Love So Unexpected (The Lawson Brothers Book 6) (9 page)

It was corporations that lined the pockets of every congressman and woman who publicly proclaimed to be for the little guy. Not even the president was innocent.

Caleb wanted to complain, but he didn’t think it would do much good. None of their representatives were sitting here, hanging on every word, because it wasn’t election season ... yet. In the past, they’d signed petitions to voice their concerns, but that hadn’t helped either.

Honestly, he wasn’t sure what would get Washington’s attention.

The only thing Caleb was sure of was hard work, and he could do that. So he’d listen for a few more minutes while he finished his coffee, then head back home to eat breakfast with a beautiful woman. And his parents, of course.

Yeah, it was a rather odd situation, but he didn’t have any other choice.

“See y’all later,” he said, touching the bill of his cap.

By the time he walked into the kitchen, no one was there but Sofia, who was humming while she cooked. Her long, dark hair was pulled into a ponytail while her choice of outfit was a pair of shorts and a red top.

She looked good. Hell, she looked good in whatever she wore. He suspected she’d look even better out of her clothes. While he was strung tighter than a bow during hunting season, he’d keep his thoughts of a naked Sofia to himself.

Yesterday had been sort of a breakthrough for him, but he wasn’t sure how Sofia would react today. Did she regret finding him there? He knew he didn’t, although he couldn’t have that heart-to-heart with Apple fast enough for his liking.

The best thing he could do was act normal, or as normal as he could get. Fine, he’d just do what came natural to him, and if she didn’t like it, then she’d let him know and he’d stop.

Simple as that.

Scary as hell.

Do it anyway.

“Morning,” he said, moving to her and placing his hands on her curvy hips. He kissed the side of her neck.

She shivered a little, smiling as she turned to him. “Hello, handsome. It’s just us for breakfast.”

“Just us, huh?” He wriggled his eyebrows playfully. “Does that mean you can sit in my lap and let me feed you?” Okay, so he might be moving fast, but she wouldn’t be here forever.

“That’s ... appealing. Very appealing.” She lightly nudged him with her hip. “Go sit down,
papi
. I’m almost done flipping the last pancake.”

Grinning, he let go of her and made his way to the table. He made sure to leave enough room between him and the table for Sofia.

“Where is everyone?”

“Meeting your brother, Elijah, at the airport in Wilmington. They left really early this morning.”

“You didn’t want to go?”

She turned off the burner and slid the pancake onto a small platter, then joined him at the table and placed the dish in the center. “Should I have gone, too?”

Jealousy reared its ugly head. “Hell, no.” He patted his leg. “Have a seat, honey.”

“Best seat in the house.” Her sweet ass touched his thigh, then her full weight came down on him as she scooted back. She was truly going to sit there and allow him to feed her. If this wasn’t the best day ever, he didn’t know what was. “I’m ready for breakfast.”

He began to feed her bites of bacon and eggs first, followed by her mouthwatering pancakes, smothered with syrup. To his surprise, she did the same for him, giggling when he tried to take the bacon from her before she was ready.

She popped the slice into her mouth, then gave him a stern look as she ate it. “Behave ... or no more bacon.”

“You sure are bossy in the kitchen,” he said, liking her sassiness.

“My domain, my rules.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She rolled her eyes and leaned against him. “What are your plans for the day?”

“Can’t think of a single one right now.”

Laughter bubbled up. “Am I that much of a distraction?”

“Not at all.”

Her brow creased. “I don’t understand.”

He grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. “A distraction is usually viewed as a bad thing. What you do to me is anything but bad.”

“Are you sure about that?” she asked, her voice low and throaty. “Because while I’m not bad girl, I can be a little naughty.”

This time, she was the one to initiate their kiss. She kissed him slowly. Sweetly. Made his toes curl in his boots. With the next pass of her clever tongue, he grew hard.

He leaned back a little, breaking their kiss. “I need to stop.”

“Turning you on and feeling the evidence of that does not bother me.” She nipped at his bottom lip. “You’re doing the same thing to me.”

He swept his lips over hers, tasting and exploring every inch of her sweet mouth. With a groan, he pulled away again. “I
have
to get to work.”

