Caleb by Sarah McCarty Page B

she’d ever predicted. Allie shifted her position. He
immediately pulled her against him, his hands spreading open on her back,
sheltering her. Which immediately begged the question, from what?
    She
wiggled her fingers. My God, she’d let him tie her up. She tugged on her hands.
“Could you untie me now?”
    “In a
minute.” His chin nuzzled her temple. A brush of his lips over the rim of her
ear shot a shiver down her spine. His chuckle sent goose bumps chasing behind.
    “I’d
prefer now.” She had to get control of this situation. He reached up, his chest
rubbing against hers. She sighed before she caught herself. His skin felt so
good against her.
    “I
think you feel pretty good, too.”
    “How
do you do that?”
    The
soft bonds on her wrists fell away on a soft rip . “You think very
loudly.”
    “I do
not.”
    “You’ll
get the hang of it.”
    “Hang
of what?”
    “Controlling
your thoughts.”
    He
brought her hands down, massaging her muscles. Her inner slut started to purr.
    “I
don’t seem to be able to control much.” Not the sickening clench in her
stomach, not her reactions to this man, not what she was becoming. “And I’m not
yours.”
    “Are,
too. You said so.”
    “That
was just the sex talking.”
    He
pulled her into his side and draped her thigh over his. “Damned good sex.”
    Her
head fell naturally into the hollow of his shoulder. “That doesn’t mean
anything.”
    “I’m
saying it does.”
    “Into
self-delusion, are you?”
    “Nope.
I jut recognize the truth when it walks up and bites me on the neck.”
    “I’m
not a possession. You can’t just claim me.”
    He
cupped her stomach. “But I can hold you. You need me.”
    Under
his touch, the writhing pain abated. A reminder and salvation. “Until I’m converted.”
    She
didn’t expect him to agree, but the sheets rustled as he nodded, his biceps
flexing under her head as he cupped her shoulder in his big hand. The warmth of
his palm seeped into her skin, spreading beneath the surface, stretching
deeper, feeding a hunger that had nothing to do with sexual desire. “But it
does buy me time.”
    She
tilted her head back, squinting against the darkness. It was no use. She
couldn’t see his face. “Do you ever give up?”
    Short
and sweet, his answer left no room for doubt. “Not if it’s something I want.”
    And
he wanted her. “And you want sex.”
    A
flex of his shoulder muscles and her face was tipped up. “I want you.”
    Such
a bald statement should have made her nervous, but it didn’t. Not coming from
Caleb. There were depths to the man. The kind that harbored deep emotion. There
was also a strength that suggested stability. He was the kind of man in which a
woman could put her faith. If she discounted the fact he was a vampire.
    Pain
coiled in her gut. She frowned, remembering something he’d said. “You said
you’d been through this before.”
    He
spread his fingers wide over her stomach. It didn’t help this time.
    “Yes.
With my brothers.”
    She’d
never heard so much said with so little emotion. She reached up, brushing the
bristle on his chin, searching until she found his mouth. All the tension
missing from his voice was in that tight line. She curled her fingers into a
fist. “What happened?”
    “I
converted them.”
    “Why?”
    “We’ve
always been close-knit.”
    “They
asked you to change them?”
    Still
that same flat monotone. “No. It just happened.”
    She
pushed away from him, sitting up, clutching her stomach as nausea rolled
through it. “How does something like that just happen?”
    The
darkness thickened. The hair on her arms rose as the very air stilled. “I got
hungry.”
    “I
don’t understand.”
    His
hand touched her cheek with infinite tenderness. “You will.”
7
    OH God, not another one. Allie clutched her stomach
against the crippling pain and watched as Jared half dragged, half escorted a
handsome young man into the study. Inside, the wild voice she didn’t