My Salvation (4 page)

Once the door was in front of them, they turned
toward one another. Owen brought his hand to her face and slowly
traced from her forehead to her jawline with his fingertips,
finally resting his hand on the back of her neck. He slowly bent
and kissed her gently on the lips.

Cali brought both of her hands to either side of
Owen’s face, pulling him closer, intensifying the kiss. She ran her
tongue along the seam of his lips seeking permission. He didn’t
hesitate opening. He had been waiting to kiss her for far too long.
In that moment, he would have allowed her to do anything.

Owen brought his other hand to her side, slowly
moving it down and lightly brushing the outside of her breast. He
felt her suck in a breath at the touch, then relaxed and leaned
into him. He continued to move, brushing over her breast until he
could feel her hard nipple through the bra.

Moving his thumb over her nipple, teasing ever
so slowly, she moaned into his mouth in response. Owen barely
resisted dragging her inside and living out his fantasies, because
now wasn’t the time. He didn’t want to rush and waited long enough,
a little longer wasn’t going to kill him.

After another few minutes of kissing and
teasing, Owen placed his hands on Cali’s hips and slowly pulled
away. They were both breathing heavily. He ran his thumb over her
bottom lip and said, “Thank you for being my date tonight. Can we
do this again?”

Cali took his thumb into her mouth and ran her
tongue along it. Owen groaned and pulled her closer. She released
his thumb, a slow smile crept across her face, knowing damn well
the affect she had.

“Why don’t you come over tomorrow at six and
I’ll have dinner ready for us?”

“I would love to.”

Leaning down, he kissed Cali lightly on the lips
and moved his mouth over to kiss the sensitive spot under her ear.
Whispering, he said, “I’ve waited ten years to kiss you again and
I’m not going to let go so easily this time.”

Cali said nothing, just stared into his eyes.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Caliana.”

Owen descended the steps and went over to his
cabin. He unlocked the door, but before going inside, glanced over
to see Cali still standing in the same spot he had left her in.
Smiling, he stepped through the door.

~ 4 ~

The next afternoon Cali went to the grocery
store and bought everything needed to make her mom’s famous beef
stew. Every man she had ever met loved that meal. Hopefully Owen
would too.

She wasn’t sure if they were officially dating
or if casual was a better way of defining their status. If she were
being honest with herself, dating Owen was something she has always
wanted, but never thought would happen. His touch ignited a flame
inside of her. One she never felt with anyone else. Cali decided to
go with the flow and not over think everything. She’d been single
for awhile now and the feeling of someone paying attention to her
was welcome.

Cali kept herself busy all afternoon with
cooking and cleaning. She jumped into the shower at five and made
sure to shave everything. She had hopes of continuing what was
started on the porch the night before.

Going to her closet, she needed to find
something sexy, but casual to wear. She decided on an off the
shoulder light pink top and a pair of khaki shorts. After applying
light makeup and using a curling iron to make her long brown curls
more defined, she was ready. By the time she looked at the clock,
she noticed she only had ten minutes to spare.

Going to the kitchen, she finished preparing
dinner. At six o’clock on the dot, a knock broke the silence.
Opening the heavy, wooden door she saw one very sexy man.

Owen was dressed in dark denim jeans and a dark
green polo shirt. He was holding a bouquet of pink roses. Handing
them to her he said, “I hope you like roses.”

“I do and they are beautiful.” She brought the
soft, pink petals to her nose to breathe in the sweet scent.

She stepped aside so Owen could come in and
watched as he walked by. The jeans hugged his ass perfectly and the
shirt formed over his arms and chest just enough so you could see
how built he was.

She didn’t have a formal dining room, rather an
eat-in kitchen. She grabbed a vase out of one of the kitchen
cabinets, filled the glass container with water and placed the
roses inside. Setting them on the kitchen table, she asked Owen to
have a seat and said she would bring a plate out for him.

“I hope you like beef stew.”

“I love it. Making dinner tonight was very kind
of you.”

“This was nothing, really. It’s nice to have
someone to cook for other than myself.”

