The Journey Home

“Do you need to come, baby?” I whispered in her ear.

She thrashed her head back and forth. “I need you, Cale. I only need you.”

I pushed my fingers into her and moaned when I felt her clamp down. I closed my eyes and moaned against her sensitive neck. I began to massage her insides, slow at first and then faster. Her hips began a rhythm as I pulled back to see her face. Her head was leaned back against the wall and she was biting on her lower lip.

Fuck. I could come right now, watching her fall apart because of my fingers.

“Yes,” she said. “I’m so close.”

I knew one touch of my thumb to her clit would send her over the edge. I pulled my lips from hers and pushed my thumb against her clit, moving it in a circle. Her eyes snapped open and her head jerked forward as her eyes captured mine.

“I’m going to come, Cale. I’m going to come.” I slammed my lips back against hers and swallowed her screams of pleasure. I kept on massaging out her orgasm until she went limp in my arms.

I held her in my arms as her breathing slowly returned to normal. She had wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face as she rode out the last waves of her orgasm. When she pulled back, she was crying. My entire world stopped.

I placed my hands on the side of her face. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

She sucked on her lower lip as she shook her head. “Please tell me I’m not dreaming. Please, Cale. Tell me this is real.”

In that moment I knew nothing would ever be the same. I reached over and turned off the water, then grabbed a towel and began drying her off. Once she was completely dry, I wrapped the towel around her. Grabbing another towel, I quickly dried off. I stepped out of the shower and threw my towel to the floor. I reached down and picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. Gently, I put her down and pulled the towel off of her body. She acted as if she wanted to cover up.

“You’re so damn beautiful. The most beautiful and perfect woman I’ve ever seen.”

She blushed and looked away for a second before she said, “You take my breath away, Cale.”

I picked her up again and laid her on the bed. I climbed onto the bed and over her. “How far do you want to take this, Maddie? I’ll do whatever you want, baby.”

She smiled that sweet smile of hers. She placed her hand on the side of my face. “I want to know I’m not dreaming. I want to wake up in the morning wrapped in your arms. I want you to make love to me.”

I smiled as I leaned down and kissed her gently. “I want that, too.” I reached over and pulled out the side drawer. She grabbed my arm.

“Have you been tested recently? I mean since…Zoey.”

I swallowed hard. “Before I married Zoey, the first thing I did was get tested. Then again after she…after she died I was re-tested. Jack suggested it.”

Maddie gave me a weak smile. “I’ve been tested, too. I don’t want there to be anything between us, Cale. I’m on the pill.”

I pulled back and looked at her. “Maddie, are you sure?”

A look of horror crossed her face. “I mean…if you’d rather not. I didn’t mean…”

I quickly moved and placed my hands on her cheeks and kissed her. I spread her legs open wider and teased her entrance with my tip, pushing in a little bit further each time.

“Please don’t make me beg, Cale,” she said. “Please just take me as yours.”

Jesus.

I closed my eyes and moaned as I pushed myself into her. She whimpered and I stopped. “Did I hurt you?” I asked.

She smiled and wrapped her legs around me. “No. Everything feels amazing.”

I moved in and out of her. The way we kissed each other was like nothing I’d never experienced. Something was happening between us, and we both felt it. Her fingers traced up and down my back as I pushed deeper into her. I couldn’t get deep enough.

“I want to crawl inside your body,” I said, “and stay there forever.”

I took her hand and intertwined our fingers. I pushed our hands above her head as I pushed deeper into her with each thrust.

She moaned as she arched her back. “Cale, don’t stop. I’m going to come.”

I placed my lips to her ear as I pushed in as deep as I could and she began to whisper my name. As I felt my own release build, I spoke into her ear, “Maddie, I love you. I love you so much.”

“I love you, Cale,” she said as she wrapped her legs around me tighter, holding onto me as I poured into her. As I came, I moved my lips to hers and kissed her as we whispered each other’s names in this unbelievable moment of passion.

I didn’t want to pull out of her. I held her and she held me and we stayed as one.

