Riven (Riven 1)

I kissed him softly and instead of lust, it was comfort I wanted. The reassurance of his mouth against mine. The physical promise of possibilities. I pulled back enough to see his face.

“I’m still famous,” I said, and he smirked.

“Yes, yes, you’re very famous.”

I rolled my eyes. “I mean, the stuff about paparazzi. I can’t…I can’t control that. I wish I could—believe me. But I can’t, so…”

Caleb shook his head. “I know. I—that was me freaking out about shit, not really about the article. I kinda lost it at the idea of trying to stay sober while being sucked into the whole fame thing. But once I had time to think about it, it wasn’t really that.” He brushed my hair back. “The way I felt about you. How much I wanted you. It felt…too close to how I felt before. The craving I felt when you weren’t there. How I wanted to touch you, taste you—” He kissed the angle of my jaw and the spot under my ear, making me shiver.

I knew there were things we’d have to hash out. But now there was only one thing that mattered.

“I missed you. I missed you so much,” I murmured, wrapping my arms around him again. “I thought maybe this time, you wouldn’t…we wouldn’t…”

“Me too. House is lonely without you,” Caleb said in my ear.

He stood in one powerful movement, hauling me up with him. I hooked my thighs around his hips and he slid an arm under me and walked to the bedroom, putting me down on the bed and stretching out next to me.

I knew we had a lot of stuff to talk about, but right now, all I could think about was being close to him, feeling his skin against mine, breathing in the scent of him.

I pulled him on top of me and jutted my chin up, searching for a kiss. When Caleb’s lips came down on mine, I moaned into his mouth. I’d spent months alone, in hotel room after hotel room, missing this. I wrapped my arms and legs around him, so he couldn’t pull away.

“God, baby,” he murmured, digging a hand into my hair and running the other up and down my body like he wanted to touch every inch of me. He kissed my mouth, my jaw, my throat, and I clung to him, trying to strip his shirt and pants off without letting him move away.

“You can’t push me away again,” I choked out, and the words sounded tiny, like they came from a place so deep inside they could barely be heard. “I can’t stand it. Not again.”

Caleb’s eyes were lust and want and apology. The heat cooled for just a moment, long enough for him to press his lips to my forehead.

“I won’t. Not like this. I’ve got you.” To underscore that, he pressed us so tightly together I could feel his heart pounding in rhythm with my own.

Finally, helping each other, we managed to slither out of our clothes and grind together, naked flesh meeting in an explosion of sensation. We both panted into each other’s mouths as our hands roamed. We were impatient and clumsy, and when I made a frustrated noise, Caleb finally grabbed me by the hips and pulled me onto his lap, pressing our erections together and steadying me as I moved on top of him.

“Oh god,” I groaned, my arousal ratcheting up in a heartbeat at the feel of his hard flesh against mine. I buried my face in his neck, smelling his skin and hair, and feeling his pulse beneath my lips, an ocean flowing just beneath the surface. Everything about him got me ridiculously hot. This wasn’t going to be pretty and I wasn’t going to last long. I just wanted to feel his muscular body against mine, his arms around me.

I spread my legs wider, bracing my feet on the bed so I could thrust harder against him, and I felt the vibrations of the growl in his chest. After a few minutes of moving together, his muscles tightened and straining, he fisted my hair and rolled us over so he was on top of me, pushing my hips up and settling in the cradle of my thighs.

“You feel so fucking good,” he said. “And you smell amazing.”

“Probably smell like a plane,” I gasped, between kisses.

“Smell like you,” he said, and licked up my neck, sucking until I groaned and my hips were thrusting up. When I whimpered and threw my head back, his eyes flashed and he wrapped a rough hand around both of our cocks, squeezing hard. I cried out and thrust, the velvet heat of his dick and the roughness of his hand the perfect contrast.

We moved together, chests heaving and breath mingling, until I felt heat boiling up from my belly.