Moth to a Flame (15 page)

His kisses started out slow and comforting in nature. But they became more frenzied as he made his way up to my earlobe and gently nibbled, causing me to pant. I gasped when his arms wrapped around me, one hand caressing my breast and the other making its way down south.

When his fingers connected with my clit, I began writhing against him. I felt him harden behind me. Letting go of the events, even momentarily, I gave in to the orgasm that had been building and thrashed against him in pleasure. I cried out his name in ecstasy, finally breaking the silence. In just that moment, I was free of everything except my Cale.

Exactly the way it should be.

Cale finally spoke after a few minutes. “Lia, this won’t go on forever. He’s going to slip up and I will catch him myself if I have to.” He paused a moment before going on. “I’ve waited my whole life for something good to happen to me. It’s always just been out of reach. I never had the courage to go after what I wanted until now. And you, Lia, have had terrible shit happen to you as well—probably worse. You are so deserving of a great life. I’ll be damned if I let that dickhead interfere with our happiness. So believe me when I say I will end this. I promise,” he vowed.

I simply nodded. Funny thing was, I completely believed in his words. Sam might have scared the hell out of me, but Cale was the kind of guy that would make it all better.

As we quieted down again, sitting in the warm water that smelled of lavender, I thought about how, since I had met Cale, I hardly ever thought about the abduction, especially when I was with him. It was like, from practically the moment we’d met, we were orbiting around each other.
Safe.
I wondered if this was how everyone felt once they found that person they completely clicked with, the person who gets them on a level nobody else ever could.

I hadn’t even told him about that terrible night, but somehow, he understands me as if he does know. And I knew that, once I did tell him, he’d be my biggest supporter. I was just afraid to relive it again. I’d feared for my life that night and it wasn’t something I wanted to go around thinking about all the time.

That’s it. I am going to tell him tonight.

With that thought, I stood up to get out of the tub, causing Cale to do the same.

AFTER A BATH where I poured my heart out to Lia and she silently listened, we finally got out. I could tell that she had a lot on her mind with the whole Sam situation. Even though he said that he’d see her on Friday, I didn’t trust his words at all and would still watch her like a hawk. She didn’t know it yet, but I planned on taking her to work in the morning so I would know she made it safely.

We brushed our teeth, wrapped up in our towels, and went into the bedroom. She looked so exhausted and sad.

Pulling the covers back, I told her, “Come on, get in.”

She was completely exhausted—I could see it all over her face. I smiled when she dropped her towel and crawled into the bed because I was awarded a view of her nice, round ass. It caused my dick to flinch with excitement, but it needed to chill the fuck out for the time being.

I turned off the lights everywhere except the bedside lamp and scooted in next to her. Ever since the events from earlier in the evening, Lia was almost in a catatonic state and it made me nervous. I pulled her over into the crook of my arm, and she snaked her arm across my chest. We sat staring, lost in our thoughts for a while, before she spoke.

“Cale,” was all she said. It wasn’t a question, so there wasn’t a need for an answer.

I kissed the top of her head. When I finally heard her quiet, rhythmic breathing, I turned off the lamp and quickly fell into step behind her.

I woke to thrashing in my arms.

What the fuck?

“Get away from me, you bastard!” she screamed in the darkness, slapping at my chest. Her struggles to get away completely startled me. “He’s coming!” she continued to panic.

In a flash, I reached over and switched on the lamp. Her tear-stained face was haunted as she was clearly still trapped in her nightmare.

I sat up, shaking her. “Lia! Wake up. It’s me, Cale!” I shouted at her.

She opened and closed her eyes a few times as if to blink away the fog of her bad dream. As if suddenly realizing that it was just a nightmare, her eyes filled with fresh, hot tears and she threw herself at me in a tight embrace.

“Shhh, I’ve got you,” I cooed into her hair, pulling her to lie back down. After a few moments of silence, I spoke again. “Want to tell me about it?” I asked, stroking her hair.

“No,” she hastily whispered. “I’m sorry.”

