PluckingthePearl (10 page)

He didn’t even have to touch her to make flames dance across
her skin. His words were enough. While she fixed the blinds, he absent-mindedly
ate a wedge of tomato from the salad plate on his desk. The vegetables on it
were all askew, as if he’d picked it to pieces. She didn’t see any oysters
either.

“How was your date?” His voice sounded mechanical, as if he
were asking about the weather.

“It was…fine. Caleb, is something wrong?”

“Come here.” He pulled her onto his lap and rested his hands
on her shoulders. “I missed you. The past two days seemed to last forever.”

She buried her face against his neck. “Oh, Caleb. I missed
you too. I was so miserable last night.”

“Did he kiss you?”

“You shouldn’t ask me that,” she told him. “This is our time
together.”

He toyed with the coil of hair pinned behind her ear. “I’ve
been torturing myself wondering what he did to you. Please tell me.”

She looked away. “He did kiss me but I didn’t feel anything.
I’d rather kiss you.”

He grinned. “What’s stopping you?”

Decency.
One kiss couldn’t hurt, though, she decided.
She’d missed Caleb so much.

“Nothing,” she replied as she slid her hands behind the neck
of the man who affected her like no other. She lowered her mouth to his. A
whimper of pleasure escaped her when the familiar moustache brushed her upper
lip. She inhaled his breezy scent and absorbed the warmth of skin through his
shirt as she kissed him.

“I take it you didn’t forget about me,” he said after she
finished.

Were his blue eyes more intense than ever or did the dim
light from his desk lamp just make them look that way?

She stroked his cheek while she shook her head. “I’ll never
forget you. Caleb, I don’t know if I can go through with this with Jimmy. I was
so miserable last night.”

He gripped her hand. “It’s for the best. I can’t give you
the life you need but it eases my mind to know you’ll be taken care of.”

Sitting on his lap with his arms around her made her feel
safe enough but she knew it was only an illusion, a stolen moment.

“Speaking of which, thank you for those building supplies.”

“What building supplies?” he asked. “I’m afraid I don’t know
what you’re talking about.”

“Wood and paint. It arrived yesterday from the hardware
store.”

“I have no idea but I do know I don’t want to spend our
precious time talking about hardware.”

“Caleb, I’m afraid I can’t let you explore me tonight.”
Nevertheless, the memory of his kisses between her legs made her belly full and
hot.

He placed her hand over his crotch. “That’s all right
because this time you’re going to explore me.”

Longing, quick and fierce, stabbed straight through her. She
tried to move her hand away but he held it fast.

“I can’t. You know I’m being courted by another man.”

He dragged his other hand through his hair. “Please, Pearl.
I brought you pleasure so many times. I need you to make me come.”

The thought of making him explode inside the way she had
intensified the heat between her legs.

“I love this mouth,” he said, tracing her bottom lip with
the pad of his finger. “It expresses everything you think and feel. I need to
be inside it. Please don’t refuse me.”

Tiny sparks shot from his light touch. She could never seem
to resist when he asked her to do something. Always so polite, so endearing…so
incredibly handsome. He gave her so much—she needed to give something back just
this once, especially tonight since he looked so sad.

“You know it would be wrong,” she said.

“I know, but I looked forward to this so much all day,” he
said, still holding her hand in place. “After tonight, no more messing around,
I swear.”

Moisture trickled into her step-in panties as she caressed
the bulge. “But I thought you had to keep it contained so you can stay in
control.”

“I’ll be all right if you keep your clothes on,” he promised.

She got off his lap and stood beside him, wishing she were
strong enough to fight the passion pouring through her veins like molten fuel.
She needed to see him climax so she wouldn’t wonder about it the rest of her
life.

“Tell me what to do,” she said.

Caleb leaned back in his chair, smiling for the first time
all evening. “Surprise me. You can start by unbuttoning my trousers.”

Her heart fluttered as she bent over and reached for the
fastenings of his trousers and undershorts. Within moments, his cock leaned
toward her, erect and impressive. She explored him with her fingers, encircling
the head and trailing them down the shaft. His scent was strongest here and she
closed her eyes, breathing it in.

She longed to be naked as her nipples swelled and pressed
against the inside of her bra. Slick juices oozed from the tip of his erection
again and she couldn’t resist running her fingers through it and smearing it
over the rest of the rigid flesh.

Caleb groaned and arched his back. “That feels so nice. Explore
the rest of me too.”

Curious, she tangled her fingers through the wiry, black
hair at the base of his shaft. The sac of skin there was cooler and softer. She
reached into his trousers to put the bundle in her hand.