I moved so that I could look into her eyes. “I love you, Maddie.”

A tear rolled down her face and I kissed it away as she blinked slowly. “I love you, too, Cale. I finally feel like I’m home.”

My heart dropped and I stared into her eyes. I slowly smiled before kissing her again. “We’re both home. Forever.”

I WOKE UP to the sun shining through the bedroom window. I didn’t even have to move to know that Cale and I were wrapped in a tangled mess of hotness. He had his arms around me and his legs were over mine. It was as if he was afraid I would sneak away while he was sleeping.

I closed my eyes, remembering our night together. My body was going to feel it today. After making love, Cale and I had fallen asleep. But then Lily woke up. I threw on a T-shirt, and fed her while Cale slept. When I crawled back into bed, he climbed onto me and made love to me again. Of course, not before first giving me the most amazing orgasm with his lips.

I opened my eyes as I touched my swollen lips. Closing them again I was taken back to just two hours ago when I’d woken up to hear him breathing. Turning over to watch him sleep, I couldn’t take it another second. I’d crawled on top of him and taken my turn at making love to him.

The night was amazing. Magical. Incredibly romantic. I’d never experienced anything like it before.

Cale moaned as he rolled over. I missed his warmth as soon as he let me go. Rolling over, I rested my head on my hand and watched him sleep. Everything about him was perfect. I reached down, pinched my arm, and smiled. Nope. Not a dream.

Lily was making little sounds through the baby monitor, so I crawled out of bed and reached for the T-shirt I’d left on the floor. I slipped it on and made my way upstairs to the nursery. When I walked in and looked down at Lily in her crib, she smiled the biggest smile I’d ever seen.

“Good morning, baby girl. How did you sleep last night? You were such a good girl and only woke up once.”

I scooped her up and brought her over to the changing table. After a quick diaper change and dressing her in a pretty little new outfit, I picked Lily back up and headed downstairs to heat up a bottle. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw a woman standing in the kitchen.

“Um…you startled me,” I said as I gave her a polite smile.

She gave Lily and me a once-over before saying, “I could say the same, señorita.”

This must be the nanny, I t

hought. Maria. Shit.

I started to flush, realizing I was wearing only Cale’s shirt—with no panties.

She tilted her head and stared. “You um…what do you say…spent the night?”

I felt the heat move through my cheeks. “Ah. Yes I did.”

“You sleep in guest room? You’re a friend, si?”

The way she was looking at me like she was ready to stomp on me told me Maria had feelings for Cale.

“No, Maria. She’s more than a friend. Did you forget that I told you I didn’t need you on Saturdays anymore?”

When Maria saw Cale, her eyes lit up. “You need me, Mr. Blackwood, you just don’t know it.”

I attempted to hide my smile as I glanced over to Cale. He looked shocked.

“Um,” he said, “can I speak with you in my office please?”

“After I feed the baby,” Maria said as she held out her arms for me to give Lily to her. I held on tighter.

“Maddie will feed her. I’d like to talk to you now, please,” Cale said as he turned and walked to his office.

Poor Maria’s face dropped as she followed him. I peeked over my shoulder and watched them both walk away.

To Lily, I whispered, “I think Maria is about to have a bad day little one.”

Lily smiled and I couldn’t help but giggle as I put her in her swing. I took a bottle out of the refrigerator and heated it up. “Shall we have breakfast on the deck, sweet girl?” I headed into the laundry and quickly pulled my pants from the dryer and slipped them on before getting Lily and heading out the deck.

I stared out over the lake as Lily drank her bottle. Every now and then I looked down at her and grinned. My heart filled with so much love for this little girl. I’d never in my life felt so content.

“I love you and your daddy, Lily,” I said. “I love you both so much and I’ve been so stubborn and silly. Not anymore, though! I’m going to shower you both with lots of kisses and hugs. Oh, and long walks. I love long walks. Especially in the fall. Something about fall and the leaves when they change colors—I just love it. When you get older, we’ll make those silly little leaf collection things.”