Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

June was having the best dream. She and Cal were married and had a little girl. Now they were trying for a second child, and he’d been extremely eager in his attempts to knock her up again. They were currently lying in bed, sweaty and sated after an especially vigorous baby-making session, and she felt amazing.

June shifted and smiled as she felt Cal against her. She turned and kissed his chest . . . then frowned. She felt material under her lips instead of the warm skin she’d just been caressing.

It took her a moment to wake up enough to be cognizant of where she was.

The first emotion that hit her was disappointment. She and Cal weren’t married, they didn’t have a child, and they weren’t trying for a second.

The next thing that sank in . . . while she and Cal might not be a couple, she was actually lying in his bed, practically on top of him.

Memories from last night returned in a flash. Her night with Carlise and April, the delicious pineapple rum drink she’d had way too many of. Cal showing up to drive her back to his house.

She didn’t really remember how she’d ended up in his bed. Licking her lips, June lifted her head—only to come face to face with a grinning Cal.

“Good morning. How do you feel?”

“Um . . . fine.”

“No headache? You aren’t hungover?”

June shrugged. “No, I’m good. I should get up,” she said, feeling her cheeks warm and certain her face was bright red.

“No rush,” Cal replied, his arm tightening around her.

June cautiously lowered her head, so it was lying on his shirt-covered chest once more. One of her legs was thrown over his, and she could feel his sweats against her skin. God, she wasn’t wearing any pants! Could this get any more embarrassing?

His fingers lazily caressed her back where they held her against him, and his other hand covered the arm lying over his belly. Goose bumps immediately rose on her skin where he touched her.

“Are you cold?” he asked.

Yeah, this could get more embarrassing. Wanting to hide the fact that her body’s reaction wasn’t due to the cold, but because he was touching her, June said, “A little.”

He shifted under her, and she could feel his every muscle flexing and contracting as he reached for the blanket that she’d probably kicked down at some point in the night. He covered them both.

Great, now they were in an intimate little cocoon . . . in his bed.

“You have a good time last night?” he asked.

June nodded. “Carlise and April are awesome. So nice. I feel as if I’ve known them forever.”

“I’m not surprised. You’re very likable, June.”

The compliment spread through her. She wasn’t used to hearing them. Elaine and Carla preferred to point out her worst traits.

“I’m supposed to meet Meg, from Hill’s House, on Monday,” she told him.

“That’s good. I’m sure she’ll want you to start right away, but you don’t have to take the job,” Cal warned. “You’ll always have a place to stay here, so if it doesn’t seem right, or you don’t take to Meg or the residents, don’t feel obligated to say yes, even if she wants to hire you.”

“That’s what Carlise said.”

“It’s good advice,” Cal told her.

June couldn’t help but think of the other advice her new friends had given her. About Cal. About going for what she wanted. She still felt inadequate, but she was in his bed. For some reason, last night, he’d either brought her here or, at the very least, hadn’t kicked her out when she’d climbed into his bed. She might not be completely sure they’d work out in the long run, but she wasn’t an idiot either. Men didn’t do this. Didn’t engage in small talk, extending their time in bed, if they weren’t at least a little interested in the woman they were cuddling with.

And that’s definitely what she and Cal were doing. She never would’ve guessed this man—this amazing, gorgeous, rich prince—would be a cuddler. And especially not with her. But there was no mistaking his determination to keep her right where she was.

Same as when they’d woken up together in the hotel.

She thought about what she’d said to Carlise and April last night. How she’d decided not to let the opportunity to be with Cal pass. That she didn’t want to have any regrets. Now seemed as good a time as any to take the first step toward getting what she wanted . . . namely, to be Cal’s lover for as long as he’d have her.

Coming up on an elbow, June stared down at him. His hair was mussed, and he had a five-o’clock shadow on his handsome face. His brown eyes were fixed on her, and it made her feel like the only woman in the world at that moment.

“June?” he asked, his brows coming down in concern. “Are you all right?”

“I want you,” she blurted—promptly regretting her bluntness.

To her relief, Cal didn’t reject her.

“I want you too,” he said quietly.

She stared at him, wondering how to do this. She’d never made the first move before. And even though she was half naked and lying in his bed, in his arms, she still felt awkward and unsure.

He rolled suddenly, and June squeaked in surprise when she found herself on her back with Cal hovering over her. She licked her lips, then frowned. Crap. She hadn’t brushed her teeth yet. Her hair was probably all over the place, and suddenly she had to pee.

Cal chuckled. “Why do you look like you’re regretting what you just told me?”

“I don’t regret it, per se. But my mouth tastes like something crawled in there and died. I’d kill for a drink of water, I have to use the restroom and probably shower, and I just . . . I don’t want to give you any reason to regret . . . um . . . anything.”