This is where children come from
, she realized. When
a vision of doing this with Jimmy flashed through her mind, she yanked her hand
away. She would never be able to do it with him. This was her man. Every touch
she gave him made him hers.

Caleb’s blue stare reached her from half-closed eyes. “I
guess you’re not used to a man’s anatomy. I hope you’re not too disgusted.”

She clasped his shaft with both hands. “Of course not.
You’re wonderful. Every inch of you.”

How would that rigid tower of white-pink flesh feel gliding
inside her? Her cunt ached at the thought. If only she could experience it with
him someday.

He reached up to stroke her hair. “I want you to put your
mouth on me.”

It seemed a strange thing to do but he’d put his lips on her
most private places. Her mouth watered as she wondered how he’d taste.

The usual doubt and guilt complained from the back of her
mind but the blood rushing through her ears drowned it out.

“What part would you like me to put my mouth on?” she asked.

“All of it,” he whispered. “Lick me and suck me the way I
did you.”

“Will that make you come?”

“I’m sure it will,” he replied, “but I have to warn you
it’ll be a little different from yours. There will be a lot more fluid than
what you see now and it’ll shoot out of me fast and hard.”

The idea mystified and excited her at the same time. Her
cunt ached so much she wished he’d put his finger inside her again.

“Will it hurt me?” she asked.

He chuckled while he stroked her ear. “Not unless I squirt
you in the eye, honey. I think I’m entitled seeing as how you’ve already
scratched me, pulled my hair and knocked me on the floor.”

She laughed too. More of his juices seeped under her hand as
she stroked him slowly.

“I want to see my semen on your face,” he added. “You can
even swallow it if you like. I’ll leave that up to you.”

“If it’s part of you, I want to taste it,” she said.

He got up and pointed to his chair. “Why don’t you sit there
and I’ll stand here.”

Caleb’s waist blocked her view of the desk light, leaving
his straining cock in the shadows. His scent overwhelmed her as she gripped his
shaft and pulled the round, swollen head to her open mouth.

She started by licking the drop of pearly juice at the tip.
When more came out to take its place, she licked again.

“I’m probably doing this wrong,” she said.

“No, it’s perfect, honey. Perfect.”

To guide her, he pushed the head into her mouth.
Instinctively, her lips closed around him just as her pussy lips had cradled
his thrusting finger days ago. Groaning, he pushed more insistently. Her tongue
explored the sculpture of him as he slid back and forth into her mouth.

His ragged breaths filled the room and told her how much he
needed this. She needed it too.
This is my man
, she thought as she made
love to his shaft with her mouth.
This is the only cock I ever want to touch
my body. Ever.

She hooked her fingers in the base of his suspenders and
then gripped his hips, her frantic hands fisting the trouser fabric. With one
stroke, she pulled him closer, not able to get enough of him. With the next,
she forced him back because it was all too fast, hard and deep. It was as if
he’d burrowed into her body, never to separate.

His hands glided across her pinned hair—squeezing, tugging
and expressing his pleasure. Their movements became an orchestrated dance that
grew faster by the minute. Caleb became a beast under her hands and mouth, a
beast she could no longer control.

“I-I’m going to come.” His voice was raw, almost a growl.
“Are you ready?”

She nodded but nothing prepared her for the hot stream of
liquid that shot into her mouth. It was endless. He yelled out as if he were in
pain and gripped the back of her head so hard it almost hurt.

Her heart pounded in tune to the insistent throbbing in her
cunt as the warm fluid coated her tongue. She swallowed without thinking, her
throat convulsing. Eventually the stream tapered off to creamy, round drops.

“They look like pearls,” she said as she licked him clean.

With the proof of his passion inside her, it was as if he’d
claimed a bigger piece of her than ever.

He put his member back in his trousers and when she stood
up, she noticed his face was coated with sweat. He grabbed her shoulders and
pressed her to the wall beside the window.

“God, Pearl. No one has ever made me feel that good. We’re
magic together.”

“So you liked it?” she asked.

He kissed her hard. “Liked it? I’m going to be thinking
about this all night and all day tomorrow. Hell, I bet I’ll think about it when
I’m on my deathbed.”

She twisted one of the buttons on his shirt as the familiar
sweet sadness that was Caleb engulfed her. “We shouldn’t have done this. I feel
closer to you than ever.”

“I know. The more we see each other the harder it’ll be to
part.” He sighed and looked at the salad plate. “I should bring us something
more substantial to eat.”

Pearl shook her head, not wanting anything to erase the
taste of him in her mouth.

