Shattered (The Protectors 11)

But he left his mouth where it was.

I was caught in the snare of his gaze. My dick was straining against the fabric of my jeans and it took everything in me not to just grab him and toss him down on the small table we’d just been sitting at.

Neither of us spoke in the few seconds that passed. I held my breath when Caleb moved his mouth, but it was impossible to look away.

Because he never stopped looking at me.

Not as he licked my skin.

Or when he closed his mouth over my nipple.

“Fuck,” I muttered as I tightened my grip in his hair. “Yes,” I whispered. Caleb’s sinful tongue flattened over my nipple as he licked me, then continued up my chest. I wrapped my free arm around his waist and pulled him flush against my body as he began placing kisses along my collarbone. I still had my hand in his hair, but I refrained from forcing his head back so I could take the kiss that I really wanted.

My ringing phone split the silence of the air around us and Caleb jerked out of my hold. He looked at me with wide eyes, then at the burner phone, which was sitting on the kitchen counter. I wanted to ignore the damn thing, but I knew I couldn’t.

“It’s Dalton,” I said. “He might have an update.”

Caleb nodded shakily. “I, uh, should go make sure we didn’t leave the bait above deck… it’ll spoil.”

I’d brought the bait down and put it in the refrigerator myself, but I didn’t say that. I merely nodded and watched Caleb flee. My body was tight with lust as I snatched up the phone.

“What?” I practically barked.

There was a beat, then Dalton said, “Dude, if you’re suffering from cabin fever after only six days—”

“Sorry,” I cut in. “It’s not that.”

It’s the fact that if you’d have waited five more goddamn minutes, I would have had Caleb beneath me on your bed and I wouldn’t have given two shits about answering your call.

“Just tired,” I lied.

Dalton didn’t respond at first, probably because he knew I was lying.

“Any updates?” I asked.

“No. But there’s a storm coming up fast from the south. You might want to head further inland if you aren’t already.”

“We’re by Barren Island. I’ll put us north of the island and that will hopefully shelter us from the worst of it. We’ll be close enough to shore that we can head in if things get bad.”

“Should be all clear by tomorrow.”

“Good,” I murmured. “There’s a general store on Hooper’s Island, right?”

“Yeah. You going to stock up there?”

“That’s the plan.”

“Call me in the morning to let me know you’re good,” Dalton said. I could hear the worry in his voice.

“I will. We’ll be okay, Dalton.”

I sensed I was no longer alone and turned to see Caleb sitting on the steps leading into the cabin from above deck. His expression was unreadable. I said my goodbyes and hung up the phone.

“Dalton said there’s a storm coming.”

Caleb nodded. “I saw some lightning.”

“You okay?” I asked.

“Don’t like storms,” he murmured.

“Why don’t you stay down here while I get the boat moved to the northern side of the island?”

“I’ll do the dishes,” Caleb offered. We were forced to pass one another as I headed above deck. The close proximity as we nearly brushed chests was akin to torture. It was all I could do not to grab him.

It took just a few minutes to get the boat moved and anchored in the small inlet at the northernmost part of the little island, but in those minutes, several peals of thunder rattled the air around us. The heavens opened up just as I stepped below deck and closed the door. Darkness had already fallen so the lightning lit up the interior of the boat with every flash. The wind had kicked up the waves enough so the boat was swaying back and forth, but nothing bad enough to warrant seeking shelter closer to the shore.

Caleb wasn’t in the kitchen and the dishes, while now in the sink, weren’t done. Concern had me hurrying to the bedroom. I found him sitting on the edge of the bed, his knees drawn up so that his feet were resting on the lip of the platform. His arms were around his legs and he was rocking back and forth slightly. It took everything in me not to automatically look at his arm. He was wearing short sleeves, so it would have been easy to check to see if he’d cut himself in the few minutes I’d been above deck, but I didn’t want to do that to him. I wanted to build trust with Caleb and I couldn’t do that if his condition was always at the forefront of my mind.

Caleb had turned on all the lights in the bedroom and had drawn the curtain on the one window that had one, but the flashes of lightning through the other windows were impossible to miss. Not to mention the cracks of thunder that followed just moments later.