whimpered against his lip, caught helpless under the driving impact of his body, caught helpless as need and pleasure and love swamped her.
He muttered something against her lips, but she couldn’t hear him. Not over the racing of her heart, the roar of blood in her ears.
Orgasm hovered just
Her long, slim body tightened under his. Too rough. Too hard… Tearing his mouth away from hers, he lifted his head and tried to throttle back. Tried to force himself to slow even as he pressed another demanding kiss to her swollen mouth. “I love you, Destin.” The words ripped out of him without any conscious thought of his own.
Her eyes, glassy and wild, were locked on his face and he didn’t even know if she heard him.
As she arched up higher, she cried, “Caleb…”
Fisting one hand, he called up the scraps of his control.
And then she whispered, her voice shaky and soft. “I love you…”
The world rocked around him.
The control he thought he’d lost came back to him and the driving, desperate hunger eased.
Untangling their limbs, he caught her face in his hands. “My girl.” He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. He stroked his thumb over her cheek. “Fuck, you’re sweet…”
She tightened around him and he shuddered as the silk of her pussy milked him—a snug, soft fist.
Her hands caught in his shirt, tried to drag it up. He almost lifted up to let her. Then, as he skimmed his lips along the scar on the side of her face, he remembered…
Instead, he caught her wrists and stretched them high overhead, watched as her eyes widened, watched the way her breath caught. “Mine…”
“Yours,” she agreed. “And you’re mine. I’m not letting go again.”
Hell, he hoped not. He’d settle for what he could take for now, but they had miles to go yet. Rocking against her, shifting the angle of his body, he groaned as she clenched around, again and again. “Stop it…you’re killing me…”
“Then quit teasing me.” She did it again.
And it was heaven, feeling her tighten those sleek little muscles around him, feeling the glide of her sweat- slicked flesh against his. A flush settled low on her breasts, climbing higher and higher as her breathing sped up. Hot warning chills raced down his spine and he could feel his balls drawing tight. Wasn’t going to be able to fight this off. Arctic showers wouldn’t slow this down, not after all this time.
Dipping his head, he pressed his brow to hers, held her close to him. “Stay with me.”
“Yes…”
As the orgasm swelled, exploded through both of them, they fell.
Chapter Nine
“We need to shower,” Destin said drowsily.
Caleb stroked a hand down her side. “You go first. I’ll get coffee.”
She wiggled around until she could see his face. “We should conserve water,” she teased, wiggling her brows at him. “Shower together.”
His lids drooped.
The easy, relaxed look on his face didn’t exactly fade. But something changed.
She felt it.
A cold weight settled on her chest as she lay there staring at him.
“Never mind,” she said, forcing herself to smile. She pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth and went to sit up. As she did, she tugged on the hem of his wrinkled polo. “You’re a mess there, pal.”
“Wait.” He caught her wrist before she could scoot away and she lifted her head, met his eyes.
He sat up, blowing out a breath as he levered upright. “We need to talk,” he said quietly.
Something about the look in his eyes made a knot form in her throat. “Already?” Destin tried to smile again, but it wobbled and died before she even managed to fake it. “I mean, we just had sex. Can’t you let me pretend we’re okay for a while before we get heavy with things?”
“It wasn’t just sex,” he said quietly, reaching and skimming a hand back over her head. “If it was just sex, there wouldn’t be a need to talk.”
Destin swallowed, but that lump in her throat just wasn’t going away. “Okay. So…”
As she floundered for the words, he slid off the bed and padded toward the door. “Let’s go get some coffee,” he said, pausing in the door. “This will take a few minutes, baby.”
She glanced at the bathroom and wondered if she could get to the door, lock herself inside.
Then she looked over at him. He knew exactly what she was thinking. And he wouldn’t stop her, she realized. Wouldn’t stop her at all.
With a heavy heart, she slid off the bed and moved to join him.
“You never wanted to hear this when I tried to tell you before,” he started out, his eyes grim.
“Hear what?” Destin asked, nervous as she watched him.
He leaned back in the chair, arms crossed over his chest. He was still wearing that wrinkled, worn polo, a thick growth of stubble darkening that amazing face.
“From the time I met you, the two of us connected,” he said quietly.
Destin inclined her head. “I know that.” This wasn’t a secret. None of the others she’d worked with had ever clicked with her like Caleb had. He wasn’t the only filter she’d worked with. A few of the weaker psychics also had sub-abilities and she’d hoped one of them could do the same thing he’d done. No luck.
They’d been like a complete unit, the two of them. He calmed her thoughts and let her see beyond what her gift wanted to show her. And she let him use his unusual ability in a way he wouldn’t have been able to use it otherwise. His odd gifts and weird insights would have just been annoyances in any other job, never complete enough to serve any true function.
It was like they’d been designed to complete each other.
“It went deeper than it should have sometimes,” he said.
His face was blank. But a muscle jerked in his jaw as he said it.
That knot in her gut tightened. “I don’t want to hear this, Caleb.
“It’s not just about that,” he said gently. “It’s everything. I’d be working with another agent and I’d get glimmers from you. I could be on the other side of the country and I’d know when you were picking up on a perp, Destin. It went too deep.”
That knot was painful now.
He’d told her that. Time and again, when he’d tried to get her to use some bit of control.
Averting her gaze, she stared out the window at the clear blue sky. “It’s not going to be a problem anymore,” she said quietly. “I can control it now. You’re not picking up like that anymore, right?”
“No, I’m not. And just as much of that was my failing. I should have worked harder to lock things down—I could have built better walls. I’m
“Okay.” She nodded slowly and then looked back at him. “So why are we having this talk?”
“Do you understand what I’m saying now?” he asked. “I tried to explain this before and you never listened.”