“Jimmy might be there tonight when I get home. How can I
face him after this?”

Caleb gripped her hand and scowled. “Why would he be there?”

Pearl shrugged. “He insists on helping with the home repairs.”

“Damn,” he said softly.

“Wilma and Sadie suspect about us too.”

Caleb turned from her and slapped the wall. “What? Does your
entire family know now?”

“I dreamed about you the other night,” she admitted. “Sadie
must have heard me call your name. She dislikes me enough to cause trouble but
Wilma is keeping her in line.”

His head drooped as he stared into space. “Good grief. We’re
making a real mess of things, aren’t we?”

She nodded. “I hate the guilt and the lying. Jimmy is a nice
person. He doesn’t deserve this.”

He turned to her and kissed her forehead. “It’ll be over
soon enough. Pearl, we can stop seeing each other right now if it’ll make it
easier. It tears me up to see you worried and upset.”

Again, his considerateness touched her more deeply than any
physical caress could.

“I don’t want to stop seeing you yet,” she admitted as she
reached for his hand, “but we can’t do this anymore. I mean it.”

He looked down. “I’m sorry. I was being selfish again.
Tomorrow we’ll just spend time together. How does that sound?”

“Wonderful.”

“What we have is about more than passion. I want to make the
most of every moment we’ve got left however I can. Just being with you is all I
need.”

She put her arms around the man who had all of her heart and
held onto him as tightly as she could.

“Me too.”

Pearl rubbed her bruised lips on the boat ride home, hoping
no one would notice them. She’d been so caught up in the passion she hadn’t
realized how hard Caleb had thrust into her mouth.

She put her head in her hands. How could she have been so
weak? She’d sworn beforehand she wouldn’t do anything improper with him.

After disembarking from the boat, she cringed inside when
she heard the sound of nails being hammered. Jimmy was working by lantern
light.

“I can’t believe he’s still here,” she whispered to Leroy.

“It’s nice of him to do all that work,” Leroy replied.
“Hopefully he won’t figure out what you been doin’ all night.”

The words hit her in the face like cold water. While Leroy
hastily tied the line and went to greet Jimmy, she hovered near the boat,
wishing she could hide in it all night.

She couldn’t face Jimmy now! She’d just had another man’s
penis in her mouth. Kissing was completely out of the question.

Pearl gripped the tree the boat was tied to and leaned her
head against it. How could she be so unbelievably indecent? The things she’d
done with Caleb in the beginning had been bad enough. Now she was involved with
two men. She could almost feel her mother’s disapproval in the raw bite of the
evening air.

“Come on, Pearl,” Leroy called out. “Leave the boat be.”

She approached the men, making sure to stay out of the
circle of lantern light. The mounds of sawdust on the ground and smell of wet
paint attested to hours of hard work.

“Jimmy, what a surprise to see you here so late.” She hoped
he didn’t notice how much her voice shook.

He looked at the hammer in his hand. “Lost track of time, I
guess, and I wanted to see you.”

“I’m too exhausted to be good company, I’m afraid.”

“You do look all done in, child,” Wilma said from the porch.

When Pearl’s eyes adjusted to the dim light, she realized
Sadie was sitting next to her. The whole family was up as if this were the
middle of the day.

“Did a bee sting your lips, Pearl?” her cousin asked in her
usual sour tone, “or did you clean something tonight with your tongue? And what
happened to your hair? It looks like some seagulls made a nest in it.”

Pearl’s stomach flipped over and back again as she fumbled
to smooth her hair and secure her loose hairpins. Why hadn’t she remembered to
do this before leaving the plant? She’d been so focused on Caleb’s delicious
cock in her mouth she’d been oblivious to what his hands had done to her hair.

The only thing that kept her from fainting was the cool air.
Why had she let Caleb talk her into messing around with him tonight? At the
moment, exploring his body and seeing him climax had been the most important
thing in the world. She was paying for her weakness now.

Luckily Jimmy and Leroy were engaged in a debate on where to
nail a piece of trim board. She hoped with all her might Jimmy hadn’t heard
Sadie.

Wilma bolted upright and pulled her daughter by the arm.
“Time for you to go to bed.”

“But Mama!”

“Shut your mouth and come along.”

The two women disappeared into the house.

“I’m going to get some water.” Pearl’s voice was so shaky
she could barely talk. “Do you men want anything?”

“No, we’re almost done,” Jimmy said. “Come back out in a few
minutes, though, so we can say goodnight.”

“Of course.”

