Cold feet(42)
Author: Brenda Novak

She didn’t need to ask twice. He waited only long enough to put on a condom before leaning her against the wall in the dark hallway and burying himself inside her. She cried out, clenching her hands in his hair. She felt herself stretch almost painfully to accept him, yet she wanted to draw him deeper, cling to him, lock her legs around him.

He lifted her and bore the bulk of her weight between him and the wall as he began to move, and the way he looked at her, the way he kissed her, made her feel as though more than their bodies touched.

Suddenly, Caleb was the only thing that mattered. Almost immediately Madison felt a spiraling sensation inside her, something she hadn’t experienced for a long, long time. She couldn’t believe Caleb had the power to arouse her like this, so easily, so completely. But when she felt her body tense and that first wave roll through her, she cried out his name, determined that he wouldn’t retain any more control than she had, and took him with her.

A moment later, they were breathing heavily, their hearts thudding in unison, their skin slick with sweat.

Caleb’s eyes were closed, his forehead resting against hers. With his large body pressing her into the wall, Madison felt completely safe. And content…"That was incredible, Maddy," he whispered.

She could have said the same thing. But she was too busy reveling in the feel of him against her, inside her, everywhere.

He gathered her in his arms, as if to carry her to the bedroom, but before they’d moved an inch, he straightened. "Uh-oh."

Madison blinked up at him. "Uh-oh" wasn’t what she’d expected.

"What is it?" she asked, suddenly a little self-conscious about her wild abandon.

He kissed her on the shoulder and gently lowered her to her feet. "Hurry and get dressed. Someone’s here."

It took a few seconds for that piece of information to register, but when she listened, Madison could hear a car’s engine. "Not now!"

She started to collect her clothes, but Caleb moved more quickly. He handed them to her on his way to the bathroom. She heard the toilet flush, then he reappeared and thrust his legs into his pants.

"I’ll see who it is," he said.

"This late, it’s got to be Johnny," she told him. "And–and you can’t answer my door. It’ll be too obvious that I’m…that we’re…I don’t want him to say anything to Danny or Brianna."

"I’ll go out the back and walk around, as if I’m coming from the cottage," he said. "Keep your doors locked until I know it’s safe."

"Okay." Hearing the back door close, she hurried to her room and pulled on some sweats so she could go to the kitchen and look out at the drive. What she saw when she got there was a new Ford Explorer. A short man with a neatly trimmed goatee and a stocky build had gotten out. It wasn’t Johnny. It was Tye.

What was Tye doing here? He hadn’t been over since she’d moved in and needed his help to set up her new television. Taking a moment to slow the pounding of her heart, she went to the door and threw it open. "Tye? What’s going on?"

"Who the hell is this?" her brother said, jerking his head toward Caleb, who’d met him in the drive.

Madison didn’t dare glance in Caleb’s direction, afraid the look in her eyes would give away the fact that they’d just made love–or the fact that she wanted to make love with him again. "It’s Caleb Trovato."

"Who’s Caleb Trovato?"

"My, um, renter," she said, even though calling Caleb her renter suddenly seemed a remote term for a man she now knew more intimately than any other, except Danny.

"You didn’t tell me you’d taken in a renter."

"I didn’t think about it. The last time we talked, it was just after we’d moved Dad’s grave, and I, um, had a lot on my mind." Her throat suddenly dry, she swallowed. "What are you doing here, anyway?" she asked, hoping to deflect his attention.

Tye shot Caleb a look that said he could leave, but Caleb propped his hands on his hips and stood his ground.

Madison’s cheeks began to burn as she felt Caleb watching her. Falling into bed with a man she’d known only two weeks wasn’t characteristic of her. She focused on her brother to avoid Caleb’s possessive glance. "Is something wrong?"

"Isn’t that Dad’s truck?" he asked, motioning to the blue Ford parked in the drive.

She looked over to see the Ford sitting dark and empty as it had for the past few years, and felt an eerie chill down her spine. She didn’t want her father’s truck there, parked in the middle of the new life she was trying to build. But she liked the fact that she could overcome her fears enough to lend it to Caleb. That said something. "Yes. I’m borrowing it," she said, to keep things simple.

"Borrowing it," he repeated. "After all the time it’s been locked up in that garage."

"Anything wrong with that?"

"I guess not," he said, but he didn’t sound happy about it. "Have you heard from Sharon?" he asked.

"Sharon?" She could smell Caleb’s cologne on her skin as she raised a hand to scratch her forehead, and quickly lowered her arm. "Don’t you know where she is?"

"I can’t find her."

"As in, something might have happened to her or–"

"Nothing happened," he interrupted irritably. "She left, that’s all."

"But why?"

He waved a hand toward Caleb. "Can’t you tell him to go home?"

"He is home," she said, but because she was afraid of what Tye might say or do, she asked Caleb for a few moments alone. "I’ll call you later," she told him.

Despite the darkness where Caleb stood, she could see that his mouth formed a grim line. He didn’t answer. He just turned and walked away, and she was grateful for the space. She needed a chance to handle Tye on her own.

"Are you sleeping with that guy?" he asked as soon as she let him in.

Madison would bet the truth was written all over her face. Her body still tingled from Caleb’s touch, but she said, "That’s none of your business, Tye."

He followed her down the hall to the living room, prowling around once they got there as though he had too much pent-up energy.

"Do you want to tell me what’s going on with Sharon?" she asked.

"We’re having a little trouble at home," he admitted. "But it isn’t anything we can’t work out–if I could just find her."

Madison walked over and closed the shutters on the window that looked toward the cottage, as if she could separate Caleb from her regular life that easily. He was fantasy. Tye was part of reality. "Did she file for separation?" she asked.