It was the middle of the night and Maria was cuddled in Caleb's arms when the phone rang.
She answered the call, but before she even had a chance to speak, the person on the other side of the line beat her to it. "He did it, Maria. He actually did it."
"Becky?" Maria asked groggily, rubbing her eyes before glancing over at the clock that read 1am.
"Of course, silly."
"Why are you calling me so late?"
"Nathan proposed. Can you believe it?" her friend squealed.
She was wide awake now and was scrambling out of bed as to not wake Caleb. Rushing down the hallway into the living room, Maria flopped on the couch. "You can't be serious?"
"Yes, tonight. After they rescued you, he came back home and handed me a big box. You wouldn't believe what was inside."
"A jewelry box?" Maria asked.
"A cake."
That sounded like a relatively normal thing you'd find in a big box. "Okay?"
"It said Marry me."
"Let me guess, you said no?" Maria teased.
"Right, after all these years I said no," her roomie said, her voice revealing an eye roll. "I just can't believe it finally happened."
She couldn't believe it either. They were both engaged at the same time. How often did that happen? "Did he give you a rock?"
"Yep. Apparently he had one hidden away in his room, an heirloom of sorts passed down from his Grandmother. We so gotta have a double wedding."
A noise in the hallway made Maria look up, temporarily distracted from the phone. Caleb was walking towards her; a thick and hard erection prominently displayed in the apex of his thighs. She licked her lips, completely unaware that Becky was still talking.
He was the finest of the fine. And he was all hers. That was something she still couldn't wrap her head around. She knew the women that he had been with before. She was nothing like them. And it mystified her and excited her. He swept her off her feet in the most unexpected way.
Caleb stopped right in front of her, his dick dangerously close to her mouth, and he reached for her phone. "I'm not sure who's on the line, but Maria has to go."
"Don't you dare hang up on me, Mister! Give me back to Maria," Becky demanded.
He handed her back the phone, letting his hand roam over his manhood.
"I'm...uh...gonna go, Becky. See you tomorrow," Maria said, hanging up the phone. Becky and she had the rest of their lives to plan a wedding. She wasn't about to waste a good woody being dangled in front of her like a carrot. She was being paged in the most glorious way.
When she went to reach for him, he stepped backwards, taking a seat on the recliner across from the couch. Maria pulled her lips to one side, uncertain of his retreat. His face told her he wanted something from her.
"I can't touch you if you're way over there," she said, tilting her head.
"That's because I don't want you to."
"Then what do you want?"
"I want to watch."
"Watch?"
He chuckled as he shook his head. "Still so innocent in so many ways. I want you to touch yourself, tweetie."
"Like in the elevator?" she asked shyly.
He nodded wickedly, hunger setting his eyes ablaze. "But this time, I get to watch."
"Do I get to watch you?"
"Nope."
"Well, that's not fair," she replied, sticking her tongue out at him.
"You're still under contract."
Maria glanced down at her naked body and at her newly shaven womanhood. He made her shave it earlier before the party. She wasn't quite sure if she liked it yet. Her underwear stuck to her skin, and well wiping after using the washroom was another issue altogether.
"Do you remember how you touched yourself while we were making love?" She nodded, so he continued, "Do it just like that."
Biting her lip, Maria tentatively lowered her hand, resting her index finger on her clit. Her heart fluttered away in her chest and the butterflies in her stomach joined it. She could only imagine how silly she looked right now, but she did as she was told, massaging her bud that was already aching beneath her finger.
As she moved her finger in quick circles, the heated electric twinges inside her made themselves known, releasing her thick wet heat. She glanced over at Caleb, wondering if he could see it glistening in the low light of the living room.
"You look so amazingly hot right now," he growled huskily, his fingers digging into the armrests of the chair, every muscle in his body was taunt and aware.
Maria stretched her leg over the side of the couch, opening herself up even more to his viewing pleasure. Running her finger between her folds, arousal coated her skin. She raised her hand to her mouth, sucking on her juice covered finger, staring at him as she did.
Hunger blazed in his eyes, infusing the air around her with desire, drawing the very breath from her lungs like a syphon. She had a feeling this was how things were going to be between them for eternity.
"You wouldn't believe how hard it is for me not to come over there right now and just plunge into you."
"Like this?" She slid a finger inside her pussy, sending him a womanly smile. Her mission was to make him ditch his choice to watch and by the way he was squirming in the chair and his cock looking as hard as it could be, it wasn't going to take him long.
And she was right. The minute she entered a second finger into her womanhood, he made his move. He got up and then kneeled at the foot of the couch, pulling her butt to the edge before plunging inside her.
"For a man who lives his life doing this stuff, you sure don't have much control," she giggled.
"With you, nope."
His hands gripped her hips, moving her in time with his thrusts. Letting him do the moving, she slid a hand between them, touching herself as she had done before, not taking her eyes off him. He was one hundred percent focused. His eyes were squeezed closed and his breathing rapid. She loved the feeling of him inside her, filling her, like her body was his home.
The way his cock rubbed up against her walls, hitting her g-spot and his balls slapping against her backside made her body want to explode into a million colored fireworks. Lights danced before her eyes and Caleb's face went out of focus as she hit the edge of sanity. Her parts tightened around him and she cried out his name as she came. He quickly joined her, his movements jerky, his breathing raspy and rapid as he moaned, "Holy fuck."
"Not sure how holy that was," she replied, her voice breathy. "But I wouldn't trade that for anything."