As she headed for the door, the two men joked about fishing
as if they’d been friends for years. Inside, she heard something completely
different—Sadie crying in tune to the thrash of a belt.

Wilma must be punishing her for what she’d said outside.
Pearl put her hand to her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut so hard they hurt.
Although part of her wanted to run back outside, she needed to get involved.
After all, Sadie’s whipping was partly her fault.

She flung open the door of the bedroom she shared with her
cousin.

Wilma held a belt in midair. “You’ll mind your mama now,
won’t you?”

“Stop it!” Pearl cried. “She’s had enough.”

Wilma looked down at her daughter crouching on the floor on
her hands and knees and then at Pearl.

“I’ve a mind to thrash you too,” the older woman said, “for
coming here tonight lookin’ like a whore.”

The remark struck her harder than the belt could have.

After Wilma left and closed the door, Pearl sat on Sadie’s
bed and crossed her arms.

Sadie looked up at her with a tear-stained face. “I’m
sorry.”

“Why do you dislike me so much?” Pearl asked.

Sadie stood and plopped down on the bed near Pearl. “Why do
you think? You got men chasin’ you right and left because of that pretty face.”

“It’s not as much fun as you might imagine,” Pearl said,
thinking of the guilt and the sensation of being torn in two directions.

Turning to the table they used as a dresser, she picked
among the items piled on top to get the small, cracked mirror they shared and
held it before Sadie’s face.

“What do you see?”

Sadie pushed the mirror away. “An ugly girl.”

“And do you know why?” Pearl held the mirror up again. “Look
at that scowl. Look at the hatred in those eyes.”

“I got plenty of reasons to scowl,” Sadie said.

“Aunt Wilma is too hard on you,” Pearl agreed, “but you
bring a lot of it on yourself.”

Beneath the sour exterior, Pearl felt this girl’s pain. She
wanted to take it away and not just because it would make her life easier. At
some point, these people had gone from strangers she just lived with to her
real family.

“Beauty is deeper than skin,” she told her cousin. “It comes
from what kind of person you are on the inside. When you go to work tomorrow, I
want you to be kind to everyone and smile all day long.”

Sadie snorted at the idea.

“I bet you’ll be surprised how differently people treat you.
If I’m wrong, you can go on hating me. Okay?”

Her cousin grinned. “Okay.”

Pearl dipped a cup of cold water from the bucket near the
stove while Charlie snored from his chair. After drinking some, she dipped a
rag into it and pressed it to her lips. She was so tired she nearly staggered
back out the front door to say goodnight to Jimmy. Would this day ever end?

When they saw her, the men punched each other affectionately
in the shoulders and said goodnight. Leroy went inside, leaving her alone with
Jimmy and the singing crickets.

“Thank you for helping out here,” she told him. “It’s really
nice of you.”

Jimmy shrugged. “It’s nothing. Did your aunt tell you?
There’s going to be a fish fry here Friday night. We’ll work on the house and
some of your neighbors will join us.”

Disappointment pressed down on her shoulders. That would be
one less night she’d get to spend with Caleb. It was just as well, she thought.
Seeing two men at once was madness. She’d chosen the path of respectability and
it was about time she devoted herself to it completely.

Jimmy reached out and touched her arm.
Please don’t kiss
me!

Instead, he bowed his head and shot her a bashful look.
“There’s something I plan to ask you then.”

Pearl took a step backward as if a bolt of lightning had hit
her in the middle of the chest. He was going to propose. She hadn’t expected it
to come so fast.

“I see,” she replied.

“Good night, Pearl.” He hugged her and kissed her cheek
before heading toward his boat.

As she listened to his oars thump against the sides of the
boat and then disappear into the night, she stood in the yard with her hand
pressed over her mouth. She had to say yes. In two days her life would
completely change.

In two days she had to say goodbye to Caleb forever.

* * * * *

The next evening, Caleb sent Pearl to the small shucking
room and joined her there with his usual basket. How was he going to keep his
hands off her tonight when everywhere he looked in this room reminded him of
their passion together? He couldn’t even look at the oyster table without
seeing her shapely legs spread like the halves of an oyster shell, exposing her
sweet, slick folds.

“Good evening, Pearl.” He hugged and released her.

“Good evening?” She raised a brow. “That sounds awfully
formal.”

He flipped one of the wooden stalls over as a bench again
and fed her an oyster with his hand this time, not his mouth. The taste and
feel of the slick oyster combined with her kissable lips would be too arousing
to risk.

When they sat down to eat crab cake sandwiches, he held her
hand.

“See how well I’m behaving myself?” he pointed out.