I wished she could open up to me. She was whimpering in fear in my arms and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. I knew she was just upset about Sam, but if she didn’t talk about it, she was suffering with it alone and I fucking hated that for her.

She was tracing her fingers along my bicep when she finally found her voice again. “Tell me about your tattoo.” She looked at me and her green eyes caught me in their trap of wonder like they always did.

“Well,” I began, “it’s of my guardian angel. She’s always watching me. Keeping me out of trouble. Reminding me of the right path to take.” I could have told her the whole story about almost dying because of drunk driving on my part, but for some reason, I didn’t feel like presenting her plate after plate of my past when she couldn’t even give me a morsel. I’d tell her everything the moment she gave me something.
Anything.

“Hmmm. I guess that’s fair,” she murmured softly, still lazily running her finger over the outlines. The tone of her voice let me know that she knew that there was more of a story with my tattoo but I wasn’t going to tell her just yet. I really wanted to open up to her, but she needed to feel how it hurt to be shut out.
It fucking hurts.

Not long after, I heard the quiet sounds of her breathing indicating that she was asleep. I stroked her hair, attempting to comfort her even in her dreams. Eventually, slumber sneaked in its slippery tentacles and pulled me into its blackness as well.

THE NEXT MORNING, I woke early, which was unbelievable considering the lack of sleep I’d had. Cale’s beautiful form was stretched out beside me. The early morning sun had crept in, lying across him like a jealous mistress, marking him for herself. His face had grown stubbly over the past few days, but it was sexy. Cale’s perfect mouth was slightly open as he breathed softly in a quiet cadence.

I took this moment to study his tattoo some more. The angel’s face haunted me. There was so much detail in her teary eyes. I could see the pain on her face. It was incredibly intense to look at. I was a little caught off guard last night when he skated around the story of the tattoo. And even though I guarded my secrets fiercely, it had still stung when he’d held on to that one.

Disappointment coursed through my veins.

Why didn’t I just tell him last night?

I just had to say the words ‘I was abducted and escaped.’ That simple. But it wasn’t that easy. When I tried to summon the courage to tell him, my words held fast on my stubborn tongue. We’d only known each other less than a week. I couldn’t even tell my own mother.

How am I supposed to tell someone I only met recently?

This crushed me that my secret was trying to interfere with this beautiful, perfect thing that was Cale and me. He was a prayer answered for me. But now, I was in fear of jeopardizing what we had because I couldn’t open my freaking mouth and spit it out. Huffing in annoyance with myself, I crawled out of bed and headed for the shower to get ready for work.

After quietly getting ready, not wanting to wake Cale, I slipped out of the bathroom and headed towards the living room to retrieve my purse and keys. Pops would be able to sense the distress in my life once I got to work. I really needed to figure out how I was going to break to him all that had happened with Sam. It would have been nice to just avoid it altogether, but I was sure Deion had filled Anj in on the fire and its starter. And Anj had a really big mouth.

As I started to walk out the door, hands snaked around my waist, causing me to shriek in surprise. “Jesus, Lia, it’s just me,” Cale exclaimed.

Turning around to look at him, I noticed that he looked sexy as hell with his dark hair sticking up all over the place, standing there in just a low-slung pair of jeans. He was so damn easy on the eyes. I caught myself staring at that perfectly molded chest of his.
Again.

Finally raising my eyes to his, I met his hard blue ones and he had one eyebrow cocked mischievously.

“Like what you see?” he asked with a grin.

My cheeks involuntarily turned pink because I, in fact, did like what I saw. “Put on a shirt, ass,” I teased back at him.

Pulling me in for a hug, he asked, “And where are you running off to this morning?”

“I have to work, Cale. When creepy stalkers try to ruin your life, work doesn’t take a day off.”

He kissed my forehead. “I’m taking you,” he declared, walking towards the bedroom. “Give me five minutes to get ready.”

“No. I’m a big girl. I have my mace,” I called out to him, jingling my keys for effect since he was already in the other room.

“Lia, I’m taking you. End of discussion.”