Chapter 20: Always Red: Chapter 21

Red had been quiet since I’d picked her up from campus. There was a tiny furrow between her eyebrows. You’d miss it if you weren’t looking hard enough.

I always looked.

It wasn’t difficult to figure out Red’s emotions. I’d studied her face and her moods for a long time, and I could almost always tell what she was feeling.

She didn’t wear her emotions on her face around other people, but around me, she’d started to. There were times when she didn’t, but she could never hide them for long.

Now, her face was a blank canvas, devoid of emotion. You’d never think something was wrong unless you looked, unless you knew her facial expressions and their corresponding moods. And I knew that very tiny furrow meant she was annoyed. On impulse, I made a sharp U-turn and drove through a deserted park, sliding my car in a parking lot that was hidden between densely packed trees.

“What’s wrong, baby?” I asked, but she was looking outside through the window.

I wanted her eyes on me. Just on me.

“If I did something wrong, I’m sorry. I’m an idiot, and I will do anything—grovel at your feet, buy you diamonds, a car—no?” I grinned when she looked up at me dryly. “Okay, how about if I buy you a big jar of peanut butter?”

That teased a small smile out of her.

“Now why don’t you tell me what I did wrong so I can start making it up to you? Right,” I added, backtracking quickly when she narrowed her eyes at me. “I should know what I did, but I’m—” I stopped myself before I said I’m drawing a blank. She’d just skin me alive. “Let’s see…” I sucked my bottom lip.

“I picked my clothes up on the floor this week, every day. Just like you told me. Ask Maia.” Maia was the wonderful older lady I’d hired years ago to do household chores for me three times a week.

Red flicked her hair over her shoulder. Okay, it wasn’t the clothes then.

I sniffed at my armpits. “I showered.”

A twitch on her lips. Those pink lips…I knew how soft, how giving, how delicious they were when she…

When she caught me staring at her lips, I grinned.

“Do you have your period?” I asked.

Now she laughed reluctantly, looking at me with exasperation and fondness.

“I saw Beatrice-Rose today,” she said finally.

My smile disappeared. “Did she say anything to you?”

“I didn’t know she’s coming to your party.”

I straightened in my seat. “If I had a choice, I wouldn’t have her invited to my party. Actually, I wouldn’t even have a party. It’d just be you and me.”

I sighed when she didn’t say anything. “My mom arranges these things,” I explained. “I have no say on the guest list. And I really don’t care. She says it’s a birthday party for me, but it’s never just a birthday party.”

“What do you mean?”

I picked up her hand, traced circles on her palm.

“My mom is a businesswoman. That party is mostly an excuse for me to meet our business partners’ investors and to get more investors. Think of it this way: My mom is a T. rex. She needs food to feed herself and her babies. So she sets up a place where all the animals with the most body fat gather. And then she starts picking out the fattest of them all.”

She laughed, rolled her eyes, then grinned at me. “Only you would make an analogy like that.”

“That’s why you like me.” I kissed her fingers.

When her breathing picked up and those tempting lips parted, it was all I could do not to pull her out of her seat and into my lap—and kiss the hell out of her.

“Baby…”

I leaned closer so I could feel her breath on my face. Her eyes glazed in yearning, and I noticed the rise and fall of her chest, the creaminess of her skin. I wanted to lick it. “Let’s—”

And then she pulled away, clearing her throat. “What color should I wear? Is there a dress or color code?”

Her hand shook as she tucked her hair behind her ear. I closed my eyes for a moment, gathering control. Took a deep, deep breath. Let it out real slow. When I opened my eyes, she was staring down, biting her bottom lip.

Damn.

“Yeah.”

When I didn’t continue, she looked up at me, waiting.

“Let’s see. What color should you wear? How about transparent?”

When she didn’t react, I knew she hadn’t recovered from that moment we just shared. I didn’t think she even heard me.

“Oh, you mean for the party. Red. Wear red for me.”

She nodded.

“Hey, Red?”

“Hmm?” She smiled and reached out to push my hair away from my face. “You need a haircut.”

“I want to spend more time with you and would postpone my trip if I could. I want to get our house right away. I have appointments lined up for us. We’ll do those next week—”

“Caleb.”

She covered my mouth with her hand to shut me up. I licked it.

When she slapped my arm and laughed, I felt better. I knew then it was okay. She leaned closer and shyly kissed my lips.

I knew she only wanted a brief kiss, but I had been going crazy dreaming about her lips, her hands on me, the sounds she made when I touched her. I had been going insane replaying that night when we made love. Going insane from craving the feel of her nails biting in my back, her legs tightening around me, and her eyes glazing over when she reached what I was desperately trying to give her.

So when her soft, soft lips grazed mine, I lost control. I gripped her hair in my hands and pulled her to me. Into me. And I devoured her.

This was a hunger only she could satiate.

I couldn’t think of anything but the feel of her body as I claimed what I had been dreaming about for days.

“Oh God, Caleb.”

I bit her bottom lip lightly, sucked on it. “Come here.”

I lifted her on top of me.

“Just a little more. Give me a little more, Red.”

I adjusted her so she was sitting where I wanted her. I gripped her hips, urging her to move where it felt good.

Her eyes were clouded with desire as they met mine. I thrust my hips upward, mesmerized when she placed her hands on my shoulders and leaned her head back, exposing her neck to me. I licked at it hungrily.

She let out a sexy moan and started to rock her hips faster.

“Yeah, that’s the way, Red. Damn. Keep going.”

I watched as she took what she needed, as she let herself get lost in the incredible sensation of our bodies sliding and rubbing against each other.

I would have given her anything she asked of me. She was so fucking beautiful I couldn’t help but watch as she took and took and took.

I kissed her hungrily before she shattered in my arms.

It was a moment before I could finally speak. She was draped on me, her lips on my neck as her breathing finally slowed down.

“You just dry humped me in the parking lot,” I murmured.

And then her shoulders started to shake before her loud peals of laughter filled the car.

“I love it,” I added.

“Oh my God, Caleb. You drive me crazy.”

I pulled her to me, kissing her again. I couldn’t get enough. “I can drive you crazier. Just wait until I—”

She growled and covered my mouth with her hand. When she was sure I wouldn’t say anything, she rested her chin on my shoulder and I stroked her hair gently.

“I’ll come home to you as soon as I can,” I promised.

“I’ll be waiting.”

“I miss you already.”

“I know,” she whispered. “I miss you already too.”