Smiling, she set a plate in front of him, and
one for herself as well. They ate and talked through dinner. She
asked how work went and he asked what she did today. She liked how
easily the conversation flowed.

After dinner they decided to bring some of
Cali’s Adirondack chairs down to the lake and build a fire in the
pit. The sky was clear and the stars twinkled overhead. The moon
reflected beautifully off of the lake and the only noises to be
heard were the gentle lapping of the water, crickets chirping, and
the crackle of the fire.

They sat in silence for a bit when she caught
Owen smiling at her. “What are you smiling at?”

“Come over here.”

Getting up, Cali walked to him. He took her hand
in his and pulled her into his lap. She reached up to gently rub
the stubble on his face before leaning in and placing a
feather-light kiss upon his lips.

With a gruff voice he said, “Don’t tease me,
Cali.”

“I wouldn’t dream of teasing you.”

He reached up to her neck and pulled her lips to
his. The sound of him moaning fueled an internal fire. She reached
up and grabbed the hair on the back of his head while she used her
tongue to stroke his.

Cali could feel him harden beneath her. She knew
for sure of the affect she had on him. There were only two other
cabins nearby and they were on the other side of Owen’s. Where they
were seated in front of Cali’s cabin, no one could see, especially
in the dark. He reached up and softly starting massaging her
breasts. His fingertips found her nipples and pinched them causing
her back to arch.

Standing so she could straddle him, Owen grabbed
her hips and placed her in the spot he wanted her most. He started
to kiss along her jawline, toward her ear and back to her mouth.
She ground her hips into him as he held her in place.

She grabbed the shirt she was wearing and lifted
it off. Owen brought the straps of the lacy, white bra low to
expose her perfect breasts. He leaned forward and took one of her
nipples into his mouth to suck and nip while she continued to rub
against his hard length.

Cali started undoing his jeans. She couldn’t
take much more. She was getting close to climax from just the
friction alone. Reaching in, she pulled his cock free and wrapped
her hands around him. He thrust into her hand and she stroked him
quickly.

Owen kissed a trail from her chest to her collar
bone and back to her neck until he found those sensual lips. He
brought his hand to her shorts and opened the zipper. She felt him
reach inside and brush her panties aside. His finger parted her
lips and spread her wetness.

Her hands went to his shoulders, her head tipped
back and she started to moan. She was ready and knew she wasn’t
going to last. He stroked her slowly before pushing one finger
inside. She bucked against him as he added another finger. She was
shameless, riding his hand.

He made small circles over her clit, sending her
soaring. Her body shook and her mouth found his as she starting
coming back to earth. Cali’s heart was pounding and her breath was
coming fast. It was her turn to take care of him now, but wasn’t
sure she wanted their first time to be outside in a chair.

His cock was rock hard when she took him in her
hand. She pumped her fist as another hand gently caressed his
balls. Cali’s thumb moved over the tip to collect the pre-cum. Owen
gripped her hips as she continued rubbing him.

Their lips met and the kiss was hungry, full of
lust and need. She felt his legs stiffen and knew he was almost
there. A few more strokes and his hips pushed skyward as he came.
Owen’s arms were wrapped around her, chests touching, as he shot
onto both of their stomachs and her hand.

“Holy hell,” he said.

“I know.”

He lowered his gaze and pulled his shirt over
his head to remove the mess from himself. Cali sucked in a breath
at the sight of his solid chest. She took in his large, muscular
arms, strong shoulders and neck, and washboard abs. Resisting the
urge to drag her tongue over his entire body as he cleaned the
result from his orgasm off of her.

* * * * * * * *

Owen saw headlights come into view as a car
pulled into the gravel drive, stopping between their cabins. Cali
moved to put her shirt back on quickly. A tall man got out of the
car and he immediately knew who had stopped by.

“Fuck,” he said while zipping his jeans.

“What’s wrong?”

“Get inside. I’ll come over as soon as I can get
him to leave.”

“Who is it?”

“My brother,” he growled.

