Caleb (23 page)

The
tension within her changed and refocused with her thoughts. He searched her eyes,
probed her mind, but she’d shut him out. When the hell had she learned to do
that? “You think other men want me?”

“Derek
did.” And more disturbingly, so had his brothers.

She
rolled her eyes. “He’s just yanking your chain.”

“If
you gave him a glance, he’d be in your bed faster than I could slit his
throat.”

“And
that worries you?”

“It’s
never going to happen.” The mere thought of the wolf anywhere near Allie made
him murderous. “And if you really want him dead, keep using him to tease me.”

“Is
that Caleb the vampire talking, or Caleb the man?”

The
arch of her brows conveyed how she felt about his sense of duality. He ignored
her sarcasm and answered with the truth. “Both.”

Her
fingers wrapped around his, her blood dripped down, splaying over the planes
before meandering into the crevices, filling the space between them,
obliterating it. He tucked his thumb into his palm, cutting it, sucking in a
breath as her blood blended with his. She frowned up at him. “I so don’t
understand you.”

“You
don’t need to understand me. Just obey me.”

“That’s
not ever going to happen.”

“Why
not?”

“Remember
me, Caleb? The woman who talks to voices in her head and doesn’t listen worth a
damn?”

Oh,
he remembered. He remembered the gut-wrenching fear that he wouldn’t get there
in time when Dane had attacked her that first night. The horror that Dane would
rape her, kill her before he could stop him. His complete fury that she had
refused to run when he’d told her to. Her utterly insane decision to come back
for him. Son of a bitch, he remembered.

Caleb
brought their joined hands between them, bracing her chin on their linked
fingers, making her look him in the eye. “When it comes to your safety, you
will listen to me.”

She
canted her head to the side, her brown hair sliding through the muted glow from
the overhead light, picking up reds and golds, highlighting her face in
flickers of color. “Or what? You’ll spank me? Oh, that will be effective.”

Another
roll of her eyes and a total lack of concern. He touched his thumb to the
center of her mouth, shaking his head as a smile fought with his anger. “You,
woman, have enough sass for two people.”

“You
like it.”

That
he did. He rubbed the smear of blood off her chin. “At times.”

“But
not now?”

He
shook his head. “No.”

“Why?”

This
time when she tugged, he let her hand go. “You’re my responsibility.”

“Ouch.
First I wasn’t your choice, and now I’m a responsibility. On a scale of one to
ten, you’re at a negative three on the win-the-girl meter.”

“That’s
neither here nor there. As long as you’re safe, my work is done.”

“And
my being safe involves wearing a bra and panties, doing what you tell me, and
not attracting the interest of other men?”

He
gritted his teeth. “Yes.”

She
stared at him with those blue eyes that saw too much. And then she smiled, a
totally inappropriate, completely Allie smile. “You don’t have to be jealous,
Caleb.”

He
notched his cock to her groin, annoyed she read him so easily, relieved she
read him so easily. “You’re mine.”

Her
smile blossomed to delight. Her bare foot rode up his denim-covered calf, her
thigh dropping to the side, opening herself more to his thrust. “Tell me
something—is it just me having sex with someone else that you’re worried about,
or is there more?”

He
brushed her bangs off her face. Another woman would have been screaming at him.
Another woman might have used his desire against him. Allie wanted to
understand it. He didn’t have anything else to offer her but what he felt in
his gut. “You’re mine.”

He’d
seen dying critters get less pitying looks than the one she gave him. “Caleb,
you can’t hold me unless I want to stay.”

“Watch
me.”

The
pat on the shoulder she gave him was beyond patronizing. “You’re big, sexy, and
intense, but unless you make this relationship worth my while, nothing will
keep me here.”

If
she thought he would lose her, she had another thing coming. It would be easier
if she just fell into step like a more biddable woman, but a more biddable type
would likely bore him, so they’d both have to learn to take the good with the
bad. Starting with him here, giving her what she needed. He hitched her a bit
higher in his arms. Her legs came around his waist, squeezing tightly. “So what
would it take for a man like me to start interesting a woman like you?”

He
opened his hand over her spine, easing the spasm of pain that shot through her
back. The hunger spasm that she was trying to hide from him.

“You
could start by reminding me why I fantasized about you so much before all this
happened.”

He
skimmed his hand under her T-shirt. “You fantasized about me?”

The
heat of her blush belied the boldness of her “Yes.”

He
liked even more that she didn’t use that shyness as a barrier. He lowered his
head so his mouth brushed her ear. “About my mouth?”

Her
nails dug into the edge of his hand. “Yes.”

Her
nipples bore into his chest in silent demand, her scent increasing in tempting
waves, wrapping around him in a welcoming hug. He kept his voice to a whisper,
so low she had to strain to hear, increasing the intimacy between them. The
want. “Was it good?”

“Very
good.”

He
lowered her feet to the floor. “And where was my mouth that made you feel so
good?” He brushed his hand across her cheek. “Here?”

She
shook her head. “No.” Her lower lip slid between the edges of her teeth as he
slit the side of her jeans with his nail. He bent his knees, nipping his way
down the side of her neck, cutting material as he went, the rasp of tearing
fabric a sultry accompaniment to his journey, pressing his mouth to the
welcoming curve between her shoulder and neck. “Or maybe here?”

Again
the shake of her head, this time accompanied by a little moan.

“But
you like it here.” He sucked lightly, laving the sensitive flesh, breathing
deeply as her body made her pleasure known, accentuating the arch of her body
into his, keeping her hands pinned over her head as he nibbled his way down her
shirt. “Was it maybe . . . lower?”

“Yes.”