He pulled out, letting his head rest on her belly, breathing hard. She ran her hand through his damp hair. Never did she imagine that this was where she'd end up or who she'd end up with. She was a nerd, a bookworm, always choosing to hide away rather than reveal herself as a sexy woman. He was the man that turned heads wherever he went and every woman's eyes would lock on his, begging to be taken by him. And he reveled in it.
And he wanted her? It didn't make sense, but she wasn't going to argue with it. All she could hope was that she'd be enough for him. People always talked about how men weren't meant to be monogamists. No. Maria shook her head. She wasn't going to allow negative thoughts to bombard her tonight. Her mind needed to shut up and go to bed.
He looked up at her. "Whatcha thinking?"
"About us," she replied, letting her palm rest on his cheek. He was still warm, sweat gleaming on his forehead.
"Good things or bad?"
"Just how surprised I am that you'd pick someone like me."
"I don't think you realize how amazing you are. Do I have to count all the ways that you astound me?"
Maria blushed. "I'm just little old me."
"Okay, that does it." Caleb picked her up off the couch and threw her over his shoulder, lugging her down the hall to the bedroom. "I can see I have my work cut out for me." He tossed her on the bed and Maria giggled as she bounced. His eyes dropped to her jiggling breasts. "First on the list, you are like an exotic creature emerging from its cocoon, and I get the best seat in the house to watch."
Maria scrunched up her nose. "A creature, eh? That makes me think of a monster."
He ignored her comment and continued, "You are more courageous than any woman I know."
"Right."
He crawled onto the bed and placed a finger over her lips as he straddled her. "Shush, I'm talking. I'm not going to let you out of this bed until you believe your worth."
"That might be a bit tricky. I need to go to work tomorrow."
"Call in sick."
"That would be nice, but I really do have to go in first thing in the morning," she said, moaning as his fingers probed her most needy spot. She didn't think that her body would ever tire of becoming one with his.
"I guess I should let you sleep then eh," he commented, rubbing her clit.
"I suppose, but my goodness that feels good."
"Okay." He rolled off her, landing on his side of the bed.
"Hey!" she complained. "You weren't supposed to stop."
"Well, the next move is yours," he said, placing his hands behind his head.
Maria glanced down at his sleeping cock. "I think he has a mind of his own right now."
"I'm sure he'll wake up again with a little persuasion."
Her body was starting to ache as she stared at his manhood resting between his legs. She never spent much time looking at guys before. She wasn't a porn type of girl, so she wasn't sure exactly how small or big guys usually were, but his was just right and filled her in ways she could have only dreamed of.
Maria glanced at the clock, it was already 1:30am, and she had to be up in 4 hours. "As much as I would love to spend time arousing you again, I really should get some sleep." Her job required her to be awake and alert and that wasn't something she'd be if she allowed herself to fall into his arms again, as much as she wanted to.
Opening his arms, Maria moved into them. "I hear ya, darling. I've gotta go into my shop early too. Get it ready to sell."
Cuddling up next to him, she ran her fingers across his chest. "Are you sure that's what you want to do? I know you love helping couples find their spark again."
"After everything that has happened, I need a change. I'm going to talk to my dad about going into the business with him."
"What does he do?"
"He flips houses."
"Like you see on those television shows?" She loved housing shows, especially Property Brothers.
"Yep."
"Did you used to help him?"
"When I was a teen, ya."
"What stopped you?"
"I wanted to be in charge of my own life, not live under the shadow of my father for the rest of my life."
Maybe that was kind of why she dove into writing a BDSM book, it was as far as she could get from her parents' values. She understood the need to be your own person, follow your own road, but eventually the road tends to find its way back.
"Whatever you want to do, I'll support you."
"I'm going to give it a try with him and see how it goes. He's getting tired now, and I don't want all his hard work to go to waste."
"You're a good son, Caleb," Maria said kissing his cheek. "I know my parents are going to love you."
That hasn't really been his experience in the past, but he kept that to himself. Most parents looked down on him the minute he said what he did for a living. After the first few rejections, he knew better than to meet any parents, especially when the girls were only his subs.
But he held his tongue and just gave her a kiss on the forehead. "That's up for debate."
"Maybe I should keep you in this bed for the same reason until you know your worth, too."
"Then neither you nor I would ever show up to work again because this bed is exactly where I want to be with you."
"Seems your part finally agrees with you," she said as his erection pressed into her side.
Without wasting any time, he climbed on top and entered her, making her gasp at the sudden fullness.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to that," she moaned as he moved inside her.
"Me either!" he said, pressing his lips against hers.
"I thought we were going to sleep?"
"Guess not."
He was in awe that she was still with him after her experience with Harley. Caleb thought she would have cut and run, given that he was the cause of her horrible experience, but she didn't. Instead, she agreed to marry him and that really just boggled his mind.
The best part about it all was that he was putting his experience with Karen behind him. He realized now that his love for Maria far outweighed anything he'd ever experienced and he wasn't going to let pain get in the way of them being together. She gave him far more than Karen ever did.
He pushed his thoughts of his ex aside and focused on the sweet woman beneath him. It wasn't long before they both found their sweet release and were lying cuddling in bed.
He could only hope to give as much to her as she did to him and the first was to secure her hand in marriage with her father. If he could do that, he had it made.
Kissing Maria on the forehead, he laid his head back and closed his eyes. "Sweet dreams. hun."
"You, too."
The last image he had as he fell asleep was of a sweet young girl, except this time she didn't have Maria's hair, but rather looked strangely like Karen, light brown hair, straight as a pencil.
It was probably because he'd just been thinking about her, but whatever it was, it made him a little uneasy, like his future wasn't going to be as straightforward as he thought.
Just focus on what you're going to say tomorrow, dickhead, and you'll be fine.
Ya, right. He was so dead.