She rested her forehead against his. “Think you can get off early this Friday?”

“I might be able to swing that.”

“Good, because I want to go skinny dipping in your pond.”

Before he could respond, she was out of his lap and heading upstairs.

The rest of the week went by slower than a snail traveling through mud. Not even meeting Caleb’s globe-traveling brother, Elijah, helped speed things along. Although, it did cause a huge commotion when word spread throughout the family.

Which was why, on Thursday evening, she found herself sitting at the mile-long dining room table surrounded by Lawsons. Luckily, Caleb sat beside her. He stayed quiet for the most part, only talking to her in hushed tones while his brothers and their wives asked Elijah a million questions. Their parents had already retired for the night, taking a couple of the grandbabies with them.

“Good to see that nothing changes around here,” Elijah said, smiling broadly.  “Especially you Caleb. Don’t know what I’d do if you changed.”

One of the brothers snorted—Brody, maybe? “There’s no way he could get quieter.”

“No way he’d leave the farm either.”

For no real reason at all, or maybe she didn’t like the way his brothers picked on him, she leaned into Caleb and whispered loudly, “I’m so looking forward to skinny dipping with you,
papi
.”

When she felt all eyes on her, she hastily added, “Again.”

Caleb turned to her, his voice just as loud, “My favorite part was applying sunscreen all over your pretty,” His eyes dropped her chest for a minute before returning to her face, “skin.”

A couple of the wives giggled.

One of them, Sydney, she thought, grinned and said, “Y’all mind telling me where this pond is?”

“Only if you’re going to drown Brody when you get there,” Caleb replied.

Elijah toasted Caleb. “Always said no one is more in love with Brody than his mirror.”

Conversation returned to normal, but Sofia couldn’t help but seriously lower her voice.

“Was that too much?” she asked.

“It was just right.” He reached under the table and grabbed her hand, not letting go of it until it was time to clear the table.

S
ofia was having an out of body experience. That was the only explanation as to why she stood rooted to the ground, staring at Caleb as he walked toward her.

Okay, so the other reason might be because he was nude, or at least she thought he was nude. Honestly, she couldn’t tell yet, because the water hit him at hip level. The rest of him was on display, giving her the best view ever of his washboard abs, muscular chest, wide shoulders, and defined arms.

Lord, that man was the very definition of
caliente
.

He gave her a cocky smile, the first she’d ever seen on him, and stopped. “Water’s fine. C’mon in.”

“Are you wearing shorts?” she asked, taking off her shirt and shimmying out of her shirt, leaving on a bright orange two-piece that she’d worn underneath. She wore it just in case their little rendezvous wouldn’t be private.

“I might, then again I might not.” He winked. “You don’t have to take your bathing suit off if you don’t feel comfortable.”

“I don’t feel comfortable.” Her hands went to the back of her neck so she could loosen the ties of her bikini top. It fell to the ground, and his eyes widened in obvious appreciation. She left her bottoms on, though, but it wasn’t because she didn’t trust Caleb. She wasn’t quite sure she trusted what was in the water. All she needed was a fish to nibble on her vagina and she was so out. “Are there any fish?”

“Maybe a few, but you don’t have to worry about them. They’re scared of us,” he said, his gaze on her bare breasts as she slowly dipped a toe in the water. “All the snapping turtles help, too.”

She jerked her foot out. “What?”

A grin split his face. “Only kidding.”

“Caleb Lawson, I can’t believe you’d tease me like that.” Putting a hand on one hip, she shook a finger at him. “No more jokes.”

“Fair enough.” He splashed water on his chest, his arms a bit lighter in color than the skin on his neck, face, and hands. “But you’d better get in here before I change my mind and go home.”

The water was only a little cool, nothing she couldn’t handle, so she walked right in. Caleb moved toward her, his face growing more serious the closer he got. When they were close enough to touch, he kissed her forehead, and then her nose, before settling on her mouth. His kiss was maddeningly sweet and slow, and worse, he wouldn’t touch her.

She was dying for him to touch her.

Unable to take it a second longer, she pressed against him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He audibly groaned.