“Not possible. And while I want you more than I’ve ever wanted another woman, I’m thinking now isn’t exactly the best timing.”

June was relieved but kind of sad too.

“Don’t look like that,” Cal said with a small smile. “Now that I know you’re on board with this . . . with us . . . it’s going to happen. But maybe not after you’ve been drinking with your friends. And I need some time to . . . come to terms with things.”

“Come to terms? Cal, if you aren’t sure, or if you’re just agreeing because you feel sorry for me or something, I don’t want—”

Cal interrupted her by swooping down and kissing her neck. Her words stopped as if he’d unplugged her or something. June inhaled deeply as his lips caressed the sensitive skin of her jaw. She tilted her head to give him more room.

She felt one of his hands on her leg, and it slid up the outside of her thigh to her hip, then pushed under her shirt. She sucked in her belly, aware of how not flat or toned she was.

Cal lifted his head and said, “I’m sure. And there’s no reason for me to feel sorry for you,” he said firmly. “Your skin is so soft, so warm. And feeling your reaction to my touch, your goose bumps, is the best compliment I’ve ever received.”

June wrinkled her nose. “I was cold?” It came out more a question than the rebuttal she wanted it to be.

He smirked, then leaned down and kissed her nose. “You react more strongly to my touch than anyone ever has. It’s a complete turn-on, princess. But I’m not like that,” he said more seriously. “I’ve got so much scar tissue, it’s hard for me to feel much of anything in places. I want you, but I’m nervous about how it’s going to go. I haven’t been with anyone since before I was taken captive.”

June’s heart bled for this man. “It’s going to go just fine,” she said firmly. “We’ll go at whatever speed you need, and I told you before that if you need to, we don’t have to turn the lights on. But you should know, Cal, scars or not, you’re the most beautiful man I’ve ever met. And it’s not just your physical looks, which are stunning enough. It’s who you are as a man. It’s your personality. Kindness goes a lot further in my book than a hot body or pretty face—but lucky for me, you’ve got all three.”

He stared at her for a long moment. “You’re too good for me,” he told her.

June laughed. She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I know what I am and what I’m not. But we’re two people who have an attraction toward each other and chemistry to boot.”

“This is very true. And truth be told, the other reason why right now isn’t a good time for us to explore this connection is because I don’t have any condoms.”

June blinked up at him. “Oh, I didn’t think about that.”

“I’m clean,” he went on. “I wasn’t kidding about not being with anyone in years, but I don’t want to risk getting you pregnant.”

She’d never had a conversation like this with a man. She knew it was the smart and adult thing to do, but it was also awkward. Fortunately, it never came up because the few men she’d slept with used condoms.

“I . . . I’m protected,” June told him shyly. “Not because I’ve been out there having wild monkey sex with strangers or anything, but I wanted to regulate my period. It’s nice knowing exactly when it’ll be here, and the pill helps with my cramps.”

“Wild monkey sex?” Cal echoed with a grin.

June smiled up at him and shrugged.

He got serious again. “You’re okay with not using condoms?” he asked.

“Do you trust me when I tell you that I’m on the pill?” she countered. “I imagine there are plenty of women who would lie about that in the hopes they would get pregnant, if it meant getting some of your money and maybe becoming a princess.”

“You aren’t one of them,” Cal said without any doubt.

His trust in her made June want to cry. “No, I’m not. I can show you my pill pack if you want.”

Cal shook his head. “No need. And just the thought of being inside you bare, feeling every inch of you, is fecking exciting. But June, I should warn you. My captors . . . they didn’t spare me . . . down there. I might not be able to stay hard for long.”

Instead of feeling sorry for Cal, she was furious at the men who felt as if they had the right to hurt another human being the way they had. “It doesn’t matter,” she told him. “We’ll figure things out as we go.”

He stared at her with an expression she couldn’t read. Then he murmured, “So kind.”

June opened her mouth to tell him she wasn’t always so nice. That she could be mean when the situation warranted it, but the words were lost when his hand moved again.

His gaze stayed glued on her face as he palmed one of her breasts under her shirt. Well . . . his shirt.

June inhaled sharply and dug her fingernails into his biceps. For the first time, she realized he was wearing short sleeves. She’d never seen him in anything but long-sleeved tees. She didn’t have time to speculate on that because he was tweaking her nipple, making her gasp again.

“You’re sensitive,” he observed.

June nodded.

“Have you ever come by nipple stimulation alone?” he asked.

With any other person, in any other situation, June would’ve been blushing furiously and trying to scramble off the bed. But this was Cal. She loved him.

The revelation hit her—hard. She was lying under him, he was touching her intimately for the first time . . . and she already knew she loved him more than life itself. Belatedly, she shook her head in answer to his question.

“Now’s not the time, but rest assured, I’m going to make that my mission in life,” he teased. His gaze dropped to her chest, watching as his hand moved under the thin shirt, his breathing speeding up as he played with her nipple.

