“I’m… sorry?—”
“No!” he protests, grabbing my shoulders softly and pulling me back to him. I let out a relieved sigh as I sink into the radiant warmth of his chest. “If you take that kiss back, Stella Olsen, I will lose my goddamned mind. I mean we can’t do thishere.”
I look around at the empty engine room. He’s right. It’s not that late yet. Any of the crew could walk in on us at any moment.
Caleb leans his mouth down to kiss the top of my ear.
“Do you trust me?”
“That sounds like something boys ask before they do something really stupid.”
He raises his eyebrows at me, silently repeating the question. I swallow.
“I trust you, Caleb.”
And with that confirmation, he grabs my hand and leads me out into the dark.
My heart pounds with adrenaline as Caleb sneaks me through the galley and down to the crew quarters. This wasdefinitelynot covered in the Vela Bianca’s instructional video, but I’m pretty sure it falls under the category of immediate ejection. Youcan still turn back, rational Stella reminds me. But I’m too far gone to listen to her.
Once we’re downstairs, Caleb pulls me into one of five identical white doors around the crew lounge and flicks the lights on. His cabin is much smaller than mine—barely large enough for a queen-sized bed and small closet, and it strikes me how cold and impersonal it feels compared to the lavish stateroom I sleep in. But there, on the wall, is a photograph of Caleb with someone who looks like it might be his brother. A framed picture of a sailboat. A birthday card from a small child.
“Welcome to my humble abode,” he says nervously.
For a second, I stay glued to the wall, unsure what the protocol is when a six-foot-tall demi-god has led you to his quarters. Caleb just stares at me, the gaze from his penetrating blue eyes cutting through the layers of me better than any blade ever could. There’s something about being near Caleb that makes me feel untethered—breathless—out of control. There’s something about him that makes me feelfree.
And I want more.
I step towards Caleb, compelled as if by gravity, until I’m close enough to touch him. He doesn’t move as I grab hold of his shirt sleeves, but I can hear his breath hitch when I draw him towards me. I can already feel the heat coming off his bodythrough the thin fabric, the rhythm of the blood pulsing beneath his skin.
When I lift my mouth to Caleb’s this time, it is slow. Deliberate. Our noses touch before our lips do, and when he tilts himself towards me, his eyes fall almost closed. I shudder with the nearness of him. The feeling of his mouth pressing against mine. I can taste him, the tinge of salt still traced across his bottom lip, that makes me want to bite it.
As soon as I do, I know I’m done for. I watch through half-closed eyes as something ignites in him, his muscles tensing beneath my hands.
“Stella,” his whisper comes hot in my ear. “I want you so fucking badly.”
I feel another overpowering surge of desire and I smile against his lips.
“Prove it.”
Caleb grabs me and pulls me upwards, hiking my thighs over his hips like I’m no heavier than a life vest. I rake my nails across his back, lifting his shirt and begging him to press me onto the bed. Instead, he turns me around and gently lowers my shoulders to the mattress so that I’m bent over the edge. I feel his strong hands stroke the length of my ribs and waist before he hooks them into the waistband of my shorts and thong and pulls them both down, ever so slowly, over my thighs. I want him,needhim to go faster. But Caleb takes his time, slowly kissing the inside of my leg from my ankle up to my thigh. I shudder as his lips graze across my clit and he moans into my skin, the vibration of his deep voice on my bare skin leaving me shaking with want. He grabs hold of my thighs firmly as he uses his tongue in quick strokes to turn me into a useless puddle of girl, running his mouth over me until I’m gasping so loud I’m afraid I might wake the whole ship. I have to dig my face into the comforter to avoid screaming. But he plays me like a violin, drawing back slowly until I moan formore, then flicking his tongue over my clit with such accuracy, I feel like he’s almost inside my head.
I grip the comforter as waves of pleasure pulse through me, but just as Caleb is about to put me over the edge, he stops, standing up to grab me by the hips and flip me onto my back.
“Please don’t stop,” I gasp. I can see from one glance at his shorts that he’s just as turned-on as I am, and I arch forward as he presses his body down onto mine.
“Don’t worry, love,” he purrs into my neck and bites it, softly. “I want to work on you all night.”
Desire races through me as he slips my shirt off over my head. I fumble to undo Caleb’s belt buckle while he pulls a gold-wrapped condom out of his nightstand and rips it open. I yank his shorts down without one shred of the grace and patience he used on me and feel a shudder of want as I take in the length of his rigid cock. Holyship.Let’s just say Marianne’s comment about his potentially small dick was very,veryoff.
“Woah,” I accidentally gasp out loud, and Caleb chuckles as his eyes drink in my naked body.
“Wow is right.”
His voice is breathy and strained, like he’s too impatient to get the words out. I don’t blame him. Every second he’s not inside me feels like torture. I take the condom from him and slide it over the considerable length of him, my heartbeat racing as his cock pulses in my hand. Caleb is so hard he feels like he’s made of the same marble that lines the floors of the ship.
“You have no idea how badly I’ve wanted this,” he whispers to me as he lowers my head onto the pillow behind me. “The number of times I wanted to push you up on the dash of the bridge and make you scream.”
He’s teasing me with his fingers, now, rubbing his length against me as his free hand digs into my hip.
