Those double-barreled dimples popped.
“Hey, Paisley.”
“Hey, Caleb.”
At the syrupy sweet tone, Emerson looked over to find her sporting a Cheshire Cat grin and a giant two thumbs up.
“I take it you approve?” he asked.
“Oh, you have no idea.” She walked over to snatch her purse. “I should get out of your way.”
“Don’t leave on my account.”
Paisley met Emerson’s gaze and executed some kind of exaggerated morse code with her eyes that was about as subtle as a Panzer tank. “No, no. I just stopped by to talk to Em about my audio proofs. I look forward to those final files.”
“Are these the ones for There You’ll Be? Because I really need to know how you’re going to sort things with Sarah and Rhett. You dropped a really hard stinger for that in the last book, and I just don’t see how he’s going to redeem himself.”
They both stared at him, dumbfounded.
He blinked. “What?”
Emerson found her voice first. “You…read romance?”
“I’ve read all the books you’ve narrated.”
“All of them?” she squeaked. That was...hundreds.
Caleb shrugged without an ounce of self-consciousness. “I love your voice. I got a bunch of the guys at the station on them, too. If they weren’t too embarrassed to admit it, they’d thank you for upping their game with the ladies.”
He was custom-made, walking foreplay. This man really was a unicorn. It was time she stopped denying that.
“Paisley.”
“Yup. Going. Talk to you tomorrow. Or, you know, next week. Whenever.”
“Let the dog out back, will you?”
“Sure thing. Byyyyyyye!”
The door shut behind her and Mooch.
Caleb went brows up. “Well that was a quick departure. What was that about?”
“This.”
Fisting her hands in his shirt, she dragged his mouth to hers.
Caleb had spent considerable time thinking about how to seduce this woman. He’d imagined taking his time, unwrapping her literal and metaphorical layers and steeping her in pleasure, until she forgot anyone who’d come before him. But something had flipped a switch in her. The moment Emerson’s lips touched his, he understood that whatever deceleration he’d initiated was over. She was zero to ninety in less than a second, her mouth taking his in a devouring kiss that bordered on savage.
Thank Christ.
The needs he’d ruthlessly leashed for years strained against his control, begging to meet that desperation head-on. But no matter what she wanted, he wasn’t settling for hard and fast. Not this first time.
Sliding a hand into her hair, he angled her head, taking control of the kiss and diving deep. Her moan of pleasure as his tongue stroked against hers had his blood leaping from simmer to boil. Hands streaking up his chest, she locked her arms around his neck, rising up to wrap one leg around his hips, lining up her center with his straining erection. As she began to rock, taking the pleasure she wanted, he felt his grip on control slipping. Needing more, he boosted her up and backed her against the nearest wall, grinding against her.
Emerson’s head fell back on a groan. “Caleb.” His name on her lips was both prayer and plea. “I need you inside me.”
Growling, he tightened his hold, every cell wanting to claim her right here, right now. But damn it, this was Emerson. He’d been waiting so damned long for her. He wasn’t about to take her against the wall like some kind of mindless animal. All but drunk with desire, he turned and moved toward the hall. Her tongue traced the shell of his ear, and his knees wobbled. He could get them up the stairs to a bed without injury. Probably.
She bit gently at the lobe. “Too far. Sofa.”
By some divine intervention, he made it to the couch, turning at the last moment, so it was him who crashed down, taking the brunt of the impact. Emerson wasted no time, straddling his lap so his hard-on was nestled in the softness between her thighs. Purring at the contact, she arched back, stripping her shirt up and off.
Caleb thanked the gods of lingerie for this confection of peach satin and lace offering up her breasts like a gift. “Fuck, you’re beautiful.”
“Your turn.”
At her rasped order, he dragged his t-shirt off with one hand and tossed it to the floor. Then he reached for her, skimming his palms up the silk of her skin to cup her breasts, testing the weight of them in his palms. Her breath went short, her nipples pearling against the fabric as he stroked his thumbs over them. He wanted her bare for him, wanted her writhing. Beneath him. Over him. He just plain wanted her.
“Do you have any idea how long I’ve dreamed about tasting you?”
She reached back and released the clasp. The bra fell away, spilling those glorious breasts into his hands. Her eyes glimmered like blue flame. “There’s nothing stopping you.”
Needing no further permission, Caleb pulled one rosy nipple into his mouth. As he circled it with his tongue, she swiveled her hips, rocking against his erection. Every gasp and moan spurred him on. She was a fever in his arms, so responsive to every touch and taste. Hands braced on his shoulders, she bowed back, pressing more firmly into his mouth, his hands, as her hair spilled down her back and she rode him. He didn’t know what he’d expected, but her complete lack of inhibition as she chased her pleasure wasn’t it, and that was pretty much the hottest thing he’d ever seen. Watching her face as he drove her higher had his balls tightening, but he held back, focused on getting her up and over that first peak, licking and sucking until she shot over on a scream that damned near had him coming in his pants like a teenage boy.
Before she’d even begun to come down from the high, her hands were fumbling between them for his belt. “Need you inside me. Now.”
Caleb gripped her hips, starting to shift her off his lap to remove her shorts. From the coffee table the laptop began to ring. Emerson jerked in shock and toppled backward before he could catch her.
“Shit! Are you okay?”
But she wasn’t even looking at him as she scrambled up from the floor. “Oh my God, Fiona.” Grabbing up a shirt, she dragged it on. “I have to take this.”
Was she serious?
As she turned the laptop away and plopped herself in a chair, he realized she was.
“Just…stay over there. Okay?”
Caleb glanced down at his crotch, where his dick hadn’t gotten the message that their impulsive plans had been derailed. Yeah, no, he wasn’t hopping on this call with that flag still flying. Sinking back onto the sofa, he scrubbed both hands over his face and wondered if Emerson would make it quick so they could pick back up where they left off.
“Hey baby. How’s everything going?”
“It’s going. Sorry for the unplanned video call, but I tried your phone and you didn’t answer and I know you were probably in the booth but I thought—Is that Caleb’s shirt?”
He looked over in time to see Emerson freeze. Sure enough, it was his T-shirt she’d grabbed off the floor. She glanced down at the HFD logo, her brain obviously whirring. Caleb knew she hadn’t told Fiona about them yet. As close to the vest as she was playing it, revealing their involvement while wearing his shirt and with almost-sex hair was definitely not at the top of her list for ways to announce it.