Against Me (Cedar Tree Book 3) (11 page)

"I'd love to go." I probably sound a bit more enthusiastic than I should, but it's been too long since I've held my gun and I look forward to it. I look sideways at Caleb who has a little smirk on his lips.

"First thing in the morning," he promises.

"Alright, we've milked about as much out of this as we can for now, let's grab Emma and hit the diner for some grub." Gus pushes back from the long conference table and goes in search of his better half.

"It's growing on me."

Beth, a long time waitress at the diner, just showed us to the table when Arlene, the owner and Emma's best friend, comes walking up from the kitchen. She waves her hand at my hair.

"The short hair; strikes me as more of a pixie than a dyke look now."

"Jesus, Arlene!" Emma slams her menu on the table. "You have the sensitivity of a warthog!"

"Whatever, Ems. Don't know why you're getting your knickers in a twist. At least I'm not terrorizing you today," she fires back, rubbing her hand through Emma's fiery curls. "Besides, Katie knows I'm yanking her chain, right girl?" The last was directed at me.

"You bet, Arlene," I chuckle. Those two are a constant source of entertainment with their bickering. Caleb and Gus hide smiles, pretending to study their menus.

"For the special, Seb has a huge pot of roasted red pepper soup and some fresh baked pesto bread. Can I start you off with some drinks?"

We all put our order in.

"I'll give you a minute to decide and be back with your drinks," she says as she heads toward the kitchen. Halfway there, she turns and calls out, "Hey Ems; hakuna matata!" Chuckling to herself, she disappears through the doorway.

Dinner is a lively event with frequent visits from the various locals who know either Gus, Emma or Caleb, and in some cases all. Seb, Arlene's man and the diner's cook, stops by for a chat as well. Caleb often slips his hand under the table to rub or squeeze my leg, or looks to see if I'm doing ok. I'm soaking it all up. When I was here before, I didn't take the time to get to know these people and I'm realizing I missed out. No one looks at me funny, and I figure it’s because they all probably know my story. Not much stays hidden in a place like Cedar Tree. But it feels comfortable, not restrictive or cloying like it imagined it would.

I'm finally allowing myself to think of a future that might not look the way I planned it, but one that could be full of promise and possibility nonetheless, when a large burly man walks up to the table.

"Evenin' folks. Good to see you, Caleb. Just the man I wanted to talk to. Is this your woman?"

Emma snorts across from me and from the corner of my eye, I can see Caleb closing his eyes as if in pain, but I'm focused on the big ape that just called me Caleb's 'woman’. I open my mouth to give him a piece of my mind, when Caleb grabs a hold of my knee, hard, and intervenes.

"Clint, good to see you. This is Katie, yes. Katie, meet Clint Mason, my contractor. He also did the work on Gus and Emma's house. You'll be seeing a lot of him." The last he says looking at me from under his eyebrows, daring me to make nice. Very well, I’ll try my best. I hold out my hand and find it wrapped in what is probably the largest hand I've ever seen, but that doesn't stop me from squeezing the crap out of it. By the time Clint pulls it back, he’s shaking it out to restore blood flow. Good.

"Quite the grip you've got there, Katie," the moron points out.

"Must be all that knitting and crocheting, Clint," I tell him, a saccharine smile on my face.

The table bursts out laughing and Clint looks around a bit confused.

"I fucked up again, didn't I?"

Gus decides to come to his rescue and pats him on the arm, "It's ok. Better you find out now not to call Katie anyone's 'woman'. There are witnesses around, you're lucky. Katie’s one of my top notch operatives and could probably sweep the floor with you, wheelchair or not."

That right there makes me feel ten feet tall, but then Clint does it again.

"I apologize. Don't mean anything by it, little la... Holy shit, there I go again. Sonofabitchin' southern upbringing kills me every time. No wonder I can't keep a woman around long enough to eat my breakfast!"

Now I'm laughing along with the rest of the table, especially when Emma regales the story of when Clint first came to quote on the diner after they'd had a fire. Apparently, Arlene tore him to bits. I would've loved to have seen that.

The next half hour or so is spent sharing stories over coffee and discussing plans for the upcoming construction on the barn. When Caleb moves his chair back and announces it's time to get home, I'm surprised to see it's pitch dark outside and the diner is virtually empty, except for our table which has an expanded circle of chairs now.

"Oh my God, that was so much fun," Katie stretches her arms over her head and yawns.

We're having a drink behind the guesthouse, on the patio off the small kitchen, enjoying a rather mild spring night. Mild, but with enough of a chill to warrant the quilt, which Katie has herself wrapped in.

"Can't remember the last time I laughed that much, but I'm fried. Going to turn in if you don't mind."

She gets busy folding the quilt and wheels herself around to go inside, doing her best to avoid my eyes. Thankful for my long arms, I manage to grab hold of both her armrests before she makes it past my chair and twist her to face me.

Cupping her chin in my hand so I can look her in the eye, I steal a hard predatory kiss, my tongue taking a deep sweep of her warm mouth.

"That's better. I had a good time too, little one. I'll be there shortly, just going to lock up."

The slightly shocked look on Katie's face is not going to stop me from getting a little more intimately acquainted with that luscious body that's been tempting me for days now, and I suppress a chuckle when she skirts out of sight as fast as she can move her chair. I make quick work of the few glasses we dirtied by hand and leave them to dry before locking the doors and turning off the lights. By the time I get to the bedroom, Katie's managed to get in bed and is rolled up in a ball, perched on the far side, her back to the door and her wheelchair abandoned by her side of the bed. After a quick clean up in the bedroom and the addition of my clothes to a fast growing pile of laundry in the basket, I slide under the covers behind her. A quick intake of breath and total lack of movement lets me know my little one is still wide-awake, however much she may try to convince me otherwise.