She smiled. “You certainly are. Thank you.”

He was so busy willing his cock not to get hard he’d hardly
noticed how large and haunted her eyes looked tonight.

“Is everything all right?” he asked. “Do you want me to
stop
behaving myself?”

“No, I’m just tired. There’s been a lot of banging and
construction on the house.”

Caleb’s jaw tightened. Sending those building materials had
backfired since it had caused Jimmy to spend more time with her. At least his dock
was repaired and back to normal.

He rested their clasped hands on his knee. “Tonight we’re
supposed to talk and I want to hear more about your life in Annapolis.”

“All right.”

She looked awkward at first but the more she talked the more
she smiled, showing him the happy girl she must have been. Her words were so
vivid he could almost see her walking through the markets of downtown Annapolis
and chopping vegetables in the kitchen with her mother.

“She meant a lot to you,” he said.

Pearl traced one of the stripes of her dress with a finger.
“I still miss her terribly but it doesn’t hurt quite so much.”

He touched her face. “Time has a way of doing that.”

“What about you?” she asked. “I want to know how you became
king of Oyster Island.”

“Are you sure you want to hear such a long, boring story?”

And it would be hard to concentrate with her earthy scent
and the silky texture of her hand occupying his mind. His fingers and mouth
ached to peel away her dress and taste every inch of her. The more he tried to
restrain himself, the more he wanted her.

“Caleb? You look uncomfortable.”

Unable to stop himself, he leaned over and kissed her. That
was a mistake because one taste of her entrancing mouth shot straight to his
groin and made the blood rush through his veins like high tide.

His body ached he wanted her so much but he had to do what
was best for her. He’d been too selfish, just taking what he wanted from her
when he felt like it, and it had to stop. She wasn’t some oyster he could pluck
from the sea and use.

He forced himself to pull his head away. “I’m sorry. I had a
moment of weakness.”

Passion flickered in her eyes too as she took a deep breath.
“We have to fight it and, yes, I want to hear your story.”

Caleb nodded. “Most of the credit goes to my daddy. He started
the business with a one-room building a fraction the size of the plant today. I
think I was shucking oysters before I knew how to walk.”

She laughed. “I can almost picture you.”

He told her about the excitement of watching the plant
expand and how scared he’d been the day his father had died.

“I couldn’t believe this business was mine. I was so afraid
I’d ruin it within a year.”

“But you didn’t.”

“My younger brother helps too, of course.”

The admiration in her eyes warmed him more than any kiss
could have.

“We should have done this before.” He rubbed the soft skin
on the back of her hand. “I’m not much on talking but I enjoy it with you.”

His chest tightened with something he couldn’t explain when
she leaned her head on his shoulder. “Me too.”

He sighed. “Unfortunately, the Sapphire Crab is having their
anniversary party tomorrow night. I wish I could get out of it but I can’t.
They’re my biggest local customer.”

“I can’t work tomorrow anyway.” Her lips twisted with
dismay. “The family is having a fish fry. I can’t get out of that either.”

“I guess we won’t see each other until Monday night then,”
he said.

It might as well be a million years away
, Caleb
thought. Why did their lives have to pull them in such different directions?
Pearl was slipping out of his fingers faster all the time and he couldn’t seem
to stop it.

When she withdrew her hand and looked up at the ceiling with
tears glistening in her eyes, fear stabbed straight to his gut. Something
bigger was at stake here than waiting until Monday.

“Pearl, what is it?”

But he knew. He knew what she was about to say. If only he
could stop it.

“Caleb, I don’t know how to tell you this.” She twisted her
hands in her lap.

His jaw tightened. “Just say it.”

“Jimmy is going to propose to me tomorrow and I plan to say
yes.”

When she looked at him, a tear dropped from each eye and
rolled down her cheeks. “I’m sorry.”

He grabbed her close, his arms convulsing around her. “Don’t
be sorry, honey.”

Tears stung the backs of his eyes too.
Damn!
He
thought he’d be strong enough to accept this. Wasn’t he the king of Oyster
Island, for God’s sake? And here he was about to cry like a little boy.

When he pulled back, her lips trembled. “I’ll miss you so
much, Caleb.”

He couldn’t take any more of this. Jumping off the bench, he
headed toward one of the oyster tables and hung his head as he gripped the edge
of it.

She’s mine!
he wanted to scream to the world. The
time he’d spent with her had been the most exciting moments of his life. How
was he supposed to just hand her over to another man? He didn’t think he could
do it even though it was best for her.

Why couldn’t he be the one to make her a woman? To pluck her
pearl?