobody gets to play with my Caleb without my permission.”

His jaw clenches, Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows tightly. “And what about you?”

“What about me?”

“Who gets to play with you when I’m not looking?”

She frowns. “What, is this tit for tat?”

“Of course. You don’t get to bite me like that, in front of the whole Quad mind you, and not expect me to want something in return.”

“Are you saying you want to bite me?”

He takes a long breath, head dropping to her shoulder as he sighs, “Pip-squeak. I want to do so much more than bite you right now.”

Now, it’s her turn to swallow thickly. “Well, bite me back, then. I don’t mind,” she quips, but her heart is beating so fiercely in her chest, it’s almost painful.

“Oh, don’t you?” he replies, voice strained. “If you’re testing me, Pip-squeak…”

“Testing you, how? I thought you wanted me to make sure people know you’re not interested in dating. And, well, they know now!”

He pulls away from her shoulder and stares down at her. Has he always been so tall…? And big? And broad…? She’s not surprised that other women want Caleb. Hell, she wouldn’t be surprised if anyone was attracted to him. Just… look at him! Who wouldn’t be?

But Caleb doesn’t want other people. He’s dedicated to his studies, and flying and…

Me, comes the jealous, covetous thought, but it’s the truth.

She cut her teeth on Caleb’s heart, and now, it belongs to her. She doesn’t want to hurt him, but how can she not? Everything is changing so fast that her emotions can’t keep up with the truth of the situation, which is that they’re both holding back while wanting so much more.

Caleb shakes his head and she knows he’s disappointed in her, but she can’t quite tell why.

“Tell me,” he drawls while slowly leaning in again, his breath ghosting against the shell of her ear. “Did you get the reaction you wanted?”

“Out of Charlotte?”

“No. Me.”

She shakes her head. “Not really.”

“You weren’t expecting this?”

“I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“Hmph. Typical.”

“Caleb…!” she whines softly.

“Don’t,” he says, nose softly brushing against her neck as he gets closer and closer. “You say my name like that, and I just don’t know what I’ll do.”

Emme lets out a shaky breath and tries to push at his chest, but he’s just… so strong, and so muscular. Her Caleb has always been fit and seriously easy on the eyes, but this Caleb is so tempting it’s making her a bit stupid.

And reckless.

Still, what he does next manages to catch her off guard. At the first, teasing press of his rough lips against her neck, she lets out a little yelp, which quickly turns into a soft gasp as his lips part and his teeth scrape.

Oh. Oh… Okay, so maybe she’s understanding just why Caleb is the way he is because she’s feeling and thinking all sorts of crazy, impossible things right now. And when he bites… when he bites.

“C-Caleb…!”

His teeth worry at her neck, his lips suck. She’s gonna have a hickey to match the bite mark on his neck. She twists against him, bodies brushing together in the tight confines of the alcove, as she digs her fingers into the fabric of his jacket and holds on tight.

He’s patient and dedicated to his task, and when he finally pulls back with a soft smacking sound, it’s finished with a laugh that’s dark and deep. It doesn’t sound at all like her Caleb’s laugh, but the sound matches the darkness in her own heart. She likes it. She wants more.

His lips are still against her skin, softly soothing away some of the sting of his bite as he murmurs, “Don’t… Don’t do that again. Not until you’re ready to handle the consequences of your actions.”

Biting her lips, she nods because she’s so breathless right now that talking would be a real challenge. But her nod isn’t good enough for him, not by a long shot.

His face gets close, forehead pressed against hers as his hand comes up and pulls her lip from between her teeth.

“I need to hear you say it, Pip-squeak.”

She swallows, clears her throat, and says, “Okay, Caleb,” but it’s so breathless and a little whimpery that she hardly recognizes the sound of her own voice.

What are they doing to each other? What’s the endgame for this? She can’t put her desires into words entirely, her fear of losing him is too acute for that, but can she be brave? Can she keep her Caleb, while also embracing the potential for something new and unexplored?

Caleb runs his thumb over her neck and seems as if he’s admiring his work. His fingers curl softly against the side of her throat, as he dips and presses another soft kiss against her skin.

“Can you behave for me now?”

Her eyes fluttered at his tone and his sweetly pleading words.

“Yeah. Yeah, I can do that.”

“That’s my good girl.”

And when he pulls back and holds his hand out, she’s glad, because her knees feel weak and she’s not certain she’d be able to walk without his help. Caleb tucks her into his taut body and guides her into the light for everyone to see.

She can’t hide the mark on her neck and, she finds, she doesn’t want to. Maybe she did get what she wanted from this interaction after all. And as they go on with their day, it doesn’t feel so much like playing pretend anymore.

