tell him more about her. It was a nice enough apartment, nicer than a lot of what passed for rental housing in Salem Creek. He suspected Miss Harvelle might have owned the whole place, once upon a time, before dividing it up into a duplex. She wouldn’t have been the first.
There wasn’t a lot of personal stuff around Michaela’s place. She hadn’t been there long, but it was like she didn’t have much stuff— that was the opposite of every woman Caleb had known, including his own mother, he thought ruefully. Their house was still full of bric-a-brac and decorations that neither of her sons had the heart to take down.
The pizza was all right, but they devoured it rapidly, washing it down with the beer Caleb had brought. Michaela sat back from the table and burped— it was a ladylike burp as such things went, but she again looked mortified. “I’m so sorry.”
Caleb just laughed. “Nah, us mountain boys appreciate a lady who can spit and cuss and burp with the best of them.”
“Lord, then I need to get my friend Brenda down here. Y’all would love her to bits.” She went on to tell him a little about Brenda, and by extension, her life in Louisville. It confused him. She didn’t sound like she’d had any reason to leave, with a good job, and good friends. “What about you? Who do you hang around with when you’re not working?”
It hit him that this was more of a first date type conversation, and he grinned. “Oh now you wanna talk about who my friends are?”
Michaela ducked her head, but she was smiling. He couldn’t get enough of that smile. “I guess it is a little backwards, huh. It’s all your fault for cooking me dinner and taking me off to a romantic place. Now answer the question, please.”
“Mostly Dalton,” he said. “There’s a few of my buddies from school still around, but we’re all pretty busy. We get together when we can, raise some hell up in the holler.” Friends he didn’t see much anymore, since none of them knew that Iraq had taken more than just his foot.
“Seems like everybody around here lives in town or in a holler. I still haven’t figured out what a holler is.” Yep, she was a city girl all right. She wrinkled her nose and he gave in to the temptation to kiss her on it.
“You know, back in the mountains. A valley.” They started cleaning up the dishes. “Most folks around here can’t afford to live right up on the mountain anymore, if there’s a mountain top left to live on and it hasn’t been strip-mined. Down in the holler’s as good as we can get.”
“I’d like to see it,” Michaela said. “You know, someday.”
“I think we can do that.”
They were both overly casual as they went into her living room, each pretending that they were going to watch a movie or a TV show, and both of them knowing better. Now that one set of physical needs had been satisfied, they could attend to another.
Caleb did his best to take it slower this time. It wasn’t long, though, before they were both in Michaela’s small bedroom, pulling off their clothes as fast as they could. The first time, he hadn’t even pulled his pants off all the way, and used them to cover his stump and his prosthetic. This time, he hesitated only a moment, then kicked them off before joining her and her deliciously naked body on the bed.
“My god, you’re beautiful.” Her body was perfect as he could imagine, soft and sweet as sin; he couldn’t resist raining kisses over her full breasts and down the luscious outward curve of her belly. She stirred, knowing where he was headed, murmuring softly.
Caleb nuzzled her thighs apart, and his mouth watered at the scent of her arousal, deep and primal enough to make him think of mates and mating, of that mystical connection some shifters were lucky enough to find. Did it feel anything like this? Her thighs were velvety and soft as ripe peaches, and he wanted to drink in all that ripeness until her juices ran down his chin.
Michaela
There wasn’t a lot of personal stuff around Michaela’s place. She hadn’t been there long, but it was like she didn’t have much stuff— that was the opposite of every woman Caleb had known, including his own mother, he thought ruefully. Their house was still full of bric-a-brac and decorations that neither of her sons had the heart to take down.
The pizza was all right, but they devoured it rapidly, washing it down with the beer Caleb had brought. Michaela sat back from the table and burped— it was a ladylike burp as such things went, but she again looked mortified. “I’m so sorry.”
Caleb just laughed. “Nah, us mountain boys appreciate a lady who can spit and cuss and burp with the best of them.”
“Lord, then I need to get my friend Brenda down here. Y’all would love her to bits.” She went on to tell him a little about Brenda, and by extension, her life in Louisville. It confused him. She didn’t sound like she’d had any reason to leave, with a good job, and good friends. “What about you? Who do you hang around with when you’re not working?”
It hit him that this was more of a first date type conversation, and he grinned. “Oh now you wanna talk about who my friends are?”
Michaela ducked her head, but she was smiling. He couldn’t get enough of that smile. “I guess it is a little backwards, huh. It’s all your fault for cooking me dinner and taking me off to a romantic place. Now answer the question, please.”
“Mostly Dalton,” he said. “There’s a few of my buddies from school still around, but we’re all pretty busy. We get together when we can, raise some hell up in the holler.” Friends he didn’t see much anymore, since none of them knew that Iraq had taken more than just his foot.
“Seems like everybody around here lives in town or in a holler. I still haven’t figured out what a holler is.” Yep, she was a city girl all right. She wrinkled her nose and he gave in to the temptation to kiss her on it.
“You know, back in the mountains. A valley.” They started cleaning up the dishes. “Most folks around here can’t afford to live right up on the mountain anymore, if there’s a mountain top left to live on and it hasn’t been strip-mined. Down in the holler’s as good as we can get.”
“I’d like to see it,” Michaela said. “You know, someday.”
“I think we can do that.”
They were both overly casual as they went into her living room, each pretending that they were going to watch a movie or a TV show, and both of them knowing better. Now that one set of physical needs had been satisfied, they could attend to another.
Caleb did his best to take it slower this time. It wasn’t long, though, before they were both in Michaela’s small bedroom, pulling off their clothes as fast as they could. The first time, he hadn’t even pulled his pants off all the way, and used them to cover his stump and his prosthetic. This time, he hesitated only a moment, then kicked them off before joining her and her deliciously naked body on the bed.
“My god, you’re beautiful.” Her body was perfect as he could imagine, soft and sweet as sin; he couldn’t resist raining kisses over her full breasts and down the luscious outward curve of her belly. She stirred, knowing where he was headed, murmuring softly.
Caleb nuzzled her thighs apart, and his mouth watered at the scent of her arousal, deep and primal enough to make him think of mates and mating, of that mystical connection some shifters were lucky enough to find. Did it feel anything like this? Her thighs were velvety and soft as ripe peaches, and he wanted to drink in all that ripeness until her juices ran down his chin.
Michaela
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