He
grazed the top of her right breast with his teeth, knowing the thin material
was no barrier to the tantalizingly sharp edge. She lurched toward him,
swearing when her trapped wrists snapped her back.

“Let
me go, Caleb.”

He
shook his head. “Not yet.”

He
caught her nipple between his incisors, bearing down lightly around the turgid
peak. Her gaze flashed to his, telegraphing fear and desire in equal parts. He
teased with a shake of his head, keeping her wrists pinned to the wall, feeling
her gasp all the way to the soles of his feet. Her hands yanked against his
grip. He pressed their backs against the smooth wall. “Keep them there.”

“There
you go, bossing me again.”

He
spread her shirt so her nipple peeked out, admiring the view before dipping his
mouth toward the tempting morsel. “Do you really object?”

She
shook her head as each word drew the nipple tighter. The blood coursed closer
to the surface of her skin. Embarrassment or excitement?

A
shudder took her from head to toe as he lapped it delicately. She arched her
back at the end of the brief caress, her hands firmly pressed to the wall,
offering herself for more. Her “Not in the bedroom” was pure breathless
anticipation.

Ah,
excitement. He smiled and pressed the flat of his tongue against the eager
point, heating it. “You’re such an adventurous little soul.”

Her
hands strained his grip as she angled for more room to maneuver, standing on
her tiptoes in an effort to rub her nipple against his lips. “Is that a
complaint?”

“Hell
no.” Her head thunked against the wall as he gave her what she wanted, taking
the hard nub between his lips, sucking gently, enjoying her response to the
simple caress. She was so open and honest when she was with him. He liked that.
He pulled back just enough to see the result of his care. Damn! She had pretty
breasts. Small, taut, and pert, with nipples just the right size for nibbling
or pinching. He cut a glance up at her face. All he could see was the underside
of her chin and the way the muscles in her throat worked as she swallowed hard.

“Do I
look a fool?” He blew across her right nipple before kissing it lightly in
reward for its immediate response. With a slash of his talon he slit the other
side of her jeans from hip to cuff. They slid to the floor, leaving nothing but
satiny skin under his fingers. He cupped her hips in his hands.

Her
hands dropped to his shoulders as he lifted. “No, but you still aren’t in the
right spot.”

He
angled his left shoulder under her thigh. She blossomed to his touch, thighs
spreading, breath catching, bracing her shoulders back against the wall. He
slid his right hand down her leg, narrowing his grip until his fingers circled
her delicate ankle. He worked it back and up until she took over the chore for
him, wrapping those sweet legs around his neck. “How do you do this to me?”

“I’m
not the one with fantasies.” He sifted his fingers through the tight curls,
separating the plump outer lips. “Sweet.”

Allie’s
hips lifted toward his hand. Her palms dropped to his shoulders. “You’re so not
going to let me live this down, are you?”

Caleb
let his finger slide along the path she set, riding the swelling edges of the
inner lips, smiling. He cocked an eyebrow at her as he worked his finger in
deeper, past the outer folds to the inner moisture. “Not a chance.”

“Oh
God.”

He
wanted to drown in her scent, her desire, bind her to him in a thousand
ways—none of them ethical, all of them effective—but he’d promised her a choice
and he was a man of his word. “Is this where you dreamed of my mouth, Allie? On
this beautiful pussy?”

“Oh
God, yes.”

He
cupped her buttocks in his palms, squeezing and spreading the lush curves as he
pulled her to him. His hat brim bumped her stomach. He reached up, only to find
her hands there first, keeping it put. A glance revealed her lip between her
teeth, a look of uncertainty on her face. And a devilish amount of hope.

“That
was part of the fantasy, too.”

The
smile started deep inside. He settled his thumb on her center and rubbed
lightly, calming her with his touch, working her past her embarrassment back
into the fire. He definitely wanted her to burn. Allie on fire with desire was
every man’s dream. “I can work with that.”

Her
grin caught him on his weak side, sliding under his caution, tapping into the
emotions that seemingly seethed at her command. She settled the hat back on his
head, scooted her shoulders down, and angled her hips up. “Good.”

“INTERESTING
look.”

Caleb
stood in the doorway, one shoulder leaning against the jamb, his eyes assessing
her from head to toe. No doubt looking for an injury. He was obsessed with the
thought that something was going to happen to her.

Allie
reached up to her head, fingering the three bright blue feathers she couldn’t
get rid of that stuck straight up, the embarrassing aftereffects of her failed
attempt to shift into a blue jay. An attempt she’d made because she desperately
needed to succeed at something. She forced her lips into a smile as fake as her
confidence these days. “I thought so.”

He
pushed off the jamb and came toward her. The narrowing of his eyes belied the
lazy roll to his gait. “I thought we agreed—no more experimenting with shifting
until Slade figures out what’s going on with you.”

The
closer he got, the more the mark on her finger burned. “Actually I think you
were in a snit and laid down some sort of edict.”

“Which
you chose to disobey.”

“Naturally.”
Rather than smiling as she had expected, Caleb’s mouth tightened. She felt a
ridiculous need to apologize. She reached up to the feathers, measured Caleb’s
frown, and dropped her hand back down. “Besides, you can’t consider a few hair
follicles a full shift.”

He
stopped two feet in front of her, his eyes locked on those feathers like they
held the secret of life. His fingers twitched. “No, I suppose one can’t.”

She
rubbed the mark on her finger, not buying his easy agreement in the least. “Did
you have a good hunt?”

His
gaze flicked to hers as his hands reached up toward her “display.” “I’ve got
supper if that’s what you mean.”

Ouch!
The man was not happy if he was opting for bluntness. “I’m thinking it would be
easier if you just hooked me up to an IV.”