“Cal!” she whimpered.

He sighed. “I know, I’m not being fair. But having you pressed up against me all night, smelling your flowery scent, dreaming about having you under me, just like this . . . it’s got me worked up.”

June could feel how worked up he was. His cock was pressing against her thigh. It felt long and hot and . . . “You’re so hard,” she whispered.

He grinned. “Yeah. But I’m not sure how long it’ll last. My erection seems to come and go . . . no pun intended. But it definitely has a mind of its own when it comes to you. I just . . . I’m not sure what will happen once I’m . . . naked. I just—”

“Shhhh,” June murmured. “We’ll deal with it when the time comes.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Soon. I want to see these beauties,” he said, giving her breast a tight squeeze. “Taste them. Suck on them.”

June was a little surprised by his blunt talk, but she probably shouldn’t have been. He was a man who knew what he wanted. The fact that she was what he wanted right now was a gift. One she wasn’t going to squander. She’d take anything he’d willingly give her and treasure it for the rest of her life.

The dream she’d been having when she woke up flashed through her brain, but she quickly blocked it. She and Cal weren’t going to have children. Weren’t going to live happily ever after like in the movies. She could never be enough for him long term. So she’d be satisfied with a happy for now.

With a sigh, Cal slipped his hand out from under her shirt, and June frowned unhappily.

“I know,” he told her. “It’s been too long for me. I want to rip this shirt off and keep you prisoner in this bed for hours, making up for lost time. But we need to get up and get going. The ceremony is in a few hours, and I told Chappy we’d head to the cabin early in case he or Carlise needed any help.”

Once again, his loyalty and consideration struck June hard. She hadn’t had much of that in her life until now, and seeing it in the man she loved was everything.

She grabbed his wrist. “Cal?”

“Yeah?”

June wasn’t sure what she wanted to say. Thank you? Don’t stop? When can we finish what we started? In the end, all she murmured was, “I’m looking forward to spending the day with you and your friends.”

“Our friends,” he said with a small smile.

“Our friends,” she agreed.

Then Cal leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I’ll greet you properly once we’ve both gotten dressed and have brushed our teeth.”

“Deal,” she said immediately.

He smiled again, then rolled to the side and stood. June drank him in. He really was a beautiful man.

When he held out his hand to her, she realized that she was going to have to stand up in front of him half-dressed. The fact that her thighs brushed together when she walked, that she wasn’t svelte and slender, made her panic for a moment.

Until she realized Cal was purposely letting himself be vulnerable with her.

His forearm was on full display, without the usual clothing that covered it. At first glance, it was difficult to take in. Scars wound from his hand up his arm, snaking under the sleeve of his T-shirt.

Moving without thought, June got to her knees on the mattress and took his hand in hers. Slowly, she leaned in and kissed his wrist. Then his forearm. She ran her fingers over the scarred flesh, lightly caressing, kissing every inch as she moved upward.

Cal had stepped closer to the bed, letting her do as she wished, and she knew that was another gift. When she got to his biceps and saw the ugly circular scar there, she couldn’t stop the small distressed sound that left her throat.

“Cigar,” Cal said with zero emotion in his voice.

June placed her lips right over the obscene mark on his flesh, stroking lightly with her tongue. Without looking up, she said in a tone she hardly recognized as her own, “I hope whoever did this to you died a horrific, painful death, with his eyes plucked out and his innards spilling from his body to be feasted on by a hundred hungry carrion birds.”

She was jolted back to the present by Cal’s loud bark of laughter. She looked up at him, worried she’d gone too far. That maybe she should’ve ignored his scars altogether.

“I hope I never piss you off,” he said with a somewhat mystified expression.

Relieved that he didn’t seem to be upset, June shrugged. She sat on her butt on the bed and shifted to stand. Cal’s hand was there to keep her steady. When she was on her feet, she worked up the nerve to look at him. She was keenly aware that she had no bra on, that her boobs weren’t exactly small enough to ever be called perky, that her legs were on full display . . .

“Damn, woman. You were made to wear miniskirts. Those legs—they’re lethal.” He swallowed hard. “I’m gonna shower. You want anything special for breakfast before we head out?”

The way he couldn’t stop staring at her legs went a long way toward boosting June’s confidence. “Anything’s good.”

He nodded and took a deep breath. “Take your time, we’ve got an hour or so before we need to get on the road.” Then he turned and headed for the en suite bathroom.

Smiling, not put off by his abrupt departure, June turned to head to her own room. This morning was surprising, and only partly because she’d woken up in his bed. She had a little more confidence that she and Cal would actually end up together at some point. She would still be cautious, because she knew better than most that life had a way of throwing curveballs, but maybe, just maybe, she’d get what she wanted . . . at least for a little while.