Not with how he looks at her. Not with how he touches her. Not with how he leans in close, lips brushing against the top of her head as he chats as if nothing’s happened between them, but his raspy voice sounds ever so much like it has.

Everything is real now. Real, and terrifying, and brilliant.

When Caleb says goodbye to her at the station, it's with a lingering hug and a soft kiss on the corner of her lips, and it’s then that she understands completely that playtime between them is most definitely over.

And she’s greedy… so, so greedy, for more.

~~~

Author’s Notes:

Caleb talking about “testing me” and “consequences of actions” is paraphrased from something he says in-game when you give his chest a rub hahaha (go have some fun trying to get that interaction, whew the things that man says!!!). ANYWAY, as you can clearly see, I’m still completely utterly insane for these two, and this story is closer to a T than M, but there's still some marking, so I dunno what count's as "inappropriate for under 13." I'd rather pple who are mature just read my work so I don't have to worry because literally everything else i have on this acct is NOT appropriate lmao. Let's say, this is good for 16+, just like LaDS.

Eventually, he works his way up to just beneath the curve of her ass. “This okay?”

“Mmm… Harder.”

His fingers twitch against her skin, and once he’s regained the ability to think without his dick getting in the way, he presses his fingers into her muscles and slowly massages the tightness. On and on, he presses, only stopping to put more oil on her skin as it’s slowly absorbed.

At one point, he gets a little too into it, and his fingers slip… softly skimming that sensitive space between her leg and the apex of her thigh.

“Ahh…,” she gasps.

“Oh… I… Yeah, that was an accident. M’sorry.”

She’s silent for a long moment, and when she finally speaks, her voice is quiet but clear. “But what if I don’t want it to be an accident?”

“What?” he manages, more breath than word.

“Do it again. Intentionally.”

Just like that, his Evol is in control, and she’s flipped on her back, breathless with surprise as she stares up at him, legs splayed and shirt riding so high he can see the underside of her breasts.

“What… did you just say?”

She locks eyes with him and lets her leg shift to the side, so it’s very evident that she’s not wearing any underwear.

“Touch me, Caleb. Let me see if you’ve been working on your courage.”

Oh, the cheek to call him a coward, when she’d turned away from his kiss. There’d be no turning away now. He was going to mark her so deeply and so ruinously that she’d never think of turning away from his kisses again, or anything else he offered, for that matter.

“You sure about this?”

“You running away?”

He laughs, lifts his chin, and flicks the length of his hair out of his eyes. “Not a chance.”

Caleb shifts so that he’s better positioned beside her body and trails his fingertips along the exposed line of her stomach. He teases with his fingers along the waistband of her shorts. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth. Waiting until she’s squirming and pouting at him.

“Tease,” she accuses.

He doesn’t deny it. He lets one finger slide in. Skims along the outer edge of the trim curls at the apex of her thighs. Another finger slides in, curls into her skin, inches closer… and retreats. Finally, he slips his whole hand under the band of her shorts, his big hand dominating the expanse of her stomach.

And if he’s feeling smug, the moment his fingers trace along the line of her sex—slick and hot—everything except pure adoration flees from his mind.

Her hands come up, nails digging into the meat of his forearm, as she whimpers and writhes into his touch. He didn’t know it would be like this. Of course, he’d imagined how things would go and how they would feel. Obsessively, even. But this is… more than he knew to expect.

His body feels hyper-aware of every sound, every smell, every movement, as he searches for the spot that will make her feel best. Sure, he’s not experienced with this, but Caleb is a fast learner and, when it comes to her, he’s good at anticipating her whims.

So, when his fingers roll some of that slickness up, gathering and spreading it over the sweet spot between her legs, he can’t help but feel exceptionally fuckin’ prideful that he made her moan like that.

Caleb leans in, presses his lips against her shoulder, and soothes, “Relax. Let me take care of you.”

She looks at him, dazed and almost frantic. “I didn’t… I didn’t know.”

“Didn’t know what, baby?”

“That it would feel this good.”

The knowledge that she’s been thinking of what this might feel like, along with the fact that it feels better than she imagined, sends a jolt of pleasure through him that’s so raw he chokes a bit. He’d hate to let her down, so he does his best to ignore his own needs, and pushes on, fingers softly rubbing circles against her sensitive spot until she’s panting, squirming, begging.

“Caleb,” she moans his name. He thinks he’s never heard anything sweeter sounding in his entire damn life.

“Tell me what you need.”

“Mmm… More?”