“You feel amazing,” he said, his hands coming to rest on her back. “So damn soft ... I want to touch and kiss you everywhere.”

“No one’s stopping you.”

He set her back from him for a moment, then touched the center of her chest with only the tips of his fingers. Drops of water collected on the ends and ran down her skin, making her shiver in the hot afternoon sun.

His fingers followed the contours of her body, the slope of her breasts, and the curve of her waist. Desire ignited low in her belly as he touched her more boldly. With every pass, every sweep of his fingers, she fell further under his spell.

He touched her so reverently, yet as his large hands cupped her breasts and made her nipples harden into points, she throbbed inside.

“Caleb,” she whispered, swaying toward him as her eyes closed. She trusted him to catch her.

Suddenly, he stopped his erotic explorations and cupped her shoulders. “Ready to swim?”

“What?” Her eyes popped open. “No.”

“I need a minute.”

Confused, she sputtered, “To do what?”

He tilted his head to one side. “Touching you is like discovering heaven, and it’s hard for me not to go off like a half-cocked gun.”

“Oh.”

A bashful smile touched his full lips. “It’s been a long time for me, more than ten years since I was last with a woman.”

A woman? Not his wife? She shouldn’t judge, and she wouldn’t. It wasn’t her place. And who was she to tell him how to grieve?

“It’s been a long time for me, too. Not a decade, but two years feels like it,” she said with a nervous laugh.

“Guess we’re just about evenly matched.”

“Not really,” she said and shoved her hands in the water, cupping them. “You’re way too dry.” Quickly, she lifted her arms and dumped handfuls of water on him. “Now we’re even.”

He shook his head like a wet dog, his blue eyes turning mischievous. “I’ll give you two-second head start.”

With a playful scream, she turned around and started pushing through the water to get to shore. Unfortunately, two seconds wasn’t enough, and Caleb caught her in a hug from behind. Maybe she wasn’t so unfortunate after all.

He kissed the side of her neck and moved his hands around front, cupping her breasts once more. He kneaded them, rubbed her hard, aching nipples, and made her head fall back against his chest from the pleasure.

One hand moved lower and lower, until his fingertips grazed under her bikini bottoms. Worried he wouldn’t move from that spot, she grabbed his wrist and attempted to force him down.

“I’m going. I’m going. Just taking my time and enjoying the view.” He laughed low in his throat. “Be sure to tell me what you like ... after you loosen your grip.”

A whimper left her as she let go of him. “Don’t stop, please.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Then his fingers delved between her sex, finding her swollen clit. She cried out, her hips thrusting forward of their own accord. “There. Please. There.”

He rubbed her firmly, then lightly. Sometimes moving clockwise and other times, the opposite way. She almost growled in frustration.

“I thought you said you wouldn’t dream of teasing me.”

“Thought you were going tell me what you like?”

His fingers caressed her, one sliding inside, and she gasped. “That’s what you were waiting for?”

“Mmm-hmm.” He slid in a second finger, and she moaned. “We’ll put that in the
like
category.” Grinding the heel of his hand against her clit, he moved in time to his thrusts.

She grabbed his arm, chanting, “Yes. Yes. Yes.”

“You’re close, aren’t you?” he asked, his voice rumbling in his chest.

“So close.”

“That’s a shame because I’d really like to put one of those tempting nipples of yours in my mouth. Suck and nibble, tease it with my tongue.”

Her thighs began to tremble, her stomach quivering as he pushed her closer ... and closer ... to the edge. She moved her hips, trying to get him deeper, trying to get him to go faster.

“Then again, I want to lick your pussy, too. Drink you down, cover my lips and tongue with all that sweetness.” He lightly pinched her nipple, and she bit down on her lip. “Hear you cry out my name. You’ll own me then. Hell, you own me now.”

Dipping his head, he lightly sucked on her neck and thrust hard and deep inside of her. She fell to pieces in the best way possible, crying out his name just like he wanted, but she didn’t do it just for him. She couldn’t help herself. It seemed natural and right as the sun beat down on them, as cool water lapped against their overheated skin, and her orgasm went on and on.

He said such sweet things now, words of love and sex so intertwined with one another that she couldn’t quite comprehend it all.