He didn’t want Ethan anywhere near Caliana. Owen
sprinted up the small hill to meet him. He was trying to talk
quietly so she didn’t hear them. “What do you want, Ethan?”

“I need to talk to you. I went to your house and
no lights were on. I checked the office thinking maybe you were
working late, but no. I knew this was the only other place you
could be. No clue why you would be here mid-week though.”

“That’s none of your fucking business. The real
question is why are
you
here?” He was trying not to raise
his voice, but doubted how successful he was being.

“I wanted to talk,” Ethan said, but something
must have caught his eye. He was peering around Owen. “Who do you
have by the fire?”

Through clenched teeth he said, “That is none of
your business. Get inside if you want to talk.” He tried ushering
Ethan toward his porch, but to no avail.

“No, no. I want to know who my brother was
fucking.”

Owen looked behind him and noticed Cali’s face
was being lit by the porch light. He sighed and turned to Ethan,
wondered what she thought of him. His brother used to hang out with
them in the summer on occasion.

Tall and built were qualities he shared with
him. But Ethan’s hair was light brown whereas Owen’s was dark
blonde. Ethan had brown eyes and Owen had green. Their facial
structure was similar also.

“Well, well, well, look who we have here. Why if
it isn’t Miss Caliana Crawford. No wonder you’re at the cabin,
Brother. Does she taste as good as you always thought she
would?”

Owen saw red. His brother crossed a line. Owen
brought his fist back and slammed it into Ethan’s face, causing him
to stumble. “Get the fuck off my property!”

Ethan charged Owen, grabbing him by the waist
and throwing him to the dirt. The two brothers wrestled, hitting
one another repeatedly. Out of nowhere Owen felt another person’s
hands on him, trying to pull them apart. He recognized the voice of
the person from one of the cabins that were being rented next
door.

Cali’s voice broke through. “Stop! Both of you!
I’m going to call the cops if you two can’t knock it the fuck
off.”

Her yelling combined with the neighbor trying to
pry them apart finally got their attention and they separated. The
brothers sat on the ground breathing heavily. Owen could feel that
his lip was busted open. Ethan had blood running down his face from
a cut above his eyebrow.

“What the hell is wrong with you two? You’re
acting like children!” Cali yelled. “Ethan, you need to go.”

Ethan stood and spit blood from his mouth onto
the ground, wiping more from his face with the shirt he was
wearing. “We aren’t done talking, Owen.” With that, he turned and
left.

Owen heard Cali thank their neighbor for his
help and also apologize for the disturbance. Owen stayed seated on
the ground, but moved his hand over his lip to feel the damage. He
could feel his lip already starting to swell.

Cali stood in front of him with her hands on her
hips. “C’mon. Let’s get inside and put some ice on your face.”

Owen followed her into the cabin. He saw her go
to the freezer to get some ice cubes. She came into the living room
with the ice wrapped in a washcloth. Cali handed the washcloth to
him and pointed to the couch for him to sit. Once he did, she sat
next to him.

After a few minutes of silence she said, “Want
to tell me what the hell happened out there?”

“Not really,” he mumbled.

“Owen, your brother shows up, you say a few
words to each other, then he sees me and all hell breaks loose!
What the fuck?”

He knew she was getting frustrated. He could
only imagine what that must have looked like to her, but he didn’t
want to talk about the fight. “Cali, can you please just drop
it?”

“I’ll drop it. For tonight. But tomorrow, you
are going to tell me what happened that caused you and your brother
to beat the shit out of each other right in front of me.”

If Owen was going to have a relationship with
her he knew he would have to be honest and open. He knew how hard
it was going to be to talk about. He also knew he wasn’t going to
be able to put the discussion off for long.

Cali reached over and pulled the ice from his
lip. “The bleeding has stopped. That’s good at least. I don’t think
you’re going to need stitches.” She reapplied the ice and motioned
for Owen to hold the washcloth against his lip again.

Mumbling under her breath she said, “Grown ass
men fighting like little boys in a schoolyard.”

“You know I can hear you, right?” Owen started
to smile but the pain hit and his lip started to bleed again.