She sounds unsure, but he endeavors to give her precisely what she wants. His fingers slip low, teasing the entrance to her sex for a moment before inching inside. She’s so hot and slick and flutters so sweetly as he drenches his fingers. He slides that slickness back to worry at the same sensitive spot.

Caleb is very, very good at reading people. He has to be. In his line of work, you never know who’s gonna try to make things difficult, but it has the bonus of making him very responsive to her and her needs.

So, he knows she feels good thanks to his softly swirling touch. He can see it in the way her cheeks are flushed, in the way her breath catches in her throat, in the way her abdomen tenses.

She’s close.

His eyes don’t know where to focus, but eventually settle on her face. God, he’s never seen a more beautiful sight in his whole life than her there, with her hair spread out on the sheets, her lip caught between her teeth, and her eyes locked on him.

“Please,” she begs.

He obliges her, and Caleb indulges in the sweet experience of watching her writhe for him. Higher and higher, he pushes her. Now, her nails are digging into his arm. It’s almost painful, but he likes it. Even if it’s pain, he’s fine with it. As long as it’s from her.

Never mind how she moans, whimpers, and gasps. He wants to tattoo this memory into his psyche, so deep that even if he forgets himself, he’ll never forget her and this.

Finally, her back arches, feet digging into the bed as she gasps. He’s got her now.

“Just a little more?” he teases, but he’s not sure if she hears him because her eyes roll back, lashes fluttering as she takes in a long breath… and comes hard with his name on her lips.

He will never get tired of hearing that. Ever.

Everything changed after that night at the club, and he refuses to go back to the way things were. Now, he’s stretched out beside her in her bed, his fingers coated with her desire, and her nails digging into him as if she can’t get enough.

He knows he can’t get enough of her. That just one taste is enough to drive him mad, but still, he can’t help but marvel as she catches her breath, looking dazed and satisfied.

His fingers skim across her sensitive skin. “God. You’re so wet,” he marvels. He did this to her. Him and no one else.

She bites her lip and turns away from his ardent gaze. But Caleb isn’t having it. This is real. This is something the two of them are sharing for the first time, and he won’t let anything, not even her embarrassment, diminish this.

He takes her hand and gently guides it between her legs, purposefully trailing her fingers along the slick line of her sex.

“…See?”

“Caleb!” she says, sounding breathless, annoyed, and aroused all at once. “I can already feel it.”

He grins and makes sure she’s watching as he lifts her slick fingers to his lips, placing a soft kiss against the tips before pulling them into his mouth. His eyes roll back as he sucks her fingers clean. He is never gonna be able to forget the taste of her.

She whimpers as he sucks, body shifting and hips rolling as if begging for more. And he wants to give her more, wants to give her everything she’s ever wanted, plus whipped cream and a cherry on top, just for good measure.

But it seems she’s getting to her limit with his teasing. Reaching up, she tangles her fingers into the necklace she gave him—twice—and purposefully angles him so that his face is right in front of hers.

“Kiss me,” she demands. “Don’t chicken out.”

He barely keeps from reminding her that she was the one who chickened out last time, but he’d be lying if he didn’t admit he’s a bit nervous. After all that they’d done, he’d not really properly kissed her. Sure, they’d had those fleeting moments and almost-kisses.

But this moment is real.

And he can’t take this back.

She won’t let him.

Lifting her chin, she bridges the gap between them, pressing into his rough lips. It starts slow, teasing even. Reminds him of a butterfly’s wings gently fluttering against his skin until she moves, lips pressing tight, tongue dipping out…

His hand manages to thread itself into her hair, holding her close as he obliges her by opening his mouth and sweetly swirling his tongue with hers. This is new. All of this is new. But God, it’s not like he hasn’t thought of this a million—no, a billion—times before. Imagined the what-ifs and planned out precisely how he’d do it.

Then she’d gone and done it all on her own. How like her. No wonder he was so hopelessly in love with her. His greedy girl took and took and took, but he was happy to carve up the pieces of his heart for her to toy with.

But now, she was giving as good as she got, and by the time they broke apart, they were both breathing hard and wanting much more from each other.

His lips trip over her jaw, kiss the edge of her lips, the tip of her nose, along the curve of her cheek as he asks, “How are your legs?”

“I’m not thinking about my legs right now, Caleb.”

“What are you thinking of?” he dares to ask.

Before he can stop her, her hand is moving and grinding into the hard length of him.

“You. All of you.”

Caleb chokes and has to will himself to be fucking calm. He starts to review plane schematics in his head, taking apart model aircraft piece by piece in his mind to keep himself from reaching down, pulling off those tiny shorts, and showing her what he wants to do with all of him and all of her.