"Not fooling me, gorgeous," I breathe against her neck as I fold my body around her rigid one. My arms snakes around her waist and up to cup her breast unapologetically and my leg pushes between hers, pulling up snuggly to press against her warm pussy. Fuck yeah. On the release of a shuddering breath, she lets the tension out of her body and relaxes against me, allowing herself to lean into my hand and ride my thigh.

"That's it, baby, just feel me."

I work my hand under her tank so I can feel her skin and quickly find my way back to pluck at her tight little nipple. My own raging need to sink into her is almost impossible to control as I lick and kiss the skin of her neck and shoulder.

I growl my disapproval when Katie starts squirming in my arms.

"I need to touch you too," she says as she manages to twist around and loop her arms around my shoulders, fingers trailing down my arms and tracing the tattoos on my biceps while studying them closely.

"Hi."

When her eyes meet mine I see a slight hesitance and before it has a chance to grab hold, I slide my mouth over hers, plunging my tongue deep and letting her feel my need for her. One of her hands skims up my shoulders and scrapes over my scalp, shooting electric impulses straight to my balls.

"Too many clothes."

I start pulling up her tank and before she’s even pulled it all the way off, I latch on to one of her soft plump breasts, sucking the pink tip deep in my mouth while my hand pinches the nipple on her other breast. Her back arches off the bed.

"Oh my God, Caleb. I won't last..."

"Yes you will. I need to taste you, little one. Scoot up."

In one tug, I have her shorts and underwear off and flung over the side of the bed. The sight of her softly rounded body sprawled on my bed gives me pause. Flushed cheeks, lips plump and slightly open, breasts moving in tandem with her rapid breaths. Her one leg open to the side to expose the deep red color of her aroused swollen lips, wet with her juices. I know I'm staring, but fuck she's beautiful. When she starts grabbing for the sheet to cover herself, I snap out of it.

"Oh no you don't," I yank the sheet out of her hand and pull it out of her reach, "You steal my words and take my breath,
Yázhí
. You're that beautiful."

Lowering myself on top of her, I kiss her softly before whispering against her lips, "perfect."

Slowly nipping and tasting my way down her body, I insert myself between her legs and raise my eyes to hers. 

"Please, Caleb."

Using the tip of my nose to tease the hood of her clit, I push the soft dark curls aside before using the tip of my tongue to get my first taste of heaven. Christ she's delicious. With my thumbs I spread her open wide so the flat of my tongue can reach every part of her. Licking and sucking, I pay attention to her full pussy lips, lightly tugging and listen to every moaned encouragement from her mouth. When I finally enter her with my fingers and pull that little bundle of nerves in my mouth, her hands claw the back of my head and she bucks against my mouth.

"Fuck! I'm coming, Caleb."

"You'll wait for me," I say firmly when I pull back, drawing a whimper from her lips. It takes me two seconds to rip down my boxers and grab a condom from the nightstand before I’m back between her legs, pulling her knees up against my hips, my cock lined up at her soaking wet entrance. Fuck, I have to go slow or I'm done before I get started.

My mouth on hers, I slowly push my way inside her.

"Christ, little one. You’re so tight. You ok?" I back up to look at her. Her fingers dig in my ass and pull me back inside her.

"Ahh, don't fucking stop now, Caleb. Don't you dare stop. I need you to fuck me, please..."

When I see nothing but need in her eyes, I let mine take over and without another thought, I pummel myself inside her, spreading her legs wide, grunting my effort as my release comes barrelling at me like a tidal wave.

"Fuck me, Katie, here I come. You with me?"

"God yes, Caleb, yes. Ahh."

The first ripples of her orgasm triggers my own. A surge down my spine, my asshole puckers and balls pull tight before the strings of semen jet from my cock, causing my body to buck and jerk.

"Jesus," I pant, still twitching, burying my face in Katie's neck, trying to catch my breath. "Long time coming, sweets. Long fucking time coming."

We lie there for a while slowly stroking each other's skin, breathing each other in. Finally I roll myself off Katie's body, earning a sigh from her.

"Wow," she mouths, making me smile.

"Yeah. My thoughts exactly."

"S
he's nice. I like her. It's just odd she seems to know all about me and I'd never even met her."

Caleb shrugs his shoulders, "Not that surprising really, considering she was the attending physician at the ER at the time you got hurt, and you may have gone straight to Durango, but Emma ended up here. Besides, she's become pretty friendly with Emma and Arlene. Those two talk."

"No shit," I snicker.

So between Dr. Naomi Waters, who offered to monitor my progress and liaise with the neurologists in Durango, and Kendra Schmitt, who is going to be my physiotherapist starting Monday, it appears I'm all set. Hmm, haven't thought about 'recovering' in a few days now and it's been kinda nice, but I know I have to keep going.

"Ready for the shooting range?"

"Fuck yes! I can't wait to hold my baby again," I fist pump with a huge smile on my face.

Chuckling, Caleb reaches over the centre console and brushes his knuckles over my cheek. He brought over my beloved M&P Shield today, which had been stored in Gus' safe all this time. Damn it'll feel good to wrap my hand around it.