Before I can say anything else, he strides down the hall to his office and slams the door behind him.
I’m left alone.
Trying to swallow back my tears, I wander through his lush apartment, looking at the blank walls and trying to figure a way out of this. But he’s right. I have no idea what to do now. None of the options are good ones.
I should probably go back to Mara’s, and give him the space he needs, but it’s late, and I’m exhausted from all the stress of the day, so I head to Caleb’s bedroom, and slide into bed. I lay there in the dark, trying to relax, but my head is full of questions, and my heart?
My heart doesn’t know how to feel right now.
Just a few hours ago, Caleb asked me to move in with him. And here I am, in his penthouse. In his bed. It should feel like the beginning of something…
But all I feel right now is dread. For what’s to come.
For what Nero is capable of.
I want to protect Caleb, but how can I do that? Blackmail, threats… This is another world I’ve found myself in. I’m in so far over my head, I can’t see the surface anymore.
So what do I do now?
Hours later,I hear the door open, and Caleb slip into the room. He quietly undresses, and then the mattress dips, and he crawls in next to me. I roll over to face him.
“Did I wake you?” he murmurs softly.
I shake my head. “I can’t sleep.”
“Shh, don’t worry,” Caleb soothes me, caressing my cheek with his hand. “I’ll keep you safe, I promise.”
“But what about you?” I ask. “Who’s going to protect you?”
Caleb doesn’t reply, but his mouth finds mine in a desperate kiss. And then I know how much he’s wrestling with, the weight of the burden he carries, because I can feel it in every touch, every ragged, passionate kiss.
He yanks me closer, running his hands over my body, and rolling me so I’m pinned beneath him. I’m already naked between the sheets, and his mouth travels over me with a greedy, plaintive urgency, licking over my breasts and sucking my nipples until I’m moaning. There’s a frenzy to his movements, as if he’s trying to drown himself in me, lose himself completely, and I let him pull me under, fire rising in my bloodstream as he plays my body like a weapon, knowing exactly the way to stroke, and lick, and drive me wild.
“Juliet…” he groans, breath coming fast in my ear. “Fuck, I need you.”
He grips my wrists, pinning me to the mattress beneath him, and God, my pulse leaps at the dark intensity of his gaze.
“Take me,” I gasp, spreading my legs wider.
He doesn’t need any more invitation. Caleb positions himself at my entrance and thrusts inside me, burying himself to the hilt.
Fuck.
I moan against him, gasping for air. His cock invades me, thick and full, splitting me open. I don’t even have time to adjust to the stretch before Caleb withdraws and slams into me again, finding a punishing rhythm in the dark, spearing me deep, his jaw clenched in determination.
“Don’t ever disobey me like that again,” he growls, but there’s a desperate edge to his command. “I have to keep you safe. Juliet. Fuck. He’s dangerous.”
His grip on my wrists is almost painful, trapping me in place as he pounds into me. I can’t move, I can barely even breathe, I’m a prisoner to the pleasure of his body, and mouth, and glorious cock. “Yes!” I cry, already cresting. “Caleb, fuck, yes!”
“Promise me,” Caleb demands, surging up, hitting that sweet spot inside me, just right. “Promise me you’ll stay away from him!”
“Caleb,” I gasp, mindless, so close to the edge. But Caleb stills, robbing me of the sweet friction. Keeping me trapped there, at his mercy.
“Promise me!” he growls. I flex and clench, writhing beneath him, so close I can’t stand it. But he stays firm. Denying me release. “Dammit, Juliet.”
“I promise!” I cry, breaking. “Please, don’t stop! Don’t ever stop!”
With another roar, Caleb slams into me again, and this time, Lord, he doesn’t stop. He fucks me hard and deep, over and over, even as I break around him with a scream. Pleasure slams through me, breaking in waves, but he fucks me through it with a force that takes my breath away, until finally he comes apart, shuddering inside me with a ragged groan.