Finally, he manages a soft, “We need to go slow.”

“Why?”

It’s so like her to question him, so he explains. “I don’t wanna lose control and scare you. I won’t.”

“You can’t scare me,” she says bravely, but Caleb is certain they both know that isn’t true.

“Tryin’ to be a gentleman here, Pip-squeak.”

“Very admirably done,” she assures him.

He’s trying and failing. He’s so hard that it’s near impossible to think of anything else, and she must have divined where his thoughts trailed to because her eyes shift to his tenting sweatpants. This time, she keeps her hands to herself.

She nibbles on her lip as she stares. “Do you wear those outside?”

“No.”

“Good.”

He huffs out a laugh. “And why is that?”

Her eyelids flutter some, but she manages to stare right into his eyes as she softly admits, “You get enough attention as it is. And… I think if anyone else saw you in those pants, I’d want to gouge their eyes out.”

He swallows thickly. “Jealous?”

“Who wouldn’t be?”

“Not what I asked.”

“Yes. Very. I don’t have enough time these days to properly play the needy girlfriend to keep people away from you.”

Caleb laughs. It’s a bit strained but incredibly smug-sounding because he is smug. His girl is jealous over him, as if he’d not been driven half mad for her all these long years. Still, his inclination to make her happy wins out over his need to see this dark, daring emotion from her.

“There’s no need to be jealous,” he says while shifting on the bed, only to tuck her against him.

“Oh?”

His lips brush against the sensitive space behind her ear. “Yeah. There’s no one else in the world that makes me feel the way you do. No eye that I’m interested in catching other than yours.” And as if to emphasize his point, Caleb slowly grinds his considerable length into the soft fullness of her ass.

Part of him expects her to balk and pull away, but when she presses back hard and whimpers his name, he knows he’s a fuckin’ goner.

“Are you going to…? Right now?”

He grins. He loves that her mind is thinking of sex, but says, “No. Just… let me… feel you.”

His right arm is wrapped around her middle, absorbing her warmth while holding her in place. She doesn’t need to be told twice.

“Hold me tight.”

“God,” he groans. “I’ll never let go.”

And then, she grinds her ass into him with such purpose that the first rub nearly has him coming in his pants. Caleb bites his lip and meets her movements, but soft grunts and groans spill from his lips no matter how hard he tries to smother them.

He’s just starting to really get into it when her hand moves to her hip, and she shifts her shorts down.

“What are you…?

“I want to feel you,” she breathes, “on my skin.”

And he doesn’t need to be asked twice, half-fumbling with the drawstring of his pants as he quickly pulls the fabric down. She doesn’t look back, and maybe it’s better that way because if he can see her face, he might not be able to stop himself from taking things further than either of them wants to go right now.

He rubs his hand along the cleft of her ass, spreading some of the remaining massage oil on her skin before taking himself in hand—hard, leaking, and aching. Caleb fits his length against her, hips rolling as skin rubs against skin…

He has to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from swearing, grunting softly as she meets his movements with her own. Her breath is ragged, her body tight, her skin feels like it's on fire. He wants to burn up in her warmth and let her passion and desire consume him.

But Caleb is nothing if not a professional. He can manage this. Leave them both wanting more, so that there would be more—another encounter, another time together, another step closer to the connection that he knew they both craved.

One wall fell, and then another. Lingering reservations from their shared past flake away, leaving something raw, new, and achingly precious. If she could see his face, he’d not be able to hide his expression—dark, covetous, needful.

But God, doesn’t he love her? He does. He does. More than anything. More than flying. More than life itself, even. For what worth does life have if it’s not spent at her side?

Caleb rolls into his sweet girl, bodies rubbing together as the pleasure builds and builds within him. This is nothing like how it is when he’s alone. During those times, scant and infrequent as they are, his thoughts are dark, full of self-loathing even as the memory of her gets him off.

Here, the darkness is chased away by her blinding light. Her soft skin, her delicious moans, and the sweet shimmy of her ass as she pushes back and urges him on; she gets him so high he thinks he might die from the pleasure of being in this moment.

And still, she surprises him.

He’s delirious with his need for her. Reaching down, Caleb skims his fingers through the curls of her sex, only stopping when he can feel her around his fingers again. The sensation of her on his fingers, along with her ass—hot, plush, perfect—pressing up against his dick is damn near driving him mad.

But it’s when her hand joins his between her legs, clamping down and pressing ever so softly at that sweet space at the apex of her thighs, that Caleb realizes he’s not gonna be able to keep himself from coming. She takes and takes and takes, and he can’t stop himself from giving more, and more, and more.

His words are halting, rough, and needful. “Baby… I can’t hold on much longer.”

Her words are soft, satisfied, and sure. “Hold on to me, Caleb. Ahhn… show me what you’ve got.”

God. Caleb’s eyes roll back, his fingers slipping and curling inside of her as he presses tight, rubs into her ass once—twice—and moans her name as he finally, finally starts to come. Not to be outdone, his girl reaches back. This time, he lets her do what she wants. Her hand is soft, cautious, but firm as it grips the tip of his cock and rubs so good, he swears she’s got him starry-eyed.

It’s like nothing he’s experienced before. There’s coming, and then there’s coming. And when it’s with her, it’s definitely the latter. The pleasure is all-encompassing, flowing through him in such a powerful wave that it almost makes him feel like he does when he’s flying and low on oxygen. Tears prick at the corners of his eyes, and a surprised laugh slips from his lips as he marks that perfect ass of hers and her hand in his spend while the pleasure crests.

The moment hangs there, lingering in the low light of her room as only the sound of their breaths breaks the quiet of the night. Old fears, twisted anxieties, and the same old darkness start to creep back into his psyche, but she lets out the most delighted sigh, and the sound and sight of her completely banishes any fears from his mind.

“So… we should… Um… Do that more often?”

He huffs softly while catching his breath. “Yeah?”

“Oh, yeah,” she purrs. “But…”

“But, what?”

She lets out a soft giggle, and it’s so endearing that he finds himself falling in love with her all over again. “I think I need another shower,” she finally explains.

“Oh. Yeah.”

He doesn’t need to be told why, and he’s feeling more than a little bit pleased about it. Here he is, stretched out beside the most gorgeous girl in the whole world, and she’s been marked by him. Maybe he’s giving in to his baser inclinations with that thought, but he can’t bring himself to care.

He wants to mark other places on her body. Suck and pluck kisses into her skin, see his teeth imprinted in the meat of her thighs, and mark her so clearly that no one will ever make the mistake of thinking she’s available ever again.

But she deserves better than that. She deserves someone who can cherish her, who can love her gently and without violence. And maybe he can pretend to be that man for her. Or maybe… he’s afraid of the truth that she wants him just as darkly and deeply as he wants her.

For now, he gets out of his head and back into the moment. “Let’s go get washed off then, Pip-squeak.”

His pants fall the rest of the way off as he lethargically rolls from the bed and walks over to her side.

“How are your legs?”

“Mmm… jelly. Carry me?”

“Thought you’d never ask.”

Caleb tugs her shorts back into place and scoops her from the bed without much effort. “Gonna need to change the sheets,” he muses. “And your shorts.”

“Whose fault is that?”

“Yours, Pip-squeak, obviously.”

She lets out a soft laugh and pinches his chest. “You’re doing laundry tomorrow.”

“As if I didn’t already plan on that,” he drawls.

“Brat,” she pouts, though her lips soothe away some of the sting as she presses soft kisses into the line of his jaw. “Can you just be a good boy?”

“Ahh,” he chokes out, but quickly rebounds with, “Gimme a chance to make it up to you?”

Whatever you want, whatever you need, I’ll do it. I can be so good for you. And only you.

“Mmm, there he is.”

“Who?”

“My Caleb. Though, I have to admit… you’ve gotten pretty good at being ‘bad,’ too.”

Caleb huffs softly. He’s stuck somewhere between feeling like he might have fucked everything up… and that everything is exactly the way it needs to be. One step further. One more wall coming down. His love is a dark, heavy thing that threatens to crush anyone who gets close enough to feel its touch.

Could his darkness consume her light? Or would her need—as aching and unending as his own—blend into something fierce, frightening, and new? The past is gone. Dead even. Now, the two of them are being pulled, stretched, reshaped and reborn. And the future seems limitless, yet terrifying for all its possibilities.

However, this time, when she steps into the shower, nude and body gleaming with his spend and hers… she pulls him in after her.

~~~

Author’s Notes:

Second part, as promised! UGH I want more of these two. Starting to feel as obsessed as Caleb here. As always, thanks so much for reading! And extra hugs for anyone who left a comment. I’ve got a few other interludes planned (shower), and I’m taking requests (on tumblr), so either give this/me a follow, or check up on my tumblr :) If you enjoyed, I’d love to hear from you! Or feel free to share with a friend, if you’re lucky enough to have some Caleb-obsessed friends haha. Any mistakes belong to me and are there to keep me humble lmao.

Don’t forget! I'll be posting any updates as installments (not chapters), so be sure to sub to the series or my user name to get updates if you're reading on Ao3, otherwise, I'll be posting here too♥️🍎